Mexican authorities say they suspect drug traffickers are to blame in the killing of six people in three communities in the conflicted southern state of Chiapas. The first slayings occurred late Aug. 23 on a highway linking Tapachula with Tuxtla Chico on the Pacific coast. Gunmen in a car forced an SUV off the road and opened fire, killing Genaro Cruz, 47, and Julio Cesar Cruz, 21. There were no arrests.

Greenpeace Mexico, Amnesty International and the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center presented the Sierra Club's Chico Mendes Award to Mexican winners Felipe Arreaga Sanchez, Albertano Peñaloza Dominguez, and Celsa Valdovinos on Aug. 9. Greenpeace Mexico Director Alejandro Calvillo asked the world community to reconsider its willingness to support the tourist industry in Acapulco, given that the international beach resort is in the same state of Guerrero where the winners are being persecuted.

The East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) is calling for support for a congressional letter to Indonesian President Yudhoyono now circulating in the US House of Representatives. The letter asks Yudhoyono to end ongoing military operations in West Papua and open up the province to international observers.

While Israel rapidly expands settlements in the West Bank including E. Jerusalem, Jesse Jackson takes the opportunity to expunge old ghosts:

Last update - 20:03 25/08/2005

Jesse Jackson: After pullout, onus for next step on PA
By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent

In a surprising move, prominent African-American leader Reverend Jesse Jackson on Thursday congratulated Israel on the completion of the disengagement, and said that the onus was now on the Palestinians to take reciprocal steps.

Via TruthOut:

More Images of Abu Ghraib
By Ari Berman
The Nation

Monday 22 August 2005

There's a new batch of photos from Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, and these are reportedly far worse than the sickening originals. Naturally, the Pentagon is trying to block their release.

The ACLU filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in October 2003 to make public 87 photographs and four videos depicting prisoner abuse in Iraq. The Pentagon originally argued that releasing the images would violate the Geneva Convention rights of the detainees; a supreme irony considering that the US originally denied these very prisoners Geneva Convention protections. The ACLU agreed that the Pentagon could black out "identifying characteristics," but a federal judge in New York ruled last week that DoD must explain publicly why it's concealing the images. "By and large, I ruled for public disclosure," said US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. A final ruling is expected on August 30.

From Survival International, Aug. 22:

The Botswana government has launched a massive crackdown on the Bushmen of the central Kalahari aimed at destroying their way of life. The move comes despite the resumption of the Bushmen's three-year court case against the government for evicting them from their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

• The government has announced that it is putting guards around the Central Kalahari Game Reserve to blockade the area and stop Bushmen going in.

From Newsday:

Road rage rampage ends with SUV on sidewalk, seven hurt

BY LUIS PEREZ and PETE BOWLES
STAFF WRITERS

August 24, 2005

What began as road rage turned into several terrifying moments Tuesday when an out-of-control sport utility vehicle raced onto a sidewalk in midtown and slammed into six people.

The six suffered minor injuries, as did a police lieutenant whose arm had become caught in the driver's window and was dragged along for the bumpy two-block ride. The vehicle slammed into a car, jumped the curb, hit two pedestrians and barreled into a concrete barrier where four people were sitting in front of 1411 Broadway between 39th and 40th streets.

Border guards in Tajikistan report that they shot down a hang-glider carrying 20 kilogram of heroin being smuggled over the border from Afghanistan Aug. 23. Tajik officials said Afghan traffickers had been using the hang-glider for three years, and previous attempts to shoot it down had failed. Some reports said it was powered by a small engine. Officials said a manhunt was under way for the "pilot," who had escaped despite being injured on hitting the ground.

The incident took place in the Shuroobod area, which is said to be a major smuggling route. Lt. Gen. Saidamir Zukhurov, commander of the Tajik border troops, said the trafficker had "little chance to escape" because the area had been tightly secured.