From our correspondent Sarah Ferguson:

The irony couldn't be more clear. New York City police and their union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, are suing the NYPD for spying on them at rallies and demonstrations held during their contract dispute with the city in the summer of 2004.

From the International Solidarity Movement:

Palestinians United Again to Appeal for the Release of Peace Activists held Hostage in Iraq
January 30th, 2006
ISM

Following the recent release of new video footage of the four Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT) members being held hostage in Iraq, Palestinian leaders united again to appeal for their release.

With the election behind them, representatives of Fatah and Hamas, along with religious leaders, have come together to appeal for the release of the hostages, political prisoners and all those working for Justice. The two Hamas representatives, in calling for their release, refered to them as friends of the Palestinians, stating that “These people support us against the occupation,

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) carries this Jan. 25 report on Tehran's accusations that the UK was behind the previous day's bomb blast in Iran's heavily Arab western district of Ahwaz. Of course, the NCRI's armed wing, Mujahideen-e-Khalq, is itself a likely candidate for the attackers. There is also an Ahwaz Revolutionary Council, seeking self-determination for the increasingly restive region, which saw a wave of unrest last summer...

Days before the historic inauguration of Evo Morales in Bolivia, the Andean nation scored another victory—in its struggle against Bechtel, the California engineering giant which had sued the impoverished nation before a World Bank trade court to demand compensation for a water-system privatization contract cancelled by a popular uprising in 2000. Apparently sensing the turning tide, Bechtel has withdrawn its suit. This Jan. 19 account from The Democracy Center in Cochabamba:

Evo Morales was sworn in as Bolivia's president before assembled foreign dignitaries at the congressional building in La Paz Jan. 22, dressed in a sports jacket and white shirt but no tie. One day before, he celebrated with his indigenous supporters at the pre-Columbian ruins of Tiwanaku, dressed in full indigenous regalia, including a head-dress embroidered with the wiphala, symbol of the Quechua-Aymara peoples. This marked the first time that Bolivia's traditional indigenous authorities, known as mallkus (condors), handed over a staff of command and ceremonial vestments to a Bolivian president-elect. (IPS, Jan. 19)

At least 16 people were injured Jan. 20 as Ethiopian police cracked down on opposition protests in the capital, Addis Ababa, on the second and final day of celebrations marking Timkat, the Epiphany festival of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Demonstrators joined up with religious processions around the city, and were attacked by police, who charged with truncheons. (South Africa Mail & Guardian, Jan. 20)

The heroic Mukhtar Mai is exploited by the Bushes for war propaganda—then sold down the river by the UN to appease Pakistan. Did the US protest this cynical capitulation? We doubt it. From the New York Times, via India's Deccan Herald, Jan. 22:

Mukhtar Mai, the Pakistani woman whose defiant response to being gangraped by order of a tribal court had brought her worldwide attention, was denied a chance to speak at the United Nations on Friday when Pakistan protested that it was the same day the country's prime minister was visiting.

A press release from Minority Rights Group International:

New York, (Jan. 26, 2006) Iraqis head a new list of peoples most under threat from persecution, discrimination and mass killing according to a comprehensive new report released today by Minority Rights Group International (MRG).