For once we get some joy from being able to say "told you so." When the Liberty Seven were first busted lasted year, we called out the case against them as bogus. It is a glimmer of hope that a jury agreed with us. From VOA, Dec. 13:

Terror Trial in Miami Ends in One Acquittal, Six Mistrials
A federal jury in Florida has cleared a man accused of plotting terrorist attacks in the United States, but said it was unable to agree on a verdict for six other defendants.

Democratic Republic of Congo Armed Forces (FARDC) troops clashed again Dec. 13 with forces loyal to renegade general Laurent Nkunda in the Gungu heights of North Kivu province. Earlier in the week, Nkunda's fighters forced back government troops and reclaimed positions they had held three months ago. The FARDC pulled back to the town of Sake, about 30 kilometers northwest of the UN-defended provincial capital of Goma—leading many local residents to flee the area, fearing reprisals by the rebels.

On Dec. 10, Chiquita Brands filed a motion to dismiss in a case brought by 144 survivors of Colombian paramilitary victims in federal district court in Washington DC. The case, first filed in June under the Alien Tort Statue, holds the company responsible in the reign of terror by the United Colombian Self-Defense Forces (AUC), a State Department-listed terrorist group that Chiquita has admitted to underwriting. Attorney Paul Wolf, who filed the case with Terry Collingsworth of the International Labor Rights Fund, has opened an office in the town of Apartadó, in Colombia's northern banana-growing region of Urabá, to continue to gather evidence in the case. Writes Wolf in an e-mail update: "If we survive the Motion to Dismiss, there's little doubt the case will be before a jury, and if that happens, there's little doubt we'll win. The estimated 800-1,000 cases we have now are just too gruesome, involving machete massacres, beheadings, numerous children, and entire communities that were virtually eliminated."

Mexican army troops detained the supposed leader of the powerful Gulf Cartel in Tampico, Tamaulipas, Dec. 12. Forces of the Eighth Military Zone claimed Marco Antonio Ramírez del Río, alias "Tony La Palma," is successor to Luis Reyes Enríquez, known as "El Rex" or "Z-12," the cartel boss detained in June. Also detained were Darío Tristán Méndez, "El Dari," and Mario Rafael Morales Agis, "El Ratón." Antonio Contreras Navarro, "El Gallo," reportedly killed himself rather than surrender. Soldiers seized a kilogram of cocaine, two pistols and two assault rifles—an AR-15 and an AK-47. (El Universal, Dec. 12) Troops in three hummers sealed off Tampico neighborhoods in the hunt for "La Palma." (Milenio, Dec. 11)

"We are doing everything we can to stop drugs crossing to the United States but given this is a transnational business by definition it requires the United States do its part and that essentially means the flow of arms to Mexico," said Mexican Prosecutor General Eduardo Medina Mora Dec. 10. "We have done our part, we hope the United States will do its part." Speaking in Mexico City, Medina said some $10 billion in drug cash flows south each year, and that gun stores on the north side of the border sell twice as much as outlets elsewhere in the US. "There's a very large flow of money from the United States to Mexico which has no other explanation than drug trafficking," he said. "The US government has a very important job to do."

At least 51 migrants drowned trying to cross from Turkey to Greece—and the European Union—when their boat sank in rough weather Dec. 9. The boat was carrying about 70 Palestinians, Iraqis and Somalians when it sank off Seferihisar, in the Aegean province of Izmir. Rescuers saved six; the death toll is expected to rise. Izmir's Gov. Orhan Sefik Güldibi noted the irony that the disaster happened on the eve of International Human Rights Day.

From Reuters, Dec. 12:

Residents say lives ruined by South Korea oil spill
TAEAN, South Korea - South Korean officials say they have made progress in cleaning up the country's worst oil spill but residents worried on Thursday about ruined livelihoods and conservationists saw damage lasting for years.

A fire broke out at one of Iraq's main oil refineries Dec. 10, with the US calling it was an industrial accident—but Iraqi officials insisting it was an insurgent attack. The Dora refinery was built in the 1950s and is the country's oldest. One of three main refineries in Iraq, the Dora facility—like most of the industry—is operating at half capacity because of pipeline attacks since the 2003 US invasion, said Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad.