A glimmer of hope is that the outcry following the slaying of Hrant Dink is coming from Turks as well as Armenians. Perhaps his death will not have been in vain—or will there be an inevitable backlash? From the UK-based Turkish newspaper Londra Toplum Postasi, Jan. 25:

A suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into a military convoy Jan. 22 near Mirali, in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan, killing four troops and a civilian woman, and injuring 23, including 20 soldiers. The convoy was a joint force of the federal army and local paramilitary troops. (Dawn, Pakistan, Jan. 23) That same day, a helicopter gunships from the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan bombed a border post in the remote Shawal area of North Waziristan, killing one paramilitary troop, injuring two more and prompting an official protest from Islamabad. (IRNA, Iran, Jan. 24) The following day, at least 10 mortar shells were fired from across the Afghan border into Pakistani territory in North Waziristan. Military sources said the shells were fired by Afghan government troops in retaliation for rocket-fire from a guerilla position near the border in Khost province. (Dawn, Jan. 25)

From Reuters, Jan. 24:

MOGADISHU - A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship has launched a second air strike against suspected al Qaeda operatives in southern Somalia, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing unidentified U.S. officials.

The assassination of Hrant Dink has, fortunately, sparked renewed challenges to the censorious Article 301. But the Turkish state seems to be trying to squelch the debate. Would Dink have wanted his funeral to be used in this manner? From the Turkish Daily News, Jan. 24:

Responding to calls from prominent Turks and foreign leaders to annul a controversial law immediately, Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek said on Tuesday that the last thing Turkey needed was to begin another debate on Article 301 of the penal code, arguing that the matter should be discussed after slain journalist Hrant Dink, convicted under the article last year, was laid to rest.

Freedom's on the march. From the San Francisco Chronicle, Jan. 24:

One of the Bush administration's most far-reaching assertions of government power was revealed quietly last week when Attorney General Alberto Gonzales testified that habeas corpus -- the right to go to federal court and challenge one's imprisonment -- is not protected by the Constitution.

From AP, Jan. 24:

Former Social Distortion Bassist Killed

Placentia, Calif. -- Brent Liles, a former bassist for the 1980s punk rock group Social Distortion, was struck and killed by a truck while riding a bicycle, authorities said Wednesday. He was 43.

Freedom's on the march. From AlJazeera, Jan. 18:

The US defence department has released new rules allowing terror suspects to be convicted and possibly executed on the basis of hearsay evidence and some coerced testimony.

The current violent unrest in Bangladesh is generally portrayed (when the global media bother to take note of it at all) as a contest between the secular, left-leaning Awami League which governed until July 2001 and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which has been ascendant since then in alliance with political Islam. But Taslima Nasrin, the dissident writer whose novels have been repeatedly banned by the government, says both parties have betrayed the country's founding secular values. From the Malaysia Sun, Jan. 11: