The US and Ethiopia appear to be grooming the northern autonomous regions of Somalia—Puntland and Somaliland—as proxies to fight the Islamic Courts Union that controls the traditional capital, Mogadishu. So: should we be supporting this as a defense of freedom against Islamist totalitarianism, or opposing it as destructive imperialist meddling? Sound off, readers. From the independent Shabelle Media Network, Mogadishu, Dec. 7, via AllAfrica:

Jimmy Carter describes how the separation wall, 80% of which Israel is building inside the occupied West Bank in contravention of international law, makes life terrible for the Palestinians who live in its destructive path. From Palestine: Peace not Apartheid:

The area between the segregation barrier and the Israeli border has been designated a closed military region for an indefinite period of time. Israeli directives state that every Palestinian over the age of twelve living in the closed area has to obtain a "permanent resident permit" from the civil administration to enable them to continue to live in their own homes. They are considered to be aliens, without the rights of Israeli citizens. To summarize: whatever territory Israel decides to confiscate will be on its side of the wall, but Israelis will still retain control of the Palestinians who will be on the other side of the barrier, enclosed between it and Israel's forces in the Jordan River valley. (pp. 192-3)

From CNN's Larry King Live, Nov. 28:

Larry King: Back to Mr. [Alan] Dershowitz on your book. He deals with the tone of your book. He says "it's obvious that Carter doesn't like Israel or Israelis. He lectured Golda Meir on Israel's secular nature, he admits he didn't like Menachem Begin. He has little good to say about any Israelis except those few who agree with him. He apparently got along swimmingly with secular Syrian mass murderer Hafiz al-Assad. He and his wife Rosalynn had a fine time fine with equally secular Yasser Arafat, a man with the blood of hundreds of Americans and Israelis on his hands."

From Radio HornAfrik, Mogadishu, in Somali, Dec. 8 (awkward translation as provided by BBC Monitoring):

Somalia: Demonstration against deployment of foreign troops held in Mogadishu

[Presenter] A demonstration condemning the UN Security Council's decision to deploy foreign troops in Somalia took place in Koonis Stadium in mogadishu today. Aweys Fodey has the details.

[Fodey] The demonstration attended by people estimated to be more than 3,000 strongly opposed the deployment of foreign troops in Somalia. The demonstrators shouted: Allahu akbar and We will not accept foreign troops.

From Reuters, Dec. 8:

Gunmen killed two security officers when they opened fire on a guard post outside a prison in Jidda, the Interior Ministry said. Residents said terror suspects were believed to be held at the prison. Al Arabiya television quoted a security official as saying that two suspects were arrested after a car chase. The kingdom said last week that it had detained 136 suspected militants, including a would-be suicide bomber. Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, the interior minister, said Monday that the militants, who included foreigners, were planning a series of suicide bombings and assassinations.

From NYC's The Villager, Dec. 6-12:

Drunk driver on Hudson Park bike path mows down cyclist

In a city where speeding cars and trucks rule the road and bicyclists ride at their own risk, the Hudson River Park bike path would seem to offer one of the safest places to cycle.

Pretty much dumb luck that they gunned this guy down before he hit anyone, which is why this isn't in the headlines. Perhaps blowback from Yemen's embroilment in the joint US-Ethiopia proxy war in Somalia? From SomaliNet, Dec. 6:

A gunman opened fire outside the U.S. Embassy early Tuesday, but was shot by Yemeni security guards and arrested before anyone else was wounded, an Interior Ministry official reported.

From Copley News Service via the San Diego Union-Tribune, Dec. 6:

MEXICO CITY – The leader of the six-month protest in Oaxaca state was arrested late Monday in Mexico City, just hours before he planned to meet with top officials in President Felipe Calderón's government in hopes of negotiating a peaceful solution.