From the Jerusalem Post, Dec. 2:

A hitherto unknown group calling itself the Just Swords of Islam issued a warning to Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip over the weekend that they must wear the hijab or face being targeted by the group's members.

Still think freedom's on the march in Afghanistan? Or, for those of you on the other side of the coin, that the Taliban insurgents are heroic anti-imperialists? From The Independent, Nov. 29:

Disembowelled, then torn apart: The price of daring to teach girls
The gunmen came at night to drag Mohammed Halim away from his home, in front of his crying children and his wife begging for mercy.

Via the Sudan Tribune, Nov. 28:

Ogaden National Liberation Front Statement on Events Unfolding in Somalia
There has been much written about the events unfolding in Somalia with frequent mention of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and speculations on our position with regards to the events unfolding in Somalia. Hence, we would like to take this opportunity to clarify to the international community and members of the media our principled position on the Somali civil war and Ethiopia’s involvement in that country’s internal affairs.

Via BBC Monitoring:

Ethiopian rebel group terms parliament's decision on Somalia "reckless"

Text of statement issued by Ethiopian armed opposition Oromo Liberation Front, OLF, on 30 December

The Ethiopian parliament, on its session of 30 November 2006, ratified a declaration of war on Somalia and Eritrea. Most surprisingly, it took the unprecedented step of declaring war on the Oromo Liberation Front [rebel group OLF] as well in the face of fierce resistance from the loyal opposition on the grounds that this would be an extraordinary act of criminalizing political demand.

One question that needs to be asked, is how much of the Iraqi bloodbath is due to the "Salvador option" strategem that Newsweek claimed Negroponte wanted to employ to quell the Sunni insurgency, using Shia militias. From AP, Dec. 1:

Spy Chief Cites Perils in Iraq
National Intelligence Director John Negroponte says Iraq is far more precarious than much of Vietnam was when he served as a U.S. diplomat there in the 1960s.

From AP, Dec. 2:

CARACAS -- A Navy captain arrested this week was allegedly about to deliver to opponents of President Hugo Chavez a list of officers disposed to help topple the government, according to a high-ranking military official.

We wonder if a year from now the big semantic debate in the US media will be whether there is a "civil war"...in Mexico. From The Scotsman, Dec. 2:

MEXICO CITY — Felipe Calderon took the oath of office as Mexico's president yesterday in a lightning-fast ceremony before congressmen who exchanged punches and insults over the conservative leader's narrow victory.

From AP, Nov. 29:

MEXICO CITY — A Mexican court reinstated an arrest warrant for former President Luis Echeverria on Wednesday, just four months after a federal judge dismissed the same charges of genocide in a 1968 student massacre.