How interesting. In an implicit acknowledgement that their hardcore Islamophobe policies are backfiring in Chechya, the Russian authorities are embracing the indigenous peace-loving Sufi tradition as an alternative to the violently intransigent Wahhabism imported from the Arab world. But this could also backfire—as the Sufis themselves also seek independence from Russia, even if they aren't willing to blow up civilians to acheive it. The implications are "unclear" indeed. And while it is good to see the Kunta-Haji Sufis on page 4 of the New York Times, we're not sure they would appreciate the writer's depiction of their chanting as "grunts."

A heartwarming addendum to a horribly tragic story. Newsday's May 24 coverage of the funeral notes that the late Amber Sadiq was the product of mixed Pakistani-Dominican (and Muslim-Catholic) marriage. Repudiating New York's usual tabloid-enflamed culture of law-enforcement-as-personal-vengeance, Amber's father is calling for clemency for the little boy who (unintentionally, we presume) killed his daughter. From AP, May 24:

NEW YORK - The father of a second-grade girl killed when an empty school bus rolled forward and crushed her is asking for mercy for the eight-year-old boy accused of setting the vehicle in motion.

Top officials from Mexico's official National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) say that 23 cases of sexual abuse and rape have been documented following the violent clash between protesters and police in San Salvador Atenco. At a press conference, CNDH inspector Susana Thalia Pedroza said that experts had gathered medical opinions, videos and photographs so that "no one can say that these women are lying." Pedroza, along with CNDH head Jose Luis Soberanes, said there were 16 cases of women being molested by police, and seven cases of rape. Four of the women were foreigners who were deported shortly after being arrested. The women were among more than 200 people detained on May 3 and 4 in the protests outside Mexico City. The CNDH has received 211 complaints regarding the incident, including sexual abuse, cruel and degrading treatment, property damage, illegal seizures, robbery, and threats. (El Universal, May 23)

On May 19, four Mapuche rights activists resumed their open-ended hunger strike at the Hernan Enriquez hospital in Temuco, in southern Chile's Region IX (Araucania). Mapuche activists Juan Patricio Marileo Saravia, Florencio Jaime Marileo Saravia and Juan Carlos Huenulao Lienmil and non-Mapuche supporter Patricia Troncoso Robles began their fast on March 13 in Angol prison; they suspended it on May 14 in the Temuco jail after Chilean legislators promised to consider a bill to allow their supervised release. As part of the deal, the four prisoners were transferred from the Temuco jail to the hospital. The four are serving 10-year prison sentences imposed under the terms of a widely criticized anti-terrorism law.

After protesting for several weeks with no answer to their demands, on May 18 more than 1,000 Chilean high school students demonstrated in Santiago to press for free public transportation, free university entrance exams and improvements in the quality of public education. Agents of the militarized Carabineros police arrested at least 560 students and used tear gas and water cannons to evict a group of students who had taken refuge in the University of Chile law school. Another 244 students were arrested in similar protests in other cities, including Arica and Calama in the north, Valparaiso and Concepcion in the central region, and Temuco and Puerto Montt in the south. (Clarin, Argentina, May 18; Cadena 3, Argentina, May 19) More than 50 students were arrested in a previous protest in Santiago on May 12, and a young Argentine citizen was expelled by the Chilean government. (Pulsar, May6 12 via Resumen Latinamericano)

Boogie for your right to defy gringo imperialism, y'all. From Reuters, May 23:

CARACAS - Among the shabby high-rise tenements overlooking Venezuela's capital, hip-hop beats rather than the usual gunfire kept the Caracas neighborhood of Pinto Salinas awake one night recently.

From Upside Down World, May 24:

The nullification of Occidental Petroleum’s oil-drilling contract by the Ecuadorian government has generated mixed reactions in the Americas. Ecuador's oil minister revoked the California-based oil giant’s contract last week for allegedly not informing the government that the company sold off 40% of its Ecuadorian holdings to Canadian-based EnCana. However, it had long been known that Oxy’s presence in Block 15—a 464,000 acre chunk of Northeast Ecuador--invoked militarization, an environmental catastrophe and sparked off a social unrest in indigenous communities that the government could not contain.

A year after he was arrested on immigration charges, Posada Carriles is being investigated by a federal grand jury--but the media are no longer paying attention. From our sibling journal Upside Down World, May 24:

Convicted terrorist Luis Posada Carriles is being investigated by an El Paso-based grand jury [Prensa Latina, May 22]. Carriles just celebrated a year of incarceration in El Paso’s Federal Immigration Detention Center. The investigation seems to be centered around how Carriles entered the US without a visa in March 2005.