Border guards in Tajikistan report that they shot down a hang-glider carrying 20 kilogram of heroin being smuggled over the border from Afghanistan Aug. 23. Tajik officials said Afghan traffickers had been using the hang-glider for three years, and previous attempts to shoot it down had failed. Some reports said it was powered by a small engine. Officials said a manhunt was under way for the "pilot," who had escaped despite being injured on hitting the ground.

The incident took place in the Shuroobod area, which is said to be a major smuggling route. Lt. Gen. Saidamir Zukhurov, commander of the Tajik border troops, said the trafficker had "little chance to escape" because the area had been tightly secured.

Aug. 24 commentary in MarketWatch takes Goldman Sachs to task for exploiting the chaos—as well as government largesse—over the Ground Zero redevelopment effort in New York City:

For a Wall Street bank, Goldman Sachs plays the Main Street game of government extortion like a veteran.

In a sure sign that the anti-war movement is finally starting to have some effectiveness, protesters are now coming under violent attack. Over the weekend, police in Pittsburgh, PA, used dogs and tasers against a group picketing a recuitment center in the neighborhood of Oakland. From the Pittsburgh Independent Media Center, Aug. 21:

The new resident reactionary on the New York Times op-ed page, John Tierney, boasts in his Aug. 23 column, entitled "The $10,000 Question," that he has made a five-grand wager with Matthew Simmons, author of Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy, against the latter's predictions quoted in the Aug. 21 Sunday Times Magazine ("The Breaking Point" by Peter Maass) that oil prices will hit the triple digits by 2011.

Gary Milhollin, director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control and publisher of IranWatch.org, has the lead op-ed in the Aug. 23 New York Times, "Don't Underestimate the Mullahs," warning that Iran could be much closer to having The Bomb than is commonly assumed:

China's bid to purchase the US oil major Unocal foiled by Chevron, which beat the Chinese firm CNOOC to the punch, it is now seeking a stake in the Caspian Basin oilfields of Kazakhstan--where Chevron is a major investor.

Dozens of protesters shouted, "Rumsfeld, you fascist, you are the terrorist," on Aug. 17 as US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld presented a floral offering at the Tomb of the Heroes in downtown Asuncion during a brief visit to Paraguay. The protest was organized by the Peace and Justice Service-Paraguay (SERPAJ-PY), which called Rumsfeld's visit "an extension of the process of war" by the US against the region. Rumsfeld arrived in Paraguay on Aug. 16 to start a three-day visit to the region.

Escalating violence continues to make life unlivable in Haiti, with police forces and foreign "peacekeepers" contributing to the bloodshed--while those who flee to the neighboring Dominican Republic face racist attacks and mass deportations. From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Aug. 21: