726

Iraq: Maliki backs down on US mercenary firm

The US-backed Iraqi government of PM Nuri al Maliki has dropped its demand for the expulsion of US security firm Blackwater, under investigation over the killing of 11 Iraqis on September 16, a government security official told reporters in Baghdad five days later.

Israel, US reject call for nuke-free region

By a vote of 53-2, the 51st general conference of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, held in Vienna on September 17-21, approved a non-binding resolution sponsored by Egypt calling on all Middle East countries to abide by IAEA safeguards against the development of nuclear weapons.

Capital's crimelords

Gangster Capitalism: The United States and the Global Rise of Organised Crime
By Michael Woodiwiss
Constable, 2005
260 pages, $44.95 (pb)

Peru: How Cuba's solidarity makes a difference

On August 15, the cities of Ica and Pisco located in the southern region of Peru were hit by a massive earthquake registering 7.9 on the Richter scale. This was the first quake recorded in living history in this area. It resulted in the loss of 540 lives, and immense physical destruction; 80% of buildings within the heart of Pisco collapsed, and more than 16000 people were left without housing and basic services.

Global support for the Cuban 5 grows

The international campaign to free five Cubans wrongfully imprisoned in the US has intensified, with 115 participating in a coordinated month of solidarity between September 12 and October 8.