Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte died of a heart attack in Santiago, Chile on Sunday, 10 December. He became the dictator of Chile in 1973 when a military coup, backed by the United States, ousted the democratically elected regime of President Salvador Allende was overthrown. Pinochet ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990 and had been under investigation for human rights abuses during his period as dictator.
A new household survey of Iraq has found that approximately 600,000 people havebeen killed in the violence of the war that began with the U.S. invasion in March 2003.The survey was conducted by an American and Iraqi team of public healthresearchers.
The prospects of all-out civil war in Iraq and even a regional conflict have become much more real over the past three months as sectarian violence, insurgent and terrorist attacks, and criminal activities have risen significantly, according to the latest United Nations report on the war-torn country released today.
A report released Tuesday by a United Nations group documents the staggering levels of global inequality in household wealth. The report gives a partial portrait of a world society characterized by extreme concentrations of wealth in the hands of the richest sections of the population, with the position of much of the remainder ranging from general economic insecurity to dire poverty.
Friday, 8 December. The continuing deterioration of the security situation has forced GOAL to withdraw all remaining international staff from Darfur after three years of work, providing humanitarian relief to 220,000 war victims.
(Democracy Now)
A former federal prosecutor named Elizabeth de la Vega has drafted an indictment of President Bush, Vice President Cheney and other top officials for tricking the nation into war and for conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Violent incidents in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan seem to be symptoms of instability rather than a new wave of organised Islamic militancy. By Dadodjan Azimov in London (Institute of War and Peace Reporting).
MOGADISHU, Dec 8, 2006 (AFP) - Fierce fighting erupted Friday between forces loyal to Somalia's weak Ethiopian-backed government and powerful Islamists south of the government's seat of Baidoa, Islamist officials said.
Tony Blair and US President George Bush have said they will take a "new approach" to the war in Iraq in a joint press conference designed to show they still stand together on the issue.The two leaders used the press conference to respond to the Iraq Study Group's blunt assessment of US failings and their vision of future policy.
December 8, 2006The Associated Press is reporting from Cairo that private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, according to Iraqi officials and others.