Articles by Super User

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina – Depending on the news outlet, the outcome of last week’s Summit of the Americas was “real progress,” a bit of “cautious skepticism,” or another “fiasco” for the Bush administration.

For the U.S. delegation, the objective was modest: Restart negotiations for the Free Trade Area of the Americas, a hemispheric trade deal that hit an impasse at a Miami ministerial meeting two years ago. But the official conference slogan was actually "Creating Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance." read more

ROME – The Italian newspaper La Repubblica has published an exposé alleging that the nation’s military intelligence agency SISMI provided bogus intelligence in the run up to the Iraq war with the knowledge of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The charge follows a parliamentary report released in July concerning the forged Niger uranium documents at the heart of the CIA leak case. The documents, which purported to show a deal between Baghdad and Niger, may have been produced in the Italian capital, the newspaper claims. read more

CARACAS – Minister of Interior Jesse Chacon has accused New Tribes, a fundamentalist evangelical project, with carrying out experiments on indigenous people in Venezuela that have led to 80 deaths, Prensa Latina reports.

A year ago, dozens of indigenous people allegedly died from malnutrition in the state of Apure, the minister has charged. According to an investigation, there were "experimental warehouses" and medicines "never reached these people," he said.

Pres. Hugo Chavez, who accused the missionary project of exploiting indigenous peoples and spying, ordered New Tribes out of Venezuela. According to the government, New Tribes has been working with the CIA, General Dynamics and Westinghouse. read more

TEL AVIV – Two top Israeli officials are at odds over the chances for peace with the current Palestinian leadership, according to Agence France Presse. Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has expressed serious doubts that "one day we can reach a peace accord with the present leadership," but Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Perez has criticized that position.

"We must wait for the next generation," Mofaz told the Yediot Aharonot daily. "I don’t think that a Palestinian state will see the light of day in the coming years." read more

NEW YORK – U.S. military interrogators have allegedly told a journalist for Al Jazeera who has been detained since December 2001 as an "enemy combatant" that he would be released if he agreed to provide U.S. intelligence authorities with inside information about the satellite news network’s activities, according to London’s Guardian newspaper.

Sami Muhyideen al-Haj, an assistant cameraman for Al Jazeera, was arrested by Pakistani authorities along the Afghan-Pakistani border while on assignment, then transferred to U.S. custody and brought to the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. read more