Mexico: Oaxaca barricaded again

Published 9:00 pm Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Some of the barricades torn down by federal police went back up Tuesday as demonstrators regrouped. Federal police held the central square, but schools and most businesses remained closed and residents tired of five months of paralyzing strikes looked on in dismay as protesters used debris, stones and sand bags to block recently cleared streets.

China: More death penalty scrutiny

China, believed to carry out more court-ordered executions than all other nations combined, took a step forward in improving human rights Tuesday by enacting legislation that requires approval from the country’s highest court before putting anyone to death. The amendment to China’s capital punishment law follows reports of executions of wrongly convicted people and criticism that lower courts have arbitrarily imposed the death sentence.

Israel: Saudi peace talks suggested

Israel’s defense minister said Tuesday that a dormant Saudi initiative for Mideast peace could be a “basis for negotiation,” indicating a new possibility for talks with the Palestinians after years of stalemate. In the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Israeli helicopter fire killed three Palestinian militants and at least 20 people were wounded in firefights as troops moved on a northern Gaza town, Palestinian security officials said. Also, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Tuesday that “serious negotiations” were under way over the fate of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by his militant group sparked a month of brutal fighting in Lebanon.

Russia: Iran resolution movement

Two senior Russian officials indicated Tuesday that Moscow could back a draft U.N. Security Council resolution imposing economic sanctions on Iran, in an apparent sign of the Islamic Republic’s growing isolation over its nuclear program. Just last Thursday, the foreign minister said Moscow was opposed to the resolution being drafted by European powers.

From Herald news services