30 November: Col Wilkerson blames Cheney for torture, inept postwar strategy, says VP violated presidential mandate on detainee treatment, formulated alternative policy-making process... Criticized for using torture, show-trials to cover up May Andizhan massacre, Uzbek gov't now closing courtrooms to international observers... Tropical storm Epsilon continues record-breaking Atlantic cyclone season, heading toward Bermuda... US Geological Survey tells Nature indications are that western US, northern China, southern Africa, southern Europe likely to face extreme drying within 50 years... New German gov't's push to step up diplomatic relations with US leads to assurances from Sec. of State Rice that US will investigate allegations of secret prisons, produce further information for allies; Rice insists no laws broken... US condemns United Arab Emirates' arrest of 26 men on charges of being homosexual, a crime in UAE; they were detained in the midst of a party at an Abu Dhabi hotel; US also warns imposing "hormone treatment" or psychological manipulation would violate international law... Media Matters reports Scarborough Country panel asserted numerous falsehoods regarding Plame leak, secret prisons leak, with no opposing points of view...

29 November: Uganda may face "double parasite threat" if to strains of bacteria that cause sleeping sickness come together via livestock... Canada PM Paul Martin forced to step down by parliamentary vote in light of probe into alleged kickbacks to party pols... Montreal climate summit opens, US continues to oppose measures to curb carbon emissions... Western Canary Islands, including capital Tenerife, rendered incommunicado, left without power by Tropical Storm Delta... Media Matters analysis shows Fox News, MSNBC giving only 3 and 4 minutes' coverage respectively to conviction, resignation of Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-CA) in the hours after the announcement; Cunningham pled guilty to $2.4 million in bribes related to defense appropriations... HRW calls on Morocco to "end impunity for the security forces and enhance judicial independence" after truth committee gives its final report... Blair forced to delay speech, move to small adjacent room, when Greenpeace activists sneak into rafters at conference to announce new UK energy review; PM announces openness to using "new nuclear" power; critics retort nuclear "by far" most expensive option...

28 November: Sen. Jeffords (I-VT) praises EU chemical control legislation as contribution to public health... Hussein trial resumes, after 40 days, during which the defense team had "suspended contact" with the tribunal after one of its lawyers was shot dead; on 8 Nov. another lawyer was killed in the same manner; Saddam complained that a pen and some notes were taken from him before he entered the courtroom, alleging he was less able to defend himself as a result... Spain responds to US pressure not to sell weapons to Venezuela with figure of $14.3 million in arms sold to Venezuela by US in 2004; defense minister cites national sovereignty as basis for right to sell... Washington Democrats oppose Republican cuts to Medicaid, while some governors take different view... Nepal closes radio station, detains 5 for attempting to rebroadcast BBC interview with rebel leader... London Met Police chief to be investigated by independent commission for allegedly misleading public after officers mistakenly shot an innocent man last summer...

27 November: Water supply flowing again in Harbin, China, 5 days after chemical spill causes complete shut-down... Gov'ts in Europe face tough public concern over CIA stopovers allegedly carrying detainees on to 3rd countries... Mugabe may seek to use new uranium find as diplomatic leverage; Zimbabwe pres. says ore will be used only to generate electricity, not to make weapons... Researchers Shanghai Astronomical Observatory may have discovered a supermassive black hole earlier this month, in the center of our galaxy; object may be 400 million times more massive than our Sun... Chile pres. Lagos says "It's over", Pinochet finished in Chilean politics... Ayad Allawi, Iraq's first post-Saddam PM, says abuses now worse than under Hussein: "Allawi accused fellow Shias in the government of being responsible for death squads and secret torture centres" writes The Guardian newspaper...

26 November: Leaders from cities and regions in Europe and around the Mediterranean want to form a decentralized regional Euro-Mediterranean cooperative development bank... Blair under fire for links to consulting firm "secretly" studying ways to create major "power base" for PM in gov't shakeup... Cindy Sheehan joins assembled protesters at "Camp Casey II", where sympathetic landowner has permitted peace activists to set up, to prevent more arrests for violating Crawford's protest ban; in her honor, supporters unveiled a Sheehan's Stand monument to mark the spot where she began her protest this summer, sparking the revived peace movement; pro-Bush demonstrators also plan event near Bush ranch... Most aggressive "mass-mailer worm" infecting millions of PCs purports to be from FBI or CIA, both of which have posted public denials on their websites; Austrian investigation agency is also looking into fraudulent virus-mails sent in its name...

25 November: Spain clears US of wrongdoing in CIA flights, saying US did not violate Spanish law... NYT reports Iraqi-run prisons "operate virtually unchecked", as gov't detains increasing numbers of suspects, leaves many languishing without charge or supervision for months in "unofficial" detention centers, their families unaware of their fates; paper writes "Iraq Abbas's search for her husband evokes the Saddam Hussein era, when people disappeared and families searched for them for years"... Italian trade unions stage 6th general strike against Berlusconi in 4 years, this in protest of budget for 2006; the nationwide strike will be emphasized by demonstrations in 60 Italian cities... Confidential UK policy document says Sharon gov't jeopardizing peace process by effort to "annex" East Jerusalem... Al Jazeera staff call for investigation, exec demands meeting with Blair over allegations Bush planned bombing its Doha offices —the network's Kabul office was destroyed by US missile attack in Nov. 2002, Baghdad office in April 2003, both times US claiming to have intel suggesting location was "terrorist site"—; MP says UK invoked official secrets act not on nat'l security grounds, but to "avoid embarassment"... Hwang Woo-suk, Korean cloning pioneer, resigns "all official positions" amid revelations his staff donated eggs for his research; reports indicate methods violated no laws at the time...

24 November: Group of UK military families opposed to war that took relative soldiers asks high court to force open, public inquiry into legality of Iraq war, prosecute if no basis found in UK law... Guardian paper leads with more on official UK gag order on journalists, possible prosecution for publishing "official secrets" emerging from leaked memo recording Bush-Blair talks at White House in 2004; fmr. defense minister urges in House of Commons that Blair publish full content of "secret" conversations regarding differences in fighting Iraq war... Uganda reportedly stifling political opposition, first arresting main presidential opponent, then banning any public speech or demonstration related to criticizing arrest... Catalán Generalitat to investigate allegations some national media violated race/ethnic-origin protections by promoting boycott of Catalán products, for political reasons... CBS, NY Times, USA Today criticized for falsely reporting as fact AG Gonzales' claim Padilla charges render "moot" the case against gov't for holding him for 3 years without charge, without even noting that legal experts disagree...

23 November: Iran gov't raises international human rights ire with execution of two men for "homosexual conduct"... US groups oppose new Vatican ban on homosexuals, saying exclusion as such is anti-Christian... Antiwar protesters arrested for violating new Crawford ban on camping near Bush ranch... Reports of 9 million in, around Harbin, China, hoarding, panic-buying water as authorities cut off supply, due to contamination fears related to recent chemical plant explosion, leak; observers note crisis may also be related to increasing water scarcity in country's north... ABC News Nightline reports Dty. Sec. of State Zoellick's trip to Darfur refugee camps revealed ongoing campaigns of violence, attempts at ethnic cleansing; specific reports of gov't forces raiding camps, killing, raping refugees... Republicans facing mounting pressure as fmr DeLay aide pleads guilty to $39.4 million fraud, influence-peddling; prosecutors expect Scanlon's cooperation to yield testimony relating to quid-pro-quo bribery in Congress... Fmr Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet arrested for tax evasion... US ambassador to Spain warns NATO ally not to sell military equipment to Venezuela...

22 November: Blair, answering questions about his anti-terrorism laws, tells ministers "There should be no absolute right", justifying his proposed constraints on British civil liberties... Fmr Sen. Bob Graham says White House never even asked for a National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq's WMD capabilities or threat; Sen. Graham, intel. committee demanded NIE, saw classified version including dissents, objections; most senators saw only pro-war, redacted version with no dissenting analysis... New book with commentaries from journalists criticizes US media for passivity in presenting pro-war argument put forth by Bush admin. before Iraq invasion; author Kristina Borjesson writes "There is propaganda and fake news masquerading as real news courtesy of the US government"... Angela Merkel elected Germany's first female Chancellor... HRW says "growing body of evidence" suggests CIA uses torture, notes director Goss has made false claims that abusive interrogations do not violate US law... VP Cheney launches new attacks on critics, denies charges he seeks to stifle dissent, adds it was never Washington's reponsibility to prove WMD claims... UN warns hunger killing 6 million children per year... AI/Reprieve host largest yet gathering of fmr "war on terror" detainees, voicing concerns that institutionalized brutality "demeans us all", makes the world "more dangerous"...

21 November: Sharon leaves Likud party, setting stage for early elections where resurgent Labor, Sharon's new centrist party and an increasingly far-right Likud will compete for control of the government; Sharon says new movement will be "liberal", will push for peace, and will aim to "achieve the goals of Zionism"; observers describe new Sharon politics as "center-left"... BBC reports Tony Blair has decided to "grasp the nettle" and embrace building new nuclear power plants, even in advance of new energy policy studies... GM announces plans to cut 30,000 jobs and close 12 plants in North America, citing pressure from foreign competitors as cause... Officials say record money spent to date on Katrina-related Gulf-coast reconstruction is nothing compared to coming costs for hospitals, bridges, sewers, schools, power grids and levees to keep the flooding out... Russia announces plans to increase spending by "10 times or 15 times" in order to combat worrying escalation in rate of new HIV infections... Berlusconi tells party conference "democracy and liberty are not guaranteed" in Italy, claiming "illiberal opposition" tends toward communism, "tyranny"... ACLU finds Kentuckey voters denied right to vote by faulty instructions...

20 November: Careful not to criticize Rep. Murtha or his "careful and thoughtful" stand against administration policy, Bush says he simply disagrees with the congressman... HRW decries Syria detention of human rights activist on arriving in country after months in EU, US, demands immediate release... NYT reports "sectarian hatred" is spreading in Iraq, undermining order in "mixed towns"... FOX News criticized for trying to link Iraq debate to taxes, irresponsibly insinuating dissent will undermine economy...

19 November: One day after 85 are killed in attacks on civilians in Iraq, another suicide bomber kills at least 30, possibly more than 50, in a funeral procession... Republicans call irregular late-night vote on Iraq withdrawal, Post reports that "members nearly came to blows" when a novice Republican member suggested Murtha was a "coward", despite his personal sacrifices in wartime... Bush admin. accused of creating "legal wild west" by stripping Katrina reconstruction projects of normal labor protections, including one case where Halliburton subsidiary hired mostly undocumented workers at half the usual wage, with no benefits; 3 weeks into job, local workers were fired, replaced full time by low-pay workers; Bush admin. pledged to restore Davis-Bacon protections in early November; many "undocumented" immigrant workers were in turn, let go; NOW reports major construction firm LVI employs mostly undocumented labor, allegedly houses them in squalid condition, 42 to a trailer, in one case in a kind of "detention center" surrounded by a crocodile-infested moat...

18 November: Sri Lankan PM wins presidency on campaign promising to secure peace with Tamil rebels... Media tycoon, member of UK House of Lords, indicted in US on 11 counts of fraud related to sales of Canadian newspapers... Blunt hints House may call for Iraq withdrawal vote to resolve heated policy differences on state of war... UN investigators refuse US invitation to visit Guantánamo prison camp, because they would not be permitted to interview detainees in private, tour would be pre-arranged, guided... Fmr US pres. Clinton adds voice to growing chorus of critics saying Iraq war was "mistake"; Independent reports 2 in 3 Americans polled recently voiced opposition to Iraq war... French police report "normalcy" as "average" number of cars (98) were burned last night; in three weeks of rioting, which spread across France and into neighboring countries, officials count 8,973 vehicles burned, 2,888 arrests, 126 police injured, and 1 death...

17 November: Pentagon admits (after recent firm denials) it used white phosphorous in attack on Fallujah, defends actions as legal, chemical as not banned by any convention; a 1983 convention prohibits use of "incendiary" devices against civilians, which is what Italian state TV reported was done in Fallujah last year... Congress agrees measures to extend USA Patriot Act provisions deemend detrimental to constitutional liberties, making some of them permanent, adding minimal new protections for citizens targeted in secret searches... Memo reveals Justice Dept. overruled civil rights objections from its own staff to approve Georgia "voter identification" law which requires only specific forms of ID, would force many to use motor vehicle office in other districts to purchase valid ID for voting purposes; law has been compared by judges to Jim Crow era poll taxes to reduce black voting rights...

16 November: Senate passes McCain amendment instituting ban on torture by US gov't anywhere against anyone; also passed by wide margin, initiative calling for Iraqis to take over security progressively over 2006... Violence flares in Indian-controlled Kashmir, as militant separatists clash with authorities, bombing kills 8, injures 70... W Post obtains White House document confirming which oil industry leaders met personally with VP Cheney's "energy task force", some of falsely denied meetings to Congress... CPB investigative report shows ousted chair Tomlinson had improper e-mail contact with White House political aides in relation to selection of new CPB president, instituted political surveillance of 3 shows critical of gov't policy... Annan calls for efforts to close the digital divide between North and South... El País reports ADSL broadband connections in Spain grew by 54% over the last 12 months... FEMA tells Katrina victims, many still homeless or unable to return to devastated areas, jobs which no longer exist or still unsafe neighborhoods, they have 15 days to leave hotels it is providing; some but not all will be eligible for 3 months' rend assitance...