King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has intervened and canceled the 60 lashes for female journalist Rozanna al-Yami.

She had worked for a network that produced a show called "Red Lines, examining taboos in the Arab world, including extra-marital sex in Saudi Arabia." She wasn't directly involved with the show itself.

The Saudi man who was on the show discussing his adventures was sentenced to 5 years and 1,000 lashes. Three of his friends who appeared with him on the show got two year sentences, and lashes. The cameraman was jailed for two months, but no lashes. LBC, the Lebanon-based Arabic channel which broadcast the show has been shut down.

Islamist militants in Somalia are forcing people, including children, to watch executions:

People in Merca said al-Shabaab militia patrolled the town with loudspeakers, demanding they attend the executions.

The militants also ordered schools to close for the day as they were keen for children to watch the two men being shot dead by a firing squad. Most of those at the execution, on a patch of open ground, are reported to have been women and children.

The militants apparently hope it will lead the kids to engaging in violent behavior. [More...]

This news should surprise no one who regularly reads this blog:

"In the Mission´s view, it was Georgia which triggered off the war when it attacked Tskhinvali with heavy artillery on the night of 7 to 8 August 2008. None of the explanations given by the Georgian authorities in order to provide some form of legal justification for the attack lend it a valid explanation. In particular, there was no massive Russian military invasion under way[.]"

Yet, while everyone is remembering how crazy McCain and the neocons were, no one wants to remember that Joe Biden was insane too.

Speaking for me only

Leave it to Hugo Chavez to insert himself on the side of Iran on nukes:

A senior aide to Venezuela’s president, Hugo Chávez, said Friday that Iran was assisting Venezuela in the detection and testing of uranium deposits found in remote areas of Venezuela. The disclosure points to the importance Mr. Chávez has placed on the development of a nuclear energy program.

“Iran is helping us with geophysical aerial probes and geochemical analyses,” Rodolfo Sanz, Venezuela’s minister of basic industries and mining, told reporters outside a meeting of Latin American and African leaders in Porlamar, Venezuela.

Just what this situation needs. Sheesh.

Speaking for me only

So said President Obama, French President Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The New York Times reports:

President Obama and leaders of Britain and France accused Iran on Friday of building a secret underground plant to manufacture nuclear fuel, saying the country has hidden the covert operation from international weapons inspectors for years. Western officials claim the site is built inside a mountain near the ancient city of Qum, one of the holiest Shiite cities in the Middle East.

Appearing before reporters in Pittsburgh, Mr. Obama said that the Iranian nuclear program “represents a direct challenge to the basic foundation of the nonproliferation regime.” French President Nicholas Sarkozy, appearing beside Mr. Obama, said that Iran had deadline of two months to comply with international demands or face increased sanctions. “The level of deception by the Iranian government, and the scale of what we believe is the breach of international commitments, will shock and anger the entire international community,” British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said, standing on the other side of Mr. Obama. “The international community has no choice today but to draw a line in the sand.”

This is no surprise it seems to me. I assume there had been a delay in this announcement due to the disputed election results in Iran. To wit, the West did not want to provide Iran's ruling regime a rallying point. As the reform movement has basically been stamped out in Iran, time ran out. This is a very difficult situation.

Speaking for me only

Apparently, like me, deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is a Fringe fan:

It's been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power. He's sleeping on chairs, and he claims his throat is sore from toxic gases and "Israeli mercenaries'' are torturing him with high-frequency radiation.

Massive Dynamic must be behind it. All kidding aside, what a mess. Especially when the UN is pulling out of monitoring the upcoming election:

Brazil has taken center stage in the situation in Honduras, deciding to host ousted Honduras President Zelaya in its embassy in Tegucigalpa:

After what he described as a 15-hour trek through the mountains, taking back roads to avoid checkpoints, Mr. Zelaya and his wife took refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital.

Obviously, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and the deposed Honduran President were unhappy that attention had fallen away from the Honduran situation. Here's the part that is interesting to me:

Last August I wrote about the insane Bush Administration decision to announce a missile defense shield in Poland WHILE the Caucasus crisis was at its height. If we can say nothing else about the Obama Administration, we can applaud its sanity on foreign affairs (knowing that most of you disagree with the President, and me, on his Afghanistan policy.) The Obama Administration is scrapping the missile defense system based in Poland:

The Obama administration plans to announce on Thursday that it will scrap former President George W. Bush’s planned missile defense system in Eastern Europe and instead deploy a reconfigured system aimed more at intercepting shorter-range Iranian missiles, according to people familiar with the plans. President Obama decided not to deploy a sophisticated radar system in the Czech Republic or 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland, as Mr. Bush had planned. Instead, the new system his administration is developing would deploy smaller SM-3 missiles at first aboard ships and later probably either in southern Europe or Turkey, according to those familiar with the plans.

Now, many of you will see the new plan as an unnecessary provocation of Iran. And perhaps it is. But surely no one can equate Russia and Iran at this point in history, can they? Well, I can't at least.

Speaking for me only

Sharia Law raises its ugly head again, this time in Aceh, a province of Indonesia. Adultery will now be punished by stoning the offender to death:

The legislation was passed unanimously by Aceh's regional legislature, said assembly member Bahrom Rasjid. "This law will be effective in 30 days with or without the approval of Aceh's governor," he said.

The Governor opposes strict Sharia law but he's powerless to stop it, as is the central Indonesian government in Jakaarta.

The penalty for other non-marital sex: Unmarried people can be sentenced to 100 lashes with a cane.

Argentina's Supreme Court has ruled a law prohibiting adults from possessing small quantities of marijuana is unconstitutional.

The Court unanimously determined that pot possession is private behavior and does not "constitute a clear danger" to others. The ruling strikes down the government's longstanding anti-marijuana law, which allowed for minor pot offenders to be sentenced for up to two years in prison.

"Each individual adult is responsible for making decisions freely about their desired lifestyle without state interference," the Court determined. "Private conduct is allowed unless it constitutes a real danger or causes damage to property or the rights of others."

The rationale behind the decision: "the government should go after major traffickers and provide treatment instead of jail for consumers of marijuana." Last week, Mexico's law decriminalizing possession of very small quantities of drugs, from pot to heroin, went into effect.

Mexico's new law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs, including marijuana, heroin and cocaine, goes into effect today. The law also provides for drug treatment at the Government's expense.

The law sets out maximum “personal use” amounts for drugs, also including LSD and methamphetamine. People detained with those quantities will no longer face criminal prosecution; the law goes into effect on Friday.

Anyone caught with drug amounts under the personal-use limit will be encouraged to seek treatment, and for those caught a third time treatment is mandatory — although no penalties for noncompliance are specified.

The Mexican Congress passed a law to decriminalize drugs in 2006. Another version passed in 2007. Mexico is smart to realize that taking some pressure off users will free up resources to pursue large-scale traffickers. Will the U.S. get a clue?

Here is the statement of Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill's on the release and return to Libya of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi:

It is quite clear to the medical experts that Al-Megrahi has a terminal illness, and indeed that there has recently been a significant deterioration in his health... It therefore falls to me to decide whether he should be released on compassionate grounds.

....Our justice system demands that judgment be imposed but compassion be available. Our beliefs dictate that justice be served, but mercy be shown. Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people. No matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated.

[More...]