Mentally disabled women used as suicide attackers in Baghdad; Google facing lawsuit for censorship in China...

2 February :: Wash. Post reports "Two mentally disabled women strapped with remote-control explosives — and possibly used as unwitting suicide bombers — brought carnage to the two pet bazaars, in attacks Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said sought to 'turn Baghdad back to the pre-surge period'"; at least 99 people were killed in the two blasts... FT reports "A Chinese scholar who challenged the Communist government by setting up a democratic opposition party has vowed to sue the US internet company Google for excising his name from its local search results"; Google and other internet giants have been criticized by rights activists, Congress, public for aiding Chinese Communist party gov't in censoring internet available to its people; Google, whose company motto is "don't be evil", had promised it would alert users any time information is censored with a message about "local laws", but reportedly did not do so in at least this case... Effort to create wi-fi cooperative at Cambridge Univ., England, could mean new standard for providing inexpensive or even free wireless internet across cities; obstacles persist, but cities, academics, internet users continue to search for viable method for expanding access without reducing security...

3rd undersea internet cable cut in recent days; US economy loses 17,000 jobs, signaling slowdown; eye-tracking tech moves into video-gaming...

1 February :: After two undersea internet cables were cut by unknown means in recent days, in the Mediterranean, a third has been cut in the Persian Gulf, off the emirate of Dubai; two of the cables belong to FLAG Telecom, and the cuts interrupted phone and web traffic from Europe to India... Bloomberg reporting "The U.S. unexpectedly lost jobs for the first time in more than four years, increasing the odds the economy will fall into a recession and making it likely the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates another half point next month [...] Payrolls fell by 17,000 in January after an 82,000 gain in December that was larger than initially reported, the Labor Department said today in Washington. None of the 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News predicted a decline"... Advances in eye-tracking and "attention awareness" software-driven mechanisms heighten challenge of video game, or performance of pilots, depending on application; researchers say eye-tracking technology could be an important way to improve the effectiveness of certain tools or services... Violent "mob" of estimated 3,000 in Kenya's Rift Valley reportedly killed a policeman with machetes; gov't security forces have vowed a severe crackdown, to try to end spreading violence; opposition movement says security forces have used brutal tactics against protesters demonstrating against Pres. Mwai Kibaki's gov't o alleging electoral fraud in December vote... Microsoft has offered $44.6 billion in effort to take over internet search giant Yahoo!, whose stocks have struggled as it gives ground to Google in market dominance...

HRW reports US, EU backing "sham democracies" in some cases; Barack Obama sets campaign fundraising record with $32 million in January...

31 January :: Human Rights Watch, in its annual report, criticizes leading democracies, namely US and EU nations, for backing "sham democracies" for the sake of political or strategic expediency; HRW reports "Such divorcing of democracy from the international standards that give it meaning helps to convince autocrats that mere elections, regardless of the circumstances, are sufficient to warrant the democrat label"... Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) sets all-time record taking in $32 million in contributions in month of January; it is expected Obama may continue to raise large amounts, with donations spread out across a large number of small-quantity donors; rival Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has depended on large donations which put many donors at legal limit already... Republican Sen. John McCain has received the endorsement of California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in what may be a key boost ahead of the 24-state "Super Tuesday" primary vote on 5 February... According to Christian Science Monitor, "The snowstorms currently sweeping China have wreaked havoc with millions of people's New Year travel plans and caused $3 billion worth of losses, including thousands of acres of winter crops"...

Ethnic violence spreads in Kenya, US envoy says "ethnic cleansing"; Australia to apologize to Aboriginal minority for past abuses...

30 January :: US envoy to Kenya, visiting to evaluate tribal violence spreading across east African nation, says "clear ethnic cleansing" taking place in efforts to purge certain areas of Kikuyu tribe members, loyal to fellow Kikuyu, Pres. Mwai Kibaki, accused by opposition of rigging December elections... CSM reports on observers' feeling that violence in Kenya can be stemmed, peace restored, before ethnic clashes become full-scale war, in some areas where Kikuyu, Kamba are majority of population, violence has yet to spread, but fears of spreading clashes have ignited tensions, could send entire country into "spiral of violence", driven by ethnic hatred, from which it would be difficult to emerge into peace in coming weeks, months... NY Times reports "The new Australian government of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will apologize for past mistreatment of the country’s Aboriginal minority when Parliament convenes next month, addressing an issue that has blighted race relations in Australia for years"... Sen. McCain wins Florida, Romney 2nd, McCain leading among senior citizens, Hispanics and moderates, as well as those who put economy first among concerns, while finishing close to Romney with self-professed conservative Republicans; Sen. Clinton finished ahead of Sen. Obama in the Democratic primary, as record 1.7 million voted, but because Florida's Democratic party violated DNC rules by moving its primary to January, it will send no delegates to the nominating convention... FT reports "The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed its forecast for US growth and warned that no country would be immune from what it termed a 'global slowdown'", warning that US growth would slow to 0.8% in 2008, sharply down from previous projections...

Kennedy to endorse Obama in wake of SC win; IMF warns fiscal crisis could spread, worsen; Kisumu, Kenya, ablaze amid riots...

28 January :: Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) to announce support for candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL); sources tell press Sen. Kennedy will make announcement alongside niece, Caroline Kennedy, youngest daughter of assassinated pres. John F. Kennedy, who wrote in Sunday NY TImes that Obama has the capacity to inspire people the way her father did 5 decades ago... Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the IMF, has warned that the current global fiscal crisis could deepen if more governments to not act to revamp their overall fiscal policy, infuse markets with capital and promote stimulus packages that could bring about fiscal deficits but would loosen the spending potential of consumers and investors; the move is being called an "about-face" for a director and an institution which have promoted fiscal rigor and budget cutting as ways to ensure economic agility; observers now say subprime mortgage crisis could spread to credit cards and other banking services, further tightening available capital, slowing markets across borders, industries... City of Kisumu, Kenya, burns as rioters take to streets in protest against mounting ethnically-driven killings in the region; Kenya has descended into an increasingly indiscernible pattern of tribal and political violence, since the disputed December elections in which opposition leaders allege the sitting government rigged the vote, used violence to suppress opposition, stay in power...

Kenyan violence takes 50 lives since Thursday, Annan meets leaders; Obama wins SC 55% to Clinton's 27%...

27 January :: Tribal violence, spurred by Kenya's disputed election, continues to spread, with 50 dead in recent clashes; VoA reports "Local media report that people have been hacked with machetes, shot with bows and arrows and burned to death in their homes. Shooting in Naivasha continued late Sunday despite the arrival of soldiers and more police", and fmr UN Sec. Gen. Kofi Annan is in Kenya to try to help find a road to peace... Sen. Barack Obama wins Democrats' SC primary, with 55% of the vote, Sen. Clinton finishing 2nd with 27%, and fmr. Sen. John Edwards in 3rd with 18%, as unprecedented numbers of voters turned out to participate... Israeli PM Olmert, Palestinian Pres. Abbas meet to discuss resuming path to peace, reducing Gaza tensions; Olmert promised Abbas Israel would continue to ensure that humanitarian aid and vital supplies reached the isolated territory, to avert a humanitarian crisis...