Several Arab-American and Muslim organizations filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, asking for an immediate stop to the detention of hundreds of legal U.S. visitors who registered in recent weeks as part of a security and monitoring program. The suit accuses the Immigration and Naturalization Service and U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft of illegal arrests. Jessie Mangaliman reports.

The far right is feeding on the dislocation of the industrial north of the United Kingdom. The British National Party narrowly won a council byelection in Blackburn-with-Darwen. South Asians will feel the effect. Jeremy Seabrook reports on the rise of the right.

This Declaration came out of an international conference organized by the Egyptian Popular Campaign to Confront US Aggression. Participants included former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, former Director of the UN Humanitarian Program for Iraq Dennis Halliday, New York University professor Norman Finklestein, political economist Samir Amin, Arab National Conference President Khayr Al-Dein Hassib, and others. See the report on the conference by Omayma Abdel-Latif in the Al-Ahram Weekly (12/26/02).

The National Alliance and World Church of the Creator have begun recruiting drives in Essex and Parkville. East-side Baltimore County residents are upset about White supremacists in their neighborhoods.

The Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network is planning on publishing/broadcasting in English. Anti-war activists should pay attention, as its location, along with restrictions on Western journalists could mean that Al Jazeera will be the first to cover a major escalation in Iraq.

Investigations link Saudi bank transactions to terrorism. However, the Bush administration moves cautiously when looking at institutions that could lead to powerful people in Saudi Arabia, location of 25% of world oil reserves. Lucy Komisar reports.

In 2001, the US weapons industry controlled approximately 50% of the world arms market as the US government exported $12.2 billion in weapons and was awarded $13.1 billion in new foreign contracts. In addition, there was $36 billion in direct commercial sales by US weapons manufacturers to foreign nations. John Stanton analyzes the US military-industrial complex.

Union membership in the U.S. has declined from 38% in the mid-1950s to 9% of the private work today. Barbara Ehrenreich & Thomas Geoghegan see the basic reason for organized labor's decline as labor laws which do not let people join unions, freely and fairly, without being fired. The authors call for a more "libertarian" approach to organizing and suggest some initiatives.