The slaying of left-wing journalist and newspaper publisher Gauri Lankesh in south India's Karnataka state has sparked protests across India and outrage across the world. She had been an outspoken opponent of the ruling Hindu nationalists. Journalists are hoping the case represents… Read moreAfter Guari Lankesh
Peru's Transport and Communications Ministry signed a contract with Chinese state-owned engineering giant SinoHydro to build the Hidrovía Amazónica, a mega-project aimed at turning the major rivers of the Amazon into arteries for delivering the resources of the rainforest basin to foreign markets. The government claims to have carried out a "prior consultation" with impacted communities along the rivers, having won 40 agreements to proceed with work.
Guerilla commander Nicolás Rodríguez AKA "Gabino" issued orders to his National Liberation Army (ELN) fighters to honor the bilateral ceasefire that is to take effect Oct. 1. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said he hoped the ceasefire would lead to the ELN laying down arms, as happened with the FARC. But these statements came just days after yet another rupture on the Caño Limón-Coveñas oil pipeline, which the government blamed on the ELN.
Hurricane Maria’s destruction on Puerto Rico could spawn one of the largest mass migrations in US history. Some 97% of the island’s residents are still without power, and half do not have running water. Thousands now awaiting flights from San Juan’s airport might be permanently displaced and become the planet’s newest “climate refugees.”
At a press conference on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, Libyan human rights groups accused the United Arab Emirates of committing war crimes in the country, including killing hundreds of civilians. The rights groups said that the UAE committed these crimes through direct air-strikes on Libya, and by backing the renegade general Khalifa Haftar.
As results come in from the Kurdistan Regional Government's referendum on independence from Iraq, Baghdad is rejecting the vote as illegitimate and refusing all talks on the matter. Turkey has threatened to seal the KRG's borders. One deadly clash was reported between Kurdish Peshmerga and a Turkmen militia at a town contested between Baghdad and the KRG.
A UN Human Rights Office report charges Russia with forced disappearances, torture and persecution of the Tatar minority in annexed Crimea. Ukraine meanwhile passes an education law that discriminates against minority languages such as Russian and Hungarian.
In his final address to the UN General Assembly as president of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos delivered a message of peace, portraying the agreement between his government and the FARC guerilla as a model for the rest of the world. But the peace process continues to face numerous challenges in its implementation—not least of which from US pressure to maintain aggressive counter-narcotics operations.
Indigenous protesters at the Bolivian Altiplano pueblo of Achacachi lifted their blockade of the main highway to the Peruvian border after a full month of paralyzing traffic on the artery. Following a clash with National Police, villagers agreed to dialogue on their grievances, to be mediated by the Catholic church and Bolivia's human rights ombudsman. The conflict reveals a split over the stance of Bolivia's powerful indigenous movement toward the government of President Evo Morales.
Colombia's government—under Washington pressure—is pushing ahead with plans to forcibly eradicate 50,000 hectares of coca leaf this year, despite mounting resistance from peasant growers. Violent confrontations between cocaleros and eradication forces are reported across the country. Even "voluntary eradication" is meeting protest, as campesino communities are flooded with National Police troops, in violation of their pacts with the government.
Tunisia's parliament voted to overturn a 1973 directive prohibiting marriage between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man—a victory for the country's transition to secular rule. But one day earlier, the parliament voted overwhelmingly to approve a controversial amnesty law pardoning thousands implicated in corruption and embezzlement under the former regime of Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali. The opposition bloc boycotted the vote, as protesters massed outside the parliament building, calling the step a move back toward dictatorship.
Independence Day celebrations in Guatemala were disrupted by protests across the country, as thousands took to the streets to demand the resignation of President Jimmy Morales. The protests were sparked after the country's Congress voted down a measure to remove Morales' immunity from prosecution and instead approved legislation that decreases the penalties for campaign finance crimes.
