The Amazon
Peru: Amazon highway at issue in Toledo scandal
The Inter-Oceanic Highway, long a focus of protest in Peru's Amazon, is at issue in the corruption scandal implicating ex-president Alejandro Toledo.
Author: CounterVortex
Syria
Syria: 13,000 secretly hanged at military prison
An Amnesty International report exposes the “cold-blooded killing of thousands of defenseless prisoners” in a Syrian regime detention center.
The global land-grab
A local resident in Gambela, Ethiopia, looks on as former peasant lands are enclosed by a corporate interest—one of several such instances around the world. In New York City, Brooklyn's Maple Street Community Garden is battling in the courts for its… Read moreThe global land-grab
The Caribbean
Haiti: ex-coup leader busted for coke trafficking
Guy Philippe, a former paramilitary boss and coup leader recently elected to Haiti’s senate, was arrested by the DEA days before he would have been sworn into office. (Map: Perry-Castañeda Map Library)
Iran
Iran bank drops dollar amid new sanctions
The Central Bank of Iran formally dropped its use of the US dollar as Trump slapped new sanctions on the Islamic Republic in response to its latest missile test.
Afghanistan
Afghan government losing territory to insurgency
The Afghan government controls less than 60% of the country's territory, with security forces retreating from many areas last year, a US oversight agency reports.
North Africa
Morocco joins AU; Sahrawi Republic betrayed?
As Morocco is readmitted to the African Union, it is pushing for the suspension of Morocco-occupied Western Sahara, placing the AU in a difficult position.
Greater Middle East
Yemen: child killed in Trump’s first commando raid
President Trump's first commando raid left dead the US-born 8-year-old daughter of Anwar al-Awlaki, the late leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
North America
Court issues stay on Trump immigration order
A Brooklyn federal judge blocked Trump's order barring immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries, as activists occupied JFK and several other US airports.
Planet Watch
Doomsday Clock: 2.5 minutes of midnight
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the minute hand of its symbolic Doomsday Clock from three minutes to two-and-a-half minutes to midnight.
Syria
Syria: first joint US-Russian air-strikes?
The Pentagon denied Moscow’s claims of joint US-Russian air-strikes against ISIS, but the White House signalled its willingness to cooperate with Russia in Syria.
Iran
Iran’s land-grab in Syria
Iran's government and companies close to the elite Revolutionary Guards have signed major economic contracts with Syria, gaining control of large areas of the country.