North Africa
US builds regional drone base in Niger
The US is investing at least $50 million in a military air base in Niger that will be capable of deploying drones to police the greater Sahara and Sahel regions.
Author: CounterVortex
The Amazon
Peru: officials to meet with Amazon protesters
Peru's government announced that an official delegation will meet with indigenous protesters who have been blockading a main tributary of the Amazon River.
Mexico
Mexico: top Ayotzinapa investigator resigns
Tomás Zerón de Lucio, head of Mexico's Criminal Investigations Agency, turned in his resignation amid an internal inquiry into his handling of the Ayotzinapa massacre case.
Africa
Chemical attacks in Darfur claimed
Amnesty International claims "horrific evidence" of repeated chemical weapons attacks carried out by Sudanese government forces against civilians, including young children.
Planet Watch
ICC to prosecute environmental crimes
The International Criminal Court released a policy document calling for prosecution of individuals for atrocities committed by destroying the environment.
The Amazon
Peru: satellite to monitor rainforest
Peru launched its first satellite into space this month, to monitor illegal mining, logging and other extractive activities in the country's vast stretch of the Amazon rainforest.
The Andes
Colombia: FARC peace deal signed in Cartagena
Colombia's long civil war came to an official end as President Juan Manuel Santos met with FARC leader "Timochenko" in the Caribbean port of Cartagena to sign a formal peace pact.
The Amazon
Peru: indigenous leaders cleared in Bagua massacre
Following a trial lasting seven years and four months, a court in Peru's Amazonas region absolved 52 indigenous leaders in charges related to the 2009 Bagua massacre.
The Andes
Prize-winning peasant ecologist attacked in Peru
Máxima Acuña, the campesina who won the Goldman Environmental Prize for defense of her lands from a mining company, survived a new attack by security guards.
War in Ukraine: the view from the East Village
A scene from Yara Arts Group's "Hitting Bedrock," on the war in eastern Ukraine, performed at La Mama theater in Lower Manhattan. East Village Ukrainians take pride in the neighborhood's role in keeping their culture alive through the worst years of… Read moreWar in Ukraine: the view from the East Village
Iran
Iran: outrage over mass execution
International outrage over the mounting wave of executions in Iran reached another milestone when 12 drug convicts were hanged at Karaj Central Prison outside Tehran.
The Andes
ELN ‘armed strike’ shuts down Colombia’s east
Business and transportation across much of Colombia's eastern plains and mountains were paralyzed this week in an "armed strike" called by the National Liberation Army guerillas.