The Andes
El Niño impacts deepen Ecuador quake disaster
Rescue efforts in Ecuador's quake-ravaged Manabí province are hindered by damaged roads—repeatedly hit by flooding linked to this year's severe El Niño phenomenon.
Author: CounterVortex
Southeast Asia
Mindanao: deadly clash with ISIS forces
At least 18 Philippine soldiers and five militants were killed in a 10-hour fire-fight with the ISIS-loyal Abu Sayyaf group on the conflicted southern island of Mindanao.
Africa
Mining fuels renewed Darfur conflict
Russia is blocking release of an internal UN report that apparently shows how pro-government militias in Darfur are making some $54 million per year in gold mining.
South Asia
Bangladesh: deadly repression of anti-coal protest
Police opened fire on peasant protestors at the site of a coal-fired power plant project in the Chittagong district of Bangladesh, killing at least four.
Central America
Honduras: most dangerous country for ecologists
Human rights group Global Witness ranked Honduras as the world's most dangerous country for environmental defenders, with 109 slain over the past five years.
The Andes
Panama Papers pummel Peru politicians
Four of Peru’s presidential candidates, including far-right front-runner Keiko Fujimori, have been implicated in the “Panama Papers” revelations.
Southeast Asia
Bloody repression of peasant protests in Mindanao
Three were killed when security forces opened fire on farmers and lumad (indigenous people) who were blockading a highway in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
Africa
Niger Delta pipeline blast signals renewed insurgency
A deadly blast on a pipeline in Nigeria's restive Delta region has raised fears that militants—pacified with an amnesty and pipeline protection contracts—are returning to arms.
The Andes
Chile-Bolivia water dispute headed for The Hague
Bolivian President Evo Morales announced that his government will bring suit against Chile before the World Court seeking compensation for waters of the disputed Río Silala.
The Andes
Mineral interests challenge Colombia under FTA
Environmentalists are condemning Vancouver-based Eco Oro Minerals' announcement that it will sue Colombia over its new policy to protect sensitive highland ecosystems.
The Andes
Colombia: will paras fill post-FARC power vacuum?
Rights groups see an urgent threat that criminal gangs and paramilitary groups will fill the power vacuum in remote areas of Colombia as the FARC is demobilized.
Southern Cone
Argentina: Kissinger crimes in the news again
Obama's visit to Argentina on the 40th anniversary of the coup that opened the "Dirty War" met protests—but he pledged to release files on US complicity in the atrocities.