Europe
Tatar autonomy suppressed in Crimea
The Supreme Court of Russia-annexed Crimea officially designated the Tatar Majlis an "extremist entity" and banned its activities—effectively ending Crimean Tatar autonomy.
Author: CounterVortex
Iran
Syrian and Iranian socialists oppose dictatorships
A newly formed Alliance of Syrian and Iranian Socialists issues a call for civil struggle against the ayatollahs, regional strongmen like Assad and Erdogan, and the jihadists alike.
Planet Watch
De Beers pressured in First Nation suicide crisis
De Beers operates a diamond mine on lands of northern Ontario's suicide-striken Cree community of Attawapiskat—where it pays a pittance in royalties despite record profits.
The Andes
Colombia: thousands displaced in new fighting
More than 3,000 members of indigenous and Afro-descendant communities have been displaced as Colombia's Chocó department is convulsed by conflict with the ELN guerillas.
Africa
Darfur: Sudan planning ‘Final Solution’?
Amid a referendum portrayed by Khartoum as a step toward peace, regime-backed militias unleash a new scorched-earth campaign in Darfur—reviving calls for US intervention.
The Amazon
Brazil: mega-dam suspended in win for indigenous
The planned São Luiz do Tapajós mega-dam in Brazil's Amazon received a significant setback when its license was suspended on grounds of its impacts on indigenous peoples.
Africa
Ethiopian troops to South Sudan after border raid
A force of Ethiopian troops crossed into South Sudan to launch a joint offensive with the Juba government against ethnic Murle militia fighters who staged a bloody cross-border raid.
Greater Middle East
Protests in Egypt over Red Sea islands transfer
New protests have erupted in Egypt calling for the downfall of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi over his decision to turn two disputed islands over to Saudi Arabia.
North Africa
Algeria: protests commemorate ‘Berber Spring’
Algeria's Berber community took to the streets to commemorate the 1980 "Berber Spring" uprising and demand greater cultural rights—or actual independence.
Iran
Global executions surge —yet again
Amnesty International's annual report on the death penalty again notes an alarming surge in the number of executions worldwide—now reaching the highest total since 1989.
Peru: peasant mine opponent wins Goldman Prize
Maxima Acuña, a campesina grandmother from Peru's northern Cajamarca region, has been named the 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize winner for South and Central America for her struggle to defend her family's lands from Newmont Mining. "A subsistence farmer in Peru's… Read morePeru: peasant mine opponent wins Goldman Prize
The Andes
Peru: peasant mine opponent wins Goldman Prize
Maxima Acuña, a campesina from Peru's Cajamarca region, was awarded a 2016 Goldman Environmental Prize for her struggle to defend her family lands from Newmont Mining.