Greater Middle East
ISIS blows up Syrian prison at Palmyra
ISIS militants blew up the Tadmur prison complex at Palmyra—a move protested by Syria's civil resistance as destroying evidence of the Assad regime's crimes there.
Author: CounterVortex
The Andes
Peru: one dead in Nazca iron mine strike
One was killed at some 200 injured when police fired on striking miners blocking a highway near the Shougang Hierro iron mine in Peru's coastal province of Nazca.
Southeast Asia
Burma: Dalai Lama challenges Suu Kyi on Rohingya
The Dalai Lama appealed to Burma's Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to speak up for the country's persecuted Muslim Rohingya minority amid a worsening refugee crisis.
Iraq
Iraq: Yazidis demand autonomous zone
Haider Shasho, commander of the Yazidi ethnic milita, was arrested by Kurdish forces for refusing to submit to their command and advocating a Yazidi autonomous zone.
Palestine
Israel bombs Gaza; Amnesty accuses Hamas
As Israel launches new air-strikes on the Gaza Strip in response to a cross-border rocket, an Amnesty International report accuses Hamas of killing and torturing dissidents.
South Asia
Bangladesh bans Islamist group in blogger attacks
Bangladesh authorities banned the Ansarullah Bangla Team, an Islamist militant group suspected of involvement in the murders of three atheist bloggers this year.
Iran
Kurdish factions clash on Iranian border
After weeks of tense stand-off, clashes broke out on the Iran-Iraq border between the PKK and Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI), aligned with Mahmoud Barzani.
The Andes
Colombia: peace process in jeopardy?
Colombia's government announced that it will resume aerial bombardment of FARC positions after an ambush of troops by guerillas who seem to have violated a declared ceasefire.
Greater Middle East
US scuttles Mideast nuclear-free zone —for Israel
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation talks concluded at the UN without approving a final document—due to US blocking of a provision on creating a Middle East nuclear-free zone.
The Amazon
China pushes trans-Amazon railway project
China's Premier Li Keqiang, on a tour of South America, is plugging a transcontinental railway project that would cut through the heart of the Amazon rainforest.
North Africa
Libya: ISIS tightens grip on Sirte
ISIS forces are in control of most of Moammar Qaddafi's hometown of Sirte, sucessfully repulsing an effort to retake the town by forces aligned with the Libya Dawn coalition.
Mexico
Chiapas peasants march against narco-violence
Maya indigenous peasants in Mexico's southern Chiapas state marched cross-country to oppose violence by narco gangs and the corruption of local authorities that protect them.