Watching the Shadows
Judge orders halt to force-feeding at Gitmo
The US District Court for the District of Columbia ordered officials at Guantánamo Bay to temporarily suspend forced feedings of a detainee at the facility.
Author: CounterVortex
Philippines: indigenous peoples pledge resistance
Speaking to reporters from an undisclosed location somewhere in the mountains of Talaingod, Davao del Norte province, on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao, a group of traditional indigenous elders, or datu, said: "We want peace here in Talaingod. But… Read morePhilippines: indigenous peoples pledge resistance
Southeast Asia
Philippines: indigenous peoples pledge resistance
Datu Guibang Apoga, fugitive leader of the Manobo indigenous people of Mindanao, held a jungle press conference to pledge renewed resistance to militarization of tribal lands.
North Africa
Battles in Benghazi as general goes unilateral
Heavy fighting broke out in Benghazi as forces led by Gen. Khalifa Hafter attacked an alliance of Islamist militias—a move disavowed by Libya's central government in Tripoli.
Greater Middle East
Turkish miners: ‘Burn AKP!’
Thousands of Turkish workers went on strike to express their outrage over the mining disaster at Soma, where angry protests by local miners and their families continue.
Southern Cone
Rio: favela violence spills into Copacabana
An uprising in a favela on hills overlooking the famed Copacabana beach spilled over into the posh tourist district below. Is Rio's "pacification" campaign backfiring?
The Andes
Peru: OAS rights body rules in Conga case
The Organization of American States rights commission ordered Peru's government to protect local residents facing threats over their opposition to the Conga mining project.
The Amazon
Amazon mega-dams: ‘hydrological experiment’?
A new report counts 412 hydro-electric dams to be built across the Amazon basin and its headwaters, portending the “end of free-flowing rivers” and potential “ecosystem collapse.”
The Andes
Ecuador: face-off in Intag Valley mining dispute
Hundreds of police troops occupied Ecuador's Intag Valley, backing up a team sent to carry out an impact study for the Junín mining project—over the protests of local campesinos.
The Amazon
Ecuador nixes vote on Yasuni oil drilling
Ecuador's National Electoral Council turned down a petition for a referendum on plans to open Yasuni National Park to further oil exploration—as activists protest "fraud."
Heartland stands up to Keystone
Lakota members marched at the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota during the annual Liberation Day commemoration of the 1890 Wounded Knee massacre, pledging to resist the Keystone pipeline. In Nebraska, a landowners' suit against TransCanada's use of eminent domain could… Read moreHeartland stands up to Keystone
The Andes
May Day mining disaster in Colombia
An unknown number of miners—perhaps as many as 40—were buried alive as an illegal gold mine collapsed at El Palmar, in Colombia's southern region of Cauca.