The Andes
Peru: Sendero harass pipeline project
A worker was wounded when presumed Sendero Luminoso guerillas fired on a camp of the Camisea pipeline consortium in the rainforest of Peru's Cuzco region.
Author: CounterVortex
Greater Middle East
Syria: ISIS destroy Sufi shrine, impose jizya tax
Qaeda-aligned insurgent group ISIS destroyed a Sufi Muslim shrine in Syrian Kurdistan and announced a "jizya" tax on non-Muslims in their zones of control.
Europe
Crimean Tatars at issue in Ukraine crisis
With pro-Russian gunmen occupying Crimea's parliament and Moscow threatening intervention, the Tatars have emerged as a dissident voice opposing union with Russia.
Mexico
Mexico: mass graves unearthed in Coahuila
Authorities in the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila announced that they have recovered at least 500 sets of human remains from mass graves along the Texas border.
North America
Russell ‘Maroon’ Shoatz released from solitary
After 22 years, veteran Black Panther Russell "Maroon" Shoatz was released from solitary confinement into the general population at Pennsylvania's Graterford state prison.
Mexico
Mexican feds: ‘Got Shorty!’ El Chapo busted —at last
Mexican authorities announced the arrest of the country's top drug lord, the notorious Joaquin Guzmán AKA "El Chapo" (Shorty)—who had eluded capture for over 10 years.
The Andes
Peru escalates cannabis crackdown
Cannabis took a greater share of total drug crops eradicated in Peru in 2013, and authorities hope to expand eradication this year—bringing the program beyond the remote coca zones.
Southern Cone
Argentina: clash with police in Chaco water protest
More than 10 were injured in Argentina's Gran Chaco as police broke up a road blockade by indigenous campesinos who were protesting lack of potable water in their villages.
Mexico
Chiapas: Zapatisa base communities under attack
Mexico's Network for Solidarity and Against Repression is calling for international support for the Zapatista base communities in Chiapas state following a wave of attacks.
Mexico
Mexico busts Jalisco cartel kingpin
Mexican security forces announced the arrest of a top leader of the New Generation drug cartel, based in the western state of Jalisco, and linked to the Michoacán violence.
Central America
Salvador terror: gang warfare or new death-squads?
A spike in deadly violence came just as El Salvador faced presidential elections, leading to speculation of an intentional provocation by resurgent death squads.
Inner Asia
China’s Uighur unrest: ‘terrorism’ or provocation?
Eleven ethnic Uighurs were killed in what China's state news agency Xinhua called a "terrorist attack" in Xinjiang—and what Uighur exiles hailed as an act of "resistance."