Central America
Honduras: deadly DEA raid —again
A suspected drug trafficker was killed in the first DEA-backed drug raid in Honduras following a five-month suspension in radar intelligence sharing between the countries.
Author: CounterVortex
The Andes
DEA back to Venezuela?
In the first sign of a thaw in relations between the US and Venezuela, Caracas is weighing a request from Washington to allow a return of DEA officials to the South American country.
The Andes
Colombia: ELN abducts gold prospectors
Guerillas of Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) abducted five gold prospectors working for a Canadian company on an exploratory mission in Bolívar department.
The Andes
Colombia: FARC ends unilateral ceasefire
Colombia’s FARC rebels announced the immediate end of a two-month unilateral ceasefire and renewed its call for a bilateral truce to hold peace talks with the government.
Europe
Greece: thousands march against Golden Dawn
Some 3,000 marched in Athens, parading the coffin of a Pakistani immigrant who was stabbed to death earlier in the week by suspected Golden Dawn militants.
North Africa
Algeria: army raids gas complex seized by jihadists
Algerian military forces attacked the Amenas gas complex in the interior Sahara, where a breakaway faction of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb took dozens of hostages.
Afghanistan
Pakistan: Sufi leads anti-corruption protests
Thousands of Pakistanis chanitng “we want change” filled the streets of Islamabad in a massive anti-corruption protest led by Sufi cleric Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri.
Afghanistan
Pakistan: Shi’ites stage die-in —for real
Shi'ites in Quetta, capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, spent three nights in the freezing cold with the bodies of their slain loved ones at one of the city's main intersections.
Mexico
Peace of the graveyard in Ciudad Juárez?
Violent deaths in Ciudad Juárez dropped to 800 last year, down from a peak of 3,622 in 2010—likely because the Sinaloa Cartel has finally crushed local rival, the Juárez Cartel.
The Amazon
Bolivia: deforestation decree protested
A new law promulgated by Bolivia’s President Evo Morales forgives past illegal deforestation in the name of boosting food production—drawing criticism from ecologists.
Planet Watch
Chief Spence maintains hunger strike —despite Ottawa meetings
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Gov-Gen. David Johnston met with First Nations chiefs in Ottawa, but Chief Theresa Spence announced that she will maintain her hunger strike.
North Africa
French air-strikes open Mali intervention
France carried out air-strikes against Islamist rebels in Mali, helping government forces halt a drive southward by the militants who control the country’s desert north.