Planet Watch
Quebec fracking ban challenged under NAFTA
Energy firm Lone Pine Resources is challenging Quebec’s fracking moratorium under the North American Free Trade Agreement, and demanding $250 million in compensation.
Author: CounterVortex
Mexico
Mexico: pressure mounts for drug legalization
Mexican think-tanks say that state measures for cannabis legalization in the US will undercut cartel profits, and note that personal users bear the brunt of enforcement.
Southern Cone
Brazil: crime wars rock Sao Paulo
Brazilian police launched "Operation Saturation" to crush the Sao Paolo criminal network known as the First Capital Command (PCC), flooding the favelas with paramilitary troops.
The Amazon
Brazil: Amazon native killed by federal police
A Munduruku indigenous man was killed in a gunfight with Brazilian federal police at a remote Amazonian settlement, in a conflict over outlaw gold-mining in the area.
The Amazon
Brazil: violence halts work at Belo Monte dam
Work on Brazil’s controversial $13 billion Belo Monte hydro-dam has been at a halt since workers torched buildings at three work sites in a wage dispute.
The Andes
Bolivia: dissent over indigenous identity in census
Bolivia’s President Evo Morales sparked controvery by exlcuding the word mestizo, or mixed-race, as a choice for ethnic identification in the national census now underway.
The Amazon
Peru: Amazonian leaders press land demarcation
Amazonian leaders issued an open letter to President Ollanta Humala demanding that funds for the continued demarcation of indigenous lands be included in Peru's 2013 budget.
The Andes
Peru: campesino alliance with ‘illegal’ miners
At a summit in Peru's southern Puno region, artisanal miners leader Tankar Rau Rau Amaru and Aymara campesino leader Walter Aduviri pledged unity against corporate designs.
The Andes
Colombia: indigenous peace proposal advanced
An “Indigenous and Popular Peace Proposal” has been issued to bring demands for territorial autonomy to the talks between the Colombian government and FARC rebels.
Mali: countdown to military intervention
Refugees who have fled the fighting and harsh Islamist rule in northern Mali wait in neighboring Niger. Military experts from Africa, the United Nations and Europe have drafted plans to retake control of northern Mali, as West African nations prepare a… Read moreMali: countdown to military intervention
Afghanistan
Pakistan to Lebanon: Shi’ites under attack
Bomb attacks on Shi’ite processions marking Ashura claimed lives in Pakistan, while Sunnis and Shi’ites clashed in Kabul and a planned attack on Shi’ites was thwarted in Lebanon.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: cries for revolution against ‘pharaoh’ Morsi
Clashes between opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi swept Egypt, as protesters filled the streets to decry Morsi's decree granting himself sweeping powers.