Greater Middle East

Yemen: AQAP seizes territory, drawing US drone fire

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has seized several provinces in southern Yemen, keeping government troops at bay—and in the latest clash, seizing two tanks. The US launched at least six drone strikes against AQAP targets last month.

Southern Cone

Dirty war justice blocked in Brazil; exhumations in Uruguay

A Brazilian federal judge blocked a move to try retired army colonel Sebastiao Curio Rodrigues de Moura AKA “Dr. Luchini” for abuses committed during the military dictatorship, as more human remains were unearthed at a barracks in Uruguay.

Mexico

Mexico violence to top Calderón’s final NAFTA summit

Mexico’s President Felipe Calderón, constitutionally barred from re-election, will meet with Obama in the White House this week for his final NAFTA summit—with his country’s bloody cartel wars topping the security agenda.

North Africa

Libya: Toubou people charge “ethnic cleansing”

The head of Libya’s Toubou people called for international intervention after deadly clashes at the southern oasis of Sabha. Issa Abdel Majid Mansur said the Toubou Front for the Salvation of Libya was being revived, and broached secession.

North Africa

Mali: Tuareg rebels press offensive in wake of coup

Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) launched an attack on Mali’s northern city of Kidal—following through on a promise made in the wake of last week’s coup d’etat to advance on government-held towns.

Planet Watch

EPA places first greenhouse gas limits on new power plants

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the nation’s first Clean Air Act standard for carbon dioxide emissions from new power plants. But ecologists protest that existing plants are grandfathered in, among other loopholes.

The Andes

Ecuador: national March for Water arrives in Quito

On World Water Day, the “March for Water, Life and Dignity,” more than 1,000 strong, reached Ecuador’s capital after a two-week, 700-kilometer cross-country trek to oppose plans for large-scale mining projects on indigenous lands.