Arms sales from China and Russia are fueling human rights violations in Darfur, Amnesty International said. While the war has disappeared from headlines, some 70,000 were displaced from Darfur in 2011, in a renewed wave of ethnically targeted attacks.
The Greek cabinet approved new austerity measures demanded by the EU and IMF, as unions began a two-day general strike. This second bailout would cut €3.3 billion from state spending, lower the minimum wage by more than 20%, and lay off thousands of workers.
Buddhist monk Shin Gambira, recently freed under a government amnesty, was again arrested in Rangoon. Wildcat strikes have meanwhile hit two Rangoon footwear factories, and ceasefires with Shan and Karen rebels have broken down in Burma’s north.
Two Tibetan protesters were killed in Sichuan province, and protests were also reported from Qinghai. The new violence comes as the number of Tibetans who have set themselves on fire in acts of protest since the wave began in February 2009 reached 22.
Palestinian detainee Khader Adnan has been on hunger strike since Dec. 17, and Physicians for Human Rights now say that his life is at risk. His protest against administrative detention has sparked solidarity demonstrations across the West Bank.
Deadly street clashes erupted in the Maldives, with protesters reported to be seizing police stations on some islands, after the archipelago nation’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, was removed in a coup d’etat.
The “New Generation” narco gang has threatened to kill one police officer a day until Ciudad Juárez police chief Julian Leyzoala step down—who they accuse of collaborating with their rivals. The 2,000-strong police force have moved into hotels and safe houses.
Hundreds of independent small-scale gold miners marched on the Venezuelan city of Bolívar to protest the militarization of Manaima district, where security forces have been sent in to crack down on unlicensed operations following a violent clash in the area.
As government troops search southern Colombia for FARC guerillas after a wave of audacious attacks, the Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca protested that several indigenous residents have been killed by armed actors in recent weeks.
Former militants of the Alfaro Vive Carajo guerilla group turned over to Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa the swords of revered 19th century presidents Eloy Alfaro and Pedro J. Montero, stolen by the guerillas from a Guayaquil museum in 1983.
The Kichwa Confederation of Ecuador (ECUARUNARI) announced a national mobilization that will converge on Quito from points around the country next month to oppose what leaders call President Rafael Correa’s policies in favor of the resource industries.
Bolivia’s government says it will coordinate with the leaders of a cross-country march in favor of a new road into the Amazon rainforest on repeal of a law that suspended the project after a bigger cross-country march in opposition last year.
