North Africa

Libya threatened by Berber revolt: report

The Germany-based Society for Threatened Peoples warns that Libya could face an imminent Berber revolt, if the ruling National Transitional Council does not end Qaddafi’s policies of “Arabization” and recognize cultural rights.

Afghanistan

Pakistan: drone victims seek arrest of CIA officials

The Pakistan-based Foundation for Fundamental Rights, representing the victims of drone attacks, is seeking an international warrant for the arrest of CIA station chief Jonathan Banks who has fled the country to avoid prosecution.

Mexico

Zetas: we are not terrorists

“Narco-banners” hung from Nuevo Laredo overpasses and signed in the name of Los Zetas declared: “We are not terrorists or guerrillas. We concentrate on our work and the last thing we want is to have problems with any government.”

Palestine

International outrage follows death of West Bank protester

Amid days of three-way violence on the West Bank between Palestinian protesters, Jewish settlers and Israeli security forces, global outrage is growing at the death of a young Palestinian man in a demonstration against seizure of village lands.

Africa

Congo: mineral struggle behind electoral dispute

Tutsi rebels who control army units in Congo’s east may take up arms again if Joseph Kabila does not prevail in the contested presidential elections. Corporate designs on eastern Congo’s vast mineral resources continue to fuel the conflict.

Mexico

US indictment claims Zetas-Hezbollah link

Ayman Joumaa AKA “Junior,” a Lebanese drug kingpin with alleged connections to both Hezbollah and Mexico’s Zetas drug cartel, was charged with drug trafficking and money laundering, the Justice Department and DEA announced.

North America

Occupy Wall Street protesters shut down West Coast ports

In a day of action dubbed “Shutdown Wall Street on the Waterfront,” thousands of protesters blocked cargo trucks at West Coast ports from San Diego to Anchorage, forcing terminals in Oakland, Portland and Longview to halt operations.

Greater Middle East

Syria: general strike or civil war?

The opposition has called an ongoing general strike, civil disobedience campaign and election boycott in a bid to bring down the Assad regime—but called for the Free Syrian Army to halt attacks on the security forces.

The Andes

Colombia: new anti-FARC “joint task forces” announced

The Colombian Armed Forces have created three new “joint task forces” aimed at targeting the core of the FARC guerilla army, in what the government is plugging as a final offensive against Latin America’s oldest insurgency.

The Andes

Colombian secret police agency’s parting shot: fake NGOs

A deliberate strategy by Colombia’s former intelligence agency to undermine NGOs and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has been revealed in secret documents. The Administrative Security Department (DAS) was recently disbanded.