North Africa

Seven dead in Western Sahara “football riot”

In the worst violence in occupied Western Sahara this year, ongoing clashes sparked by a soccer match have left seven dead, pitting ethnic Sahrawi supporters of the home team against Moroccan settlers who supported the visiting team from near Casablanca.

Greater Middle East

Saudi women to get the vote —but still flogged for driving

The sentencing of a woman to 10 lashes for driving a car shows the scale of gender discrimination in Saudi Arabia, Amnesty International said. The sentence comes after the monarchy announced that women will be granted the vote in local polls.

The Amazon

Bolivia: defense minister resigns over Amazon repression

Bolivian Defense Minister Cecilia Chacón resigned in protest the day after National Police used tear gas and mass arrests to halt a cross-country march by indigenous protesters in the Amazonian department of Beni.

Iraq

Iraq: terror still targets Shi’ite pilgrims, holy places

Four coordinated explosions killed 15 and injured at least 100 in Iraq’s Shi’ite holy city of Karbala— the latest in a series of recent attacks in the city which have targeted Shi’ite pilgrims as well as security forces.

The Andes

Peru: 25 injured as peasants block access to copper mine

At least 25 were injured as National Police fired shotguns and tear-gas bombs on local campesinos blocking access to the Toquepala copper mine, in Peru’s southern region of Tacna, to protest a planned expansion of operations.

The Andes

Bolivia’s ex-drug czar sentenced in US following DEA set-up

A federal judge in Miami sentenced Bolivia’s former top anti-drug official, Gen. Rene Sanabria, to 14 years in prison for cocaine trafficking—although the “Colombian drug lords” he thought he was dealing with were really undercover DEA agents.

The Amazon

Pan-Amazonian indigenous groups issue action plan at Manaus summit

Meeting in Manaus, indigenous representatives from across the Amazon approved an action plan that calls for a pan-Amazonian “consolidation” for the survival of ancestral knowledge and the protection of forests, water, biodiversity and the climate.

Europe

Guerilla warfare on Lampedusa?

Italy announced that it will transfer and repatriate all migrants off the island of Lampedusa within 48 hours, following clashes with police and residents. Italian news agency AGI called the riots “an episode of urban guerrilla.”

Europe

Court rules against Bilbao squatters; Dale Farm waits on decision

Bilbao’s Kukutza Gaztetxe community center was evicted after the Basque Country’s highest court rejected a petition by the residents. The Traveller community at Dale Farm is awaiting a decision of the UK’s High Court on an injunction halting their eviction.

East Asia

China: peasant uprising in Guangdong over land-grab

Thousands of villagers attacked government buildings in the southern Chinese city of Lufeng, Guangdong province, in a protest over the seizure of village lands and their sale to a real estate development firm.