Mexico

Sinaloa Cartel kingpin charges DEA gave him “carte blanche”

Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla AKA “El Mayito” filed pleadings in US court accusing the DEA of giving the cartel “carte blanche to continue to smuggle tons of illicit drugs into Chicago and the rest of the United States.”

The Amazon

Bolivia: indigenous mobilize against inter-oceanic highway

Indigenous people in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia are preparing to set out on the long overland march to La Paz to protest plans for a trans-oceanic highway to be built through their rainforest lands with the backing of the Brazilian government.

The Andes

Bolivia signs lithium exploration deal with China

Bolivia’s President Evo Morales, on a visit to Beijing, signed an agreement with the China International Trust and Investment Corporation (CITIC) to conduct lithium exploration in the Andean country’s Coipasa salt flats.

The Amazon

Brazil: narco-massacre of “uncontacted” Amazon tribe?

Brazil’s indigenous agency FUNAI has launched an emergency investigation after a guard post at a reserve for isolated indigenous peoples in the rainforest of Acre state was overrun by heavily armed men thought to be drug traffickers.

North Africa

Libya: NATO bombs civilian village?

The Tripoli regime accused NATO of killing 85 of civilians, including children, in an air attack on a village in western Libya. NATO responds that the regime was using farm buildings for military purposes, and said the casualties were likely “mercenaries.”

Greater Middle East

Fear of music in Lebanon

Lebanese singer Zeid Hamdan of the band Zeid and the Wings was briefly jailed on charges of defaming President Michel Suleiman in his single “General Suleiman.” He was released following a Facebook campaign.

Afghanistan

Afghanistan: NATO raid kills civilians —again

A woman and seven young children were killed in southern Afghanistan’s Helmand province when a NATO patrol called in an airstrike against insurgents firing on them from a mud compound, local officials said.

Mexico

Mexico: police arrest Acapulco cartel boss wanted in massacre

MoisĂ©s Montero Álvarez AKA “El Coreano,” alleged leader of the Independent Cartel of Acapulco (CIDA), was captured by Mexican federal police and charged in the massacre of 20 abducted vacationers from MichoacĂĄn who were mistaken for members of a rival cartel.