North Africa

Libya: NATO to bomb Roman ruins?

A NATO official said the alliance is considering air-strikes on Libya’s ancient Roman ruins of Leptis Magna, sparking statements of concern from the UN. Qaddafi’s forces have already reportedly shelled the World Heritage Site of Ghadamès.

Africa

Al-Qaeda mastermind killed in Somalia, authorities say

Al-Qaeda leader Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, said to be behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, was killed at a checkpoint in Somalia by forces who didn’t realize he was the most wanted man in Africa.

Mexico

Mexican “peace caravan” arrives at US border

A “peace caravan,” which has spent a week travelling through Mexico to protest against drug-related violence and the “war on drugs,” crossed into the US at El Paso, where protest leader Javier Sicilia called for a halt to the Merida Initiative.

The Andes

Peru: Puno protests resumed, government prepares dialogue

After a suspension to allow for presidential elections to take place in the Puno region, local Aymara activists announced that they will resume their strike civil strike indefinitely, and immediately erected roadblocks on the main highway to Bolivia.

Palestine

Israeli settlers, soliders raid West Bank villages

Dozens of armed Israeli settlers attacked residents of Qusra village in the northern West Bank, as Israeli troops broke up a an anti-settlement rally in Iraq Burin and conducted raids across the West Bank.

Mexico

Mexico: narco-tank factory busted in Tamaulipas

Soldiers patroling the Mexican border town of Ciudad Camargo discovered a warehouse where two armor-plated “tanks” were being constructed. Authorities have intercepted 100 such “narco-tanks,” which the press has dubbed “The Monsters.”