Some 4,000 living in communities on the banks of the Rio Marañón in Peru’s northeastern Loreto department have been affected by an oil spill caused by the Argentine firm Pluspetrol.
A video of a rally in support of the Shining Path, which supposedly took place at Lima’s San Marcos University, has sparked a media frenzy—and fears of police or military intervention on campus.
Mexican singer Sergio “El Shaka” Vega was shot dead hours after he issued a statement denying reports of his murder. Vega was on his way to a concert when gunmen fired on his red Cadillac.
Two people were killed as Indian security forces fired on protesters at various places around the Kashmir Valley. Local Muslim leaders have called a campaign of civil disobedience.
Somalia marked its 50th anniversary of independence from colonial rule with bullets on one end of the country and ballots on the other, as independent Somaliland held free elections.
A new US drone strike killed four in North Waziristan. According to a count by Iran’s Press TV, the US has launched 36 drone strikes in Pakistan since January, killing at least 390.
At least nine ethnic Hazara men were killed in a Taliban ambush and possibly beheaded. The Taliban carried out a campaign of genocide against the Hazaras during their years in power.
President Alan García refused to sign an historic new law to recognize Peru’s obligation to consult with indigenous peoples before proceeding with resource extraction projects that affect them.
Foreign Affairs Minister José Antonio García Belaunde dismissed findings of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime that Peru is poised to overtake Colombia as the Andes’ top coca producer.
The US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the section of the PATRIOT Act criminalizing speech on behalf of groups designated “terrorist organizations” does not violate the First Amendment.
Bolivia’s Minister of Autonomy, Carlos Romero, appealed to the Confederation of Indigenous Peoples of the Oriente of Bolivia (CIDOB) to call off its cross-country march for territorial autonomy.
Upon his return from 11 months in political exile, Peruvian indigenous leader Alberto Pizango slammed oil company Perenco for denying the existence of uncontacted Amazon tribes.
