Afghanistan
US bombs Pakistan —again
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.
Author: CounterVortex
Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Taliban behead Hazaras?
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.
The Amazon
Peru: President García refuses to sign indigenous rights law
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.
The Andes
Peru: authorities challenge UN findings on coca leaf boom
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.
Watching the Shadows
Supreme Court criminalizes speech in ruling on terrorism support law
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.
The Amazon
Bolivia: government appeals to Amazon peoples not to march for autonomy
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.
The Amazon
Peru: Amazon leader returns from asylum to slam French oil company
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.
The Andes
Colombia: president-elect Santos pledges to escalate war
Colombia’s president-elect Juan Manuel Santos says outgoing President Alvaro Uribe is to thank for his victory and promises to hit the FARC guerillas even harder than his predecessor.
Mexico
Mexico: mayor who stood up to cartels assassinated
Gunmen shot and killed Jesús Manuel Lara, mayor of the Mexican border town of Guadalupe and an outspoken opponent of the drug cartels’ reign of terror, as his wife and child watched.
Iraq
Turkey uses Israel-supplied drones against Kurdish rebels in Iraq
Despite official Turkish tensions with Israel in the wake of the Gaza flotilla attack, the Turkish military is still using Israel-supplied drones against Kurdish rebels—both in Turkey and Iraq.
Palestine
Israel’s wall nears monastery; protest turns violent
Eight were injured in the West Bank town of Beit Jala as locals and internationals gathered to protest the construction of Israel’s separation wall near the 18th century Cremisan monastery.
Palestine
Israel opens one Gaza crossing; siege remains the same
Israeli authorities pledge to finally produce a list of which goods are actually barred from the besieged Gaza Strip, but for the moment the conditions of the siege have not changed.