Greater Middle East

US military intervention in Yemen: reports

Shi’ite Houthi rebels charge that US fighter jets bombed their positions in north Yemen, as the UK’s Daily Telegraph reports that Washington has ordered Special Forces teams to the country.

Inner Asia

Uzbekistan: pre-election crackdown intensifies

The Uzbek government is cracking down on rights activists before parliamentary elections, Human Rights Watch charges—while criticizing the West for staying silent.

Inner Asia

China opens new Caspian gas pipeline

Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Astana to unveil the Kazakh section of a 4,300-mile gas pipeline joining Central Asia to China—the first route strategically bypassing Russia.

The Andes

DEA: Venezuelan cocaine ops aided FARC

The DEA claims evidence of a massive drug smuggling operation out of Venezuela, linking a powerful trafficker to Colombia’s FARC guerrillas and a fugitive Venezuelan businessman.

The Andes

US denies role in Colombian raid on Ecuador

Washington’s embassy in Ecuador denied official charges of US involvement in the Colombian army’s 2008 raid against a FARC camp in the Ecuadoran territory.

Southern Cone

“Blonde Angel of Death” goes on trial in Argentina

Former navy captain Alfredo Astiz AKA “Blond Angel of Death” went on trial with 18 other former police and military officers charged with crimes against humanity during Argentina’s “dirty war.”