Africa
Congo: intervention force against Islamist rebels?
Ugandan Islamist group ADF-NALU is blamed for a massacre in eastern DR Congo, just as the UN intervention force announced a new drive against remnant guerillas.
Greater Middle East
Syria: imperialists keep flipping script
Ex-CIA director Michael Hayden says Bashar Assad is the best option for stability in Syria—while the White House now considers arming jihadist rebels.
South Asia
India: condemn Maoist assassination of journalist
Outrage is mounting in India against the killing of journalist Sai Reddy—at the hands of Maoist guerillas, even though police had portrayed him as a Maoist sympathizer.
The Andes
Peru: deadly clash as narco-flight intercepted
Agents of Peru’s National Police force intercepted a small plane loaded with 300 kilos of cocaine paste in Oxapampa province, mortally wounding the pilot, a Bolivian national.
Europe
Ukraine, Thailand, Italy: hope and contradiction
In Ukraine, Thailand and Italy, riot police stood down and ceded control of urban space to protesters—yet the demonstrators in all three countries have problematic politics.
Greater Middle East
Syria: new chemical revelations; aid cut to rebels
The US ironically announces a halt in aid to the Syrian rebels on the same day that the UN concludes there have been multiple chemical attacks in the country this year.
The Andes
Bolivia: activists disrupt Human Rights Day confab
A group of Bolivian activists disrupted the official proceedings for International Human Rights Day in La Paz, accusing the government of repression against indigenous struggles.
The Andes
Colombia: kingpin named in Trujillo Massacre
Colombia's prosecutor charged notorious drug kingpin "Don Diego" with masterminding several massacres between 1988 and 1994 in which hundreds of peasants were killed.
The Andes
Protesters occupy Bogotá over municipal ‘coup’
Thousands of protesters continue to occupy Plaza Bolívar, the central square in Bogotá, to oppose the removal of the Colombian capital’s populist mayor, Gustavo Petro.
Africa
Obama, Mandela and Castro: absurd hypocrisy
While Republicans wax outraged over Obama’s handshake with Raúl Castro at the Mandela memorial, US client state Israel offers a far better analogy to apartheid South Africa.
The Amazon
Ecuador: ecology group shut down by government
Ecuador’s government ordered closed the environmentalist Fundación Pachamama following protests over opening vast areas of the Amazon to oil development.
North Africa
Beyond Benghazi: Libya faces converging crises
The death of a US national in Benghazi thrust Libya briefly into the news—as lawless militias, ethnic conflicts and labor strife daily claim lives across the country.