East Asia
East China Sea gets scary —again
A near confrontation between Chinese and US aircraft over disputed East China Sea gasfields comes amid major joint US-Japanese naval maneuvers off Okinawa.
North Africa
Mali: Tuareg rebels declare end to ceasefire
Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) announced that they are ending their ceasefire with the Malian government following new clashes.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: blogger arrested in protest crackdown
Alaa Abdul Fattah, a prominent blogger who opposed Mubarak and Morsi alike, was arrested by Egypt's military authorities on charges of organizing an unsanctioned rally.
Mexico
Citizens challenge media silence on Matamoros war
Local activists and bloggers risk their lives to get out the word on the ongoing urban warfare in Tamaulipas, with Mexico's establishment press terrorized into silence.
Afghanistan
Karzai punts on US ‘security agreement’
Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected the Loya Jirga's recommendation that he sign an agreement extending the US troop presence, citing continued civilian casualties.
Mexico
Michoacán mayor murdered by Knights Templar?
Mexico is shocked by the murder of Mayor Ygnacio López Mendoza of Santa Ana Maya, Michoacán, who was found dead after a public hunger strike to protest cartel extortion.
Planet Watch
Native resistance to North American pipeline plans
The Keystone XL pipeline from Canada's oilfields to Texas is now matched by alternate routes to British Columbia and the Maritimes—all meeting opposition from Native peoples.
Inner Asia
Tibetan monk imprisoned for ‘splittism’: report
A Tibetan monk in China’s Sichuan province was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after he led a public prayer session for self-immolation martyrs.
The Andes
Bolivia: repression against dictatorship survivors
Bolivia’s elite anti-riot force used tear-gas against survivors of the country’s military dictatorship who protested in La Paz to demand indemnification for torture they suffered.
Africa
Congo: Katanga next for mineral boom —and war?
Following defeat of the M23 rebels in the war-torn east, the DRC is touting an imminent mineral boom in southern Katanga—despite a spreading separatist insurgency.
Greater Middle East
Sinai car bomb kills 12 Egyptian soldiers
At least 12 Egyptian soldiers were killed in a car bomb near El-Arish—the latest attack in the Sinai, which is now more militarized than at any time since the Israeli occupation ended.
The Andes
Colombia: Cauca campesino leader assassinated
Sergio Úlcue Perdomo, a campesino leader who brought a case to the OAS human rights body over paramilitary terror in Cauca, was killed at his home by unknown gunmen.