Inner Asia
Asia’s secret nuclear arms race
For all the hoopla about North Korea, a far more significant threat on the Asian continent is getting virtually no coverage: the nuclear arms race between China and India.
Watching the Shadows
Obama preparing martial law?
Changes to a regulation in the US Code titled “Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement” allow military commanders to “quell large-scale, unexpected civil disturbances.”
Bedouin rally in Beersheba
Thousands of Palestinian holders of Israeli citizenship demonstrated in Beersheba against the Prawer Plan which will displace thousands of Bedouin families in the Negev desert to make way for new towns, with the housing reserved for Jewish citizens. Photo: Ma’an… Read moreBedouin rally in Beersheba
Palestine
Arab Negev residents rally against displacement
Thousands of Israeli Arabs demonstrated in Beersheba against the Prawer Plan which will displace thousands of Bedouin families in the Negev desert.
Palestine
West Bank lawyers to strike after police assault
The union of lawyers in the West Bank announced that attorneys would suspend all their activities after anti-drug police in Bethlehem assaulted a lawyer.
Iraq
Iraq: oil boom amid sectarian war
Iraq unveiled an ambitious energy strategy to ramp up oil production to 4.5 million barrels per day by the end of next year—as sectarian violence escalates.
South Asia
Nepalese Maoists betray Indian Maoists
Nepalese Maoist leader Prachanda sent a condolence letter to Sonia Gandhi over the attack by Maoist Naxalite guerillas in which 27 were killed, including a brutal paramilitary chief.
East Asia
Edward Snowden a hit on Sina Weibo
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has been a big hit among freedom-hungry Chinese cyber-cognoscenti, placing Beijing in a bind on whether to support or betray him.
Peru backslides on indigenous rights
An indigenous woman pointing to her land expropriated for a copper project at Tintaya village, Cuzco. Recent statements from the Peruvian government do not bode well for implementation of Peru’s new Indigenous Peoples Consultation Law. President Ollanta Humala contends that “there are… Read morePeru backslides on indigenous rights
Javier Diez Canseco, ¡Presente!
On May 7, thousands filled the streets of Lima, as notables and activists from across the spectrum of Peru’s political left joined the funeral march for Javier Diez Canseco, longtime leader of the progressive bloc in the country’s Congress and… Read moreJavier Diez Canseco, ¡Presente!
The Andes
Colombia: indigenous to open dialogue with FARC
Indigenous leaders in Colombia exchanged letters with FARC commander "Timochenko" to discuss a face-to-face dialogue over guerilla aggression against native peoples.
The Amazon
Ecuador violates prior consultation: Amnesty
Amnesty International charges that Ecuador is not respecting the right of indigenous peoples to prior consultation on development decisions impacting their territories.