Palestine
Deadly narco violence in Gaza Strip
The Hamas-run administration in the Gaza Strip will appoint a committee to investigate clashes between police and suspected drug dealers in Beit Lahiya that left one dead.
Greater Middle East
Samantha Power signals Syria intervention?
Samantha Power’s appointment as UN ambassador may signal a determination on the part of the Obama administration that intervention in Syria is inevitable.
Iran
Iran: protests at funeral of reformist cleric
Thousands gathered to chant "down with the dictator!" at the funeral procession for dissident cleric Ayatollah Jalaluddin Taheri in Isfahan, signaling a renewal of opposition activism.
East Asia
Tiananmen Square revisionism —again
Commentators in China and the West alike portray the Tiananmen massacre as a legacy of Maoism. But was the repression in spite of China’s capitalist transition, or a function of it?
The Andes
US drug case reveals DEA paid Colombia police
Two Colombian drug defendants were allowed to cop a plea after revelations that prosecution withheld information of ongoing DEA payments to Colombia’s National Police.
Central America
Will OAS summit broach drug decrim?
The OAS summit in Guatemala opens in the wake of a ground-breaking report dissenting from the US-led “drug war” and broaching decrim and legalization strategies.
Turkish hopes for a new beginning
Whether or not the protestors currently occupying Istanbul’s Taksim square can evolve into an effective, open and progressive opposition to the AKP’s authoritarian neoliberal regime remains to be seen. But John McSweeney writes for openDemocracy that one thing is clear: this… Read moreTurkish hopes for a new beginning
The Andes
Peru: ‘opium mafia’ revealed in national police
The local anti-drug prosecutor in Peru’s Amazonas region has opened an investigation into 25 suspected of running an “opium mafia” within the security services.
The Andes
‘Narco-pardons’ scandal shakes Peru elite
A parliamentary Mega-Commission investigating corruption under ex-president Álan García has shocked Peru with its findings that hundreds of narco-traffickers were pardoned.
The Andes
Peru: protests over militarization of coca zone
Peasants protested in Peru's coca-producing Apurímac-Ene River Valley after army troops fired on a public transport microbus, injuring nine. A state of emergency permits impunity.
Greater Middle East
Lebanon’s hashish valley drawn into Syrian war
Lebanon’s hashish heartland of the Bekaa Valley is increasingly embroiled in the civil war raging across the border in Syria, with a wave of sectarian clashes and abductions.
Inner Asia
Kyrgyzstan: emergency over mining protests
Kyrgyzstan declared a state of emergency after hundreds of protesters stormed the offices of the Kumtor gold mine, run by the Canadian-based Centerra Gold.