Africa
Somalia: who controls Kismayo?
A string of bombings rocked Somalia’s port of Kismayo—five days after the city was taken from al-Shabaab rebels by a Kenyan-led force following a lengthy siege.
The Andes
Peru: indigenous consulta rejects mineral project
The village of Cañaris in northern Peru held a consulta rejecting a proposed open-pit copper mine—but the Canadian firm that holds the contract rejects the vote as illegitimate.
Peru: court rules for indigenous sovereignty
Peru’s Supreme Court ruled in favor of an indigenous rainforest community seeking to bar a road that illegal miners and timber cutters want to build through their territory.
The Andes
Peru coca crop rises for sixth year: UN
A new report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says that Peru has now achieved rough parity with Colombia in coca production, with vast new areas coming under cultivation.
Mexico
Mexico: Zetas’ ‘El Taliban’ busted by federals
Mexican naval forces announced the arrest of Iván Velázquez, AKA “El Taliban”—said to be a top commander of Los Zetas who had recently defected to the rival Gulf Cartel.
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Europe
General strike rocks Athens
A general strike in Athens turned violent as a demonstration of some 50,000 outside of Parliament ended with black-clad youth throwing rocks and petrol bombs at riot police.
Europe
Police fire on Occupy Madrid
Spanish police fired rubber bullets and baton-charged "indignado" protesters holding an "Occupy Congress" action against a new round of announced austerity measures.
North Africa
Libya: will militia crackdown spark insurgency?
Tripoli has issued an ultimatum to Libya's militias to either come under army command or disband—but some have just retreated to the desert, raising fears of an insurgency.
East Asia
Japan, Taiwan ships clash with water cannon
Japanese and Taiwanese patrol ships blasted each other with water cannon as a fishing fleet from Taiwan mobilized a protest flotilla to the contested East China Sea islands.
Southeast Asia
Burma: invisible war in Kachin state
As Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to the US won wide media attention, more peasants were displaced by the ongoing war against tribal peoples in Burma’s north.
Southeast Asia
Burmese warlord confesses to Mekong massacre
Burmese warlord Naw Kham, hunted down in the Golden Triangle by elite Chinese forces, pleaded guilty before a court in Yunnan to a massacre of Chinese merchant crewmen.