The Andes

Colombia: protests shut down oil production

Protests over pollution and lack of local investment shut down the operations of Petrominerales, Colombia’s fourth largest oil producer, with residents and workers erecting roadblocks around the Corcel and Guatiquia oilfields in Meta department.

North Africa

Libya: propaganda war over foreign fighters on both sides

Former US congressman Walter Fauntroy, recently returned from a “self-sanctioned peace mission” to Libya, claims much of the fighting attributed to the rebels was actually carried out by NATO special forces troops—who also brutalized the populace.

New York City

9-11 at ten: a frustrated report from New York City

The “Truthies” and sectarians who protested in downtown Manhattan continue to fetishize 9-11 as much as the patriots they loathe. For both the patriots and the protesters, it is all about the USA—while the Muslim world is finally moving on.

North America

Sharia and the left: between fundamentalism and xenophobia?

Xenophobes and Christian fundamentalists are behind the anti-sharia measures now passed or pending in more than a dozen states—but secular progressives resist efforts to impose sharia on the unwilling in the Muslim world. Can we avoid confusion?

Palestine

Egypt: state of emergency as Israeli embassy trashed

Egyptian authorities declared a state of emergency after protesters broke into the Israeli embassy in Cairo and dumped hundreds of documents out of the windows. The embassy’s Israeli flag was torn down, and a Palestinian one raised.

The Andes

Colombian teachers, students protest education reforms

Thousands of teachers and students took to the streets of several Colombian cities to protest President Juan Manuel Santos’ proposal to “reform” higher education, weakening job security and increasing tuition.

The Andes

Peru: strike closes Freeport McMoRan copper mine

Workers at the Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru’s Arequipa region began a 48-hour strike, demanding higher pay and threatening to launch an indefinite strike in one week if an agreement isn’t reached with multinational Freeport-McMoRan.