Syria
HRW: multiple chemical weapon attacks in Syria
Human Rights Watch reports that it has found new evidence that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons in at least four recent attacks targeting civilians.
Greater Middle East
UN rights chief blasts Egypt security measures
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein warned that Egypt's new security measures are encouraging the very radicalization they seek to control.
Iraq
Syria: a No-Fly Zone for Rojava?
Following Turkish air-strikes on their forces in northern Syria, Kurdish leaders in the region issued a call for a "no-fly zone"—heightening the contradictions for Washington.
Palestine
Hamas unveils new charter, accepts 1967 borders
The Hamas movement announced a new charter, with language rejecting any legitimacy of "the Zionist entity," yet accepting a Palestinian state along the 1967 "Green Line."
Greater Middle East
Turkey: thousands more fall to post-coup purge
Turkish authorities purged a further 3,900 people from the civil service and military on suspicion of "terrorism" ties, pursuant to a sweeping new national security law.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: Sisi extends control over judiciary
With Egypt already under emergency rule, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ratified a law that will allow him to directly appoint head judges to the country's highest courts.
Mexico
Mexico: fugitive narco-governors snared
Javier Duarte, the ex-governor of Mexico's Veracruz state, was detained by Interpol in Guatemala—the latest in a string of fugitive Mexican ex-governors to be arrested abroad.
Central America
El Salvador bans metallic mining
El Salvador became the first country on Earth to completely ban the mining of metals—following a long campaign by campesinos and their ecologist allies.
The Andes
Colombia: popular power defeats mega-mining
Mining multinational AngloGold Ashanti announced it will abandon its planned mega-project at La Colosa, Colombia, following a popular vote by local residents to reject the project.
North America
Trump lifts restrictions on offshore drilling
President Donald Trump signed an executive order to lift restrictions placed on offshore oil drilling by the previous administration, opening vast areas to exploitation.
East Asia
Korea: protests as US begins THAAD installation
Protesters blocked roads and clashed with police in South Korea’s rural Seongju county as US forces began installing the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system.
The Amazon
Indigenous protesters clash with police in Brasilia
Thousands of indigenous protesters clashed with police outside the congress building in Brasilia, during a demonstration over territorial and land rights in the Brazilian Amazon.