Planet Watch
UN moves to outlaw nuclear weapons in 2017
The UN adopted a resolution—hailed by disarmament campaigners as an important landmark—to launch negotiations in 2017 on a treaty outlawing nuclear weapons.
Iran
Iran: mass mobilization for human rights
Thousands from various Iranian cities took part in a protest against the clerical regime's policies at Pasargade, site of the tomb of Cyrus the Great, outside Shiraz.
The Amazon
Fears for isolated tribe in Bolivian rainforest
Indigenous leaders in Pando region of the Bolivian Amazon issued an urgent call for the protection of "uncontacted" peoples threatened by oil operations.
Planet Watch
Police repression at Dakota Access protest camp
More than 140 were arrested as over 300 riot police backed up with armored vehicles and helicopters cleared the camp erected to block construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Andes
‘Critical chavismo’ joins Venezuela strike
Massive protests across Venezuela were called by the right-wing opposition, but also joined by dissident left organizations proclaiming a new current of "chavismo critico."
The Amazon
Environmental official slain in Brazilian Amazon
Luiz Alberto Araújo, a municipal environmental official in the Amazon town of Altamira who had aggressively campaigned against illegal logging, was shot dead by unknown gunmen.
Iraq
Erdogan revives Ottoman-era designs on Iraq, Syria
As Turkey turns its warplanes on the autonomous Kurds of northern Syria, state media release propaganda maps showing claims to former Ottoman lands in Syria and Iraq alike.
Europe
Mediterranean migrant death toll soars
With two months still to go, deaths of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean so far this year have hit a record high, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
North America
Sheriff Joe Arpaio charged with criminal contempt
A federal judge ordered Arizona's Sheriff Joe Arpaio to be tried for criminal contempt over continuing his immigration patrols in defiance of court orders in a civil rights suit.
Palestine
UNESCO nomenclature wars in Jerusalem
The UNESCO resolution against Israel's political archaeology at the Temple Mount counter-productively refered to the site only by its Islamic name, the Ḥaram al-Sharif.
Syria
Bill Weinberg: against pro-war ‘anti-war’ jive
Bill Weinberg rants against the bogus “anti-war” position that holds that Donald Trump, who would “bomb the shit out” of Syria, is the less dangerous candidate than Hillary Clinton.
North Africa
Jihadists wooing Tuareg movement again?
With the Tuareg movement divided on whether to accept an autonomy offer from Mali's government, jihadist insurgents seek to rebuild an alliance with the intransigent factions.