The Caribbean
Haiti: Martelly names new prime minister
Under international pressure to get elections scheduled at last, Haiti's political class may have managed to put together an agreement and find a new prime minister.
The Caribbean
Puerto Rico: more cleanup needed for Vieques
After a decade, the US still hasn't finished fixing the damage its Navy did to a tiny Puerto Rican island it used as a practice target for 60 years.
Planet Watch
Behind oil slump: shale boom or geopolitics?
Experts tell us the North American shale oil boom is responsible for low prices despite Middle East unrest. But the price slump serves Western aims of weakening Russia and Iran.
Iraq
Kurdish forces press gains against ISIS
Kurdish forces made further gains against ISIS at Kobani in the final days of 2014, while the Peshmerga are preparing an offensive to drive the jihadis from Kurdish lands in Iraq.
Inner Asia
Facebook enforces censorship of Tibetan struggle
Facebook's deletion of a post by Tibetan writer Tsering Woeser comes just after Mark Zuckerberg met in Beijing with China's minister for Internet censorship Lu Wei.
The Caribbean
Cuba: #YoTambienExijo and ‘regime change’
Was Tania Bruguera's #YoTambienExijo a US-inspired "regime change" charade? Should Cubans not press free speech now because of US rapprochement with the regime?
Watching the Shadows
US to release five Gitmo prisoners to Kazakhstan
The Defense Department announced that five prisoners at Guantánamo Bay will be released to Kazakhstan, bringing the number of detainees remaining at the facility to 127.
Afghanistan
US ‘ends war’ in Afghanistan —not!
The NATO "withdrawal" from Afghanistan was quietly marked by a Kabul ceremony—as air-strikes, suicide attacks and gun-battles with Taliban insurgents continued without pause.
South Asia
Bangladesh sentences Islamist leader to death
The International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh sentenced Islamist leader ATM Azharul Islam to death—leading to calls for a general strike from his supporters.
South Asia
Pakistan detains accused in Mumbai terror —again
Pakistani police detained the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on abduction charges—just one day after a court in Islamabad ordered his release.
North Africa
Libya: air-strikes on Misrata as fighting spreads
Warplanes under the command of renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar fired missiles at Misrata's rebel-held airport, as Libya's oil exports remain effectively paralyzed by civil war.
Mexico
Chicago link to Mexican mass abduction?
Another major bust of an accused Mexican cartel operative in Chicago this time involves the Guerreros Unidos—the gang named in the the disappearance of 43 college students.