Europe
Sweden: Muslims under attack —and Jews
The Christmas night fire-bombing of a mosque in Sweden follows weeks of mounting threats and attacks against Jews in cities across the Scandinavian country.
The Caribbean
Assata Shakur as political football
The US political right uses Assata Shakur to take a hit at Obama's Cuba opening while simultaneously getting subliminal licks in at the Black Lives Matter protests.
South Asia
India: Bodo militants massacre tribal people
National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) militants shot dead at least 50 adivasis, or tribal people, in a wave of coordinated attacks across India's northeast state of Assam.
Europe
‘Car Intifada’ comes to France?
An outbreak of motorist attacks on pedestrians in France is spun exclusively in terms of Islamist extremism, leaving out the critical factor of car culture.
Mexico
Sentencing in Sinaloa Cartel’s Chicago connection
A case related to the Sinaloa Cartel's Chicago connection provided further fodder for the increasingly plausible theory that the DEA protected Mexico's biggest crime machine.
Central America
Panama: victims remember US invasion
US media generally ignored the 25th anniversary of the Panama invasion, the start of a quarter-century wave of bloody US military interventions. The victims haven't forgotten.
The Caribbean
Cuba: US agrees to normalize relations
After 53 years the US has finally decided to restore relations with Cuba. Alan Gross and the Cuban Five are free, some restrictions are eased, but the embargo continues.
The Caribbean
Cuba: leftists, US firms praise new policy
The new Cuba policy is popular in Latin America and has gained majority support in the US. Meanwhile, US corporations are lining up to get a piece of the action.
The Caribbean
Cuba: USAID head quits after latest scandal
After three exposés in one year about USAID "democracy promotion" programs in Cuba, the agency's head is out at last. His record in Haiti hasn't been that much better.
The Andes
Venezuela: US imposes sanctions on officials
The US government turns out to be opposed to police brutality, as long as it takes place in the streets of Caracas.
East Asia
Threat to South Korean nuclear plants: no thanks
An "anti-nuclear" hacker who obtained blueprints of South Korean reactors warned residents to "stay away" from them—an implicit threat of sabotage and radiation release.
Watching the Shadows
Four Afghans transferred from Guantánamo
The US Department of Defense repatriated four Guantánamo Bay detainees to Afghanistan, despite restrictions on detainee transfers in the new defense spending bill.