Central America
Guatemala: Tahoe opens troubled silver mine
Tahoe's controversial silver mine in southeast Guatemala is now open for business, but local indigenous communities still want the company to get out.
Palestine
Abbas suggests NATO force for Palestine
President Abbas has proposed that US-led NATO forces be stationed indefinitely in a future Palestinian state, according to an interview with the New York Times.
Africa
African Union: stand against ICC trials of presidents
The African Union called for African countries to "speak with one voice" against the trials of sitting heads of state in the International Criminal Court.
North Africa
Moroccan villagers occupy silver mine
Berber villagers in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco are blocking operations of the Imiter Mettalurgic Mining Company—whose principal owner is King Mohammed VI.
The Caucasus
Circassians call for boycott of Sochi Olympics
Circassians are calling for a boycott of the Sochi Winter Olympics, demanding that Russia's 19th-century military campaign against their people be recognized as a genocide.
Slippery justice for victims of oil spills
Oil drips from the hands of a man as he digs out crude spilled from a ruptured pipeline in the Niger Delta. In a blow to the legacy of martyred Ogoni activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, a court at The Hague last year… Read moreSlippery justice for victims of oil spills
The Andes
FARC proposal to protect coca, cannabis growers
At the Havana peace talks with the Colombian government, the FARC rebels released a proposal to decriminalize and "regulate the production of coca, poppies and marijuana."
Greater Middle East
HRW: Syria regime responsible for demolitions
Human Rights Watch reports that Syrian authorities deliberately demolished residential neighborhoods with explosives and bulldozers in Damascus and Hama over the last year.
Inner Asia
Mongolia: ecologist gets 21 years for ‘terrorism’
Mongolian ecology activist Tsetsegee Munkhbayar was sentenced to 21 years in prison for "acts of terrorism" after his arrest at a protest against uranium mining.
Inner Asia
Mongol herders sentenced for resisting land-grab
A court in China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region handed down prison terms to six herders who protested the seizure of local grazing land by a forestry company.
Inner Asia
Uighur leader Ilham Tohti accused of ‘separatism’
Detained Uighur scholar and activist Ilham Tohti was accused by Chinese authorities of "separatism," and formal charges against him are expected imminently.
East Asia
China sentences activist Xu Zhiyong to four years
A Beijing court sentenced legal scholar and activist Xu Zhiyong to four years in prison on the charge of "gathering a crowd to disturb public order."