Afghanistan
Karzai punts on US ‘security agreement’
Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected the Loya Jirga's recommendation that he sign an agreement extending the US troop presence, citing continued civilian casualties.
Mexico
Michoacán mayor murdered by Knights Templar?
Mexico is shocked by the murder of Mayor Ygnacio López Mendoza of Santa Ana Maya, Michoacán, who was found dead after a public hunger strike to protest cartel extortion.
Iran
Iran agrees to limit nuclear program
The P5+1 world powers reached an agreement with Tehran committing Iran to limiting its developing nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
Greater Middle East
Bahrain arrests two ex-Guantánamo detainees
Bahraini authorities arrested two former Guantánamo detainees as they attempted to cross in from Saudi Arabia. They are charged with plotting an attack in Bahrain.
Watching the Shadows
Italy begins trial in absentia of Egyptian cleric
His case delayed for years by his “extraordinary rendition” by the CIA from Milan to Egypt, cleric Abu Omar went on trial in absentia on charges of terrorist conspiracy in Italy.
Planet Watch
Native resistance to North American pipeline plans
The Keystone XL pipeline from Canada's oilfields to Texas is now matched by alternate routes to British Columbia and the Maritimes—all meeting opposition from Native peoples.
Inner Asia
Tibetan monk imprisoned for ‘splittism’: report
A Tibetan monk in China’s Sichuan province was sentenced to four and a half years in prison after he led a public prayer session for self-immolation martyrs.
The Andes
Bolivia: repression against dictatorship survivors
Bolivia’s elite anti-riot force used tear-gas against survivors of the country’s military dictatorship who protested in La Paz to demand indemnification for torture they suffered.
Africa
Congo: Katanga next for mineral boom —and war?
Following defeat of the M23 rebels in the war-torn east, the DRC is touting an imminent mineral boom in southern Katanga—despite a spreading separatist insurgency.
Greater Middle East
Sinai car bomb kills 12 Egyptian soldiers
At least 12 Egyptian soldiers were killed in a car bomb near El-Arish—the latest attack in the Sinai, which is now more militarized than at any time since the Israeli occupation ended.
The Andes
Colombia: Cauca campesino leader assassinated
Sergio Úlcue Perdomo, a campesino leader who brought a case to the OAS human rights body over paramilitary terror in Cauca, was killed at his home by unknown gunmen.
Inner Asia
Han-Uighur solidarity amid Xinjiang violence
As another deadly clash is reported from Xinjiang, Shanghai journalist Yang Haipeng has started donning a Uighur skullcap at security checkpoints as a gesture of solidarity.