The Andes
Colombia: FARC claim taking US soldier prisoner
Colombia’s FARC rebels announced that their fighters have captured a supposedly retired US Navy seaman and Afghanistan war veteran in the south of the country.
North Africa
ICC orders Libya to turn over Qaddafi’s son
The International Criminal Court rejected Libya’s request to suspend the order to hand over Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, son of the late dictator Moammar Qaddafi.
South Asia
Protests rock Jammu and Kashmir
Srinagar and other towns in India-administrated Jammu and Kashmir are under curfew following unrest over the killing of four protesters by the Border Security Forces.
Mexico
Chiapas cancels carbon deal with California
The government of Chiapas cancelled a controversial forest protection plan that critics said failed to address root causes of deforestation and endangered indigenous peoples.
The Andes
Peru: deadline for payment on expropriated lands
Peru’s Constitutional Tribunal issued a decision ordering the government to honor debt owed for land confiscated under the agrarian reform that began in the 1960s.
Watching the Shadows
Judge denies petition to end Gitmo force-feeding
A federal judge denied a motion by Guantánamo Bay detainees to end forced feeding of hunger-striking prisoners, finding “there is nothing so shocking or inhumane” in the practice.
Palestine
Israel razes Bedouin village —again
Israeli forces used bulldozers to demolish the “unrecognized” Bedouin village of al-Araqeeb in the Negev desert—amid protests over a Knesset bill that would expropriate Bedouin lands.
Mexico
Mexico: Zetas boss busted; kid brother ascends?
Mexican naval forces captured Miguel Angel Treviño Morales AKA “Z-40,” head of the notorious Zetas cartel—but his younger brother, “Z-42,” is poised to be the new boss.
The Andes
Leaks show massive US spying throughout Americas
The US has been spying on telecommunications in Brazil, Colombia, Mexico and 11 other Latin American countries—with a focus on oil and other economic issues.
Southern Cone
Brazil: unions respond to protests with general strike
The union movement held its first big general strike in three decades in a bid to bring labor demands to the spontaneous protest movement that swept Brazil in June.
Southern Cone
Argentina: Mapuche to block Chevron from territory
Argentina’s Mapuche say they will challenge a hydrofracking deal with Chevron, the multinational scofflaw that refuses to pay $19 billion it owes indigenous Ecuadorans.
Central America
Honduras: kidnapped journalist found murdered
The body of a popular TV talk show was found two weeks after his kidnapping; meanwhile, a radio labor reporter is getting death threats for his exposés on a Chiquita supplier.