Central America
Honduras: anti-mining activists face death threats
Violence continues in northern Honduras, with death threats against opponents of open-pit mining and the murder of a longtime campesino leader and his son.
The Caribbean
Haiti: public university students protest tuition hike
State University of Haiti administrators backed off an effort to triple registration fees after students protested with a militant demonstration in downtown Port-au-Prince.
Brazil: private transit, public protests
The protest wave now shaking Brazil was sparked by transit fare hikes—a fruit of privatization of the urban transport system in the 1990s. The protests were initially organized by the Movimento Passe Livre, demanding that mass transit be free for… Read moreBrazil: private transit, public protests
North Africa
UN takes over Mali mission —but France to stay
A UN mission formally took over from the African-led force in Mali—although most of the actual soldiers remain the same. France is to keep some 1,000 troops in the country.
Africa
Senegal police arrest former Chad dictator
Senegalese police detained former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre to face an African Union trial on charges of crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture.
Southeast Asia
Burma: new Shan state opium eradication plan
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) announced a new peace initiative in Burma’s conflicted Shan State aimed at facilitating poppy eradication.
Afghanistan
UN: Afghanistan remains top opium producer
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) finds that Afghanistan continues to remain the world’s top opium cultivator, accounting for 75% of global illicit production.
The Andes
Colombia: ranchers fear ‘communist’ redistribution
Colombia's federation of cattle ranchers rejected the recent agrarian deal with the FARC, charging that it could lead to Venezuela-style expropriations of private property.
The Andes
Archaeologists race tomb-raiders in Peru
The archaeologists who unearthed a priceless pre-Inca burial chamber at Huarmey, Peru, were in a race with outlaw tomb-raiders who operate with impunity.
Greater Middle East
Turkey: police fire on Kurdish protesters
Turkish security forces killed one and wounded nine as Kurdish villagers armed with improvised petrol bombs attacked a construction site of the gendarmerie in Diyarbakir.
Greater Middle East
Egypt: Tahrir Square occupied again
Street clashes between supporters and opponents of President Mohamed Morsi shook Egypt's cities in a day of rival protests nationwide that left two dead.
Iraq
UN urges Iraq to address human rights abuses
The UN Assistance Mission for Iraq released a report pressing Iraqi leaders to develop measures addressing the growing trend of human rights abuses in the country.