The Andes
Colombia: guerillas free captives
After tense negotiations, the Red Cross transported to safety two Colombian National Police agents taken captive by the FARC guerillas in Cauca department last month.
North Africa
AQIM manifesto found in northern Mali: report
A document found in a demolished building in Timbuktu purports to reveal plans by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb to establish "command and control" over northern Mali.
Greater Middle East
Bahrain: youth killed on uprising anniversary
A teenage boy was killed in clashes with police at a Shi'ite village near Bahrain's capital Manama as hundreds took to the streets to mark the second anniversary of the uprising.
Europe
Anti-fas versus neo-Nazis in Dresden —again
Hundreds of neo-Nazis attempting to march on Dresden to crash commemorations of the 1945 bombardment were blocked by a human chain of thousands of anti-fascists.
Southern Cone
Argentine court: church complicit in ‘dirty war’
A court in Argentina found that the country’s Catholic Church was complicit with crimes committed during the dictatorship’s “dirty war” on leftist dissidents in the 1970s.
Southeast Asia
Thailand: insurgents launch Army of Pattani?
The Thai military says Islamist insurgents in the country's south have formed a "Pattani Army" after an audacious raid on a government base near the Malay border.
Watching the Shadows
Papal poop-out propels apocalyptoids
The eschatologically obsessed are fixating on the 12th century Prophecy of Malachy, which supposedly foretells Pope Benedict's resignation as a sign of imminent doom.
East Asia
Korea peninsula pawn in New Cold War with China
China responded to North Korea’s nuclear test with a call for “denuclearization” of the peninsula, as the US assists the South in developing long-range missiles.
Central America
Honduras: Aguán campesino leader arrested
The president of a campesino organization claiming disputed lands is arrested, while the landowners and their security guards enjoy impunity amid ongoing violence.
The Andes
Colombia: mine contractor convicted in killings
A contractor gets 38 years for the murder of two leaders of the union at a Drummond mine; the judge asks for an investigation of the company’s managers back in Alabama.
The Caribbean
Dominican Republic mining contract challenged
Canadian companies plan to make $50 billion on a Dominican gold mine; Dominicans can look forward to getting $1.3 billion—and an environmental disaster.
The Caribbean
Haiti: Baby Doc in the dock?
Ex-dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier once again refused to attend a hearing about the atrocities committed during his regime, but a judge has told him to show up in court next time.