The Caribbean
Yoani Sánchez speaks in New York City
Dissident Cuban blogger Yoani Sánchez spoke to a packed auditorium at New York University, challenged by audience members from both the left and the right.
Southern Cone
Argentina: ex-dictator gets life in Operation Condor
A court in Argentina sentenced the country’s last military dictator Reynaldo Bignone to life in prison for crimes against humanity committed during his rule in 1982 and ’83.
Southern Cone
Cardinal Bergoglio and Argentina’s Dirty War
The election of Buenos Aires’ Cardinal Bergoglio as Pope Francis deepens growing concerns about the complicity of the Catholic Church in Argentina’s “Dirty War” of the 1970s.
Greater Middle East
Syria massacres: regime, rebels blame each other
In a new massacre near Homs—one of several in Syria over the past weeks—the regime blames the Nusra Front rebels, while the opposition blames the pro-regime Shabiha militia.
Greater Middle East
Saudi court sentences rights activists to 10 years
A criminal court in Riyadh sentenced two Saudi Arabian human rights activists on to at least 10 years in prison on charges of sedition and operating an unlicensed organization.
Iraq
Iraq 10 years later: ‘cycle of human rights abuses’
Ten years after the US invasion, Iraq is enmeshed in a cycle of human rights abuses, including attacks on civilians, torture and unfair trials, Amnesty International charges.
Anarchism and the Arab uprisings
One of the ongoing Friday protests in Amman, Jordan, last year. Spontaneity, largely horizontal organization, and a suspicion toward explicit political leadership have all been signature components of the Arab revolutions. Joshua Stephens of Toward Freedom interviews Mohammed Bamyeh, who writes on… Read moreAnarchism and the Arab uprisings
Central America
Honduras: 200-km march protests ‘model cities,’ mining law
Hundreds of campesinos marched from the northern town of La Barca to protest new laws expanding mining and enabling the creation of autonomous “model cities.”
Southern Cone
Chile: hydro projects threaten sacred Mapuche sites
Plans for a major hydroelectric plant in southern Chile have been stalled by environmental concerns and oppostion from Mapuche communities fearing the loss of sacred sites.
Mexico
Mexico: dissident teachers march against “reform”
Teachers marched and held strikes in much of southern Mexico to protest both the former teachers union head and the government that arrested her last month for corruption.
Southern Cone
Argentina: Menem smuggling acquittal overturned
On their second try, prosecutors won a conviction of ex-president Carlos Menem for arms smuggling during the 1990s, but as a senator he will probably not face jail time.
Planet Watch
Peak oil apocalyptoids: eating crow yet?
The US Geological Survey estimates there is seven to eight times more oil in the ground than the human race has yet consumed—and this constitutes the real threat to the planet.