East Asia

ConocoPhillips blamed in North China Sea oil spill

The US energy giant ConocoPhillips, operating in a joint agreement with the China National Offshore Oil Corporation, was responsible for a devastating oil spill in the Yellow Sea that Chinese authorities hushed up for weeks.

New York City

WHY WE FIGHT

A driver’s license is a license to kill. James Bond has nothing on NYC auxiliary cops. From MyFoxNY, July 3: Officer Identified In Police Van Incident The driver of the auxiliary police van who accidentally hit a [sic] killed a… Read moreWHY WE FIGHT

Southern Cone

Latin America: Pride marches focus on marriage, violence

Chilean president Sebastián Piñera is backing a bill that would legalize civil unions for the country’s same-sex couples, but LGBT activists are pushing for full marriage equality. Cuba meanwhile held its first-ever Pride march.

Mexico

Mexico: new mass kidnapping of immigrants reported

At least five Central American immigrants were forcibly removed from a freight train by about 10 armed men wearing hoods in Veracruz state, according to two immigrants who managed to escape.

Southern Cone

Chile: education protests continue to grow

Tens of thousands of Chilean students, parents and teachers took to the streets in the latest protest against the privatized education system set up under the 1973-1990 Pinochet dictatorship.

The Andes

Colombia: paramilitaries kill five in Zenú community

Five Zenú indigenous people were killed in the Lower Cauca region June 24-26 in the communities of La 18 and La Unión-Pato in Zaragoza municipality, according to the Colombian Ombudsperson’s Office.

Inner Asia

Tibetan refugees arrested in Katmandu

Over a dozen exiled Tibetans have been arrested in Nepal over the past week, in a crackdown against refugees while attempting to celebrate the Buddhist religious festival of Saka Dawa in the capital Kathmandu.

North Africa

Morocco: thousands protest despite reform vote

Thousands of protesters again took to the streets of Morocco to push for democratic reforms despite voter approval two days earlier of a constitutional reform that curbs the near-absolute powers of King Mohammed VI.