Colombia’s mineral code was struck down by the supreme court, citing insufficient protection for indigenous rights. But ecologists fear new environmental protection provisions could be left out of the new bill.
President Obama signed a four-year extension of the Patriot Act minutes before it was set to expire—following three days of filibustering by Sen. Rand Paul over concerns about gun rights and privacy.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision that Yemeni Guantánamo Bay detainee Musa’ab Omar al-Madhwani is lawfully detained for being part of al-Qaeda.
Colombia passed a Victims and Land Restitution Law to compensate victims of the armed conflict. Yet paramilitary terror continues to claim lives across the country as peasants mobilize to reclaim usurped lands.
Brazil’s lower house passed a bill to loosen rules on deforestation and instate an amnesty for prior violations. The bill is pushed by the Communist Party, which charges that smallholders bear the brunt of current law.
Israeli army troops shut down Friday anti-wall protests in villages across the West Bank, saying the unarmed weekly demonstrations have been declared illegal under new special “closed military zones.”
The Muslim Brotherhood boycotted a “Day of Rage” protests demanding the ruling military council cede power to an interim civilian body and postpone elections until political parties can be organized.
Bill Weinberg’s purge from WBAI Radio for his political dissent was written up in the New York TImes’ City Room blog under the ironic title “At On-Air Haven for Dissent, a Dissenting Voice Is Silenced.”
Following an activist campaign, British Prime Minister David Cameron’s name has been dropped from the list of honorary patrons of the JNF-UK—accused of complicity in the displacement of Palestinians.
Authorities in Serbia announced the capture of Ratko Mladic, ending a 16-year manhunt for the former military commander of the self-declared Serb Republic in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Jello Biafra, legendary lead singer of the Dead Kennadys, is refusing to cancel a scheduled gig in Tel Aviv, instead offering to “debate” the issue with sanctions advocates. Will he capitulate to activist pressure, as Gil Scott-Heron did?
At least two are reported dead in the Georgian capital Tbilisi as riot police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon to disperse hundreds of demonstrators demanding resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili.
