Southeast Asia

Philippines: more terror in Mindanao

A wave of terror attacks again left several dead in the southern Philippines region of Mindanao, including a blast at the Cotabato cathedral blamed on the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Europe

Italy: anti-G8 protests rock Vicenza

Thousands of protesters opposing expansion of the US military base at Vicenza clashed with Italian police over the weekend as world leaders gathered for the G8 summit.

Inner Asia

Xinjiang: 150 dead in Uighur unrest

Over 150 are dead and some 1,000 injured after Chinese security forces attacked a protest march by ethnic Uighurs, sparking widespread clashes in Kashgar, Xinjiang province.

Central America

Otto Reich behind Honduras coup?

Popular organizations in Honduras charge that ex-US under-secretary of state Otto Reich masterminded a campaign of “sabotage and disinformation” in the prelude to the coup d’etat.

Central America
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HOND

Guatemala’s special anti-corruption Court for High Risk Crimes sentenced former vice president Roxana Baldetti to prison for 15 years and six months for her role in the so-called "Magic Water" scandal. The case concerned the awarding of an $18 million dollar contract to decontaminate Lake Amatitlán, an important water source for peasant communities. The contract went to Israeli firm M. Tarcic Engineering Ltd, which claimed it had a "special formula" that could clean the lake within months. An investigation revealed that the "formula" consisted of water, salt and chlorine. The Authority for the Sustainable Management of Lake Amatitlán (AMSA), establsihed to oversee the clean-up, documented illegal dumping of agricultural and municipal waste into the Río Villalobos, which empties into the lake. The UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) supported Guatemalan prosecutors in the conspiracy case against Baldetti. (Photo via EmisorasUnidas)