Iraq
Second US Army segreant convicted of killing Iraqi detainees
US Army Sgt. First Class Joseph Mayo was convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison for killing four unarmed Iraqi prisoners in 2007.
The Andes
GUATE2
Faced with declining production and economic chaos, Venezuela is again opening its oil-fields to private companies—reversing much of the progress in asserting state control of the hydrocarbons industry that was made under Hugo Chávez. Just after a series of new contracts with private firms was announced, President Nicolás Maduro flew to Beijing for a meeting with Xi Jinping. The two leaders announced further deals to open Venezuela's Orinoco Belt to Chinese companies. This comes a decade after Exxon withdrew from the Orinoco Belt, unable to come to terms with the Chávez government. (Photo via OilPrice.com)
GUATE1
Amnesty International called upon countries to ban fully autonomous weapons systems on the first day of the UN Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems meeting. Amnesty states that technology related to advanced weapons systems is outpacing international law. Future technologies may be able to replicate human responses, including "the ability to analyse the intentions behind people's actions, to assess and respond to often dynamic and unpredictable situations, or make complex decisions about the proportionality or necessity of an attack." A complete ban on fully autonomous weapons is necessary in order to avoid possible "dystopian" futures. Human interaction should be required by law to be involved in the identification, selection, and engagement of targets in advanced weapons. (Photo: Future of Life Institute)
South Asia
Pakistan between two poles of terrorism
At least 20 have been killed as gunmen seized a police academy in Lahore. Meanwhile, Obama warned Islamabad: “If we have a high-value target within our sights…we’re going after them.”
Southeast Asia
Philippines: Mindanao hostage crisis jeopardizes aid work
A hostage crisis involving three International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) workers may force agencies to stop bringing assistance to some areas of the Philippines, officials told the UN news agency IRIN. Stephen Anderson, the World Food Programme (WFP)… Read morePhilippines: Mindanao hostage crisis jeopardizes aid work
Watching the Shadows
US interrogation tactics were torture: ex-State Department attorney
Former US State Department lawyer Vijay Padmanabhan publicly criticized the administration of ex-president Bush for approving the use of torture against terrorism suspects.
Watching the Shadows
US, Yemen should allow “meaningful legal process” in Gitmo repatriation: HRW
Human Rights Watch called for the US and Yemen to agree on a repatriation plan that provides “meaningful legal process” for the nearly 100 Yemeni detainees still at Guantánamo Bay.
Watching the Shadows
Spanish judge weighs probe of US federal attorneys on Gitmo
Crusading Spanish judge Baltazar Garzon has asked prosecutors to investigate the US lawyers reportedly behind the establishment of the Guantánamo Bay detention center.
Watching the Shadows
Federal judge sets timetable for reports on CIA torture tape destruction
A US judge in New York March 27 ordered the CIA to release reports on the destruction of 92 videotapes of terrorism suspect interrogations within 30 days or explain why it should not do so.
Afghanistan
Obama forges “Af-Pak” strategy as Taliban insurgency spreads
Barack Obama’s new Afghanistan strategy will dispatch 4,000 more troops to train Afghan security forces—as Afghan and Pakistani Taliban leaders have forged a cross-border alliance.
The Andes
UN human rights report blasts Bolivian opposition
The UN High Commissioner of Human Rights issued a report finding that opponents of Bolivian President Evo Morales were responsible for some of the country’s worst rights violations last year.