Greater Middle East

Kurds caught in Russo-Turkish game… again

Amid counterinsurgency against Kurds in Turkey, Kurdish opposition leader Selahattin Demirtaş is received in Moscow—now executing a grisly counterinsurgency in Syria.

Southeast Asia

Mindanao: toward sectarian war

In a series of Christmas eve attacks, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters killed several Christian peasants in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao.

The Amazon

Brazil: ‘zero deforestation’ push

Greenpeace sent 1.4 million signatures to Brazil's congress demanding a "zero deforestation" law—while cattle and timber barons push a bill to further open indigenous lands.

Southeast Asia

Burma: will ceasefire wind down opium war?

Burma’s regime signs a "national ceasefire" with ethnic rebels in the opium-producing north ahead of historic elections—but the biggest rebel armies didn’t sign on.

The Andes

Ecuador: victory for Kichwa sovereignty

Ecuadoran border authorities allowed an indigenous leader to enter the country on a passport issued by the Kichwa Nation, hailed as an "historic precedent" for the hemisphere.