The Caribbean
Puerto Rico: bonds are junked despite ‘reforms’
Puerto Rican officials followed Wall Street's instructions for austerity, and Wall Street rewarded them by reducing the island's bonds to junk status.
Tag: crisis of capitalism
Greater Middle East
Turkey: street clashes over cyber freedom
Riot police in Istanbul used water cannons against demonstrators in the latest protest against a bill that would increase government control over the Internet.
Europe
Anti-austerity protests rock Bosnia
Unemployed workers in Bosnia-Herzegovina set fire to government buildings, in the worst unrest the country has seen since the end of the 1992-95 war.
Southern Cone
Brazil: 143 arrested as World Cup protests continue
Brazilians continue to protest the government's funding of soccer events at the expense of social services, but the actions are much smaller than last year's giant marches.
Southern Cone
Argentina: peso falls as emerging markets weaken
The Argentine peso had its worst week since the 2001-2002 financial crisis, but analysts are divided on the reasons for the fall.
Europe
Burgos and Gezi Square: contradiction?
Protesters in Burgos, Spain, defeated a redevelopment plan that included replacing traffic lanes with greenways—a contrast to the struggle to save Istanbul's Gezi Park.
Southeast Asia
Occupy Phnom Penh dispersed
Cambodian military police opened fire on striking garment factory workers, killing four, and then dispersed a protest encampment from a central square in Phnom Penh.
Europe
Ukraine, Thailand, Italy: hope and contradiction
In Ukraine, Thailand and Italy, riot police stood down and ceded control of urban space to protesters—yet the demonstrators in all three countries have problematic politics.
The Amazon
Brazil: teachers, indigenous hold mass protests
June's mass protests have ended, but Brazilians continue to demonstrate for education, decent pay, indigenous rights and an end to police repression.
Afghanistan
Pakistan stock market soars on terror wave
Over the past year of growing violence and chaos in Pakistan, the Karachi Stock Exchange surged more than 44%, placing it among the world’s top-performing stock markets.
Africa
Arab Revolution hits Sudan
Street clashes continued in the Sudanese capital Khartoum for a second day after massive protests broke out over the regime's move to cut fuel subsidies.
Greater Middle East
Did climate change spark Syria crisis?
A jet stream blockage related to climate change caused the Russian wheat crop to fail in 2010, halting exports to Syria and the Arab world, and fueling unrest and revolt.