Africa

HRW protests Rwanda aid to Congo rebels

Human Rights Watch reports that the M23 rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo is still receiving assistance from Rwanda despite continued human rights abuses.

Iraq

Iraq: sectarian war escalating fast

Sectarian violence has killed at least 200 in Iraq since the start of Ramadan, and Hezbollah has launched an Iraqi wing to fight al-Qaeda’s networks in the country.

The Amazon

Brazil sends tanks to protect threatened tribe

Brazil’s military has launched a major ground operation against illegal logging around the remote Amazon lands of the Awá, said the be the “Earth’s most threatened tribe.” 

South Asia

Bangladesh Islamist sentenced for war crimes

Street clashes erupted as Islamist leader Ghulam Azam was sentenced to 90 years by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal for crimes against humanity in the 1971 war. 

Greater Middle East

Samantha Power signals Syria intervention?

Samantha Power’s appointment as UN ambassador may signal a determination on the part of the Obama administration that intervention in Syria is inevitable.

Greater Middle East

‘Sunni cleansing’ in Syria?

Turkey sees in the battle for Qusayr a strategy to create an Alawite mini-state within Syria, purged of Sunni Muslims, to which the ruling elite can withdraw for a last stand.