With three dead in accidents, the Dakar Rally Raid cross-country motor-race is being blocked by campesinos in Argentina, with comrades in Bolivia and Chile at the ready.
Three mysterious blazes at historic Tibetan monasteries across western China in as many months have sparked speculation about a campaign of arson attacks.
The archaeologists who unearthed a priceless pre-Inca burial chamber at Huarmey, Peru, were in a race with outlaw tomb-raiders who operate with impunity.
Mexican drug cartels that use cattle ranching to launder narco-profits as well as Chinese-backed illegal timber gangs are eating into Guatemala's vast Maya Biosphere Reserve.
At least 32 Azeri activists were arrested in the lead-up to an annual July protest at Babak Fort in Iran's East Azerbaijan province against discrimination targeting the ethnic minority. The arrests took place in several citiese, including Tabriz and Ahar, usually following home raids. Dozens more were summoned and threatened with arrest if they attended the ceremony. Babak Fort, also known as the Immortal Castle or Republic Castle, is a mountaintop citadel said to have been the stronghold of Babak Khorramdin, the leader of the Khurramite rebellion who fought the Abbassid caliphate in the ninth century CE. Babak is revered as national hero by ethnic Azeris and Iranians alike. Azeris, also known as Azarbaijani Turks, have for several years gathered at the citadel each July for the annual ceremony. (Photo: AzerTurk)
