Swedish police have repeatedly broken up a protest occupation by Sámi indigenous people against iron mining in a crucial reindeer herding area above the Arctic Circle. Two weeks ago, police had to dig protesters out of the ground after they buried themselves to the neck in order to shut down a road. Jokkmokk Iron Mines, subsidiary of UK-based Beowulf Mining, runs the Kallak (Gállok) site, on lands ostensibly coming under Sámi autonomous rule. Sametinget, the nascent Sámi general assembly, has issued a demand to halt all mining on Sámi lands without prior consultation. But the Swedish government does not recognize Sámi indigenous title. "The Sámi have no power to stop people coming here to exploit the land without giving anything back, not just to the local community, but also to the Swedish state," said Josefina Lundgren Skerk, chair of the Sametinget youth council.

Savvas Michael-Matsas, leader of a small radical-left party, went on trial in Greece Sept. 3, charged with "libellous defamation," "incitement to violence and civil discord" and "disturbing the public peace" in a case brought by members of the far-right Golden Dawn party. Michael-Matsas' Revolutionary Workers' Party (EEK) has a slogan of "The people don't forget, they hang fascists." Michael-Matsas himself had publicly boasted: "I'm the embodiment of every fascist's fantasy. I'm a Jew, a communist—and a heretical communist, a Trotskyist, at that. I don't fit anywhere. The only thing I happen not to be is homosexual." Co-defendant Konstantinos Moutzouris, a former rector of Athens Polytechnic, stands accused of allowing progressive news website Athens Indymedia to use the university's server.

A sudden massive blackout on Sept. 3 affected 15 of Venezuela's 23 states, affecting 70% of the national territory and causing traffic chaos as traffic lights went out. The Electrical Energy Ministry said one of the main transmission lines on the national grid had failed. President Nicolás Maduro immediately blamed sabotage, saying "all signs indicate that the extreme right has implemented its plan to carry out an Electrical Coup [Golpe Eléctrico] against the nation." The blackout struck at peak hours in Caracas, around 1 PM local time, and also affected cities Maracay, Maracaibo and Barcelona. The nation's oil refineries, which are powered by a separate grid, were not affected. Venezuela has repeatedly experienced rolling blackouts in recent years. In 2010, then-president Hugo Chávez signed a decree declaring an "electricity emergency" to address the problem.

A vigilante calling herself Diana​ the Hunter (Diana la Cazadora) claimed credit in a series of communiques for the slaying of two bus drivers last week in northern Mexico's Ciudad Juárez, saying the killings were revenge for sexual abuse of women by night-shift drivers. "I and other women suffered... but we can't stay quiet," one of the e-mails said. "I am the instrument of vengeance for several women." Witnesses to the first killing Aug. 28 said a black-clad woman with a blonde wig or dyed hair approached the  driver, took out a pistol, shot him in the head and left the bus. The same killer told the second victim before dispatching him, "You guys think you're real bad, don't you?" The targeted bus line brings many women back and forth from the maquiladoras that ring Ciudad Juárez.

Tens of thousands took to the streets across Colombia last week, as workers and students joined the strike launched by campesinos in the north of the country. Violent clashes were reported Aug. 29, primarily from Bogotá, where police fired tear gas into a crowd of some 10,000 assembled in the city's main square, Plaza Bolívar. Witnesses report that despite a strong police presence, the demonstrators remained calm for several hours, with speakers encouraging peaceful protest—until a group arrived (possibly agents provocateurs) who began throwing firecrackers and debris at the police line, sparking the melee. Within 15 minutes, the square had been cleared, though clashes with the ESMAD riot squad continued in the streets surrounding the plaza. Some 20 were injured in the street fighting. Riots were also reported in Soacha, a working-class city on the outskirts of Bogotá, where dozens of masked men clashed with riot police, prompting local authorities to order a curfew.

At least 47 are dead following what appears to have been an Iraqi military assault on Camp Ashraf, a refugee settlement inhabited by exiled members of the People's Mujahdeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), or Mujahedeen Khalq. According to official reports, residents attempted to storm an army post at the entrance to the camp, prompting troops to open fire. PMOI said the post was stormed after the army fired mortar rounds on the camp. PMOI also accused Iraqi forces of executing at least five camp residents—after they had been subdued and hand-cuffed. (NYT, NBC, PMOI, Sept. 1)

Members of the Human Rights Commission of Bolivia's lower-house Chamber of Deputies announced Aug. 30 that they will visit three indigenous leaders from the contested Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS), who for weeks have refused to leave the remote rainforest reserve to avoid being arrested by National Police troops. Leaders Fernando Vargas, Adolfo Chávez and Pedro Nuny have been maintaining a vigil at the office of the TIPNIS Subcentral of the Indigenous Council of the South (CONISUR) since orders were issued for their arrest on charges related to a supposed attack on a rival CONISUR leader, Gumercindo Pradel. The three wanted leaders charge the government of President Evo Morales with attempting to divide the organization to undermine resistance to a planned highway through the reserve. (ANF, Aug. 30; NACLA, Aug. 27)

Indigenous and environmentalist protesters clashed with police in Ecuador Aug. 27, as a mobilization dubbed a zapateo (foot-stamping) against plans to open the Yasuni Amazon reserve to oil drilling was held in both Quito and Cuenca. Carlos Pérez, leader of the ECUARUNARI indigenous alliance, said police fired rubber bullets on protesters in Quito, leaving 12 hurt—claims denied by the Interior Ministry. At the capital's Plaza de la Independencia, protesters were confronted by an organized counter-demonstration made up of supporters of the ruling Alianza PAIS. After the march, protesters held a public assembly in the city's Plaza Bolívar, where they agreed to meet every Thursday outside the Environment Ministry in an ongiong campaign until their demands are met. The movement is demanding a consulta popular—public discussion and referendum—on the fate of Yasuni. Ecuador's National Assembly is currently considering President Rafael Correa's proposal to open oil blocs within the reserve. (El Universo, Guayaquil, Aug. 29; AFP, Aug. 28)