Some 1,200 workers at the Cerro Verde copper mine in Peru's southern Arequipa region began a 48-hour strike on Sept. 7, demanding higher pay and threatening to launch an indefinite strike in one week if an agreement isn't reached with the company, owned by the multinational Freeport-McMoRan. While Cerro Verde insisted that production would not be affected, global copper prices rose on the news—although some analysts cited other factors, such as growing Chinese demand. (Dow Jones, Sept. 8; Dow Jones, El Comercio, Reuters, Sept. 7)

Standard & Poor's Ratings Services raised its outlook on Bolivia last month, citing new investments in the country's mining and gas sectors. S&P still rates Bolivia's long-term credit at B+, four steps below investment-grade status, but the positive outlook raises the prospect of a higher rating in the near future. The agency especially cited progress in long-stalled talks between the Bolivian government and Jindal Steel & Power over the $2.1 billion iron ore project at El Mutún (Santa Cruz department), and recent agreements to exploit lithium (in Potosí). (Dow Jones, Aug. 22)

At least 11 were killed and 91 injured in a bomb blast outside the Delhi High Court on the morning of Sept. 7. The militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) reportedly claimed responsibility in an e-mail. HUJI leader Ilyas Kashmiri, apparently based in Pakistan's tribal areas where he also headed al-Qaeda's "313 Brigade," repeatedly issued terror threats against India over the past year—but was reported killed in a drone strike in June. US citizen David Headley, who pleaded guilty in a Chicago federal court last year to involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is reported to have told the FBI that Kashmiri introduced him to top contacts in the ISI, the Pakistani intelligence service. (IBN, Sept. 8; Times of India, Sept. 7)

Pakistan's military announced Sept. 6 the arrest of senior al-Qaeda leader Younis al-Mauritani along with two other top operatives, Abdul Ghaffar al-Shami and Messara al-Shami. Younis al-Mauritani is said to be head of al-Qaeda’s international operations, charged with planning and preparing attacks on the US, Europe and Australia. The arrests, in the city of Quetta, have been hailed as the fruit of cooperation between Pakistan's ISI and the CIA—despite recent friction between Islamabad and Washington over drone strikes. "I think it’s a tribute to the Pakistanis who worked with us in this effort," CIA director Leon Panetta told reporters on a visit to New York City to commemorate the 9-11 attacks. Asked whether the US would seek access to al-Mauritani, who is in Pakistani custody, Panetta said: "I assume that we will work with the Pakistanis to try to obtain access and try to gather intelligence from that individual." (Daily Times, Pakistan, AFP, Sept. 7; Reuters, Sept. 6)

A large convoy of about 250 armored vehicles believed to be carrying loyalists of Moammar Qaddafi has crossed into neighboring Niger, according to widespread reports. The convoy included officers from Qaddafi's army and Tuareg fighters, raising speculation that Qaddafi himself could be among them. Reuters, citing anonymous military sources from France and Niger, claims the convoy may represent a "dramatic, secretly negotiated bid" by Qaddafi" and his son Saif al-Islam to seek refuge in Burkina Faso, which has offered the ousted dictator asylum while also recognizing the National Transitional Council as Libya's new government. (AlJazeera, Atlantic Wire, Sept. 6)

Cars and buses were taken off the streets of Bolivia as the country held its first "National Day of the Pedestrian" on Sunday Sept. 4. All motor vehicles, including public transport, were banned for the day in cities across the country, as the streets were given over to youth festivals and sporting events. Said La Paz Mayor Luis Revilla: "We are enjoying this day in homage to the environment, but also and above all in homage to pedestrians. The city is not only for vehicles, but also for people."

Two Shipibo indigenous communites in the Peruvian Amazon have broken off negotiations with Maple Gas Corporation del Peru SRL., over the health and environmental impacts of six oil spills on their territory over the past three years. The move comes just one month after 32 Shipibo were forced to clean up a spill with their bare hands. The July 10 pipeline rupture in Maple Energy's Oil Block 31-E, 75 miles north of the city of Pucallpa, spilled crude oil into the Río Mashiria, a tributary of the Ucayali. The Shipibo communities of Nuevo Sucre and Canaán de Cachiyacu officially terminated the negotiations on Aug. 11, charging that Maple Gas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Ireland-based Maple Energy (MPLE) was not acting in good faith.

An NGO has released a report condemning Colombia’s human rights record as part of a series of articles analysing the relationship between anti-terrorism policies and human rights since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) report notes how shortly after September 11, the US financial aid from Plan Colombia, which had previously been earmarked for fighting drug trafficking, was also used to combat terrorism. At the same time the FARC, the ELN and paramilitary groups were added to the US list of terrorist organizations.