Two NATO air-strikes in Afghanistan May 29 again killed civilian villagers, outraged residents ad local officials said. One strike on Nawzad in Helmand province, apparently launched in response to an attack by the Taliban on US Marine forces, killed 14. Officials said that all of the dead were women and children, and that of the six injured, only two were men, both unarmed civilians. President Hamid Karzai’s office issued a formal statement condemning the attack. The other strike took place in the Doab district of remote northeastern province of Nuristan, and killed 38 civilians, 20 of whom were part of the local police force, local officials said. The police officers were apparently engaged in ground fighting with the Taliban insurgents. Afghan TV showed images of the Nawzad casualties being taken into hospitals and bereaved relatives cradling the bodies of several young children wrapped in bloody sheets. A NATO spokesman said that an investigation was under way. (The Guardian, Gamut, May 29)

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has maintained for months that he'll stand by his agreement for the withdrawal of all US troops from the country by the end of this year, has in recent weeks done a turnaround—now saying he'd support keeping some troops in Iraq after the deadline. Maliki outlined his position at a press conference, saying he's willing to meet Iraq's elected officials and consider whether some US troops should stay beyond this December. "We won't get unanimous agreement on this issue," Maliki said. "But if we get 70 or 80 percent, isn't that the will of the people? Isn't this the democracy we have worked so hard for?" (NPR, May 29).

Thousands of Aymara indigenous protesters took over the city center of Puno in southeastern Peru May 26, and the city remains shut down. The main roads into the city are blocked by barricades erected by local campesinos demanding that the government revoke concessions recently granted to the Canadian Bear Creek mining company. Looters taking advantage of the unrest ransacked shops and offices as the police retreated, and numerous cars and government buildings were torched. Aymara from the Bolivian side of the border have joined in the roadblocks. With police confined to barracks, the city and environs are effectively in the hands of the protesters.

Mining projects in Colombia face an uncertain future following a May 11 ruling of the country's Constitutional Court that struck down a mineral code passed last year—although the regulations will remain in effect for two years to give Congress time to draft and approve a replacement bill. In its 7-1 ruling, the court found that the mineral code was unconstitutional because indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities on potentially impacted lands weren't consulted. Under the international convention known as ILO 69, approved by Colombia in 1991, indigenous inhabitants have the right to prior consultation on any decisions affecting their territories. However, the ruling is controversial because the code—known as Law 1382—included new environmental restrictions, including a ban on mining in the fragile highland ecosystems known as páramos (alpine grasslands).

US President Barack Obama signed a four-year extension of the Patriot Act late on May 26, minutes before it was set to expire. The bill passed the US Senate 72-23, and shortly after passed the US House of Representatives by a vote of 250-153. Although major congressional leaders of both parties had agreed to a clean extension of the act last week, delays were met when Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) filibustered the bill over the lack of an amendment process and serious concerns about privacy. After three days of filibustering, Paul received votes on two amendments that ultimately failed, both related to the ability of security officials to survey gun purchases. Controversial provisions renewed include provisions allowing the government to use roving wiretaps on multiple carriers and electronic devices and allowing the government to gain access to certain records relevant to its investigations. The "lone wolf" provision enables investigators to get warrants to conduct surveillance over targets not connected to any particular terrorist group.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on May 27 affirmed a lower court's decision confirming that Yemeni Guantánamo Bay detainee Musa'ab Omar al-Madhwani is lawfully detained for being part of al-Qaeda. Madhwani challenged the denial of 2004 petition for writ of habeas corpus by the US District Court for the District of Columbia claiming that there was insufficient evidence to find that he was part of al-Qaeda and that the district court improperly relied on evidence outside the record, abused its discretion in denying additional discovery and committed various legal errors, including due process violations. The court supported the use of the "command structure" test employed by the district court as "sufficient to show that a person is part of al-Qaeda" in response to Madhwani's arguments against using an erroneous legal standard where only preponderance of evidence is needed to detain someone in connection with al Qaeda. Examining the evidence de novo, the appeals court found that:

The Colombian Senate on May 25 passed the Victims and Land Restitution Law, to provide financial compensation and the return of usurped lands to victims of internal "armed conflicts." President Juan Manuel Santos called the approval of the law "historic." But his predecessor Alvaro Uribe bitterly fought the law's wording, arguing that it equated the state's actions with those of the illegal armed groups. In compromise wording, the law describes illegal armed groups as "terrorists." Claimants who have been victimized by armed conflicts since January 1985 are eligible for financial compensation. Those who have had their land seized, or were forced to abandoned their lands, are entitled to restitution of their property. The government estimates that 4 million hectares of land were abandoned and 2 million were seized during the conflicts. Senator Juan Fernando Cristo (Liberal Party) stated that the law ushers in "part two of the history of this country." The restitution process is expected to take 10 years to complete.

The Brazil House of Deputies passed reforms to the the country's forest code May 24 that ease restrictions on deforestation and provide amnesty for prior deforestation violations. The amended code would allow small farmers to cut down trees on hilltops and along rivers, two areas that were previously protected. It would also provide farmers with amnesty for violations of the forest code prior to July 22, 2008. The amendments were mainly pushed by Alldo Rebelo, head of the Communist Party of Brazil, who argues that the restrictions are disproportionately hurting small-scale farmers. The amendments still have to be passed by the Senate, where they are expected to meet tough opposition, and be signed by President Dilma Rousseff before taking effect. A group of 10 former environmental ministers sent a letter dated May 23 to the president urging a balanced approach to environmental regulation that will promote both the agricultural industry and environmental sustainability.