United Nations officials said on March 10 that US and Israeli airstrikes on fuel depots in Tehran have released large amounts of toxic pollutants, producing acidic "black rain" across parts of the capital.

Amnesty International on Nov. 20 denounced authorities in Chad for their failure to protect victims of armed clashes between herders and farmers. The group documented seven instances of herder-farmer violence  in four provinces between 2022 and 2024, which resulted in 98 people dead, at least 100 injured, and 600 left without homes or sources of income.

The politically volatile region of Pakistan-administered Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) has once again plunged into a crisis of civil unrest. In late September, a local protest over government plans to drop subsidies for wheat and electricity rapidly transformed into a broader movement demanding comprehensive reform and regional ecomic relief. The demonstrations have pressured the government into negotiations and legal concessions, after initial harsh repression only further fueled public dissent.

Youth-led protests demanding better education and healthcare in Morocco escalated into violent clashes with security forces on Sept. 30, the fourth consecutive day of angry demonstrations across several cities. The protests were organized online by a loose network calling itself "GenZ 212," after Morocco's country code. In the southern cities of Tiznit, Inzegane and Ait Amira, as well as the eastern city of Oujda and Temara near the capital Rabat, hundreds of protesters hurled stones at security forces attempting to disperse the gatherings. On Oct. 2, at least two protesters were killed when police opened fire in Lqliaa, near the coastal city of Agadir. Authorities said the troops fired to prevent protesters from storming a police station. (Reuters, BBC News, NYT, PRI)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Zambian authorities Sept. 11 to investigate the consequences of acid released into a river following the rupture of a dam holding mining waste, which has polluted local soils and affected the livelihoods of citizens.  

Panamanian construction workers, teachers' unions, and popular organizations launched an indefinite strike April 28 to protest the government's proposed reforms to the pension system and to demand an end to US interference in the country. Protestors, led by the construction union SUNTRACS, were met by police repression in various parts of the country, including tear gas aimed directly at students. In addition to fears that reforms to the country's social security system will lead to its privatization, the country's grassroots organizations believe that President José Raúl Mulino has undermined Panamanian sovereignty by not being firm enough in his negotiations with the Trump administration over control of the Panama Canal.

Trump's annexationist designs on Canada were the central issue in the country's elections this past week, which saw a victory for the intransigently anti-Trump candidate, Mark Carney. While this seems surreal after a generation of economic integration under NAFTA, the vast resources of Canada—especially hydrocarbons, water and energy—provide a long-term goad of conflict between the two giants of North America. The Pentagon does in fact have a contingency plan for an invasion of Canada, dating back to the 1930s. In Episode 276 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg explores the strategic and corporate agendas behind Trump's bellicose bluster.

A tragic militant attack in the Baisaran Valley near Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22 left at least 26 people dead, including Indian and foreign tourists. The incident prompted an immediate and strong response from the Indian government, which has blamed the attack on Pakistan-based groups. Within a day, India announced that it was suspending the Indus Waters Treaty—a World Bank-brokered agreement signed in 1960 that governs the use and distribution of waters in the Indus River basin between the two countries.