Amnesty International slams rise of Argentina’s 'surveillance state'Between December 2023, when Milei took office, and December 2025, the Argentine government "implemented a slew of security and intelligence reforms and expanded their use of surveillance technologies," the report said. "These measures constitute an intensification of state monitoring capacities… aimed at controlling and deterring protest and increasing authoritarian practices," it added.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/argentina/amnesty-international-slams-rise-of-argentinas-surveillance-state.phtmlhttps://archive.ph/wCXC4Lula calls oil near the Amazon River a passport to Brazil’s future after Petrobras strikes new findThe exploratory drilling began in October. Environmental and Indigenous groups have since sued the Brazilian government and Petrobras to halt exploration, arguing the licensing process failed to properly consult traditional communities, underestimated spill risks and did not adequately assess climate impacts. The company has long argued it has never caused spills in its drillings.
https://apnews.com/article/brazil-lula-oil-petrobras-amazon-drilling-9ad1dd2eb5a7932c2738c904fcaa73ccAdviser to far-right Latin American leaders arrested for allegedly plotting to kill girlfriendThe businessman and political consultant Fernando Cerimedo, 42, had been working as an adviser to the Bolivian president, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, and was one of the main strategists behind Javier Milei’s campaign in Argentina’s 2023 presidential election.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/19/fernando-cerimedo-adviser-far-right-latin-american-leaders-arrested-allegedly-plotting-kill-girlfriendColombia’s government publishes “white paper” on corruption by PetroThe book contains mainly political criticisms of the previous “regime” and no evidence of misdeeds that hadn’t been picked by the Comptroller General’s Office, which monitors public spending. The president blamed the budget deficit on the “sacking” of the Petro administration rather than Congress’s failure to approve the legislation that allowed the previous government to carry out its 2026 budget.
https://colombiareports.com/colombias-government-publishes-white-paper-on-corruption-by-petro/Israeli troops raid Syria and kidnap two a day after bombing air base near TurkeyOver 100 soldiers in 15 armoured vehicles rattled into Jubata al-Khashab, a settlement in the United Nations Disengagement Observer Zone, which forms a buffer between Syrian-controlled territory and the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967 but recognised as Syrian by every country except Israel, the US and lately Colombia.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/israeli-troops-raid-syria-and-kidnap-two-day-after-bombing-air-base-near-turkeyIsraeli strikes on Gaza kill 17 Palestinians; Tuesday’s primary results; Liberia to take 1,200 deportees from the U.S. Israel escalates its attacks on Gaza, killing 17, wounding 38 over the past 24 hours. Palestinian child dies of malnutrition in Gaza. Nearly 470 attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank in a week. Land seizures, settler attacks and detentions reported across the occupied West Bank. UN: Gaza remains world’s deadliest place for aid workers in 2025 for third consecutive year. Israel announces probe into two high-profile Gaza massacres. United Arab Emirates halts all trade with Iran after accusing it of launching missiles.
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-gaza-strikes-tuesday-primary-florida-liberia-us-deportees UAE-funded mercenary targeted British activist in London, report says Emirati financial records seen by ITV showed that Golan, who lived in the US, was being paid by the UAE while carrying out the operation. He was receiving a six-figure annual retainer, as well as substantial bonuses, including a $1m payment weeks before his trip to London for an operation in Yemen. ITV's investigation, based on witness testimony, emails, WhatsApp messages and financial records, found that Golan worked with a former US special forces operative to locate and monitor Tikriti.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uae-funded-mercenary-targeted-british-activist-anas-altikriti-londonEx-Left Party leader helps pave the way for far-right rule in eastern GermanyWagenknecht has proposed electing an “independent” and “non-partisan” state premier together with the AfD, one who would rely on shifting majorities in the state legislature—including the votes of the AfD. She has also announced that her party would abstain in any third round of voting for state premier, in which a simple majority suffices. This could allow Ulrich Siegmund, the far right’s lead candidate, to be elected head of an AfD minority state government.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/08/19/mqwm-a19.htmlUkrainian man arrested over 2022 Nord Stream pipeline explosionsThe German prosecutors said that the suspect was a “trained scuba diver” who belonged to a group of people who “planted explosives” on the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea near the Danish island of Bornholm.
https://apnews.com/article/nord-stream-explosions-arrest-b53e8345e4e9c1125324806d83041f9dVolodymyr Zelenskyy sacks senior aide amid Ukraine corruption crisisUkraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has fired a senior aide amid a fresh corruption investigation – one day after a former defence minister warned the country was facing “a crisis of governance” and needed to hold a wartime presidential election.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/19/volodymyr-zelenskyy-sacks-senior-aide-amid-ukraine-corruption-crisis