Dozens of people have been killed in clashes between indigenous people and police in Peru.

The Indians have been protesting against laws which will open up communal jungle lands and water resources to oil drilling, logging and mining.

Al Jazeera’s Teresa Bo reports from Bagua Grande in Peru.

More from Reuters:

Peruvian troops patrolled Amazon towns searching for missing policemen on Sunday after 60 people died in clashes with native tribes opposed to plans to drill for oil and mine resources in the jungle.

Troops controlled the town of Bagua Grande, 870 miles north of the capital Lima, after an overnight curfew was enforced to defuse the worst violence faced by President Alan Garcia’s government.

An indigenous leader said 40 protesters were killed and the government said 23 members of the security forces perished in two days of battles over Garcia’s push to open up the rainforest to billions of dollars in foreign investment.

Thousands of Indians armed with wooden spears vowed to dig in at blockades on remote Amazon highways to defend their ancestral lands from outside developers.

“We are looking for the missing police and the weapons the Indians stole from them,” said Major Jose Luis Santillan, police chief in nearby Bagua Chica, close to the stretch of highway known as “Devil’s Curve,” where 11 police died when they moved to break up a roadblock on Friday.

Dozens of police were held hostage by protesters, but most were freed hours later. On Sunday, two were still missing.

Hundreds of natives who sought refuge at a Catholic mission in Bagua Grande drew up a list of dozens of missing people and sought guarantees to search for bodies of the slain.

“We have been told that many of our dead brothers have been thrown into the Maranon river to cover up the killing,” said Carlos Anchanchi, one of the group’s leaders.

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Royal Dutch Shell has been accused of supporting the execution and torture of protesters opposed to its operations in Nigeria during the 1990s.

As a lawsuit against the company over the issue was due to go to trial in New York, the oil company agreed to settle out of court, paying $15.5m to the families of executed activists.

Al Jazeera’s Andrew Simmons reports.

More from Raw Story:

Victims of murder, torture and other abuses by Nigeria’s former military government on Tuesday hailed a landmark out-of-court settlement with Royal Dutch Shell over its alleged complicity in the crimes.

Shell agreed on Monday in New York to pay out 15.5 million dollars (10.7 million euros) to relatives of Nigerian writer and activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and others executed in 1995 in what plaintiffs said was a campaign of repression backed by the oil giant.

The settlement brings to an end a long battle by the Nigerian victims and means that Shell avoids a potentially embarrassing court case while having to accept no actual wrongdoing.

Saro-Wiwa had led a non-violent campaign to protest environmental destruction and abuses against the Ogoni people in the Niger Delta before he was hanged along with other activists after his trial in a military court.

“We welcome the 15.5 million dollars compensation for the illegal killings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other eight Ogoni leaders,” Bariara Kpalap, spokesman for the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), told AFP.

But Kpalap insisted Shell must still address the issue of environmental pollution and change the way it does business in the oil-rich Niger Delta, where farmers and fishermen are being driven off.

“For a lasting peace in the Ogoni land, Shell has to change its attitude towards the people. Shell should treat us as civilised human beings and not those to be exploited because of our oil,” he said.

Part of the Shell payout will go to the plaintiffs, part to a trust to benefit the Ogoni, and some to pay the costs of litigation.

Shell maintained its innocence and highlighted what it called a “humanitarian gesture” to help the Ogoni.

“While we were prepared to go to court to clear our name, we believe the right way forward is to focus on the future for Ogoni people,” said Malcolm Brinded, executive director for exploration and production.

“We believe this settlement will assist the process of reconciliation and peace in Ogoni land, which is our primary concern.”

The Nigerian plaintiffs, represented by US human rights lawyers, brought the suit under the little used Alien Tort Claims Act, a 1789 US law occasionally dusted off for use against multinational corporations.

“Today, plaintiffs and defendants reached a settlement in the human rights cases brought against Royal Dutch Petroleum Company,” the lawyers announced in New York on Monday.

“We want to express our satisfaction that these cases have provided the plaintiffs with substantial compensation for their claims.”

The case, seen as a landmark in the human rights legal field, had been due to go to trial on May 27 but was repeatedly delayed in the run-up to Monday’s announcement of a settlement.

Marco Simons, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs, described the agreement as a “very significant milestone.”

While a settlement of 15.5 million dollars will hardly dent the coffers of an oil giant like Shell, he said it was a large enough sum to ensure other international companies dealing with violent governments took note.

“Shell (will now) think that every time that somebody is injured by soldiers on one of their projects where they are providing support and assistance and encouragement, that each one of those incidents is a million dollar incident.”

The settlement is not the end of Shell’s legal troubles. Separate challenges are being mounted in New York by an Ogoni and by environmental activists in the Netherlands.

Human rights lawyers in New York hailed the agreement as a precedent for holding Shell and other oil giants responsible for activities in countries with repressive governments.

“Shell will be dragged from the boardroom to the courthouse, time and again, until the company addresses the injustices at the root of the Niger Delta crisis and put an end to its environmental devastation,” said Elizabeth Bast, international programme director for Friends of the Earth US.

Han Shan, at Oil Change International, said: “This case should be a wake-up call to multinational corporations that they will be held accountable for violations of international law, no matter where they occur.”

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Omar Bongo’s 50-year-old son, Defence Minister Ali-Ben Bongo, is viewed as his father’s most likely successor. But that’s just the tip of the inheritance. More from the Globe and Mail:

Gabon’s President Omar Bongo was the world’s longest-serving president, whose 41-year rule was a throwback to an era when Africa was ruled by “Big Men.”

Mr. Bongo, who was believed to be one of the world’s wealthiest leaders, became the longest-ruling head of government – a category that does not include the monarchs of Britain and Thailand – when Cuba’s Fidel Castro handed power to his brother last year. Mr. Bongo had kept a tight grip on power in the oil-rich former French colony since he became president in 1967, and his ruling party has dominated the country’s parliament for decades. Opposition parties were allowed only in 1990. Elections since then have been marred by allegations of rigging and unrest. In 2003, parliament removed presidential term limits from the constitution.

While most Gabonese feared Mr. Bongo and there was little opposition, many accepted his rule because he kept his country remarkably peaceful and governed without the sustained brutality characteristic of many dictators.

Mr. Bongo, meanwhile, amassed a fortune that made him one of the world’s richest men, according to Freedom House, a private Washington-based democracy watchdog organization, although nobody really knows how much he was worth.

Earlier this year, a French judge decided to investigate Mr. Bongo and two other African leaders on accusations of money laundering and other alleged crimes linked to their wealth in France.

The probe followed a complaint by Transparency International France, an association that tracks corruption. French media have reported that Mr. Bongo’s family owns abundant real estate in France – at one time owning more properties in Paris than any other foreign leader.

He was the youngest of 12 children and served as a lieutenant in the French Air Force, then climbed quickly through the civil service, eventually becoming vice-president.

He assumed the presidency Dec. 2, 1967, after the death of Leon M’Ba, the country’s only other head of state since independence from France in 1960.

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In comments to a Senate Appropriations panel, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates noted that steps taken over the next 18 months to defeat the Taliban militias will ultimately decide whether the war in Afghanistan is being won or lost. Secretary Gates added the war had intensified in 2006 — in large part as a result of Pakistan’s peace deals with militant groups that pushed the Taliban back over the Afghan border and that the United States had failed to adequately commit the necessary resources.

More from the New York Times:

”As this problem became worse in terms of the violence caused by the Taliban coming across the border from Pakistan, I think that it’s self-evident that we were under-resourced to deal with it,” Gates told a Senate Appropriations panel.

He added, however, that the Pakistani army has since stepped up its battle against extremists in the Swat valley and elsewhere in the nation’s northwest provinces. He called it ”an extremely important development.”

Gates is taking a closer look at the Afghan conflict this week. He heads to Europe later Tuesday to discuss the war with NATO allies and other nations with troops fighting in Afghanistan’s volatile South.

He and Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen told senators they’re more optimistic now than in recent months about efforts to combat insurgents and extremists along the remote Afghan-Pakistan border.

But, Mullen said, ”I think the next 12 to 18 months will really tell the tale.”

Gates emphasized that he did not mean the Afghan campaign would achieve success in that time, but rather that officials hoped to ‘’see a shift in the momentum” by then.

”It’s very important for us to be able to show the American people that we are moving forward … to show some shift in momentum,” Gates said. ”This is a long-term commitment, but I believe the American people will be willing to sustain this endeavor if they believe this is not just a stalemate.”

He also described himself as ”very sensitive” about the number of U.S. troops deployed to Afghanistan. The Pentagon chief previously has said he is reluctant to sent many more soldiers to Afghanistan beyond the 68,000 already planned. There are 58,000 U.S. troops there now.

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Omar Bongo, the President of Gabon, has died in a Barcelona hospital of a cardiac arrest. Omar Bongo was the world’s longest serving ruler, a dictator who had ruled the small but oil-rich Central African country with an iron hand. Mr. Bongo became President in 1967 and despite an oil bonanza failed to transform the country. The Gabonese Constitution calls for the head of the Senate to assume power and organize presidential elections within 90 days of Bongo’s death but it remains unclear what will happen. At the moment there seems to be a power vacuum. More from the New York Times:

Gabon’s government held an emergency meeting Tuesday, setting the stage for the country’s chief lawmaker to take power following the death of the world’s longest-ruling president a day earlier.

Cabinet ministers officially acknowledged the power vacuum, and the constitutional court is expected to do the same soon, said government spokesman Renee Ndemezo’o Obiang.

Both steps are necessary to transfer power to Rose Francine Rogombe, the chief legislator.

Bongo, 73, died of cardiac arrest Monday at Spanish hospital where he had been treated for weeks. Bongo had dominated the oil-rich former French colony since becoming president more than four decades ago, in 1967.

Obiang said the late president’s body would be returned to Gabon on Thursday from Spain and the late president would be buried soon afterward in the central city of Franceville, capital of his native province.

No date has been set for the funeral.

Bongo was the only leader most Gabonese ever knew, and the government has sought to reassure its population the country will not degenerate without him.

”We want the friends of Gabon to know that the country is functioning smoothly despite the president’s absence,” Obiang told reporters.

Late Monday, Ali Ben Bongo — the late leader’s son and defense minister — went on national television to call for calm. The younger Bongo said he was speaking on behalf of his family, but the appearance has raised speculation he is positioning himself for a political run.

The constitution calls for the head of the Senate to assume power and organize presidential elections within 90 days of Bongo’s death.

On Tuesday, the capital, Libreville, was calm and there was no significant sign of troops in the streets. Airport officials said flights had resumed after authorities sealed borders Monday.

Since Bongo checked into the Spanish hospital last month, Gabonese officials had aggressively denied that he was ill, insisting he had gone to Spain to observe ”a period of mourning” following the death of his wife in March. They initially denied he was in the hospital at all, then later said he had been admitted to the clinic, but only for a checkup.

Just hours before announcing Bongo’s death, Gabonese Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong held a news conference at the Quiron Clinic in Barcelona to say the president was alive.

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Brazil is implementing comprehensive policies to promote competitiveness and sustainability. What reforms have enhanced productivity, expansion of labour opportunities and capital attraction? What concrete actions are improving the investment climate in Brazil? How does better regulation enhance trade in goods and services, intellectual property rights, FDI, labour policies and environmental protection towards productive development?

Panelists
Fernando Dantas Alves Filho, Territory Senior Partner, Brazil, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Brazil
Sérgio de Oliveira Cabral, Governor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Aloizio Mercadante, Federal Senator of Brazil
Mark Spelman, Global Head of Strategy, Accenture, United Kingdom
Moderated by
Ricardo Hausmann, Director, Center for International Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, USA; Co-Chair, Global Agenda Council on Financial Empowerment
Felipe Larraín Bascuñán, Professor of Economics, Catholic University of Chile, Chile

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How much influence does China have over North Korea’s behavior? Cha says that a delicate balance must be reached in trying to push the Chinese to push the North Koreans without being seen as a US pawn.

Dr. Cha argues that influencing North Korean behavior requires a behind-the-scenes pressure exerted by the PRC, a South Korea that cuts off economic assistance and a United States that is ready to engage.

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