policing

BBC: the opposition struggles in Russia
Gdn: and returns (sort of) in Pakistan

Gdn: Hamas warns of more violence as Annapolis summit approaches
CSM: is the violence and conflict in Palestinian territories causing an increase in honor killings?

CSM: LA police scrap a plan to map Muslims, label some communities "violent, ideologically based extremism"
BBC: apparently Kenyan security forces used lower-tech means to target banned "extremist" sect members in Nairobi; rights group claims over 8,000 have been killed and tortured in the last few years.

Gdn: from last week, Lebanon braced for fall-out from not choosing a president
WP: not to worry, the army stepped in

BBC: Nigeria's senate re-thinking the handover of an oil region to Cameroon

BBC: there were riots in Senegal last week, and the gov't backed down on plans to regulate street vendors

BBC: Mbeki trying to negotiate a deal between Mugabe and the opposition in Zimbabwe
Gdn: but he's got some troubles of his own

WSJ: this article takes the cake for best title, on the students protesting Chávez. (worth a look even if you can't read the entire story...)

VQR: a blind mayor manages in Colombia

NYT: plan to train Iraqi security forces, take 312
"The precise arrangements would vary depending on the threats and the quality of Iraqi forces in specific regions, and brigade commanders would have considerable leeway in deciding how many soldiers to commit to mentoring. But the shift toward training would be gradual, reflecting what commanders say have been lessons learned from the failure of earlier, overhasty efforts to transfer responsibility to the Iraqis."

Gdn: NYC's murder rate way down

"Murder rates in cities in the United States and other countries, per 100,000 people, 2006

Detroit: 47.3
Rio de Janeiro*: 45
Baltimore: 43.3
New Orleans: 37.6
Washington DC: 29.1
Bogota*: 18
Moscow*: 11.9
New York: 6.1
London**: 2.1
Tokyo*: 1.4

* Data for most recent available year

** Data for 2007 so far"