US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Canadian and Mexican counterparts Peter MacKay and Patricia Espinosa in Ottawa Feb. 23 for a summit of the North American Security and Prosperity Initiative (NASPI, or ASPAN by its Spanish acronym), which was launched at a March 2006 conference in Cancun. Coordinated response to narco-trafficking, organized crime and terrorism topped the agenda, under the catch-phrase "secure and intelligent borders." Presidents Bush and Felipe Calderón are to meet to discuss the program with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Canada this August. (Notimex, Feb. 24)

Thousands of Mexican miners held a one-day strike Feb. 19, marking the one-year anniversary of the underground blast that killed 65 at the Pasta de Conchos coal mine in northern Coahuila state. Relatives of the victims celebrated a Mass and rallied outside the mine's gates to press their demands for better working conditions and recovery of the victims' remains. To date, only two bodies have been found.

Jorge Noguera, former head of Colombia's Department of Administrative Security (DAS) under President Alvaro Uribe, was arrested Feb. 22. He is accused of handing over a hit list of human rights workers and trade union activists to the right-wing paramilitaries. A number of the people on the list later were killed. Noguera, who as a regional campaign chief helped get Uribe elected in 2002, was arrested as he gave testimony in the chief prosecutor's office, according to his lawyer. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.

From DPA, Feb. 23:

LONDON - A group of mothers who lost sons in Iraq Friday set up a 'peace camp' outside the Downing Street offices of British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London.

Anti-war protesters clashed with police in Sydney Feb. 22 before the arrival of US Vice President Dick Cheney. Seven people were arrested as mounted police attempted to bar hundreds from marching through Australia's largest city, demanding Prime Minister John Howard pull troops out of Iraq. (Reuters, Feb. 23) Meanwhile, Australian troops in East Timor shot and killed a youth who was firing steel arrows at the soldiers as they responded to a disturbance at a refugee camp near Dili airport. Two Timorese civilians were also injured in the incident. Some 800 Australian troops are in East Timor following a request from the small nation's government last year after weeks of deadly violence. About 1,000 international police are also in East Timor as part of a UN mission. (The West, Australia, Feb. 23)

Shades of Bosnia. From the UK-based Middle East Online, Feb. 23:

Allegations of sexual abuse of Sunni women by Shiite forces stirred sectarian tensions in Iraq on Friday, while a US soldier was jailed for 100 years for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old girl.

Around 25,000 rallied in the Afghan capital Kabul Feb. 22, calling for a war crimes amnesty for former Mujahedeen commanders to be made law. The protesters, who gathered in a stadium, included ex-Mujahedeen and several top government officials. "Whoever is against mujahedeen is against Islam and they are the enemies of this country," former fighter Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, who is now an influential lawmaker, told the crowd. Supporters later marched through the streets of the city, shouting "Death to the enemies of Afghanistan!" and "Death to America!" (BBC, Feb. 23) Later that day, the upper house of Afghanistan's parliament, the Meshrano Jirga, approved the amnesty bill. The vote came three weeks after the 249-seat lower house, or Wolesi Jirga, approved it. The bill now goes to President Hamid Karzai for his signature. (IRIN, Feb. 22)

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Afghanistan's rebel Hizb-i-Islami rebel movement, has released a video denouncing the US as "the mother of problems" and pledging that US and NATO forces will be driven from the country, likely this year. "As long as America remains in Afghanistan and in the region, war and problems will continue," he says in the video. "I can say with full assurance and confidence that America does not have the ability to stay for a long period in Afghanistan... My analysis is that America [will] pull out from Iraq and Afghanistan simultaneously and the withdrawal perhaps will happen this year." (AlJazeera, Feb. 22)