On Sept. 30, Peruvian President Ollanta Humala and his Colombian counterpart Juan Manuel Santos and their respective cabinet ministers held a rare joint meeting in Peru's Amazon river port of Iquitos. There, they signed a binational accord to launch a joint effort to "cleanse Putumayo"—a reference to the jungle river basin that has for many years been under the virtual control of criminal enterprises. The Río Putumayo, a tributary of the Amazon, forms the border between the two countries in the lawless region. The Colombian side is a key stronghold of the FARC guerillas, which is believed to do business with the criminal gangs that operate freely on the Peruvian side. Santos said "we have common enemies, such as the narco-traffic, illegal mining and cutting of forests." (El Tiempo, Sept. 30) He did not mention that efforts at cooperation to get the Putumayo under control have been hampered by an ongoing border dispute in the area.

At a Conservative Party conference on the island of San Andres Oct. 16, Colombia's Prosecutor General Alejandro Ordoñez slammed President Juan Manuel Santos for "protecting a terrorist" by failing to arrest FARC leader Rodrigo Londoño AKA "Timochenko." The comments came after press revelations that Timochenko had secretly attended the peace talks between the Colombian government and the FARC guerillas in Havana, Cuba. (Colombia Reports, Oct. 17; The City Paper, Bogotá, Oct. 12)

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro on Oct. 15 called for the elimination of terrorist groups operating in the country, revealing details of the investigation into the murder of legislator Robert Serra. The young lawmaker, a rising star in the ruling PSUV, was found stabbed to death with his partner in their apartment in Caracas Oct. 3. Maduro announced that two arrested in the case were linked to an unnamed paramilitary leader in Colombia who he said was "plotting" to destabilize Venezuela. The local operative for the network in Caracas was named as Padilla Leyva (no first name given), who was said to go by the nom de guerre "El Colombia." Maduro said a manhunt is underway for fugitive members of the network. According to UN figures, Venezuela has the second highest peacetime murder rate in the world after Honduras. (TeleSUR, Oct. 15; BBC News, Oct. 13; BBC News, Oct. 3)

Journalist Taing Tri of the local Vealntri newspaper in Cambodia's Kratie province was shot dead Oct. 12 as he attempted to photograph trucks transporting illegal luxury wood near Pum Ksem Kang Krow village. Tri is the 13th journalist to be killed in the line of duty since Cambodia's first democratic elections in 1993, and his death bears a disturbing resemblance to the 2012 murder in Ratanakiri province of Heng Serei Oudom, who was known for his reporting on illegal logging in the region. The Cambodian Center for Independent Media (CCIM) and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) condemned Tri's murder and called on local authorities to bring the killers to justice "in order to end the cycle of impunity for those who perpetuate violence against journalists in Cambodia." To date, no one has been convicted for the murder of Oudom or any of the other journalists killed in Cambodia over the last 11 years. (IFEX, Oct. 15)

Two gunmen shoved their way into a radio studio in Mazatlán, a port city in Mexico's Sinaloa state, and opened fire on local activist Atilano Román Tirado, killing him live on the air Oct. 12. Román Tirado had a weekly program on Radio Fiesta Mexicana, called "Asi es mi Tierra" (That's How My Land Is), as well as leading a group of campesino families displaced by the Picachos dam. In recent years, the movement of some 800 families demanding compensation for lands lost to the dam on the Río Presidio has staged blockades and protest marches, resulting in some arrests and repression. Sinaloa's Gov. Mario López Valdez (PAN) said the killing would not go unpunished. Violent attacks on reporters and media workers are increasingly common in Mexico. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, 75 journalists and media workers have been killed since 1992, although the vast majority reporters or editors for print media. (AP, Oct. 13; Libération, France, Oct. 12)

Kurdish fighters at Kobani are starting to gain ground against ISIS forces, days after the jihadists had penetrated the besieged town in northern Syria. Images on the Daily Mail website show Kurdish YPG fighters triumphantly raising their flag above Tel Shair hill in the west of the town, where the black jihadist flag ISIS had recently been flying. The report emphasizes the role of US air-strikes in the turn-around, and also claims the YPG has started to press local youth into its ranks in a conscription drive. The Washington Post shows images of the latest US strikes on ISIS positions at Kobani, and notes that the US-led military campaign has now been officially dubbed "Inherent Resolve."

Amid fierece fighting in Benghazi, AP cites unnamed "officials" as saying Egyptian warplanes have bombed Islamist positions in the eastern Libyan city. In the ongoing "Operation Dignity," led by renegade Gen. Khalifa Haftar, a tank assault is currently underway against an area of the city controlled by the 17 February Brigade, according to Libya Herald. Meanwhile in Tripoli, the Fajr Libya (Libyan Dawn) coalition, led by Islamist militia from Misrata, has seized government ministry buildings and now controls their websites. The website of Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni—who now sits with his cabinet in the eastern city of Bayda—shows the picture of the man the Misrata rebels have declared as prime minister, Omar al-Hasi. Libyan Dawn, now calling itself the National Salvation government, has also taken over the website of the National Oil Corp. (Reuters)

Turkish fighter jets carried out air-strikes on supposed positions of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Dağlıca district of southeastern Hakkari province near the Iraqi border late Oct. 13. The Turkish General Staff said the targeted PKK forces had been involved in "assassination, armed incidents and attacks on security bases" after last week's nationwide Kurdish protests. A Dağlıca military guard post had been attacked with rocket-propelled grenades by the PKK for three days, Turkish authorities said. Clashes were also reported between the military and PKK fighters in the Tunceli area of east-central Turkey. The fighting is the first since the PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan called a unilateral ceasefire in March 2013 to mark Kurdish New Year as part of a wider peace process.