Two US troops were killed by an Afghan army solider outside a coalition military base in Nangarhar province Feb. 23 as protests escalated over the burning of Korans that had been issued to detainees at Bagram Air Base. Protests have spread across half a dozen provinces following the revelations, with demonstrators arming themselves with rocks, bricks, sticks and pistols. The Taliban issued a statement signed by the "Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" on their website, Voice of Jihad, calling for an uprising against the "American invaders." The unrest comes as the US Department of Defense announced the next round of unit deployments to Afghanistan. Five brigades and one army command will deploy to Afghanistan between April and August 2012. These units will not be assigned to regular combat operations, but to train and support the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The deployment will constitute an unprecedentedly large training mission. (VOA, Feb. 23; NYT, Feb. 22; Long War Journal, Feb. 19)

Yemeni electoral officials on Feb. 21 hailed a 60% turnout in single-candidate elections that officially ended President Ali Abdullah Saleh's 33-year rule, despite boycott calls in the south where violence marred polling. The separatist Southern Movement announced a day of "civil disobedience" to mark the vote. A leader of the movement, Abdulhamid Shokri, said four civilians—including a child—were killed in Aden during street clashes with security forces. Authorities said two soldiers were also killed in the south. Turnout was significantly lower in Aden and the south. There was no polling at all in southern towns controlled by Islamist militants. In the far north, Shi'ite rebels also boycotted the vote. In the US, where Saleh is receiving treatment for wounds sustained in the bombing of his Sanaa compound last June, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the vote was "another important step forward in their [Yemen's] democratic transition process." The only person on the ballot was Vice President Abdurabu Mansur Hadi, who became acting president in November as the result of a power transfer brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council after months of protests. (Middle East Online, BBC News, CNN, Feb. 22)

Hundreds of relatives of inmates who burned or suffocated to death at the Comayagua prison fire in Honduras forced their way into a morgue in Tegucigalpa Feb. 20 to demand the remains of loved ones. The group, mostly women, pushed past security guards, entered the morgue, broke into a refrigerated container and opened at least six body bags. (The Guardian, Feb. 10) Relatives of those who went missing in the conflagration have converged on Tegucigalpa from around the country, and are being housed on the premises of the government aid agency INFOP, as they await word from the Public Security ministry on the fate of their loved ones. They are reportedly facing poor conditions there, with inadequate food, water and shelter. (Red Morazánica de Información, Feb. 21)

Officials from the United States and Mexico on Feb. 20 signed an agreement that opens the way for exploration and development of oil and natural gas reservoirs along the two countries' maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mexico. Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Mexican Minister of Foreign Relations Patricia Espinosa, and Mexican Minister of Energy Jordy Herrera joined Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today in Los Cabos, Baja California Sur, for the signing ceremony. The signing took place on the sidelines of at a ministerial meeting of Group of 20 nations. As a result of the agreement, nearly 1.5 million acres of the US Outer Continental Shelf will now be made more accessible for exploration and production activities. Estimates by the US Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) indicate this area contains as much as 172 million barrels of oil and 304 billion cubic feet of natural gas. The agreement establishes a framework for US companies and Mexico's Pemex to enter into agreements to jointly develop transboundary reservoirs.

Indian police detained two members of an Italian navy security team Feb. 19 over the fatal shooting of two fishermen from an Italian oil tanker off the coast of Kerala state four days earlier. Italian officials said the fishing boat behaved aggressively and ignored warning shots. They said they opened fire, assuming they were pirates. India said the fishermen were unarmed. Indian police have opened a murder enquiry into the deaths, while Italy is demanding release of the detained guards. The two have been remanded into judicial custody for 14 days by a local magistrate. The Italian ambassador in Delhi was summoned by the foreign ministry over the shooting. The two countries are at odds on whether the incident took place in waters under India's territorial jurisdiction. Indian Defence Minister AK Antony described the killings as "very serious." The tanker, MV Enrica Lexie, bound for Singapore, is now anchored off the port of Kochi. (The Hindu, Times of India, Feb. 21; BBC News, Feb. 19)

Some 50 black-clad gunmen armed with grenades and bombs stormed the city jail at Kidapawan, North Cotabato province, in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao Feb. 20. They were repulsed by police in a chaotic night battle that killed three—two civilian by-standers and an ambulance driver. Of the 15 wounded, most were civilians caught in the crossfire. As the armed men withdrew, they fired rocket propelled grenades at a nearby Karaoke bar. Military and police officials blamed former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), attempting to free leader Datukan Sama, AKA Kumander Lastikman, who is charged with kidnapping. A spokesman for the MILF denied the claim. (AP, Xinhua, Feb. 20)

The European Union approved a second bailout for Greece in the wee hours of Feb. 21, signing off on a $170 billion rescue package—a day after thousands of protesters took to the streets to oppose austerity in both Greece and Spain. As Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos flew out to Brussels to try to clinch the deal, 3,500 marched in Athens, with another 1,200 reported from Thessaloniki. In Athens, hundreds of police trailed the marches—held a week after Parliament approved the austerity measures as rioters torched dozens of buildings in the city center. A new clash was reported at the Parliament biulding, with stone-throwing youth met with tear-gas canisters. In Spain, there were protests in more than 50 towns and cities. The largest were in Madrid and Barcelona, which both drew hundreds of thousands of marchers. (LAT, Feb. 20; AFP, Feb. 19)

Representatives of indigenous organizations in Peru met in Lima Feb. 20 to announce that they have rejected proposed implementing regulations for the new Law of Prior Consultation for Indigenous and Original Peoples, and submitted proposals for improving it. Alberto Pizango, national leader of the Amazonian indigenous alliance AIDESEP called on the government to extend approval of the regulations by 30 days to accommodate indigenous leaders' recommendations. He singled out the demand that binding consultation apply to oil and mineral projects already underway, not only new ones. "We appeal to dialogue, we only want to defend our rights," he said. Leading organizations in the Multisectoral Commission that evaluated the regulations included AIDESEP, the Agrarian Confederation of Peru (CNA) and the National Organization of Andean and Amazonian Women (ONAMIAP).