The China-Peru Free Trade Agreement took effect March 1, calling for phasing out tariffs on 90% of goods exchanged between the two nations, with an emphasis on Chinese industrial and manufactured goods and Peruvian minerals and agricultural goods. With bilateral trade valued at $7.5 billion in 2008—up 24% from 2007—China has emerged as Peru's second-biggest trade partner, according to Beijing's Ministry of Commerce. China also has free trade pacts with Pakistan, New Zealand, Singapore and the ASEAN bloc. (Xinhua, Global Times, China, March 1)

The new Honduran government of President Porfirio Lobo brought fresh corruption charges last week against the exiled Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted as president by last June's coup d'etat. Prosecutors charged Zelaya with diverting $1.5 million in welfare funds to his campaign for a referendum on reforming the constitution. Zelaya said in a statement from the Dominican Republic that the charges "seek personal revenge and worsen the political persecution against me, forgetting national reconciliation." (AP, Feb. 27)

The Chilean military is attempting to restore order in the country's second city, Concepción, amid looting in the wake of the devastating Feb. 27 earthquake. Troops have fired tear gas at "looters" attempting to flee with food and other goods from wrecked shops. A dusk-to-dawn curfew is in force in the city, where a major rescue effort is under way. Regional military commander Guillermo Ramirez issued a warning to would-be looters. "I would advise criminals not to mess with the armed forces. Our response will be severe, but within the context of the law," he said.

Seven Palestinians were detained as clashes erupted with Israeli forces at al-Aqsa Mosque compound Feb. 28, with discord reported throughout the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli police stormed the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, after Palestinian youths barricaded inside and threw stones at visitors they believed to be radical Jewish settlers. The protesters staged the occupation in response to rumors that militant Jews planned to take over the compound during the Purim holiday that began that day. They were also protesting Israel's recent decision to add the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem to its list of national heritage sites.

Three months ago we noted widespread rumors that Israel was preparing imminent air-strikes on Iran—particularly predicted for around the New Year—and asked our readers in an Exit Poll: "Will Israel attack Iran within the next three months?" We received 99 votes. The results follow:

Colombia's Constitutional Court President Mauricio González announced Feb. 26 that the court had voted 7 to 2 against the proposed referendum to allow President Alvaro Uribe to run for a third term, calling the idea "unconstitutional in its entirety." González said the court struck down law 1354-2009, created by the government in order to call the referendum. The ruling not only blocks Uribe from seeking a third consecutive term, but from ever running to regain the presidency.

Thousands of adherents of the National Popular Resistance Front (FNRP) marched in the Honduran capital Tegucigalpa Feb. 25 to protest the slaying of civil resistance leaders under what they still consider to be the "de facto regime" of President Porfirio "Pepe" Lobo despite the change in government last month. The rally concluded in front of the National Congress building, where the march was blocked by a military cordon.

NGOs in Mexico's conflicted southern state of Chiapas are protesting the "forced displacement" by state and federal police of two peasant settlements in the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve. The operations took place Jan. 21 and 22 at the settlements of Laguna El Suspiro and Laguna San Pedro—the last one a base community of the Zapatista rebel movement. Homes were destroyed, and the inhabitants forcibly taken by helicopter to the nearby town of Palenque, where they were given temporary shelter in resettlement center—and interrogated by federal agents about supposed marijuana cultivation on their lands. Officials from the Federal Prosecutor for Environmental Protection and National Commission for Protected Areas were helicoptered in along with the police contingents to oversee the evictions.