About a dozen people reportedly died of starvation in the Baie d'Orange communal section in Belle-Anse in Haiti's Southeast department towards the end of October. Local authorities say malnutrition is a major problem in the area, which was hit by a series of storms two months ago; people are also suffering from dysentery, fevers and skin diseases. Apparently food relief failed to reach Baie d'Orange until recently because of the area's isolation, which was worsened by the storms. (AlterPresse, Oct. 30)

Hundreds of high school and college students from throughout the San Francisco Bay Area skipped class on Halloween morning, Oct. 31, to participate in a youth-led "Stop the Raids" protest against immigration enforcement in downtown San Francisco. Transit officials shut down the Fruitvale and Coliseum BART stations in Oakland and the Richmond BART station after hundreds of East Bay students entered the stations and boarded trains to San Francisco without paying. Officials kept the stations closed for more than an hour. Some BART trains bound for San Francisco were delayed at the West Oakland station by protesters who held doors open and demanded that the Fruitvale station be reopened, passengers and BART officials said. Three people were detained at the Richmond station. (San Francisco Chronicle, Nov. 1)

Mexican federal police Nov. 1 announced the arrest of the leader of the Gulf Cartel for the border city of Reynosa, across from McAllen, TX. The police statement said Antonio Galarza AKA "El Amarillo" was apprehended in a car stop in the northern city of Monterrey, and charged with weapons violations and money laundering.

Víctor Gerardo Garay Cadena, acting commander of Mexico's Federal Preventative Police (PFP), stepped down Oct. 31 under cloud of scandal, after one of his top lieutenants was arrested on charges of providing protection to the Sinaloa Cartel. "I am resigning because in the bloody fight against organized crime, it is our duty to strengthen institutions, which means it is essential to eliminate any shadows of doubt regarding me," Garay said.

President Evo Morales, speaking before a cheering crowd of coca-growers, announced Nov. 1 that he is suspending "until further notice" the operations of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in Bolivia, accusing the agency of spying and encouraging anti-government protests. He did not say whether DEA staff would expelled from the country, as demanded by coca-growers.

Earlier this year, we asked if oil would reach $200 per barrel by year's end. Short of a sudden and dramatic crisis in the Middle East, that now seems impossible. The rising prices themselves put some long-overdue breaks on consumption—and now the economic crunch is continuing that trend even as prices fall again. From the Houston Chronicle, Oct. 30:

More than 20 people were killed in two apparent US missile strikes in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border Oct. 31. An al-Qaeda leader identified as Abu Kasha or Abu Akash, previously believed to be in Iraq, was reported killed in the attack near the village of Mirali, North Waziristan. Two hours later, a second set of missiles hit a village in South Waziristan, killing seven, including an unspecified number of foreign fighters, Pakistani officials said. US military authorities had no immediate comment.

The Palestine People's Party (PPP) denounced the latest Israeli decision to demolish five Palestinian homes in the town of Bruqin in the northern West Bank Oct. 31. Senior PPP member Isam Baker called the decision "part of the ethnic cleansing policy that is carried out by the Israeli authorities in the Palestinian territories."