Bill Conroy writes for the Narcosphere, June 12:

A special operations task force under the command of the Pentagon is currently in place south of the border providing advice and training to the Mexican Army in gathering intelligence, infiltrating and, as needed, taking direct action against narco-trafficking organizations, claims a former CIA asset who has a long history in the covert operations theater.

The blogosphere is abuzz with today's front-page revelations in the New York Times of a vast bonanza of mineral wealth, estimated at some $1 trillion, recently "discovered" by the "United States" in Afghanistan, in the vague locution of the story's lead line. The "previously unknown deposits" supposedly include iron, copper, cobalt, gold—and lithium, expected to be one of the most critical substances of the 21st century. The story quotes an "internal Pentagon memo" (no agency, title or date given) that Afghanistan could become the "Saudi Arabia of lithium," the key raw material in the manufacture of batteries for laptops and BlackBerrys (and, it is envisioned, electric cars). Gen. David Petraeus is quoted crowing about the "stunning potential" of the find. But the article is light on the specifics of where this information is actually emanating from...

Now isn't this rich. Washington state troopers are giving $124 tickets to motorists who use hand-held cell-phones, enforcing a new law that critics say isn't tough enough. (The Columbian, The Daily News, Longview, WA, June 11) And last month, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon banned all UN employees from using cellular devices while driving in an effort to take the prohibition global. Ban is teaming up with US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and Jennifer Smith, president and co-founder of a national advocacy group, FocusDriven, for the global campaign. Ban told reporters in New York:

We wish we were joking. From the NY Daily News, June 1:

Move over C-3PO.

The Japanese space agency is embarking on a mammoth $2.2 billion project to put humanoid robots on the moon and create an unmanned robot lunar base by 2020, according to Prime Ministers office.

Saeed Torabian, a board member of the Tehran bus drivers' union (Vahed Syndicate), was arrested June 9 by Iranian security forces and is being held incommunicado, whereabouts unknown. His home was ransacked, and his computer and cell phone confiscated in the raid. Two other members of the Syndicate's board of directors, Mansoor Osanloo and Ebrahim Madadi, are imprisoned at Rajayee Shahr prison in Karaj and Evin Prison in Tehran. The International Transport Workers' Federation is calling for Torabian's immediate release. (ITF press release, June 10)

Venezuela's government June 11 praised a decision by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in a case over the 2007 expropriation of ExxonMobil assets by the government of Hugo Chávez. Rafael Ramirez, Venezuela's energy minister and the president of state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA), said the previous day's decision should force ExxonMobil to "drastically reduce" the $10 billion it has been seeking.

Narco-violence claimed 39 lives in two northern Mexico states June 11. In Chihuahua, up to 30 gunmen stormed a drug rehabilitation center in the state capital Chihuahua City near midnight and executed 19 men and wounded four others. The victims, all reportedly addicts being treated by the clinic, were forced to lie face down in a hallway and were then shot, witnesses told local media. Rehab centers are reportedly being used as fronts by drug gangs who recruit "mules" among the recovering addicts, and have been a target in the warfare between rival cartels. One day earlier, unidentified assailants killed one man and wounded another at a rehab center in Ciudad Juárez. More than 60 people have died in mass shootings at Mexican rehab clinics in a little less than two years.

At least 23 people have been killed and more than 300 injured in ongoing clashes that broke out June 10 in Osh, Kyrgyzstan's second largest city, between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbek residents. Mobs of armed men have reportedly torched Uzbek neighborhoods. A state of emergency has been declared and armored vehicles are patrolling the city's streets. With security forces overwhelmed, Kyrgyzstan's interim government has appealed to retired police and army officers to travel to the southern city to help restore order. "Exchanges of fire are continuing and you can hear them everywhere, several buildings are in flames, people are frightened," a government spokesman told AFP. (AP, AFP, June 12)