The Taliban carried out a daylight terror assault Jan. 18 on government centers and civilian targets in Kabul, creating panic and sparking gun battles in the heart of the city. Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests and carrying assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades launched an attack outside a central square where the presidential palace, Justice Ministry, and Central Bank are located. Fighting spread to the Serena Hotel, the Grand Afghan shopping center, and a movie theater.

The Supreme Iraq Criminal Tribunal sentenced Ali Hassan al-Majid to death by hanging on Jan. 17, finding him guilty of having ordered the Kurdish town of Halabja gassed in 1988. The gassing of Halabja, which killed 5,000 Kurds, was part of the wider Anfal campaign against Kurds in Iraq during the Saddam Hussein regime, which saw numerous such attacks. Though al-Majid, better known by his sobriquet "Chemical Ali," has the right to appeal, Iraq deputy justice minister Busho Ibrahim said that his hanging is expected within days. Al-Majid, who has already been sentenced to death three other times, has still more alleged crimes to his name, but those will not go to trial.

As paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division took control of the airport in Port-au-Prince, spearheading a force of 10,000 US troops deployed to Haiti, Nicaragua's President Daniel Ortega raised fears about a new Yankee occupation of the Caribbean nation. "What is happening in Haiti seriously concerns me," Ortega said Jan. 17. "It seems that the bases [in Latin America] are not sufficient." He added: "There is no logic that US troops [have] landed in Haiti. Haiti seeks humanitarian aid, not troops. It would be madness we all began to send troops to Haiti." Nicaragua has sent 31 military doctors to Haiti, along with shipments of humanitarian aid. (Press TV, Iran, Jan. 17)

Haitian nationals already present in the US when the devastating earthquake hit on Jan. 12 have been granted Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and will be allowed to continue living and working in the US for the next 18 months regardless of their immigration status, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced Jan. 15. Napolitano said that "[p]roviding a temporary refuge for Haitian nationals who are currently in the United States and whose personal safety would be endangered by returning to Haiti is part of this Administration's continuing efforts to support Haiti's recovery."

Shell Oil and Malaysia's state-run Petronas finalized a contract Jan. 17 to develop Iraq's giant Majnoon oil field. In December, Shell and Petronas beat a rival bid from France's Total and China's CNPC to develop the 12.6 billion barrel field in southern Iraq. The field currently produces just 46,000 barrels per day. Shell and Petronas have pledged to increase that output to 1.8 million bpd. (BBC News, Jan. 17)

Mexico's National Defense Secretariat announced the mobilization of 860 army troops to Tijuana in anticipation of reprisals following the capture of Tijuana Cartel kingpin Teodoro García Simental AKA "El Teo". Baja California state officials say 76 people have been killed in the city so far this year. The toll for 2009 was over 700 murders.

The body of abducted Mexican journalist José Luis Romero was found on a roadside in Sinaloa Jan. 16. State authorities said he had been dead for two weeks. Romero, abducted Dec. 30 while vacationing in Los Mochis, covered police and crime issues for the radio station Línea Directa de Sinaloa, which said he was kidnapped "for carrying out his work."

The Chinese news agency Xinhua, citing "local media," reports Jan. 16 that the Honduran congress approved a decree to grant amnesty to de facto president Roberto Micheletti and others involved in last June's military coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya. However, actual local media (Radio Progreso, Jan. 15; El Heraldo, Tegucigalpa, Jan. 12) report that the National Congress voted Jan. 12 to put the issue off until a new congress convenes after president-elect Porfirio Lobo Sosa takes power later this month.