Two Hellfire missiles fired by suspected US Predator drones reportedly killed four militants in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) March 15. Unnamed intelligence officials said two Pakistanis and two Arabs were killed in the strikes on a house in Sain Tanga village, near Jani Khel in Bannu Frontier Region, North Waziristan Agency. Sources said the house belonged to a local tribesman identified variously as Haji Awais or Taj Ali Khan. Al-Qaeda number-two man Ayman al-Zawahiri is also believed to be in the area. (NYT, DPA, AlJazeera, March 16)

Afghanistan's Supreme Court has upheld a 20-year prison term for Parwiz Kambakhsh, 24, a university student journalist accused of "blasphemy" for writing an article advocating greater rights for women under Islam. The student's family and lawyers said this week that they had learned only recently about the court decision, which was made in secret on Feb. 12.

On March 10, a march was held in San Salvador against the Central America free trade agreement (AdA, for Acuerdo de Asociación) currently being negotiated with the European Union. Many of the signs carried also called for a repeal of the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Protesters charge the AdA would increase the gap between rich and poor, privatize public services, and legalize the depletion of biodiversity and natural resources. The march, organized by the group Red Sinte Techan, concluded at the Legislative Assembly, where a statement was delivered to lawmakers.

On March 11—just four days before El Salvador's historic election for president and vice-president—five Republican Congressmen gave speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives threatening that Salvadorans living in the US would lose their immigration status and be outlawed from sending money home to their families if voters in El Salvador elect the opposition FMLN party's candidate. "Those monies that are coming from here to there I am confident will be cut, and I hope the people of El Salvador are aware of that because it will have a tremendous impact on individuals and their economy," stated Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN). Similar threats by US officials were made during the 2004 Salvadoran presidential campaign.

Political parties in Mauritania have to sign a framework agreement for peace, after Libya's leader and African Union chairman Moammar Qaddafi was accused of bias in his attempts at mediation. Opposition politicians walked out on a speech to parliament by Qaddafi, March 11, saying that he was siding with the military rulers who seized power in a coup last year.

The Sudanese government announced March 14 that President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Darfur, would attend two consecutive summits scheduled for late March in the Qatari capital of Doha. The first is a meeting of the Arab League, to be followed by a meeting of Arab and Latin American leaders. The Arab League has officially rejected the ICC warrant, saying it threatens peace talks in Sudan. (Xinhua, AFP, March 14) Earlier this week, a delegation of officials from Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah joined Syria's parliament speaker and the leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group traveled to Sudan to express international support for al-Bashir. (AlJazeera, March 7)

US peace activist Tristan Anderson, of Oakland, Calif., was critically wounded when he was struck in the head by a tear-gas cannister launched by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Ni'lin, west of Ramallah, March 13. Four Palestinians were also shot with rubber-coated bullets in the incident. Anderson remains in life-threatening condition after undergoing surgery overnight at Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv.

On March 13, the Obama administration officially abandoned the term "enemy combatant." In a filing with the DC District Court, the Justice Department said that it will no longer use the term and asserted a new standard for the government's authority to hold detainees at Guantánamo Bay. The Obama administration is still claiming it has the authority to hold prisoners at Gitmo, but says it will now be based on authority from Congress and the international laws of war. The Bush administration claimed that the president could unilaterally hold prisoners without charge.