With a growing number of defections in the Syrian army, the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is taking control of territory in places like Jabal al-Zawiyah in the northwestern province of Idlid, in Zabadani just 20 kilometers from Damascus, and in Douma, one of the biggest suburbs outside the tightly-controlled capital. On Jan. 25, Dr. Abd-al-Razzaq Jbeiro, secretary general of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, was shot dead while traveling on the Halab-Damascus highway in a vehicle "clearly marked with the Red Crescent emblem," according to a statement by the International Committee of the Red Cross. Also that day, Rev. Basilious Nasser of the Greek Orthodox Church was killed in fighting in the city of Hama. Syria's state news agency blamed an "armed terrorist group" for the killing, while opposition activists said he was shot by a regime sniper. (AlJazeera, NYT, Jan. 25)

Two citizens of Azerbaijan have been arrested in connection with an alleged Iranian-backed plot to kill two Jewish educators and the Israeli ambassador in Baku, the capital, local media reported this week. Three men reportedly were charged with weapons smuggling as part of a plot to kill a teacher and a rabbi at the newly opened Chabad Or Avner Jewish school in Baku, as well as the Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan, Michael Lotem. Two of those charged are reported to be in custody; one is still at large. It is alleged that Iranian intelligence agencies promised to pay the three men $150,000 to carry out the murders. The National Security Ministry said the men were connected to an Iranian citizen who had links with Iran's intelligence services. Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau has issued a travel warning for Azerbaijan. The US embassy also issued a warning saying "the possibility remains for actions against US or other high-profile foreign interests in Azerbaijan."

The deputy head of Libya's National Transitional Council stepped down Jan. 22, a day after anti-government protesters stormed the ruling body's offices in the eastern city of Benghazi. The protesters denounced Ghoga's presence in the NTC, calling him and other former Qaddafi-loyalists “opportunists.” Ghoga was a belated defector to the Libyan rebels from Moammar Qaddafi's government. (VOA, Jan. 22) The following day, a flurry of media reports said that Qaddafi-loyalist fighters had taken the former Qaddafi stronghold of Bani Walid, raising the late dictator's green flag after a battle that left four dead. But on Jan. 24, Col. Salem al-Ouaer, identified as a tribal leader from Bani Walid, told AFP: "The situation is under control and calm is returning." (AFP, Jan. 24; The Guardian, Jan. 23)

A military judge at Camp Pendleton, Calif., sentenced Staff Sgt. Frank G. Wuterich to a maximum of 90 days in prison and a reduction in pay and rank after he pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty, ending the final court-martial resulting from a five-year investigation into the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians at Haditha in 2005. But because of a plea deal with prosecutors, Wuterich won't serve any time in the brig, so his sentence amounts to a reduction in rank—to private—and a pay cut. Wuterich was charged with voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, obstruction of justice and dereliction of duty in court-martial proceedings that began less than two weeks ago. All of the charges except dereliction of duty were dropped in return for his guilty plea. Wuterich was accused of overreacting to the death of another marine in a roadside bombing, sending his men into nearby houses to search for insurgents—resulting in the deaths of the civilians, including 10 women and children. In the sentencing, the military judge, Lt. Col. David Jones, cited how Wuterich ordered his troops to "shoot first, ask questions later." Seven other marines were charged in the incident, but in six cases charges were dismissed, and one was acquitted. (CNN, Jurist, Jan. 24)

The Cuban government announced on Jan. 20 that a prisoner, Wilmar Villar Mendoza, had died the day before in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Santiago de Cuba. The government said Villar had been hospitalized six days before with pneumonia and had died of "generalized infection." According to Villar's wife, Maritza Pelegrino, the prisoner had been on hunger strike from Nov. 25 to Dec. 23 to protest his four-year prison sentence and had resumed the strike on Dec. 29. Elizardo Sánchez, a well-known Cuban dissident, said Villar had been active in with an opposition group since last summer.

Former Guatemalan military dictator Gen. Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-83) is to appear before a judge on Jan. 26 in what could become a trial for genocide. Ríos Montt headed the government during one of the bloodiest periods in a 36-year counterinsurgent war that left more than 200,000 people dead, mostly civilians. After the fighting ended in 1996 Ríos Montt re-emerged as a politician, leading the right-wing Guatemalan Republican Front (FRG) and holding a seat in Congress from 2000 until this month. The legislative position gave him immunity from prosecution, which has now ended.

Three unidentified men gunned down attorney José Ricardo Rosales the morning of Jan. 17 near his office or residence (the accounts differ) in the coastal city of Tela in the northern Honduran department of Atlántida. The murder came just four days after the San Pedro Sula daily El Tiempo ran a news report on Rosales' claim that Tela police agents had been abusing detainees. Rosales may also have offended the authorities by carrying out a successful defense of Marco Joel Alvarez ("Unicorn") against government charges that he was responsible for the March 2011 murder of radio and television journalist David Meza in the nearby city of La Ceiba. Meza had regularly criticized the police force on his programs.

On Jan. 10 the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE), the country's main indigenous umbrella group, issued a communiqué reporting a "surprising and inexplicable" police presence in the organization's headquarters in Quito. "[A]round 9:45 am police arrived [in a] truck [at] the CONAIE offices, and two police agents dressed in black entered inside the offices," the group wrote. Asked to explain their presence, one agent mentioned a possible danger to CONAIE president Humberto Cholango; later the agents said they were there to protect a meeting of indigenous organizations scheduled for that day. CONAIE said it hadn't reported any dangers or asked for protection, and the group denounced the "arbitrary and illegal acts against social organizations that [are] being implemented in Ecuador." (CONAIE communiqué, Jan. 10)