For years we have been noting specious terrorism cases in which FBI operatives entrap gullible hotheads by pretending to be from al-Qaeda. Well this time it's different. This time its DEA operatives pretending to be from the Taliban. But once again, if you just read the headline you'd never know that the real Taliban had nothing to do with the case whatsoever. A sinister federal practice is compounded by irresponsible journalism. From the New York Times, Feb. 14:

February's freezing fury has left a path of crumpled crops, pummeled harvests and dashed dreams in the countryside of northern Mexico. Hardest hit was the northwestern state of Sinaloa, known as the "Bread Basket of Mexico," where about 750,000 acres of corn crops were reported destroyed after unusually cold temperatures blanketed the north of the country in January and early February. Sinaloa is among Mexico's major producers of white corn, the variety of maize used to make staple tortillas. Heriberto Felix Guerra, secretary of the federal Secretariat for Social Development (SEDESOL), called the weather-related losses "the worst disaster" in the history of Sinaloa.

Gunmen on a highway in northern Mexico killed an agent of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bureau on Feb. 14, and wounded another. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the agents were assigned to the ICE attaché office at the US embassy in Mexico City, and were been shot in the line of duty while driving between the city and Monterrey. ICE identified the deceased as Special Agent Jaime Zapata and the wounded agent as Victor Avila, who was shot twice in the leg. Gunmen apparently ambushed their SUV in San Luis Potosí state. (AP, Feb. 16; NYT, Feb. 15)

The Colombian navy announced the seizure Feb. 15 a submarine believed to be used by drug runners to smuggle cocaine to Mexican shores. Powered by twin diesel engines, the 31-meter fiberglass vessel was found hidden in a jungle area in Timbiqui (Cauca department). Capable of traveling nine meters below water surface, it was the biggest and most sophisticated narco-submarine yet uncovered. Navy officials said the craft could carry four people and up to eight tons of cargo. According to Adm. Hernando Wills Velez, commander of the Pacific Naval Force, said it was equipped with navigational gear that would have allowed the crew to sail as far as Mexico without surfacing. (RTTNews, Feb. 15)

China and Colombia are planning to build a railway linking the South American country's Atlantic and Pacific coasts, President Juan Manuel Santos announced Feb. 14. Chinese ambassador Gao Zhengyue said his government sees Colombia as its chief port of entry to Latin America. The planned 138-mile long rail line will run from the port of Cupica on the Pacific to the Gulf of Urabá on the Caribbean, then continuing along the coast to a new port to be built near Cartagena.

A judge for the Provincial Court of Sucumbios in Ecuador ordered US oil company Chevron to pay $8.6 billion in damages, finding that Texaco, which was acquired by Chevron in 2001, polluted large areas of the country's rain forest. Chevron vowed to fight the ruling, calling it "illegitimate and unenforceable" and "the product of fraud." The plaintiffs' lawyer said he also plans to appeal, after the court awarded far less than the $113 billion for which the plaintiffs reportedly asked. It is unclear when, if ever, the Chevron will pay the judgment. Chevron has no assets in Ecuador, and it recently won rulings from a panel of arbitrators at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and a judgment in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York temporarily barring the enforcement of any judgment against Chevron.

Sudanese Guantánamo Bay detainee Noor Uthman Mohammed pleaded guilty before a military tribunal Feb. 16 to terrorism charges. Mohammed entered guilty pleas to one count of providing material support of terrorism and one count of conspiracy. The charges against him stem from supposed meetings with al-Qaeda and his service as a weapons instructor and manager at the Khaden military camp in Afghanistan, where hijackers and other members of al-Qaeda trained prior to the 9-11 attacks. Mohammed was charged in May 2008 and has been detained at Guantánamo since his capture in Pakistan in 2002. Prior to the plea agreement, the details of which have not been released, Mohammed faced life in prison if convicted. A jury, consisting of at least five US military officers will now be chosen to issue a sentence in the hearing, set to begin this week.

Hundreds of protesters clashed with police and government supporters the night of Feb. 15 in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, after human rights lawyer Fathi Tarbel was arrested. Police used water cannon and teargas against what began as a protest begun by relatives of prisoners killed in a 1996 massacre who were demanding the release of the lawyer. Opposition supporters have called for a nationwide "day of rage" on Feb. 17. Several journalists and longtime dissident Idris al-Mismari are reported detained. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were all briefly blocked, as were AlJazeera and al-Arabiya television. State TV showed crowds of pro-government supporters shouting slogans in Tripoli's Green Square. Reports of two killed in the street fighting could not be confirmed. (The Guardian, Feb. 16)