The State of Law Coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on March 17 asked the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) to recount ballots cast in the March 7 parliamentary election, alleging fraud. State of Law spokesperson Ali al-Adib claimed that the ballots were manipulated by the manager of an electronic counting center who is allegedly linked to the rival Iraqiya bloc, led by former prime minister Iyad Allawi.

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit March 16 demanding that the US disclose the legal basis for its use of unmanned drones to conduct targeted killings overseas. The suit especially seeks information on when, where, and against whom drone strikes can be authorized, the number and rate of civilian casualties, and other basic information essential for assessing the wisdom and legality of using armed drones to conduct targeted killings.

Unidentified gunmen killed Honduran journalist Nahúm Palacios Arteaga in the city of Tocoa on the night of March 14—the third deadly attack against the Honduran press in the last two weeks. Palacios, 34, a journalist for Channel 5 TV and Radio Tocoa in the Atlantic region, was driving home when two cars pulled alongside his vehicle. At least two unidentified individuals fired several times with AK-47 assault rifles,, according to Honduran press accounts. The journalist died at the scene, while a companion seated next to him was severely wounded.

A UN-recognized World Heritage Site housing the burial grounds of the kings of Buganda was gutted by fire outside Uganda's capital of Kampala March 15, sparking fears of renewed tension between the government and ethnic Baganda. Police were deployed to the site in Kasubi, a suburb of the capital, as stones were thrown at firefighters arriving to tackle the blaze.

Iranian security forces turned out in large numbers on the streets of Tehran March 16 to prevent possible opposition protests during a national festival. Iranians are celebrating Chahar-Shanbe Suri, a ceremony held ahead of the Persian New Year, Nowruz. People turned out on smaller neighborhood streets to light bonfires and set off fireworks, but news agencies reported that Tehran's main thoroughfares and squares were largely deserted except for police.

The governor of Bolivia's Chonchocoro prison has been sacked after a number of violent incidents at the facility, as well as revelations that former military ruler Luis García Meza was being housed in a luxury cell. Investigators searched the facility after several prisoners were injured in a turf war between inmates that involved a grenade attack and a shooting. They found that García Meza's quarters included a gym, sauna, tennis table, dining room and barbecue grill. He is serving a 30-year term for abuses dating back to his period in power in the early 1980s. Interior Minister Sacha Llorenti said prison governor Col. Gilmar Oblitas and other police officers would face penalties. (BBC News, March 16)

The Obama administration will halt new work on the $3 billion "virtual fence" planned for the Mexican border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced March 16, diverting $50 million in planned economic stimulus funds for the project to other purposes. "Not only do we have an obligation to secure our borders, we have a responsibility to do so in the most cost-effective way possible," Napolitano said in a statement. "The system of sensors and cameras along the Southwest border known as SBInet has been plagued with cost overruns and missed deadlines."

On March 12 hundreds of Honduran soldiers, police and agents of the National Criminal Investigation Directorate (DNIC) removed thousands of families from some 200 manzanas (about 340 acres) of land they were living on in the Montes de León, La Mesa, Santa Rosa and Loarque Sur neighborhoods in Comayagüela, Tegucigalpa's twin city. Deputy Police Commissioner Leandro Osorio said the operation was in compliance with an eviction order issued by a Tegucigalpa court. According to authorities, the land belongs to the Social Fund for Housing (FOSOVI) and was occupied illegally. After the residents were removed, bulldozers destroyed their homes, built mostly from materials like sheet metal and pieces of wood.