Bolivian President Evo Morales Feb. 18 appointed 18 judges ahead of the country's judicial elections, calling the move "the beginning of the decolonization of the judiciary." The appointees will fill five vacancies on the country's Supreme Court, five on the Constitutional Court, and three on the Judiciary Council, while five others were named alternates. All will serve until judicial elections are held on Dec. 5. Though roughly 20 of 26 high-level judicial posts were unoccupied prior to the announcement, the move has drawn criticism from Morales's opponents who fear it jeopardizes the judiciary's independence. The Bolivian National Congress passed legislation last week authorizing Morales to appoint judicial officials on an interim basis until the election.

The White House is considering endorsing a law that would allow the indefinite detention of some terrorist suspects without trial as part of efforts to break a logjam with Congress over President Barack Obama's plans to close the Guantánamo Bay prison, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Feb. 15.

A suicide car bomber in Iraq struck a vehicle checkpoint in Ramadi, Anbar province, killing at least 11 people, both police and civilians, Feb. 18. The attack also left 15 people wounded. Four police and a young girl were among the dead. (AlJazeera, Feb. 18) On Feb. 13, provincial officials in Maysan charged that US forces shot eight Iraqis, most of them "innocent bystanders," in a raid in a village north of the provincial capital of Amara. "What happened this morning was a massacre in every sense of the word," said governor Mohammed Shia al-Sudany. The US military said the raid was against suspected members of an Iran-backed militia. (Press TV, Feb. 13)

Up to 11 villagers, including a child, were killed when a group of over 200 Naxalite guerillas attacked a village in Jamui, Bihar, late Feb. 17. The attack reportedly came in retaliation for the killing of eight Naxalites by the villagers a fortnight ago. (Indian Express, Feb. 19) A day earlier, Naxalite gunmen on motorcycles and pickup trucks killed 24 paramilitary officers in a daylight ambush against an encampment of the Eastern Frontier Rifles in West Bengal. (NYT, Feb. 16)

Hundreds of striking Finance Ministry and customs employees protested in Athens Feb. 17, as Prime Minister George Papandreou prepared to meet opposition leaders to discuss Greece's financial crisis. Greek unions oppose the new Socialist government's new austerity measures, as European finance ministers warned Athens othat it would have to impose even tougher budget cuts. Amid the strikes, a bomb exploded Feb. 16 at the Athens offices of JP Morgan, causing damage but no injuries. Police also defused a bomb outside the offices of the Citizen Protection Ministry. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the bombs, but police say they suspect anarchists. (AP, DPA, Feb. 17)

Guillame Joseph-Marc Beaulieu, 27 of Vancouver, has been arrested as the "ringleader" of the "Black Bloc" anarchists who rioted in the city in protests against the Winter Olympics Feb. 14. He is charged with mischief and faces fines of over $5,000. Lliam Brander, 27, of North Vancouver has been charged with assault. The investigation continues and further arrests may be pending, police say. Among 11 arrested so far, one is from Shoreline, Wash. He has been charged with possession of weapons and handed over to immigration. (Vancouverite, Feb. 16)

A judge for the US District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Feb. 16 that claims of unlawful treatment and wrongful death brought on behalf of two former Guantánamo Bay detainees are barred by the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA). The two men, Yasser Al-Zahrani and Salah Ali Abdullah Ahmed Al-Salami, were among three detainees who allegedly hanged themselves in their cells in July 2006. The claim was brought against former US defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld and more than 100 military officers and personnel under the Alien Tort Claims Act. The defendants moved to dismiss the suit based on section 7 of the MCA, which removes the ability of federal courts to hear challenges to the treatment of aliens who have been "properly detained" as enemy combatants. Judge Ellen Huvelle found that since the two men had been properly detained, the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. (Jurist, Feb. 17)

When Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior Hamas official reportedly behind the smuggling of Iranian arms to Gaza, was found dead in his hotel room in Dubai, UAE, on Jan. 20, the organization was quick to point the finger at Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, vowing revenge attacks. But a preliminary investigation conducted by Hamas suggests that the assassination was likely carried out by agents of an Arab government, Israel's Ha'aretz reports.