The International Court of Justice announced May 20 that Honduras has dropped a case against Brazil that was brought last year by the coup-installed government. The Honduran de facto government launched the proceedings in October, in response to the sheltering of ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya in the Brazilian embassy. Honduras, now under a new government following elections late last year, asked to withdraw the case on April 30 and the request was granted May 12. Zelaya remains in exile in the Dominican Republic. (AP, Jurist, May 20)

Four suspected members of armed Basque separatist group ETA were arrested May 20 in a raid on an apartment bloc in Bayonne, France—including presumed ETA military commander Mikel Kabikoitz Carrera Sarobe, Spain's most wanted man. One detained accomplice was identified as Arkaitz Aguirregabiria del Barrio, ETA's presumed second in command, who is wanted in France for the shooting of a police officer in March. The arrests come as a Spanish court convicted three ETA militants in the 2006 Madrid airport bombing that killed two Ecuadorans. ETA is listed as a terrorist group by the European Union and is held responsible for more than 800 deaths over the past 40 years. (Irish Times, Reuters, May 21; Jurist, May 20)

South Korea's Defense Ministry on May 20 formally charged North Korea with the attack on a South Korean Navy ship that killed 46 sailors—in the face of angry denials from Pyongyang, including a threat of "all-out war" if the South responds militarily. An official South Korean study found the Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean torpedo in the March incident in waters near the intra-Korean border. (CSM, May 20; JoongAng Daily, May 18)

An officer of the Saudi religious police, patrolling an amusement park in the eastern city of al-Mubarraz for unmarried couples illegally socializing, met physical resistance after he stopped a young couple walking together. The officer of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice—known locally as the Hai'a—asked the couple to confirm their identities and relationship to one another. For unknown reasons, the young man collapsed upon being questioned by the cop. According to the Saudi daily Okaz, the woman then laid into the officer, punching him repeatedly, and leaving him to be hospitalized with bruises across his body and face.

A May 20 US Forces-Afghanistan press release states that military officials have launched a criminal investigation into allegations that a "small number of US soldiers were responsible for the unlawful deaths of as many as three Afghan civilians." The investigations also include allegations of illegal drug use, assault and conspiracy. No charges have been brought yet, but one soldier has been placed in pre-trial confinement.

The government of Thailand on May 19 imposed a curfew on Bangkok and other areas of the country even as leaders of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, also known as the Red Shirts, announced an end to the two-month long conflict in Bangkok and surrendered to police. Members of the Red Shirts, known for supporting ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, refused to accept the end of the demonstrations and began setting fire to parts of Bangkok.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón, speaking at the US Congress during a visit to Washington May 20, urged legislators to reinstate an assault-weapon ban, saying violence in Mexico escalated when the ban expired six years ago. "There is one area where Mexico needs your help, that is stopping the flow of assault weapons and other deadly weapons across the border," Calderón said. "Let us work together to end this lethal trade that threatens Mexico and your own people." (Bloomberg, May 20)

National Public Radio on May 18 adds to the widespread speculation that the Mexican government is tilting to the Sinaloa Cartel in the country's increasingly violent narco wars. Reporting from Ciudad Juárez, where President Felipe Calderón has deployed 10,000 army troops and federal police, NPR "finds strong evidence that Mexico's drug fight is rigged," citing court testimony, current and former law enforcement officials, and an analysis of cartel arrests.