Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who overthrew an elected government in Mauritania nearly a year ago, has himself claimed victory in the new election held July 18—but four opposing candidates rejected the result. By Interior Ministry figures, Abdel Aziz won the election by 52.6%, or 409,100 votes. Rival candidates Messaoud Ould Boulkheir, Ahmed Ould Daddah, Ely Ould Mohamed Vall and Hamady Ould Meimou rejected the results in a joint declaration at a press conference as the results were announced the day after the vote.

On July 18, agents of Mexico's Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) detained 10 municipal police officers from Arteaga, Michoacán, in the torture and slaying of 12 federal agents whose bodies were found dumped along a highway. Prosecutors also charged a former mayor of the town of La Huacana, where the mutilated bodies were found July 13 piled beside a road along with warning notes. Four bodies showing signs of torture were dumped at the same spot in June. A man claiming to be Servando Gómez, leader of La Familia cartel, called a local TV station last week and said he was attacking government forces simply to defend his followers' families and friends. (AP, July 19; Milenio, July 18)

US production of marijuana now equals that of Colombia, according to the annual report of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The report finds that the US and Colombia each produced some 4,000 metric tons of cannabis last year. Morocco is the world leader at 44,000 metric tons, followed by Paraguay at 16,500 metric tons and Mexico at 15,800. Production in Mexico is down from 25,800 metric tons in 2007, when it occupied second place after Morocco. The Mexican government boasts of eradicating 18,652 hectares of marijuana in 2008. A much higher proportion of the US crop is indoor—an estimated 430,000 plants, compared to 6.6 million outdoor. (El Diario, Ciudad Juárez, July 17)

Russian human rights group Memorial has suspended operations in Chechnya following the murder of one of its most prominent activists, Natalya Estemirova. The group said its work in Chechnya had become "life-threatening." The office of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has also announced plans to sue Oleg Orlov, the head of Memorial, for defamation. "I have prepared and will file to court a complaint on protecting the honor, worthiness and professional reputation of the president of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov," Kadyrov's lawyer told the Interfax news agency. (Deutsche Welle, July 19)

At least five people were killed and some 36 others injured July 16 as an explosion ripped through Baghdad's Shi'ite district of Sadr City. The improvised explosive device (IED) was detonated at the entrance of a funeral tent that had been set up on the street. The attack came hours after authorities began imposing a strict curfew on Baghdad and set up check posts across the city in preparation for the Sunday martyrdom anniversary of the seventh Shi'ite Imam, Musa al-Kadhim. Another eight people sustained injuries in a bomb blast targeting visitors at Imam Musa's mausoleum at Kadhimiya in northern Baghdad. (Press TV, Iran, July 16)

Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said July 18 he agreed with a proposal made by mediator Costa Rica to form a national unity government, and said he would return home from exile in the coming days. "We agree with it, but only as long as all the powers of the state are integrated into it," he told Radio Globo, adding that his return to Honduras could occur as soon as tomorrow. But the de facto government in Tegucigalpa has not relented of its threat to arrest him if he returns to the country. US officials reportedly warned that any attempt by Zelaya to return to Honduras could jeopardize the Costa Rica-mediated dialogue between his representatives and those of de facto leader Roberto Micheletti.

On July 8, DNA tests confirmed that a body found in a well in Cabañas department, El Salvador, on June 30 is that of prominent community activist Gustavo Marcelo Rivera. The body was found by community members who had organized a search for Rivera, missing since June 18. Witnesses reported that the body exhibited signs of torture techniques generally tied to targeted political assassinations. However, initial reports coming from the National Civilian Police (PNC) state that gang members were responsible for the murder.

A videotape that appears to link Colombia's FARC guerillas to President Rafael Correa of Ecuador was broadcast on Colombian TV July 18. The video allegedly shows FARC commander Jorge Briceño AKA "Mono Jojoy" claiming the guerilla organization helped fund Correa's 2006 election. Ecuador's government has strongly denied any ties with the FARC. The two countries severed relations last year after Colombian troops raided a guerilla base across the border.