Chad admitted to an air raid on rebel positions at Um Dukhn in Darfur, but denied attacking Sudan's armed forces or populace in the raid. (Reuters, July 21) Meanwhile, the SPLA denied breaking terms of the Sudan peace deal after UN monitors accused its troops of moving into the contested region of Abyei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in the The Hague is to give a final ruling on the boundaries of Abyei this week. (BBC News, July 19)

Under UN auspices, Nepal has started freeing an estimated 3,000 child soldiers from camps holding former Maoist guerilla fighters. Demobilization of the child soldiers, and their transfer to rehabilitation programs, is a key part of Nepal's peace process. The UN welcomed the move as a "significant milestone" for the Himalayan nation. Maoist guerillas ended a 10-year insurgency in November 2006, signing a peace deal that brought them into the government. They won the most votes in 2008 elections, but left the government earlier this year in a row over their leader's attempt to fire the army chief. Some 24,000 former fighters have been confined to UN-monitored camps since the peace deal. Of these, the UN has identified about 3,000 as being under the age of 18. (BBC News, July 17)

Insisting there is no possibility of a coup d'état in Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega is pushing forward on a "citizen power" agenda similar to the controversial project that led to the ouster of Manuel Zelaya in neighboring Honduras. Speaking before some 500,000 supporters July 19 at a rally to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, Ortega called for a constitutional referendum on scrapping presidential term limits.

Costa Rica-mediated talks on the political crisis in Honduras broke down without agreement July 19, with representatives of de facto President Roberto Micheletti rejecting proposals for a national reconciliation government led by ousted President Manuel Zelaya. "I'm very sorry, but the proposals that you have presented are unacceptable to the constitutional government of Honduras," said Carlos López, the head delegate for the Micheletti regime. Zelaya's representatives at the table said they would have have no further talks with the Micheletti delegation.

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)