Military authorities in Bangladesh say 72 officers are still missing after a two-day mutiny by border guards in which at least 76 people were killed. The uprising was sparked by longstanding grievances over pay and benefits. Authorities have found scores of bodies buried in shallow mass graves in the Dhaka headquarters of the Bangladesh Rifles border force. The army brought tanks to the streets of Dhaka before the mutineers surrendered. Violence was also reported in Chittagong and elsewhere around the country. India's Border Security Force remains on high alert. (Xinhua, Feb. 28; AP, Feb. 27; The Guardian, Feb. 26)

A young Tibetan monk was shot by Chinese police after he set himself on fire Feb. 27, the third day of the Tibetan New Year, at a market in Sichuan province's Aba (Ngaba in Tibetan) prefecture, Voice of Tibet radio service reported, citing eye-witness accounts. The monk from Kirti Trunkhor monastery was apparently named Tabey and aged between 25 and 30. He doused himself with gasoline and set himself ablaze after holding aloft a picture of the Dalai Lama. He collapsed after being shot by police, and was taken away. It is not known if he is alive or dead.

Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, a suspected al-Qaeda operative held in the Navy brig in South Carolina since 2003, is to be officially charged and tried in US federal court, following the unsealing of an indictment Feb. 27. Al-Marri, a legal US resident, was arrested in December 2001 in Peoria, Ill., and charged with being part of a terrorist sleeper cell and is the only person held as an enemy combatant in the United States. He is expected to be charged with providing material aid to terrorists. The move comes just two months before the Supreme Court is to hold hearings on al-Marri's petition for habeas corpus.

Venezuela and Bolivia Feb. 26 condemned the new US State Department human rights report that singles out the two South American countries, saying Washington has no right to pass judgment. The government of President Hugo Chávez said it categorically rejects the report, which cited a politicized judiciary and harassment of Venezuela's political opposition and the news media. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said the report is "plagued with lies." He added: "No government in the world has the right to use a report to meddle in, judge or qualify the situation in other nations."

Representatives of Venezuela's Jewish population said Feb. 26 that unidentified assailants threw an improvised explosive at a community center in La Florida district of Caracas in a pre-dawn attack. The explosion damaged the doors to the center and blew out a window of a nearby car, but there were no injuries. Abraham Garzón, president of the Jewish Community Center located in the downtown district, said: "The damage, really, is spiritual because it seems there are some people in our country who want to use terrorism." (El Tiempo de Venezuela, Feb. 27; AP, Reuters, Feb. 26)

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe announced Feb. 26 that the Department of Administrative Security (DAS) will no longer be able to conduct wiretaps with just a court order, and will now require the cooperation of the National Police. This order follows allegations that the DAS illegally recorded the conversations of Supreme Court magistrates, media directors, and politicians from the opposition. According to Uribe, the police will need to verify the legality of the requests and will act as a check on the power of national intelligence gathering, improving transparency. DAS Director Felipe Muñoz has acknowledged the existence of evidence supporting the allegations. DAS Intelligence Director Fernando Tabares resigned Feb. 26, the fourth DAS official to step down in the scandal.

Iraqi-born Dutch citizen Wesam al-Delaema pleaded guilty Feb. 26 in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to a charge of conspiracy to murder US nationals outside the United States. Al Delaema is the first alleged insurgent in the Iraq war to be tried in US federal court. As part of the plea arrangement al-Deleama admitted planting roadside bombs in the Iraq city of Fallujah and demonstrating on video how he planned to detonate those bombs to kill Americans. The agreement calls for a 25-year sentence to be served in the Netherlands, though the court will formally sentence al-Delaema April 15. The Netherlands, however, has discretion to change the length of the sentence.

Lawyers for Canadian detainee Omar Khadr were blocked from attending a scheduled Feb. 24 meeting with Khadr at Guantánamo Bay. Officials have launched an investigation into the ethics of the defense team, and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Bill Kuebler, a military lawyer for Khadr, e-mailed media outlets to state that the investigation was prompted by his own criticism of lead defense counsel Air Force Col. Peter Masciola. Kuebler accused Masciola of having a disqualifying conflict of interest after Masciola allegedly implied that Khadr should face an additional civil trial, contradicting the position of the defense team that Khadr should be returned to Canada.