Serbs in Kosova inaugurated their own assembly June 28 at the divided city of Mitrovica—in defiance of the Albanian-led government and the UN. Forty-five members were elected in May during Serbia's general and municipal elections. The ballot was declared illegal by the UN and Kosova's official government, which has been recognized by 43 states. People from across Serbia gathered in Mitrovica to show support for the new assembly. Kosova's President Fatmir Sejdiu called it "an attempt to destabilize Kosova." An unnamed UN spokesman quoted by the BBC called the assembly a "virtual reality."

A two-year investigation of a 2,000-acre property in Humboldt County's Lost River area, Operation Southern Sweep went above ground this week as an invading force of 450 federal and state agents descended in convoys of as many as 200 vehicles on California's famed Emerald Triangle pot-growing region. No arrests have been reported yet, but 10,000 marijuana plants were allegedly confiscated during 29 different raids in southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties.

Six local police officers were killed in Culiacán, Sinaloa, June 27 when two carloads of heavily armed men cut off their vehicle in an ambush. The attack came two hours after a shoot-out between armed men and federal army troops assigned to the Mixed Urban Operations Base, leaving one gunman dead and several wounded, including a solider. That same day, Mexican authorities applauded the US Senate's approval of a $400 million drug war aid package for Mexico.

State authorities in Guerrero, Mexico, have agreed to pay 490,000 pesos (US$48,000) in compensation to 14 indigenous men coerced into having vasectomies. The men will each be paid 35,000 pesos (US$3,400) and given water storage tanks and cement to build homes, said state health secretary Luis Barrera Rios. The men agreed to the deal, despite initial demands of 200,000 pesos (US$19,000) each.

Taking a tip from their counterparts in Colombia, young opponents of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua used Facebook to launch a protest campaign—under the slogan "Democracy yes, dictatorship no." A June 20 protest brought out some 4,000 in downtown Managua in support of former Sandinsita commandante Dora María Téllez, who ended a 12-day public hunger strike four days earlier at the request of her doctors. (Miami Herald, June 22) Téllez led a new march of several thousand through Managua June 27, accusing Ortega's government of a "totalitarian vocation." (Nuevo Diario, Managua, June 28)

Sikh protesters blocked a rail line through Amristar in protests across India's Punjab this week to demand the arrest of Ram Rahim Singh, leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, which combines spirituality with social work—but which orthodox Sikhs accuse of heresy. On June 20, a Sikh protester was killed and two more wounded when one of Singh's bodyguards opened fire during a clash in Mumbai. Authorities say they are investigating. (Zee News, ANI, NYT, June 25)

The international negotiators appointed to broker peace in Darfur have resigned, admitting that their mission has been a failure. The UN's Jan Eliasson announced that he and his African Union counterpart, Salim Ahmed Salim, would both step down, citing Sudanese government intransigence and the fracturing of the rebel movement into more than 30 factions. "It is a very, very sombre situation," said Eliasson. (The Independent, June 27)

In the new "Failed States Index" compiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, Somalia has displaced Sudan at the top of the list. Sudan is number two, followed by Zimbabwe and Chad. Iraq, which ranked second last year, has retreated to fourth. Israel, ranking 58, for the first time appears in the top 60. The US ranks 161. Norway ranks last at 177.