A former presidential candidate in Mexico and prominent member of President Felipe Calderón’s National Action Party (PAN) was declared missing May 15, in an attack being blamed on narco gangs. The car of Diego Fernández de Cevallos was found near his ranch in the state of Queretaro, the Prosecutor General's Office confirmed. Authorities say they found his belongings in the car and "signs of violence."

Indigenous leaders in Ecuador announced the temporary lifting of their protest campaign against the pending national water law on May 13. The announcement came as Ecuadoran lawmakers failed to reach a deal on putting off debate on the contested water bill, leaving the legislation with an uncertain future. Unrest over the past week had left 20 injured and 30 detained. Delfín Tenesaca, president of the indigenous organization ECUARUNARI, said, "The mobilizations are suspended for now, to give a turn to the popular assemblies" to decide the next move.

At least six people were killed—three of Serbian nationality and three Bolivians—and one was kidnapped in an assault perpetrated by suspected drug traffickers in Bolivia's eastern department of Santa Cruz on May 15. The victims were stopped at a false police checkpoint and were tied up, tortured and executed, authorities said. The gunmen kidnapped Bolivian national William Rosales Suárez, who police identified as "the ringleader of a drug-trafficking gang in Santa Cruz," with a price of $1 million on his head. (LAHT, May 15)

Noam Chomsky, once demonized as a crypto-Zionist on this website, has been barred by Israeli authorities from entering the West Bank. From AFP, May 16:

Renowned Jewish-American scholar and political activist Noam Chomsky said he was barred from entering Israel and the West Bank on Sunday to speak at a Palestinian university.

Why is there more outrage in the national media about mosques being built than about mosques being vandalized?
From the Detroit News, May 16:

Vandals hit Downriver mosque twice within a week
Brownstown Township — Police are investigating two incidents of vandalism that happened within a week at a local mosque. Windows were broken and doors were smashed at the Masjid Umar-bin-Khattab Mosque on May 9 and again on Saturday, with the second attack caught on videotape, said spokesman Muhammad Khan.

New York City's kneejerk jingos, already aghast that the hubristic "Freedom Tower" name has been dropped from the new skyscraper going up at Ground Zero, have got a new cause to gripe about. From Fox News, May 14:

Plan to Build Mosque Near Ground Zero Riles Families of 9/11 Victims
Outraged family members and community groups are accusing a Muslim group of trying to rewrite history with its plans to build a 13-story mosque and cultural center just two blocks from Ground Zero, where Islamic extremists flew two planes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

From the Gothamist, April 28:

Community Activist Harry Wieder Killed by Taxi
Harry Wieder, an LGBT rights, transportation, and disabilities advocate, was run down and killed by a taxi last night in the LES [Lower East Side]. Weider, 57, described himself on his Facebook page as a "disabled, gay, Jewish, leftist, middle aged dwarf who ambulates with crutches." He was crossing Essex Street after leaving a Community Board 3 monthly meeting at P.S. 20 when he was struck by the cab. Many colleagues witnessed the accident and accompanied him to Bellevue Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Some 200 Arab protestors marked Nakba Day on May 15, the state of Israel's 62nd anniversary, by marching on East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. The march came a day after protesters clashed with police in the weekly Friday demonstration against the Jewish takeover of Palestinian homes in the neighborhood through the use of ownership documents dating from the period of the British mandate, with 14 Arabs and leftist Israeli supporters arrested. The Nakba Day protestors, led by Knesset members from the Arab-nationalist Balad party, held Palestinian flags and signs reading "Judaization of Jerusalem: the new Nakba."