Central American Women Suffer 'Crisis of Violence'

For more than 20 years, Beatrice Mtetwa has fought for freedom in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe. It’s a battle that has pitched the human rights lawyer against the aging leader and his state-wide apparatus of terror and intimidation. Like the politicians, journalists and activists she often defends, Ms. Mtetwa has been the target of intimidation, beatings and now imprisonment.

AMMAN, Jordan — More than 200 Syrian soldiers and opposition fighters died in the eight-day battle for a police academy near the embattled northern city of Aleppo, activists said Sunday as President Bashar Assad lashed out at the West for sending aid to those trying to oust him. The Britain-based anti-regime group The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels seized control of the police academy in Khan al-Asal, west of Aleppo, after entering the sprawling government complex with tanks they captured from Assad’s troops in previous battles.

Increased militarization in Mexico, Honduras and Guatemala has created more insecurity, especially for women, a report spearheaded by two Nobel laureates found.

Second-half goals from Aldo De Nigris and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez lifted defending champions Mexico to a 2-1 victory over Guatemala and into the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.Second-half substitute De Nigris on Saturday grabbed an equalizer for Mexico in the 48th after Carlos Ruiz' fifth-minute strike put Guatemala ahead.Hernandez scored the match-winner in the 65th as Mexico advanced to a semi-final clash against Honduras, who advanced 4-2 on penalties against Costa Rica after they played to a 1-1 draw in extra time.

Following a perceptive query from Kevin Drum, I bought and sampled sour creams from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, all from my local Mundo Latino supermarket.

Residents of Guatemala's northern Peten region hunkered down under a state of siege Tuesday after the worst massacre since the Central American nation's civil war ended in 1996.Police and soldiers combed the jungle region along the Guatemala-Mexico border seeking members of Mexico's vicious Zetas drug gang, which authorities have blamed for the beheadings of 27 farmworkers.

Rights campaigners face "severe repression" in China, with the heavily-censored Internet the main battleground in the fight for freedom of expression, a Hong Kong-based group has said.The Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), a network of activists, detailed a litany of rights abuses in its annual report on the events of 2010, from more than 3,500 cases of arbitrary detention to allegations of torture.