The 2013 list of the world's 50 most dangerous cities, compiled by an NGO from Mexico, shows how shifting criminal dynamics through the year have affected violence in places like Cali, San Salvador, Ciudad Juarez and Medellin. San Pedro Sula, Honduras, is the most dangerous city in the world for the third year in a row, according to the Citizen Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice.

Central African Republic's interim President Michel Djotodia will face pressure to step down at a summit of regional leaders on Thursday amid frustration at his failure to quell his country's religious violence. Political sources in Bangui and French diplomatic sources said Djotodia was expected to step aside at the meeting of leaders from the Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) in the Chadian capital N'Djamena.

Violence marred Sunday's controversial general elections in Bangladesh, causing several deaths in clashes between opposition supporters and police. The outcome of the contest is not in doubt, as the poll was only contested in 147 of the 300 parliamentary seats up for grabs. With the opposition BNP party and its allies boycotting the poll, governing Awami League candidates or allies have a clear run in the remaining 153 seats.

Following a deadly gun fight in the Mexican resort town of Puerto Peñasco on Wednesday, officials from the state of Sonora are trying to reassure Arizonans the town – also known as Rocky Point – is still safe for tourists. The identities of the five people who died have not been released, but authorities say they were all criminals who fired at federal police.

The Central African Republic, already one of the poorest nations in the world, is descending into chaos. In the capital city of Bangui alone, hundreds have died and nearly 200,000 people have been driven from their homes as a result of continual clashes between government forces, civilian militias, African peacekeepers, and the French military.

Roman Catholic prelates in Michoacan state at last have drawn a line against local gangsters, and the officials nurturing them, further entangling what already was one of Mexico's more intractable knots of violence. But most of the Church hierarchy still seems reluctant to take a strong stand. The bishops have jumped in as the homegrown Knights Templar gang squares off against civilian militias, rival gangsters and thousands of federal troops across the Pacific Coast state.

If it hadn’t been drowned out by the ongoing wars in Mali and Syria, you would have heard all about the brutal civil war that broke out in the Central African Republic (CAR) in December of 2012. I guess there's only so much war you can read about at any given time, but the one currently tearing through the bush of the Central African Republic is a significant one. One UN official is even claiming a high threat of genocide in the coming months as Christian and Muslim militias face off in a war of escalating sectarian violence.

As part of the United States Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence Globally, U.S. Embassy Bridgetown is addressing gender-based violence across a range of diplomatic, policy, and programmatic areas in the Caribbean region. These efforts build upon the priorities outlined last December at the first-ever Caribbean Dialogue on Rule of Law and Gender-based Violence, hosted by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI).