Motorbike Passengers Banned in Honduras

Honduran lawmakers have banned passengers on motorcycles in an attempt to curb drive-by killings, the BBC reports. With two such murders recently on the books—one of a journalist, the other a former government security adviser—the nation's Congress imposed the 6-month ban, and approved a new wiretapping law that critics say creates privacy concerns.

Honduras suffers from the world's highest murder rate—82 per 100,000 people annually—and is a key smuggling country for cocaine moving from South America to the US. Violent street gangs and Mexican drug cartels have also weakened security in Honduras. Officials are reacting by trying to weed out criminals from the police force, and using troops to carry out policing efforts. (More Honduras stories.)