A Russian Mi-8 transport helicopter has been shot down by Chechen fighters during an army operation near the town of Shatoi, southern Chechnya. Its four crew members and 13 passengers are all suspected killed. Violence is said to have erupted at the site of the crash between Russian forces and insurgents. [AlJazeera, April 27]

Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed concern that construction of a US missile shield in Eastern Europe would heighten the "threat of causing mutual damage and even destruction." The proposed scheme "is not just a defense system," he exclaimed, "this is part of the US nuclear weapons system." [BBC, April 27]

Ecuador has expelled World Bank representative to Quito, Eduardo Somensatto, on the order of President Rafael Correa. Though Ecuador did not give an official reason for the expulsion, but Correa had protested the Work Bank's withholding of a $100 million loan in 2005, when he was the country's economic minister. Correa charges it was because of the country's moves to nationalize the oil sector. The bank contends the loan was suspended because Ecuador violated terms by dissolving an oil fund set aside to pay off foreign debt. Ecuador last week paid off the balance of its debt to the International Monetary Fund, but Correa has threatened to default on the remaining foreign debt. The country owes the World Bank an estimated $748 million. (UPI, April 26)

Tierramérica reports [April 21] that grassroots organizations in the department of Olancho, Honduras, are fighting both for the enforcement of a partial ban decreed to stop illegal logging, as well as justice punishment of the assassins of two Honduran environmentalists on December 20, 2006. Six environmentalists have been killed in the Olancho region since 1998, and more than half of the original 2.5 million hectares of forested land has been cut.

Rodolfo Chávez Galindo, a campesino leader active in the opposition to La Parota hydro-electric complex, was arrested by state police April 21 in the conflicted southern Mexican state of Guerrero, charged with the illegal detention of an engineer from the Federal Electric Commission (CFE) during a protest against the dam at the village of Oaxaquillas in July 2004. At the time of the protest, two others were arrested for the crime: Marco Antonio Suástegui of the Council of Ejidos and Communities in Opposition to la Parota (CECOP), and his comrade Francisco Hernández. Chávez Galindo protested that the case had been closed, but police said the arrest orders against him were still in effect. Chávez denied involvement in the alleged attack, and said that if the CFE wants to build La Parota, "they are not going to achieve it, much less by attacking the people who are in opposition." (La Jornada, April 22)

From Amnesty International, April 24:

Amnesty International condemns the harsh sentence handed down today on human rights lawyer Anwar al-Bunni, following an unfair trial that appeared to be politically driven and during which he was not given full access to his lawyers.

Combatants of Hamas’ military wing, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, have ended their five-month truce with Israel, firing 61 mortars and 30 rockets into Israel [April 24]. The group described the attack as in response to Israel having failed to respect the cease-fire, having killed nine Palestinians over the weekend. [AlJazeera, April 24] Palestinian interior minister Hani al-Qawasmi submitted his resignation on Monday after the failure of his administration to stem the increasing lawlessness gripping the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh refused to accept al-Qawasmi’s decision, who has agreed to remain in his post for the time being. [The Guardian, April 23]

From Amnesty International, April 19:

Political activist David Venegas was arbitrarily detained by state police in central Oaxaca City on 13 April, and reportedly tortured. He has been charged with serious criminal offences, on the basis of evidence which appears to have been fabricated. He may be at risk of further ill-treatment and unfair judicial proceedings. Human rights lawyer Isaac Torres Carmonas was with him when he was arrested, and the police reportedly threatened him.