Ramallah: black balloons commemorate NakbaIsrael is demanding that the UN strike the word "Nakba" from its lexicon after an official statement released by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made specific reference to the Arab word meaning catastrophe—especially in reference to the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their lands with Israel's inception in 1948. Israeli Radio quoted a Ban spokesperson as saying the secretary-general "phoned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to stress his support for the Palestinian people on Nakba Day." Danny Carmon, Israel's deputy ambassador to the UN, told the radio that the term "Nakba is a tool of Arab propaganda used to undermine the legitimacy of the establishment of the State of Israel, and it must not be part of the lexicon of the UN."

May 5 marked the beginning of an intended thirty-day strike, with public transport workers and truckers in Nicaragua protesting rising fuel costs and the lack of government impetus to do anything about it. With road blockades in several places in Managua and almost no public intercity transport allowed whatsoever, Nicaragua is at an effective standstill. Containers full of goods sit stalled on the sides of highways, and even sports teams have canceled weekend matches. When baseball is put on hold in Nicaragua, you know it is serious.

Fifty environmental activists protested Barrick Gold's controversial Pascua Lama gold mine in Chile on May 8. The event went unnoticed by Chile's mainline media—La Tercera and El Mercurio—but was reported in La Nacion, the state-owned daily. The demonstration coincided with Barrick's shareholders meeting in Toronto, Canada, and with Barrick's 25th anniversary as a company officially traded on the Toronto stock market. The Santiago demonstrators celebrated the company's anniversary with a birthday cake of their own, and large bags of ice to represent the glaciers that will allegedly be destroyed by the project. Several of the demonstrators also dressed in black plastic bags to give homage to the 15 individuals related to the project who have died since it first was proposed almost 20 years ago.

The Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (CONAIE) declared itself in opposition to the government of Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa on May 12. The CONAIE accused the president of continuing right-wing neoliberal economic and racist social policies. The harsh condemnation focused on Correa´s opposition to two key demands: the recognition of Ecuador as a plurinational state in the new constitution and the requirement that communities must offer prior consent before large-scale mining and other major extractive projects take place.

Spanish ministers and royalty attended the funeral of a Civil Guard killed in a May 14 car bombing blamed on ETA at a barracks in Legutiano, near the Basque city of Vitoria. Four officers were hurt. (BBC, May 15) Meanwhile, the UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights, Martin Scheinin, concluded an eight-day mission to Spain to review that country's practices in combating terrorism. While the report issued at the end of the trip praised certain "best practices" in safeguarding the rights of suspects, it also raised concerns about abuses. (UN News Centre, May 14) An excerpt:

Monks protest at Labrang MonasteryMass arrests of monks and their supporters continue in Tibet and the neighboring Tibetan ethnic regions of the People's Republic of China. Ten monks were arrested May 12 at Khenpa Lungpa Monastery for defying the "patriotic re-education" campaign, in which authorities demand ritual denunciations of the Dalai Lama in surprise raids on monasteries. Six monks were arrested May 13 at Woeser Monastery, and two lay Tibetans arrested there May 14. Both monasteries are in Garthog township, Markham county, Chamdo prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region. (TCHRD, May 15) On May 7, thousands of People's Armed Police and Public Security Bureau personnel surrounded Labrang Monastery, Xiahe County, Gansu province, detaining around 140 monks. The next day, monks from the monastery held a protest to demand the release of those arrested. All but seven of those arrested were released after the protest. (TCHRD, May 9)

China's Ministry of Water Resources has dispatched teams to Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces to prevent dams that were damaged by the devastating earthquake from bursting and endangering the lives of residents. Several dams are believed to be imminently threatened in the key region where the Tibetan plateau meets the Sichuan plain.

The price of rice in Burma has jumped 50% since Cyclone Nargis devastated the country's most important croplands and destroyed several fully stocked grain warehouses. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that the cyclone may "sharply decrease national rice production and impair access to food." And the disaster comes as global rice prices are at an unprecedented high.