Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez over the weekend ordered the army to seize control of all the the country's rice processing plants, citing the companies' failure to adhere to price control regulations. "I have ordered the immediate intervention in all those sectors of agro-industry, intervention by the revolutionary government," Chávez said in a nationally televised address March 1. "This government is here to protect the people, not the bourgeoisie or the rich." He also warned that he would nationalize the country's rice industry if the processing companies do not respect price controls.

As of the morning of March 2 a general strike in the French Caribbean department of Guadeloupe continued despite a preliminary agreement; Guadeloupe prefect Nicolas Desforges told the strikers that "you have to know to end a strike." The action, which began Jan. 20, is the longest general strike France has experienced in more than 20 years.

On Feb. 16 indigenous Hondurans closed off roads in Intibucá department at the beginning of a 12-day mobilization organized by the Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) against the destruction of forests in the territories of the Lenca people. COPINH said the protesters succeeded in maintaining "three strategic takeovers...completely paralyzing the exploitation of timber," and that the mobilization also resulted in the temporary suspension of authorizations for cutting trees in San Marcos de Sierra municipality and in Wise community in Intibucá municipality.

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Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in downtown Phoenix Feb. 28 to protest Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio and policies that critics charge violate basic human and civil rights. Organizers estimated the number of marchers at more than 5,000. Soon after the march began, Phoenix police blocked traffic to Central Ave. and allowed demonstrators to fill the street, because of their overwhelming numbers—despite the fact that the march had lacked a permit).

Protesters in small motor-boats flying red flags circled the USS John C. Stennis chanting "carrier get out!" through megaphones as as the warship arrived Feb. 27 for a visit to Japan's Sasebo Naval Base, outside Nagasaki. Some 100 activists from the Nagasaki Peace Action Center, Rimpeace Sasebo and All Japan Dockworkers Union also gathered on the city's docks to cheer on the protest flotilla of some 25 boats.

Two missiles fired March 1 from a US drone killed at least eight militants in the Sora Rogha area of South Waziristan, a tribal region controlled by the Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud. The dead reportedly include four Arab militants, a Pakistani intelligence official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (NYT, March 1)

Five people were killed March 2 in a suicide attack on a girls' school in Pishin district of Pakistan's conflicted Baluchistan region. At least 12 were injured in the attack, which took place as Maulana Mohammed Khan Shirani, leader of the Jamiat-e-Ulemae Islam (JUI) political party, arrived to attend a function. Witnesses said the bomber was a teenaged man, who detonated his explosives after being stopped by security guards. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Maulana Shirani is a prominent opponent of Pakistani Taliban. (AKI, Italy; Gulf Times, Qatar, March 2)