Taking a tip from their counterparts in Colombia, young opponents of President Daniel Ortega in Nicaragua used Facebook to launch a protest campaign—under the slogan "Democracy yes, dictatorship no." A June 20 protest brought out some 4,000 in downtown Managua in support of former Sandinsita commandante Dora María Téllez, who ended a 12-day public hunger strike four days earlier at the request of her doctors. (Miami Herald, June 22) Téllez led a new march of several thousand through Managua June 27, accusing Ortega's government of a "totalitarian vocation." (Nuevo Diario, Managua, June 28)

Sikh protesters blocked a rail line through Amristar in protests across India's Punjab this week to demand the arrest of Ram Rahim Singh, leader of the Dera Sacha Sauda sect, which combines spirituality with social work—but which orthodox Sikhs accuse of heresy. On June 20, a Sikh protester was killed and two more wounded when one of Singh's bodyguards opened fire during a clash in Mumbai. Authorities say they are investigating. (Zee News, ANI, NYT, June 25)

The international negotiators appointed to broker peace in Darfur have resigned, admitting that their mission has been a failure. The UN's Jan Eliasson announced that he and his African Union counterpart, Salim Ahmed Salim, would both step down, citing Sudanese government intransigence and the fracturing of the rebel movement into more than 30 factions. "It is a very, very sombre situation," said Eliasson. (The Independent, June 27)

In the new "Failed States Index" compiled by Foreign Policy magazine and the Fund for Peace, Somalia has displaced Sudan at the top of the list. Sudan is number two, followed by Zimbabwe and Chad. Iraq, which ranked second last year, has retreated to fourth. Israel, ranking 58, for the first time appears in the top 60. The US ranks 161. Norway ranks last at 177.

Activists on the NO-G8 e-mail list report that three "citizen reporters" from the Hong Kong alternative website In-media, arriving for the upcoming protests against the Hokkaido G8 summit, have been detained by Japanese authorities at the Tokyo airport. Korean activists from the KCTU trade union federation have also been barred entry by the Japanese government.

Seven Maori tribes signed New Zealand's largest-ever settlement on grievances over the loss of lands and fisheries during European settlement in the 19th century. Hundreds of Maori, some wearing traditional feather cloaks, gathered at Wellington to watch the agreement being signed in parliament by the government and tribal leaders. Some wept during the ceremony, while others chanted, sang and blew conch shells.

From Human Rights Watch, June 25:

Russia: Stop 'Dirty War' Tactics in Ingushetia
Killings, Torture, Disappearances in Chechnya-Style Counterinsurgency
Moscow – The Chechnya armed conflict has spread human rights abuses and instability across the North Caucasus, and particularly in Ingushetia, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch urged the Russian government to amend its counterinsurgency techniques and address impunity for violations in Ingushetia to ensure that the situation does not descend to the appalling abuses that characterized the conflict in Chechnya.

Islamabad has angrily denied findings by Afghanistan's intelligence agency that Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was the "real schemer and organizer" behind the failed April 27 assassination attempt on President Karzai at a military parade. (Gulf Daily News, June 26) That was the fourth attempt on Karzai's life by our count.