Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who became the hero of the Egyptian revolution, spoke before an International Monetary Fund paenl in Washington DC on April 15, chiding the organization for its long support of strongman Hosni Mubarak. Billed as "Internet activist" in the roundtable discussion also featuring IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Ghonim said, "To me what was happening was a crime, not a mistake." He charged that international financial institutions and world "elites" were "partners in crime" in supporting Mubarak's regime. Wearing a wristband with the date Jan. 25, 2011—the day the protesters drove Mubarak from power—Ghonim said: "We wanted our dignity back." (Middle East Online, April 17)

At least seven people were killed overnight by Syrian security forces in the flashpoint town of Homs, rights activists said April 18. The previous day, in the nearby town of Talbisseh, at least four were killed and more than 50 wounded when security forces opened fire on a funeral procession for a demonstrator killed on Friday, witnesses said. In the country's major port, Latakia, around 10,000 people also took to the streets for the funeral of a protester killed on Friday, according to witnesses. Regime supporters are reported to have broken up two rallies in southern Syria.The protests followed a televised address April 16 by President Bashar al-Assad, promising to end emergency rule—in force since 1963 when the Ba'ath party took power—within a week. (Middle East Online, April 18)

A former Guantánamo Bay detainee announced April 15 that he is suing members of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's regime over allegations that he was tortured by the government while in Egyptian custody. Mamdouh Habib, an Australian citizen, was arrested in Pakistan in 2001 following the 9-11 terrorist attacks on the US. He was released from Guantánamo in 2005 without charges being filed against him, after being held at the detention facility for three years. Habib claims that he was tortured and beaten after being taken to Egypt as part of the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" program. He claims Egypt's former vice-president Omar Suleiman and Mubarak's son Gamal supervised the torture, and indicated that he is seeking compensation and that he hopes those responsible will be imprisoned.

At least one was killed as police fired on protesters April 18 near Jaitapur, site of a proposed nuclear plant in Ratnagiri district of India's Maharashtra state. Authorities said officers opened fire after some 700 protesters set ablaze a police station and vehicles at Sakhrinate village. Villagers apparently took the opportunity to overrun the police station when most of the officers were mobilized to the Jaitapur project site where a demonstration was underway. (India Today, April 18)

The Mexican state of Tamaulipas has dismissed its security chief while federal police arrested 16 municipal police officers in the town of San Fernando following the discovery of more than 145 bodies in mass graves over the past weeks. Former army general Ubaldo Ayala Tinoco has been replaced as Tamaulipas public security secretary by another ex-military man, Capt Rafael Lomelí Martínez, who pledges to bring all those involved in the mass killings to justice. In addition to the police, some 20 have already been arrested in connection with the killings. Most of the victims are believed to have been abducted from long-distance buses travelling north to the US border; there is speculation they were killed by cartel gunmen after refusing to join their ranks. The bodies of 72 Central and South American migrants were found in the same area last year. On April 16, the Mexican navy announced the capture of Omar Martin Estrada Luna AKA "El Kilo"—suspected leader of Los Zetas in San Fernando and alleged mastermind of the recent killings. Federal authorities say he will likely be charged in last year's killings as well—for a total of 217 homicides. (BBC News, Hoy Tamaulipas, La Prensa, April 17; LAT, April 14)

More than a hundred protesters gathered outside the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) on April 15, with banners reading "No Nukes" and "Nuclear Kills All Life." Demonstrators demanded a halt to Japan's nuclear development plans, as well as protesting the compensation package announced by TEPCO to those affected by the Fukushima disaster—$12,000 to families of two or more members and $9,000 for people living alone. (NTD TV, April 15) The protest came as the government admitted the area around Fukushima could be uninhabitable for nearly a generation. Kenichi Matsumoto, an aide to Prim Minister Naoto Kan, said (in a classically Orwellian construction) that the contamination will "momentarily"* bar the area's human habitability for between "10 and 20 years." (AGI, April 13)

Baghdad has ordered the expulsion of Mujahedeen Khalq (or People's Mujahadeen Organization), armed wing of the opposition National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), following an April 8 raid on Camp Ashraf, the group's stronghold. The NCRI said 34 people were killed when Iraqi security forces attacked the camp 65 kilometers northeast of Baghdad. The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has has given the estimated 4,500 members of Mujahedeen Khalq and their families until the end of 2011 to leave Iraq. "This organization must be removed from Iraqi territory by all means, including political and diplomatic, with the cooperation of the United Nations and international organizations," Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said. (World Tribune, NCRI, April 14)

Dozens were injured as ultra-conservative Salafist Muslims clashed with government supporters in Jordan's northern city of Zarqa on April 15. Police used tear gas to disperse the crowds; six officers were stabbed and 34 others injured in the clashes, authorities said. Meanwhile, up to 1,000 people protested in the capital Amman, calling for political and economic reform. (BBC News, April 15) In neighboring Syria, police fired tear gas to disperse some 2,000 demonstrators at Jobar, north of Damascus, sparking hours of street clashes. (Ennahar Online, April 15)