In an extraordinary session at Irbil, the parliament of Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) voted July 9 to postpone a referendum scheduled later this month on the autonomous region's controversial constitution. The referendum was to be held on July 25 simultaneously with the region's parliamentary elections. Parliament speaker Adnan Mufti admitted the decision not to hold the referendum simultaneously with the parliamentary elections "has been influenced by the bad publicity the constitution has received in Baghdad." Shi'ite and Sunni Arab politicians in Baghdad have criticized the draft Kurdish constitution— which has been approved by the Kurdish legislature—as having "secessionist" tendencies.

A blogger on Daily Kos a few days ago promoted a petition to make July 11 "Peak Oil Day," a crusade apparently launched by peakster Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute. Why July 11? Heinberg, quoted at length in the post, explains:

On July 11, 2008, the price of a barrel of oil hit a record $147.27 in daily trading. That same month, world crude oil production achieved a record 74.8 million barrels per day.

The remains of 534 identified victims of the July 11, 1995 Srebrenica massacre were buried in a ceremony attended by tens of thousands of relatives and survivors at the Potocari Memorial Park outside the town in eastern Bosnia on the 14th anniversary of Europe's worst atrocity since World War II. The bodies, which had been unearthed from mass graves, were buried alongside nearly 3,300 others at the memorial site. The victims were aged between 14 and 72 at the time of their deaths. Forensic experts have now identified more than 6,000 of the estimated 8,000 victims of the massacre through DNA analysis. The memorial opened in 2003 as a final resting place for remains uncovered from some 70 mass graves.

Some 4,000 supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya blocked the main road linking Tegucigalpa with San Pedro Sula and the north of Honduras for two hours July 10. Juan Barahona, leader of the Popular Bloc that organized the action, pledged to keep up the protests until Zelaya is returned to power. Campesino leader Rafael Alegría said "we will maintain these actions as long as the dialogue in San José continues." Pro-Zelaya protests were also held in San Pedro Sula, Choluteca and Puerto Cortés. A teachers' strike in protest of the coup has closed pubic schools and universities. Supporters of de facto President Roberto Micheletti in the Civil Democratic Union also announced rallies the be held over the weekend against the return of Zelaya. (AFP, July 10)

Just about a year after the last time and two-and-a-half years after the first time, the New York Times for a third time July 10 treats al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) to some lurid front-page publicity, "Qaeda Branch Steps Up Raids in North Africa." The story alarmingly fails to mention the US military advisors that have been dispatched to the region in supposed response to the AQIM threat, but does say that "Algerian security forces [are] now offering military and intelligence support to poorer neighboring countries like Mali, where the insurgents have sought refuge."

Leaders of the world's most polluting nations at the Italy G8 summit agreed a common goal on curbing global warming—but not on what measures to take to get there. Summit leaders agreed in principle that global temperature rise should be no more than 2 degrees C. by 2050. But there were no interim targets and or timetables. This is true both of July 8 G8 declaration and the following day's resolution by the Major Economies Forum (MEF), the 17 countries that emit 80% of the world's greenhouse gases. Details on how to reach the 2-degree cap are expected to be hashed out at the December UN climate summit in Copenhagen, where a new treaty is expected to replace the Kyoto Protocol. (European Voice, July 10)

Thousands of protesters gathered in the suburbs of the central Italian town of L'Aquila July 10, as the G8 summit came to a close—the town itself being blocked off by thousands of riot police. "We do not want the G8 leaders to search for the ways to overcome the crisis that they started," said Paolo Ferrero of the Communist Refoundation Party, adding, "We want the demands of the affected people to be considered in the restoration of L'Aquila." Among the protesters were many local residents angered by the stalling of restoration work in L'Aquila, where nearly 300 died, 1,500 were injured and about 50,000 left homeless in April's earthquake. (Ria Novosti, July 10)

Chinese authorities have re-imposed a curfew in the city of Urumqi, Xinjiang, following new disturbances July 10. When authorities tried to close the White Mosque ahead of Friday prayers in the Uighur district which had been the center of last weekend's violence, this only sparked an angry protest at the mosque's gates. As the crowd rapidly swelled, the riot police who had been dispatched to secure the mosque finally relented and let prayers proceed—but not before arresting four foreign journalists. The curfew had been suspended for the past two days after officials said they had the city under control. State media now say the death toll in the weekend's clashes has risen to 184. Of these deaths, authorities say 137 were Han, 46 were Uighur, and one was of the Hui ethnic group. (Radio New Zealand, July 11; AP, July 10)