On April 8, 123 immigrants from the Philippines and Indonesia were deported on a plane contracted under special charter with the ICE Detention and Removal Operations (DRO) Flight Operations Unit. The plane took off from Yuma, Arizona on April 8; the deportees arrived in Pampanga, Philippines and Jakarta, Indonesia on April 10. The deportees included 98 males and 25 females, according to ICE. Of the total 123 deportees, 43 had criminal convictions.

Early on April 16, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents carried out coordinated raids on poultry processing plants owned by the Pilgrim's Pride company in Texas, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas and West Virginia. A total of 311 workers were arrested, according to figures supplied by ICE in an Apr. 17 news release. At least 91 workers were charged with criminal violations, including false use of a Social Security number and document fraud, and have been turned over to the custody of the US Marshals Service. The other workers arrested are being processed for removal on administrative immigration violations. Of the total number of workers arrested, 58 were released under supervision for humanitarian reasons such as childcare or medical issues. (ICE news release, April 17)

Israel has announced an investigation into the killing of Reuters cameraman Fadel Shana by the IDF in the Gaza Strip following demands by the news agency and rights groups. Shana was killed while filming a central Gaza combat zone, and film from his camera showed an Israeli tank firing in his direction. An autopsy revealed that he had been hit by a kind of dart used in Israeli shells. Some suggest the tank crew targeted Shana knowing he was a journalist. The Israeli military rejected this. "The IDF wishes to emphasize that unlike terrorist organizations, not only does not it deliberately target uninvolved civilians, it also uses means to avoid such incidents," it said in a statement. "Reports claiming the opposite are false and misleading." (JTA, April 21)

Spain is sending frigate to the coast of Somalia following the seizure of a Spanish tuna fishing boat, the Playa de Bakio, by pirates. Some 26 people were aboard, including 13 Spaniards and a crew of various African nationals. The Dubai-flagged Al-Khaleej, was carrying food for sale in Somalia, was also hijacked seven kilometers off the northeastern Somali port of Bosasso, and pirates reportedly fired on a Japanese-flagged chemical carrier off Yemen.

From AP, April 20:

Armenian and Greek Christians scuffle at tomb of Jesus on Orthodox Palm Sunday
JERUSALEM - Dozens of Greek and Armenian priests and worshippers exchanged blows at one of Christianity's holiest shrines on Orthodox Palm Sunday, and used palm fronds to pummel police who tried to break up the brawl.

Two small blasts hit Burma's first city Rangoon April 20, damaging cars in the downtown area but causing no injuries. The blasts, the latest in a spate of similar incidents this year, come three weeks before a referendum on a proposed army-backed constitution—Burma's first public voting since 1990. The first explosion struck outside a bar a few streets away from Rangoon's City Hall. Just over an hour later, a second blast went off near a luxury hotel in the city center.

Chanting "Allahu Akbar" and "Disband Ahmadiyya," some 1,000 members of the Indonesian Muslim Forum (FUI) marched on the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta April 21 to demand President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono issue a decree to ban the "deviant" Islamic sect. "We are pushing the president to immediately issue a presidential decree disbanding Ahmadiyya," FUI secretary general Muhammad Al Khaththath told Reuters. The FUI also demanded the government arrest Ahmadiyya leaders and seize all the organization's assets.

Chile's lower-house Chamber of Deputies April 17 approved a resolution calling upon Exterior Minister Alejandro Foxley to "condemn the violence and repression in Tibet and request that the Government of China open direct conversations with the Dalai Lama to find a peaceful solution" to the conflict. It passed 35-8, with one abstention. (MapuchExpress, April 19) The government of President Michele Bachelet opposed the resolution. Her spokesman to the National Congress, Presidency Minister José Antonio Viera Gallo, warned lawmakers the move could invite similar criticisms of their own country. Noting outstanding conflicts with indigenous peoples in Chile's south, he said: "I don't know if we would like it if a foreign parliament opined on situations like that of the Mapuche." The Chilean pro-indigenous website MapuchExpress commented: "The government of Bachelet and Viera Gallo know that they have their own Mapcuhe Tibet."