Just as the UN is warning of a global food shock (in part due to the diversion of croplands into production of "biofuels"), come reports of dangerous new fungus with the ability to destroy entire wheat fields spreading from Africa into Asia. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says the fungus—previously found in East Africa and Yemen—has been detected in Iran, its spores carried by wind across continents. Laboratory tests have confirmed its presence in Broujerd and Hamedan in the country's west. Up to 80% of all Asian and African wheat varieties are susceptible to the fungus, and major wheat-producing nations to Iran's east—including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan—should be on high alert, the FAO warns. "The fungus is spreading rapidly and could seriously lower wheat production in countries at direct risk," said Shivaji Pandey, director of FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division.

Days after the harsh crackdown on protests in Lhasa, Chinese authorities are now arresting hundreds of Tibetans elsewhere in Tibet and Tibetan regions of neighboring Gansu and Sichuan provinces. The Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy reports that in addition to those detained in the riots, 24 have been arrested in Lhasa "on a basis of pre-trial detention." The official Chinese news agency Xinhua reports that 170 "rioters" in the city have surrendered to police following days of unrest "that killed 13 innocent civilians." While Chinese authorities say "leniency" will be applied to those who surrender, the TCHRD questions this, noting the experience of 1989. The TCHRD says over 1,000 have been arrested throughout the Tibetan region, with hundreds more "disappeared." Homes have been raided and ransacked, and monasteries generally remain under occupation by the security forces. (TCHRD, March 21; Xinhua, March 19)

The Bay Area group Direct Action to Stop the War marked the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion March 19 by blocking key intersection in downtown San Francisco, staging "die-ins" and halting traffic. The corporate headquarters of Chevron and Bechtel and a military recruiting center were also blockaded. Some 150 were arrested at several sites around the city. (Indybay, March 19) Three were charged with felonies such as assault on an officer. (Infoshop News, March 20)

At least 52 are dead following a March 17 bomb blast near the shrine of Imam Hussein, a pilgrimage center for Shi'ites in Karbala. Most reports identified a female suicide bomber as the perpetrator, but the Karbala police chief said it had been a bomb planted in a crowded area. About 75 were injured in the blast, the worst attack on Shi'ite civilians since the Ashura holy period.

The official Chinese news agency Xinhua March 16 quoted the 11th Panchen Lama Gyaincain Norbu harshly condemning the Tibetan uprising: "The rioters' acts not only harmed the interests of the nation and the people, but also violated the aim of Buddhism... We resolutely oppose all activities to split the country and undermine ethnic unity. We strongly condemn the crime of a tiny number of people to hurt the lives and properties of the people."

While little news is now coming out of Lhasa, the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy (TCHRD) reports that at least three Tibetan protesters were shot dead by Chinese security forces March 18 during a peaceful demonstration in Kardze county, Sichuan. (TCHRD, March 18) Hundreds of Tibetans in Amdo Bora, Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, staged a peaceful march against the Chinese rule in Tibet. (TCHRD, March 18) Protests also continue in Nepal, where police arrested 58 Tibetans who marched on the UN offices in Kathmandu. (Phayul, March 18)

On March 18, protests broke out in Ganja, a nomadic village 25 kilometers north of Labrang in Amdo (traditional Tibetan region in Gansu province), with some 2,000 marching on government township office with Tibetan flags and portraits of the Dalai Lama. Residents at the nearby nomadic village of Songkok stormed local government offices, shouting anti-China slogans. Protesters from Amchok village began a cross-country march towards Labrang but were halted by the People's Armed Police. (Phayul, March 18) Some 600 monks from Amchok Tsenyi monastery staged a protest outside the local government office in Tsenyi, a village in Ngaba Tibet Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan province. (Phayul, March 18)

On Jan. 17 the Review Court of Rome dismissed the Italian case against former Uruguayan navy captain Nestor Jorge Fernandez Troccoli, who was arrested in Salerno on Dec. 23 in connection with Operation Condor, a clandestine program of cooperation between South American militaries during the 1970s and 1980s. Fernandez Troccoli, who headed Uruguay's secret services for the 1973-1985 military dictatorship, is one of 140 military officers and soldiers from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay that Italy is seeking for crimes against more than 25 people of Italian origin. The Italian court found that there was insufficient evidence against Fernandez Troccoli. However, as of February he was still held in prison because of an extradition request from Uruguay. (Terra, Spain, Feb. 6 from EFE)