Human Rights Watch (HRW) on April 22 urged the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to reverse its decision to dissolve the board of directors of a prominent civil rights group. UAE social affairs minister, Mariam Mohammed Khalfan Al-Roumi, dismissed the elected board members of the Jurist Association civil rights group and appointed state officials in their stead. The decree dismissing the board members alleged that the Jurist Association violated UAE's recently enacted laws that prohibit nongovernmental organizations and its members from interfering "in politics or in matters that impair State security and its ruling regime." Al-Roumi issued the decree in response to a petition filed by the Jurist Association, other nongovernmental organizations, and hundreds of UAE citizens seeking political reform. The petitioners are calling for increased representation in the UAE government and Federal National Council, the country's legislative body.

Forces loyal to Moammar Qaddafi reportedly retreated from the besieged western city of Misrata April 23—as the US military confirmed the first strike by a Predator drone aircraft in Libya. "Misrata is free, the rebels have won," rebel spokesman Gemal Salem told Reuters. "Of Qaddafi's forces, some are killed and others are running away." A US Defense Department statement confirming the drone strike did not say where the strike occurred. A spokesman for the rebels' Interim Transitional National Council (ITNC) praised the deployment of the drones, while expressing skepticism on reports of a Qaddafi retreat. (VOA, DW-World, April 23)

Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh agreed on April 23 to leave power after 32 years of rule, officials said—but only if the opposition agrees to a list of conditions, including that he and his family are granted immunity. Opposition leaders said they are prepared to accept most terms of the deal, which would establish a coalition government with members of both the opposition and ruling party. The president would turn over authority to the current vice president, though not for at least 30 days. But the opposition said it could not guarantee at least one of Saleh’s demands—that demonstrations be halted. (NYT, April 23)

Security forces and gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad shot dead at least 70 protesters in Syria on April 22, according to human rights organization Sawasiah. An official from Sawasiah, an independent organization founded by imprisoned attorney Mohannad al-Hassani, told Reuters the killings of civilians occurred the Damascus district of Barzeh, its suburbs Zamalka, Harasta, Douma, Muadamiya, Qaboun and Hajar al-Asswad, as well as in the cities of Hama, Latakia and Homs, and in the southern town of Izra'a. Thousands also took to the streets for Friday protests in Madaya, Duma, Ezraa, Hrak, Latakia, Hasakah, Baniyas and Aleppo. (Reuters, LAT, April 22)

Celebrating Earth Day in their heart-warming way, more and more and more right-wing and climate-denialist websites are seizing upon a 2005 report from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) predicting that climate change would create 50 million "climate refugees" by 2010—and gloating that it hasn't come to pass. This is essentially a replay of last year's controversy over the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's accidental reversal of two digits in its prediction of when the world's glaciers would disappear. We've often warned against putting too much credence in the crystal ball set who think that making dire near-future predictions is a winning way to achieve political aims. But again, the critics are getting away with spinning it as "this whole global warming thing is a bunch of propaganda."

Pakistan's Supreme Court on April 21 upheld the acquittal of five of the six men accused in the gang rape of Mukhtar Mai—the woman whose refusal to remain silent about the crime committed in 2002 won international acclaim for her courage. The three-member bench of the high court freed all but one of the six men. Abdul Khaliq will continue to serve a life term, which in Pakistani practice would likely be no more than 25 years. The ruling stunned the victim, who also goes by Mukhtar Bibi. "I'm very sad," she said from her home in the southern Punjab village of Meerwala. "Why was I made to wait five years if this was the decision to be given?"

The US is sending $25 million in nonlethal aid to Libyan rebels to cover "vehicles, fuel trucks and fuel bladders, ambulances, medical equipment, protective vests, binoculars, and non-secure radios," the White House informed Congress April 21 in a letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A State Department official told ABC News the aid will be "in support of key partners, including the Transitional National Council." The letter does not state whether US military advisors will be involved in providing the aid. (ABC News, April 20)

The US Department of Defense (DoD) announced April 20 that high-value Guantánamo Bay detainee Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri will be subject to capital charges and tried in a military court. According to the Pentagon, the chief prosecutor for the DoD's Office of Military Commissions plans to charge al-Nashiri with orchestrating the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that left 17 dead and 40 injured. The office will also bring charges in connection with an attack that same year on a French oil freighter that claimed the life of one crewmember and spilled 90,000 barrels of oil into the Gulf of Aden.