President Barack Obama met at the White House with his Colombian counterpart Alvaro Uribe June 29. In comments after this initial meeting between the two heads of state, Obama emphasized his commitment to move ahead with a Free Trade Agreement with the Andean nation which is the hemisphere's worst human rights abuser.

One day after Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was ousted and deported by the army, thousands of protesters continue to mass at the presidential palace in Tegucigalpa—in an increasingly tense stand-off with hundreds of camouflage-clad soldiers carrying riot shields and automatic weapons. The New York Times reports June 29 that the protesters—many wearing masks and carrying wooden or metal sticks—yelled taunts at the soldiers across the fences ringing the compound and braced for an attack. Shots were heard in the Honduran capital late Sunday the 28th, after de facto President Roberto Micheletti imposed a nationwide 48-hour curfew—which protesters continue to defy. AFP reported Monday evening that police and army troops outside the presidential palace were using tear gas to scatter protesters, who fought back with rocks and bottles. More shots were heard, although no casualties have yet been reported.

According to the Venezuela-based TeleSUR television network, thousands of Hondurans took to the streets of Tegucigalpa the morning of June 28 to demonstrate against the military's removal of President José Manuel ("Mel") Zelaya Rosales several hours earlier in a dispute over a non-binding referendum the president was planning to hold that day. TeleSUR showed footage of protesters at the Presidential Palace and other locations arguing with heavily armed soldiers, sometimes blocking their way or otherwise defying them. Ignoring a curfew imposed by the de facto government, the protesters said they would remain in the streets until Zelaya returns to office. (TeleSUR, June 28)

Soldiers stormed the home of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya in a pre-dawn raid June 28, placing him on a plane to Costa Rica. The Honduran National Congress quickly named its leader, Roberto Micheletti, as president after voting to accept a "resignation letter" supposedly written by Zelaya. A resolution read on the floor accused Zelaya of "manifest irregular conduct" and "putting in present danger the state of law"—a reference to his refusal to obey a Supreme Court ruling against holding a referendum on constitutional reform that had been scheduled for that day. Television stations are reported to be off the air, and electricity is out in parts of the capital, Tegucigalpa. Army troops have a heavy presence in the streets. Hundreds of soldiers in riot gear have surrounded the presidential palace; tanks patrol the capital's thoroughfares and military jets streak overhead.

Mauritania's ousted civilian president, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, formally resigned as part of a power-sharing deal with the nation's military rulers June 27—ending a stalemate that for weeks jeopardized the return to civil rule. Supporters of Abdallahi and coup leader Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz shouted at each other outside the conference center where the civilian president stepped down, but there was no violence. (VOA, June 27)

Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported June 7 that the government is establishing a Sufi Advisory Council, with an aim of combating extremism by promoting Sufism and its pacifistic vision of Islam. Noting this development June 26, Reuters' FaithWorld blog adds that such stateside establishmentarian voices as the RAND and the Heritage Foundation have recently advocated such a strategy.

Iran's electoral authorities insisted June 26 the disputed presidential vote was the cleanest ever, as the G8 urged Tehran to halt repression—but without questioning the poll results. "After 10 days of examination, we did not see any major irregularities," Guardians Council spokesman Abbasali Kadkhodai told the IRNA news agency. "We have had no fraud in any presidential election and this one was the cleanest election we have had. I can say with certainty that there was no fraud in this election."

The Supreme Court of Honduras June 25 rejected President Manuel "Mel" Zelaya's dismissal of the country's senior military officer, Gen. Romeo Vásquez, deepening a confrontation over Zelaya's proposal to reform the constitution. Zelaya vowed to push ahead with a vote scheduled for June 28 to measure public support for holding a National Constituent Assembly. At a rally in Tegucigalpa, he told supporters that the court's decision amounted to a coup. As tens of thousands of Hondurans rushed to the defense of the president, filling and surrounding the presidential palace, soldiers were ordered into the streets.