Militants bombed two mosques in in Pakistan June 12, killing at least eight, including a cleric who was an outspoken critic of the Taliban. In Lahore, a suicide bomber detonated his payload inside the religious complex run by Sarfraz Ahmed Naeemi, a leading Sunni cleric who was vocal in his opposition to suicide attacks and other Taliban tactics. The attack seemed aimed specifically at Naeemi, whose quarters near the entrance of the mosque were completely destroyed. At least four others were killed in the attack. Another mosque bombing in Nowshera, northwest of Islamabad, killed at least three and injured more than 20.

Following the wave of violent unrest in the Amazon region, on June 10, Peru's congress temporarily suspended two decrees issued by President Alan García that would open vast areas to corporate exploitation and allow companies to bypass indigenous communities in winning permits for resource extraction. The following day, police used batons and tear gas to turn back protesters who marched on the congress building in support of indigenous demands that the laws be overturned. At least 20,000 students, trade unionists and indigenous Peruvians from both the Andean highlands and Amazon lowlands joined protests. Some of the students reportedly hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at police. Several were arrested, but police did not release a figure.

A Council of Elders of the Miskito indigenous people on Nicaragua's Caribbean coast, citing the central government's opening of the region to corporate exploitation with little return to local residents, have announced their secession from the country and declaration of a "Communitarian Nation of Mosquitia." But the ruling Sandinista government are charging that the US embassy has fomented the move.

By order of President Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua granted asylum June 9 to Alberto Pizango, the Peruvian indigenous leader wanted on charges of sedition for leading protests in the Amazon over the past two months. Pizango, a member of the Shawi people, sought refuge in Nicaragua's embassy in Lima the day before. The Nicaraguan chancellor, Samuel Santos, said his government will guarantee Pizango's safe conduct to the Central American nation.

Security forces fired on protesters in Indian-controlled Kashmir June 8, wounding at least seven in the worst clash since unrest broke out last week over the deaths of two young women. The protesters say the women, a 17-year-old and her 22-year-old sister, were raped and killed by Indian soldiers. The police, who are investigating the killings but have not charged anyone, released forensic reports confirming that both of the women had been raped. Thousands protested in the streets of Shopian, the women's hometown, before police fired tear gas shells and live ammunition at the crowd. Angry demonstrations—and a general strike that has closed businesses and schools—have spread across Kashmir since the women's bodies were found May 30. (AP, June 8)

At least 11 were killed and 18 others wounded when gunmen opened fire on a mosque in Joh-i-Rong district of southern Thailand's Narathiwat province during evening prayers June 8. A few minutes after the mosque attack, a car bomb exploded in the same area, killing a villager and wounding 19 others. No group has yet claimed responsibility.

James W. Von Brunn, the elderly man suspected of killing a security guard in Washington DC's Holocaust Museum June 10 is a World War II veteran with links to white supremacist groups who tried nearly 30 years ago to take Federal Reserve board members hostage, according to media reports and Web sites. A Web site maintained by Von Brunn says that in 1981 he tried to carry out a "citizens arrest" on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. (The website, Holy Western Empire, appears to be currently disabled.)

On June 5 Peru's largest labor confederation, the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP), condemned what it called "the slaughter ordered by the government of President Alan García," referring to the deaths of at least 20 police agents and indigenous protesters earlier that day when police tried to break up a demonstration blocking a road in Bagua province in the northern region of Amazonas. The CGTP called for Congress to repeal the decrees on drilling, mining and land rights that Amazonian indigenous groups had been protesting since April 9. The labor group had held a one-day national strike on May 26 to support the demands of the Amazonian indigenous group leading the protests, the Inter-Ethnic Association for Development of the Peruvian Forest (AIDESEP). (CGTP press release, June 5)