At the behest of Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki, US officials have agreed to stop the construction of a wall separating Sunni and Shia enclaves in Baghdad. The 5km, 3.6m-tall wall surround the Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiya, billed by US planners as a necessary security measure, has prompted waves of protest from Sunni and Shia leaders. [AlJazeera, April 23] US officials have planned to extend the barrier-construction scheme to other neighbourhoods of Baghdad, including al-Rashid, al-Khadrah and al-Amiriya. Critics have panned the idea as destined to inflame sectarian tension in the country. [AlJazeera, April 18]

Tucked away on the April 21 letters page of the UK Guardian, 130 British doctors are calling to boycott the Israeli Medical Association. Dr. Derek Summerfield, who wrote a scathing report on Israeli war crimes in the Oct 16, 2004 British Medical Journal, makes the call along with colleagues in the form of a letter supporting the UK National Union of Journalists' (NUJ) decision to boycott Israeli goods:

The recent military campaign by tribesmen in Pakistan's northwest borderlands to drive out Uzbek Islamist militants, portrayed as a victory against extremism by Islamabad, may have more to do with mere animosity between Pashtuns and Uzbeks than a rejection of al-Qaeda's ideology. Mullah Nazir, the tribal commander who led the weeks-long battle against the Uzbeks in South Waziristan, is now refered to in Pakistan's media as a "Taliban leader"—and says he would protect Osama bin Laden if the al-Qaeda leader sought shelter in his territory.

From the Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), April 21:

Iraq Freedom Congress congratulates all freedom-loving and progressive people around the world for the launch of Sana TV today. It is you who made it happened and you who will keep it continue.

About 100 Iranians protested in Tehran April 21 against a new Sivand dam, charging it threatens archaeological sites dating to the first Persian empire of 2,600 years ago. Protesters carried banners with Zoroastrian symbols and demanded the resignation of Esfandiar Rahim Mashai, head of the state culture and heritage organization. "Mashai, you are the bloodthirsty Genghis, you are Alexander," they chanted, referring to Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great who both invaded and sacked Persia.

Two prominent Somali clan leaders, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed and Hussein Aideed, have issued an ultimatum to the Ethiopian forces to leave Somalia now or prepare to fight to the death. The two leaders of the Hawiye clan that dominates the Somali capital, Mogadishu, spoke after holding talks in Eritrea. Aideed said that Somalis will unite against "the brutal occupation" by Ethiopia.

The Popular People's Assembly of Oaxaca (APPO) has joined with members of the Union of Mexican Jurists in a "Popular Court" to judge the repression and rights violations in southern Mexico's Oaxaca state over the last year of social conflict. The Popular Court is to collect evidence on "crimes against humanity perpetrated against the people," and submit the findings to national and international legal bodies. APPO Spokesman Florentino Lopez said that over the course of the conflict, police violence has claimed 27 lives, while 43 activists remain in prison—including APPO leader Flavio Sosa, held in isolation at El Altiplano maximum security prison 23 hours a day. (Prensa Latina, April 21)

An April 19 pre-dawn raid by the New York State Police and DEA agents on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton led to what law enforcement officials called the "dismantling" of "a major narcotics distribution network" on Long Island. Those arrested include eight residents of the Shinnecock Nation, as well as Awan Gumbs, son of tribal trustee Lance A. Gumbs, state police said. Vehicles, handguns, shotguns and rifles were seized, as well as marijuana, heroin, crack, drug paraphernalia, a computer and almost $2,000 in currency. The raid was the result of an investigation police said was opened at "a request from the Trustees of the Shinnecock Indian Reservation" in a letter to Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.