Morocco and the Polisario Front independence movement have both turned proposals for the future status of Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara over to the UN. The Moroccan proposal calls for regional autonomy for the territory under Morocco's sovereignty. The Polisario proposal calls for a referendum with three options: local autonomy, complete integration with Morocco, or independence. Polisario's plan does offer a "special relationship" with Morocco, maintaining close economic and political ties, even in the case of independence.

A fierce battle in the Sunni-dominated Fadhil and Sheikh Omar neighborhoods of central Baghdad April 10 left four Iraqi soldiers dead, 16 US soldiers wounded and a US helicopter damaged by ground fire. In the midst of the battle, a rocket slammed into a schoolyard basketball court, killing a six-year-old boy. The Association of Muslim Scholars issued a statement quoting witnesses as saying that the battle began after Iraqi government troops entered a mosque and executed two young men in front of other worshipers.

A proposal to make Buddhism the national religion of Thailand in the country's new constitution has sparked huge debate. Though overwhelmingly Buddhist (95% of the country), Thailand is in the grips of escalating strife in the southern, predominantly Muslim parts of the country.

Gloria Muñoz Ramírez, columnist for the Mexican left-leaning daily La Jornada, reports back April 8 from Tifariti, Western Sahara, where the Polisario Front resistance movement recently held its fifth national congress. Tifariti is the principal town in the Morocco-occupied territory controlled by the Polisario Front, whose exile government is recognized by the African Union. Ramírez writes that this year Polisario's national congress was occassioned by the emergence of a "struggle within the struggle"—that of women demanding their right to an equal place within the movement to liberate their homeland.

Here's a glimmer of hope from Eritrea—and how does it square the widespread reports that the Eritrean regime is backing the Islamist insurgents in Somalia? An April 8 report on SomaliNet states: "The Eritrean government has with immediate effect banned female circumcision; a brief statement posted on the Eritrean government website on Thursday said anyone who requests, takes part in or promotes the practice faces a fine or jail sentence."

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has released a report, "Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability," finding that warmer global temperatures are causing profound changes in many of the earth's natural systems and warning of mass extinctions, desertification and threats to food security. (Science Daily, April 8) In one dire warning, the report found that New Zealand is likely to face waves of refugees over the next century as Pacific islands disappear beneath the waves and off-the-scale cyclones ravage the region. (PacNews, April 11)

The Geeska Africa Online news service, reporting from Nairobi April 10, quoted Jendayi Frazer, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, accusing Eritrea of backing the Islamist insurgents in Somalia. "No insurgency group can survive without support from neighboring countries, certainly Eritrea is the country of greatest concern," Frazer said. She added that while the "global jihadist network" is also supporting the Shabaab insurgents, Eritrea will do "anything that will hurt" its southern neighbor. "This is very much aimed at Ethiopia," she said.

From iWire, April 10:

Google has joined forces with the US Holocaust Memorial Museum to create a visual record of the attrocities that began in the Darfur region of Sudan in 2003. The Crisis in Darfur project has assembled photographs, data and eyewitness testimony—from a number of sources that are brought together for the first time in Google Earth.