The US State Department issued the following terse warning on June 22:

The security environment within Gaza, including its border with Egypt and its seacoast, is dangerous and volatile. U.S. citizens are advised against traveling to Gaza by any means, including via sea. Previous attempts to enter Gaza by sea have been stopped by Israeli naval vessels and resulted in the injury, death, arrest, and deportation of U.S. citizens. U.S. citizens participating in any effort to reach Gaza by sea should understand that they may face arrest, prosecution, and deportation by the Government of Israel... On May 31, 2010, nine people were killed, including one U.S. citizen, in such an attempt.

A new Israeli proposal that would forcibly transfer more than 40,000 Bedouin citizens into government-planned townships in the Negev (Naqab) desert has raised the ire of Bedouin communities and their supporters, who say the plan is both discriminatory and ignores the Bedouins' historic connection to the land, Electronic Intifada reports. Dr. Awad Abu Freih, the spokesperson of al-Araqib, one of approximately 45 so-called unrecognized villages in the Negev, told Electronic Intifada: "Now we are very angry and we reject this plan. We will not accept it. We are working all the time to explain to our communities that this plan is very dangerous, it's not good for us and not good for the Jews, not good for the state, not good for anybody."

Security forces opened fire as thousands took to Syria's streets for Friday protests to demand the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad June 24. Activists told AlJazeera at least 15 people were killed and many more injured in demonstrations following evening prayers. People were just emerging from Ibn Affan Mosque in the Damascus suburb of al-Qusweh, chanting for Assad's overthrow, when security forces opened fire without warning, killing six people and wounding 15, according to Mohammed Suliman. He said that ambulances took the wounded to the headquarters of the military secret service, rather than the hospital. "We don't regard the president as legitimate," said Suliman, rejecting a speech made by Assad five days earlier in which he announced a general amnesty for those involved in protests "His speech didn't make any sense. He gave his speech on Monday and today we witnessed many killed - the only speech now that will make any sense is his resignation speech." (AlJazeera, June 24)

The House of Representatives on June 24 voted 295-123 against a resolution authorizing US participation in the NATO campaign in Libya, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama's decision to wage war without congressional approval. In the face of opposition from conservative Republicans and anti-war Democrats alike, the White House has maintained the Orwellian position that the bombing campaign does not constitute "hostilities" and therefore does not fall under the purview of the War Powers Resolution.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on June 23 condemned a Bahraini court for sentencing 21 human rights advocates, political activists and opposition leaders to harsh punishments. The court sentenced the protestors to lengthy prison sentences, including life terms. Ban urged Bahraini authorities to comply with international human rights obligations such as ensuring the right to due process and a fair trial and permitting the defendants to appeal their sentences. A spokesperson for the secretary-general relayed Ban's sentiments about how Bahraini authorities should proceed:

Mexican poet Javier Sicilia, who has led a national protest movement against the militarization of the "drug war" since losing his son to narco-violence earlier this year, met at the Federal District's Chapultepec Castle with President Felipe Calderón June 23, accompanied by some 20 other survivors of violence. After more than three hours of dialogue with Sicilia and his delegation, Calderón said he was open to "reviewing" his security strategy. He also said he accepted their proposal to create a commission to "work on behalf of the victims." The president agreed to meet again in three months with the poet.

The US Border Patrol shot dead a Mexican national who was among three men allegedly attempting to cross the frontier at San Ysidro, Calif. June 21. The dead man, identified as Jose Alfredo Yañez Reyes, 40, was shot after throwing stones at the agents from the southern side of the border, in Tijuana. One of the border agents reportedly sustained injuries but has since been released from hospital. The Border Patrol said the agent fired in self-defense. But the Mexican government condemned the killing, calling it a “disproportionate use of force” and has demanded a thorough investigation. President Felipe Calderón Tweeted that he had protested about the incident to Hillary Clinton at a Guatemala summit they are both attending. The death comes almost exactly a year after a 15-year-old Mexican boy was shot on the border at El Paso, Tex., after allegedly throwing stones at Border Patrol agents. (UPI, InSight Crime, June 23)

Health workers in Colombia's remote southeast report that an outbreak of respiratory disease has struck one of the Amazon’s last nomadic tribes—whose numbers have already been decimated by flu and malaria. Around 35 members of the Nukak-Maku people, including nine children, have been admitted to the hospital at departmental capital San José del Guaviare. Local health director Héctor Muñoz told Colombia's RCN radio that the hospital is well over capacity, leaving some Nukak with only make-shift beds. Many members of the tribe have been living in a refugee camp on the outskirts of San José since being pushed out of their rainforest home by illegal armed groups and drug traffickers. Since they first emerged from the forest in 1988, more than half the tribe has been wiped out.