The president of the Bolivian Sentate's Commission on Land, Territory, Natural Resources and Environment, Julio Salazar, announced April 20 the introduction of a Law of Mother Earth, which would officially enshrine the "rights of nature" in the Andean nation's legal code. Saying the bill would also be introduced in the Chamber of Deputies, lower house of Bolivia's Plurinational Legislative Assembly, Salazar stated: "We are going to seek an equilibrium between man and nature, because under previous law natural resources were anticipated to be commercialized, and now with the new laws we are converting what nature offers into a common good for the benefit of all living beings." (ABI, Bolivia, April 20)

At least one is reported dead in Peru's southern region of Puno after the National Police fired on protesters April 26, the second day of a 48-hour civil strike or paro called by campesino groups to demand a halt to local mining and petroleum leases. The deceased, identified as María Choque Limache, 61, died after inhaling tear gas as police broke up a protest at the village of Yohoroco, in Huacullani district of Chucuito province, according to Walter Aduviri Calisaya, president of the Puno Front for the Defense of Natural Resources. National Police commander Jaime Cordero Ayala denied this version of events, insisting she had not been at the protest and had died of natural causes. (Peru21, April 27)

At least nine were killed and more than 100 wounded as troops opened fire on anti-regime protesters in Sanaa, capital of Yemen, on April 27. Violence broke out as troops moved in to disperse a demonstration to call for the immediate ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Hundreds of young activists protested outside the Saudi embassy to oppose the plan brokered by the Gulf Cooperation Council that calls for Saleh's staggered exit from power. "Youth of the revolt reject the Gulf initiative," said a banner carried by the protesters outside the embassy. (Middle East Online, April 28)

Israeli army and Border Guard forces detained some 40 settlers from the extremist "Hilltop Youth" and "Hebrew Cities" movements who entered the Balata refugee camp in Nablus late April 27, in an apparent effort to make an unauthorized visit to Joseph's Tomb. The infiltrators, who clashed with the Israeli security forces, were accompanied by right-wing activist Baruch Marzel and MK Michael Ben-Ari. The situation has been escalating since April 24, when an Israeli settler was apparently shot dead and four others were injured by Palestinian police after a group of Jewish worshipers entered Nablus to visit Joseph's Tomb without coordinating with either Palestinian or Israeli security. Nablus and Joseph's Tomb are officially under full Palestinian control. The man killed in the incident is identified as Breslov Hasidic worshiper Ben-Yosef Livnat, 24. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the shooting as a "terrorist attack" and called on the Palestinian Authority "to take harsh steps against the perpetrators who committed this heinous act against Jewish worshipers who were on their way to prayer." (YNet, Maan News Agency, JTA, April 28; YNet, April 24)

In the Thai village of Nong Kun Na along the disputed border with Cambodia, security forces are digging in, building bunkers and training volunteers to act as defense guards. The development comes as Red Cross officials report close to 60,000 now displaced. Fighting between the Thai and Cambodian armies over the past six days in the surrounding jungle has killed at least 13 soldiers on both sides and injured dozens more. "Before the fighting started, I was a security guard for an apartment building in Bangkok," said Wonbik Chai, 42, one of the village's newly recruited defense volunteers. "Now I've come to protect my village."

Egyptian public prosecutor Abdel-Maguid Mahmoud on April 25 ordered ousted president Hosni Mubarak transferred from a private hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh to a prison hospital in Cairo. Mahmoud ordered the transfer after Mubarak's doctor cleared him to travel. Mubarak was hospitalized for heart trouble shortly after his resignation. Prosecutors have urged Mubarak's transfer so that he may be questioned by officials about allegations ranging from embezzlement to murder. The Egyptian Ministry of Interior will oversee Mubarak's transfer first to a military prison and then to the hospital in Tora Prison where he will be held for questioning.

Syrian authorities reportedly arrested hundreds of protesters and dissidents April 26 as the military surrounded Daraa, Duma, Homs and several other cities and villages. Telephone, electricity and water lines have been cut to the besieged cities and villages, which are mostly in the southwestern Hauran plateau region, rights activists say. Activists from the Syrian Revolution 2011 group posted reports on Facebook claiming tanks and snipers in Daraa are shooting "at anything that moves." The Syrian government says the troops were ordered to Daraa to put down a conspiracy by Islamists.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) announced April 26 that a senior al-Qaeda leader, NATO's second most wanted fighter in the country, had been killed in an air-strike in Kunar province 12 days earlier. Abu Hafs al-Najdi AKA Abdul Ghani, a Saudi national, was reportedly killed in Dangam district as he met other senior insurgents and al-Qaeda members. (AlJazeera, April 26) The news came a day after Taliban militants managed to free some 500 of their fellow insurgents from a Kandahar prison thanks to a 1,000-foot-long tunnel the group had dug during the past five months. At least 60 of the escapees have since been recaptured. (AFP, April 27; Slate, April 25)