Japan will abandon plans to expand its nuclear power industry and instead focus on renewable energy, Prime Minister, Naoto Kan announced May 11 as Japan marked two months since the devastating earthquake and tsunami. As workers continued efforts to bring the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant under control, Kan said he would "start from scratch" on an energy policy that initially foresaw nuclear meeting more than 50% of Japan's energy needs by 2030. Japan, whose 54 reactors now provide 30% of its electricity, had planned to build at least 14 new reactors over the next 20 years. "I think it is necessary to move in the direction of promoting natural energy and renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass," Kan said. Renewables now make up 20% of Japan's overall supply.

In Syria, army tanks shelled the country's third biggest city, Homs, as security forces continue their nationwide crackdown on weeks of anti-government protests May 11. At least nine people have been killed and dozens wounded in Homs and surrounding villages, activists said. Amateur video footage posted to the Web also appears to show men in plain clothes shooting on the streets of Hama, in central Syria. (BBC News, May 11) In Yemen, security forces also opened fire on protesters in three cities, killing at least nine and wounding scores. In the capital Sanaa, forces fired on a crowd of tens of thousands marching to the cabinet building, killing at least six. In the industrial center Taiz, snipers killed two protesters, while in the Red Sea port of Hudaida, one protester was killed when security forces opened fire on marchers. (Reuters, May 11)

Ethnic cleansing by degrees. From Ha'aretz, May 11:

Justice Ministry admits it covertly canceled residency status of 140,000 Palestinians
Israel has used a covert procedure to cancel the residency status of 140,000 West Bank Palestinians between 1967 and 1994, the Justice Ministry admits in a new document obtained by Haaretz. The document was written by the ministry's Judea and Samaria office after the Center for the Defense of the Individual filed a request under the Freedom of Information Law.

From Amnesty International, May 10:

Israeli authorities should release or charge a Palestinian writer and academic held for almost three weeks in the occupied West Bank, Amnesty International said today. The Israel Security Agency (ISA) say they want to keep Ahmad Qatamesh in detention in connection with allegations of involvement with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), which he denies.

This year many of the traditional International Workers Day marches on May 1 focused on demands for wage increases and for fighting the high cost of living following recent jumps in food and fuel prices.

Following up on earlier efforts to highlight human rights abuses in Puerto Rico, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) hosted a high-publicity fact-finding delegation in San Juan on May 2 and 3. The group, which included ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero, political scientist Angelo Falcón, actress/choreographer Rosie Perez and recently retired baseball player Carlos Delgado, interviewed University of Puerto Rico (UPR) students, UPR rector Ana Guadalupe, union leaders, journalists, police chief José Figueroa Sancha and others.

Quetzalcóatl Leija Herrera, the president of the Center of Studies and Projects for Integral Human Development (Ceprodehi) in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, was found dead in the early morning of May 4 near the main plaza in Chilpancingo, the state capital. According to the Forensic Medical Service, he was been badly beaten, especially on the head, and died of the injuries.

Tens of thousands of people participated in a silent "March for Peace With Justice and Dignity" in Mexico City on May 8 to call for an end to the US-backed militarization of Mexico's fight against drug trafficking. Protesters, most of them dressed in white, carried signs reading: "No more blood," "Justice," "Peace," "Let's stop the bullets," "Life isn't trash" and, above all, "We've had it up to here" (estamos hasta la madre). More than 35,000 Mexicans have died in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa sent troops into the streets soon after taking office in December 2006.