After 90 days, a mass hunger strike by laid-off electrical workers in the center of Mexico City came to an end on July 23 following a preliminary agreement between federal governance secretary José Francisco Blake Mora and the Mexican Electrical Workers Union (SME) the night before. Although dozens of workers and supporters had taken part in the strike at various times, only 11 men and three women remained at the end. Most were taken to the Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, a hospital run by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS), but Cayetano Cabrera Esteva, the only striker to last out the full 90 days, refused to accept care from a government facility and was being treated by a private medical service.

Three months have now passed since the Deepwater Horizon oil gusher began in the Gulf of Mexico. The "spill" (as it is generally called, not quite accurately) was only last week brought under tentative and temporary control. Politicians exploit the disaster, while some environmentalists warn (hyperbolically, we hope) of a potential "Earth extinction event" if it isn't contained. Our June Exit Poll (extended into July for lack of responses) was: "Will future generations note April 20, 2010 as a greater turning point than Sept. 11, 2001?" We finally received the following responses:

Police raided and shut down electrical workers unions across Iraq in mid-July, carrying out an order from the Ministry of Electricity that prohibits "all trade union activities at the ministry and its departments and sites" and authorizes police "to close all trade union offices and bases and to take control of unions' assets properties and documents, furniture and computers."

Rallies have been held in London, Paris, New York, Berlin, Ottawa and other cities around the world to support Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, an Iranian woman sentenced to death by the Islamic Republic for adultery. Ashtiani has been incarcerated since 2005 and has already received received 99 lashes. She was initially sentenced to death by stoning, but the execution was put on hold earlier this month after an international outcry. "We do want to save her life," said Maryam Namazie, a protest organizer in London. "We are hoping this will be a stepping tone to ending stoning and executions in Iran once and for all."

US drones fired missiles at a target in the Angoor Adda area of Pakistan's South Waziristan region July 24, killing 18 suspected militants. (PTI, July 24) According to a count by the BBC Urdu service, nearly 2,500 people have been killed in Pakistan by US drone strikes and Taliban attacks since January 2009. (Pakistan Daily Times, July 24)

By the end of 2011, 81 US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agents will be deployed in Afghanistan, up from 13 just three years ago, according to the agency's chief of operations Tom Harrigan. "Afghanistan is the most prolific producer of opium," said Harrigan. "We are working very closely with our Afghan counterparts. We're there to extend the rule of law." (Federal News Radio, July 23)

Earlier this month, Tibetan environmentalist Rinchen Samdrup was sentenced to five years in prison by a Chinese court, found guilty of inciting separatism by posting a pro-Dalai Lama article on his website. Samdrup, the third brother in his family to be jailed, told the Changdu Intermediate People's Court that he did not post the article himself. His lawyer, Xia Jun, was quoted as saying: "It was a mistake, but not a crime." The website is devoted to protecting the environment in the Himalayan region.

Eyewitness accounts confirm that Chinese security forces used disproportionate force and acted with deliberate brutality in the wave of Tibetan protests that began on March 10, 2008, Human Rights Watch says in a new report. The report charges that many violations continue today, including disappearances, wrongful convictions and imprisonment, persecution of families, and the targeting of Tibetans suspected of sympathizing with the protest movement.