Our June issue featured the story "Resisting the New Euro-Missiles: Czech Dissidents Stand Up Again—This Time to the Pentagon!" by WW4 REPORT contributor Gwendolyn Albert, noting the emergence of popular opposition to US plans to build a radar base for the new "missile shield" in the Czech Republic. The "missile shield" has opened a new rift with Russia, and is surely topping the agenda in the Bush-Putin meeting underway at the Bush family estate in Kennebunkport, ME. Our June Exit Poll was: "Is the 'missile shield' actually intended to protect the US and the world from 'rogue' nations like Iran and North Korea, or is the 'real' enemy still Russia?" We received the following responses:

Prosecutor Javier Zaragoza, in closing arguments against 27 of the 29 accused in Madrid 3-11 attacks, took time to criticize what he called the "parallel process based on unfounded suspicions" of involvement by the Basque separatist group ETA. In his remarks, he even called for criminal charges for contempt of court against Agustín Díaz de Mera, Director General of Police at the time of the attack and a top promoter of the ETA theory. (Typically Spanish, June 12)

For those who remember when Albania was a hermetically sealed communist dictatorship under Enver Hoxha, the spectacle of George Bush receiving a hero's welcome in Tirana was a surreal one. An easy appeal to ethnic nationalism on the issue of Kosova was a sure way to win applause. "The question is whether or not there is going to be endless dialogue on a subject that we have made up our mind about," Bush said while visting Prime Minister Sali Berisha June 10. "We believe Kosovo ought to be independent. There just cannot be continued drift, because I'm worried about expectations not being met in Kosovo." But in a none-too-subtle equivocation on actual independence (and a warning against too strident demands for it), he called on Berisha to use his "good contacts" among Kosovar Albanians to help "maintain calm during these final stages." (EU Observer, June 11)

Arnaldo Otegi, the leader of banned Basque separatist party Batasuna, has been arrested in northern Spain, charged with glorifying terrorism; he is to serve a 15-month sentence. Batasuna is closely linked with Basque separatists ETA, who ended a 15-month cease-fire on June 6. [The Supreme Court had rejected Otegi's appeal of a conviction and 15-month sentence handed down last year.] [EITB24, June 8]

Protesters dodged the massive police presence at the G8 summit in Heiligendamm again June 7, blockading a road leading to the summit site. Thousands of demonstrators had spent the night in the no-demonstration zone within a kilometer of the security fence. The words "Evil Empire!!!!" were taped to a road sign that pointed the way to Heiligendamm. Meanwhile, sea-borne Greenpeace activists leading officers on a boat chase in the Baltic. One boatload of protesters spilled into the Baltic after colliding with their pursuers. (AP, June 7) In nearby Rostock, a "clown bloc" marched, mocking police and official paranoia about anarchist "black blocs." (Infoshop, June 5) Polish activists staged an occupation of a train after being refused entry into Germany. After anti-terrorist squads were brought in, police gave the activists half an hour to leave, and the occupation ended. (A-Infos, June 6)

Just two days after a mass anti-G8 demonstration in Rostock turned violent, protestors skirmished with police June 4, this time in a part of town known for neo-Nazi attacks in the early 1990s. Nearly 1,000 staged a sit-down protest in front of the immigration office in Baltic Sea port city to protest the asylum policies of the world's major industrialized countries. Police said the rally turned violent when black-clad anarchist bloc began throwing bottles. Four protesters were detained there for violating a police ban on wearing masks at rallies. However, a photo showed police detaining a protester in a clown outfit armed with a water pistol.

Spain announced May 28 it has arrested 16 suspected of recruiting Islamist fighters for Iraq and North Africa. The 14 Moroccans and two Algerians were alleged to have indoctrinated others with radical Islamic teachings and about "jihad." Thirteen were arrested in Barcelona and nearby towns; two in Aranjuez, 50 kilometers south of Madrid, and one in the resort city of Malaga. Police have now arrested more than 100 Islamist suspects since deadly train bombings in Madrid in 2004, including some in an alleged plot to blow up Madrid's high court. Spain is home to some 570,000 Moroccans—the country's largest immigrant group. (Reuters, May 28)

Estonia, one of the most wired societies in Europe, has been subject in recent weeks to massive and coordinated cyber-attacks on government, banking and telecommunications wesbites, Internet service providers and news organizations. Computer security specialists call it an unprecedented assault on the electronic infrastructure of a state—and say the attacks re originating in Russia. Moscow is angry over Estonia's recent relocation of a Soviet war memorial, but Russian officials deny any government involvement in the cyber-attacks.