From the New SPACE:

The New SPACE (The New School for Pluralistic Anti-Capitalist Education) Presents

The Case for DIS-unity in the Anti-War Movement: Why there must be a clear break between those who support Iraq's genuine civil resistance and those who support reactionary political Islam.

A Discussion with Bill Weinberg, Monday April 9 at 7:00 PM

Mexico's Environment and Natural Resources Secretariat (Semarnat) announced that six more setlements—some which have been established for 70 years—have been slated for relocation from the Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve in the lowland rainforest of Chiapas, the Lacandon Selva. The named settlements are San Antonio Miramar, Rancho Corozal, Salvador Allende, Nuevo Salvador Allende, El Buen Samaritano and Nuevo San Gregorio. The communities are made up of some 60 families, covering around 5,000 hectares.

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 April 2 that global warming is real, and that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts lost valuable shoreline because of its effects. Writing for the majority in Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, Justice John Paul Stevens found: "A well-documented rise in global temperatures has coincided with a significant increase in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere."

The Iraq Freedom Congress (IFC), the civil alliance opposed to both the US occupation and political Islam, announces that Sana TV, its new satellite station, will be braodcasting soon. With a studio and production team in London and funds raised by supporters in Japan, the new station should reach throughout the Middle East and the world. It can be received at the following coordinates:

A jazz bass player from the Bronx pleaded guilty this week to having the inclination to teach hand-to-hand combat skills to Islamic extremists. Tarik Shah, whose childhood influence was Cannonball Adderly, will be going to prison for 15 years for disclosing his secret desire to help terrorists to an FBI undercover agent after being set up by a prison stool pigeon. [NYT, April 5] Mr. Shah did not actually teach any martial arts skills to any jihadists, nor did he provide any material support for their cause, although he claims to have tried to attend a training camp in Afghanistan. He is simply a jazz musician with an attitude who got caught up in a witch hunt. Since when does anyone listen to what musicians have to say anyway? Is Tarik Shah going into the slammer to keep some US soldier from a potential karate chop or just because, failing to crack the real al-Qaida network, the US Government needs to find someone to investigate and imprison?

Leaders of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations, meeting in New Delhi, pledged to make "tangible progress" in the next six months on issues of water, energy, food and environment. Two agreements were signed — on setting up a South Asian University in India and forming a regional food bank. Leaders also pledged to work towards full implementation of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement in "letter and spirit." The summit's closing statement stressed "the need for ensuring market access through smooth implementation of [the] trade liberalisation programme..." The leaders also called for the "urgent conclusion" of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

Thailand's daily The Nation reports that "suspected militants" fired grenades into two mosques in Yala's Yaha district April 4, wounding 15 Muslim worshippers. In the first attack, assailants fired M-79 grenades into the Hassaladawa Yaha mosque during morning prayers. The assailants then got back into their pick-up truck and drove to another mosque about one kilometer away, firing another grenade into it. The explosion damaged the building but claimed no casualties. (The Nation, April 5)

Colombia's National Liberation Army (ELN) denied government charges it has become a drug trafficking organization, saying the accusations jeopardize preliminary peace talks set to resume this month. Peace commissioner Luis Carlos Restrepo told Reuters the previous day that cocaine smuggling has supplanted kidnapping as the group's main source of income.