Salim Hamdan was convicted Aug. 6 by a panel of six US military officers at Guantánamo Bay of "providing material support for terrorism," but acquitted of "conspiracy." The sentencing hearing is due to begin immediately. He faces a maximum term of life imprisonment. However, the Pentagon confirmed beforehand that Hamdan would remain in indefinite detention as an "enemy combatant" regardless of the verdict.

Four Tibetan youth in Drokshog township, Nangchen county, Qinghai province, were arrested July 26 by the Chinese Public Security Bureau (PSB) agents for protesting against the local Summer Festival planned by the government to celebrate the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games. The four shouted slogans in the presence of a large number of local government officials at the festival's opening. Slogans included "We want freedom," "Dalai Lama return to Tibet" and "this is not the year to celebrate as Tibetans have suffered untold repression under the Chinese regime, rather it is time to mourn and offer prayers" for those killed and imprisoned. Following their detention, Drokshog residents wrote a letter to the county authorities calling for their immediate release, and an ongoing vigil was launched at the detention center. As of now, there is no further information on the four arrested Tibetans. (TCHRD, July 30)

Attackers identified as two Uighur men killed 16 members of a special border police unit in Kashgar, Xinjiang, Aug. 4. The assailants crashed a dump truck and tossed two grenades as a group of 70 police were jogging past in their regular morning drill, then jumped out and attacked other officers with knives. Kashgar is an ancient Silk Road town near China's border with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (and seat of the short-lived independent East Turkestan Islamic Republic, declared in 1933). The two assailants were arrested. (China Daily, Aug. 5; Radio Free Asia, BBC, Aug. 4)

Some 1.8 million Mexicans voted overwhelmingly in an unofficial, non-binding referendum on July 27 to reject President Felipe Calderón Hinojosa's proposals to allow more involvement in the state oil monopoly, Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), by local and foreign private companies. The vote was held in the Federal District (DF, Mexico City) and nine states; similar unofficial votes are planned for the remaining 23 states on Aug. 10 and Aug. 24.

Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez was in Spain on July 25, where he proposed discussions about Europe's new policies towards immigrants from Latin America—and also used the visit to mend fences with President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and King Juan Carlos I. During the 17th Iberian-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, in November 2007, Chávez had repeatedly interrupted Zapatero, and Juan Carlos finally told Chávez: "Why don't you shut up?" This time Chávez held the king in a long embrace. Juan Carlos gave him a t-shirt reading: "Why don't you shut up?" and Chávez joked about the king's royalties from the expression. (La Jornada, Mexico, July 26 from correspondent)

On July 22, Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez Frias met with Russian president Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow as the two countries signed agreements for joint work on energy projects in Venezuela. Chávez said the accords would promote "a strategic alliance in the energy sector." Venezuela and Russia have "a perfect identity in their foreign policy lines," he said. "If the Russian armed forces want to be in Venezuela, they'll be welcomed warmly."

The Haitian Senate voted on July 31 to ratify the appointment of economist Michele Duvivier Pierre-Louis as prime minister. Twelve of the 18 senators present voted in favor, and five abstained; as required by the regulations, Senate president Kelly Bastien did not vote. The Senate's action completes the ratification process, since the Chamber of Deputies approved Pierre-Louis' appointment on July 17. President Rene Garcia Preval nominated Pierre-Louis on June 23; it was his third effort to find a prime minister to succeed Jacques Edouard Alexis, who was forced to resign on April 12 following violent protests over the rising cost of food. Pierre-Louis is Haiti's second woman prime minister.

A mission representing several Brazilian government ministries arrived in Haiti on July 19 for a two-week visit aimed at developing a plan for combatting hunger in the country. A pilot project will be modeled on Brazil's Program of Acquisition of Food from Family Agriculture (PAA). "The objective is to encourage family agriculture, generating income and producing food," said Cesar Medeiros, director of Brazil's National Food and Nutritional Security Secretariat. "The project will be administered by Haiti; Brazil will only provide advice." The aid is part of an agreement Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva signed with President Rene Preval during a visit to Haiti on May 28. (Adital, Brazil, July 31)