Assyrian Christian leaders in Iraq say the future existence of the country's dwindling Christian population hangs in the balance as violence continues unabated. According to a report by the Assyrian International News Agency, direct blame has been leveled at Iraqi government and Coalition forces' inaction in the face of mounting attacks against Christian populations.

Security forces in Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago worked closely with US authorities to hunt down the men behind a supposed plot to blow up JFK International Airport in New York City. The arrest of three suspects was announced June 2: Russell Defreitas, a Guyana-born US citizen; Abdul Kadir, a former parliamentarian in Guyana; and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad. A fourth, Abdul Nur of Guyana, remains at large. (The Guardian, UK, Nation News, Guyana, June 3)

Five people, including a local militia jawan (infantryman), were killed May 31 in India's eastern state of Manipur in fighting with the Kuki Revolutionary Army. The so-called "ultra" ethnic guerilla group apparently attacked a patrol of the 7th Manipur Rifles battalion at Gapizang in Senapati district. (PTI, June 1) Meanwhile in western Rajasthan state, at least five are dead after nomadic Gujjars clashed with Meena tribals in Dausa district. Police in Jaipur said Meenas attacked Gujjar protesters who were blocking a road, sparking a clash with rocks and bamboo staffs. Meenas are said to oppose the Gujjar's demand to be recognized as a "Scheduled Tribe," which would give them access to government jobs and other benefits. The Rajasthan government has issued "shoot-at-sight" orders to put down riots. (BBC, June 1; Zee News, June 2)

The "Awakening in Anbar" movement, which was started in the conflicted province by local tribes and Sunni insurgents opposed to al-Qaeda's attempts to impose its leadership, has now spread to all of the provinces bordering Baghdad and been officially renamed the "Awakening in Iraq." Over the past month, Awakening movements formed in Diyala and Salahadin, and, this week, the Babil Awakening was formed. Al-Qaeda in Iraq immediately targeted the leader of the Babil Awakening, Sheikh Obeid Al-Masoud, seriously wounding him and his wife in an attack in the city of Iskandaria. (The Weekly Standard, NPR, May 31)

Teachers from the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE) clashed with capital police and elite Federal Preventative Police at blockades of the federal Government Ministry and the central offices of the national TV network Televisa in Mexico City May 31. The blockades were called to protest the reform now pending in Mexico's Congress of the State Workers Social Services and Security Institute (ISSSTE). Televisa was chosen as a target because the CNTE says its reportage has mis-represented their cause, and to demand that their statements be given air time. The protesters also demanded the nationalization of Televisa as well a halt to the proposed semi-privatization of the ISSSTE.

A prisoner has died in an apparent suicide at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the US military announced May 30. A statement by the US Southern Command said the inmate, a Saudi Arabian national, was found unresponsive and not breathing by guards, and attempts to revive him failed. Two Saudis and a Yemeni prisoner were found hanged in an apparent suicide at the camp in June last year. There were no details as to how the prisoner died. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service has opened an inquiry into the incident. There are about 380 prisoners at the camp, some held for five years.

Fifteen residents were killed and 35 wounded as the Yemeni army bombarded the village of Souq al-Lail in the northern province of Saada on the night of May 30, setting a gasoline station ablaze. The region is the heart of Yemen's Shi'ite insurgency. An army official told AlJazeera: "The Yemeni authorities received information about an attack led by supporters of the rebellion against shops in Souq al-Lail in a bid to take over the petrol station and stock up on fuel. Security forces sought to strike the service station to prevent the rebels from seizing it." (AlJazeera, May 30)

Ethiopian troops opened fire and killed five civilian bystanders May 30 after a land mine exploded as their convoy passed through the center of a western Somali town of Belet Weyne. (AP, May 30) As the transition government backed by Ethiopian and African Union troops struggle too impose authority on the country, NATO is said to be studying a request from the AU to provide air transport for its forces in Somalia. At present the AU force is made up of just 1,600 Ugandan troops. (Reuters, May 30)