Terrance Nelson, chief of the Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation in Manitoba, has sent a letter to Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez asking for a $1 million donation or loan to hire lawyers to force two energy companies to share revenues from new pipelines to be built through the band's traditional territory. In the three-page letter, dated April 14, Nelson calls Chávez a "beacon of hope for poor and oppressed people everywhere" and asks him to turn an "international spotlight upon human rights violations against indigenous peoples currently taking place in Canada."

Just as the UN is warning of a global food shock (in part due to the diversion of croplands into production of "biofuels"), come reports of dangerous new fungus with the ability to destroy entire wheat fields spreading from Africa into Asia. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says the fungus—previously found in East Africa and Yemen—has been detected in Iran, its spores carried by wind across continents. Laboratory tests have confirmed its presence in Broujerd and Hamedan in the country's west. Up to 80% of all Asian and African wheat varieties are susceptible to the fungus, and major wheat-producing nations to Iran's east—including Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan—should be on high alert, the FAO warns. "The fungus is spreading rapidly and could seriously lower wheat production in countries at direct risk," said Shivaji Pandey, director of FAO's Plant Production and Protection Division.

On March 14, activist group "Agrofools" closed down the World Biofuels Market meeting in Brussels by sealing four sets of double doors with padlocks and chains and barring access with their bodies just before the official opening. A battle ensued between protesters and security at the fifth set of doors. Outside the conference center the gates were also locked by a chain and blocked by activist group Rhythms of Resistance, who kept up a samba beat at their action for nearly two hours before being given an ultimatum by police. Banners read "Agrofuels are a Scam" and "No Solution to Oil Addiction." (Press release via Indymedia UK, March 14)

With $100-a-barrel here for now, Goldman Sachs says $200 a barrel could be a near-term reality in the case of a "major disruption." Goldman on March 7 also boosted by $10 the low end of its 2008-2012 projected range for crude to $60 a barrel—in the event that "normalized" trends return to the market. With the dollar's fall continuing and financial markets squeezed by the credit crunch, commodities like oil have been drawing the increasing numbers of investors, and Wall Street firms have been eager to adjust forecasts. Goldman analysts Arjun Murti, Kevin Koh and Michele della Vigna said prices have advanced more quickly than Goldman had forecast back in 2005, when it predicted a range of $50 to $105 a barrel as part of its "super-spike" oil theory.

Josette Sheeran, head of the UN World Food Program, warned that the global rise in basic food costs could continue until 2010, blaming soaring energy and grain prices—the effects of climate change and demand for biofuels. Some food prices rose 40% last year, and the WFP fears the world's poorest will buy less food, or be forced to rely on aid. Speaking after briefing the European Parliament, Sheeran said the agency needed an extra $375 million for food projects this year plus $125 million to transport the food aid. She said she saw no quick solution to high food and fuel costs. "The assessment is that we are facing high food prices at least for the next couple of years," she said. Sheeran said global food reserves are at their lowest level in 30 years—with enough to cover the need for emergency deliveries for 53 days, compared with 169 days in 2007. Sheeran has already warned that the WFP is considering plans to ration food aid due to a shortage of funds.

ExxonMobil asked the Supreme Court Feb. 27 to reverse a lower court's decision awarding $2.5 billion in punitive damages to Alaskan fishermen, cannery workers and others impacted by the disaster. The 3,000-square-mile slick caused by the 11-million spill forced the closure of Alaskan fisheries and killed more than 250,000 sea birds, 3,000 otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles and 22 whales. The worst oil spill in US history still affects Alaska's fisheries after nearly 19 years.

The Native Alaskan coastal village of Kivalina is suing two dozen oil, coal and power companies that they claim have affected the climate, causing their land and homes to slide into the Chukchi Sea. An Inupiat village numbering nearly 400 inhabitants, Kivalina is located on the end of an eight-mile barrier island between the Chukchi Sea and the mouth of the Kivalina River, 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It has been threatened by erosion from the sea for several decades, and a relocation committee was first formed by the community 20 years ago. The village has already been relocated once, from the north end of the river's mouth, due to eroding shores.

Personally, we aren't too comforted by the fact that this thing was blown up in the sky instead of falling to earth—releasing all that toxic hydrazine into the atmosphere. But we are glad this Feb. 21 account from the UK Guardian closes with a quote from Michio Kaku, a principled voice for space demilitarization. Via the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space: