Coca Plant

• Bolivian Government Says Coca Leaf is Not an Illicit Drug
• Big Brother's Watching You
• Rumors and Hopes Surround Fallon Resignation
• Peace Deal for Uganda May Mean Immunity in International Criminal Court
• Violence in Kenya's Mount Elgon
• Trouble for Sri Lankan Local Elections

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• US/German Deal to Share Biometric Data
• "Eco-Terror" Indictment in Michigan
• Rare Protests in Tibet
• Tibetan Exiles in India on "Return March"
• New York Governor Resigns
• Obama Wins Mississippi Primary

The White House is firmly maintaining that the abrupt resignation of the top US Commander in the Middle East, Admiral William Fallon, was not an elimination of dissent. Admiral Fallon is a known opponent of attacking Iran, and was asked just a few days ago about an Esquire Magazine article in which he criticizes the Bush Administration. Yet as rumors fly about Fallon's resignation – or possible termination – Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the resignation was entirely Fallon's decision.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse has ordered that country's elections commissioner to fix an immediate date for provincial council elections in the restive east. His order comes in the wake of Monday's successful local elections in the area in which the defectors of the Tamil Tiger rebels have won 8 out of 9 local councils with the collaboration of the ruling political party. But the United National Party, the main opposition party, gathered opposite the election office in Colombo to condemn the local poll in the east, and urged the government not to hold provincial elections there. FSRN's Ponniah Manikavasagam has the story.

Kenya's western region of Mount Elgon has been facing a land and air raid for the past several days from the Kenya Army, together with the Kenya Police. The army has been called in to assist in routing out armed militia that have been attacking and killing locals. It is estimated that more than 200 people have been killed there within the last year. FSRN's John Bwakali reports from Nairobi.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni says his government will save the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army rebels Joseph Kony and his co-accused from prosecution by the International Criminal Court if the rebels sign a comprehensive peace agreement. Uganda's government has been holding peace talks for close to 2 years, and last month signed a series of agreements with the rebels in Sudan indicted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes. But the rebels have refused to sign a final peace deal until the ICC drops charges against their top commanders. Joshua Kyalimpa has the story

Is your phone being tapped? Are government officials reading your credit card statements? A Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that the National Security Agency has been spying on Americans - in what is being condemned as a blatant violation of a Congressional ban on domestic surveillance. This news breaks amidst new negotiations on the foreign surveillance bill in the House. Tanya Snyder has more from Washington.

The Bolivian government is in Vienna this week, making its case to the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs that coca leaf should not be classified as an illicit drug. This comes in response to a call last week by the International Narcotics Control Board for Bolivia and Peru to 'abolish all uses of the coca leaf.' Juliette Beck and Aldo Orellana Lopez report from Bolivia.