Hopper bands in Israel for the first time in 50 years; adult groups in interior of Saudi Arabia

As a result of egg-laying in mid-March and low temperatures, hatching occurred from mid-April onwards in the western Negev Desert of Israel and in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt where hoppers are now forming groups and bands in both areas.

05/11/2013 17:57 GMT

BURIN, Palestinian Territories, May 11, 2013 (AFP) - Israeli settlers and Palestinians in the northern West Bank hurled stones at each other on Saturday after the settlers marched into the village of Burin, witnesses said.

One villager was slightly hurt in the hand by a stone and another passed out from tear gas fired by troops trying to separate the two sides, an AFP journalist said.

The military said that soldiers also fired rubber-coated bullets, lightly wounding a Palestinian who was given first aid on the spot.

5 May 2013 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is gravely concerned about reports of air strikes in Syria by the Israeli Air Force, according to a statement from his spokesperson, which stressed that the United Nations does not have details of the reported incidents nor is in a position to independently verify that they took place.

AI Index: MDE 15/008/2013

Amnesty International has twice written to ministers in the Israeli government to express serious concerns regarding the proposed “Law for Regularizing Bedouin Habitation in the Negev - 2012” and urged the government not to propose the law and to grant legal status and security of tenure to the excluded Bedouin communities in the Negev/Naqab. The organization is now urging members of the Knesset not to pass the law, which the Ministerial Committee on Legislation is due to consider on 21 April 2013 and in the coming weeks.

On route to Israel refugees are tortured for ransom, in particular in the Sinai.

About 1.5% of those held in the desert are children accompanied by their parents, or single mothers; the vast majority is from Eritrea.

Once arrived in Israel, the Anti-Infiltration Law foresees detention of refugees, including their children for up to three years. Refugees from a so-called “Enemy State”, such as Sudan, may be detained indefinitely, also their children.

La situation relative au Criquet pèlerin est restée préoccupante en mars dans les aires de reproduction hivernale le long des deux rives de la mer Rouge avec la poursuite des opérations de lutte contre des bandes larvaires et des essaims.

Hoppers hatching and forming bands along Nile River in Sudan

The Desert Locust situation continues to remain serious in the Central Region. Hopper bands and swarms continued to form in the winter breeding areas along both sides of the Red Sea during March. Locust numbers declined after mid-March due to control operations, dry vegetation and migration to the Nile Valley in Sudan and Egypt, and northwards to the Sinai Peninsula, Israel, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon.

Egypt, Sudan: Kidnap and trafficking of refugees and asylum-seekers must be stopped

At a Glance

• Most of the victims are Eritrean

• They suffer beatings, rape, burnings, electric shocks and other forms of extreme violence and cruelty

• Captors will often demand up to USD40,000 in ransom, and have killed those whose families do not pay

• Some of them allege that Sudanese security forces are complicit

21 March 2013 – The United Nations today urged restraint by all parties following rocket fire from Gaze into civilian areas in southern Israel.

“We condemn all rocket fire and call for it to stop,” said a UN spokesperson. “We urge restraint and we remind all sides of their obligations under international humanitarian law to protect civilians.”

According to media reports, one of the rockets exploded in the courtyard of a house in the border town of Sderot early in the morning while the other landed in an open field. No injuries were reported.