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Reports on the resistance of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.'s social critics to provide higher pay and more health benefits to its employees in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Reports on the planned demonstration addressing demand for more state control of energy resources in Bolivia.

Reports that Egyptian judges have gathered the capital Cairo, demanding for greater independence from the government by highlighting the entry of official institutions as a powerful new force in the country's growing reform movement.

Reports on the resignation of Werner G. Seifert as chief executive of Deutsche Bórse in the face of unrelenting opposition from funds that own company shares in Germany.

Reports that thousands of Chinese parliamentary police officers had stood guard at the Japanese Consulate in Shanghai, China, to ensure that the May 4 anniversary, one of the country's sensitive political anniversaries which celebrates a famous student uprising in 1919 against Western colonialism, did not erupt into a new wave of angry protesters against Japan.

Reports on the call of the government for the masses to end anti-Japanese demonstrations in China.

Reports political and social developments as of April 19, 2005.

Reports on developments related to social movements in the U.S.

Reports on the revolutionary movement of Zvakwana, an underground movement that aims to resist and undermine President Robert G. Mugabe who has led the nation for 25 years in Zimbabwe.

Reports on developments related to social movements in the U.S.

Reports on demonstrations in several towns across Kyrgyzstan to denounce the runoff elections which was widely criticized.

Reports that Lebanon's anti-Syria opposition regained momentum as hundreds of thousands of Lebanese gathered in Beirut to demand an end to Syrian control of their country. Details of the protests; Reference to a Hezbollah demonstration which took place earlier in the week; Pressure on Syria's government to announce a timetable for withdrawal of its troops and secret police; Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's promise for a withdrawal; Call by the U.S. and other Western nations for Syria to be out before new parliamentary elections; Reactions to Lebanese President Émile Lahoud's suggestion that the demonstrations should end; Significance of the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February 2005.

Reports that council speaker Gifford Miller has received the support of two unions representing the city's grocery workers and traffic agents in New York.

Reports that hundreds of thousands of Lebanese gathered in Beirut in a show of strength by militant Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah, which opposes a withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon. Observation that the crowd was far larger than the anti-Syrian demonstrations which drew broad international support; Challenges to Lebanese opposition forces who insist on Syrian withdrawal; Pressure from U.S. President George W. Bush on Syria to withdraw troops before Lebanon's elections; Participants at the demonstration; Background on Hezbollah, Lebanon's best organized political party; Perception of Hezbollah and its followers that the foreign threat to Lebanon comes from Israel and the U.S.; Highlights of the demonstration; Fear that growing political tension will lead to a resurgence of violence.

Discusses how political and social shifts in the Middle East are evoking hope and fear. Implications of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's decision to open presidential elections to more than one candidate; Role of street demonstrators in toppling Lebanon's government; Mood of Mideast politicians; Outlook for the end of authoritarian Arab governments; How a mix of outside pressure and internal shifts has created this movement; Influence of new technology on young protestors; Suggestion that pressure from the U.S. President George W. Bush administration has emboldened demonstrators; Ways that Egypt's tiny opposition movement has drawn attention; Observation that the idea of challenging authoritarian rule more directly is new; Perception of young demonstrators in Lebanon as models for popular uprisings across the Arab world; Why Iraq serves more as a threat than a model; How new technology has driven the steps toward greater freedoms; Attitudes regarding the American campaign for democracy in the Middle East.

Reports on public appearances made by President George W. Bush in which he pushed for his Social Security reform. Changing of some of his language to attempt to win over crowds; His vow to keep hammering the message home; Presentation of the President; Protests against the plan by various groups and agencies; Other visits planned across the country in an attempt to sell the idea to the public; Question which is if the President will accept a compromise on his plan.

Reports that real estate developer Vornado Realty Trust has dropped its plans to include a Wal-Mart store in a Queens, New York City, shopping complex. Opposition the real estate developer faced from the community, labor and environmental groups, as well as small businesses; Statement that this Wal-Mart would have been the first in New York City; Claim of labor unions that Wal-Mart's wage levels and benefits are pulling down standards for workers in the United States.

Reports on the mounting protests against President Hosni Mubarak who seeking for his fifth term as president of Egypt. Possibilities of Mubarak to hand over his power to his son; Appeal by the Egyptian Movement for Change for a constitutional amendment to allow other candidates to run in the elections.

Reports on the promise of Syrian government to withdraw its troops from Lebanon as anti-Syrian protest are mounting amidst the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri. Terms and conditions of the agreement signed by Lebanon's warring faction requires the withdrawal of Syrian forces in the Bekaa region close to the Syrian border; Scope of the hegemony of Syria in the political, military, and economic affairs; Reaction of the Lebanese to the assassination of Hariri.

Reports that the police has opened fire to break up a street fight between supporters of Bangladesh's governing party and the opposition Awami League, killing at least one person and wounding more than 100.

Reports the controversy generated by a thesis written by two environmentalists arguing that environmentalism is dead. Distribution of the paper, "The Death of the Environmentalism," by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, at a meeting of foundation executives who finance the environmental establishment; Internet debate about the future of environmentalism due to the paper; Reactions of environmentalists to the paper's arguments.

Reports on the appreciation of U.S. President George W. Bush on the anti-abortion rally.

Profiles Susan N. Wilson, a visible activist for sex education in New Jersey. Career background; Achievements; Civic activities.

Profiles Henryka Krzywonos-Strycharska, former democracy movement leader and owner of an orphanage in Gdansk, Poland. Career background; Details on Krzywonos-Strycharska's legendary act during the strike of the Solidarity union in 1980s; Impetus to the interest in establishing an orphanage.

Discusses the work of aid workers at the Tidal Wave Task Force headquarters in the areas hit by the tsunami in northern Sri Lanka. Efforts of the country's government and Tamil Tigers rebels to plan the distribution of relief aid to tsunami victims; Consideration of how rules have been lessened despite the civil war in order to ease the flow of aid in the wake of disaster; How the rebels in Sri Lanka have maintained a separate country for two decades; Expressions of peace and unity as a result to the strife affecting all ethnic groups in the area; Ability of the Liberation Tigers to recruit child soldiers to it's cause in order to fuel the separatist movement based in the country's north; How the Sri Lankan government is dominated by the Sinhalese majority in the country.

Reports that workers at Green Bus Lines of Jamaica, which has a thousand rides in central and southern Queens, has staged a work slowdown on December 22, 2004 to protest the lack of a contract.

Offers a discussion about the treatment of pigeons in New York City. Reference to protests made over the displacement of two hawks from their perch in New York City; Question of whether New Yorkers should allow birds to make nests wherever they want to; Discussion of arguments over animals that have taken place in New York City; History of laws for the removal of feces made by dogs; Statement that the author asked some of the defenders of the hawks if they had ever joined a protest in behalf of homeless human beings.

Focuses on the thriving black market of information and entertainment in Cuba. The government's official position regarding censorship; Reference to Cuban filmmaker Ian Padrón's documentary "Fuera de Liga"; Observation that, despite a 2003 crackdown on political dissidents, the Cuban government remains tolerant of artistic expression; How artists can use a vast, unsupervised grassroots distribution network to get their work out; Comments of Pedro Luis Ferrer, a musician, and others; Speculation on why the government has such a high tolerance for artistic dissent.

Offers a look at the Catholic Workers movement in New York. Founding of the Catholic Workers movement by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin; Report that the Catholic Workers have rejected comfortable lives in order to live beside the poor; Discussion of the consumerism attitude in New York City; Commitment of the Catholic Workers to nonviolence; Report that they publish "The Catholic Worker"; Statement that the Catholic Workers never sought tax-exemption status from the Internal Revenue Service; Commitment of the group to social justice; Involvement of the Catholic Workers in protest marches against the Iraq War; Statement that many Catholic Workers are arrested for civil disobedience.

Reports on the protest outside the British Embassy in Tehran, Iran. Reasons behind the protest; People involved in the protest.

Reports on the role of youths in the demonstrations against the presidential election results in Ukraine. Construction of a tent city; Description of the youth movement; Occupation of Kreschatik Street, a central retail boulevard by young Ukrainians.

Reports that Nobel-prize winning South African novelist, Nadine Gordimer, is using the work of A-list writers to create an anthology that will be sold to raise money for the Treatment Action Campaign to treat people with AIDS/HIV in Africa. Works of Gabriel García Márquez, Susan Sontag, Paul Theroux, Salman Rushdie, John Updike and many more which will be featured in the book "Telling Tales"; Reasons that Gordimer chose this path to help AIDS victims.

Reports on the arrest of seventeen cyclists in the Critical Mass protest ride through Manhattan, New York City. Charges of disorderly conduct and parading without a permit; Accusation against the police of overzealous enforcement; Advocacy for nonpolluting forms of transportation.

Features a new magazine called "Plenty." Description of its cover; Topics discussed by publishers and writers; Question posed on the placement of environmental movement on some people.

Reports on the turmoil in Cote d'Ivoire. Eruption of clashes between pro-government protesters and French troops; Tension between the peoples of north and south; Commitment of the French government to install peace in the former French colony.

Mentions how the decline of Southern Democrats in Congress has been cited as a reason for the overall erosion of the party. Consideration of how only 4 of the 22 senators from the 11 states of the old Confederacy will be Democrats; How Democrats suffered losses in Texas where Representative Charles W. Stenholm conducted a redistricting plan; Efforts of Republicans to increase support with conservative white voters in the South since the Democrats took on the civil rights movement; Impact of the retirement of moderate lawmakers such as senator John B. Breaux of Louisiana; Suggestion that the loss of Democrats in the Senate will contribute to the divisions between Republicans and Democrats in Washington.

Focuses on a social movement called Critical Mass, a bicycle ride that takes over the streets of New York City in a demonstration of bicycle power aimed at promoting nonpolluting forms of transportation. Report that the rides have become political as the cyclists clash with the Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg administration; Use of force by police in an attempt to control the demonstrations; Promotion of Critical Mass by the environmental group Time's Up!; Claim that the point of the ride is to show the benefits of cycling and to promote cyclist safety; Report that the ride turned into a demonstration against President George W. Bush during the Republican National Convention of 2004; Discussion about whether Critical Mass needs a permit.

Focuses on a protest staged by the Stamford Police Association and the United Auto Workers against Stamford Mayor Dannel P. Malloy. Reason behind the protest; Question written on the ballot which focused on the changes to part 7 of the charter of the city; Number of actual demonstrators.

Reports on the arrest of 33 participants during the Critical Mass bicycle protest ride in Manhattan, New York City. Reason behind the tensions; Concept of the demonstration; Grant on a request by lawyers of the riders in prohibiting the police from seizing bicycles.

Reports that lawmakers from several parties has signaled opposition to President Vladimir V. Putin's plan to appoint regional leaders. Protest of demonstrators; Aim of demonstrators; Reasons for denouncing Putin's political restructuring.

Focuses on Craig Gross and Mike Foster, two young pastors from California, who started an anti-pornography ministry online. Comments of Gross and Foster; Background on their online ministry; Focus of XXXChurch.com, which seeks to reach people who want to see pornography, not ban it; Strategy of the two ministers, who use Internet technology and humor; Attitudes of churches regarding Internet pornography.

Reports on the protest over holocaust skeptic in Manhattan, New York City. Cause and effect of the protest; Details on the demonstration.

Reports that a court in Azerbaijan handed down prison terms of up to five years to seven opposition activists who staged protests last 2003 to denounce the election of President Ilham Aliyev as fraudulent.

Reports on the antigovernment demonstration by thousands of employees in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Reasons for the protests; Consideration of the changes in government as a measure of the deep resistance to the changes sought after Europe; Elaboration on the negligence of the Dutch way; Significance of the Polder model.

Reports on a rally in Trenton, New Jersey for a new contract that would include 12 percent annual pay raises and continued out-of-network medical benefits to workers. Number of people who attended the demonstration; Issue of increasing costs in paying health plans; Illegality of the sick leaves of some employees due to the fact that they attended the rally.

Reports on the capture of nine cyclists and forty bicycles as about a thousand cyclists hit the streets in the monthly Critical Mass bicycle protest ride to help limit pollution in New York. Details of the protest; Use of power saws by the police to cut the chains securing bikes to sign posts; Reason of the arrest.

Discusses the marginalization of immigrants in the United States who are trying to find ways to become legal citizens. Suggestion the issue is being ignored due to post September, 11 paranoia; Bills languishing in Congress, including the Dream Act, a way for high-achieving teenagers from immigrant families to receive college aid; Activist immigrant protests organized by community groups, including hunger strikes; Comments from the director of New Immigrant Community Empowerment Partha Banerjee on the fact that children of immigrants are de facto Americans, and their hopes are in jeopardy due to post September, 11 attitudes.

Profiles Donna House, a Navajo ethnobotanist, who helped create the landscaping outside the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. Development of a landscape of cornfields, meadows, and wetlands with 3,500 specially introduced ladybugs outside the Smithsonian Institution's museum which will open west of the Capitol; Efforts of the Navajos to portray the relationship between humans and other living organisms like ants and grasshoppers; Role of House as a consultant with the Nature Conservancy, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and the Navajo Nation; Her leadership in protecting rare and endangered plants which have cultural and ecological significance.

Reports that a Manhattan judge John Cataldo ordered the city to release more than 550 protesters who had been detained without seeing a judge after being arrested at demonstrations against the Republican National Convention. How Cataldo held New York City in contempt when not al protesters were released after 60 hours and ordered a fine of $1,000 for each person still held; Triumph expressed by the throngs of protesters who were released from the Criminal Courts Building on Centre Street; Statement from Michael Cardozo of the city's corporation counsel that Cataldo was wrong not to permit the city sufficient time to process the arrestees; Lack of accountability for the delays in processing the arrested protesters by city and police officials.

Presents a photograph depicting the demonstration of Iranians in Tehran, accusing President Mohammad Khatami's government of laxity in fighting vice.