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• In Washington, Arab activists and journalists call on G8 leaders to change foreign policy
• Thousands protest the NATO Summit in Chicago, including veterans of US led wars
• Vets protest NATO, US wars by returning military medals
  
• Syria linked violence in Lebanon dramatically increases following the killing of two Muslim clerics
• In California, the United Farm Workers Union celebrates 50 years

• Suicide bombing in Yemen
• Hundreds protest in Quebec despite new restrictions
• Occupy camp in St Petersburg threatened
• NAACP announces support for gay marriage
• Chair of Nuclear Regulatory Commission steps down

As President Obama and other leaders of the world’s largest economies met at Maryland’s Camp David this weekend to discuss war, trade and other global issues, a delegation of activists and journalists from 10 Arab countries came to Washington to call for a paradigm shift in US foreign policy. In meetings with the State Department, members of Congress, US-AID and civil society groups, they called for an end to the current model of neoliberal economics and military aid, and the implementation of policies that respect the uprisings in Arab countries.

In Chicago, world leaders continue a second day of meetings for the NATO summit. In a declaration issued Sunday, NATO said it would continue to play a role in Afghanistan after combat operations end in 2014. The Alliance also commended its role in Libya and said it is contributing to peace and security in the Horn of Africa. But protesters gathered in the streets of Chicago have a different view. They condemned militarism and called on the US to end its wars. From Chicago, FSRN’s Lisa Matuska reports.

Iraq Veterans Against the War collaborated with Afghans for Peace in planning Sunday’s actions. At the end of the main march, participants gathered for a ceremony in which Iraq and Afghanistan War veterans symbolically returned their military service medals:

In Syria today, forces loyal to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad killed nine army deserters after ambushing them in a northern Damascus suburb, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Across Syria, including in Damascus, Aleppo and Homs, the Observatory says about fifty people died in violence over the weekend as heavy fighting continues between rebels and government forces.

In California, agricultural workers and Latino rights leaders gathered over the weekend for the United Farm Workers Union (UFW) convention. This year, the union celebrated its 50th anniversary and participants honored past achievements and looked to the future. While there is a friendlier political environment for unions under the governorship of Democrat Jerry Brown, the UFW is struggling to increase its membership.  From Bakersfield, California, Eduardo Stanley has this report.

• Obama’s plan for food crisis in West Africa criticized for reliance on multinationals
• In Pakistan, a woman’s fight against hunger, one meal at a time
• Increase in Yemen attacks marks new phase of US involvement
• Afghan refugees and advocates press NATO to address human cost of war
• Survivors of Thai violence call for justice in protest killings

• 400 detained in Blockupy Frankfurt demonstrations
• German company could provide Bhopal toxic waste disposal alternative
• New details emerge in Trayvon Martin case, shooting “avoidable”
• Americans Elect confirms it will field no presidential candidate

Leaders of the world’s eight wealthiest countries are gathering at Maryland’s Camp David today for the G8 Summit, and one of the main issues on the agenda is the ongoing food and water crisis in West Africa. President Obama announced a sweeping food security initiative this morning involving both national governments and multinational corporations. But some experts are concerned about an increased reliance on the private sector, including companies that promote pesticides and GMO crops. FSRN’s Alice Ollstein has more.