Thousands protesters led by high school students marched on Buenos Aires' Plaza de Mayo on Sept. 16 to commemorate the 34th anniversary of the "Night of the Pencils," when student protesters demanding free public transportation and other benefits were kidnapped and killed by the military dictatorship. For the past four weeks, high school and university students in Argentina have occupied over 30 high schools, several buildings at the University of Buenos Aires, and the National University of Arts (IUNA) in response to budget cuts. The occupations have been repeatedly attacked by police forces. (Momento24, LAHT, Sept. 16; Occupy California, Sept. 12)

Colombia's Mobile Anti-Riot Squad (ESMAD), backed up by two armored personnel carriers, invaded the campus of the University of Antioquia in Medellín, where students were holding protests against the imposition of new ID cards Sept. 15. The ESMAD used tear gas, and some students responded with hurled rocks and bottles. At least one student was seriously injured. On Aug. 26, ESMAD forces invaded the poor Medellín district of Comuna 13, briefly battling with residents who fought back with machetes and clubs. Two were injured and two arrested. (Rebelión, Mexico, Sept. 17; El Pais Vallenato, Valledupar, Sept. 15; El Heraldo, Barranquilla, Aug. 26)

An international day of action has been called for Sept. 17 to support Alexei Gaskarov and Maxim Solopov, two young anti-fascist activists arrested following a July 28 protest against the cutting of the Khimki Forest outside Moscow for a new Moscow-St. Petersburg toll highway, the first of its kind in Russia. Khimki town authorities and the highway project contractor have recruited nationalist thugs to break up a peaceful protest camp organized by environmentalists and local residents, and illegally arrested and beat up journalists covering the story. After the July protest in Khimki, in which some windows were broken, the FSB (former KGB) and its affiliated (and ironically named) Center for Extremism Prevention carried out a sweep of local anti-fascist youth, in which Gaskarov and Solopov were arrested. They face up to seven years in prison for disorderly conduct, although there is no evidence of their complicity in illegal activities.

A European Union summit opened in Brussels Sept. 16 amid continued tension over the French expulsion of Roma migrants and a threat to take Nicolas Sarkozy's government to the European Court of Justice. The EU justice commissioner, Viviane Reding, expressed regret for comparing French treatment of Roma with that of Jews during World War II, but insisted she was right to rebuke the French government.

Jonathan Evans, director of Britain's MI5 internal intelligence agency, said in a rare public speech Sept. 16 that attacks on the UK are increasingly likely to emanate from Somalia, Yemen or Belfast, as al-Qaeda-linked groups flee strongholds in Pakistan. The spy chief said the 2012 London Olympic Games will likely be a major target, and warned that dissidents who reject Northern Ireland's peace process could strike mainland British cities for the first time since 2001.

Shootouts that began Sept. 13 in Matamoros, the border city in the conflicted Mexican state of Tamualipas, have left at least 25 dead. A Mexican law enforcement official who asked that his name not be used for security reasons said the violence has pitted the federal military against gunmen from both the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas. A Sept. 13 grenade attack on the offices of the Prosecutor General of the Republic (PGR) damaged three cars outside the building. The building is located just a few blocks from the B&M International Bridge that links Matamoros with Brownsville, Tex. The bridge was temporarily closed after the attack, and authorities in Brownsville are on alert. (Brownsville Herald, Brownsville Herald, Sept. 14; ValleyCentral.com, Sept. 13)

On Sept. 16, some 25,000 gathered at Mexico City's main plaza, the Zócalo, where President Felipe Calderón delivered the traditional grito—three shouts of "Viva Mexico!"—to celebrate the 1810 uprising that resulted a decade later in independence from Spain. But bicentennial celebrations were canceled in several municipalities across the country for fear of violence, as narco gangs escalate their brutal internecine warfare. "This is not a time to celebrate, but to lament," said Victor Quintana, a federal lawmaker (PRD) in Chihuahua state. (Reuters, The Telegraph, Sept. 16)

Members of the Mexican political parties PRI, PRD and PVEM (Green Party) attacked 170 Zapatista supporters and expelled them from their homes in the Tzeltal community of San Marcos Avilés, in the municipality of Chilón, Chiapas, in retaliation for the construction of an autonomous school in the early morning hours of Sept. 9.