Palestinian medics in the Gaza Strip Sept. 23 recovered the bodies of four Strip residents who were killed in an explosion in a tunnel at the Egyptian border. At least one was wounded and hospitalized in Rafah. The explosion took place in a tunnel in a-Brazil area in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. According to the Hamas-affiliated Palestinian Information Center, Egyptian security forces detonated the tunnel while five residents were in it. The forces likely did not know there was anyone in the tunnel, the report said. (IMEMC, Sept. 23)

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sept. 23 the Pentagon could send thousands more combat troops to Afghanistan starting next spring—but also warned: "I think we need to think about how heavy a military footprint the United States ought to have in Afghanistan. Are we better off channeling resources into building and expanding the size of the Afghan national army as quickly as possible, as opposed to a much larger Western footprint in a country that has never been notoriously hospitable to foreigners?" There are now some 31,000 US troops in Afghanistan and roughly an equal number of coalition troops. (AP, Sept. 23)

Oil prices posted the biggest one-day dollar gain ever Monday Sept. 22 as the dollar fell in response to Washington's $700 billion Wall Street bailout plan. October oil contracts surged in afternoon trading, reaching $130—a more than $25 gain. It dropped back down to settle at $120.92 a barrel, up $16.37 from Friday's close. The gain eclipsed the $10.75 spike in oil on June 6. (CNNMoney.com, Sept. 22)

At least 30 people were killed in fierce fighting between Islamist rebels and Somali government forces in capital Mogadishu's main market Sept. 23. Rebels reportedly attacked two African Union peacekeeping bases in Mogadishu and shelled the city's main airport as well as hitting government buildings in the bustling Bakara market area.

The US Defense Department has denied that its helicopters flew into Pakistan's airspace above from across the border with Afghanistan Sept. 22. Pakistani intelligence officials say US two helicopters flew into North Waziristan, but returned to Afghanistan after troops and tribesmen opened fire. "There was no such incursion, there was no such event," said Pentagon spokesman Col. Gary Keck. Anonymous Pakistani sources said the incursion took place near Lwara Mundi village late on Sept. 21. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari told NBC that the US was forbidden from allowing any operations without permission. "If the American troops are coming in without letting us know, without the Pakistani permission, they are violating the United Nations charter." (AlJazeera, Sept. 23)

Iraqis protested the deaths of at least seven people during a US air strike in Ad Dawr, in northern Iraq's Salahuddin province on Sept. 19—the same town where Saddam Hussein was captured in 2003. The US says the raid successfully singled out an "emir" in the bombing network of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) who was suspected of involvement in attacks along the Tigris River valley. But Iraqi officials said the strike used excessive force in killing eight members of one family, who they said were innocent. The officials said the dead were five men in their 20s and 30s and three women aged between 20 and 58. They accused the US forces of shooting down men and women from the air as they fled.

At least six were injured and 15 arrested as far-right protesters clashed with police, threw stones and petrol bombs and damaged shops and cars along Andrassy Boulevard in Budapest Sept. 20. Police fired tear gas and water cannons on the protesters—many wearing swastikas and chanting anti-Semitic slogans. Police moved in after a right-wing mob attacked people leaving a pro-tolerance rally called by the Hungarian Democratic Charter movement and Roma organizations.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said Sept. 21 that its war would resume at the end of Ramadan if the Philippine military continues its offensive in Mindanao. Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief negotiator, told Manila's Daily Inquirer by phone that religious leaders in Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur in sermons called on the Bangsamoro people to unite and wage a jihad against enemies of Islam. Philippine troops launched surprise attacks on MILF strongholds last weekend, in the midst of the holy month of Ramadan. Aid agencies are mobilizing emergency assistance to meet a potential "double whammy" in Mindanao, where 500,000 are already displaced by recent fighting and monsoon flooding. (Daily Inquirer, Sept. 22; World Bulletin, Turkey, Sept. 21; World Politics Review, Sept. 15)