This weekend, the Dalai Lama told his followers he has lost hope of reaching agreement with China on the future of his homeland. The future course of the Tibetan movement—including the possibility of an historic switch from demanding autonomy towards seeking full independence—will be the focus of a meeting next month of around 300 delegates representing the global Tibetan exile diaspora.

The US has plundered global wealth by exploiting the dollar's dominance, and the world urgently needs other currencies to take its place, a front-page commentary in the overseas edition of the Chinese Communist Party's People's Daily said Oct. 24. "The grim reality has led people, amidst the panic, to realize that the United States has used the US dollar's hegemony to plunder the world's wealth," said the commentator, Shi Jianxun, a professor at Shanghai's Tongji University.

Australia has ordered an investigation into claims that up to 20 Afghan asylum-seekers were killed by the Taliban after being forcibly returned to their country. A TV documentary reports that those who died were among 400 Afghan asylum-seekers denied entry to Australia by the outgoing John Howard administration. Their fate was examined by a research group, the Edmund Rice Centre, which says it has proof of nine deaths.

Mexican authorities say they have dealt a severe blow to the Tijuana Cartel with the arrest of Eduardo Arellano Félix, the last in a ruling clique of five brothers to be captured or killed by authorities in recent years. Arellano opened fire on soldiers and federal agents Oct. 25 as they raided a home in the upscale Tijuana suburb of Fraccionamiento Pedregal. After a shoot-out, Arellano—who had a $5 million US State Department price on his head—was subdued and flown to Mexico City. "He is pretty much the last major player of what was once the powerful Arellano Félix organization," said Eileen Zeidler of the San Diego DEA office. (San Diego Union-Tribune, Oct. 27)

US aircraft crossed five miles into Syrian air space Oct. 26 and launched a raid that left at least eight dead and several more injured near the Iraqi border, Damascus charges. The Foreign Ministry summoned the US envoy in Damascus to protest "this dangerous aggression," Syria's state news agency Sana reported.

Suspected US drones fired missiles into an alleged Taliban compound near Wana village in Pakistan's South Waziristan, killing at least seven people, local security officials said Oct. 26. There was no immediate confirmation of the strike from Pakistan's military or the US-led coalition in Afghanistan. The attack is the 12th in the past 10 weeks—all of which have been blamed on CIA or US-led forces in Afghanistan.

Sam Stein writes for Huffington Post, Oct. 22:

McCain Surrogate: Al Qaeda Blogger Using Reverse Psychology
The McCain campaign blasted back against a story in today's Washington Post reporting that an al-Qaeda official in a "commentary posted Monday on the extremist Web site al-Hesbah," had called for the support of the Arizona Republican.

Up to two million marched in Rome's Circus Maximus Oct. 25 to protest the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi under the slogans "Save Italy" and "Another Italy is possible." Walter Veltroni, leader of the center-left opposition, told the crowds that Berlusconi is incapable of handling Italy's financial crisis—and said the country is moving in a fascist direction under his leadership.