Some 20,000 Romanians marched and formed a human chain around the parliament building in Bucharest Sept. 21 to protest plans by Canadian firm Gabriel Resources to establish Europe's biggest open-pit gold mine at Rosia Montana in the Apuseni Mountains of Transylvania. Bucharest has seen daily protests against the  project for two weeks, organized by the campaign Salvati Rosia Montana, with thousands more taking to the streets in other Romanian cities. The protests began after the government proposed a law Aug. 27 to give extraordinary powers to Gabriel Resources' local partner, Rosia Montana Gold Corporation, allowing the company to relocate people whose homes are on the perimeter of the mine site, and guaranteeing all necessary permits within set deadlines, regardless of court rulings or public participation requirements. The operation would involve the destruction of three villages and four mountains. (EuroNews, Sept. 22; MondoNews.ro, Sept. 21; The Guardian, Mining.com, Sept. 17; BBC News, Sept. 9)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept. 22 ordered the civil administration to allow settlers back into a stolen Palestinian property in Hebron, Israeli media reported. The move was in response to the killing of an Israeli soldier in Hebron earlier in the day, and Netanyahu announced Israel would "continue to fight terrorism…with one hand, while strengthening the settlement with the other," according to Haaretz.

They've really outdone themselves this time. The last time we checked in on Cynthia McKinney, she was floating outlandish conspiracy theories about the Boston bombings. Now, Redress Information & Analysis is among the websites to take note of what she just posted to her Facebook page—that she is in Syria to sing the praises of the Assad regime and cheer on those serving as human shields. That is merely predictable. But a close reading reveals a truly special degree of either cynicism or dupery (we actually aren't sure which):

We've pointed out that some "anti-war" commentators are glibly calling for an International Criminal Court case as a "solution" for Syria—despite the fact that six years after the ICC issued a warrant for Sudan's Omar Bashir, he remains in power and carrying out mass murder (most recently against the Nuba people of South Kordofan, although the Darfur conflict continues even now). So while there may be much to recommend an ICC warrant for Syria's Bashar Assad, there is no reason to believe it will save a single Syrian life. And now Joshua Keating on Slate's The World blog succinctly explains why this pseudo-solution, in fact, isn't even possible...

On Sept. 20, Amnesty International (AI) called upon members of the UN to demand Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir turn himself in to the International Criminal Court (ICC), where he faces charges for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide allegedly committed during the Darfur conflict. Al-Bashir has continually ignored the charges against him and is still being protected by the Sudanese government. AI is calling for the international community to come together in cooperation with the ICC in order to bring al-Bashir to justice. Despite the warrants for his arrest, al-Bashir has reportedly applied for a US visa in order to attend the 68th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

Security forces in China's far western Xinjiang region last month shot and killed at least 12 men and wounded 20 others during a raid on what authorities described as a "terrorist facility," Radio Free Asia reported Sept. 17. Local officials told Radio Free Asia that the men had been building and testing explosives at a desert encampment near Jigdejay village, Poskam county (Chinese: Zepu), outside the city of Kashgar. One resident said the police were tipped off to the presence of the encampment after a rocket launcher the men were trying to build accidentally exploded, killing one of them.  

Iranian lawyer and prominent human rights activist Nasrin Sotoudeh was permanently released on Sept. 18, after spending over two years in prison. Sotoudeh was serving six-year sentence for her September 2010 arrest and conviction for "propaganda against the system" and "harming national security." Other prisoners serving prison terms related to the 2009 mass protests were also released that day. Among the released prisoners was former Iranian deputy foreign minister Mohsen Aminzadeh who was sentenced to six years in prison for his participation in protesting the 2009 presidential election. It is estimated that the total number of prisoners released is around 10.

A visit by a delegation of cabinet ministers from Mali's central government to Kidal, the northern town held by Tuareg rebels of the MNLA, sparked a mini-intifada Sept. 17. Tuareg youth attempted to block the delegation's plane from landing and then hurled stones at the ministerial convoy as it headed to the town. "Peacekeepers" from the UN Mission for Mali (MINUSMA) used tear-gas to disperse the protesters. Two bombs reportedly exploded in Kidal during the visit, although apparently causing no casualties.