Chanting "This has to change," some 200 Haitians marked World Day for Decent Work on Oct. 7 with a march to the National Industrial Parks Company (Sonapi), where most of Port-au-Prince's low-wage assembly plants are located. Some of the marchers had their faces covered to keep from being identified; managers at three Sonapi plants fired a total of six officers of the newly formed Textile and Garment Workers Union (SOTA) in the last week of September. Police agents from the Departmental Unit for the Maintenance of Order (UDMO) were stationed at the industrial park to keep the marchers from accessing the plants.

In what appeared to be a sudden increase in repression, Chile's militarized carabineros police used water cannons and tear gas to break up an unauthorized march by student strikers in Santiago on Oct. 6. Many protesters responded by throwing rocks and sticks at the agents. More than 130 people were arrested during the confrontations, and 25 police agents and dozens of civilians were injured. The police action came one day after student leaders and the rightwing government of President Sebastián Piñera broke off talks they had been holding on education reform.

McClatchy Newspapers' Pulitzer-winning reporter Roy Gutman writes from Baghdad Oct. 7 that an Anglican priest in the city is working with the US embassy in an effort to convince the remaining nine Jews in Iraq to flee the country, because their names have appeared in cables published last month by WikiLeaks. The Rev. Canon Andrew White said he first approached members of the Jewish community about the danger he believes they face after a local news story was published last month that made reference to the cables. "The US Embassy is desperately trying to get them out," White said. So far, however, only one—a regular confidante of the US embassy, according to the cables—has expressed interest in emigrating to the United States.

Another 32 bodies were found in three houses in the Mexican port city of Veracruz Oct. 7, the latest in a series of attacks on presumed members of Los Zetas narco-network by a rival group calling itself the Mata Zetas, or Zeta Killers. The Mata Zetas announced their existence in July, but made their presence known dramatically two weeks ago, leaving 35 bodies on a busy Veracruz highway during rush hour traffic. They later claimed responsibility for the massacre in a video posted to the Internet, in which hooded men presenting themselves as if at a press conference urged Veracruz residents to say 'no' to extortion and intimidation by the Zetas. But authorities say they believe the Mata Zetas are an arm of the New Generation cartel, which is resisting Zeta control of smuggling routes. "The phenomenon in Veracruz is a result of a rivalry between two criminal groups," said President Felipe Calderón's national security spokesperson Alejandra Sota. "Therefore, they must be taken on." (CSM, Oct. 7; LAT's World Now blog, Sept. 30)

Police clashed with more than a thousand striking workers Oct. 10 at a mine run by US-based Freeport McMoran in Indonesia's Papua region, leaving at least one worker dead. The All-Indonesian Workers Trade Union (SPSI) told the Jakarta Globe that three other miners were critically wounded as police fired on the crowd. Authorities said at least six police officers were injured in the violence at the sprawling Grasberg complex, one of the world's biggest gold and copper mines. The workers, who are mostly indigenous Melanesians, are demanding that their current minimum wage of $1.50 an hour be raised to $12.50. (Jakarta Globe, Oct. 10)

Oil from a cargo stuck on a reef started to wash up at New Zealand's popular Mount Maunganui beach on Oct. 10. The Liberia-flagged MV Rena struck the Astrolabe Reef about 14 miles off Tauranga Harbour early Oct. 5. Teams from the Maritime New Zealand agency are racing to pump oil from the leaking ship, ahead of forecast gale-force winds and swells. Some 30 tons of oil have already leaked, with fears that 1,700 tons could be released. Prime Minister John Key is demanding answers, telling reporters in Tauranga that the Rena had "ploughed into" the reef at 17 knots in calm conditions "for no particular reason," despite being a "major ship" owned by a "significant international shipping company." The reef is in the wildlife-rich Bay of Plenty, and at least eight oil-fouled seabirds have been rescued from the slick. (AP, AlJazeera, Dominion Post, Wellington, Fairfax Media, New Zealand, Oct. 10; BBC News, Oct. 9)

Riot police in Tunis used tear-gas on Oct. 9 to disperse hundreds of young Islamists who fought back with stones, knives and sticks. At least 40 were arrested. The Islamists were protesting against Tunisia's long-standing ban on university enrollment by women who wear the niqab, or full-face veil, as well as a TV station's plan to broadcast animated film Persepolis, which they say denigrates their faith. Tunisians will vote in an Oct. 23 election for an assembly to draft a new constitution. The Islamist Ennahda party is expected to win the biggest share of the vote, alarming secularists. (AP, Reuters, Oct. 9)

Reporters Without Borders issued a statement protesting the Oct. 4 decision by a military court in Cairo to postpone the hearing of jailed blogger Maikel Nabil Sanad's appeal until Oct. 11. The postponement is way to keep Sanad in detention without hearing his case, the press freedom organization said. Family and supporters are more worried than ever about the young blogger’s deteriorating health, as he has now been on hunger strike for 48 days in protest of his detainment. However, at a press conference, his brother Mark said that Maikel is "staying strong and will not be broken."