In an unprecedented move, Burma's President Thein Sein yielded to a protest campaign Sept. 30, announcing cancellation of the controversial Myitsone Dam on the Irrawaddy River, already under construction by Chinese contractors. The Myistone Dam was to be the first of eight on the still-undammed Irrawaddy that were scheduled to be built in order to export power to China. The project has been opposed by a wide range of environmentalists, social activists, artists and others including Burma's most prominent dissident, Aung San Suu Kyi. Just days before the decision to halt the project, dissident writer U Ludu Sein Win warned in the Rangoon-based journal Weekly Eleven: "The people are demanding to stop the project. If the righteous demands of the people are ignored and they continue the dam project, the people will defend the Irrawaddy with whatever means possible."

The UN Security Council's Standing Committee on Admission of New Members is currently considering Palestine's application for full United Nations membership. Eight of the Security Council's 15 members have already declared their support for the Palestinian application: China, Russia, Brazil, India, South Africa, Lebanon, Niger and Gabon. But the Palestinians' bid faces a practically inevitable veto by the United States, one of the five permanent Security Council members—which, unlike the 10 rotating members, wield veto power within the Council. (KashmirWatch, Oct. 1)

In the wake of Burhanuddin Rabbani's assassination, Afghan President Hamid Karzai says trying to talk peace with the Taliban is futile, that the real power behind the insurgents is Pakistan, and that Afghanistan's best option is to negotiate with Islamabad. Hundreds of Rabbani's supporters marched in Kabul on Sept. 25 to protest his killing, chanting "Death to Pakistan, death to the Taliban!" They demanded the government scrap plans to hold dialogue with the insurgents. Preliminary investigations into Rabbani's killing, presented to Karzai by his intelligence chiefs that day, said the attack was plotted outside Afghanistan and named the Taliban’s Pakistan-based Quetta Shura as key suspects.

Heavy fighting is reported between the Syrian army and opposition activists in central Homs province, as anti-government protests continue. In Rastan, seven soldiers and police were reportedly killed battling troops who have defected to the opposition. At least 11 protesters were killed after thousands took to the streets after Friday prayers Sept. 30, activists said. (BBC News, Sept. 30) European nations have meanwhile dropped an explicit threat of sanctions against the Syrian regime in a bid to win Russian support for what would be the first UN resolution condemning the military crackdown on civilian protesters. Europeans diplomats meanwhile appealed to all sides in Syria "to reject violence and extremism." (UKPA, Sept. 30)

The US Department of Defense on Sept. 28 officially referred charges against a high-profile Guantánamo Bay detainee who allegedly planned the 2000 attack on the USS Cole that left 17 sailors dead and 37 others injured. Saudi-born former millionaire Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri will stand trial before a military tribunal at Guantánamo on nine terrorism, conspiracy and murder charges. Specifically al-Nashiri will be charged with orchestrating the attack on the Cole, during which two suicide bombers rammed an explosives-laden boat into the guided missile destroyer, blowing a vast hole into its side.

A military court in Bahrain sentenced a group of medical staff to up to 15 years in prison Sept. 29 for treating anti-government protesters. The doctors and nurses were convicted on charges including incitement to overthrow the government, stealing medicine and occupying a hospital. Dr. Fatima Hadji told the BBC she was beaten in custody and threatened with rape before being released on bail. At least 30 people were killed and hundreds injured when the regime, supported by troops rushed in from neighboring Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in March. (Radio Australia, Sept. 30)

US-born purported al-Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki was killed Sept. 30 in a drone strike outside the town of Khashef in Yemen's Jawf province. At least three of al-Awlaki’s companions were also killed in the same strike, including fellow US citizen Samir Khan, editor of the slick al-Qaeda magazine Inspire. President Obama hailed the killing as "a major blow to al-Qaeda's most active operational affiliate," saying the death "marks another significant milestone in the broader effort to defeat al Qaeda." American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) deputy legal director Jameel Jaffer said the killing was part of a US counter-terrorism program that "violates both US and international law."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sept. 28 rejected Western and Arab complaints that the newly announced construction of 1,100 Jewish homes in Gilo on annexed land close to East Jerusalem would hurt efforts to revive the peace process. "Gilo is not a settlement nor an outpost," Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev said. "It is a neighborhood in the very heart of Jerusalem about five minutes from the center of town." He asserted that in every peace plan on the table over the past 18 years Gilo "stays part of Jerusalem and therefore this planning decision in no way contradicts" the Israeli government's stated desire for peace based on a two-state solution.