From the UK Independent, Oct. 22, via Common Dreams:

Nothing else quite like it has happened at any time in the past 10,000 years. In just over a month an entire Antarctic ice shelf, bigger than a small country, disintegrated and disappeared, altering world atlases for ever.

From CTV, Oct. 28:

NATO's top commander apologized Saturday for civilians killed during battles between NATO-led forces and the Taliban militia in Afghanistan this week.

Brad Will (Bradley Roland Will), 36, a photojournalist for New York City's Independent Media Center (IMC) was fatally shot Oct. 27 when gunmen opened fire on a protest barricade in the besieged capital of Oaxaca state in southern Mexico.

First this, from DPA, Oct. 25:

Police protection given to German MP in headscarf row
BERLIN - A female member of parliament from the Greens party has been given police protection after calling on Muslim women in Germany to give up wearing headscarves, a parliamentary spokesman said Wednesday. Turkish-born Ekin Deligoz has been subject to attacks in fundamentalist media in Turkey and Germany for her views and has also received a death threat.

On Oct. 26 at a White House ceremony, President George W. Bush signed a bill authorizing 700 miles of new fencing along the nearly 2,000-mile US-Mexico border in what was viewed as an effort to boost anti-immigrant Republican candidates just before the Nov. 7 elections. "We have a responsibility to enforce our laws," said Bush. "We have a responsibility to secure our borders. We take this responsibility serious." (AP, Oct. 10)

From AP, Oct. 25:

BUENOS AIRES — Argentine prosecutors asked a federal judge on Wednesday to order the arrest of former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani and seven others for the 1994 bombing of a Jewish cultural center that killed scores of people.

From Al-Jazeera, Oct. 27:

Niger has suspended its plans to deport thousands of ethnic Arab nomads to Chad.

The central African country's cabinet decided against carrying out the deportations after neighbouring countries spoke out against the plan, the country's communications minister said on Friday.

Villagers seized three Shell Oil platforms in the Niger Delta region Oct. 25, forcing a halt of production at each. A nearby Chevron platform was also closed. Members of the Kula community invaded the facilities, accusing the company of not following through on promises to provide aid. While the delta region is a key source of Nigeria's national wealth, it remains one of the country's poorest. Negotiations are underway, but the platforms remain under occupation. (AP, Oct. 26)