One sergeant and two riflemen of Chile's Carabineros police force were hurt in a firefight at Fundo Centenario timber camp near the village of Ercilla, in Chile's Araucanía region Oct. 1. Owner of the predio, or land-holding, Juan de Dios Fuentes, said some 50 local Mapuche comuneros entered the property, cutting trees and tearing down fences, and fired on the Carabineros when they interfered. (Cooperativa, Chile, Oct. 2) Elite forces from the Special Police Operations Group (GOPE) subsequently invaded the nearby Mapuche community of Wañako Mellao. The community's lonco, or traditional chief, Carlos Curinao, said the troops fired into homes where families took shelter, and the cries of frightened and possibly wounded children could be heard. The community remains under occupation. (Radio Galactika, Chile, Oct. 2)

Indigenous protesters in the Bolivian Amazon resumed their cross-country march Oct. 1, a week after their progress was halted by a police assault. "We have resumed the march and our intention is not to clash with anybody," indigenous leader Adolfo Chávez told Reuters. But as they passed through the villages of Marimonos and Palos Blancos towards the town of Caranavi, the road was lined with local campesinos who booed and hurled insults including "¡flojos!" and "¡pagados!"—"lazy" and "paid," an apparent reference to accusations that the protesters are in the pay of political interests. Scattered physical confrontations were reported. However, indicating a split among the local populace, other residents formed a cordon to defend the marchers and chanted, "Don't molest them, let them pass!" (ANF, Oct. 2; BBC News, Oct. 1)

Nicaraguan newspaper El Nuevo Diario said Sept. 24 that one of its reporters, Silvia González, has fled to the United States following threats from supporters of the ruling Sandinista party. National Police spokesman Fernando Borge told Channel 12 TV that the case "had been investigated and she was given police protection." But González said in a call from Miami, told AP: "I am afraid that they will kill me...and that is why I left." The director of El Nuevo Diario, Francisco Chamorro, said the newspaper had complained to international press freedom groups about the threats. González said she had received menacing telephone calls and ext messages, including one that said, "Keep bothering us, we give you 48 hours to live." A severed chicken head with her name on it was also reportedly thrown onto González's patio.

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.