Judges for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York City Sept. 17 upheld a verdict in favor of Royal Dutch Shell PLC in a case brought by families of Ogoni protesters who were executed by the Nigerian government in 1995, apparently in retaliation for speaking out against the oil company. The court ruled that the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) does not apply to corporations, relieving Shell of liability for alleged complicity in human rights abuses in Nigeria. The plaintiffs had accused Shell of enlisting Nigerian military forces to help stop protests in the country, resulting in the violation of human rights among the Ogoni people.

Turkey allowed Armenians to hold mass Sept. 19 at the Church of the Holy Cross—an iconic 10th century landmark on Akdamar Island in Lake Van, southeast Anatolia—for the first time since the collapse of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I. Turkish officials hailed the service as a sign of tolerance and reconciliation. But the mass was attended by only some 1,000—a fraction of the 5,000 expected. An Armenian boycott saw thousands cancel their trips after Turkish authorities refused to display a 440-pound cross on the church's roof, claiming it was too heavy and could damage the structure. The 16.5-foot-tall cross instead was displayed next to the church's bell-tower. Worshippers were largely from the Armenian diaspora. Protests against the event were held at the Armenian genocide memorial at Tsitsernakaberd in Yerevan, Armenia's capital; and among Armenians in Jerusalem.

Protesters in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinval, symbolically demolished a "Wall of Lies" attached with news clips from the Western media about the Georgia war of two years ago. The wall was built near the former site of the local parliament building, demolished by Georgian forces in August 2008. The action came one day before the 20th anniversary South Ossetia's declaration of independence from Georgia, to be marked on Sept. 20. (Voice of Russia, Sept. 19) A car bomb in Vladikavkaz's central market Sept. 9 left 17 dead and scores wounded. The aftermath of the blast has seen protests by Ossetians against ethnic Ingush, who are apparently being blamed for the attack. (RFE/RL, Sept. 16; RT, Sept. 15)

Forty Tajik soldiers were killed Sept. 19 in an ambush by suspected militants of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. The soldiers were part of a 75-man convoy moving through the Rasht Valley, an area known as a haven for Islamists insurgents. Five officers are reported to have been among the 40 soldiers killed. No insurgents were reported killed. The soldiers were searching for members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan who escaped from a prison in Dushanbe on Aug. 25. One guard was killed during the jailbreak.

French uranium company Areva and its subcontractor Vinci have evacuated all their expatriate employees working at the Arlit and Imouraren mines in northern Niger following the abduction of five French and two African workers. Both Niger and France fear they were seized by militants of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Niger's ex-foreign minister Idi Ango Omar told Anfani radio that private security groups employed at the mines were run by former Tuareg rebels, and denounced the arrangement—in an evident attempt to link the Tuareg insurgency to al-Qaeda. (France24, Sept. 19)

Sino-Japanese tensions over detention of the captain of a Chinese fishing trawler escalated as Beijing observed the 79th "Invasion Day" on Sept. 18, with large numbers protesting outside Tokyo's diplomatic missions. The day is officially observed all over China every year to remember Japan's invasion, and the initial clashes with Chinese troops at Shenyang in 1931. Rallies were held outside Japanese missions in Beijing, Shenyang and Shanghai, with protesters shouting slogans like "Japan, get out of the Diaoyu Islands," "Boycott Japanese goods" and "Don't forget national humiliation."

The United Nations on Sept. 14 expressed its concern over forced labor in Brazil, asserting that businesses treat workers as virtual slaves with "impunity." Gulnara Shahinian, the UN special rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, visited Brazil in May, and in a report praised the country for acknowledging the problem of forced labor and taking measures against it. "These exemplary actions are, however, threatened by the impunity enjoyed by landowners, local and international companies and intermediaries," the report said. (Expatica, Sept. 14)

A bomb went off early Sept. 16 at a shopping mall in Buenos Aires, causing extensive damage to American Airlines and Alitalia ticket offices but causing no casualties. Leaflets found at the scene bore the name of a Chilean anarchist cell "Vandálica Teodoro Suarez," and included demands for the release of "political prisoners" and autonomy for the Mapuches, an indigenous people who straddle the Chile-Argentina border.