Planet Watch
Arctic sea ice cover hits record low
Arctic sea ice cover this month fell to the lowest summer minimum extent since satellite records began in 1979, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC).
Greater Middle East
Jihad against the phantom menace hits Sinai
The jihad against a non-existent “film” produced by non-existent “Jews” continues to claim lives, with the latest attack launched by militants in Egypt’s Sinai on Israeli border troops.
New York City
WHY WE FIGHT
An 80-year-old man is dead after being struck by a car that spiraled onto the sidewalk on Park Ave. Police say “no criminality is suspected,” apparently without irony.
Mexico
Army troops sent to patrol Mexico City suburb
Mexico has for the first time sent soldiers to patrol suburbs of the capital, following the slaying of a politician in Nezahualcóyotl—the latest in a wave of killings in the district.
Peru: Cajamarca regional strike remobilizes
Campesinos from Bambamarca province and their urban supporters in Cajamarca, Peru, marched Sept. 20 to announce a new paro, or civil strike, demanding that the Yanacocha mining company halt construction of a new reservoir at Laguna Chailluagón—a move they say is… Read morePeru: Cajamarca regional strike remobilizes
North Africa
Bloodshed in Benghazi as citizens confront militias
Four protesters were killed in Benghazi and over 20 wounded when citizens moved against militia groups in the eastern Libyan city, storming and occupying their bases.
South Asia
India: strange bedfellows in Bharat Bandh
A Bharat Bandh—all-India general strike—called to protest neoliberal economic measures shut down much of the country, supported by Hindu nationalist and Marxist parties alike.
East Asia
Japan retreats from nuclear power phase-out
Japan’s cabinet turned down recommendations of a special panel to phase out nuclear power by 2040—a move openly portrayed as a capitulation to the nuclear lobby.
Oceania
US, New Zealand restore military cooperation
Leon Panetta in Auckland announced that US naval cooperation with New Zealand will be resumed—cut off in 1985, when the Pacific nation declared itself a nuclear-free zone.
East Asia
Pacific FTAs advance amid Sino-Japanese tensions
China and Japan are moving ahead with new Free Trade Agreements such as the ASEAN+6 pact and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, even amid escalated military tensions.
The Andes
‘El Loco’ Barrera, Colombia’s most wanted, busted in Venezuela
Authorities from four countries cooperated in a months-long operation that led to the arrest in Venezuela of Daniel Barrera AKA "El Loco"—dubbed the "last of the great capos."
Mexico
Mexico’s prez-elect broaches oil privatization —almost
As a devastating blast rocked a Pemex plant, Mexico’s president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto told business leaders the private sector will help modernize the state-owned giant.