Globe Trot 08.08

Egypt has launched airstrikes in the Sinai Peninsula via attack helicopters after the shooting of 16 Egyptian soldiers on Sunday. Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi did not attend the funeral for the soldiers yesterday, fueling speculation that the Muslim Brotherhood or its Hamas allies could be behind the attack. The Muslim Brotherhood has accused Israel of being behind the attack-all fueling tension in the once stable Sinai Peninsula.

Syrian forces have launched a ground assault on Aleppo. Watch the latest wrap-up from Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught, who's been providing compelling coverage deep inside the city.

Chinese authorities bumped the trial of Gu Kailai to tomorrow. The wife of Bo Xilai, once a promising leader in the Communist Party, stands accused of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood. She faces the death penalty if found guilty-and in China, a verdict can be handed down in just one day.

Criminal gangs are stealing Mexico's oil. The thefts are reckoned to deprive the country of more than $1 billion per year, with profits from Pemex, the state-owned oil company, making up a third of the federal government's budget.

Heavy rains are pounding the Philippines, with 60 percent of Manila, the capital and a metropolis of 12 million, under water.

The latest militant attack in Nigeria has killed 19 churchgoers. The attack took place Monday evening at Deeper Life Evangelical Church in Otite, 150 miles southwest of the capital Abuja. Three men entered the church just as a Bible study was starting and opened fire, spraying the sanctuary in a shooting similar to others by Boko Haram, the radical terrorist group that wants to Islamicize Nigeria. According to the Associated Press, Boko Haram is responsible for 660 killings-most of them targeting Christians-this year alone.

We are watching for a verdict in the trial of U.S. aid worker Rudwan Dawod in Khartoum, Sudan.

Globe Trot will be on leave until next Wednesday, while editor Mindy Belz is on a separate writing assignment.