Globe Trot: From terrorist to president?

AFGHANISTAN: Abdul Rassoul Sayyaf has registered to run for president in Afghanistan. Sayyaf in 1996 helped Osama bin Laden return to Afghanistan, and the Philippine insurgent group Abu Sayyaf is named after him. He is mentioned in the 9/11 Commission’s report as a mentor to Khalid Sheikh Muhammad, the operational (and self-confessed) mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

ASIA: Adding to the presidential zigzags of the last six weeks, President Barack Obama has canceled his trip to Asia over what the White House is calling the Republican shutdown. As with Obama’s dealings on Syria and Iran, it’s hard to see this playing in the president’s favor, and it will give China an edge in the latest round of trade negotiations.

NIGERIA: September’s death toll from Boko Haram terrorist violence directed largely at Christians is now the highest for the year and might possibly exceed the high of the last two years, reports human rights lawyer Emmanuel Ogebe.

Here’s a WORLD summary of the latest attacks. Be sure to scroll down to the slideshow of destruction.

Overnight we received word that Nigerian forces launched air strikes on a Boko Haram camp, killing Islamist fighters in a forest outside Gujba. The area is close to the agriculture college Boko Haram attacked on Sept. 29. The death toll at the college has risen to more than 78. The military strike would be a positive step, as human rights monitors have railed against the Nigerian government over the issue of impunity—the terrorists keep attacking because they keep getting away with it.

SYRIA:The battle for Syria is not being fought in Washington or at UN headquarters in New York. The real battle is deadlocked in a war of attrition in Damascus and other communities, where starvation and other hardships are multiplying and Syrians are desperate to get out.

Here’s the most effective the UN has been so far: With Russia repeatedly vetoing binding resolutions, the UN Security Council has been able to get only a non-binding resolution calling on both sides to allow in humanitarian aid.

KENYA: Kenyan Defense Forces soldiers could face up to 10 years in prison if authorities can prove allegations that some looted from stores during last month’s siege at Nairobi’s Westgate Mall.

VENEZUELA: Fredo Corleone is in charge of Venezuela, with serious consequences for the Americas.

SPAIN: No, I’m not obsessing over Sagrada Familia, but this video shows what would have to happen for the longest church under construction in the world to be actually completed.