United States:According to the Washington Post, on Sept. 6 President Barack Obama announced an infrastructure improvement plan that will invest $50 billion in railroads, roads, airports, and create an infrastructure bank. “We used to have the best infrastructure in the world, and we can have it again,” he announced, according to the BBC. Efforts to modernize and improve transportation, are also aimed to stimulate the economy, which just suffered a loss of over 54,000 more jobs.

Guatemala:

Mother Nature has brought the latest disaster to Guatemala; mud slides have caused a death toll of at least 45 and contributed to the evacuation of more than 11,000 people. Following days of torrential rains, mud slides have devastated the country; even rescue efforts were briefly halted. The mud slides affected a major highway northwest of Guatemala City as the crowd tried to dig out five vehicles and a bus. Guatemala’s civil defense director told the BBC that they have lost hope that the victims will be pulled out alive.

Mexico:

Kingpin drug boss Edgar “La Barbie” Valdez Villarreal was arrested in Mexico last week, marking a major victory for Mexican law enforcement officials. According to the Christian Science Monitor, his apprehension has been viewed by the country as a major step countering the trend of drug-related violence. In the last four years, drug wars in Mexico have accounted for nearly 28,000 deaths, and in the last few weeks, especially, the escalation of brutality amongst drug cartels has drawn much global attention.

South Africa:

Unions representing over 1.3 million workers have ended a strike that has crippled South Africa’s public services for the past three weeks. Hospitals were unstaffed and schools closed before the government agreed on a 7.5 percent pay raise for the government workers. Netcare, a private South African health care provider, reports rescuing nearly 100 infants from public hospitals and treated over 400 people affected by violence related to the strike who had been turned away by unstaffed public hospitals.

Iraq:

Iraqi officials and religious leaders are struggling to respond to the latest episode of anti-Muslim sentiments in the United States. A church in Gainesville, Fla., has announced it will commemorate the anniversary of 9/11 by publicly burning copies of the Koran. The church’s website states that the purpose of the burning is “to warn about the teaching and ideology of Islam, which we do hate as it is hateful.” On the issue, U.S. Gen. David Petraeus warns the burnings “could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan.” Many religious organizations and Muslim groups have joined together to oppose the burning.