Once one of the world's largest inland seas and home to thousands of species, in under 20 years the Aral Sea has shrunk to ten percent of its original size and is so salty that barely any life form remains. The Russians were taught to believe that the sea was an "error of nature" and therefore pointless, but as our Observer points out, the real catastrophe was man-made. Read more...

Since the end of August, fishermen from Gaza - frequent targets of the Israeli navy - have been accompanied out to sea by members of the NGO International Solidarity Movement. On 5 October, the pro-Palestinian activists filmed the boats getting fired at with machine guns and water cannons. Read more and see the footage...