Greek Strike Resumes Ahead of Austerity Vote

Thousands of Greeks, furious at the government's austerity measures, gathered outside parliament in the capital Athens, as the second day of a general strike and mass protests began.

SUDAN: Bombing the Homeless

Hawa Jundi sat on the ground outside a makeshift shelter where she and her family now live. A violent storm was moving in and lightning streaked toward the earth as the wind began blowing hard against the tarpaulin tied to a frame of sticks.

Doubts Shadow Egyptian Election

Egypt's interim government has begun accepting candidacy applications for parliamentary polls slated to begin Nov. 21. But as the country prepares for its first post-Mubarak elections, a number of political parties say they are considering boycotting the contest.

BALKANS: Serbs Turn From the State Towards Themselves

Dismayed by the lack of beer and chips at a football game three years ago, Dragan Stancic and Uros Petrovic, two young Belgradians, hatched a plan to take matters into their own hands.

U.S. Urged to Keep Funding U.N Peacekeeping

High-level United Nations officials and advocates of U.S. involvement in U.N. peacekeeping initiatives in Washington this week urged lawmakers to continue and even ramp up support for the operations, which they say benefit U.S. security interests, protect civilians, and prevent failed states.

Finland to Host Conference for WMD-Free Middle East

After much delay, Finland has been chosen to host a 2012 conference to establish a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) in the Middle East. The meeting aims to bring together all Middle Eastern countries, some of which share a long history of disagreement, such as Iran and Israel.

Rights Groups Praise U.S. Hold on Bahrain Arms Sale

A State Department announcement that it will delay the shipment of 53 million dollars in new arms to Bahrain pending the results of an international commission investigating alleged abuses by the kingdom's security forces earlier this year has evoked mixed reactions from human rights groups here.

ARGENTINA: Divided Opposition Goes All Out for…Second Place

Argentina's weak, fragmented opposition is going to the polls on Sunday offering neither strong leaders nor clear alternatives capable of winning voters away from President Cristina Fernández, who is expected to easily win a first-round victory.

Turkish Troops Enter Iraq After PKK Attacks

Turkish forces have launched an incursion into the mountains of northern Iraq following simultaneous attacks by Kurdish separatists in southeastern Turkey that killed at least 26 soldiers.

UZBEKISTAN: Forced Child Labour Kills

A 13-year-old boy has become the latest victim of state-sponsored forced child labour in Uzbekistan as its regime continues to ignore boycotts and international condemnation of its practices during the country’s annual cotton harvest.

Occupy Movement Heats Up U.S. South

As the Occupy Movement spreads like wildfire across the United States and around the world, protests in the U.S. South are facing unique challenges.

Syrian National Council Seeks Legitimacy At Home and Abroad

As the death toll from more than six months of popular unrest climbs past the 3,000 mark, the opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad is intensifying efforts to present a unified face to both the outside world and the Syrian people.

LIBERIA: Former Warlord Backs Johnson-Sirleaf for Second Term

Former warlord Prince Johnson, who placed third in Liberia’s election last week, has endorsed the re-election bid of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who was named a joint winner of the Nobel Peace Prize just days before the vote.

BANGLADESH: Reducing Poverty Hinges on Microcredit – Yunus

Reducing poverty in Bangladesh will depend critically on sustaining the successes of the country’s microcredit (MC) programmes, says Muhammad Yunus, the economist who shared the 2006 Nobel peace prize with his creation, Grameen Bank.

SOMALIA: Death Threats Fail to Stop Women’s Basketball

When Al-Shabaab militants called the Somali national women's basketball team captain, Suweys Ali Jama, and told her she had two options: to be killed or to stop playing basketball, she decided that neither was really an option at all.

IBSA: Coverage of Economic Body Vital for Development

As the India Brazil and South Africa Summit of heads of state and government starts Tuesday, editors from the respective countries have resolved to provide better coverage of the economic body.

U.S. Hawks Behind Iraq War Rally for Strikes Against Iran

Key neo-conservatives and other right-wing hawks who championed the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq are calling for military strikes against Iran in retaliation for its purported murder-for-hire plot against the Saudi ambassador here.

World Bank Reveals Crippling Donor Dependency in West Bank, Gaza

The World Bank drew attention to the ongoing devastation wrought by one of the world's longest standing conflicts with the publication Monday of a report documenting high levels of donor dependency in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

U.S. and South Korea: A Rosy Relationship, With Thorns

The United States and South Korea maintain a close military alliance. Congress just passed a free trade agreement that will boost economic ties with Seoul. And the leaders of the two countries form a small but very powerful mutual admiration society, which The New York Times has termed a "presidential man-crush".

SPAIN: Renowned Mediators Urge ETA to Lay Down Arms

International mediators meeting in a peace conference Monday in Spain's northern Basque region were hopeful that the armed separatist group ETA would respond positively to their call for the group to lay down arms.

MEXICO: Government Frustrates Dialogue with Peace Movement

"I feel bad. They led me on with false hopes," complained María Herrera, one of the pillars of the Mexican peace movement led by writer Javier Sicilia, hours after the activists' second meeting with President Felipe Calderón.