News headlines in August 2011, page 18

The nationwide movement for social justice that sent tens of thousands of Israelis to the streets on the weekend was seemingly oblivious to the fact that, concurrently, the Palestinians were officially announcing their bid for U.N.- endorsed recognition of statehood.

Shahdul Huq, a Bangladeshi national living in Japan for more than 20 years, last saw his daughter almost three years ago when he lost his ‘spouse visa’ following divorce from his Japanese wife.

Mining gems and other valuable minerals may provide, the Pakistan government hopes, alternate careers to militancy in the restive Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), bordering Afghanistan.

A new literary trend is gaining momentum in Serbia. It revolves around a phenomenon sociologists are describing as 'prison literature'.

Buy now, pay later. That's the power Muhammad Yunus gave to the world's poor.

Tunisia’s border with Libya has been a major lifeline, keeping residents in Ben Guerdane economically afloat - so when the vital trade route is blocked by the municipality or by protestors, tempers flare.

'Open the door! Open the door, you SOBs!' Policemen dressed in black, wearing balaclavas and carrying 'what I suppose were high-power rifles' broke down the door of the home of Efraín Bartolomé, a poet who lives on the south side of the Mexican capital. They had no warrant.

The Argentine economy has grown steadily since 2003, and hundreds of thousands of social housing units have been built. Nevertheless, the protests and conflicts that periodically break out make it clear that the solutions have failed to keep up with the need for affordable housing

Ester Abeja has experienced both physical and emotional atrocities. She was captured by Uganda's feared rebel group the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and was forced to join them. But not before the soldiers made her kill her one-year- old baby girl, by smashing her skull in, and then gang raped her.

Although there is a female presidential candidate contesting Zambia's Sept. 20 general elections, her prospects are not strong. And in fact, fewer women overall are likely to be elected into public office this year, analysts say.