Latest update: 18/07/2011

- Barack Obama - debt - financial crisis - USA

Strike a deal - or the world's biggest economy will run out of money

Barack Obama has a crisis on his hands. In less than three weeks, the US will run out of money and be forced to default on its loans. The Treasury will be unable to make social security payments, such as pensions or welfare. Such a financial Armageddon will likely see the world's biggest economy stripped of its gold-plated credit rating. But will the Republicans agree to save the day? The clock is ticking...

FOCUS

23/05/2012 - CANADA

Students in Quebec march against tuition fee hike

Student protests in the Canadian province Quebec are into their fourth month. Hundreds were arrested at marches to mark 100 days since the protests began. Students are demonstrating against an 80 percent rise in tuition fees in Quebec, the Canadian province that has until now enjoyed the country's lowest rates for higher education.

23/05/2012 - EGYPT

Egyptians head to the polls

Egyptians go to the polls in the country's first truly contested presidential election on Wednesday. With an array of candidates to choose from, voters will decide who's the best man to lead them through the last phase of the country's troubled democratic transition that began with Egypt's revolution in January last year. Cairo correspondents Kathryn Stapley and Sonia Dridi talked to some of the activists whose protests in Tahrir Square changed the course of Egypt's history.

22/05/2012 - EGYPT

A troubling time for Egypt's Coptic Christians

Egyptians go to the polls tomorrow to vote for a new president for the first time since Hosni Mubarak was ousted during the revolution last year. Two of the front-runners in the presidential race with a realistic chance of winning are devout Islamists, which is troubling for Egypt's Coptic Christians. They are Egypt's largest religious minority and many of them don't think any of the candidates are capable of protecting them from the religious violence that has been steadily increasing.

22/05/2012 - WEST BANK

'The Battle of the Empty Stomachs'

Palestinians nicknamed it "the battle of the empty stomachs". For weeks, 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails refused food and drink in what became the longest ever mass hunger strike. Israel finally capitulated and a deal was reached, allowing those in isolation back onto the general wards, and visas for those family members wishing to visit from Gaza. In exchange, prisoners agreed not to carry out "security activities" such as recruiting for terrorist missions.

21/05/2012 - SERBIA

Serbia's new president - nationalist or not?

Serbia has elected a new president - and it's not the one that most people were expecting. Tomislav Nikolic has unseated Boris Tadic, the man in power since 2004. Observers are worried about the new head of state, who used to be part of the ultra-nationalist Radical Party. He once said he would prefer to be allied with Russia than join the EU, but he has since toned down the rhetoric, saying he will take Serbia to Europe after all.

Comments (2)

wow it is possible iy ys

by Anonyme - 20/07/2011 - 06:40

wow it is possible iy ys written in the holy book....

report abuse

We're already bankrupt!

by Anonyme - 16/07/2011 - 02:08

We're already bankrupt! There's no point in raising the debt ceiling, as we'd only be putting off the inevitable, anyway. As Emperor Claudius said "Let all the poisons within...hatch out!" By defaulting on 'our' debt obligations, we will see that a group of criminals has purposely indebted our nation to get at our nation's resources and public assets. Only when it gets rough will Americans pull themselves away from diversion and return to their productive roots...

report abuse