British right torn over gay marriage

In the UK, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has promised a vote in Parliament over legalising gay marriage. The idea is supported by a majority of British politicians. Yet Cameron risks being ostracised by members of his own party, with many Conservative MPs and voters firmly against the reform.

FOCUS

24/09/2009 - UN

Gaddafi hijacks spotlight at General Assembly

Several world leaders delivered significant addresses at the 64th UN General Assembly on Wednesday but one controversial figure in particular hogged the UN limelight: Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

FOCUS

Mideast peace talks still at a standstill

Were talks held in New York on Tuesday between US President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas something of a breakthrough or merely another photo opportunity?

UNITED NATIONS

Ban Ki-moon: lost in translation?

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's "quiet diplomacy" has drawn criticism in the Western press. Halfway through his five-year term, is the criticism of the UN chief justified, or is it a misunderstanding which can be put down to cultural differences?

FRANCE

Bitter rivals meet for 'trial of the decade'

The Clearstream trial, which opens in Paris on Monday, touches the heart of France's political establishment and senior figures in French industry and the secret services. We throw light on a murky affair behind France's "trial of the decade".

FOCUS

Remembering victims of terrorism

Several dozen European survivors, relatives and terror experts met at a two-day congress in Paris, held 20 years after the bombing of a French UTA airliner over Niger claimed 170 lives on September 19, 1989.