SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - The world's economies stand on the brink of a trade war as leaders of rich and emerging nations gather in Seoul. A dispute over whether China and the United States are manipulating their currencies is threatening to resurrect destructive protectionist policies like those that worsened the Great Depression. The biggest fear is that trade barriers will send the global economy back into recession.
UK - The government will be able to transfer some powers from Britain to the EU without a referendum under new proposals, despite promising the public would get to vote on any such move. The new EU Bill says a minister will be able to simply state the transfer of power is not significant enough to merit a referendum in some cases.
SOUTH KOREA - It has been called a "currency war", by the International Monetary Fund's managing director and the Brazilian finance minister among others. IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the BBC last month that there were signs that countries were trying to use their currencies "as a weapon".
GERMANY - Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg says that GERMANY SHOULD BE PREPARED TO USE ITS MILITARY TO DEFEND THE COUNTRY'S ECONOMIC INTERESTS. Similar comments cost German President Horst Kohler his job earlier this year. And once again, the opposition in Berlin is up in arms.
SOUTH KOREA - The days of close cooperation among the world's big 20 economic powers may have ended. With the economic recovery, displays of envy and egotism have reared up at this year's G-20 summit in Seoul. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is on a confrontation course with Washington over trade policy.
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday the world economy was headed for "bankruptcy" unless rich nations raise consumer demand rather than relying on exports to power recovery.
VATICAN - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday condemned violence carried out "in the name of God" and called for the respect of religious freedoms in the Muslim world. The pope said violence in the world is sometimes "presented in the guise of an inter-religious conflict," adding that all religions should encourage ethical values and civil co-existence.
LONDON, UK - Tens of thousands of students took to the streets of London today in a demonstration that spiralled out of control when a fringe group of protesters hurled missiles at police and occupied the building housing Conservative party headquarters.
GERMANY - Germany's undiplomatic outbursts against US policy, calling it "clueless" before a G20 summit, show growing estrangement on economics as America's focus shifts away from transatlantic ties to domestic challenges and Asia.
DUBLIN, IRELAND - With doubts swirling about the solvency of the Irish state in early September, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan summoned a dozen senior government and bank officials to a conference room nicknamed the "torture chamber," a nod to its history as a venue for painful meetings.
WASHINGTON, USA - The United States will give an additional $150 million to the Palestinian Authority as Washington seeks to boost the fledgling government amid an impasse in peace talks with Israel, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday.
SOUTH KOREA - The global financial system and world economy are set to dominate the agenda at a meeting of the G20 in South Korea. But there are fears the summit in Seoul could descend into a row between the US and China about so-called "currency wars" and trade imbalances.
USA - Millions of American families are about to be broadsided by rising gas and food prices and most of them don't even realize it. You see, most Americans stop listening when terms such as "quantitative easing" and "agricultural commodities" are brought up, but when millions more Americans are faced with a choice of either feeding their families or heating their homes this winter, maybe then they will start listening
UK - There have been violent scenes as tens of thousands of people protested against plans to treble tuition fees and cut university funding in England. Demonstrators stormed a building in Westminster housing the Conservative Party head quarters, smashed windows and got on to the roof.
GERMANY - Europe's Jews were robbed of so much wealth by the Nazis that they financed 30 per cent of the German war effort, say researchers. Nazi officials plundered 120 billion reichsmarks - more than 12 billion pounds - by looting and through confiscation laws.