11 July 2013 Last updated at 07:24 GMT
Poor working conditions at garment factories in Bangladesh are making headlines globally following the Rana Plaza disaster, but local labor organizer Nazma Akhter argues the plants offer women a rare opportunity for social advancement.
Akhter recently flew to Germany for an appearance on a leading national television talk show to discuss the collapse of the Rana Plaza building near Dhaka in April. Some 1,129 people perished in the disaster, and it prompted an intense international debate about precarious working conditions in the Bangladeshi garment sector, which is the third largest supplier of clothing in Europe.
Egypt unrest: US to go ahead with F-16 jets delivery
The US is going ahead with plans to deliver four F-16 fighter jets to Egypt despite the political unrest in the country, senior American officials say.
It comes as Washington is continuing to evaluate last week's overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi by the army.
US massive military aid to Cairo would have to be cut by law if the removal of the Islamist leader is determined by Washington to have been a coup.
The Muslim Brotherhood, which backs Mr Morsi, is demanding his reinstatement.
Pressure builds in Germany over Edward Snowden claims
Angela Merkel under pressure to demand a freeze on transatlantic data-sharing
Derek Scally
German chancellor Angela Merkel is facing domestic pressure to demand a freeze on transatlantic data-sharing until Washington explains claims by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden about massive data-collation.
As her interior minister flies to Washington today for talks, Dr Merkel tells today’s Stern magazazine she “first took note” of the alleged practices through media reports. Her Free Democrat (FDP) coalition partner has decided to crank up the pressure in what is an area of traditional importance to the party and its core voters.
Justice minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, a senior FDP figure, called the Snowden allegations “a Hollywood-style nightmare”. Going even further is Hartfrid Wolff, the FDP’s representative in the Bundestag committee responsible for overseeing Germany’s intelligence service (BND).
SYRIA
Syrian civil war spills onto Lebanon's streets
The vicious Syrian civil war has spilled over to Lebanon, where clashes between pro- and anti-rebel groups regularly break out, appropriately enough, on Tripoli's Syria Street.
Syria Street in this northern Lebanese city has become the dividing line between Sunni supporters of Syrian rebels and Alawite supporters of President Bashar al- Assad.
The narrow alleys off Syria Street have heavy tarpaulins strung across to shield the view of snipers and allow civilians to pass. The Sunni militants shoot at both opposition gunmen and Alawite civilians in a hillside neighborhood above them.
News photographer Ibrahim Chaloub drove carefully through a roundabout not far from Syria Street He's doesn't care about traffic. He's more worried about snipers.
An Awkward Truth: Bangladesh Factories a Way Up for Women
Poor working conditions at garment factories in Bangladesh are making headlines globally following the Rana Plaza disaster, but local labor organizer Nazma Akhter argues the plants offer women a rare opportunity for social advancement.
At the age of 11, Nazma Akhter started work in a garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh. At 14, she was beaten up by hired thugs and tear-gassed by the police when she joined fellow garment workers in a protest against working conditions in her factory. Today, 39-year-old Akhter is one of the most respected and influential labor leaders in Bangladesh.
Zambia charges two journalists with sedition
Zambia charged two journalists with sedition in what their lawyer said appeared to be a witch hunt for writers of an online publication critical of the government.
Police brought the charges against Thomas Zyambo and Clayson Hamasaka, who were both detained on Tuesday, after searching for documents linking them to investigative news site Zambian Watchdog, their lawyer Keith Mweemba told AFP.
"Thomas Zyambo has officially been arrested and charged for the offence of seditious intentions," said Mweemba.
Hamasaka was "charged with the same offence," he added.
Officers were looking for evidence that linked the journalists to investigative news website Zambian Watchdog, according to their attorney.
Mongolia's junior Genghis Khans face rising risks
July 11, 2013 - 4:47PM
Just before little Baasanjav Lkhagvadorj was lifted onto a horse for a race across Mongolia's open steppe, he asked his father to bless him with a kiss.
Minutes later the seven-year-old was killed in a fall, the latest in a rising toll among the country's child jockeys.
As Mongolia's biggest national festival, Naadam, begins on Thursday, controversy is mounting over the way unprotected young riders are risking injury and even death.
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