Protesters faced off with the police in Kinshasa after the deeply flawed presidential election in November. But the intense mass demonstrations many expected proved difficult to sustain, in part because of the daily struggle to survive.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the French term délestage is used to describe power cutoffs, but when applied to food shortages, it illustrates a stark reality.
As President Nicolas Sarkozy heads into a tough re-election fight, he is increasingly relying on Ramon Fernandez, a civil servant few people outside France have ever heard of.
The visit to Istanbul by Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of Gaza, is his first official trip abroad since Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2007.
While security forces said there had been no attack, Finance Minister Rafe al-Essawi said a car bomb rocked his convoy as it returned to Baghdad from a funeral.
A lack of reformers on the ballot would create a glaring gap that could prove worrisome in providing the appearance of a choice of candidates.
A scandal in Germany flared anew when the country’s biggest newspaper confirmed that President Christian Wulff had made a menacing telephone call to its editor in an effort to snuff out a story.
Pawnshops and gold dealers are thriving as cash-strapped Greeks give up valuables to make ends meet. But authorities say many of the shops are concealing a rapidly expanding illicit trade in gold.
The fires, believed to have begun in Torres del Paine National Park last week, have also affected two other regions.
The trial in Iran of an American who confessed to being a CIA spy has ended and he is awaiting the verdict, the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted a judicial official as saying.
The notion that any European Union nation can block a law is giving way to a new approach in which a group of countries can adopt laws among themselves.
The demonstration — a day after the country’s new “majoritarian” Constitution took effect — marked the first time that opposition forces joined together to rally against a new constitution.
The radical art collective Voina says members set a police vehicle on fire in St. Petersburg on New Year’s Eve as “a gift to all political prisoners of Russia.”
The National Democratic Institute and the International Republican Institute accused Egypt’s military-led government of a campaign of false statements about their history.
The authorities said the mother-in-law and sister-in-law of the girl, 15, kept her in a basement for six months and tortured her, apparently in an attempt to force her into prostitution.
President Lee Myung-bak predicted a “big change” in the relationship with the North following the death of Kim Jong-il, but warned against provocations.
For centuries, Russian rulers have feared protesters as a force that needed to be reined in. But the latest protests, with their mostly middle-class turnout, require a different strategy.
Staff members from The New York Times discuss some of the major stories of the year.
As Greece is forced to make steep spending cuts, many families are falling into poverty and face losing healthcare coverage.
Inhabitants of part of the Rhone Valley in Switzerland are fascinated by American culture - so much so that American trademarks are heavily woven into their lives.
December 30, 2011
December 30, 2011
December 29, 2011
December 30, 2011
December 29, 2011
December 28, 2011
January 2, 2012
January 2, 2012
January 2, 2012
In the lead-up to the Olympics, London anticipates jubilation and triumph, or unbridled misery. Both visions of its Olympic destiny are true, depending on whom you talk to.
