International Glance
Fed up with U.S. dominance of the global financial system, five emerging market powers this week will launch their own versions of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa —the so-called BRICS countries — are "seeking "alternatives to the existing world order," said Harold Trinkunas, director of the Latin America Initiative at the Brookings Institution.
At a summit Tuesday through Thursday in Brazil, the five countries will unveil a $100 billion fund to fight financial crises, their version of the IMF. They will also launch a World Bank alternative, a new bank that will make loans for infrastructure projects across the developing world.
Emerging nations plan their own World Bank, IMF
Church of England Approves Women Bishops
The Church of England has finally agreed that women may become bishops, ending 20 years of bitter compromises since women were allowed to become priests in 1994.
The synod had been threatened with parliamentary action if the measure had failed, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, had prepared contingency plans to dissolve it and call fresh elections if the vote had gone the wrong way.
But the crisis was averted by a change of mind, and vote, among lay members. A previous attempt in 2012 failed when 74 lay members voted against, preventing the required two-thirds majority among the laity.
Emails shed new light on UK link to CIA 'torture flights'
Crucial logs revealing flights to a British overseas territory when it was allegedly used as a secret US prison are in the possession of the police, the Observer has learned.
The revelation has raised concerns about why, despite repeated demands, details of the flights have not been shared with lawyers and MPs, who for years have been investigating the role played by Diego Garcia, an atoll in the Indian ocean, in the CIA's extraordinary rendition programme.
A Whitehall official was photographed last week carrying documents marked "sensitive" confirming that the logs recording details of planes landing and taking off at the atoll have been handed to detectives. The documents, a series of printed emails and handwritten notes made by the official, reveal internal Foreign Office discussions about the line to take in response to questions about the British territory raised by lawyers and MPs.
Thousands flee northern Gaza after Israeli warnings
Thousands of Palestinians are fleeing northern parts of Gaza after Israel warned it was targeting the area in its campaign to stop rocket attacks.
The UN says 17,000 people have sought refuge in its facilities as Israeli air strikes continue for a sixth day. Israeli forces have raided a suspected rocket-launching site in Gaza in their first reported ground incursion.
At least 159 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's offensive began, according to health officials in Gaza.
Germany wins World Cup 1-0 over Argentina
Mario Goetze volleyed in the winning goal in extra time to give Germany its fourth World Cup title with a 1-0 victory over Argentina on Sunday.
Goetze controlled the ball with his chest and then shot past Argentina goalkeeper Sergio Romero in the 113th minute.
Pope Francis: 1 in 50 clergy are pedophiles
One in 50 clerics are pedophiles, Pope Francis said in an interview published Sunday, in which he also hinted that the mandate of priestly celibacy may one day be lifted.
Francis condemned child sex abuse as a "leprosy" in the Church and cited his aides as saying that "the level of pedophilia in the Church is at two percent." That figure includes priests "and even bishops and cardinals," Italy's La Repubblica daily quoted Francis as saying.
Israel fires into Lebanon after rockets launched over border
Rockets fired from Lebanon hit Israeli territory on Saturday and Israel's army responded with artillery fire, Lebanese security sources and the Israeli military said, in the second such incident in two days.
"Initial reports indicate that at least two rockets fired from Lebanon hit open areas north of Nahariya. No damage or injuries, thus far," an Israeli military statement said, adding that Israeli forces had fired artillery toward the source of the rocket fire.
A Lebanese security source said three rockets had been fired from Lebanon.
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