The California dream has turned to nightmare. On July 1, facing a USD 24 billion budget shortfall, the state began issuing thousands of contractors IOUs that major banks warned they wouldn't honour, writes Mark Sommer, host of the award-winning, internationally- syndicated radio programme, A World of Possibilities.

Throughout her varied career as a political leader in Portugal, Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and ambassador, Ana Gomes has been a distinguished and tireless fighter for what she defines as 'just causes.' The target of her criticism now is the shelving of an investigation in her country into secret CIA rendition flights.

A joke deriding U.S. President Barack Obama is said to be making the rounds in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bureau, according to Aluf Benn, the normally well-informed Ha'aretz diplomatic correspondent: 'What do Americans do when anything breaks down in their home - when the sink is blocked, the toilet overflows, or a fuse snaps? Simple: They ask Barack Obama to give a speech and the problem is solved.'

Karim borrowed money to expand his bakery. When the money ran out, and facing the prospect of imprisonment if unable to repay his debts, the 36-year- old Egyptian baker sold his kidney.

One of three students in Romania studies at Spiru Haret University, the largest private university in the country. But more than 100,000 students, recent and older graduates, could be left without their diplomas because the authorities dispute the quality of education provided by the institution.

As U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton began talks with Indian officials in New Delhi on Monday to take a forward a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement, signed by the previous Bush administration, it was apparent that there were many roadblocks to be cleared before deals worth an estimated 10 billion dollars are signed.

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison Monday for giving 15 million dollars in public funds to his security chief Vladimiro Montesinos in the last few weeks of his government.

Governmental corruption and the refusal to cooperate with U.S. counter-drug efforts are worsening a ballooning drug trafficking problem in Venezuela, according to a new report by the investigative office of the U.S. Congress.

Deposed Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said the talks with the de facto regime that ousted him in late June were over and that he planned to return to his country.

The United States government is attempting to deepen its ties with South-east Asia this week when Washington finally throws its weight behind a regional peace and security treaty.