World Audio/Video - NPR

The bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was good news for Asian markets — they surged the most in seven months. Analysts say the government takeover removed the uncertainty stalking the markets and renewed investor confidence.

Alitalia is on the verge of liquidation in a few weeks. Now the only hope for Italy's flagship air carrier is a controversial rescue plan proposed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But the plan would lay off thousands and could face obstacles in the European Union.

Hurricane Ike, expected to make landfall in the U.S. this week, has already caused havoc in Cuba and the Caribbean. In Haiti, at least 58 people have been killed. The port city of Gonaives, hit hard last week by Tropical Storm Hanna, has been flooded again, and aid agencies are having trouble delivering supplies.

He may not handle a gun as artfully as that other Bond, but University of Leicester scientist John Bond has made a real contribution to crime fighting. He has figured out a way for forensics experts to take a fingerprint off a bullet, even if the shooter has wiped the casing clean. The technique has already helped reopen three cold cases.

The government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is making waves far off American shores. China is watching the events closely because some 10 percent of China's gross domestic product is invested with the troubled mortgage giants. NPR's Adam Davidson talks with host Jacki Lyden about China's stake in the U.S. mortgage industry.

Hurricane Ike has passed over Haiti and is now steaming toward the Gulf of Mexico, leaving devastation in its wake. Flooding has hampered relief efforts in the port city of Gonaives, Haiti, which is still suffering from the effects of Tropical Storm Hanna.

Gov. Sarah Palin and the Republican National Convention made headlines around the world last week. Weekend Edition's regular essayist Diane Roberts is spending the election season in the United Kingdom, and she sends us this essay about what the British media is saying about Senator John McCain's choice for vice president.

In Haiti, relief efforts continue almost a week after Tropical Storm Hanna caused extensive flooding on the island. The town of Gonaives was the hardest hit; scores of people were killed and much of the city remains under water. Aid workers are desperately trying to provide food, shelter and medicine to people there while fearing more flooding from Hurricane Ike.

Haitians are heading to higher ground to escape massive flooding caused by Tropical Storm Hanna, and they're bracing themselves for Hurricane Ike. More than 150 people have been killed.

Just over nine months after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated in a suicide attack, Asif Ali Zardari has been chosen as the new president of Pakistan. His election Saturday has been received warily by the Pakistani public. It came on a day marred by death and mayhem after a suicide bomb attack in Peshawar killed at least 30 people.

Red Army soldiers trekked through China on their epic journey nearly 75 years ago. The daughter of an officer, Diane Zhang, follows the route on a quest to learn about the defining moment in her family's and China's history.

Mexican citizens are getting sick of the murders and kidnappings in their country and are demanding the government do something about them.

In Pakistan, lawmakers will select the country's next president Saturday. Asif Ali Zardari is the frontrunner to succeed President Pervez Musharraf, who resigned under pressure last month. Zardari took over the Pakistan Peoples Party after his wife and former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in December.

Tropical storm Hanna and Hurricane Gustav have overwhelmed Haiti with floods and mudslides that have killed more than 130 people. The city of Gonaive is almost entirely cut off from the rest of the country. Officials call the situation "catastrophic."

Pervez Musharraf's resignation introduced uncertainty, and U.S. officials say al-Qaida is seeking to strengthen its presence in the country. Meanwhile, Pakistan looks likely to pick Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, as its next president.

Tropical Storm Hanna has killed over a hundred people in Haiti, and thousands more are still displaced. Madeleine Brand talks to Louis Vigneault of UNICEF in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

Forensic anthropologists are searching for the "disappeared" in Colombia — thousands of people killed by death squads and buried in unmarked graves. Many of the disappearances were not reported out of fear.

Fears about the global economy have flared up again, with worries starting in the United States and then infecting Asian markets. Nearly every stock index in Asia lost 2 percent to 3 percent of its value Friday, and European shares also started the trading day lower. The latest flight from financial markets was sparked by gloomy reports on U.S. retail sales and the U.S. labor market.

European foreign ministers open two days of talks Friday in southern France to discuss sending civilian monitors to Georgia. The aim is to convince Russia to remove its troops.

Samak Sundaravej has had a 40-year career in Thailand's politics, but it's not clear whether he can ride out the country's latest political crisis.

In the wake of Russia's invasion of Georgia, Ukraine is in turmoil over a battle between the president and the prime minister. They disagree over how best to handle relations with Russia and the West.

Vice President Dick Cheney was in Georgia Thursday signaling Washington's support for the former Soviet republic. In a statement, he decried what he called Russia's "illegitimate" attempt to redraw Georgia's borders by force.

Survivors of the raid in Azizabad, the Afghan government and the U.N. counted many more dead from the Aug. 22 raid than the U.S. government.

In the past seven years, has the U.S. gotten closer to finding Bin Laden, containing al-Qaida or stabilizing Afghanistan? Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani author and journalist, and Peter Bergen, author of The Osama Bin Laden I Know, discuss whether progress has been made in the region.

The American presidential race is the subject of intense interest around the world. Luis Clemens, a reporter and political commentator in Mexico; Rami Khouri, of The Daily Star in Beirut; and Masha Lipman, of the Carnegie Endowment's Moscow Center in Russia discuss how the international press is covering this week's GOP convention.

The Sunni paramilitary group Sons of Iraq has been a centerpiece of the American strategy in Iraq. But the group, which receives funding and support from the U.S., is now being targeted by Iraq's Shiite-led government.

The leadership of Japan's ruling party is up for grabs after the resignation of the country's second prime minister in less than a year. The leading contender, Taro Aso, has a reputation for brash rhetoric.

In Moscow, there has been no official comment about Vice President Dick Cheney's visit to Georgia. Russia has so far ignored or dismissed warnings from the West of economic and diplomatic consequences for its attack on Georgia. Russian officials appear to be enjoying defying the West.

Republican presidential hopeful John McCain spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. You might think people there would be less supportive of McCain because he is a conservative who backs the war in Iraq and was in the U.S. military during the Vietnam war. But McCain has a lot of supporters in Hanoi.

The government in Pakistan has condemned an attack on a remote village near the border with Afghanistan. Pakistani officials say Wednesday's raid was led by U.S. troops. However, U.S. officials have not officially commented.

Vice President Dick Cheney is visiting Georgia one day after the White House announced a $1 billion economic aid package for the country. The visit is the highest-ranking by a U.S. official since Russia invaded its smaller neighbor last month. The aid will help Georgia rebuild but at the same time sends a message to Moscow.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to Libya comes after years of gradually easing sanctions on the country. She will be the first secretary of state to visit Libya since 1953, and experts tout the country's transformation as a foreign policy success story.

Pakistan says U.S.-led forces crossed into its territory and launched an attack that killed at least 15 people. The target of the attack was a village in South Waziristan, which is a tribal area used as a base by the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Literary critics feared that after the Soviet collapse, the easy availability of popular romance novels and thrillers would seduce Russian readers away from deeper works. Now they attribute a literary revival to the country's new authoritarianism.

China wants to invest its money, but it doesn't want to take a risk on the shaky U.S. housing market. China's four biggest banks are looking for other ways to invest their huge foreign currency reserves.

Cheney will be the highest ranking American official to visit Georgia since the Russian invasion last month. For some, his visit signifies the promise of American support to the nation and protection from future Russian attacks.

Asif Ali Zardari spent more than a decade in Pakistani prisons on charges ranging from corruption to murder. Now, the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto is running for president.

Reports out of Pakistan say U.S.-led forces attacked a remote village near the Afghanistan border. The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan says it has no report of such an incursion, and NATO troops deny any involvement. Also, Pakistan's prime minister is reportedly safe after shots were fired at his motorcade.

Russia is facing international isolation over the conflict in Georgia, but many Russians appear unconcerned, expressing views that are increasingly hostile to the United States. And the Kremlin says it's ready for a new Cold War.