The UN Security Council is expected to vote on a resolution on October 21 that condemns the Yemeni government for its crackdown on dissent and urges President Ali Abdullah Saleh to transfer power.

A total of 342 people were confirmed dead and two others were missing in the floods that have inundated the upper part of the country for almost three months, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported on October 21.

The price of rice is likely to rise to US$700 per tonne next year despite India’s return to the market, according to the CEO of The Rice Trader, a leading trade publication and analyst of the global rice industry.

Negotiators from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have reached a consensus on measures to boost cross-Strait industrial cooperation.

Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi was killed in crossfire in an assault on his birthplace of Sirte, said officials on October 20.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan for talks on dismantling Taliban sanctuaries in the north of the country on October 20.

The Greek parliament approved a painful set of austerity measures on Thursday, defying violent protests in central Athens and a general strike which shut down much of the country.  

EU leaders are to hold another summit by Wednesday, because they will not be able to agree a rescue plan for the euro on Sunday.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is currently in Afghanistan to encourage President Hamid Karzai to continue efforts to reconcile with the Taliban.

Tens of thousands of job opportunities will be created by the 2012 London Olympic Games, according to the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).