In the World
Spain protests draw thousands
MADRID - Tens of thousands of people marched in 56 Spanish cities Sunday to protest punishing austerity cuts they say will only increase unemployment and job insecurity in a country experiencing its second recession in three years and record high unemployment.
About 20,000 people marched in Madrid behind a banner that said, "They want to ruin the country. We have to stop them." The rally in Spain's capital was supported by 150 organizations.
Protesters chanted slogans against cuts and waved placards reading "youth without jobs, society with no future." That is a reference to the youth unemployment rate, which tops 50 percent. Spain's overall jobless rate is nearly 25 percent and social unrest is on the rise.
Trade union leaders said the marches warned the government that tempers were rising and a general strike was brewing. - AP
Putin gets his say in birthday film
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a first-person documentary aired Sunday, his 60th birthday, that the current generation of opposition leaders needs to be cast aside and he dismissed concerns the jail term for punk band Pussy Riot was severe.
The documentary portrays Putin as a tireless and no-nonsense leader contemptuous of domestic and international criticism. Putin says in the program that he welcomes opposing views, but that they should come from people willing to take responsibility for running the country.
Celebrations took place all over Russia to celebrate Putin's birthday, although the Kremlin has said the president opted for low-key celebrations with friends and family. The documentary was one of a series of candid public displays of support for Putin.
Three members of Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison in August for performing an anti-Putin "punk prayer" at Moscow's main cathedral, a verdict that drew global outrage and came to symbolize the Kremlin's crackdown on dissent. Putin said the court was right. - AP
An anti-drone protest falls short
TANK, Pakistan - A convoy protesting U.S. drone strikes led by Imran Khan, the cricket star turned politician, stopped short Sunday of its goal to reach Pakistan's lawless tribal area after threats of an attack from the Pakistani Taliban.
After a chaotic and grueling two-day march from Islamabad, Khan halted the procession just past Tank, the last town before South Waziristan, a dangerous region of the tribal area that is generally considered a no-go zone for Westerners and others, even though the Pakistani army supposedly had driven out the Taliban in 2009.
The march, which included the British American rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith and activists from the U.S. peace group Code Pink, drew attention to Khan's opposition to the U.S. missile strikes. - McClatchy Newspapers
Elsewhere:
Pope Benedict XVI
urged bishops on Sunday to try to bring back Catholics who have left the church as he opened a three-week meeting, or synod, to reinvigorate the church's evangelization mission. More than 260 cardinals, bishops, and priests from around the world are attending in Rome
.
