BBC World Service

There's an emergency meeting in Delhi, India, over shoddy facilities and security at the Commonwealth Games. The international, multi-sport event features competition among thousands of athletes from members of the British Commonwealth. But several teams are threatening to pull out.

The sporran is the little pouch that for centuries the Scottish have attached to their kilts. But its production is under threat. The EU banned the sale of sealskin recently, which is the preferred material to make a sporran.

If you're an expectant mother in the U.S., the Family and Medical Leave Act gives 12 weeks unpaid leave. But in Europe, pregnant women get 14 weeks and part of their salary. Now there are plans to give them even more.

Pope Benedict XVI is in Scotland meeting Queen Elizabeth. But his visit to the U.K. is marred in controversy because it will be paid in part by the British government.

The Bank of Japan took a big step overnight to help the Japanese economy. It intentionally weakened Japan's currency for the first time in six years.

The price of cotton has risen more than 50 percent in the past year due to droughts and floods wiping out a lot of the cotton harvest in China and Pakistan. That may have a big impact on the cost of making clothes.

As the U.K. grapples with budget cuts, unions are so angry over, they're calling for a widespread protests. Could they bring the country to a halt?

When Ireland's Anglo-Irish bank failed, it nearly bankrupted the nation. Now the Irish government says it has a plan to split the bank up.

The European Union continues to divide over plans to tax the banks. The bank tax is supposed to curb financial risk-taking and help prevent a future financial crisis. But there are a number of perspectives.

Europe is actually in better economic shape than the U.S. That's a role reversal from earlier in the year, when Europe was seen as the economic problem child. So is there still concern about the health of Europe's economy?