World - The Christian Science Monitor

Managua, Nicaragua - In a region beset by runaway food costs, the socialist government of Hugo Chávez's Venezuela and its leftist allies appear to have found fertile ground to plant the seeds of revolutionary discourse.

Beirut, Lebanon - A sudden flare-up of street violence in Beirut appears to have broken an 18-month political impasse between the Western-backed government and the opposition, led by the militant Shiite Hezbollah

Nis, Serbia; and Zubin Potok, Kosovo - The Serbian Radical Party's election rally in the main square of the southern town of Nis seemed, at first glance, like any other campaign event. Popular music played over the PA system. Badges and hats were sold from makeshift stalls, and families with children listened to the speakers.

New Delhi - For the first time in 20 years, elections will be held Saturday in Sri Lanka's battle-scarred eastern province.

Bangkok, Thailand - Burma's reclusive junta plans to push ahead with a referendum on a controversial Army-drafted constitution Saturday, even as its most populous province lies in ruins after last week's devastating cyclone.

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Gunmen from the militant Shiite Hezbollah and its allies took control of west Beirut Friday, crushing fighters from the Sunni Future Movement and opening an uncertain new chapter in Lebanon's tortured history.

TOKYO - A carefully orchestrated visit this week to Japan by Chinese President Hu Jintao laid the groundwork for better relations after an extended chill between the two Asian powerhouses. But with both leaders eager to put to rest the extended chill between the two Asian powerhouses, the emphasis was on a "safe" summit that ducked contentious issues and sidestepped issues of global concern.

Post-election violence in Zimbabwe has escalated sharply, with thousands of farmers pushed off their land and gangs loyal to President Robert Mugabe beating to death several opposition members. Fears of a political and economic meltdown have prompted some African leaders to intervene.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - In Burma's spiraling humanitarian crisis, the international community faces a uniquely confounding scenario: how to overcome the military government's foot-dragging response.

RAMAT HASHARON, ISRAEL - It's a letter that Maj. Gen. Amos Horev says is one of his most telling artifact from Israel's six decades of independence. "Please give to Amos two guns and one mortar from Jerusalem," reads the note to another commander from a Jewish US Army colonel who, after World War II, came to help the Jewish army in Palestine.

Buchanan, Liberia - David Parker has seen the worst of Liberia. As a young aid worker who arrived in Monrovia 12 years ago, he got to know the warlords, mercenaries, child soldiers, and businesspeople who kept the brutal conflict here running on and off for more than two decades.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - The first test of how the people of Burma (Myanmar) view their government's slow response to the devastating May 3 cyclone could come Saturday.

Tokyo - At a Jomo gas station in western Tokyo, an attendant in green-and-orange overalls recently explained why rising prices may topple the governing party after more than 50 years in power.

Naples, Italy - Tourists scouring the Naples airport for the perfect postcard image to send back home could pick out a classic view of this southern Italian city, such as a shot of Mt. Vesuvius. Or they could choose that one of trash cans.

Tokyo - As Hu Jintao begins only the second visit ever to Japan by a Chinese president, he's likely to find a government eager for warmer relations and a public equally eager to show concern about China's imports, human rights record, and nationalistic ambitions.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - The military government in Burma (Myanmar) is receiving an outpouring of emergency aid offers from the international community, as the death toll from Saturday's cyclone continues to soar.

Baghdad - There is big excitement on al-Marifah Street. City workers are installing a new transformer to bring power to a part of the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Saidiyah that hasn't been on the city's electrical grid for more than a year.

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - Drawing on its close ties with Israel and growing closeness to Syria, Turkey is working to position itself as a key regional mediator in the Middle East.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - In a rapidly escalating death toll, a cyclone that ripped through Burma (Myanmar) on Saturday killed nearly 4,000 people, not 351 as originally announced, making it one of the deadliest natural disasters in Asia since the tsunami of 2004, authorities said on Monday.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - Farmers in Ethiopia are better off now than they were four years ago, in part due to better-than-average rains and rising grain prices globally. But there's another reason: Africa's largest beneficiary of foreign aid has shifted from food aid to cash assistance.

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa; and HARARE, Zimbabwe - More than a month after Zimbabwe's elections, the country's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) continues to insist that it has won the March 29 election against President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and does not need to participate in a planned runoff.

New DELHI - In following the will of its people by attempting to find a negotiated solution to mounting extremism, the new Pakistani government is wading against American skepticism, the lessons of the recent past, and – some suggest – its own military establishment.

Though they were delayed eight hours at the Israeli border, dancers from Belgium's Les Ballets C. De La. B. company eventually made their way to Ramallah's Al Kasba Theatre where they writhed, staggered, and lunged across the stage.

ISTANBUL, Turkey; and BAGHDAD - Iran says it will back Iraq in its ongoing fight against its Shiite militias. That pledge came after a delegation from Iraq's ruling Shiite bloc pressed its neighbor on what it called fresh "evidence" it was arming and training militants.

Cairo - Spread across the top of this city's crooked skyline like a field of mushrooms, satellite dishes absorb signals beamed from across the Arab world to send images of pop stars and politicians to the throngs of families living below.

HONG KONG, CHINA - After a global tour dogged by controversy, the 2008 Olympics torch was paraded in Hong Kong Friday in its first tour since returning to China, drawing elated crowds that vastly outnumbered a smattering of political demonstrators.

Ita Thao Village, Taiwan - As performers sing traditional songs at a nearby lakeside stage, Rungquan Lhkatafatu describes his tribe's fight to survive.

North Korea has agreed to blow up a cooling tower attached to its main nuclear facility if the US removes it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. The move is the latest sign of a détente between Pyongyang and Washington, observers say.