Britain announced on Sunday that it would convene all-party talks to try and resolve a political deadlock in Northern Ireland caused by a row over welfare reforms that has threatened to bring down the devolved government.
Afghanistan inaugurates its first new president in a decade on Monday, swearing in technocrat Ashraf Ghani to head a power-sharing government just as the withdrawal of most foreign troops presents a crucial test.
One of the more unusual trials to come out of the 2008 financial crisis is set to begin on Monday, when a federal judge will consider whether the U.S. government's rescue of American International Group Inc (AIG.N) was, in fact, legal.