King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia shook up his kingdom by boldly appointing the first female minister to his government cabinet earlier this week.

A round-up of today's global news headlines.

Recent bushfires in Australia have killed more than 180 people, destroyed over 1,800 houses and left about 7,000 people homeless. Not to mention the burned paws. Poor koalas!

In Zimbabwe's Life Lines, we meet a young man who survives by selling basic goods on the black market.

In defiance of repressive laws curtailing public gatherings, a women's empowerment movement stages non-violent street protests to agitate bread-and-butter issues.

One of Foreign Policy magazine's top 20 public intellectuals explains why he believes that the new power-sharing agreement between President Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is the best way forward.

Photos of daily life taken by a resident of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second-largest city.

Native Zimbabwean journalist Robyn Kriel talks about the risks she took reporting from her country in the lead-up to the 2008 presidential election.

In this episode of Focal Point, director Robyn Kriel takes us inside the black markets and protest movements of her native Zimbabwe.

Learn more about Zimbabwe from these additional web resources.

Results from the recent provincial elections in Iraq saw Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawa Party gain power in many of the country’s provinces. According to preliminary returns, Dawa is now the most powerful Shiite party in Iraq. No small potatoes.

High in the Swiss Alps lies the small town of Davos, and once every year this mountain hamlet explodes with international schmoozapalooza as the World Economic Forum hosts its annual meeting.

Of an estimated 14,400 candidates for provincial offices, nearly 4,000 are women.

Will the Obama administration reverse Bush's antagonism towards the ICC?