RT - 10/20/13

Activists from 26 countries participated in around 250 protests on Saturday to demonstrate against fracking technologies, which they say contaminate groundwater and hasten climate change.

Global Frackdown, an annual event that takes place on October 19, targets fracking – a process used to extract hydrocarbons by pumping pressurized chemicals underground.

Video and More: RT.com

Press TV - 10/19/13, KB/NN

More: PressTV.ir

The Raw Story - 10/11/13, Agence France-Presse

Guardian of financial orthodoxy, the International Monetary Fund, which is holding its annual meetings with the World Bank this week in the US capital, typically calls for nations in difficulty to slash public spending to reduce their deficits.

But in its Fiscal Monitor report, subtitled “Taxing Times”, the Fund advanced the idea of taxing the highest-income people and their assets to reinforce the legitimacy of spending cuts and fight against growing income inequalities.

More: RawStory.com

The Washington Post - Anthony Faiola, 10/18/13

Pope Francis’s viral quotes on wealth, abortion, atheists, war and gay Catholics: The quotable pontiff’s style is made for the Twitter age. Here are some of his most widely shared quotes, from ‘Who am I to judge?’ to ‘even the atheists’ are redeemed.

Since succeeding Benedict XVI, Francis has publicly sought to transform the tone of his office, extending surprise olive branches to everyone from gays and lesbians to professed atheists. But much more quietly, Vatican officials and observers say, the new pontiff has also begun to alter the atmosphere inside the Holy See, taking steps to shed light on the notoriously opaque Vatican Curia.

Aljazeera - 10/19/13

Thousands of Portugese took the streets of Portugal's two most populated cities to demonstrate against planned cuts of pensions and salaries.

Saturday's demonstrations are a response to the government's decision to extend austerity measures in the 2014 budget.

More: Aljazeera.com