German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders meeting for a summit will only have to look out of the window to see the biggest problem with their steady diet of austerity and belt-tightening to fix the financial crisis: disgruntled workers organizing a nationwide strike to protest the direction in which Europe is heading. That is, if the 27 government leaders can even get to European Union headquarters in time for Monday's meeting. Read More

More than 8,000 Tunisians marched Saturday through the capital denouncing violence committed by ultraconservative Islamist groups in recent months. Since the fall of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's secular dictatorship in a popular uprising a year ago, small groups of ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafists have risen in Tunisia calling for greater piety, attacking unveiled women and secular intellectuals and occupying universities. Read More

A federal order requiring religious-based employers such as Catholic colleges to provide birth control coverage to female employees starting next year is drawing criticism from Indiana institutions that see it as a violation of religious freedom. Read More

President Barack Obama is pressing his case for changes in how the Senate does business, hoping to ease the partisan gridlock, and he wants to bar lawmakers from profiting from their service. In his radio and Internet address Saturday, Obama said many people he met during his five-state tour after his State of the Union address were optimistic but remained unsure "that the right thing will get done in Washington this year, or next year, or the year after that." Read More