A war of words escalated on Monday between Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and a cleric with powerful influence in the police and judiciary, worsening political turmoil unleashed by a corruption scandal. Turkey has been increasingly polarized since the arrest on graft charges last week of the head of state-run lender Halkbank and the sons of two government ministers.

In the largest demonstration since the disputed July elections, hundreds of thousands of Cambodia's opposition party supporters marched through the streets of the capital Phnom Penh on Sunday calling for Prime Minister Hun to step down and to announce new polls.

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation will vote Sunday on whether to approve a bill limiting foreign-government funding to groups “whose goals or activities flagrantly exceed the bounds of Israeli democratic discourse.” Under the legislation, sponsored by MK Ayelet Shaked (Habayit Hayehudi), such nonprofit groups must pay a 45 percent tax on contributions. Passage by the committee means the bill has the support of the governing coalition. It would then go the Knesset for a preliminary vote later in the week.

Indians online are posting photos of same-sex affection to show their outrage over a Indian supreme court ruling that criminalises gay sex. Thousands of Facebook users have joined the "Gay for a Day" campaign, which is soliciting photos of people kissing someone of the same gender. Though many in India still disapprove of homosexuality, online users joined the pro-LGBT rights campaign after the decision was announced on Tuesday.

Anti-government protesters are dug in. Opposition leaders spout calls to topple the country’s rulers. But leading officials remain defiant while Western diplomats warn of danger and plead for compromise. An atmosphere of measured chaos continues to grip Ukraine’s capital as the two-week-long standoff between pro-European demonstrators and the government has become a protracted stalemate with no end in sight.

Thailand's prime minister said she cannot comply with demands by the anti-government opposition because they are unconstitutional. In a televised news conference on Monday, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra confirmed that she met with anti-government protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban late Sunday. She said the meeting was held under the auspices of the military, which has maintained that it is neutral in the conflict.

The collective mood of a nation mired in a prolonged economic recession shows many of the symptoms of clinical depression: despair, fatalism, an inability to make decisions, lack of motivation, and irritability. This is one of the impressions I got from a recent trip to Spain and Italy, two nations I know well and visit often. While both countries have recently made small strides on the path to recovery, I nevertheless came away with the strong sense that their economies are in recession and their societies are in depression.

The main streets of Shin-Okubo — Tokyo’s Koreatown — are lined with smoky barbecue restaurants and overlit cosmetics emporiums. Staircases lead down to basement music venues and up to hidden drinking holes. Japanese once thronged the neighborhood, which is home to many ethnic Koreans and known for its fiery food and late nights. But in recent months, the crowds have thinned, replaced by anti-Korean protesters who have turned Shin-Okubo into a rough barometer of deteriorating Japan-Korea relations.