The economy of the Gaza Strip has been cut off from the world since the militant group Hamas took power there in June -- and Israel closed all Gaza border crossings. Now some Israeli businesses say the shut-down is hurting them as well. Matt Gutman reports from Jerusalem.

Reports out of Burma describe a new protest today by Buddhist monks. It's the first such report to come out of Burma since the military government there cracked down on pro-democracy protesters. Anchor Aaron Schachter gets the details from Soe Win Than, a BBC producer based in Bangkok.

Anchor Aaron Schachter speaks to Israeli film-maker Hilla Medalia. Her documentary features a conversation between two women. One is a Palestinian, whose teenage daughter died as a suicide bomber. The other is an Israeli, whose teen daughter was killed by the same explosion.

The World's Quil Lawrence reports from the border between Turkey and Iraq. It's a very tense border these days, because of the conflict between Turkey and Kurdish rebels in the area.

Anita Elash reports on a new movie that is forcing France to remember a dark chapter of its national history. France fought, and lost, an eight-year war in Algeria. But up to now, no French feature film had dealt with the conflict head-on.

Matthew Bell reports that Under-Secretary of State Karen Hughes is to step down at the end of the year. She was in charge of public diplomacy, that is trying to improve America's image abroad, especially in the Middle East.

A Spanish court today found 21 people guilty of involvement in the 2004 Madrid train bombings. Three lead defendants were convicted of mass murder and sentenced to thousands of years in prison. Anchor Aaron Schachter gets the story from CBC Correspondent David Common in Madrid.

Happy Halloween!

Entire program - October 31

Reporter Anil Mundra profiles a band from the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The band is called Movimento na Rua, which means "Movement in the Streets." The band's goal is to teach young slum residents that music is an alternative to a life of crime and hopelessness.

For today's Geo Quiz we were looking for a Scandinavian country with no minimum drinking age but two distinct purchasing ages. That country is Sweden.

The language spoken in France's immigrant neighborhoods doesn't sound much like French -- especially that spoken by young people. But the kids do want to be understood. So they've created a slang dictionary to help others in France understand them. Genevieve Oger reports.