Annmarie Fertoli

President Barack Obama has scheduled a meeting with Republican and Democratic leaders on November 18.

The BBC reports that two mail bombs exploded in separate incidents on Tuesday, one at the Swiss embassy and another at the Russian embassy in Athens, Greece, and that additional suspicious packages addressed to other embassies in Athens were also intercepted. No injuries were reported.

Authorities in Indonesia fear that the death toll will continue to rise, after two natural disasters this week. A small tsunami formed off the coast of Sumatra on Monday. And, on Tuesday, hundreds of miles away, the country's most active volcano, Mount Merapi, erupted.

As of Monday, a cholera outbreak in Haiti had killed more than 250 people and sickened more than 3,000 others, according to The Associated Press. But the AP reports that certain health officials believe the outbreak may be slowing down, citing fewer deaths and reports of new cases so far this week.

It's been several weeks since demonstrations began in France, in protest of a government proposal to raise the nation's retirement age from 60 to 62.

The British government has announced a series of spending reforms designed to carry the UK through the 2015 budget year.

According to the BBC, the plan calls for some $130 billion in cuts to welfare, various governmental departments and the public sector to help fill a multi-billion-dollar budget gap within the next five years.

Switzerland is celebrating the completion of drilling on what will become the world's longest rail tunnel.

Just days after offering Palestinians a compromise over building in the West Bank, Israel has announced it is building more than 200 new homes in eastern Jerusalem, according to The Associated Press.

The federal government has lifted a ban on deepwater oil and gas drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, more than a month before it was set to expire. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar made the decision on Tuesday. As The Associated Press reports, critics of the ban, including oil companies, had argued that a six-month moratorium would harm their business.

Gay rights groups are celebrating a California judge's ruling against the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. As The Associated Press Reports, U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, who has already ruled the ban unconstitutional, has now issued a worldwide injunction against enforcing it.

The BBC reports that Palestinian leaders have rejected a Israeli offer to extend a moratorium on building on the West Bank -- in exchange for Palestinians' formal recognition of Israeli as a Jewish state.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo, citing his work as an advocate for human rights, including his participation in the 1989 protests in Tiananmen Square, and authoring a human rights manifesto that lead to his imprisonment in 2008.

Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa, who unsuccessfully ran for president of his country in 1990, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

The Associated Press reports that toxic waste that spilled from a reservoir at a Hungarian refining plant about 100 miles southwest of Budapest on Monday has made its way to the Danube River, and authorities are carefully testing water samples to determine whether the waste could be carried to other countries.

Robert G. Edwards, a professor emeritus at the University of Cambridge, has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for his work developing in vitro fertilization.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has officially resigned from his post, and President Barack Obama has appointed White House senior advisor Pete Rouse to take over as interim chief of staff.

The U.S. Senate has approved a bill that would require companies to regulate the volume on their television commercials.

Anti-austerity demonstrations are taking place throughout Europe, in protest of new government measures designed to prevent another financial crisis.

Placido Domingo has announced he will leave his post as general director of the Washington National Opera when his contract ends next year. The Washington Post reports that Domingo made his announcement during a conference call with the opera's board.

President Barack Obama has signed a $30 billion jobs bill, one he has long advocated for as a way to promote small business growth.