Congress

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton faces a congressional grilling on Oct. 22 over her role during and after the deadly attacks on the US mission in Benghazi, a hearing one top Democrat blasted as a "political hit job." 

Bulgarian Prime Minister and GERB leader Boyko Borisov expressed support on Wednesday for the reelection of Joseph Daul as president of the European People's Party (EPP).

Borisov is heading a delegation of Bulgaria's main ruling party to the XXIII Congress of EPP, which is taking place in Madrid on Wednesday and Thursday.

German police swooped on Volkswagen's headquarters on Oct. 8, carrying away files and hard disks as the investigation into a massive pollution cheating scandal expanded on both sides of the Atlantic.

Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff suffered a new setback Oct. 7 when a court declared her government's accounting practices were illegal, handing ammunition to opponents threatening impeachment proceedings.

The Federal Accounts Court or TCU's ruling was the latest blow for Rousseff, who is less than a year into her second term.    

The head of Volkswagen's US division apologized to Congress and said the company takes "full responsibility" for an emissions cheating scandal, according to testimony released Oct. 7.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ordered Turkey to pay 3,360 euros for violating freedom of expression, after the application of two journalists from daily Evrensel who were convicted for publishing an article containing a statement by an illegal armed organization.

The United States and 11 other Pacific Rim countries have agreed to an ambitious trade pact that cuts trade barriers, sets labor and environmental standards and protects multinational corporations' intellectual property.

The agreement on the Trans Pacific Partnership was reached on Oct. 5 after marathon negotiating sessions in Atlanta through the weekend.

A group of lawmakers called for the resignation of the speaker of Brazil's lower house of Congress, Eduardo Cunha, on Oct.1 after Switzerland provided Brazilian prosecutors with details of Swiss bank accounts in his name. 

A gunman went on a shooting rampage at a college in the US state of Oregon on Oct.1, killing 10 people and wounding seven before he died in a shootout with police.

Congress and President Barack Obama steered the US government clear of a shutdown on Sept.30 hours before a midnight deadline, approving temporary federal spending that does not defund a women's health care provider as Republicans hoped.