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The push to reunify the nation's fractured labor movement has run into serious obstacles, labor leaders said, with several saying the effort has only a 50-50 chance of success. The presidents of 12 large unions have held talks since January, when they announced an effort to reunify organized labor, which split in 2005 when seven unions quit the A.F.L.-C.I.O. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

AS the country prepares to enter the Obama era, anxiety over the legal status and rights of gays and lesbians is growing. Barack Obama's invitation to the Rev. Rick Warren, an evangelical pastor who opposes same-sex marriage, to give the invocation at his inauguration comes just as the hit movie ''Milk'' reminds us of the gay rights activism of the 1970s. Supporters of gay rights wonder if the California Supreme Court might soon confirm the legitimacy of Proposition 8, passed by state voters in November, which declares same-sex marriage illegal -- leaving them no alternative but to take to the streets. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Rev. James L. Bevel, a figure from the civil rights movement sentenced to 15 years in prison for incest, has been released on bond while he appeals his conviction. It is unlikely Mr. Bevel, 71, will ever serve more jail time because he has terminal pancreatic cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Spain has taken a first step toward amending its restrictive law on abortion, a government minister said Thursday, moving to address one of the major elements in a drive for sweeping social change in this traditional, Roman Catholic country. A panel made up of 13 lawyers, doctors and other specialists has been appointed to recommend to the Socialist government how to amend the abortion law, the equality minister, Bibiana Aido, told reporters. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Is Kehinde Wiley a Conceptual subversive who happens to paint or yet another producer of pictorial fluff that makes him our latest Bouguereau? Do his big, flashy pictures of young African-American men recast as the kings, dandies, prophets and saints of European portraiture subvert the timeworn ruses of Western art and its hierarchies of race, class and sex? Or are they just a passing art-market fancy, with enough teasing irreverence, dollops of political correctness and decorative punch to look good for a while above the couches of pseudoliberal pseudocollectors? The answers to all these questions may be, Try again. ''Kehinde Wiley, the World Stage: Africa, Lagos-Dakar,'' a show of 10 of his most recent paintings at the Studio Museum in Harlem, proposes another possibility: Mr. Wiley is a young artist whose intellectual ambition and Photo Realist chops have allowed his career to get ahead of his art. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Riverside Church, a stronghold of activism and political debate throughout its 75-year history, has been visited by Nelson Mandela and United States presidents like Bill Clinton. It was an early opponent of the Vietnam War and both wars in Iraq, and has long been influential on the nation's religious and political landscapes. Leading the pulpit at the landmark church, a soaring Gothic cathedral at 120th Street and Riverside Drive in Manhattan, is one of the more prestigious posts a minister could hold. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Senior negotiators from Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party and main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, began talks in South Africa, a spokesman for the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, said. Two senior opposition officials and two Zimbabwean cabinet ministers were leading the negotiating teams, the spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, said. Preliminary talks began Tuesday after Mr. Mbeki secured a framework deal between Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, and the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, on Monday for talks to end the deadlock over Mr. Mugabe's re-election on June 27 in a vote the opposition boycotted because of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It started as a routine conference call. But at some point during the call, Representative Anthony D. Weiner became furious, convinced that his scheduler had not given him a crucial piece of information. His scheduler, John J. Graff, who was in the next room, suddenly heard the congressman yelling at him through the wall. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To the Editor: Re ''The Coming Activist Age'' (column, July 18): [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

IF feminism means a desire for independence from patriarchal authority, the beguines -- a Roman Catholic laic order that began in the 13th century and branched across northwest Europe -- represented, perhaps, the world's oldest women's movement. Unlike sisterhoods that required a life spent apart from society under vows of chastity, these Catholic women looked for holiness outside monastic norms. Although they lived and prayed together within an enclave, partly as a form of mutual protection -- some historians believe they banded together after losing their men to the Crusades, which left behind mainly criminals and louts -- beguines were not confined to the cloister. Many ministered to the poor and sick outside their walls. Lifelong celibacy was not required either. They could leave the order and marry (but not return). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Two prominent national nonprofit groups are reeling from public disclosures that large sums of money were misappropriated in unrelated incidents by an employee and a former employee. The groups, Acorn, one of the country's largest community organizing groups, and the Points of Light Institute, which works to encourage civic activism and volunteering, have dealt with the problems in very different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the latest sign of efforts to prevent dissent during the Beijing Olympics, political activists in Shanghai say they have been warned against expressing their opinions, speaking with foreigners or visiting Beijing until after the Games. The activists, who have petitioned the city government over grievances in the past, say they were summoned by the police, or detained and issued warnings against making political statements before or during the Games. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Israel announced plans to build 1,300 more houses in East Jerusalem, angering Palestinians who warned that such plans threatened chances for a peace accord by the end of the year. The announcement brought to more than 3,000 the number of houses that Israel has approved for construction since the renewal of the peace talks on land that Palestinians think should be part of a Palestinian state. Palestinian negotiators condemned the latest plan, while Israeli officials said that most of the proposed housing would be on land that Israel has already annexed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A wildlife conservationist? A union supporter? It's sometimes hard to believe that Theodore Roosevelt was a Republican. But he was never one to reflexively conform to party ideology, as Michael O. Smith demonstrates in his informative one-man show, ''The Bully Pulpit,'' which he also wrote. Set almost a decade after Roosevelt left office, in 1918, at Sagamore Hill, his estate in Oyster Bay, N.Y., the play gives us a Roosevelt who, entertaining visitors in his study, reminisces about his upbringing, his adventures in the American West and with the Rough Riders in Cuba, and his political achievements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

THE traditional face of survivalism is that of a shaggy loner in camouflage, holed up in a cabin in the wilderness and surrounded by cases of canned goods and ammunition. It is not that of Barton M. Biggs, the former chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley. Yet in Mr. Biggs's new book, ''Wealth, War and Wisdom,'' he says people should ''assume the possibility of a breakdown of the civilized infrastructure.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ANNE GLICKMAN, 34, inherited several million dollars in stock on her 18th birthday. She preferred not to think or talk about the money into her 20s because, she said, as a political activist, her wealth was a bit inconvenient. ''I felt like I was in hiding,'' she said. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article profiles the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, New York. The article cites the Institute as a new home for "new age" thought and the evolving feminist consciousness. The article notes how the Institute is working to overcome stereotypes about new age thinking, noting that new age thought has even become mainstream in many circles.

The article presents information on the Compact, a group formed by six members in San Francisco, California to reduce environmental impact of consumer excess. They started the group in 2005 while taking a decision to stop purchase of anything new for six months. In mid-2006, the group has been identified as a social movement by the public when it was featured on the "Today" television program.

The article focuses on the views of the author regarding the efforts made by media personality Tavis Smiley in order to serve the African-Americans. According to the author, Smiley has become one of the most effective black leaders in the U.S. The author opines that Smiley is trying to do nothing less than generate a movement among black Americans that will result in a better U.S.

The article reports on a movement called Critical Mass, in which thousands of bike riders will take to the streets on the last Friday of every month around the world. The riders, who are striking a blow against pollution and traffic congestion, have been in confrontations with the police in San Francisco, Seattle and New York. The New York police, which has declared Critical Mass an illegal parade, have drafted a law that would ban this movement.

The article presents the views of terrorism experts on the global social movement started by the militant group Al Qaeda.

The article reports on the shutdown of all businesses at Assembly in New York City as a manifestation of support for immigrant rights.

The article reports that the proletariat has celebrated May Day by taking to the streets to demand lower wages in the U.S.

The article reports that thousands of workers have rallied against the administration of Mexican President Vicente Fox for the government's failure to lift up the working class in Mexico.

The article reports that a California businessman has returned to the U.S. after three years of imprisonment in China for his participation in Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned by the Chinese government.

The article reports that protesters has rallied in Washington, featuring speeches, prayers, and signs that urged an end to abortions across the country.

The article presents news related to social and political issues across the world.

Reports that Syrian opposition groups have issued a broad call for democratic change in the form of a statement that is being called the "Damascus Declaration."

Reports the socio-economic challenges facing the people in Kosovo from the United Nations' mission, trying to forge a modern democratic system in Serbia.

Reports on the electrical failure in New Jersey that disrupted train service between New York and Washington, leading an impromptu protest outside Pennsylvania station by antiwar activists who gave up on plans to join a larger rally in the nation's capital.

Reports on the opposition movements of the National Council of Resistance of Iran to stir up revolution between Iran and France.

Reports on the protest of workers against a plan to ban hand-pulled rickshaws in Kolkata, India.

Reports on the mass demonstration ousting Lebanon President Émile Lahoud, because of his alleged ties with four suspects in an assassination inquiry.

Reports on the antiwar and free-speech protests held in an open-air shopping, dining and entertainment complex in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Reports on the protest against the New York University's decision to end dealings with a union of graduate student teaching and research assistants in New York City.

Comments on the growing movement of pharmacists who refuse to fill prescriptions to which they have moral or religious objections in the U.S.

Reports on the bold protests for reasons that range from rampant industrial pollution to widespread evictions and land seizures by corrupt local governments in Shanghai, China.

Reports on the protest of relatives of soldiers who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq outside U.S. President George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Reports on the various activities initiated by the New York Society for Ethical Culture to address issues of feminism and sexism in New York .

Reports on the halt of state oil production, following a series of protests against the administration of Ecuador President Alfredo Palacio.

Reports on the fatalities arising from the violence in the Kurdish region of Iran.

Reports on the impact of the decision of an abortion rights advocacy group to withdraw an advertisement attacking Judge John G. Roberts Jr. on the conflict within the Democratic Party in the U.S.

Comments on the move of the Irish Republican Army in putting an end to their armed campaign in the political wars in Northern Ireland.

Reports on the social movement against the newly approved legislation governing the demobilization of paramilitary coalition in Colombia.

Reports on the mass demonstration in Cairo, Egypt, aimed to achieve economic and political reform in the country.

Presents photographs showing the subject of protests around the globe.

Reports on the clash between riot police and protesters during a demonstration calling for the resignation of Egypt President Hosni Mubarak.

Reports on the dispersal of hundreds of demonstrators who were protesting an attack on a disputed religious site by police using tear gas in New Delhi, India.

Reports on the protests made by relatives of those who died in the September 11 terrorist attack over a proposed museum at ground zero.

Focuses on the Billetproof movement, which results from the enthusiasm to restore classic automobiles to their original condition in the U.S.