For most kids in the developing world, sporting equipment is a luxury they cannot afford. The indestructible soccer ball represents durability, longevity, possibility and hope.

It's not just the absence of the incessant vuvuzela casting an eerie silence across South Africa. Instead it's the fading buzz of planes carrying about 300,000 tourists home.

As France takes steps towards banning the burqa, Paris designers are staging their own unveilings in the Middle East. The fashion industry is more often labelled as frivolous than political. But, it highlights an important point.

A month post-Summit and the G20 hangover is still hammering headlines across the country. Solidarity protests have attracted thousands between Halifax and Vancouver. Opposition MPs are foregoing summer recess.