Novelist John Grisham could hardly spin a more provocative fiction: The president and his surrogates mount an aggressive campaign to intimidate the chief justice of the United States, implying ruin and ridicule should he fail to vote in a pivotal case according to the ruling political party’s wishes. Read full article > >

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The public trial of Justice Roberts

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dramatically bolstered his ruling coalition this week with a unity deal meant to help him thwart challenges from fringe factions. But Yoel Krois, a man with sidelocks past his shoulders and a record of confronting authorities, says he remains ready for a fight. Read full article > >

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Culture war looms as Israel pledges to end ultra-Orthodox military exemptions

Talks are expected to begin across Scotland to work out who will form the ruling administrations at most councils.

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Council control talks to begin

Maryland ’s top law enforcement officials are pushing back against a recent Court of Appeals decision that prohibits DNA collection from suspects charged — but not yet convicted — of violent crimes, saying the ruling will allow dangerous criminals to go undetected by authorities. Read full article > >

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Md. high court bans DNA swabs of charged suspects; police, prosecutors seek appeal

Bo Xilai, once tipped as a future Chinese leader, is dismissed from key posts in the ruling Communist Party, state media report.

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Bo stripped of key Chinese posts

For all of the fretting by liberals and legal analysts, it is certain there will be substantial political repercussions over the ruling on the Obama health care overhaul.

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Political Memo: Whatever the Ruling in Health Case, Bipartisan Fallout

BEIJING — Premier Wen Jiabao and other top Chinese leaders paid their respects Wednesday to North Korea’s late leader Kim Jong Il, a further sign that China is working to reassure Pyongyang of the strength of ties and retain its influence amid an uncertain leadership transition. Wen and four other members of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee made a morning visit to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing to offer their condolences, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Read full article > >

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More top Chinese leaders mourn Kim Jong Il as Beijing seeks to reassure Pyongyang

MOSCOW — Russians voting in parliamentary elections apparently turned against the ruling United Russia party in large numbers Sunday, exit polls and early results suggested, to the great benefit of the Communist Party. In what only months ago would have been a nearly unimaginable scenario, the party dominated by Vladimir Putin was predicted to get less than 50 percent of the vote, while polling organizations put the Communists at about 20 percent, nearly double their count in the last election. Read full article > >

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Russia voters turn away from Putin party

ROME — With his nation swept up in a mounting debt crisis, Italy’s embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was scrambling to shore up his political base ahead of a vote in Parliament later Tuesday that could expose just how much support he has lost within his ruling coalition and set the stage for a confidence vote on his government. Read full article > >

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Italy’s Berlusconi faces crucial vote amid mounting debt crisis

CAIRO — Egypt’s finance minister resigned Tuesday to protest the government’s handling of protests that left 26 dead, most of them Coptic Christian demonstrators, an aide to the minister said. Overnight, some 20,000 mourners chanted slogans denouncing the ruling military during a funeral procession overnight for 17 Christians killed in the protest on Sunday night in Cairo. They accused the army of bearing primary responsibility. Read full article > >

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Egyptian Cabinet minister resigns over government handling of Christian protester deaths

A large majority in Germany’s parliament approves new powers for the EU’s main bailout fund, despite opposition from some members of the ruling coalition.

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Germany approves EU bailout fund

South Africa’s High Court says the ruling ANC’s anti-apartheid anthem constitutes “hate speech”, in a case against youth leader Julius Malema.

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ANC struggle song ‘hate speech’

Law enforcement officials are dismayed by the prospect of prisoners being released early, while budget cutters dislike the fiscal implications of the ruling.

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Ruling Raises Stakes in California’s Fiscal Crisis

Chinese media regulators suspend spy and police shows from television ahead of the ruling Communist party’s 90th anniversary.

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China regulators suspend crime TV

Preliminary parliamentary poll results revealing big losses for the ruling party show Nigeria “has changed”, an analyst tells the BBC.

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Elections ‘have changed Nigeria’