Recent anticorruption protests have stirred India’s middle class, which has benefited most from growth, but remained disengaged from the political system.

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India’s Way: India’s Middle Class Appears to Shed Political Apathy

INDIANAPOLIS Richard Mourdock , a Republican and Indiana’s treasurer, wants to wrest his party’s U.S. Senate nomination from a six-term incumbent who has been a national figure since becoming mayor of this city in 1968 at age 35, who has averaged 69 percent of the vote in five reelections and who ran unopposed by a Democrat in 2006. When Richard Lugar , an Eagle Scout and Rhodes scholar, was a naval ensign, he briefed Dwight Eisenhower. That was 10 presidents ago, which may be a problem for Lugar in an era of pandemic disparagement of the political class. So Mourdock will try to defeat Lugar with wounding praise: Lugar is a great chapter of Indiana history, but elections are arguments about the future. Read full article > >

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Richard Lugar, the unlikely target of conservatives

Across the political spectrum, residents of Homs, Syria, speak of a recent shift, from a largely peaceful uprising to a struggle that has made the city violent, fearful and determined.

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Homs, Syria, Spirals Down Toward Civil War

UNITED NATIONS — President Obama on Wednesday hailed the popular revolutions that have transformed the political landscape of the Middle East and urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to revive talks toward a difficult peace. In the third address of his presidency to the U.N. General Assembly, Obama acknowledged that he is frustrated by lack of progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace, but he stressed that there is “no shortcut” to ending the conflict, and he called for understanding of each side’s “legitimate aspirations.” Read full article > >

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Obama tells U.N. he sees ‘no shortcut’ to Israeli-Palestinian peace

The tea party movement came into public consciousness sometime in the early months of President Obama’s tenure in the White House. Ever since, it has been an object of fascination, fear, scorn and admiration. It has also been the object of misunderstanding. The tea party was described as the new kid on the block of American politics, when in fact it was the extension of forces long at work in the political system. Read full article > >

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What the tea party is — and isn’t

Ten of the 12 members of the so-called debt reduction “supercommittee” represent districts or states that went for President Obama in 2008 – a reflection of the political concerns that will be paramount when lawmakers meet in the coming weeks. None of the 12 members have immediate concerns about their political futures in the 2012 election – at least right now – but a few of them have reason to be watching their backs as they advance with what is likely to be a tortuous and tricky political process. Read full article > >

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Obama voters are well-represented on debt reduction ‘supercommittee’

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is investigating whether the Standard & Poor’s credit ratings agency improperly rated dozens of mortgage securities in the years leading up to the financial crisis, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The investigation began before Standard & Poor’s cut the United States’ AAA credit rating this month, but it’s likely to add to the political firestorm created by the downgrade, the newspaper said. Some government officials have since questioned the agency’s secretive process, its credibility and the competence of its analysts, claiming to have found an error in its debt calculations. Read full article > >

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Report: Justice Department investigating Standard and Poor’s mortgage securities ratings

Republican presidential contender Rick Perry is criticised across the political divide after warning the Federal Reserve chairman against “treason”.

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Perry decried for treason remarks

A debate inside the Republican Party over American military engagement has changed the political dynamic.

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As Politics of War Shift, Risks for Obama Ease

Ameeting of anarchists, progressives, a self-described “surly feminist” and others on the far left of the political spectrum is underway. They’re young and radical. They’re organizing intently. The matter at hand could be oppression, or the police state, or revolution. But it’s not. It’s walking dogs. They sit in a circle in the living room of a Petworth group house and tick off their “route updates,” which mostly consist of details about the new canine clients they’ve signed up. Read full article > >

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Dog-walking collective strolls thin line between anarchist principles, profits

The wives of presidential candidates have become part of the political apparatus, for better or worse. These are the wives of likely 2012 Republican contenders. Read full article > >

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Political wives: Marriages in the spotlight

The arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn in connection with a sexual attack raised questions about his past behavior and upended the political calculus in France.

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Soul-Searching in France After Official’s Arrest Jolts Nation

On Saturday night, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee confirmed what most of the political world had long suspected: He will not be running for president in 2012. Although he would have been something short of a clear Republican front-runner had he entered the contest, he was still a well-known and well-liked figure whose decision not to enter the race leaves a major void. Nature and politics abhor a vacuum, so the candidates will quickly move to fill the space left by Huckabee. Before they do, let’s take a look at the winners and losers from Huckabee’s no-go announcement. Read full article > >

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The outs and ins of Mike Huckabee’s no-go decision

With high gas prices and federal deficits in the political spotlight, senior Democrats believe that Senate Republicans will support an idea they otherwise might not like.

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Democrats’ Plan Would Offset Deficit by Ending Big Oil’s Tax Breaks

A series of local, regional and national votes on Thursday re-drew much of the political map, punishing the junior partners in the coalition government, and boosting the Scottish National Party.

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British Liberals Lose, Scottish Nationalists Gain