California's governor looks like surviving an attempt to recall him, but the vote casts a light both on some of the state's quirks and on the mania that's taken hold of the Republican Party.
Author: Charles Richardson
Election preview: Norway
If the polls are right, Norway's Labour Party is set to return to government after eight years in opposition.
A coup in Guinea
Last weekend's coup in Guinea is a lesson in why democratic backsliding should be taken more seriously.
Problems in the Balkans
There's a new political crisis in Romania to accompany the existing long-running one in neighboring Bulgaria.
Déjà vu in Victoria
Victoria's Liberal Party dumps its leader and reaches back into its past – a place of dark memories.
Japan loses a prime minister
Despite staging a successful Olympics, Japan's prime minister decides that his party will be better placed with a new leader for the upcoming election.
Texas vs civilisation
A US supreme court decision raises the prospect of giving the fundamentalists in the Republican Party what they say they want – possibly at a large political cost.
Taliban in Central America
Afghanistan isn't the only place where an anti-American autocracy has picked up where it left off. Nicaragua has already been there.
Post-Soviet independence
Ukraine and other former Soviet republics are celebrating 30 years of independence, but their place in the world still has elements of uncertainty.
France’s contested middle ground
France's two traditional parties are both struggling for relevance as they try to settle on a candidate in advance of next year's presidential election.
The World is Not Enough 