The left loses votes but gains seats in Germany; Angela Merkel wins but doesn't get a majority. It's a good lesson in how electoral systems do funny things to the numbers.
A German update
The German election is too close to call on the basis of exit polling alone, but it's clear that chancellor Angela Merkel has done very well.
On the spot in Germany
Election day in Germany provides an opportunity to survey some of the possibilities.
Iranians almost get Facebook again
A window opens up in Iran's censorship regime, before being slammed shut again. It's one part of a delicate political game for the country's new moderate president.
Mixed fortunes in Bavaria
Angela Merkel's forces score a morale-boosting win in the Bavarian state election, but it's not enough to dispel the underlying risk that the electoral system is posing for her next Sunday.
Chile remembers 1973
Chile marks the fortieth anniversary of the military coup that led to the Pinochet dictatorship. In a presidential election year, the country's past is still very much alive.
If you’re not sick of elections yet …
Germany votes in two weeks time on the fate of Angela Merkel's government. The result will depend in part on a quirk of the country's otherwise very democratic electoral system – a system which, incidentally, would have produced a rather different result last weekend in Australia.
Compare and contrast: Iraq and Syria
Syria is very different from Iraq, primarily because there's a war already in progress. That doesn't mean military intervention is the right move, but it makes it a more difficult question.
Running up the white flag on drug prohibition
The United States takes another step away from prohibition of marijuana, but the Republicans are dragging their feet.
Iran and the resonance of the past
Sixty years on from a coup that poisoned Iranian-US relations, the CIA has come clean about its role. It may be a small step forward in a difficult process of reconciliation.
The World is Not Enough 