Ted Stevens, who is the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, is running for re-election this fall. He is charged with seven counts of failing to list on his Senate disclosure forms goods and services provided by long-time associate Bill Allen that were used to refurbish the Stevenses’ family home. The trial has been accelerated at Mr. Stevens’ request, in hopes of obtaining a verdict before Election Day.

Whether Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, can help Zimbabwe escape the yoke of Robert Mugabe’s rule is not yet clear. The two bitter rivals have signed a power-sharing deal, a complicated arrangement that leaves Mr Mugabe as President and makes Mr Tsvangirai Prime Minister. The army stays under Mr Mugabe’s control, while Mr Tsvangirai apparently has the job of fixing the devastated economy.

The main thrust of the McCain campaign has been to cover up his history of economic malpractice. Senator McCain has largely pulled it off so far, under the guidance of Steve Schmidt, a Karl Rove protégé. A Rovian political strategy by definition means all slime, all the time. But the more crucial Rove game plan is to envelop the entire presidential race in a thick fog of truthiness.

President Thabo Mbeki has lost a power struggle against his rival, African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma, and has been under pressure to quit following a judge’s ruling this month that he was instrumental in Mr Zuma being charged with corruption.

The Palins have long denied wrongdoing, and the governor initially said she would cooperate with the bipartisan legislative inquiry. Now that she is Senator McCain’s running mate, however, the campaign says the inquiry has become a partisan political circus. It has accused Alaska Democrats of using it to hurt the Republican ticket.

Sarah Palin has spent most of this month out of state, campaigning with Senator McCain, and has endorsed neither Senator Stevens nor his opponent. But that has not stopped both candidates from trying to benefit from her enormous popularity in Alaska, which has only grown since she joined the McCain ticket.

In a reversal of position, a key Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday he may convene the committee that is conducting the investigation into whether Palin dismissed her public safety commissioner when he would not fire a state trooper involved in a bitter divorce with her sister. This may be the first move in a push to delay the probe.

Mr Somchai, 61, will not take office until he is endorsed by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a process that could take several days. However, anti-government protesters who have occupied the grounds of the prime minister’s offices for three weeks have already vowed to continue their rally to force Mr Somchai from power.

With the stench of the Wollongong Council corruption scandal, developer donations and the New South Wales State Government’s radical planning reforms believed to be the main reasons for the Labor Party’s fall from favour, the Premier, Nathan Rees, said voters had sent a clear message to his Government.

Opinion polls have shown the Clark Government trailing the main opposition National Party for several months, although the gap narrowed to 6.5 percentage points at the start of September. The announcement came amidst a scandal involving political donations to Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ New Zealand First Party.