All but Kremlin-favored lawmakers walk out of Russian parliament to protest election results

September 30th, 2009 A look at Germany's voting systemBERLIN — Germans each have two votes in the country's Sept. 27 parliamentary election — one for a directly elected representative and the other for a party.

September 29th, 2009 MOSCOW - The Kremlin has launched a campaign to curb excessive drinking, especially of vodka, which it says is wreaking the country. According to a report in The Scotsman, Russians could soon find it harder to buy alcohol, and pay more for a bottle of the national drink, vodka, if the Kremlin gets its way.

September 3rd, 2009 Iran parliament votes on Ahmadinejad Cabinet listTEHRAN, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has pledged his future government will work closely with the parliament and has urged Iranian lawmakers to approve his choices for the Cabinet. The remarks came as lawmakers prepared to vote Thursday on the 21-member Cabinet proposed by Ahmadinejad.

August 31st, 2009 Japan's election resultsHere are the standings in Japan's lower house of parliament after Sunday's elections, as compiled by the media. Official results have not been released.

August 31st, 2009 Moscow police quash anti-Kremlin rally, detain 15MOSCOW — Riot police briefly detained about 15 people trying to hold an anti-Kremlin demonstration in central Moscow on Monday to defend Russians' constitutional right to assembly. Camouflage-clad police grabbed the protesters as they arrived at the square near the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall and hustled them into buses, carrying some by their arms and legs.

August 10th, 2009 Russian bill expands reasons for deploying troopsMOSCOW —President Dmitry Medvedev has submitted a bill expanding legal reasons to deploy Russian troops abroad, the Kremlin said Monday. The bill released by the Kremlin would allow the president to send troops outside Russia to fend off attacks on the Russian military, deter aggression against another state, protect Russian citizens or combat pirates.

August 6th, 2009 Irish gov't loses parliament majority as 2 quitDUBLIN — Prime Minister Brian Cowen lost his parliamentary majority Thursday after two lawmakers said they would ignore their party's voting instructions in a protest against cuts to cancer services. The move left Cowen's already shaky coalition with just 82 guaranteed votes in the 166-seat parliament and raises the specter of an early election amid unprecedented economic crisis in Ireland.

July 29th, 2009 Russia wants second base in KyrgyzstanMOSCOW — Russian news agencies are quoting a top Kremlin adviser as saying Moscow aims to build a second military base in Kyrgyzstan, where the United States also has a major air base. The RIA-Novosti news agency cited Sergei Prikhodko as saying Wednesday that Kyrgyz and Russian officials have agreed in principle on putting a base in Kyrgyzstan's South.

June 10th, 2009 Space station astronauts 'space walk' in airlockMOSCOW — Two international space station crewmen have squeezed into an airlock aboard the station to move a docking mechanism. American Michael Barratt and Russian Gennady Padalka entered the transfer compartment in the station's Russian-made Zvezda service module on Wednesday for a job expected to take less than 40 minutes.

June 8th, 2009 UK sends 1st right-extremist to EU parliamentLONDON — Britain elected its first extreme-right politician to the European Parliament in results announced Sunday, a development mainstream lawmakers blamed on the recession and a collapse of trust in major political parties. The British National Party won a seat in northern England's Yorkshire and the Humber district — taking one of six seats in Europe's Parliament awarded in the region.

May 31st, 2009 Police detain would-be anti-Putin protestersMOSCOW — Russian police thwarted opposition plans for a protest against Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in central Moscow on Sunday, detaining a prominent Kremlin critic and more than 30 other government opponents in a show of force. Banned National-Bolshevik Party leader Eduard Limonov was among at least 10 people seen being grabbed by police and dragged into buses as they tried to protest in Triumph Square.

May 23rd, 2009 KATHMANDU - Almost three weeks deadlock over the formation of a new government, Nepal lawmakers will vote today to elect a new Prime Minister. Former chief of the CPN (UML) Madhav Kumar Nepal, who has been supported by 22 parties in the parliament, is almost certain to become the next Prime Minister.

February 9th, 2009 MOSCOW - More than 10,000 people have registered at Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's personal video blog since it stared accepting comments less than a month back. Medvedev has had a video blog on the Kremlin site since the fall of 2008, but the interactive service allowing visitors who register to leave their comments was launched Jan 12.

January 15th, 2009 DHAKA - Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia will be heading what is the 'smallest-ever opposition', but has pledged to play a strong role to make parliament effective, a media report said Friday. Zia said lawmakers of her Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Islamist ally Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) will attend the Jatiya Sangsad (parliament) on the very first day later this month.

December 29th, 2008 MOSCOW - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Tuesday signed into law a bill extending presidential terms form four to six years, the Kremlin said. Medvedev's final endorsement of the constitutional amendment follows rapid legislative approval by both houses of Russian parliament as well as 83 regional chambers.