The World

10 ESSENTIAL STORIES

By Harriet Barovick, Ishaan Tharoor, Alexandra Silver, Claire Suddath, Frances Romero, Kayla Webley and Josh Sanburn Monday, Oct. 18, 2010

    • 1 | Washington

    High Court in Session

    The Supreme Court reconvened Oct. 4 with a new Justice on the bench. But Elena Kagan, President Obama's latest appointee, will have to sit out many of the cases because once she was solicitor general in the Justice Department. She has recused herself from almost half the cases currently on the docket, meaning she will not sit in on oral arguments or vote on the outcome. Her absence could make for 4-4 split rulings, especially on some of the more controversial issues facing the court this session, like immigration reform, the death penalty and free speech. If a case is split, the lower court's decision stands.

    On the docket: Cases to watch this session

    10.6.2010

    Snyder v. Phelps

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    Does the First Amendment protect protesters at a funeral who intentionally inflict emotional distress on the family of the deceased?

    11.2.2010

    Schwarzenegger v. Entertainment Merchants Association

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    Does a California law that forbids the sale of violent video games to children violate free speech?

    12.8.2010

    Chamber of Commerce v. Whiting

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    May Arizona require employers to use a federal database to check the immigration status of job applicants?

    2011

    FCC v. AT&T;

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    Does the Freedom of Information Act exception for "personal privacy" apply to corporations?

    SOURCE: SCOTUS BLOG

    2 | Hungary

    A Red Sea of Sludge

    Several towns in southwestern Hungary were inundated with chemical sludge after a reservoir at an alumina plant in Ajka burst on Oct. 4, prompting Budapest to declare a state of emergency. The estimated 185 million gal. (700 million L) of toxic red mud killed at least four, injured more than 120 and washed away hundreds of homes. The sludge threatens to contaminate Europe's second longest river, the Danube, and may take a year to clean up.

    3 | Bosnia

    The Continuing Ethnic Divide

    The Oct. 3 election results confirm analysts' fears: 15 years after the Bosnian war caused 2 million people to flee their homeland, Bosnia remains starkly divided along ethnic lines. The country is politically decentralized, split between a joint Bosnian Muslim and ethnic-Croat federation and an autonomous Serb republic. As voters mostly cling to their separate camps, a unified government looks unlikely and entry into the E.U. distant.

    Bosnia and Herzegovina

    [The following text appears within a map. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual map.]

    FEDERATION OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

    SERB REPUBLIC

    SOURCE: CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

    4 | China

    Climate Talks Stalled

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