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The head of the euroskeptic True Finns party, confident his opposition to the terms of a Portuguese bailout was gaining traction, said on Wednesday euro zone members might face a new solution to the debt crisis by next month. ... He said the best solution to the European debt crisis would be to require banks to recapitalize and bear more of the liability for debts, as he had suggested during his campaign. ... Under the existing rules, funding for the expected 80 billion euro package would come roughly one-third from the IMF and two-thirds from the EFSF and a smaller...

LONDON - Global stocks sank Monday as investors fretted over a possible Greek debt default, a day after China's central bank took another anti-inflation move in an attempt to get a grip on fast-rising consumer prices. In addition, huge election gains for a nationalist euroskeptic party in Finland added to the tensions over Europe's debt crisis, on a day that Portugal began discussions on a financial bailout and Spain had to pay much higher interest rates to borrow in the markets. ... "The victory of the True Finns party in yesterday's general election in Finland will make further bailouts much...

HELSINKI (AFP) - Finns began voting in general elections Sunday after a campaign marked by the meteoric rise of the nationalist True Finns party, which is expected to send parliament lurching to the right. ... The populist, nationalist, immigration-averse True Finns, who are adamantly opposed to European Union bailouts, have meanwhile seen their 4.1 percent tally from the last elections in 2007 balloon to nearly 20 percent in recent polls, although the latest survey put it at 15.4 percent, or fourth place.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin is asking for a federal investigation into the surprise discovery of 14,000 votes in Waukesha County for the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. The Wisconsin Democrat sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder Friday night asking him to assign the Justice Department Public Integrity Section. It oversees the federal prosecution of election crimes.

Kloppenburg's campaign is working with Marc Elias, an attorney with Perkins Coie, a Washington D.C.-based firm with an office in downtown Madison. Elias is the same attorney who represented Democratic challenger Al Franken in his eight-month epic recount battle with incumbent Republican Norm Coleman. Franken eventually prevailed, winning his U.S. Senate seat by 312 votes. Prosser has hired Ben Ginsberg, a Washington-D.C. attorney who played a prominent role in the 2000 Bush-Gore presidential recount effort in Florida. He was also part of the team that represented Coleman in his recount effort. Prosser has also retained Madison attorney Jim Troupis, and...

State appointees could terminate contracts for teachers, government workers ... LANSING, Mich. — Legislation that would give broad new powers to emergency managers appointed to guide financially struggling cities and schools in Michigan moved one step closer to becoming law Wednesday, winning approval from the Republican-led state Senate. ... emergency financial managers who are appointed by the state would have the power to terminate union contracts held by school teachers and local government workers...Managers also could strip local elected officials of most powers,

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Fox 29 has confirmed the Philadelphia police have caught a suspect in the case of the Kensington Strangler, a serial attacker who killed three women in the past two months. Fox 29 first reported that police would make an announcement in the case on Monday night. The announcement turned out to the naming of a suspect in the case. The man was taken into custody about 20 minutes after a police press conference. Police say a DNA match confirms the suspect is Antonio Rodriguez, a 21-year-old man, from Philadelphia’s Kensington section. He is described as a black male, 5’ 9”,...

A 60-year-old university administrator in the southern port city of Karachi is wistful as he recalls the more tolerant, freewheeling Pakistan of his youth. Once, when a teacher suggested no book can be perfect, the boy asked if that included Islam's holy book, the Quran. That sparked a candid class discussion about religion. But in today's Pakistan, Muqtida Mansoor said he would never dare to ask the question in public. After all, "anyone could shoot you." [snip] "The silent majority does not want to take out a gun and shoot anyone, but at the same time they're not appalled by...

Senate is now debating changes to filibuster rule.

Senate Republicans on Saturday voted against extending the Bush tax cuts to only the middle class in a pair of votes Democrats are seizing to paint the GOP as guardians of the rich. The Senate voted 53-36 to extend all expiring tax cuts on individuals with incomes of less than $200,000 a year and married couples making less than $250,000 -- seven shy of the required 60 to advance. The other proposal, which drew opposition from White House officials, would have renewed them for all tax filers with incomes of $1 million or less. That also failed in a 53-36...

The Senate bill contains fees that could be considered tax provisions, which under congressional rules supposed to originate in the House, according to House and Senate aides who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak about the situation. House Republicans could call a vote to send the bill back to the Senate for another vote. That could hurt the bill's chances as Congress rushes to wrap up for the year.

RedState.com has received exclusive video showing the events leading up to the now infamous curb-stomp of MoveOn.org activist Lauren Valle. What is seen on the video contradicts Ms. Valle's account that she has repeated on main stream media programs and has been regurgitated on left-wing web sites.

The number two at the Dutch embassy in Ankara was called by Turkish government officials on Monday to explain parts of the coalition accord which relate to Turkey, the Volkskrant reports on Tuesday, quoting diplomatic sources. In particular, the Turkish authorities are concerned about parts of the agreement which anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders made a condition of his support for the minority agreement. They want to know about the clause which will limit social security payments to people who return to Turkey and calls to renegotiate the terms of Turkey's association agreement with the EU. A court in Rotterdam ruled...

It may well become the trial of the century: this week, Dutch MP [Member of Parliament] Geert Wilders stands before the judge on charges of “sowing hate” through his speeches and writings about Islam. ... For Wilders, however, its timing could not come at a more strategic moment. As the founder and leader of Holland’s far-right Freedom Party (PVV), Wilders is not only Holland’s most controversial politician, but also its most-favored, ranking higher in the polls now than it did after a sweeping victory in parliamentary elections this past June. Moreover, just last week, after months of debate, the Dutch...

[From CNN CEO memo making the announcement]: Ultimately, the goal is that the kind of front-page reporting and analysis that captures a news event, translates its meaning and shapes the dialogue about the story will continue to emerge in even more prominent and more accessible ways to CNN’s audiences. The search for this person is currently underway.

The crash of Sweden's long-ruling Social Democrats to their worst defeat since 1914 highlights the decline of socialist parties in much of Europe, drained by social change, economic crisis and the rise of new issues. ... Socialists' long-standing support for European unification, religious tolerance and integrating immigrants has made them vulnerable to right-wing populists like the Sweden Democrats, Geert Wilders' Dutch Freedom Party or France's National Front.

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