George Bush got fast-track authorisation by a vote of 215 to 214, despite 190 House Democrats voting against the measure.

ECONOMIST: Working overseas

This requires a Chapter VII authorisation by the Security Council.

ECONOMIST: A preview of a report that may help to rescue the rule of law

The allied intervention in northern Iraq in 1991 to save the Kurds, and the imposition of a no-fly zone in southern Iraq to save the Shia Muslims there, were undertaken without explicit authorisation by a Security Council resolution, but were also widely accepted as legitimate.

ECONOMIST: Law and right

"Piracy" includes the reproduction and distribution of copies of copyright-protected material, or the communication to the public and making available of such material on on-line communication networks, without the authorisation of the right owner(s) where such authorisation is required by law.

UNESCO: World Anti-Piracy Observatory

Mr Hayes said the miners' leader Mr Scargill had failed to secure authorisation for the 1980s strikes via a ballot and had been confronted by a government which had stockpiled coal.

BBC: CWU chief warns of extra strikes