The pope's response to this and other cases is attracting criticism, including from prominent laymen such as Wolfgang Thierse, a former Social Democrat president of Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag.

ECONOMIST: Paedophilia and the Catholic church

The other is Bronislaw Komorowski, the speaker of the lower house of the Polish parliament, who has been acting president since the crash.

ECONOMIST: Poland's presidential election

Now, as part of the negotiations between both houses, the lower house has proposed a compromise that could give the president even less of a tax cut.

ECONOMIST: Countdown to 2004 | The

The move thrust Munoz into the senior ranks of the White House, though she continues to maintain a lower profile than many of the president's top advisers.

NPR: Obama Immigration Aide Seeks To Finish Journey

David Fleischer, a political scientist at Brasilia University, reckons that a President Lula could win over 309 deputies in the 513-seat lower house and 48 of 81 senators.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's presidential election

President Thein Sein, opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the speaker of parliament's lower house on Sunday issued a joint declaration in the face of the deadly communal violence.

BBC: Burma communal rioting spreads outside Meiktila

Russia's lower house of parliament, the Duma, endorsed Sergei Kiriyenko , a nominee of President Boris Yeltsin, as prime minister.

ECONOMIST: Balkan battle

The president went on to cut a deal with Mr Magalhaes and the heads of the Supreme Court and the lower house of Congress on a compromise figure of 11, 500 reais a month for the civil-service salary cap.

ECONOMIST: Brazil