In April China defended itself (another first) at the Mekong River Commission, the inter-governmental body supposed to resolve disputes.

ECONOMIST: Banyan

Meanwhile, the FCC isn't the only governmental body putting pressure on VoIP companies.

FORBES: Cost Of Net Phone Calls May Rise

The second step was to give a new role to the Federal Mortgage Society, a previously obscure quasi-governmental body.

ECONOMIST: Laying the foundations of a property-owning democracy

For now, the only inter-governmental body with a say over the region is the Arctic Council: its mandate is narrowly environmental.

ECONOMIST: The Arctic

The AIDRG took it upon itself to do what no Israeli governmental body had considered doing: Its members just started counting heads.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: Where Israel Went Wrong

The Tequila Regulatory Council, a quasi-governmental body, claims to have evidence that bulk handlers on both sides of the border have tampered with the product or, worse, blended different varieties of tequila.

ECONOMIST: Protectionism, or quality control?

The South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPrep), a 26-nation and territories governmental body, has also asked for information from Moscow on a number of issues, including the types of material on board the platform.

BBC: Putin demands successful Mir scuttling

One proposal, from Senators Jon Corzine and Christopher Dodd, is to look into creating a new oversight body akin to the quasi-governmental Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the US governmental agency responsible for travel security, is scrapping its controversial full-body scanners, which show near-naked images of passengers to TSA agents.

BBC: Air travel gets a lot more modest

Authorities are also drawing up legislation to establish an independent body that will monitor logging, possibly in conjunction with non-governmental groups.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia