She wanted the Americans on-side and, in particular, she wanted President Obama's authority standing behind a second Greek bail-out.

BBC: Greek Bail-out II - the backlash

Besides the constitutional issue, the justices had specifically ordered both sides to argue a supplemental question: whether congressional Republicans -- operating officially as the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group of the U.S. House of Representatives -- have "standing" or legal authority to make the case.

CNN: Obama administration weighs in on defense of marriage law

Counsel for the department has argued, however, that the challenge is doomed to fail because world heritage authority guidelines have no standing in UK law.

BBC: Northern Ireland

But sending Bolton to the United Nations without the backing of the Senate would make him a temporary fill-in ambassador, raise questions about his authority and possibly diminish his standing.

NPR: Bush Wants Floor Vote on Bolton

But the about-turn on three-month money made it look inconsistent, and the Northern Rock affair has damaged its public standing, even if the government and the Financial Services Authority, Britain's banking supervisor, were also at fault.

ECONOMIST: CSI: credit crunch | The

Sue Mountstevens, who is standing as an independent, was also a member of the police authority but stood down in order to take part in the elections.

BBC: Police elections radio debate