The World

1 | Israel Coalition Takes Shape Israel's Labor Party has agreed to join a Cabinet led by Prime Minister--designate Benjamin Netanyahu, giving him enough support in the 120-seat Israeli Knesset to form a viable coalition government. The decision by the center-left Labor Party's leader, Ehud Barak, to unite with the largely right- wing coalition has caused tension among the party's members, many of whom oppose Netanyahu's stance against peace negotiations with the Palestinians and have threatened to break away. Tzipi Livni's centrist Kadima Party, which in fact won the most votes in February's parliamentary elections, has refused to join the coalition over similar policy differences.

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Seats in Israel's Parliament

Israeli Coalition Government

Likud 27 Yisrael Beitenu 15 Labor 13* Shas 11

*Pending final count

Opposition Parties

Kadima 28 Other 18

Undecided

Other 8

SOURCE: TIME RESEARCH

2 | Beijing Replacing the Dollar? In a sign of growing concern over the U.S. economy, the head of China's central bank proposed implementing a new currency-reserve system that could ease the country's reliance on the dollar. Experts say the move underlines China's desire to take a leadership role in the global response to the financial crisis. Still, few analysts expect the dollar to be replaced by what Zhou Xiaochuan called a new "supersovereign reserve currency" in the foreseeable future. China, which holds nearly $2 trillion in foreign-exchange reserves, is the U.S.'s largest creditor.

3 | New York City Giving In and Giving Back Some of the AIG executives under fire for taking fat bonuses have agreed to return the money. The insurance giant, which has received $180 billion in bailout funds, was obligated to pay out $165 million in bonuses as part of employees' contracts--prompting outrage from the public and in Congress. In all, more than $50 million in bonus money has been returned.

4 | Sri Lanka War Traps Civilians As the island nation's military battles to crush a decades-old rebellion by the Tamil Tigers, civilians have become increasingly endangered. The U.N. recently reported that more than 150,000 people are trapped in the northeast region and are being denied aid, though Sri Lankan officials say the estimate is inflated.

5 | South Africa Tibet Tussle The South African government barred the Dalai Lama from attending a March 27 Johannesburg peace conference, citing the spiritual leader's tense relations with China but denying it was pressured by Beijing. Nobel laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and F.W. de Klerk protested by pulling out of the event, a walk-up to the 2010 World Cup. Organizers subsequently canceled the conference.

6 | Prague Government Unseated Midway through the Czech Republic's six-month E.U. presidency, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek's coalition lost a parliamentary no-confidence vote, becoming the fourth European government to fall this year. Topolanek will head a caretaker coalition until a new one is formed, but his capacity to help lead the 27-member bloc in a time of crisis is in doubt.