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5 | Argentina A Setback for the First Couple María Belén Chapur isn't the only Argentine woman having a rough week. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner suffered a major political blow when the ruling Peronist Party, led by her husband Néstor Kirchner, went down to defeat in midterm congressional elections. Néstor, a former President who rescued Argentina from the brink of economic ruin, resigned as party leader after the vote, which was seen as a referendum on the couple's handling of farm strikes and the sagging economy.

6 | Minnesota AT LONG LAST, A WINNER Nearly eight months, 2.4 million votes, a recount, two appeals and $50 million in election spending is all it took to get Al Franken elected U.S. Senator from Minnesota. The longest race in the state's history came to an end when the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled unanimously for the former comedian, giving him the win by 312 votes. In the end, GOP incumbent Norm Coleman conceded gracefully, saying, "The future today is ... Al Franken." The belated victory gives Democrats a filibuster-proof majority of 60 votes just as the Senate is expected to tackle the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor and health-care reform.

7 | Honduras Contested Coup After being spirited from the country in a June 28 coup that sparked protests both for and against his rule in Tegucigalpa, the capital, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya addressed the U.N. General Assembly to argue for his reinstatement. While coup leaders say Zelaya's removal was lawful, the U.N., the Organization of American States and the White House are lobbying for his return and for a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

8 | Sacramento A Race Against Time to Make Ends Meet In the hours before a July 1 deadline to pass budgets for the 2010 fiscal year, lawmakers in 10 states scrambled to make up for billion-dollar shortfalls by proposing everything from taxing cell-phone ringtones to closing state parks. While Mississippi, Indiana and Delaware made the cutoff, others did not. Ohio and Connecticut will keep the lights on without an official budget in place, while California, which faces a $24 billion deficit, announced plans to issue IOUs until representatives can resolve a legislative stalemate.

[The following text appears within a chart. Please see hardcopy or PDF for actual chart.]

Budget gaps: states that missed the deadline

Ariz. $3.2 billion

Calif. $24.3 billion

Conn. $8.8 billion

Ill. $11.6 billion

N.C. $4 billion

Ohio $3.2 billion

Pa. $3.2 billion

SOURCE: STATELINE.ORG

9 | Washington Relief on Student Loans In a rare piece of welcome news for students struggling to pay for college, the Federal Government is offering a loan-repayment plan that reduces monthly bills for graduates who take home thinner paychecks. The new policy is accompanied by an interest-rate reduction on new federal subsidized Stafford loans, which will drop from 6% to 3.4% by 2012. Students who work in public service can have the balance of their loans forgiven after 10 years.

Low-income students get smaller bills

AVERAGE STUDENT DEBT $23,186

NEW INTEREST RATE 5.6%

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]