Just about the only thing dumber than judicial elections is trying to regulate what judges can say when they’re running for office. Last year, the Supreme Court struggled with this problem in a case about judicial fundraising. Now an appeals court has struck down elements of Kentucky’s nonpartisan judicial election rules that try to regulate how judges can talk …

  Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be more open than ever to a compromise with Japan that would end the two countries’ post-World War II territorial dispute. Both sides have been making tentative moves toward reconciliation since May, and a deal may finally be in the works after decades of false starts. In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Putin …

  Dubai / Reuters Gulf stock markets were mixed in quiet trade on Tuesday as Riyadh’s bourse pulled back after rising sharply on the previous day, when Saudi Arabia and Russia said they would cooperate to support oil prices. Riyadh’s stock index gained early on Tuesday but closed 0.2 percent lower at 6,190 points, failing a test of technical resistance …