11.   The Taliban were the ruling government in Afghanistan until U.S. airstrikes propelled Afghan opposition ground forces to victory.

12.   A proposal that would grant more legal protection to doctors who perform euthanasia has won backing from the ruling government coalition, officials said Wednesday.

13.   Ai started writing his own poetry when, after returning to China, he was imprisoned for three years for opposing the ruling Nationalist government.

14.   Also on Sunday, a Taliban envoy acknowledged for the first time that Osama bin Laden is in Afghanistan and under the control of the ruling government there.

15.   An intensified power struggle between supporters of hard-liners and moderates inside the ruling Islamic government has led to a wave of violence.

16.   Court upholds ruling saying government must provide key AIDS drugs.

17.   He is being sheltered by the ruling Taliban government in Afghanistan.

18.   If the new party is created, it would pose a serious challenge to hard-liners locked in a power struggle with their moderate rivals inside the ruling Islamic government.

19.   Iran has been struck by a wave of violence, triggered by the intensified power struggle between supporters of hard-liners and moderates inside the ruling Islamic government.

20.   Members of the group talked to opposition leaders as well as ruling government officials in each country, Pataki said.