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Italy's recent elections left the country in political gridlock. Italian columnist Beppe Severgnini breaks down the election results and austerity measures, and shares what Italians are talking about in a country that some are calling "ungovernable."

This past week, the Justice Department asked the Internet company Google to turn over its search records, which prosecutors say would help them defend a controversial child pornography law. Google refused.

Ken Kalfus' new novel about an astronomer obsessed with attracting the attention of Martians appears at first to be an homage to the scientific romances of H.G. Wells and the lost-world sagas of H. Rider Haggard. As the novel develops, however, its unique social commentaries emerge.

Will Smith in Seven Pounds (Columbia Pictures)

The Trend — its spotting, its tracking, its examination — has become omnipresent in contemporary culture. And if there is one thing that watching trends has taught us, it's that at precisely the point at which something becomes ubiquitous, that something is no longer a trend.

After weeks of threats from North Korea, some South Koreans turned their attention this weekend away from weapons and toward a new song by the country's global rap star, PSY. On Saturday night the singer unveiled his follow-up single and video to the viral phenomenon, "Gangnam Style," at a sold-out concert.

Google has launched a new version of its search engine Web site in China. The site censors material about Tibet, human rights and other topics considered sensitive by the Chinese government. The move comes shortly after the company was praised for not complying with a U.S. federal subpoena for its records.

Secretary of State John Kerry is in Seoul, South Korea, at a time of escalating tension on the Korean peninsula. There are expectations that North Korea might soon launch a medium-range missile.

Despite weeks of escalating tension between North and South Korea, and increasingly bellicose threats from Pyongyang, life in South Korea continues as normal. Most people in the capital Seoul appear to think the issue has more to do with the political situation in North Korea then a military threat to them.

The North Korean government officially suspended operations at the Kaesong industrial complex, withdrawing all of its more than 50,000 workers. Many see the complex as the last remaining symbol of North and South Korean unity and fear that tensions may be nearing a dangerous tipping point.