The Supeme Court could put the US on a radically different course with rulings due Monday; Polls show Brazilians overwhelmingly back the concerns of the protesters; And we could learn if Sylvio Berlusconi’s next “Bunga Bunga” party will be held in prison.

All eyes (well, a lot of them anyway) will be on the United States Supreme Court on Monday, with the expectation of rulings on Civil Rights, Voting Rights, and Gay Marriage.  Proponents of Marriage Equality are hoping the justices known down a California ballot initiative that banned Gay Marriage.  But Alabama sued to overturn parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, arguing that it’s not racist anymore (ha, it is).  Programs to end racial discrimination in education are on the block as well. 

A court in Milan is expected to deliver a verdict in the trial of ex-Prime Minister Sylvio Berlusconi, charged with paying for sex with an underage prostitute at one of his infamous “Bunga Bunga” parties, and abusing power during his term in office.  Prosecutors demand a six-year sentence and a lifetime ban from public office.  The 76-year-old media tycoon denies all the allegations.

A new poll shows three-quarters of Brazilians back the massive protesters that have hit practically every city in the emerging South American democracy.  People are fed up with poor public services and corruption, with 77 percent citing the high cost of using public transport as the key reason for their dissatisfaction.  The polls shows most Brazilians want their country to host the World Cup, but want some of that money spent on schools and hospitals.

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (which is neither Liberal nor Democratic, btw) won a landslide victory in regional elections in Tokyo.  The election is seen as a harbinger of national upper house elections to take place next month.  If the LDP wins in July, it gives Prime Minister Shinzo Abe a free hand to push his economic policies.  But critics say Abe really aims to push his ultra-conservative social agenda, including further whitewashing of Japan’s history of atrocities during World War II.  That’s already causing tension with China and North Korea.

Japan has a partner in needlessly killing whales.  Iceland killed the first two endangered Fin Whales of the season after resuming their controversial commercial hunt last week. The International Fund for Animal Welfare attacked Iceland’s resumption of the fin whale hunt as “cruel and unnecessary.”  Japan is Iceland’s only customer for this product.

Aussie Trenton Oldfield will fight his expulsion order from Britain.  The ten-year resident was told to leave, even though his wife is pregnant and he runs two non-profit charities.  Oldfield last year protested the British Intelligence Service’s Internet surveillance program by swimming out in front the boats at the 158th Oxford and Cambridge boat race, which he targeted because of the number of ex-Oxford students that work in the UK government.  For that peaceful protest, the Brit authorities say he’s not “conducive to the public good”.

British Finance Minister George Osborne is laughing off a gaffe made by US President Barack Obama.  At the recent G8 Summit, Obama kept referring to the UK money man as “Jeffrey Osborne” – the name of a pretty good R&B singer who had a string of hits singles in the 1980s.  The cooler Osborne didn’t mind, either.  George joked that “It's nice to be on first name terms with the President of the United States, even if he sometimes gets the name wrong.”  But it also brought some ribbing when shadow chancellor Ed Balls prodded him to sing on the BBC.