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The parliament of Zimbabwe has unanimously voted for a constitutional amendment allowing a coalition government to be formed between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Under the bill, Mugabe would remain president of the country, but Tsvangirai would take the office the prime minister. The latter is to be sworn into office on the 11th of February. The bill, after being endorsed by the House of Assembly, was subsequently taken to the Senate, where it was passed w

United States President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he was renaming and expanding an office created by former President George W. Bush, the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. "No matter how much money we invest or how sensibly we design our policies, the change that Americans are looking for will not come from government alone," Obama said, while announcing the new office at the National Prayer Breakfast. "There is a force for good greater than government." "The goal of this office will not be to favo

An Australian twin-engined Piper Chieftain carrying five passengers safely landed in the waters of Darwin's harbour today. The pilot of the aeroplane, Steve Bolle, experienced some engine trouble shortly after departing from Darwin International Airport. Darwin is the capital of Australia's Northern Territory, situated on the Timor Sea. It is not yet known what caused the incident. The aircraft's flight plan took it over water, giving the pilot few opportunities to land the plane on ground. Bolle decided to land in the water, as opposed to th

Judges in England's High Court of Justice have said that the United States threatened to withdraw anti-terrorism intelligence cooperation if they revealed part of a Guantanamo Bay detainee's case. However, UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs David Miliband denied the threat had occurred, telling the House of Commons that it was usual practice for intelligence material to remain controlled by the country that collected it. He reaffirmed that the British government did not want the material released because doing so would

United States swimmer Michael Phelps has been banned from competition and his training stipend revoked for three months by USA Swimming after Phelps was photographed smoking from a glass pipe, often used for smoking cannabis. The picture was published last Sunday by British tabloid News of the World. USA Swimming, which is the governing body of swimming in the United States, however said that no "anti-doping" rules had been violated. "This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to M

As a result of the ongoing global financial crisis of 2008–2009, American employers have cut 598,000 jobs over the past month, the most in one month since December 1974. The unemployment rate also rose approximately 0.4 percent, bringing the rate up to 7.6 percent (11.6 million people), the highest since January 1992. This is according to the United States Labor Department's monthly unemployment report released last week. US President Barack Obama asked Congress today to support and quickly pass a $900 billion economic stimulus package that wo

Pirates in Somalia have agreed to release the MV Blue Star, her crew of 28 and cargo of fertiliser after a ransom figure was agreed upon between the vessel's owner and the pirates. The Blue Star was captured on January 1 near Bab al-Mandabm whilst transporting 6,000 tonnes of urea for use as fertiliser. The ship is Egyptian-owned with an Egyptian crew, and sails under the flag of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Details of the release deal are unclear. The International Herald Tribune quotes owner Abdel Rahman Awwa as saying that he expected a release

Pirates in Somalia have released the MV Faina, a Ukrainian ship carrying a cargo of 33 T-72 tanks, along with 20 of its crew of 21, the Russian captain having been killed by hypertension during the hijack. A ransom of US$3.2 million was paid for the ship's release, compared to the $20 million previously demanded and also down from the initial request for $35 million after the capture in September. By January 16 the ransom sought was $5 million, with negotiations occurring directly between the pirates and the ship's owner. In October the pirat

On February 4, 2009 in an attempt to keep MySpace safe for young users, MySpace officials stated that they have removed 90,000 sex offender accounts from their website. The social networking site admitted this is double what they anticipated last year. MySpace previously thought the site had 40,000 offender accounts registered. North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper and Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal stated that they encourage and seek more social networking sites like MySpace to become safer. After the MySpace team calcu

The United Nations relief agency United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is demanding that Hamas return food and blankets intended for Gaza Strip civilians in Palestine, which was seized by Hamas' Ministry of Social Affairs. According to UNRWA, the supplies were seized on Tuesday by Hamas police. The 3,500 blankets and 406 parcels of food were intended to help 500 families affected by the recent Israel–Gaza conflict. "UNRWA condemns in the strongest terms the confiscation of its aid supplies and

The Queensland Greens will run an environmental lawyer against incumbent treasurer Andrew Fraser at this years Queensland state election in Australia. Larissa Waters will be the party's candidate for the seat of Mt Coot-tha. Ms Waters says she is hoping that the premier does not call the election in May, as she [Ms Waters] is expecting her first child that month. "I am giving that a fair bit of interest," she said. "Luckily we have a pretty good branch in Mt Coot-tha." Ms Waters received a 6 per cent swing at the 2006 election in the Brisba

Bill Gates, the founder of computer software company Microsoft, tried to bring attention to malaria while speaking at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference on Wednesday February 4 in Long Beach, California. He did so by releasing a "swarm" of mosquitoes from a jar, into the crowd. "Malaria is spread by mosquitoes. I brought some. Here I'll let them roam around. There is no reason only poor people should be infected," said Gates as he opened the jar. After waiting a minute, Gates then stated that the mosquitoes were not infecte