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U.S. President George W. Bush acknowledged Pakistan’s sovereignty and pledged continued support for the country in economic and security fields. His comments were likely in response to the Pakistani president's anger when US helicopters crossed Pakistani borders. Bush and Asif Ali Zardari, newly elected President of Pakistan, met at the Waldorf Asotria Hotel on the sidelines of the 63rd UN General Assembly session and discussed strengthening their bilateral relationship. Bush also expressed full support for the "Friends of Pakistan" initiative

United States presidential candidate John McCain announced today that he is suspending his campaign and sought to postpone a scheduled debate with his opponent, Barack Obama, to focus on the country's financial crisis and says that Obama should also suspend his campaign. McCain said he would be asking president George W. Bush to call a meeting for members of Congress in order to support Bush's controversial $700 billion bailout plan, but also said that there is no consensus for the proposal and it will not pass in its current form. He called

In a recent study released by the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), economic opportunities for women are still lagging behind opportunities for men in the developing world. Improvements have been made in women health and education, according to the study. The study calls for investments totaling over US$13 billion a year to achieve gender equality and women empowerment. Danny Leipziger, World Bank Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, said, "gender equality is key for pov

So far, the news on the U.S. presidential election has been dominated by Republican Party and Democratic Party nominees John McCain and Barack Obama. However, recently, some "third party" candidates have begun to gain notoriety, namely Libertarian Party nominee Bob Barr and independent Ralph Nader. Unbeknownst to many, there are several other minor party candidates in the race. One of them is New American Independent Party nominee Frank McEnulty. McEnulty has been interviewed several times by Wikinews over the past few months, but in one held

On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. New Democratic Party candidate Hana Razga is standing for election in the riding of Edmonton—Leduc. Born in London, England to Czechoslovakian parents, she immigrated to Canada in 1968, having a long career in human resources with the federal government. She is a volunteer for organizations including the Alberta Women's Shelter, Big Sisters and Match International. She has previously run in campaigns three times provincially for the NDP, and once federally. W

On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. New Democratic Party candidate Katy Austin is standing for election in the riding of Simcoe—Grey. Born in St. Catherines and raised in Barrie, Austin has a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education from the University of Windsor. Teaching in various Ontario schools, she has been active in the Simcoe NDP riding association since 1975. Austin rode her bike, solo, from Victoria, British Columbia to Elmvale, Ontario (a total of 4 500 km) in 40 days during the summ

A species of treefrog that was three years from being declared extinct was found in July in the tropical northeast of Australia. A local university Ph.D. candidate, Robert Puschendorf, along with volunteer researchers stumbled upon the armoured mistfrog (Litoria lorica) while surveying a related species near Mareeba, Queensland. The researchers thought they were catching a similar torrent treefrog (Litoria nannotis), until they examined a specimen more closely. The Associated Press reported that PCR lab results showed that the mistfrogs were n

Voters in swing states across the United States began receiving a one-hour DVD of Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West over the weekend. The video was produced and distributed by Clarion Fund, a non-profit organization connected with Zionist and pro-Israeli organizations. The DVDs were delivered with leading newspapers mostly in swing states such as Ohio, Florida, and Michigan. The film focuses on drawing parallels between "Islamo-fascists" and Nazis, and opens with a series of videos of terrorist acts. It features interviews with c

An American soldier who served in Afghanistan, Jeremy Hinzman was granted a surprise stay of deportation by the Federal Court of Canada one day before he was scheduled to be sent back to face trial for desertion in the United States. The move has put the issue of American deserters who fled to Canada following the 2003 Invasion of Iraq back in the national spotlight. Judge Richard Mosley heard arguments from Hinzman's lawyer that suggested that while desertion was not an unfairly punished crime south of the border, the sentencing of deserter

On Monday night, Australian Football player Adam Cooney won the Australian Football League's most prestigious award, the Brownlow Medal, awarded to the AFL's best and fairest. He received 24 votes, ahead of Simon Black with 23 votes and Gary Ablett and Matthew Richardson with 22 votes. Cooney took the lead after 20 rounds of votes had been cast (from twenty-two), and is the first Western Bulldogs player to win the medal since 1992. Cooney was surprised to win the medal, after having been locked out of the vote count for two rounds (after havin

Despite repeatedly saying that he would not endorse a particular candidate for this November's U.S. presidential election, Republican Congressman Ron Paul made a surprise statement Monday afternoon in which he announced that he was supporting Constitution Party nominee Chuck Baldwin. This comes after Libertarian Party nominee former congressman Bob Barr's controversial last minute refusal to attend Paul's third party unity conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC nearly two weeks ago. Instead, Barr held a press conference of h

Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research have found that stressed plants produce an aspirin-like chemical, methyl salicylate. Methyl salicylate is also known as oil of wintergreen. This semi-volatile plant hormone was detected in the air above the plants in the experiments conducted in a walnut grove near Davis, California. According to the scientists the chemical may be a sort of immune response that help protect the plants. Acetylsalicylic acid, commonly called aspirin, had originally come from the bark of Willow tre