Politics

New Zealand political party United Future has called for Waitangi day to be changed back to New Zealand day, as it once was. Waitangi day is on February 6, each year and celebrates the Waitangi signing of New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi). Honourable Peter Dunne, leader of the United Future party, has said that the recent celebrations of Australia day has shown that New Zealand really does need its own celebrations of that kind. "Across the ditch, Australians celebrate a day that is about one thing

"L’Alliance pour la Planète", a collective of French environmental organizations (such as WWF France), has launched a campaign to promote awareness on climate change. Under the theme Turn everything off!, they're asking people to turn off their electricity for five minutes on February 1st, between 7:55pm and 8:00pm CET. With the initiative, they hope to remind others, the media and politicians (such as the candidates for the upcoming French Presidential elections) of the ongoing waste of energy. Everyone should turn off the light, as well as al

A royal decree published in Thailand's Royal Gazette has endorsed the lifting of martial law in 41 of the country's provinces. Martial law has been in place in the country since a coup on September 19 that ousted populist Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The remaining 35 provinces will remain under martial law. This includes the south of the country which has been experiencing a separatist insurgency, and parts of the country where support for the ousted Prime Minister is still strong. Indications that the restrictions put in place by the

A US soldier, Army Master Sergeant Steve Saunders, was arrested in General Santos City (Gensan) for carrying a firearm, a violation of the nationwide gun ban imposed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) during the election period. Saunders, a member of the US Army Engineering Corps and United Nations Peacekeeping Force who are in the Philippines on a humanitarian mission, was apprehended by police officers while in a drinking spree inside a bar after a report. The Comelec imposed the nationwide gun ban for the period starting January 14 u

Auckland, New Zealand has been announced as the new host of the 2007 Netball World Championships, beating Christchurch. Auckland replaces Fiji as the hosts following their coup last year. The decision was announced by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) and the Netball New Zealand Board (NNZ). President of the IFNA, Molly Rhone, said: "IFNA would like to thank both Auckland and Christchurch for their offers and welcome Auckland as the new host of 12th World Netball Championships in New Zealand." Garry Moore, mayor of

Thousands of people marched in Dink's Funeral to protest his assassination, holding placards that read "We are all Armenian" and "We are Hrant Dink" in both Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian. Later, these placards were protested by MHP and CHP. The leader of MHP, a fascist political party of Turkey, described the placards saying "We are all Armenian" as A party council member of CHP, a relatively leftist political party, said "we became ashamed of being Turkish. I am Turkish and I protest the assassination. ... The placards that say "assassin

Thousands of people marched in Dink's Funeral to protest his assassination, holding placards that read "We are all Armenian" and "We are Hrant Dink" in Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian. Later, as reported by Wikinews, these placards were protested by MHP, a fascist Turkish political party, and by CHP, a political party that the mainstream considers leftist. Now a Turkish militant group, Turkish Revenge Brigade (Türk İntikam Tugayı), 'protested' these placards by placing a package, which was made to look like a bomb, to the wall of the Grand Nat

Frank de Jong, 51, leader of the Green Party of Ontario is running in the Ontario by-election for Burlington, Ontario. He registered Wednesday night, the deadline for people wanting to run as a candidate, at the returning office. Previously, Cam Jackson was the MPP for Burlington. But, he resigned to run for mayor of Burlington in the Ontario 2006 municipal elections. Jackson won on November 13, 2006. After, the riding was vacant for months and that's when the by-election was finally called. De Jong is up against Progressive Conservative Joyc

On Wednesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 12–9 against President George Bush's plan to send 21,500 additional US troops to Iraq. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is made up of 11 Democrats and 10 Republicans. The main statement in their resolution says, "[I]t is not in the national interest of the United States to deepen its military involvement in Iraq, particularly by increasing the United States military force presence in Iraq." Senator Chuck Hagel (R) said, "We better be damn sure we know what we're doing, all of us

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D), great-grandson of oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that President Bush's "Iraq adventure" was draining funds from homeland security and other domestic priorities such as education, health care, the environment. Rockefeller also added that he was concerned that the Bush administration was going towards a military confrontation with Iran. He said, "Do I think it's possible that the president could get us involved marginally or even more fully in Iran as a way of

Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper commented on France's Socialist Party nominee Ségolène Royal's comments on Quebec sovereignty. This came after Ségolène Royal met with Canadian Parti Québécois Leader André Boisclair in Paris, France on Monday. Royal, who has never visited Quebec, says that Quebec shares commons values with France. Royal said she was not interfering in Canada's affairs when she made the comment. "It is not up to France to dictate to either the Québécois or the Canadians what they must do," Royal said. "But, on the othe

Hezbollah-led protesters took to the streets to block all major highways throughout Lebanon. This was a result of the country's Prime Minister not meeting his opposition's demand to abdicate. They burnt tires and cars in and around the capital, Beirut enforcing a general strike called for by Hassan Nasrallah. Thousands of police and troops were deployed across the country. They worked together in opening roads, negotiating with some of the protesters, but refrained from using force. The riots and clashes left three dead, including two bodygua