Politics

Former US President Jimmy Carter has accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair of contributing to the crisis in Iraq through lack of leadership and subservience to current US President George W. Bush. "I have been surprised and extremely disappointed by Tony Blair's behaviour," said Carter in an interview with The Daily Telegraph. "I think that more than any other person in the world the Prime Minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington - and he has not. I really thought that Tony Blair, who I know personally to some degree,

Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament Benoit Sauvageau was killed in an automobile accident on Monday morning after his vehicle hit a tow truck at the side of a road in his Montreal constituency. Sauvageau, 42, had been an MP since 1993 and represented the riding of Repentigny at the time of his death. Bloc Québécois (BQ) Leader Gilles Duceppe, speaking in Quebec City, remembered Sauvageau as a hard-working representative who was widely respected "not only in the sovereigntist camp but by his adversaries who always recognized him for his hone

Turkish government spokesman and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek has confirmed their government's intentions to send troops to Lebanon under the UN Resolution 1701. The statement was made after the Council of Ministers met yesterday. The final decision is to be made by Turkish parliament. The statement also revealed the ongoing struggle between Tayyip Erdogan's AK(Justice and Development) Party government and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Sezer's statements on Friday was regarded as a clear indication of the President's reluctancy to send Turkish

A van carrying around thirty-three people crashed into the Alamatti reservoir on the Krishna river in north Karnataka, killing 25 people while the rest managed to swim to safety. The passengers, including women and children, were from Bagsibundu village in Koppal district and were going to visit the Alamatti dam after going on a pilgrimage to Koodalasangama. District officials rushed to the spot and initiated efforts to rescue survivors and extricate the bodies of the deceased. Chief Minister of Karnataka, H.D Kumaraswamy expressed shock over t

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran expressed his unwillingness to conform to UN Security Council demands on Tuesday. Ahmadinejad said, "Peaceful nuclear energy is the right of the Iranian nation. The Iranian nation has chosen that based upon international regulations, it wants to use it and no one can stop it." Iran has until Thursday to comply with a U.N. Security Council demand to stop its uranium enrichment program. If Iran does not comply by Thursday, the UN has left open the possibility of economic sanctions. Ahmadinejad says that he i

Mexico's electoral court has unanimously rejected claims of massive fraud in the July 2nd presidential election and reported that the partial recount ordered at the end of last month has not changed the original result of a narrow victory for conservative candidate Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party (PAN). Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), continues to insist that the election was rigged and has vowed to continue fighting the result. Lopez Obrador has rejected the ruling and suggested form

A Canadian university and a Toronto firm selling books on tape are both running advertising campaigns that poke fun at US President George W. Bush. The Toronto firm simplyaudiobooks.ca has covered the city with billboards depicting a shrugging US president under the headline "Don't read enough?" The Toronto area company promoted by the ads say that their sales have doubled since the billboard campaign began. Meanwhile, Lakehead University, a small northern Ontario school, is attempting to attract new students with ads that feature Bush over

Last night the top four of Canadian Idol performed. Tyler Lewis, Chad Doucette, Craig Sharpe, and Eva Avila sang songs that were picked by the judges. They each performed twice in one hour. They are now awaiting Canadas vote for who should be eliminated. When the show started the host had a quick chat with the judges: Ben Mulroney: "What did you keep in mind when you made these selections?" Jake Gold: "We thought let's make them look good and at the same time challenge them." Ben Mulroney: "How hard was it to pick the songs for tonight?"

Legislation concerning civil officials who refuse to perform same-sex marriages has been filibustered in the province of Alberta. 18 months ago, in response to federal legislation tabled by then Prime Minister Paul Martin, the conservative premier of Alberta, Ralph Klein, promised that he would draft legislation to protect the "traditional" definition of marriage (that of one man to one woman). Klein had threatened to use the constitution's notwithstanding clause to veto the federal legislation in the province. The original civil marriag

House Speaker Margaret Wilson told New Zealand television station TV3, owned by Canwest, they are banned from recording New Zealand Parliament for three days. The ban comes after they showed footage of the New Zealand First Member of Parliament (MP) Ron Mark repeatedly pulling his middle finger at National MP Tau Henare on August 1. TV3's ban will come into force tomorrow. The Parliament's media rules state that only the Speaker or an MP who is standing and speaking can be recorded. TV3 broke this rule as Mark was sitting during his gestures

The Pentagon is considering replacing the nuclear warheads on some ballistic missiles with conventional munitions so that they can be used for "pre-emptive" strikes against alleged terrorists, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld told reporters after a meeting with Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov. "If either of our countries or friends and allies were threatened at some number of years into the future with a weapon of mass destruction or a capability that was that lethal, I think any president, whether of Russia or the United States,

The President of Chad, Idriss Déby has ordered the US oil company ChevronTexaco and the Malaysian Petronas to leave the country in 24 hours for non-payment of taxes. Associated Press quotes a government official saying that three ministers, including the Oil minister who was involved in negotiations with the consortium have been suspended. Spokesmen for both the companies said that they have not received any official intimation of the expulsion orders, and a Chevron spokesperson said that the company was fully compliant with its tax obligatio