Politics

Last Saturday, Maria Lourdes Sereno was appointed as Chief Justice Supreme Court in the Philippines, becoming the first woman to hold the post. She replaced Renato Corona, who was impeached last May. Philippine President Benigno Aquino III formally appointed the 52-year-old Sereno Saturday morning. With the post having a retirement age of 70, it is expected to see her serve one of the longest terms for the office. Like the President, Sereno is also a graduate of Ateneo de Manila University. She continued her studies in University of the Phi

A court in South Africa yesterday gave a life sentence to farm worker Chris Mahlungu for the 2010 murder of white supremacist Eugene Terre'Blanche. Although Mahlungu is black, the court found the crime was not racist. Court and prosecution instead agreed a fight erupted as part of a pay dispute. Terre'Blanche, 69, was co-founder of the Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB), which conducted bombings in the run-up to elections that ended apartheid in 1994. He had served prison time for attacking two blacks, one of whom he was convicted of trying

Yesterday, in front of the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Virginia, presumptive Republican presidential nominee, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney selected Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate. After an introduction from Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, who himself had been considered a potential running mate, Romney officially made the announcement. He referred to Ryan as "an intellectual leader of the Republican Party" and initially labeled Ryan as the "next president of the United States" before correcting himself after

After two days of mourning, the West African nation Ghana is giving its late president John Atta Mills a state and military burial today at Geese Park, a bird sanctuary near the seat of government, Osu Castle, along the Atlantic Ocean. His mortal remains, which were moved from the Banquet Hall in Accra, currently lie in a Ghana flag-draped casket at Ghana's Independence Square (Black Star Square). The burial ceremony is ongoing as thousands have gathered to bid him farewell. Eighteen heads of state; President of the ECOWAS Commission, Kadre

Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory — Earlier today at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), Australian Paralympic Committee President Greg Hartung and the Federal Minister for Sport Kate Lundy formally unveiled the Australian Centre for Paralympic Excellence. The unveiling ceremony started with a speech by Hartung who mentioned how important the AIS was to the Paralympic movement in Australia, with the first Paralympic scholarship holder being Russell Short, who earned his scholarship in 1988 and has subsequently competed in six Paraly

Jill Stein, a Massachusetts physician, won the 2012 presidential nomination of the Green Party of the United States yesterday at the party's national convention in Baltimore. Per her request, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign national coordinator Cheri Honkala of Minnesota was selected as her running mate. Stein, who previously ran as the Green Party's nominee for Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, when she lost to current Republican presumptive nominee Mitt Romney, had secured the party's presidential nomination last month with a v

A regular conference of European Union foreign ministers in Luxembourg today issued condemnation of Syria's recent shootdown of a Turkish fighter jet, but also sought restraint from Turkey in its response. Catherine Ashton, head of EU foreign policy, said the bloc is "very concerned" by the situation "and very concerned for the family of the two pilots who are missing". She speaks ahead of a NATO meeting called by Turkey under provisions allowing members to seek urgent talks if they perceive themselves under threat. Turkey is a NATO member, an

Libby Kosmala’s selection in the Australian shooting team for the 2012 London Paralympics highlights age is not a barrier in the Paralympics. Celebrating her seventieth birthday in early July, expected to set a record for most appearances at her eleventh Games, Kosmala is likely to be the oldest athlete in attendance. Her first Games were the 1972 Heidelberg Games competing in swimming and athletics events and winning a bronze medal in the mixed medley relay. Kosmala then switched to shooting and between 1976–1988 won nine gold and three silv

Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson received the 2012 presidential nomination of the U.S. Libertarian Party at Saturday's Libertarian National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. Judge James P. Gray of California was selected as his running mate. Johnson's association with the Libertarian Party stretches back to 1993, when he was a dues-paying-member for about a year. In 2000, the party recruited him to run as their presidential nominee, but he rejected the offer, saying, "I'm a Republican, and I'm not going to run for President." As a Repub

A court in Bosnia has jailed the nation's first female war crimes convict. Rasema Handanović, 39, admitted six killings in the village of Trusina in 1993. Only one other woman has been convicted of crimes relating to the 1992-5 conflict in Bosnia, Bosnian Serb ex-president Biljana Plavšić. Plavšić was jailed for eleven years by an international court in The Hague, Netherlands in 2003 and later released. Judge Jasmina Kosović noted mitigating conditions for Handanović: She had expressed remorse for the victims, she had co-operated and given te

United States political consultant and gay rights (LGBT) activist Fred Karger of California took some time to discuss his Republican Party presidential campaign with Wikinews reporter William Saturn. Karger holds the distinction as the first openly gay person to seek the presidential nomination of a major U.S. political party. Before entering electoral politics, Karger worked as an adviser for such prominent Republicans and former U.S. Presidents Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush. Since retiring as an adviser in 2004, he has b

Reports are emerging that Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ex-Prime Minister of Ukraine who in currently in prison at Kharkiv, has been on hunger strike since Friday. According to her lawyer, she is protesting against "what is happening in the country and what is happening to her in prison." It was further reported that she has been punched in the stomach by prison guards, and has received bruises on her arms and stomach from being manhandled several times between prison and hospital. The Kharkiv regional prosecutor, Henadiy Tyurin, confirmed that "Accor