Politics

According to family, former United States senator for Texas and former Treasury Secretary, Lloyd Bentsen has died at the age of 85 in his home located in Houston, Texas. Bentsen is most famous for his words during a Vice Presidential debate on October 5, 1988. Indiana Senator Dan Quayle, the Republican candidate for Vice President, compared his congressional experience to that of former President John F. Kennedy when he sought the presidency. Bentsen replied, "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend

Australia's foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer has given his support for a serious debate on nuclear energy in Australia. Mr Downer's comments follow similar comments made by Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Canada last week. Mr Downer said that climate change has strongly influenced many to change their position on nuclear power and to encourage debate. He encouraged people to keep an open mind on nuclear power within the context of reducing greenhouse gases. The production of nuclear energy produces far fewer greenhouse gas em

New South Wales minister for Education and Training, Carmel Tebbutt told parliament that Kelso High School, which was destroyed by fire on August 18, 2005 will be rebuilt under the NSW government's New Schools Public Private Partnerships (PPP) program. Under the program, the bulk of construction costs come from private companies who own the schools for 30 years, after which time they revert to government ownership. The PPP program began in October 2001. According to the government, 19 schools will be delivered under the PPP program by 2009. T

Bushra Khalil, one of the defense lawyers for former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, was thrown out of court by Chief Judge Raouf Abdel after speaking out of turn. "The right of defence is sacred. We have never seen in our whole career a lawyer ordered out of the court room like this. We should not be treated like this, we are defending those men who defended the honour of the nation, yes they are the honour of the nation," said an Egyptian lawyer, in court for Hussein's defense. Khalil was attempting to make a speech when Judge Abdel told h

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Doctor Lee Jong-wook, 61, has died after doctors performed brain surgery on him to relieve a blood clot. "I am sorry to tell you that Dr Lee Jong-wook, director-general of the WHO, died this morning. [This is a] very sad bit of news" and Lee "was an exceptional person and an exceptional director-general. Under his leadership, the WHO has been strengthened and has been able to give an effective response to world (health) problems," said Elena Salgado, Spain's Health Minister in a statement during

Britain says it expects all foreign combat troops to withdraw from Iraq by 2010. It is the first solid statement from Britain on a firm date for troop withdrawal. Prime Minister Tony Blair says the new Iraqi national unity government offers "new hopes for the country." He was speaking at a news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, whose new government was sworn in on Saturday. A senior British official travelling with the prime minister, said the withdrawal of the present multinational force should be accomplished within four

After a referendum, the Montenegro region of Serbia and Montenegro declares independence to form the new Republic of Montenegro. Unlike other Balkan states such as Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, Montenegro has achieved independence without violence. "I am convinced Montenegro could be the next country from this region to join the European Union, after Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, which are further along the process," says Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who has promoted Montenegro's independence. It is also predicted that Montenegro will join

Plans to restart the Northern Ireland Assembly failed today as the controversial Democratic Unionist Party leader and Protestant evangelist Ian Paisley rejected the nomination by Sinn Fein's Gerry Adams for him to be First Minister of a new Northern Ireland Executive. Gerry Adams nominated his colleague, Martin McGuinness, the deputy leader of Sinn Fein to be the Deputy First Minister. Britain restarted a shadow version of the Assembly last week for the first time in 3 1/2 years to form a power sharing home rule government made up Catholics a

The New South Wales (NSW) government says small investors will have the first opportunity to buy shares in one of Australia's most unique public assets - the Snowy Hydro Scheme, the sale of which begins officially on Monday, May 22. NSW Finance Minister John Della Bosca denied the sale was incongruent with Labor's stance on privatisation, or that it was a pre-election strategy. The New South Wales, Victorian and federal government jointly owns the hydroelectric scheme and have decided to sell their shares by floating the company on the Austral

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin won re-election Saturday night, successfully weathering a challenge from Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu and allowing him to oversee the continued rebuilding of the Louisiana city decimated by Hurricane Katrina. With all 442 precincts reporting, Nagin won 59,460 votes (52.3%) to Landrieu's 54,131 votes (47.7%). The two candidates had been neck-and-neck in the returns through the night. Early returns with 22% of precincts reporting showed Nagin leading 51% to 49%, while a later update with 48% of preci

A meeting organised by the Youth Congress at Srinagar's Sher-e-Kashmir park to mark the 15th death anniversary of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has been attacked by terrorists. Official sources say intense firing and some explosions were reported by eye-witnesses. There were at least two militants involved in the incident according to Deputy Inspector General of Police Gopal Sharma. A number of people, including Inspector General of Police, Srinagar, K Rajendra and Deputy Superintendent of Police Faizal Ahmad have been injured in the

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has told media in Canada that he wants "a full-blooded debate" in Australia about the issue of nuclear power. "I have a very open mind on the development of nuclear energy in my own country," he said. "That includes an open mind on whether or not Australia should in fact process uranium for the purposes of providing fuel for nuclear power in the future in Australia." Australia and Canada are two of the world's largest uranium producers, and the nuclear energy issue was discussed at length during Prime Min