Politics

On March 9, 2006, U.S. President George Bush signed the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, which contained requirements for Congressional oversight of Executive use of the Act's powers. In a statement immediately following the signing ceremony, however, it was revealed that Bush "did not feel obliged to obey requirements that he inform Congress about how the FBI was using the act's expanded police powers." Such signing statements typically allow the President to inform Congress about how he interprets the bill he has just signed into law. H

After four days of protesting the disputed election victory of Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus, protesters have been dispersed by riot police using clubs. Police arrested some 300 protesters in the process of ending the demonstration. The European Union released a statement condemning the arrest of these protestors, and "decided to take restrictive measures against those responsible for the violations of international electoral standards, including president Lukashenko." The twenty-five member states have called for the immediate relea

The president of the organization for the construction of the new Acropolis Museum, professor Dimitrios Pandermalis, announced that the Museum will be ready to operate as an exhibition center for archaeological treasures in 2007. In response to this statement, the Greek government re-issued demands regarding the subject of the Parthenon Marbles' restoration to Greece from the United Kingdom. After visiting the construction site, Greek Culture Minister George Voulgarakis reiterated yesterday that the new Athens museum would be ready to receive

A hostage situation in the private mental clinic Castalia, in the suburb of Glyfada, south Athens, has ended with the arrest of a 26 year old man. The man had locked himself up along with three hostages in the Accounts Department, on the first floor of the building. According to Greek police the man, who was armed, has mental problems and is a drug addict. His demands were unknown to the police, as he did not communicate them to the police negotiators. The situation in the Castalia clinic prompted the Greek Minister of Public Order to cancel

Thailand's People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) has petitioned the country's Election Commission to disqualify caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra from the upcoming April 2 election and to postpone it, to bring an end to the current political crisis. According to the Bangkok Post, approximately 1,000 PAD protesters rallied outside the election commission's headquarters to mark delivery of the petition. Parinya Thewanarumitkul, a law lecturer at Thammasat University, claimed at a Thai Journalists Association forum that he had evidence

On March 15, Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) sent a letter to President Bush's White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, accusing Bush of signing a law that did not pass the House of Representatives. The bill in question is called the Deficit Reduction Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 2005. Before a bill is passed into law the same version needs to be approved by both the House and the Senate. Waxman cited a $2 billion spending difference over the next 5 years between the conflicting versions of the bill. Waxman also stated his understanding that

During a press conference on Tuesday, President George W. Bush called on veteran White House reporter Helen Thomas for the first time in three years. She asked, "... your decision to invade Iraq has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans and Iraqis, wounds of Americans and Iraqis for a lifetime. Every reason given, publicly at least, has turned out not to be true. My question is, why did you really want to go to war?" Bush replied, "And when [Saddam Hussein] chose to deny inspectors, when he chose not to disclose, then I had the difficult

Less than a week after it was first banned and then cleared for screening in the U.K., an Australian tourism ad featuring a bikini-clad girl asking prospective tourists "Where the Bloody Hell are you?" has been banned in Canada. Ironically, it wasn't the controversial question — a line described as "warm, friendly and inviting" — that got the ad banned, but its opening: "We've poured you a beer." This line was ruled unacceptable by the Canadian regulator, as it refers to an unbranded beer. Australian Tourism Minister Fran Bailey was "quite as

__NOTOC__ Thousands of people around the world took to the streets in a "Global Day of Action" to mark the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. The weekend rallies and demonstrations drew smaller crowds than earlier anti-war demonstrations, when millions gathered in 2003 and 2004. US President George W. Bush, with dwindling public support for the war, marked the occasion with a speech, outlining his commitment to democracy in the region. In the U.S.A. Tens of thousands of protesters gathered this weekend across the United States

It appears that Alexander Lukashenko, 51, has won the 2006 Belarus presidential election, and is heading for his third term in office. The official preliminary results are 82.6 percent for Lukashenko and six percent for the main opposition candidate Alexander Milinkevich, says the BBC. The turnout for the elections was 92.6 percent of Belarus' seven million eligible voters. The final results will be available Monday morning. Before the elections, the opposition candidates accused Lukashenko of plans for rigging the elections. Several oppositio

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) has claimed victory in the two Australian state elections held in Tasmania and South Australia on Saturday. South Australia will have a majority government, after being governed with a minority government made up of a combination of ALP and other parliamentary members. Tasmania In Tasmania, Labor has been returned to its third consecutive term in government. The party has won 14 seats while the Liberals have won seven, the Greens two. At the close of counting on Saturday night, only two seats remained in doubt.

__NOTOC__ A new CBS News poll reports that Americans are increasingly negative about the war in Iraq, and that President Bush's job approval ratings, now down to 34%, continued to decline. The telephone survey of a nationwide random sample of 1136 adults was conducted March 9-12, 2006 and results were released on March 13. The maximum margin of statistical sampling error for results based on the full sample is plus or minus three percentage points. Some questions were only asked of half the sample. The poll was conducted shortly before the thir