Politics

Knight Ridder reports that "U.S. intelligence agencies repeatedly warned the White House beginning more than two years ago that the insurgency in Iraq had deep local roots, was likely to worsen and could lead to civil war, according to former senior intelligence officials who helped craft the reports." This is in stark contrast to public statements made by the Bush administration. In his November 1 radio address President Bush said "Some of the killers behind these attacks are loyalists of the Saddam regime who seek to regain power and who res

Queensland, Australia police have charged a 57-year-old woman with the alleged contamination of the salad bar at two Sizzler restaurants. Rat poison pellets were found in food at Sizzler restaurants at Toowong on January 20 and the Brisbane Myer Centre outlet last Sunday. Yesterday Sizzler closed salad bars nationwide, but they did not report the incidents to the Queensland Health Department until last Monday. Queensland’s Health Minister Stephen Robertson criticised the restaurant chain for delaying reporting a possible incident of food co

It has been revealed at the Cole inquiry that former Australian Wheat Board chairman Trevor Flugge was paid almost AU$1,000,000 by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) to provide "agricultural assistance" to Iraq for less than one year. The Prime Minister today defended the payment, saying that Mr Flugge's background and experience justified the sum. The Opposition attacked the government over the issue, suggesting that the money was wasted and could have been better spent helping children. "AusAid is now tied up in th

An "aggressive" strain of Avian Flu has been detected in two tufted ducks in Oskarshamn, Southeast Sweden. This makes Sweden the ninth country in the EU to confirm Avian Flu on their soil. Some 35–40 wild birds were found dead. The birds were brought to Uppsala, where an analysis confirmed the presence of an "aggressive" form of Avian Flu. Tests at a laboratory in the UK will later eventually confirm whether the birds died of the lethal H5N1. Sweden's Minister of Agriculture, Ann-Christin Nykvist, said at a press conference the discovery wa

Simon Crean, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, has accused the Howard Government of abandoning regional development and showing no commitment to rural Australia. In a media release timed to coincide with the ten-year anniversary of the Howard Government, Mr. Crean said that the privatisation of Telstra and a failure to reform the Regional Partnerships program demonstrated the governments lack of commitment to the bush. "The Minister for Transport and Regional Services has failed to clean up the Regional Partnerships program, four mont

Australian Prime Minister John Howard says the refugees he falsely accused of throwing their children into the ocean deserve no apology because they did the next worst thing - "they irresponsibly sank the damn boat, which put their children in the water". The "children overboard" affair became a controversial focus in the 2001 federal election campaign, when the Prime Minister was roundly accused of cynically exploiting Australia's fears of illegal immigrants by demonising asylum-seekers. Mr Howard and senior ministers falsely claimed on the e

The news that London Mayor Ken Livingstone is to face a one month suspension over comments made to an Evening Standard journalist was a surprise to many across the political spectrum when it was announced on Friday. Deputy Mayor Nicky Gavron, who would take over the Mayor's duties in the event of a suspension, said "This decision is absurd - millions of Londoners elected the Mayor, and three unelected officials remove him. An elected Mayor should only be removed by the law or by the electorate, not by an unelected body." Support was also rece

The POWER Inquiry, set up in 2004 to examine participation and involvement in British politics, today published "Power to the People", its final report, making 30 key recommendations designed to "save British democracy from meltdown". The recommendations include decentralising power, from central government to local government, replacing the first-past-the-post electoral system with a more responsive one, reducing the voting age to 16, and giving citizens the right to initiate legislative processes. The Independent newspaper covered the story

Having outlined his manifesto in his last pre-election radio broadcast, beleaguered Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has failed to deflect calls for his resignation. Offering an increased minimum wage, additional debt relief for farmers, and pay rises for civil servants the PM starts the election campaign with his Thai Loves Thais (Phak Thai Rak Thai) party in good shape for the snap election announced last Friday. Thaksin's dissolution of the lower house of parliament, and move to re-establish his authority through elections has met wi

A Unionist march in central Dublin, Ireland turned violent after republican protesters tried to disrupt the parade. So far, several Garda Síochána police officers and a journalist have been injured. Due to the violence, the march has been called off. Hundreds of republican protesters turned out to oppose the "Love Ulster" march organized by the victim's group Fair. Democratic Unionist and Ulster Unionist politicians were planning to take part in the march. The march was to highlight the deaths of Protestants in Northern Ireland by Irish nation

The president of Romania, Traian Băsescu, continues to be the most popular politician in the country, according to a survey by the Romanian Centre for Urban Resources (CURS). The survey shows that 63% of those interviewed have a good or very good opinion of the president. Even though this result is better than the 60% approval rating he received in October 2005, it is lower than the 71% approval he obtained in June 2005. The second-most popular major politician is the opposition leader and head of the Social Democratic Party, Mircea Geoană, wh

Filipino president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency Friday following reports from security forces on a foiled coup attempt. Arroyo's emergency powers allow arrests without warrants and the extended detention of prisoners without charges. Brigadier General Danilo Lim, the commander of the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment, an elite military unit, is being held following accusations that he intended to join his troops with anti-Arroyo protestors. The troops were reportedly planning to inform protesters that the soldiers were no long