Politics

The parliament of the Australian state of Queensland has passed a law recognising same-sex civil unions. Victoria, Tasmania, and the Australian Capital Territory already officially recognise such relationships. "The bill that is before the Parliament is a bill that seeks to strike a blow against prejudice and strike a blow against discrimination," Premier Anna Bligh told parliament during debate. Health Minister Geoff Wilson voted against the bill saying, "The more I have thought about it, about what I personally believe according to my faith

Former New Mexico governor and current Republican Party (GOP) presidential candidate Gary Johnson is reportedly considering a run for the Libertarian Party (LP) presidential nomination. Johnson feels "abandoned by the Republican Party", he told The Santa Fe New Mexican, due to his exclusion from nine of the eleven GOP debates and believes the LP would give him a fair shot at their nomination. Johnson espouses libertarian views including marijuana legalization and defense budget cuts, which often run afoul of the GOP mainstream. Earlier this mo

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg chastised U.S. President Barack Obama's leadership on Monday following the collapse of the Congressional super-committee designed to reduce the federal budget deficit. Though he also criticized Congress, Bloomberg focused his attacks on Obama, arguing "It's the chief executive's job to bring people together and to provide leadership. I don't see that happening." According to The Telegraph, the comments renew speculation that Bloomberg will mount an Independent run for president in 2012 against Obama, who is

Myanmar political dissident Aung San Suu Kyi will run for a seat in parliament in upcoming by-elections, National League for Democracy (NLD) senior official Nyan Win announced today. The NLD decided Friday to participate in the by-elections, but Suu Kyi did not say directly then that she would run. The by-elections include 48 seats in Parliament, all of which the NLD intends to contest. Dates for the elections have not yet been set. Suu Kyi was released from house arrest last year. She had stated she would only accept an unconditional rele

Ministers in Australia's federal government have lost the power to veto laws in the nation's two mainland territories after legislation passed the national parliament. The legislation requires for both chambers of the parliament to strike down laws made in the Northern Territory (NT) and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) parliaments. Previously government ministers could veto laws unilaterally. "What that means is that it is no longer the case that the minister can step in with the stroke of a pen and dismiss territory laws as we've seen

Voters in Tunisia went to the polls on Sunday in the first elections for the country since the events of January this year, when President Ben Ali was toppled after twenty three years by the revolt which triggered the Arab Spring. The electoral commision announced that 90 percent of the 4.1 millon registered citizens in the electorate had voted. 3.1 million citizens were eligible to vote but unregistered. It has been predicted that Ennahda, an Islamist party, will become the single largest party with about 40 percent of the vote, short of a ma

Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after heavy fighting in his home town of Sirte. Libyan television today announced that former Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi was killed by revolutionary forces in Sirte following weeks of brutal fighting. The Libyan Prime minister said Gaddafi was captured unharmed by National Transitional Council forces but was shot in the head during crossfire with Gaddafi loyalists, and died soon after. There are various other, conflicting reports on Gaddafi's cause of death. The National Transitional Co

The trial for two Swedish journalists being tried for terrorism in Ethiopia began yesterday. The freelance journalists were arrested after entering from neighboring country Somalia without permission. They allegedly aided a terrorist group and were wounded in a gunfight, in which 15 rebels were killed. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says the two imprisoned Swedish journalists "made their way into Ethiopia with a terrorist organization that had killed 70 people who worked for a mining company in an attack." He says "I think it would be

Parliamentary media policy in South Africa will be subject to legal advice after complaints journalists have a lack of freedom in reporting government proceedings. The move follows a call to ban journalist Deon de Lange from reporting on parliament, after he allegedly breached reporting protocol by speaking to a parliament official without permission. De Lange quoted the unnamed official who criticised a push to pass the Protection of State Information Bill, which would ban whistle-blowing on classified documents. The editor of Independent

The Zimbabwe Minister of Media, Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu, warned media organisations may have their licences revoked for misusing their licenses to 'vilify' Zimbabwe and its leadership. The warning follows reports in the media alleged to attack the former President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe. Shamu claimed that some non-government media organisations were misusing their licenses to denounce Mugabe, and that this misuse increased to affect approaching elections. Shamu drew parallels with British and US media policy, saying Brit

The leader of Denmark's Social Democrats Helle Thorning-Schmidt is positioned to become the country's first female prime minister following the election of the "red bloc", a centre-left coalition, on Thursday. The coalition would include members of the Social Democrats, the Socialist People's Party and potentially Social Liberal Party and members of the Red-Green Alliance, and replaces the centre-right coalition government that has been in power for the last ten years. Incumbent prime minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that he "will hand in th

According to United States diplomatic cables passed to WikiLeaks, Mayawati, Chief Minister of the Indian northern state Uttar Pradesh, made use of her private jet to have sandals collected from Mumbai. Mayawati, a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) – which claims to follow a Dalit Socialism ideology – self-identifies as a Dalit. The Dalits are largely those traditionally regarded as Untouchables within Indian society. One cable, named "Portrait of a Lady", recently published by WikiLeaks describes the 55-year-old Mayawati as, "a first-ra