Politics

The German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, who was abducted in Iraq on November 25th, has been freed. Her brother told n-tv that she had been brought to the German embassy in Baghdad and is well. Foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier confirmed the reports and said that her Iraqi driver, who was abducted along with her, is still in the hands of the kidnappers but they have promised to release him as well. How she was freed, whether ransom was paid, or even which group abducted her is still unknown at this time. Steinmeier declined to answer

Hospital officials at Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in Jerusalem announced that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a temporary mild stroke Sunday evening. "Our tests have shown that the prime minister had a mild CVA," (stroke) said Dr. Yuval Weiss, a spokesman for the hospital. Sharon briefly suffered some minor physical symptoms including slurring of speech and loss of some motor control. Sharon was reportedly returning to his ranch in the Negev desert when he told aides he was not feeling well. He was rushed to hospital and admitted

Aleksander Kwaśniewski, a post-communistic ex-leader of the Alliance of the Democratic Left (Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej), will end his term as the president of Poland within 5 days. His successor, conservative Lech Kaczyński, from the Peace and Justice Party (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość), is going to take the reins on December 23rd. This comes as the result of the October 9 elections and the October 23 run-offs, when he defeated liberal Donald Tusk by 54% to 46%. Although Kwaśniewski has quite a good reputation in Polish society, he has often bee

United States Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq today promoting the recent Iraqi election, amidst an upsurge of violence that has killed more than 30 people. The Vice President's visit was so secretive that even Iraqi prime minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari was unaware he was coming. In a visit lasting 10 hours, Mr. Cheney met with military commanders and Iraqi politicians as he was shuttled between locations including the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad and the Al Asad air base in Anbar province west of Baghdad, trave

The leaders of the European Union have struck a deal on the 2007-2013 budget. Negotiations were characterized by host country's Prime Minister Tony Blair as "extraordinarily complicated". The biggest issues were different views between France, the UK and rest of the EU. UK wanted to keep it's high membership discount, negotiated before economic growth made it one of the richest members, while other members wanted it to participate with relatively equal net payment. France's primary issue was maintaining farming subsidies. Rest of the Europe w

Supporters of jailed priest Jean-Juste say that he needs medical treatment in the United States. His attourney, Bill Quigley, told reporters that the priest, who was considered a potential presidential candidate before his arrest and long detainment, may have cancer and should be released so that he can seek medical attention in the United States. A doctor, Dr. John Carroll, who examined Jean-Juste said that an abnormal white blood cell count, as well as swelling in his neck and under his arms could be early signs of cancer. The government o

In 2002, as a part of ongoing anti-terrorist operations, President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency (NSA) to spy on Americans and others in the United States making contact with persons in other nations. According to a The New York Times report, the NSA monitored the international telephone calls and international e-mail messages of "hundreds, and perhaps thousands of people" inside the United States over the past three years without warrants. Specifically, the NSA performed wiretaps on international communications that

Talks between the MTA and Transit Workers Union Local 100 (TWU) ended this morning at 06:00 EST (11:00 UTC) with no resolution or job action. The latest offer in the now bitter negotiation was from MTA: 3% pay increases per year in a three-year contract with changes in the health benefits and pension plan for new employees. In a 12:30 EST (17:30 UTC) press conference, MTA President Peter Kalikow told the press that this would be the final offer the MTA would make because "there is no more." Kalikow continued that the MTA would be in dire st

Protests against the president of the Dominican Republic turned violent on Monday in Haiti, where tires were burned and thrown at the presidential palace in the capitol city of Port-au-Prince. Leonel Fernandez, leader of the neighboring Dominican Republic, was staying as a guest at the palace. The police reacted violently, resulting in 3 people being shot and wounded. Protestors had tried to block the motorcade of the Dominican president, which resulted in Haitian police firing shots into the air. UN representative David Wimhurst said UN p

Jane Kim, the program manager for RSS in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7, announced recently that her team had chosen a graphical representation of Web syndication feeds — one popularized by its competitor. Microsoft employees have been posting variations of conceptual designs since earlier this year, but have now announced that they chose an icon used by the rival browser, Mozilla Firefox. The Microsoft team collaborated with Mozilla staff during the selection process. "I'm excited to announce that we're adopting the icon used in Firefox," wr

The London Times has reported that, according to military sources, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered Israel's armed forces to be prepared by the end of March for an attack on alleged secret uranium enrichment sites in Iran. Israel has officially denied that it plans to attack Iran. However, Sharon warned, "Israel—and not only Israel—cannot accept a nuclear Iran. We have the ability to deal with this and we’re making all the necessary preparations to be ready for such a situation." Israel is now at "G" readiness, which is the hig

The Australian Labor Party has appointed SLW Group to run it's advertisement campaign for the 2007 Australian Legislative Election. STW Group was successul in gaining the $10 million account it was revealed today. The team dubbed "07" will be lead by senior executives, Luke Dunkerley and Neil Lawrence. ALP campaign director Tim Gartell said that Lawrence had a wealth of experience with political campaigns, being part of the adveritsement team responsible for the election of a Victorian Labor government in the 1980s. He also added that Lawrenc