Politics

In October, the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, called Israel a "disgraceful blot" to be "wiped off the map." Ahmadinejad further remarked Thursday at a summit of Muslim nations in Islam's holy city of Mecca that the Jewish state should be moved to Europe and questioned whether the Holocaust actually took place. In an interview with Iran's Arabic channel 'Al-Alam', Ahmadinejad said that if Germany and Austria feel responsible for the massacre of Jews during World War II, they should host a state of Israel on their own soil. Speaking a

On the last sitting day of the year in Federal Parliament, the Opposition opened with three successive motions to attempt to bring the Government to account over the major issues that the Government has faced over the last fortnight. The motions to suspend standing orders was first put by Wayne Swan (the shadow Treasurer) dealt with the Treasurer Peter Costello, calling on him to release documents and information regarding Robert Gerard; the following two put by Kevin Rudd (the shadow Foreign Minister) and (the member for Corio) dealt with the

The bill on voluntary student unionism, as proposed earlier by the Federal Government education minister Brendan Nelson passed the House of Representatives on December 7 and is now to be debated in the Senate. The Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Up-Front Student Union Fees) Bill 2005, commonly known as "voluntary student unionism" or VSU, will have the effect of removing the automatic joining of university students into their respective unions, and the consequent abolition of the payment of union fees. These fees go

The European Union, Canada, Indonesia and other nations at the United Nations' climate talks in Montreal have put pressure on the United States. Participants at the meeting want the US to join the global Kyoto pact to limit greenhouse gas emissions, to curb extreme weather predictions from global warming. Environment ministers from over 90 countries are meeting to break a deadlock over how to entice the United States, and other large developing nations such as India and China, to cut production of greenhouse gases. Washington has rejected the

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Europe's leading human rights watchdog group, plans to use satellite images and flight logs as part of its investigation into claims that the United States maintains secret prisons in Europe. The European Union (EU) has granted PACE access to EU archived satellite images and flight logs to help determine whether aircraft linked with CIA secret detention centers have been using European airspace. According to Human Rights Watch, a humanitarian rights group based in New York, "CIA air

After Kenyans voted "no" for the implementation of the new constitution, the "Orange" anti-constitution campaign and the "Banana" pro-constitution campaign finally sat down together to discuss the way forward. The draft constitution would have banned foreign land ownership, set the prime minister position to report to the country's president, banned same-sex marriages and restricted regional political parties. It would have also given women equal rights to inherit property, and addressed local elections. The country was attempting to rewrite

Former deputy president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, has been charged with rape and has appeared in the Johannesburg Magistrate's court. Zuma has been released on R20 000 bail. He has since announced that he has voluntarily decided to suspend his participation in the ANC leadership structure during the trial.

The Australia Federal Government has passed wide-ranging new counter-terrorism laws that civil opponents warned will disintegrate civil liberties. The federal parliament has agreed to laws aimed at stifling home-grown terrorists. The terrorism legislation was rushed through the Senate yesterday evening after the Government gagged debate on the bill. The new laws enable police and intelligence agencies to detain suspects without charge for up to 14 days in solitary confinement. Authorities can also restrict and control movements of suspects, i

The US commander of the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq said that he had no knowledge of the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq document released by the US President. This, along with speculation that the document was chiefly authored by a public opinion analyst recruited by the White House have led to some critics claiming that the drafted 'strategy' is targeting US public opinion, not the Iraqi insurgency. The military, political and economic strategy for Iraq, outlined last week by President Bush in a speech at the Nava

Pakistani security forces have reportedly killed Abu Hamza Rabia, one of top five leaders in international islamic fundamentalist campaign al-Qaeda. With the help of the United States, Pakistani forces tracked down Rabia and killed him in a rocket attack near the Pakistani-Afghan border. Rabia was among five people who were killed in the blast on Thursday in North Waziristan. According to official reports corroborated by Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, the blast was set off as the victims were making explosives inside a suspected

Australia and East Timor officials signed a billion-dollar gas and oil accord, which is necessary because of a current maritime border dispute between the countries, which covers a major oil field. Although the accord has to be ratified by East Timor's parliament which is ruled by Fretilin with 55 seats the biggest block in parliament, but all the smaller parties are said to be working together to veto the deal. In 1975, Portugal abandoned East Timor and the people declared self-independence only to be invaded by Indonesia with out any interve

At 10.45 local time, Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway gave birth to a boy at Norway's national hospital, the Rikshospitalet University Hospital in Oslo. The new prince is third in line to the throne. "All is well with mother and son," Crown Prince Haakon confirmed at a press conference later that day. Due to strict official protocol the name will not be made public until Monday, when King Harald will gather the "State Council", or the cabinet, and inform the government. Usually the Prime Minister will announce the name in front of the Royal