Politics

Several of Australian State premiers and more civil libertarians have added to the growing chorus of concern over the proposed Australian Anti-Terrorism Bill, which was proposed by the Australian Prime Minister, and the State and Territory governments following the London transport bombings of July 7, which killed 56 people Australian State Premiers Voice Dismay The Prime Minister John Howard has been accused of adding a provision to new laws giving federal police the power to shoot to kill. The case of a Brazilian man mistakenly shot dea

The Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Dermot Ahern has announced that he will send a team of five officials to Iraq to secure the release of kidnapped journalist Mr Rory Carroll. The team will be lead by Antoin Mac Unfraidh, the former Ambassador to Iraq and will liase with the Irish Government's contacts in Iraq. Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs say they have been working through the night to try to gather information about Mr Carroll’s whereabouts. Brian Cowen, the minister for Finance, acting on behalf of the Taoisea

One day after Jon Stanhope, the Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister, posted a confidential draft of the proposed Australian anti-terror bill to his website, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock claims that modifications have been made. Prime Minister John Howard denies that the changes are more than "minor", and denies that the legislation is "draconian". The legislation, which will only be debated in Parliament for one day, has come under attack by members of parliament (including Senator Bob Brown), civil libertarians, Muslims' rights advo

The Colombian Constitutional Court has approved an amendment to allow presidential re-election, which was not possible before under the country's 1991 Constitution. The decision was made public by Manuel José Cepeda, president of the Constitutional Court, on Wednesday at 18:45 (23:45 UTC). Cepeda said: "The court has decided to declare as reasonable within the Constitution the legislative act allowing the re-election of the president of the republic". The complete decision consists of 18 sentences, the result of 62 votes regarding 18 lawsuits

According to the first Human Security Report released by the Canadian organisation Human Security Centre, armed conflicts, genocide and politicide have declined sharply since the early nineties. Also in a fifty year time span, the number of war causalites, coups and other war-statistics have gone down, often dramatically. A sample of stats from the report's overview: The number of armed conflicts are down more than 40%. There were 25 ongoing armed secessionist conflicts, the lowest number since 1976. The number of refugees in the world dro

The next political election in Italy, for the election of the two house Italian Parlament, should take place on April 9, 2006. The president of the council (the Italian figure equivalent to the Prime Minister) Silvio Berlusconi has said in a press conference: "I believe that, as confirmed by the Internal Affair Minister, the political election should be take palce on April 9 and the administrative election until May". The administrative election are, in Italy, election for the local council (regions, provinces and municipalities) Berluscon

Iraq's election commission announced Monday that officials were investigating "unusually high" numbers of "yes" votes in about a dozen provinces during Iraq's landmark referendum on a new constitution, raising questions about irregularities in the balloting. The Electoral Commission made no mention of fraud, and an official with knowledge of the election process cautioned that it was too early to say whether the unusual numbers were incorrect or if they would have an effect on the outcome. The Bush administration has touted last weekend's refe

At 10:20 AM, newly appointed Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg revealed his cabinet, the red-green coalition. Prime Minister: Jens Stoltenberg (Labour). Minister of Foreign Affairs: Jonas Gahr Støre (Labour). Minister of Finance: Kristin Halvorsen (Socialist Left Party). Minister of Local Affairs and regional Development: Åslaug Haga (Centre Party). Minister of Culture and Church Affairs: Trond Giske (Labour). Minister of Consumer and Equality Affairs: Karita Bekkemellem (Labour) Minister of Health and Care Services: Sylvia Brustad (L

Jon Stanhope, the Australian Capital Territory Chief Minister, has posted a confidential draft of the proposed Australian anti-terror bill to his website. Mr Stanhope says he hopes posting draft counter-terrorism laws on his website will open community debate about the issue and has stated that he will not comply with instructions from the Commonwealth to remove the document. The Australian Labor Party is backing his actions. The main impetus for the action appears to be the short amount of time the Senate committee will have to debate the b

Iraqis will vote on a referendum for the nation's proposed constitution today. It will be the second vote in the nation since the United States occupation. Local police and troops, as well as foreign troops will be on patrol to prevent violent insurgency. Schools, government offices, and the Baghdad airport are closed. Borders are shut to non-essential traffic. Votes are being recorded at 6000 polling stations throughout the country, even in the volotile Anbar province. Interestingly, unlike the January 19, 2005 elections, in this referendum t

An explosion outside a popular nightclub in Trinidad's capital, Port-of-Spain, has wounded at least 10. Officials are unsure of the cause of the explosion and no group has yet claimed responsibility. This is the fourth such bombing to occur in the area -- all the bombings have occurred near the same time each month. The explosion occurred just after 7:00 p.m. AST (2300 UTC) outside the "Smoky and Bunty" bar along a popular strip of bars and clubs. "This is the worst type of attack on our city and against our citizens," said Minister of Nationa

Bingu wa Mutharika, president of Malawi, has declared the massive food shortages in his country a national disaster. The declaration comes on the heels of mounting criticism from his opposition as well as church groups in Malawi that have urged him to do more to highlight the problem. Mutharika has also been criticised for denying reports of casualties from hunger-related illnesses. The United Nations World Food Program has welcomed the declaration, stating that he is finally acknowledging the seriousness of the situation. The UN estimates that