Politics

Red-Green alliance loses majority, yet future government uncertain The alliance consisting of chancellor Gerhard Schröder's Social Democrats (SPD) and the Greens has lost its majority. And while Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) got the most votes it performed much worse than projected and the SPD is only three seats behind thanks to several overhang seats. But that could change slightly, when the outstanding by-election in Dresden is over. So who will govern the country for the next four years is completely uncertain. Both Schröder a

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch, managing director and the largest shareholder of News Corporation, claimed that the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair offered his opinions about the BBC in a private conversation with him. According to Murdoch, Blair views BBC World Service broadcasts as portraying America in a negative light, and accusing their coverage of Hurricane Katrina to be used for political statements. Murdoch, a long-time critic of the BBC, apparently revealed details of his conversation with the Prime Minister during a session of the Clinto

The President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced Saturday the resolve of his country to proceed with the development of nuclear energy. He stated that Iran would not pursue nuclear weapons. Mr. Ahmadinejad also noted that he was willing to allow international inspection of his program, and reaffirmed his claim of its peaceful nature. At the UN conference, Mr. Ahmadinejad made clear that he felt that Iran had a right to nuclear energy, and that the nations of world practiced "nuclear apartheid" by refusing to let Iran pursue this course.

The head of GMM Grammy in Thailand has backed off from his attempts to take over the leading Thai newspaper, Matichon. In a statement on Friday, Mr Paiboon Damrongchaitham announced he would reduce his stake in the paper from 32% to 12%. The attempted takeover has drawn widespread criticism from journalists, academics, and democracy activists. Mr Paiboon is known to be close to the Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and many argued his control of the well-respected paper would have a chilling effect on free speech in the country. Desp

The New Zealand General Election Preliminary Election Results: Other Wikinews election coverage: Date announced for by-election to replace former New Zealand PM Clark Polls Closed in The New Zealand 2005 General Election Results to be announced in the New Zealand 2005 General Election NZ opposition leader admits to fundamentalist contacts Background: Wikipedia, Wikinews' sibling project, has in-depth background articles on: Political parties in New Zealand New Zealand House of Representatives Politics of New Zealand Mixed Member

A court has freed prominent Malawian politician Gwanda Chakuamba on bail after Chakuamba denied ridiculing Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika at a political rally. Ridiculing the head of state is a crime in Malawi, with a potential penalty ranging from a $20 fine to three years in prison. Prosecutor Mcleod Mlonda objected to the ruling, stating that he was worried that as Chakuamba was an influential figure, he would use his freedom to tamper with the evidence. Magistrate David Kadwa disagreed though, stating that he found it unlikely that

The New Zealand General Election Preliminary Election Results: Other Wikinews election coverage: Date announced for by-election to replace former New Zealand PM Clark Polls Closed in The New Zealand 2005 General Election Results to be announced in the New Zealand 2005 General Election NZ opposition leader admits to fundamentalist contacts Background: Wikipedia, Wikinews' sibling project, has in-depth background articles on: Political parties in New Zealand New Zealand House of Representatives Politics of New Zealand Mixed Member

The New Zealand General Election Preliminary Election Results: Other Wikinews election coverage: Date announced for by-election to replace former New Zealand PM Clark Polls Closed in The New Zealand 2005 General Election Results to be announced in the New Zealand 2005 General Election NZ opposition leader admits to fundamentalist contacts Background: Wikipedia, Wikinews' sibling project, has in-depth background articles on: Political parties in New Zealand New Zealand House of Representatives Politics of New Zealand Mixed Member

Electoral voting experts are expecting a chaos in the German federal election, caused by the by-election in the constituency of Dresden I, in the state of Saxony. The reason is a bug in the German electoral law, which can force the voters to vote against their political party. While in 298 of 299 constituencies the federal elections take place on September 18th, a Dresden constituency has to vote on October 2nd, caused by the death of the NPD candidate there, Kerstin Lorenz. Voters in Germany have two votes, one for a candidate in their con

At Thursday's keynote presentation of the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata unveiled the controller design for the company's new Nintendo Revolution console. Resembling a television remote, the controller uses two sensors placed near the user's television to triangulate its position in three-dimensional space. This will allow players to control actions and movements in video games by moving the device through the air. The remote control design is said to target new players who are unfamiliar with traditional video game controlle

Armed police and officials entered the Central Kalahari Game Reserve on September 12, giving the Bushmen there ten days to leave. Some Bushmen are reported to have fled into the Reserve and are evading capture. In 1996 the central government of Botswana adopted a policy of evicting the Bushmen from the Central Game Reserve, an area originally set aside for them to inhabit. A constitutional amendment is also pending in Parliament to revoke the right of Bushmen to live in the Reserve in perpetuity. The government has expressed concern with sever

In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez called for the UN headquarters to be moved out of the United States. Chávez cited the Iraq War and the US' alleged disregard for the will of the United Nations as his reasoning for proposing the pullout. He then went on to criticize the proposed UN reforms, saying they were "illegal" as they did not take into account anti-poverty goals set out in a 2000 summit. Proposing sweeping reforms, including the elimination of Security Council members' veto powers