Politics

With the UK general election on May 5, three party leaders from the largest parties in the election answered questions live on the BBC at 19:30 UTC Thursday. Charles Kennedy (Liberal Democrats), Michael Howard (Conservative Party, currently Opposition) and Tony Blair (Labour Party, incumbent) were asked questions by an audience representative of the British public. The politicians were given no advance notice of the questions. David Dimbleby hosted the discussion, as he has other Question Time debates. Topics that were raised included taxation

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government received a vote of confidence from the Italian Senate Thursday, after it earned the confidence of the House yesterday. The Senate's tally was 170 pros, 117 cons and no abstentions. Berlusconi declared these votes of confidence as demonstrating the strength and coherence of his coalition. He also declared that he wanted a change in the electoral law so that a bipartisan political system would srise, and that he wants to form a majority government after the next election.

Today in Ramallah Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to aid Palestinians. In a press conference held after talks with Mahmoud Abbas, Putin said that Palestinians cannot fight terrorism with slingshots and stones. He pledged to give airplane equipment, helicopters, communications equipment and to train security forces. The Russian President was cheered by the Palestinian crowd prior to the conference. Putin was on a four day tour of the Middle East, where he visited Egypt, Israel and Palestine. This was the first high level visit of a Ru

Dutch Minister Alexander Pechtold's radical suggestion to legalise cannabis in the Netherlands has been supported by the mayors of 20 out of 30 of the largest Dutch cities, including the mayors of Leeuwarden, Utrecht, Lelystad, Deventer, and Tilburg, according to an investigation by the Dutch newspaper Trouw. Pechtold promoted the legalisation of cannabis throughout Europe earlier this week. Pechtold's plans are opposed by Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner however, who is advocating a tougher policy against cannabis. The possession, consumptio

The United Kingdom's Blair government concealed doubts expressed by its Attorney General's department on whether the 2003 invasion of Iraq was legal. Now, in the run-up to a May 5 general election and with no evidence of a serious threat from pre-invasion Iraq having come to light, a furor has erupted over the issue. High-ranking governmental legal advisor, Elizabeth Wilmshurst, protested in her resignation letter just prior to the invasion, about sudden, unexplained changes the Attorney General had made in the tone of his legal advice to the

__NOTOC__ In an escalating controversy that has contributed to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's political problems and created a national uproar in Italy, Italian prosecutors began their own independent probe on Wednesday of the death of Nicola Calipari. The premier has put his government's prestige on the line with assurances to the nation that full light would be shed on the shooting. Calipari, one of the top intelligence agents in Italy, had negotiated a settlement with hostage takers in Baghdad and was rescuing journalist Giulian

Iraqi terrorists extended the ultimatum by calling Romanian Prima TV, the station where two of the kidnapped journalists worked. The news director of Prima TV Dan Dumitru, said he received a call from Iraq on late Tuesday, in which he spoke both to the kidnappers and the journalists. The kidnappers gave the government a further 24 hours to withdraw their troops, while the kidnapped journalists told Dumitru to put pressure on the Romanian government for the withdrawal of the troops. The three made a "final appeal" to the Romanian president, Trai

By an overwhelming 109-1 margin, the Lebanese government won a vote of confidence in parliament Wednesday, coming just a day after what was touted as the “full and final” Syrian occupation withdrawal. The confidence vote, ushered in by the new Prime Minister Najib Mikati, is a step which allows for May elections called for by constitutional law and demanded by anti-Syrian opposition groups. Speaking to parliament, Mikati said, "We will not hesitate to carry out this constitutional requirement on time," according to the AP. The next step for

An airspace intrusion alarm near the White House put the White House on alert Wednesday. The warning was later revealed as a false alarm due to a technical problem. Secret Service agents rushed the President from the Oval Office into an underground shelter. The Vice President was taken to a secure zone. Some of the White House staff and visitors were also moved to safety. In a short time it was shown to be a false alarm. Aircraft were called in to check and patrol the air space around the White House. White House press secretary Scott McCl

The heads of state and representatives of 89 Asian and African countries met this weekend in Bandung, capital of West Java, Indonesia. The three-day meeting, started Friday in commemoration of the golden jubilee (50th anniversary) of the original Bandung Conference, resulted in the discussion of a number of important international issues and future plans for similar high-level meetings and programs for action. The two co-hosts of the event were President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of Indonesia and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. Some of

An ongoing US military investigation into the death of the Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari cleared the US soldiers charged. A US official speaking anonymously stated, "The soldiers were all complying with the standard operating procedures for those checkpoints and therefore were not culpable of dereliction of duty in following their procedures," according to the Australian Special Broadcasting Service. The Italian government has rejected the investigation's findings. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi later apologised for "an unfortun

US President George Bush met with Saudi Prince Abdullah at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas USA Monday. He greeted the prince with a kiss on both cheeks. They previously met 3 years ago at the Crawford ranch where President Bush later said of the meeting, he developed a "strong personal bond" with the Saudi Crown Prince. A barrel of oil cost $25 three years ago. Today it costs $54. The meeting was to discuss oil, the war on terror and efforts to extend democracy and peace in the Middle East. "This is an important relationship," Bush said. "A hi