Politics

Ecuador's ousted President Lucio Gutiérrez by the Ecuadorian Congress is at the Brazilian embassy in Quito. He obtained the political asylum of the Brazilian government. In a note, the Brazilian government declared its accompanying concerns for political events in Ecuador, expecting a peaceful solution in the political crisis. The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, determined the Department of Justice should authorize the political asylum to Gutiérrez. According to the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations, Sérgio Flor

A government-backed bill to allow same-sex couples to marry and to adopt children has passed the Spanish Congress of Deputies. It has yet to pass in the Spanish Senate, although political commentators are speculating this will be simply a formality, and fully expect the bill to become law. The Congress altered existing law governing marriage by adding this sentence: "Marriage will have the same requirements and results when the two people entering into the contract are of the same sex or of different sexes." This bill is now passed on to the

In an address to the ongoing conference of Asian and African nations Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi offered apologies for the suffering caused by Japanese aggression in the 1930s and 40s. "In the past, Japan, through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of many countries, particularly to those of Asian nations. Japan squarely faces these facts of history in a spirit of humility," after this Koizumi added that the Japanese people have "feelings of deep remorse and heartfelt apology."

__NOTOC__ "Those who are in power are to be held responsible, and that includes me," Canada's Prime Minister, Paul Martin, told his nation in the first live address by a PM in ten years. "If so much as a dollar is found to have made its way into the Liberal Party for ill-gotten gains, it will be repaid to the people of Canada." Conservative Leader Stephen Harper described Mr Martin's broadcast as "a party leader playing for time, begging for another chance". "After the Prime Minister has shut down the democratic process here ... my guess i

Amid unrest in the Ecuadoran capital city of Quito, President General Lucio Gutierrez has been removed from his office by congress. Vice-President Alfredo Palacio was voted in unanimously by deputies to replace Mr Gutierrez who is accused of abandoning his post. The BBC reports Gutierrez left the presidential palace by helicopter after sparking protests when he tried to overhaul the Supreme Court. He is now in the Brazilian embassy in Quito where he has applied for asylum (www.planetmafia.net), as confirmed by the Brazilian department of for

Outgoing Prime Minister Iyad Allawi of Iraq escaped an assassin's bomb around 11pm local time on Wednesday night. In an attack aimed at his convoy in a residential part of Baghdad, "[The suicide bomber] did not stop and blew himself up almost near the middle of the convoy," said Allawi spokesman Thaer al-Naqib. The bomb was set off by the attacker from a pickup truck loaded with TNT and mortar rounds, after police opened fire at him. The resulting explosion killed two policemen and wounded at least one other, and was large enough to damage so

Australian officials have impounded 27 Indonesian boats and 240 crew off the country's north coast, in what it says is the biggest operation against illegal fishing so far. Fisheries Minister, Ian Macdonald, told the nation's ABC Radio that a number of boats caught fishing for shark fin and reef fish had been taken to Gove and Darwin. The nine-day joint navy, customs and army "Operation Clearwater" was continuing, and had taken months to plan. "I think all of the illegal vessels up there, because of their inter-vessel communication will now b

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in a press conference to reporters Wednesday was quoted saying: "More than 50 bodies have been brought out from the Tigris and we have the full names of those who were killed and those criminals who committed these crimes. … terrorists committed crimes there. It is not true that there were no hostages. There were, but they were killed and they threw the bodies into the Tigris." He promises more details in the coming days. The presidential news conference was in response to events unfolding by reports from Shi'

White smoke appeared today at 5.50 p.m. local time over the Sistine Chapel in Rome - the first sign that a new Pope had been elected by the Conclave of Cardinals. A few minutes later, the bells of St. Peter's Basilica began ringing, confirming the election. Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger had been selected as the successor to Pope John Paul II as the 265th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and will be known as Pope Benedict XVI. The conclave of 115 cardinals started the process of electing a new Pope on Monday, April 18. However, it has taken two d

Viktor Yushchenko, the president of Ukraine, will make an official visit to Bucharest, Romania this Thursday. This will be the first visit to Romania of a foreign president since Traian Băsescu became president of Romania in December 2004. Yushchenko will receive an official welcome ceremony at Cotroceni Palace, the residence of President Băsescu. The Ukrainian president will also give a speech during the afternoon to a joint meeting of the two Chambers of Parliament, in Bucharest's Palace of the Parliament, Europe's largest building. After l

New mass grave was discovered in a cave in Klina region, Kosovo. According to UNMIK's report, the remains are probably of non-Albanian victims, killed in Kosovo during the war in 1998. According to B92 there are around 46 bodies of people from villages Retimlje, Opteruša and Zočište. UNMIK's forensic team is still working on exhumation and it will take around ten days to search the whole location. Jose Pablo Baraybar, head of the Office on Missing Persons and Forensics, could not specify the number or identity of victims. Serbian president

Denunciations of corruption, bribe, collection of bribes from refugees and of sexual scandal involving the peacekeepers , threaten the Organization of the United Nations (UN). The gravest denunciations involve the aid project to Iraq, called Oil-for-Food. Grave denunciations of bribe exist, superfluous accounting and collaboration with the ex-dictator Saddam Hussein, against staff of the UN, companies and politicians of several countries. Even the secretary of the UN, Kofi Annan was suspicious of participation in the plan of corruption. A