Politics

A Royal Australian Navy (RAN) helicopter, helping victims of last week's earthquake in Indonesia, crashed Saturday night, killing nine Australians onboard,and injuring two. The Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, described the event as 'heart breaking' and said the crash of the Sea King helicopter appeared to be an accident. The 30-year old helicopter crashed on approach to Amandraya village on the remote west coast of Indonesia's island of Nias, ferrying an emergency medical team from the HMAS Kanimbla to the village. They were part of a

Half of those who won seats reserved for women in the new National Assembly of Iraq are members of a coalition dominated by Shi'a religious parties, and they say they want Islamic sharia-based laws with legal differences in treatment for the sexes, and which permit a certain level of domestic violence. Says Nada al-Bayiati, of the Women's Organisation for Freedom in Iraq, "It's weakening our position. How can you argue for women's rights when the women are undermining you?" Eighty-nine in all, women make up one-third of the current parliament

Amid claims of rigging by the opposition party, news reports today from the Zimbabwe capital city of Harare, say current President Robert Mugabe has again clinched a party victory in this round of national elections. This national election bears similarity to the 2000 election when allegations that Mugabe's dominant political party, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF), used its position in power to steal the election were widespread. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), who after th

The death of the Georgian Prime Minister, Surab Schwania, on 3 February 2005 was an accident, which was caused by a faulty gas heater in the home of a friend. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) came to this conclusion following investigations in the apartment in {[w|Tbilisi}} and in their laboratories in the USA. Bryan Paarman, legal attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Georgia who also leads the FBI office in Tbilisi, released details of the official investigation report at the news conference, which states that the late Prime

The Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met the leaders of Colombia, Venezuela and Spain, in Ciudad Guyana, 500 km (311 miles) from Caracas, in Venezuela, Tuesday, March 29. The regional summit aimed to improve the diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela, that had been shaken after the arrest of the FARC communist member Rodrigo Granda, in December, last year. The following leaders were present at the meeting: the President of Colombia, Álvaro Uribe Velez; the Spanish Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero; the Pre

In an interview broadcast on Russian state-run Channel One television, deposed Kyrgyz president Askar Akayev, when asked whether he was prepared to resign as president, replied, "Of course, of course - if I am given the relevant guarantees and if it is in full accordance with the current legislation." He added that he had "the desire to help so that the newly elected president is legitimate." While acting president and prime minister Kurmanbek Bakiyev and former acting minister of securities Felix Kulov have offered him immunity, he said he w

Councillors at Dresden City Council in Germany would like to match doggy-doo left by pets on the sidewalk and in parks, against a DNA database storing profiles for all of the city's 12,000 registered dogs. Karl Jobig, a Christian Democrat politician in Dresden, was surprised when his proposal received a majority vote. "In this way, Dresden will once again be one of the cleanest cities in Germany," Roland Putzger, the leader of the local council, told The Guardian. DNA from registered dogs would be collected from blood or saliva for the "genet

Elections in Zimbabwe began with both the ruling and opposition parties predicting victory. Current president Robert Mugabe predicts a "mountainous victory" for his party, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF). The main opposition — Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims the election is being rigged, and despite being allowed to freely campaign, the government's intimidation of voters and moves to hurt opposition supporters will prevent the MDC win. The government recently withheld food aid from those supportin

__NOTOC__ Three Romanian journalists were abducted in Baghdad, Iraq shortly after Romanian President Traian Băsescu visited the country to meet with the Romanian troops deployed there. The journalists went missing Monday, and have been identified as reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, cameraman Sorin Dumitru Miscoci and reporter Ovidiu Ohanesian. Miscoci and Ion were both from the television station Prima TV, which had been in Baghdad for five days to conduct interviews with Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and interim President Ghazi al-Yawer. Ohanesian was

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General of NATO has praised New Zealand's role in providing security, and aiding with reconstruction in Afghanistan. He made the comments in Wellington during a three-day visit of New Zealand. "The fact that we are in Afghanistan, and that we see New Zealand participation in Afghanistan is proof that we are fighting this fight together," said Mr. Scheffer. After talking with Mr. Scheffer, Prime Minister Helen Clark said "Later this year when the parliamentary elections are held in Afghanistan, the Bonn proces

Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the streets of cities across Egypt to protest against a possible fifth term of President Hosni Mubarak. Activists are campaigning to prevent Mubarak from gaining another term after 24 years in power. They are also calling for his son Gamal not to stand in elections in September and also that reforms are made to the country's constitution. Hundreds of Kifaya ("Enough") protesters were met by thousands of riot police in Cairo and were prevented from reaching the parliament buildings. Protests in Alexandri

At a news conference intended to be on the Conservatives' childcare policies, Michael Howard's decision to sack Conservative MP Howard Flight has continued to dominate as the ex-Tory deputy chairman's expulsion from the party was the subject of every question. The affair began when the MP for Arundel and South Downs was recorded as saying that the conservatives' spending cuts of £35bn would 'only be the start' under a Tory Government. This issue has been of particular significance in the run-up to the expected General election on May 5th. Mr.