Honduran armed forces spokesman Rafael Moreno Coello announced the deployment of 8,000 troops to ensure the peace in the upcoming internal party elections on Feb. 20. The elections will decide who will be nominated as presidential candidates in the two major political parties, the Liberal Party and the National Party. Anyone with the right to vote in Honduras can vote in either election. The Honduran constitution defines the elections, which the Supreme Electoral Tribunal administers.
The troops, who come from all three wings of the Honduran a
A delegation of Brazilian deputies and senators met the new president of the Palestine Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, known as Abu Mazen, on Monday, January 10. Abbas recognized the preferential treatment offered by Brazil to the Palestinians and promised reciprocity. Carlos Abicalil (PT) , member of the delegation, said that the decision of the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to establish, in July 2004, an office of representation in Ramallah contributed to the closening of relations between the governments of Brazil and the Palestin
Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said that on-going violence in Iraq may hamper the forthcoming elections for a new national government, due to be held on January 30.
"There are some pockets that will not participate in the election, but they are not large," Allawi said.
Fifteen people died in violence across Iraq today. A bomb blast in Tikrit killed six police officers and wounded a dozen. South of Baghdad, a bomb destroyed a minibus and killed seven civilians onboard. The bomb apparently was aimed at a US military convoy. Another bomb kil
U.S. President George W. Bush nominated Federal Judge Michael Chertoff as the next Secretary of Homeland Security, replacing Secretary Tom Ridge who plans to step down Feb. 1.
Judge Chertoff has been approved by the Senate on three previous occasions and is currently a U.S. Appeals Court judge in Philadelphia. He is considered a "safe" candidate, likely to pass Senate scrutiny, a key characteristic after the White House's previous candidate, former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, withdrew after personal information was made public.
After winning the election of January 9, 2005 by a large margin, new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas offered peace to Israel. Israel reportedly welcomed the result and asked Mr Abbas to "clamp down" on Palestinian militants.
Abbas said he wants to meet Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon soon. US President George W. Bush has indicated he will invite Abbas to the United States for talks, something he never did with Abbas's predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat.
The EU monitoring team present during the elections commented on the uniqueness o
CBS News dismissed four employees Tuesday, including three executives, in the aftermath of an investigation into a faulty news story about President George W. Bush. Dan Rather, who reported the story, is not included in these dismissals.
The discharged employees were: Betsy West, senior vice president and overseer of CBS News primetime programs, Josh Howard, 60 Minutes Wednesday executive producer, Mary Murphy, senior broadcast producer and Mary Mapes, program producer.
On Sept. 8, 2004 CBS presented in 60 Minutes Wednesday program, a stor
In the Sudan, a peace treaty has been signed that many hope will end the almost 20 year long civil war.
Rebel leader Dr. John Garang and Sudanese Vice President Ali Osman Mohamed Taha signed the agreement with foreign leaders such as U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and thousands of members of the public witnessing the event at Nyayo National Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya. The deal will see Sudan's rich oil reserves being split fairly north–south.
The war was between the Muslim north and the Christian south, and over the last two decades has
Polls have closed in the occupied territories with many exit polls showing that of the seven candidates for Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas has a large lead. Voting ended at 1900 UTC, two hours later than planned due to earlier voting difficulties. While the large influx of late voting added to a heavy turnout means that official totals may be delayed until Monday, the primary results are anything but close.
The Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research's exit poll indicates that Abbas has won 66.3% of the vote, while the next cl
A 25-page briefing paper released by the Human Rights Watch reports torture, mass arrests and increasing persecution of Montagnard Christians in Vietnam's Central Highlands. According to Human Rights Watch there is more extensive use of torture against activists, individuals and religious leaders who have been expelled or returned from Cambodia.
The practice of self-criticism sessions, where Montagnard villagers are forced by officials to renounce Christianity and every political or religious activities in public is common. Human Rights Watch
U.S. citizens donating in 2005 to help tsunami victims may write off their donations on their 2004 tax returns, thanks to a bill quickly passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on a voice vote, and signed into law by president George W. Bush.
Without the new law, contributors would have waited until 2006 and their 2005 tax returns to be able to write off their charitable donations. The law is intended to promote donating towards the tsunami relief effort.
CBS News reports Indiana University's Center on Philanthropy is
Various sources have indicated that as of today no significant international aid has arrived in the island of Nias -- a small volcanic island off the coast (North Sumatra province, Indonesia) -- a full ten days after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred. These observations were noted by former Indonesian central parliament member Firman Jaya Daeli, activists from Howu-howu (a Dutch NGO), and Surf Aid International.
Most international aid in Indonesia has been focused on the province of Naggroe Aceh Darussalam (Aceh), as it is where the bi
Republicans and lobbyists close to President George W. Bush have reported that the White House will propose changing the formula for establishing initial Social Security benefit levels in order to cut guaranteed expenditures on future retirees, according to today's Washington Post. The Social Security Administration would no longer use the increase in wages over a worker’s lifetime to calculate retirees’ first-year benefits but would use inflation rates instead. The new “price indexing” formula will reduce individual benefits and overall Social
