Politics

The Chilean President Sebastián Piñera and other center-right politicians attended last Thursday morning the Memorial to Jaime Guzmán to celebrate the 19th anniversary from the death of the founder of the Unión Demócrata Independiente (UDI) (Independent Democratic Union). After the ceremony, a pilgrimage to the General Cemetery and a mass, place that in the past the ceremony was made completely in memoriam to the dead senator. In the monument, the President Piñera and Juan Antonio Coloma, UDI president, did some speeches, in which they emphasi

US officials have announced new security policies for all international flights bound for the US. The move will replace the mandatory screening of passengers from fourteen countries, implemented after the failed bombing of a flight to Detroit, Michigan last Christmas by a Nigerian man. The change comes after President Barack Obama ordered a review into the matter. The move is intended to lower the amount of air travellers taken for extra screening, and will be based on information obtained from intelligence agencies, such as if they match a de

Lady Sonia McMahon has died in a Sydney, Australia hospital. A statement from St. Vincent's Private Hospital reported that McMahon died late on Friday with her family. McMahon was born in August 1932, and was the wife of former Australian Prime Minister Sir William McMahon. Sonia was also a Sydney socialite. McMahon made world headlines after being photographed at the White House wearing a revealing dress in the company of her husband and United States president Richard Nixon, in 1971. McMahon had three children: Melinda, Debra, and Julian;

The opposition to the Chilean President Sebastián Piñera have criticized his management after the earthquake. Piñera however gave a stability message to the Chilean people last Wednesday. On Thursday morning, he announced that he would discontinue the "catastrophe state" declared in the most affected regions by the earthquake: O'Higgins, Maule and Bío Bío. He also emphasized the actions he has taken during the twenty days he has been as President. Piñera also said that the decree that declares as affected zones the Valparaíso, Santiago Metropo

US President Barack Obama has announced that he will ease the country's ban on offshore oil drilling, which has been in place since the 1980s. According to the plan, offshore drilling would now be allowed in parts of the Atlantic, from Delaware down to 125 miles beyond the shoreline of Florida, in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The move, however, does have some restrictions; drilling further northeast or along the West Coast is still prohibited. Contracts in Bristol Bay, Alaska were also suggested, but were scrapped due to environmental concern

The United States and France have announced their intention to work together in an effort to implement additional United Nations sanctions on Iran. The announcement came after a meeting between US President Barack Obama and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. According to Obama, the two nations planned on having the new sanctions implemented "within weeks." Sarkozy pledged that the whole of Europe would be part of the plan, saying that he would make "all necessary efforts to make sure Europe as a whole engaged in the sanctions regime." He said t

Serbia's parliament has approved a landmark resolution condemning the July 1995 Srebrenica massacre, in which 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb troops. This tragedy is considered the worst atrocity carried out in Europe since the Second World War and a symbol of the brutality of the 1992–95 Balkan wars. After thirteen hours of debate, 127 of the 250 Serbia's parliament lawmakers voted to pass the landmark resolution; only 173 were present. "The parliament of Serbia strongly condemns the crime committed against the B

Two bombings in the northern Caucasus region of Russia have killed at least twelve people and injured another eighteen. The explosions occurred in Kizlyar, a town in the Dagestan province. The first bomb was detonated in a car near a school, killing two police officers, at around 08.30 Moscow time (04.30 UTC). According to Russian interior minister Rashid Nurgaliyev, police tried to stop the car before it blew up, as they had thought it looked suspicious. The second explosion was caused by a suicide bomber disguised as a police officer. He h

The Russian government has decided to remove two of its eleven timezones, in the country's first step towards time reform, first started by president Dmitry Medvedev last November. The affected regions were Chukotka and Kamchatka, the easternmost provinces of Russia; and Samara and Udmurtia, which are now on Moscow time. Each of these regions was moved back an hour. Kemerovo was also moved back an hour, but this did not eliminate a time zone. The changes were implemented on Saturday night, when most of the country was due to put their count

Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, today unveiled the country's final annual budget before the general election. The biggest announcements included abolishing stamp duty on homes under £250,000 for first-time buyers, whilst increasing it to 5% on homes over £1 million. In his statement to the House of Commons, the Chancellor claimed that the Labour government had made the right calls in countering the global recession, but warned that introducing cuts too early would jeopardise the recovery. Opposition leader David Camero

Iraq's election commission has refused requests from both the president and prime minister of the country to recount votes from the parliamentary election on March 7. According to an official from the commission, the Independent High Electoral Commission, a recount was unnecessary because of checks for fraud, as well as being impossible. Despite these claims, the long interval between the elections and the announcement of official results has led to increasing allegations of fraud and calls for a recount, from both civilians and politicians.

25-year-old man David Striegl was knocked unconscious by a kangaroo on the Mount Ainslie nature reserve in the Australian capital Canberra on Thursday. He received cuts and bruises and a black eye after being scratched and hit by the kangaroo. Mount Ainslie is located near the centre of the Australian capital, with Australia's parliament houses designed to be viewed from the top of the mountain. He does not remember much about the incident, only that he turned around and saw the kangaroo which hit him in the face. He said that the kangaroo