Politics

The European Union said on Tuesday that it plans to train hundreds of Somali security forces and possibly expand its anti-piracy mission off Somalia's coast, in an effort to bring stability to the war-torn Horn of Africa nation. The agreement to train Somali forces was reached during a meeting of European Union defense ministers in Brussels, Belgium. The details of the plan remain sketchy, but the idea is to train the Somalis in Uganda in close collaboration with the Ugandan government - a main supplier of African Union peacekeeping troops in

A Zambian journalist accused of distributing pornography because she sent officials photographs of a woman forced to give birth in a carpark outside a hospital was found not guilty yesterday in Lusaka. The accused, Chansa Kabwela, faced a prison sentence of five years; she contested that she had only mailed the photos to highlight the effects of a strike at hospitals throughout the country. The baby shown in the photos had died because of lack of medical attention. President Rupiah Banda had said that the photographs were pornographic, but mag

The White House has announced that it is considering sending Guantanamo Bay detainees to a state prison in northwestern Illinois. Governor Pat Quinn and President Barack Obama discussed a federal purchase of the Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson during Quinn's visit to Washington on November 4. The purchase would bring a desperately needed $200 million to the state government. Senator Dick Durbin said in a statement last Saturday that the purchase would also bring fewer than 100 Guantanamo detainees to the prison and create 3,000 new jo

A Europe-wide student movement, started in the Austrian capital of Vienna, is developing. It started on 28 October 2009 and met with the discussions following the Conference of the Ministers for Education and Cultural Affairs in Germany on 15 October. For Tuesday 17 November — the 70th anniversary of the international students' day — a nationwide education strike in Germany has been announced. Radio Deutsche Welle reported in English about the demonstrations. Speakers of the actions said, students are complaining that universities are underfun

Voting polls opened in Kosovo at 7am (0600 UTC); the first time since declaring independence from Serbia last year. Both ethnic Albanians and the minority Serb population may vote for local mayors and councillors, a move seen as testing the government's capacity to organise its own democratic elections. The territory was run by the United Nations mission before its split from Serbia in February 2008. On Friday, President Fatmir Sejdiu stressed the importance of the elections. And, calling on the 1.5 million eligible voters to mobilise, said "[

Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has rejected moves by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate, saying that he had no "Israeli partner" and not being serious about peace. Ahead of talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy last Friday in Paris, he called upon France to be more involved in the Middle East peace process, after expressing disappointment with Barack Obama's performance and lack of action plan; in an interview with Le Figaro he called the United States the "weak link". Al-Assad said that he would not negotiate directly wi

Kenya's livestock minister, Mohammed Kuti, said today that cattle rustlers have killed eleven people near the central town of Isiolo. Kuti, who is also the member of parliament for Isiolo, said the rustlers raided in a village in the area early in the day. "The eleven people were killed when rustlers stormed a village in Kisima area early this morning," he commented. The state-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation puts the number of attackers at 300, and stated that they stole an unknown number of livestock. Cattle rustling is common in Keny

The Zimbabwean government has allocated US$10 million worth of funds for the relocation of thousands of families living near the Chiadzwa diamond fields in the Manicaland province. Murisi Zwizwai, the Deputy Mines Minister, said that the funds would be used to build houses for the residents in the area, and for developments in . “I can confirm that US$10 million has been set aside for the relocation. The relocation may take place after they have harvested their crops,” he said in an interview, as quoted by the New Zimbabwe news agency. Zwizwa

Irish priest Father Michael Sinnott has been freed by the gunmen who abducted him one month ago. The 79-year-old was taken hostage from his mission office in the Philippines on the 11th of October. The Irish government released a statement saying they had not paid a ransom. Authorities believe that Father Sinnott was being held by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Father Sinnott was based in Pagadian at the time of his abduction but was originally from County Wexford, Ireland. Irish Foreign Minister Micheál Martin released a statement saying

Mozambique's main opposition party has rejected the results of last month's national elections, alleging fraud and ballot-stuffing. Official results were released on Wednesday confirming that President Armando Guebuza had won another term in office. The secretary-general of the opposition Renamo Party, Ussufo Momade, announced his party's rejection of the election results, saying there had been widespread fraud. "We do not recognize these elections," he stated. "We demand the cancellation of the results that were just announced and we insist o

Wikinews interviewed the creator of a parody website satirizing American political commentator Glenn Beck, about his thoughts after prevailing in a domain name dispute brought by Beck before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Florida resident Isaac Eiland-Hall created the website in September, and it asserts Beck uses questionable tactics "to spread lies and misinformation". Eiland-Hall was represented in the case by free speech lawyer Marc Randazza. Wikinews interviewed Randazza for the article "US fre

The president of El Salvador declared a national emergency in his country today, after torrential rains, flooding, and landslides inundated the area. Mauricio Funes said that the situation was "a tragedy", and that the amount of damage suffered by the country was "incalculable". "Today is a very sad day for the country and its government, in fact it is one of the most tragic days in memory," he said in a televised speech on Sunday. Rescue teams, residents, and the armed forces are digging through mud and rubble around the country to try and f