Politics

Turkey and Armenia signed an historic agreement, agreeing to normalize bilateral relations and reopen borders after a century of animosity. It was signed in Zurich, Switzerland. The signing ceremony was delayed because of the Armenian delegation. After three-hour long discussion, the dispute resolved and the protocol signed by the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu and the Armenian Foreign Minister Eduard Nalbandyan, with participation of the United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, F

Preliminary results from Sunday's local and regional elections in Russia indicate that the United Russia party won a significant majority of votes throughout the country. Central Elections Commission official Leonid Ivlev said vote counts on Monday showed the United Russia party won nearly 80% of the local races. These included elections for mayors, as well as regional and city legislatures. In Russia's capital of Moscow, the pro-Kremlin United Russia obtained 66% of the vote for city council. The opposition Communist Party came in second, wi

Gabon's constitutional court has upheld Ali Ben Bongo's win in the August presidential election. Nine opposition candidates had challenged those results, alleging vote fraud. After recounting results from more than 2,800 polling stations, Gabon's constitutional court confirmed the election of the son of the country's long-time leader Omar Bongo. Announcing the results on state television, constitutional court president Marie Madeleine Mborantsuo reaffirmed Ali Ben Bongo's win with nearly 42 percent of the vote. Former interior minister Andre

George Papandreou, the new Greek Prime Minister, paid his first foreign visit to neighbouring Turkey on Friday. Papandreou arrived in Istanbul to attend an informal Balkan countries' ministerial meeting. He first visited the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I, where he said both countries must work together to unify Cyprus. Bartholomew said Papandreou's arrival in Turkey for his first foreign visit is very important for Greek–Turkish relations, which are tense due to Cyprus and Aegean Sea disputes. Later, he met with the Tur

Lal Krishna Advani, the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), visited Navi Mumbai on Friday to support Sena-BJP leaders Suresh Haware and Vijay Chougule for the country's general elections. Advani was scheduled to arrive at 17.00 Mumbai time (+5.5 UTC) but only came at 19.30. Before his arrival, Vijay Chougule, a member of the Shiv Sena (Airoli constituency), criticized the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in his speech and promised that Sena-BJP could make a better Navi Mumbai. The BJP supporters were holding flags and banners

The British government has said that eyesight tests reveal Prime Minister Gordon Brown has two minor tears in the retina of his right eye. Prime Minister Brown went to the Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, England. A series of eyesight tests revealed that there were two small tears in his right retina, but no other deterioration in his eyesight. Downing Street in Westminster has said that despite these results, Mr. Brown will not be undergoing any further operations. They commented: "This summer Mr Brown had his annual eye check-up which was

Pakistani police have said that a suicide bombing near the Swat Valley killed 41 people on Monday. Monday's attack is Pakistan's fourth act of terrorism in eight days, killing a total of more than 100 people. It also came as the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's assault on the country's heavily guarded army headquarters in Rawalpindi. "Forty-one people were killed and 45 were injured in the suicide blast," provincial information minister Mian Iftekhar said. Police say the attacker targeted a military convoy, setting o

In parting remarks made after a three-day visit to Kenya late on Wednesday, former UN chief Kofi Annan warned that the country risks returning to ethnic clashes if reforms are not implemented. "My conversations with Kenyans during the last three days have underscored that there is a crisis of confidence in Kenya's political leadership," Annan said. "Only Kenya's politicians can solve that crisis. I urge them to listen to the voices of Kenyans." Annan said that he had noted some progress on the reform agenda but warned that time was running

The European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee supported on Tuesday a proposal by the European Commission to scrap visa requirements for citizens of Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia, starting on January 1 of next year. The committee also asked that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania be included in the visa liberalisation process, although neither has met EU-determined benchmarks yet. European Parliament members also want to initiate visa liberalisation dialogues with Kosovo and establish a roadmap for visa-free travel. Serbia, Macedonia,

Macedonian President Gjorge Ivanov voiced expectations on Tuesday that the process of resolving the country's long-standing name dispute with Greece will receive a new impetus, given the new government in Athens. He said that a compromise is possible, if the process continues under the auspices of UN resolutions and talks focus only on the name, and not on the Macedonian identity and language. Ivanov added that any compromise shouldn't "be offensive" to either Macedonia or Greece. “A compromise is possible if the process is under the auspices

Iran's Revolutionary Court has sentenced an opposition activist to death, in the first such verdict since trials of opposition supporters began in August. Monarchist Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani is to be hanged for participating in unrest last June, according to opposition websites. Several top Iranian opposition websites reported that Iran's Revolutionary Court has handed down a death sentence to an opposition activist for the first time since August, when it began trying those involved in post-election unrest. Iran's Committee on Human Rights

US Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said that the Senate Finance Committee will vote on a sweeping health care reform bill next Tuesday. US President Barack Obama has made clear that extending health insurance coverage to as many Americans as possible is his top domestic priority. Republican lawmakers, however, are still overwhelmingly opposed to the bill, saying it is too expensive and would expand the role of government in people's health care. Obama and his fellow Democrats in the Senate received some good news late Wednesday from the