Politics

Romania's coalition government fell apart on Thursday, after all of the Social Democrat (PSD) ministers resigned, protesting the firing of another cabinet member. PSD member Dan Nica was fired earlier in the week after he made a statement suggesting the possibility of election fraud in November's upcoming presidential ballots. The PSD party leader, Mircea Geoană, said that the entire PSD had resigned to protest against Nica's sacking. "All PSD ministers, supporting Dan Nica, are announcing their resignation from government. The president succ

Local officials in southern Afghanistan say a roadside bomb blasted a passenger bus Tuesday, killing 30 civilians and wounding at least 39 others. The latest violence comes days after a UN report declared August the deadliest month of the year for civilians in Afghanistan. The Afghan government blamed the Taliban for the latest attack outside the southern city of Kandahar. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the incident, which killed dozens of civilians, including women and children, who were riding on the bus. Afghan presidential sp

Witnesses and medical officials say at least 50 people have been killed in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, in clashes between security forces and opposition activists who defied a government ban on protests. Witnesses say Guinea's security forces opened fire on demonstrators who had gathered in a large stadium to protest against the possible presidential candidacy of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, the country's military leader. They also say police charged protesters with batons, used tear gas, and detained several opposition leaders. "We have

Afghan officials are recounting a sample of the votes from last month's disputed presidential election, in an effort to resolve weeks of uncertainty about the outcome. Preliminary results from the August 20 vote show the incumbent candidate, president Hamid Karzai, in first place, with 54%. But if enough votes are found to be fraudulent, and his tally falls below 50%, he will face a run-off against his chief rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. To speed up the recount process, the United Nations-backed panel investigating the fr

The president of Russia's Chechnya region has launched a libel action against the head of Russian rights group Memorial. Ramzan Kadyrov is seeking ten million rubles (£207,800) from Oleg Orlov who accused him of involvement in the kidnap and murder of another rights activist. Orlov has told the court he did not mean direct involvement, but "political guilt" when he laid responsibility for Natalya Estemirova's slaying upon Kadyrov. "I didn't speak of his involvement, I spoke of his guilt. These are two different things," Orlov testified. Kadyr

An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) belonging to the US military has crashed in the northern Iraq city of Mosul. The Shadow drone struck the roof of the Islamic Party's office. The UAV then bounced down into the building's yard, and is not thought to have been shot down. No injuries were reported and Major Derrick Cheng says the location of the crash is a pure coincidence. Party member Yahya Abid Mahjob said the party was requesting that the military take greater care with their UAVs. The Shadow, which is an unarmed reconnaissance plane, has bee

Militant-activist group Al-Qaeda has recently issued new threats to Saudi Arabia of more attacks, incidentally following what appeared to be a suicide bomber's unsuccessful attempt to kill a Ryadh interior minister last month, Prince Mohammad bin Nayef. A Middle East-based Al-Qaeda leader by the name of Abu Baseer al-Wuhayshi was heard saying the following on a video posted online: "If you can flee with your skin, then do so. By Allah, they will climb your walls and will come to you from where you do not expect." "Our heroes have woven thei

Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick has named former Democratic National Committee Chairman Paul Kirk to temporarily replace the late Edward "Ted" Kennedy in the US Senate. Kirk, a longtime friend and former aide to Kennedy, is to be sworn in as senator this Friday. He will serve in the post until voters pick a permanent replacement during a special election next January. The governor told reporters Thursday that matters before Congress and the nation are "too important for us to be one voice short" in Washington. The appointment gives Demo

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter told Venezuelan newspaper El Tiempo that the United States was "likely behind" the failed 2002 coup that briefly unseated democratically elected president Hugo Chávez. A coup by a civilian-military junta in 2002 removed president Chávez from office, but he quickly regained the position. "I think there is no doubt that in 2002, the United States had at the very least full knowledge about the coup, and could even have been directly involved," Carter told El Tiempo on Sunday. The Bush administration denied any

Pope Benedict XVI has announced that he will be coming to the United Kingdom in January 2010. The information was announced that the Pope had accepted an invitation to visit the United Kingdom from Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The latter had visited the Vatican City three times and had invited the Pope to come to Great Britain in February 2009. Downing Street is expected to confirm the arrangements later today. This visit would make the first Papal visit to the UK since Pope John Paul II's visit in 1982. However, John Paul's visit was on a pa

A spokesman for the German government has announced plans to walk out of the United Nations General Assembly if Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust in a speech he is due to give on Wednesday. The spokesman said, "We will leave the hall if President Ahmadinejad denies the Holocaust or makes anti-Semitic statements ... we are making efforts toward a unified European position," going on to request a "common response" from other European Union member nations. Gabriela Shalev, Israel's ambassador to the UN, also encouraged a

Hu Jintao, the president of China, has promised to reduce carbon dioxide emissions produced by his country, one of the largest polluters in the world. In a speech to world leaders at the United Nations' climate change summit in New York on Tuesday, the president said that China plans to receive 15% of its energy from renewable sources by 2020. "We will endeavour to cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by a notable margin by 2020 from the 2005 level," Hu said. He did not set a figure for the cuts, saying they will be made based on Ch