Politics

Lyudmila Zykina, Soviet and Russian national singer, died today, just one month after her 80th birthday. She was highly popular in Russia and named no less than "Queen of Russian folk". In 1947 Zykina joined the famous Pyatnitsky Choir. Her popularity increased when she started a solo career—the song Flows the river Volga remains an immense hit up to the present time. As Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said, "Lyudmila Zykina was a personification of Russia." The funeral will take place on July 4 at Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow.

Al Franken of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (affiliated with US Democratic Party), has formally won the United States Senate seat representing Minnesota, which had been contested ever since the November 4, 2008 election. The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday declared that Franken had won the most votes in the election and was entitled to have the election certified by Governor Tim Pawlenty. Pawlenty has said he will shortly sign the formal document. Franken's opponent, incumbent Norm Coleman of the Republican Party, quickly con

Honduran President Manuel Zelaya was expelled by the country's army on Sunday. Zelaya declares the action a coup d'état. "Today's events originate from a court order by a competent judge. The armed forces, in charge of supporting the constitution, acted to defend the state of law and have been forced to apply legal dispositions against those who have expressed themselves publicly and acted against the dispositions of the basic law," said the supreme court in Honduras. Zelaya was attempting to change the constitution via a constitutional refe

The human rights organization Amnesty International has requested that Iran free journalists imprisoned in the wake of violence which occurred after recent presidential elections in the country. The Iranian government maintains that it has only detained those that have played a role in influencing the recent instability. News media have reported that dozens of journalists have been arrested in Iran, according to Amnesty International there may be up to 30 journalists imprisoned in the country. Amnesty International refers to the imprisoned jou

In a speech Wednesday on state television, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted that the Iranian government "will not yield" in the face of ongoing protests. Khamenei said that the results of the recent election would stand, and he emphasized "implementing the law on the election issue". As many as 17 people have died during street protests after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reasserted himself as President after a June 12 election. Khamenei had commanded that the protests in the streets of Iran cease, to no avail. Previously, Khamenei

Iran has expelled two British diplomats. In response, the United Kingdom announced yesterday that in a tit-for-tat move it will be expelling two Iranian diplomats. The expulsions come in the wake of the recent Iranian presidential election, and subsequent hostility directed at the United Kingdom by Iranian leaders and official news services, including statements made by Supreme Leader of Iran Ali Khamenei calling the British government the "most evil" of foreign governments. Commenting upon the expulsion as it was announced, the Leader of th

The parliament of Togo has unanimously voted to abolish the death penalty for all crimes. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who had been campaigning for a global moratorium on the death penalty, witnessed the vote. Zapatero commented on the vote, calling it a “giant step for Togo”. Togo’s Justice Minister Kokuo Tozoun said "I think that it's the best decision that we took in this year... we don't have the right to give death to someone if we know that death is not a good thing to give." According to human rights organisat

Tensions have started to rise again between the United States and North Korea. North Korea claims that the United States have planned to start an atomic war against them due to President Barack Obama recently reaffirming the nuclear protection of South Korea. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official on Saturday stated that Seoul has proposed five-way talks with the U.S., China, Russia and Japan to find a way to deal with the threats given by North Korea. The United States and Japan agreed to attend the 5-way talks but China and Russia have ye

The President of France Nicolas Sarkozy Monday, in a speech to a joint session of both houses of the Parliament of France, stated that the burqa "will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic". Sarkozy's address was the first such address by a President of France to the Parliament since 1873. Both houses met as the Congress of France in the Château de Versailles. It was permitted by a revision to the Constitution of France that was enacted in 2008. (Previously, rules based upon the doctrine of the separation of powers had prev

__NOTOC__ Following the resignation of Speaker Michael Martin, which took effect yesterday, members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the British Houses of Parliament, today elected John Bercow as the new Speaker of the House. Voting The three rounds of voting were held as a secret ballot of all Members of the Commons. Each round eliminated from subsequent rounds any candidates with less than 5% support, with the winner to be the candidate who, in any round, achieved a simple majority of the vote. This was a new system for electing

Greenland, population over 57,000, assumes the national right of self government today. The occasion will be honoured in the nation's capital, Nuuk, by the Danish monarch Queen Margrethe II, the current Head of State. With the ceremony, Kalaallisut becomes the official language of the mainly Inuit island, and Greenland will become the only country in North America where an indigenous language has official status nationwide. Newly elected Prime Minister of Greenland Kuupik Kleist will embark on an agenda of tackling social and education challen

Earlier this month, former Republican U.S. Senator Bob Smith announced his candidacy for Florida's open Senate seat in the 2010 midterm election. Smith, who was one of New Hampshire's senators for two terms — which amounts to twelve years — said he is running for office in his recently adopted home state due to his disapproval of the direction in which America is headed. He is very optimistic about the conservative change he can potentially bring to Congress which is currently controlled by liberal-minded members of the Democratic Party. Smith