Politics

Nematullah Shahrani, the Afghan government minister, has said that an investigation found that more than 90 civilians were killed in American led NATO air strikes early Friday in Azizabad, a village in Herat province. "Most are women and children" She continued: "They have claimed that Taliban were there. They must prove it, so far, it is not clear for us why the coalition conducted the air strikes." Lt. Col. Rumi Nielson-Green, a spokeswoman for the U.S. military, said 30 Taliban insurgents were killed. The operation targeted a local Taliban

On August 11, United States Senator and 2008 presidential Republican candidate John McCain gave a speech regarding the crisis between Georgia and Russia. Following the speech, a regular Wikipedia editor noticed that his speech was very similar to an article on Wikipedia also regarding the crisis, in what could be considered plagiarism. Wikinews was able to talk to that editor about how he found out about the similarities and what he did in response. Wikinews also took a deeper look at the claim and investigated further. McCain gave his speech

Former President Pervez Musharraf, of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, has vacated the presidential home of Aiwan-e-Sadr after stepping down from the office of President. On Monday Fahmida Mirza, Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan, signed and accepted the resignation of President Musharraf. He was accorded a guard of honour before leaving the President’s House. President Musharraf resigned after remaining in power for nine years. He had been facing impeachment on charges of violating the constitution and gross misconduct. The movem

Senator Barack Obama from Illinois, the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party, announced Joe Biden as his Vice Presidential running mate. The announcement came via text message early Saturday morning, to people who had signed up to receive the announcement on the official Barack Obama campaign website. Friday afternoon, several campaign officials had informed the media that the text message announcement would be distributed Saturday morning. Reportedly, the announcement would come a few hours ahead of a scheduled rally at the Old State

Following Barack Obama's Saturday morning text-announcement of Joe Biden's vice presidential candidacy, a rally was held in Springfield, Illinois, at 3:00pm (UTC-5). The rally was held on the steps of the Old State Capitol building in Springfield. In a email sent out to supporters of Obama who signed up on the Obama campaign website, Obama said that "Joe and I will appear for the first time as running mates this afternoon in Springfield, Illinois—the same place this campaign began more than 19 months ago." The rally was broadcast at the offic

Snakes and alligators have been forced out onto Florida streets in the United States as Tropical Storm Fay continues to flood the state, breaking the region's two-year drought. The storm has already left over two feet of rain along Florida's central Atlantic coast with more still to come. About 60,000 homes have lost power and schools have been closed. On Thursday President George W. Bush issued a federal disaster declaration that allows for the Department of Homeland Security to use federal funds to pay for 75% of the debris removal costs. G

On Friday, an agreement was reached stating that the all of the United States (US) armed forces currently stationed in Iraq would be pulled out by 2011. Mohammed al-Haj Hamoud, the deputy foreign minister of Iraq, stated that the deal has to be signed by both the Iraqi and US governments. The agreement, which has 27 points, states that all US troops will be out of Iraqi cities by June 2009, and that the forces would be out of Iraq entirely by December 31, 2011. Hamoud stated that the 2011 final withdrawal was still somewhat variable. "There i

Georgij Chaindrawa, a former minister of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's government, who was in charge of dealing with the conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia until 2006, has accused Saakashvili of undemocratic behaviour and war mongering. In an interview with the German news magazine Der Spiegel, Georgij Chaindrawa accuses the United States administration of spreading the false idea that Saakashvili's government is democratic and turning a blind eye on his totalitarian behaviour. According to Chaindrawa, Saakashvili's governm

The campaign offices for 2008 United States presidential candidate John McCain in Centennial, Colorado and Manchester, New Hampshire have been evacuated after receiving letter threats in the U.S. mail. Office staff state that the Centennial envelope contained an unknown white powder. "We immediately notified local and federal law enforcement agencies and are looking to cooperate with them. We have put all of our offices on highest alert. They're looking for anything suspicious and all staff has been quarantined as of right now," said Jeff Sado

Levy Mwanawasa, the President of Zambia died yesterday at age 59. He died in a Paris hospital in France. His death was intially announced by an anonymous family member. It was later confirmed on television by vice president Rupiah Banda. Mwanawase suffered a stroke while in Egypt in June of this year for an African Union summit, whereafter he was flown to France. His condition suddenly deteriorated on Monday. "I also wish to inform the nation that national mourning starts today and will be for seven days," said Banda. United States President

United States (U.S.) Senator Joe Lieberman is scheduled to speak at the Republican party convention, according to a member of the McCain campaign who wishes to remain anonymous. Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in the 2000 presidential election, has been one of Republican party candidate, John McCain's, staunchest supporters. The official who informed the press of this announcement stated that Lieberman is slated to speak on the second day, a Monday, of the convention. There has been a lot of speculation in the pa

Upon the request of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Senator Joe Biden of Delaware made a visit to the Republic of Georgia, which is currently under siege by Russia. Biden is considered to be a top choice on Barack Obama's list for presidential running mates because of his foreign policy expertise and 35 years of experience in the United States Senate. His trip increased speculation about Obama's selection, although Biden stated that the aim of the trip is "to get the facts first-hand and to show [his] support for Georgia’s people and it