Politics

Kevin Rudd, current Australian Labor Party leader, was sworn in today as Prime Minister of Australia by Governor-General Michael Jeffrey. Rudd has become the 26th Prime Minister since Australia's federation in 1901. Former Prime Minister John Howard and the Liberal Party and Coalition were beaten in the 2007 election which took place last month, by the Australian Labor Party who managed to gain the extra 16 seats they needed to have a majority in the House of Representatives. Mr Howard lost his seat that he held for 33 years, 11 as Prime Minis

Venezuelan voters rejected a referendum on changes to the constitution. The chief of the National Electoral Council said it was rejected by a margin of 51% to 49%. The referendum vote on sweeping reforms to the constitution would have allowed Hugo Chávez to run for reelection indefinitely, control Venezuela's foreign currency reserves, appoint loyalists over regional elected officials and expand presidential powers in the case of an emergency. It would also have established a maximum six-hour working day and 36-hour working week, cut the votin

The Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir has issued a full pardon to British school teacher Gillian Gibbons who was sentenced to 15 days in jail after allowing children in her class to name a teddy bear "Muhammad". The decision came after a meeting with two members of a British Muslim group, Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi who travelled to the Sudan after her imprisonment around a week ago. The imprisonment of the 54 year-old teacher from Liverpool caused international outcry with Muslims in Sudan protesting for her death, and British Muslims prot

Representatives of more than 180 nations gathered on the Indonesian island of Bali today to kick off a United Nations-sponsored conference on global climate change. The U.N. hopes the meeting will conclude with a road map toward a new agreement on reducing the types of air pollution many scientists believe are driving changes in the earth's climate. The Bali meeting aims to get countries to commit to working out a new agreement on emissions cuts to extend or replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012. Conference president Rachmat Witoel

The caretaker prime minister of Belgium, Guy Verhofstadt, reappeared on the political stage today as he accepted the royal request to suggest solutions to the ongoing federal government formation talks. Recollecting his statement to the press on June 10, 2007, when he recognised his electoral loss and the victory of his opponent Yves Leterme, he told reporters today that he "hadn't thought nor hoped to face you once more, but the King has asked me to inform him on a short term about possible strategies to deal with the political stalemate in w

Voters across Russia are choosing a new parliament in an election nearly certain to be won by President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. Polls opened in Moscow and other western cities Sunday, hours after voting began in frigid weather in Russia's far east. More than 100 million people are eligible to vote for legislators in the 450-seat State Duma — the lower house of parliament. The vote ends Sunday evening at 18:00 UTC, when polls close in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, the farthest west of Russia's 11 time zones. Mr. Putin cas

This Sunday Venezuelans will decide whether a series of constitutional reforms should be approved or not; among these reforms, one issue which has received widespread media attention is that the new constitution will allow presidents to be re-elected without term limits. The amendments—which will affect 69 of the 350 articles—have already been passed by the Venezuelan National Assembly (Asamblea Nacional de Venezuela). Now the referendum will take place on Sunday, being the last step required before the reform can come into effect. According

Italian opposition leader and ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi declared the former alliance known as Casa Delle Libertà (CDL), or House of Freedoms an "ectoplasm", and called for the creation of a new party, the Partito del popolo della Libertà or Italian People's Party for Freedom. He stated last Sunday (25 November), after suddenly disbanding the Forza Italia party a week previously, that this new party will be composed mainly of ex-Forza Italia voters and will take up to 37% of votes. Berlusconi tried to defeat Prime Minister Romano Pro

President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan gave up his uniform in a ceremony yesterday in Rawalpindi. He handed power over to General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the headquarters of the Pakistani Army, after being the leader of the army for nine years. In his final address as leader of the army, he said that the army was the saviour of Pakistan and that the army was his life. He also expressed his pride in being the leader of what he called a "great force." Musharraf had been under a lot of pressure to quit as army chief, since the country was put in

Yesterday, about 200 Christchurch, New Zealand residents of all ages formed together and marched against a current government bill going through Parliament, the Electoral Finance Bill. The opponents of this Bill share the same common ground that they consider the bill to be severely restrictive of free speech. Under this bill, individuals or groups of New Zealanders will face restrictions on what they can say for or against a political party. Once an organisation has spent over NZ$12,000 on a campaign, they must register and then face what opp

In a third night of violence, that followed after two teenagers on a motorbike died in a collision with a police patrol vehicle on Sunday night, French authorities are reporting only sporadic clashes in the Val-d'Oise department. However, for the first time, unrest was reported outside of Paris suburbs. The southern city of Toulouse saw at least ten cars torched and a library was set on fire. "The situation is much calmer than the two previous nights but we can all feel that it remains fragile," said Prime Minister François Fillon, as Tuesday

At the conclusion of the Annapolis Conference, United States President George W. Bush read a statement of joint understanding by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and President Mahmoud Abbas. Commenting on the statement, President Bush said that: "Today, Palestinians and Israelis each understand that helping the other to realize their aspirations is key to realizing their own aspirations—and both require an independent, democratic, viable Palestinian state. Such a state will provide Palestinians with the chance to lead lives of freedom and purpose a