Politics

The Law Council of Australia has criticised both major parties for failing to commit to increases in legal aid funding. The LCA said that the Greens and Democrats have both committed to an immediate increase of $140 million, but that Labor and the Coalition are still yet to make any commitment. Law Council President Tim Bugg said, “The Budget surplus in 2006/07 was $17.3 billion; this year it is projected to be $10.6 billion – yet we’re supposed to accept that a fraction of this amount cannot be spared to assist less fortunate Australians pur

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced that it will investigate implementing "targeted financial sanctions against regime figures and supporters," but has ruled out economic sanctions against Myanmar. He noted that economic sanctions could harm the people of Myanmar. "You always have a conflict in these situations between demonstrating your position by some kind of sanction, but making sure that those sanctions don't hurt the people who we are really trying to help," he said. Howard noted the important role that China has in the

Canada has a budget surplus of CA$13.8 billion for the 2006–2007 fiscal year, totaling 1% of Canada's gross domestic product (GDP), Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced today. The record surplus was boosted by revenue from government corporations to $14.2 billion, far exceeding the government's projections of $9.2 billion and surpassing the record set by the previous year's $13.2 billion surplus. By federal law, all surplus must be used to pay down Canada's debt, and is not available for spending. $90 billion in debt payments over the last

According to a report released by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), a warrant has been issued by the South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which operates separately from the police, for the arrest of Jackie Selebi national commissioner of the South African police and president of Interpol. Recent media coverage of the murder of Brett Kebble have raised questions of the close friendship between Jackie Selebi and Glenn Agliotti. Agliotti was later arrested in connection with the murder of Brett Kebble. Agliotti i

The Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, has announced that the Australian government is following events in Myanmar (formerly Burma) closely, and urged the Myanmar government to show restraint. He also called for the respect of "the legitimate right of Burmese citizens to peaceful protest." The Minister also called for the release of political prisoners. "The continued detention of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and over one thousand political prisoners is unacceptable. I repeat calls for the Burmese regime to release Daw Aung Sa

Suzanne Fortin is running for the Family Coalition Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Nepean-Carleton riding. Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed her regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign. Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as w

Bill McMaster is running for the Family Coalition Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Lambton—Kent—Middlesex riding. Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties

Mark Morin is running for the Family Coalition Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Chatham—Kent—Essex riding. Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. He did not reply to the questions "Which of your competitors do you expect to pose the biggest challenge to your candidacy? Why?" and "Of the decisions made by Ontario's 38th Legislative Assembly, which was the most beneficial to your this electoral district? To the province as a whole? Which was least beneficial, or even harmful,

Blaise Thompson is running for the Family Coalition Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the St. Paul's riding. Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well

Penny Lucas is running for the Progressive Conservative in the Ontario provincial election, in the Kenora-Rainy River riding. Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign. Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as wel

Invited to participate in a debate at Columbia University during his visit to New York City this week to address the United Nations General Assembly, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad engaged University president Lee Bollinger on a number of topics, including his country's human rights record, opinions on Israel and the Holocaust and the role of nuclear weapons and terrorism on the global stage. The Iranian president's speech was marked by protests, but also drew applause from students. Bollinger opened the debate addressing critics, stat

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced a national "Clean Energy Target". The target requires that by 2020, 30,000 gigawatt hours of electricity each year comes from low emissions sources. The plan is an attempt to consolidate the different state-based targets. "What this initiative will do is gather up all of the different state schemes, many of which are contradictory or at the very least dissimilar," Mr Howard said. The announcement was criticised by Labor environment spokesman Peter Garrett. "This is just piggybacking on the