Politics

Edgar Lungu, the current President of Zambia, is to undergo medical treatment aboard after collapsing while on stage in Lusaka on Sunday during a ceremony for International Women's Day. The Presidency announced yesterday that Lungu will have throat surgery abroad. Doctors on Sunday diagnosed him with malaria. Lungu spoke to the press from hospital on Sunday saying "I am looking forward to going home. Doctors have done their tests and they have found traces of malaria, but they are doing further tests and they will let me know what next after

Representatives of the United Nations Security Council's (UNSC) fifteen member states flew to Haiti yesterday. The nation is moving to hold new elections with President Michel Martelly presently ruling by decree. Martelly swore in a new Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) of nine members yesterday. It is Martelly's fifth CEP in four years. Last month a presidential commission recommended the prior CEP's resignation as part of a package of measures to move the country towards new elections. The commission was Martelly's response to widespread a

Democrat Tom Wolf was inaugurated yesterday as the 47th Governor of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He succeeds Republican Tom Corbett, whom he defeated in the election last November. The inauguration took place in front of the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. Wolf, 66, and his running mate, newly sworn-in Lieutenant Governor Mike Stack, defeated Corbett and former Lieutenant Governor Jim Cawley by nearly ten percentage points in last November's general election. As a result, Corbett became the first Pennsylvania Governor in mo

Following the shootings at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, millions of people turned out yesterday for marches in Paris, in cities across France, and around the world. Reported estimates of between 1.5 and 2 million people rallied in Paris, and the French interior ministry estimated 3.7 million or more rallied across France. 44 world leaders attended the Paris march including French President François Hollande; German Chancellor Angela Merkel; British Prime Minister David Cameron; Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy; Italian Prime Minister Matt

Jordan yesterday ended a moratorium on executions that had stood since 2006, executing eleven men. The Interior Ministry made the announcement via official news agency Petra. The ministry did not identify the men, but said all had been convicted of murder in either 2005 or 2006. All were Jordanian citizens and had exhausted all appeals, according to the ministry. None, it said, were convicted of politically motivated murder. The men were executed at a prison in the south early in the morning. All were hung. The executions were spurred by lawm

Laurent Lamothe on Saturday announced his resignation as Prime Minister of Haiti amid political paralysis and anti-regime protests. Lamothe's resignation had been recommended on Friday by a commission set up by President Michel Martelly. Martelly appointed Lamothe in 2011, the year after a major earthquake caused widespread devastation. Elections to the Senate, Lower Chamber, and numerous municipal offices were also due in 2011. The Senate must approve amended electoral law before the votes can occur. At least sixteen of the thirty Senate mem

Amongst other Guy Fawkes Night partying, the now-regular march to the Scottish Parliament by Anonymous saw significantly higher attendance, Wednesday, at this year's event. With Catalan flags and pro-Independence Saltires flying, activist numbers had clearly been swelled by the referendum result. The image gallery below could take some time to load on slower connections.You may click on the first image to view the images with the new Mediawiki Media Viewer; again, full-size/full-screen images may take time to load.

The British National Party (BNP), a UK political party, has expelled Nick Griffin, previously for fifteen years its leader. The party stated they informed Griffin of their decision yesterday and gave multiple reasons for the expulsion, including distributing inaccurate information, trying to damage the party's public image, harassment of staff members, and defying instructions given to him by current leader Adam Walker. Griffin has said he was "'expelled' without trial" and the BNP violated its constitution. Griffin was BNP chairman until Jul

Reverend Ian Paisley — Lord Bannside — the former First Minister of Northern Ireland, hardline unionist politician, and Protestant preacher, died yesterday aged 88. Paisley's wife Eileen released a statement saying: "My beloved husband, Ian, entered his eternal rest this morning. Although ours is the grand hope of reunion, naturally as a family we are heartbroken. We loved him and he adored us, and our earthly lives are forever changed." Paisley helped form the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster in the early 1950s, later going into politics u

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Baghdad yesterday to meet Haider al-Abadi, the prime minister of the new Iraqi government. The visit came as Kerry toured seeking support in the region — military, political, and financial — against the Islamic State. Kerry and al-Abadi were to discuss international efforts to build a coalition, in a regional approach to the security issue posed by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. The meeting came ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's televised address, to air later in the day in the U.S.

Kensington Palace announced on Monday that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, is pregnant with a second child after the onset of acute morning sickness led to her cancelling an engagement at Oxford University, where the couple were due to open a new centre for the study of China. Prime Minister David Cameron expressed his congratulations: "Many congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. I'm delighted by the happy news that they're expecting another baby." Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband also congratulated the couple: "Fantastic to he

Top officials in the Hamas movement, including Khaled Mashaal currently residing in Qatar who leads Hamas's political bureau from exile, have rejected an Egyptian-proposed cease fire yesterday between Israel and Hamas, claiming it does not serve their interests. The cease fire supposedly began, as proposed in the Egyptian initiative, at 9:00 yesterday morning local time (0600 UTC), after approval by the Israeli cabinet. However, the militias in Gaza continued launching rockets and declared they do not accept the initiative as it does not ful