Politics

Since last Tuesday, following violent confrontations with Pakistan's army, up to 1800 clerics and students are still holed up in Islamabad's Red Mosque. Clashes began last week following mounting antagonism between the mosques hard-line leaders and the government lead by President Pervez Musharraf. The mosque has been accused of enforcing its own Islamic law in the capital, notably the illegal detention of Chinese foreign nationals working in massage parlors. 20 people have been reported killed over the past six days, which have seen multipl

Two days after presidential hopeful Fred Thompson was branded a 'Mole' for warning President Nixon's White House about information the investigating committee had on the Watergate scandal, an abortion-rights group claimed that Thompson lobbied for them in the past. A spokesman for Thompson "flatly denied" the claim. According to the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, it hired Thompson "to lobby the administration of President George H.W. Bush to ease a regulation that prevented clinics that received federal money f

Nine people have been killed when a cargo plane failed to take off correctly at Culiacán Airport in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico yesterday. The plane, owned by a mail courier company, is thought to have blown a tire during the take-off procedure, causing it to run off the end of the runway and break through a wall. It then crashed onto an adjacent highway, killing three crew members aboard the aircraft and six people on the road. The six included two members of a security presence for Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who was due to arrive shor

During a flight Friday from Chaklala Airbase in Rawalpindi, Pakistan to Balochistan province, President Pervez Musharraf's plane was shot at from a rooftop near the flight path. Musharraf was flying to Balochistan province to observe the effects of recent flooding in the area. The Pakistani government has officially denied the plane came under fire, but a Paksitani intelligence officer indicated, off the record, that an attempt of Mushaffaf's life had occurred. Musharraf's plane arrived safely at its destination. However, sources say that Inte

Just days after the introduction of the partial ban on smoking in England, the Liberal Democrats Member of Parliament, Charles Kennedy has been caught smoking on a train today. The incident occurred on the 1105 BST (UTC+1) Paddington to Plymouth First Great Western service. The train manager is reported to have contacted the British Transport Police, who met the train when it arrived in Plymouth, and has said that "the matter was resolved informally". A police spokesman said, "He basically said he thought it was OK because he was leaning out o

On Wednesday morning at 2:15 a.m., PDT (UTC-7) the son of former Vice President Al Gore, Albert Gore III, was pulled over by Orange County Sheriff's Department in California for driving 100 mph (approximately 160 km/h) on the San Diego Freeway. The deputy smelled marijuana in his car which, when searched, contained a small amount of marijuana along with the prescription drugs Valium, Xanax, Vicodin, and Adderall. Albert Gore III was arrested on suspicion of drug possession. He did not have prescriptions for any of the drugs found with him at t

__NOTOC__ On Wednesday The Boston Globe reported that, during the Watergate scandal, presidential hopeful Fred Thompson telephoned President Nixon's lawyer informing the administration that the Senate Watergate Committee "knew about the taping system and would be making the information public." The Watergate tapes eventually led to Nixon's resignation, which staved off impeachment. The Globe reported, "In his all-but-forgotten Watergate memoir, At That Point in Time, Thompson said he acted with 'no authority' in divulging the committee's know

Many of the 302 million people living in the United States celebrated Independence Day today. Formal observations There often are public ceremonies and declarations by officials. President Bush's Independence Day message was: "I send greetings to Americans everywhere celebrating Independence Day. "Two hundred thirty-one years ago, 56 brave men signed their names to a bold creed of freedom that set the course of our Nation and changed the history of the world. On this anniversary, we remember the great courage and conviction of our Founde

The 9th summit of the Assembly of the African Union ended in Accra, Ghana just before midnight yesterday. The three day summit, which was scheduled to last until the afternoon of July 3 overran, ending just before midnight. The main issue discussed was the call for the setting up of a Pan-African government. The Libyan leader, Muamar al-Gaddafi, and the Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, were advocates for its establishment as soon as possible. Gaddafi was in favor of a single African army, foreign policy and government. Others such as Ro

This weekend the European Commission launched its own channel on YouTube, a highly popular website for distributing videos made by its users. Margot Wallström, the Commission Vice-president responsible for the communication strategy of the EU, explained that the channel on YouTube will be used to distribute informational and promotional videos about the EU. YouTube allows users to create a "channel" in which to upload a series of videos in a dedicated, user-specific directory. The EU had used online videos before, but they did not catch on

A defamation lawsuit filed by Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim against retired prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had said Anwar was homosexual, was dismissed today by a High Court judge. In his lawsuit, filed in January 2006, Anwar sought damages of 1 million ringgit (about US$290,000), against Mahathir, after Mahathir had stated at a human rights conference that he had to dismiss Anwar because he was gay – an accusation that had caused Anwar to serve six years in prison. Mahathir had filed a counter motion, seeking di

Younger Americans may be more receptive to traditionally liberal social policy than their parents, according to a recent poll conducted by the New York Times, CBS News, and MTV. The survey found those ages 17 to 29 to be substantially more interested in Presidential politics, with nearly 60 percent expressing interest in the 2008 race, compared to 35 percent at approximately the same point in the 2004 campaign. Government-sponsored health care received strong support among the younger voters polled, at 62 percent, compared with just 47 percent