Politics

Pakistani Federal Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao narrowly escaped a suicide bomb attack today. Sherpao was speaking at a rally in his home village in Charsadda District when the suicide bomber struck, killing 25 people and injuring dozens more at last count. NWFP Inspector General of Police Sharif Virk said five policemen were among the 25 dead. According to the Daily Times: “Sherpao was going towards his vehicle after finishing his speech and people also rushed towards him for hand-shakes and during this moment I heard a big ban

Thailand's draft constitution has come under fire from Buddhist monks and supporters for not having a clause declaring a national religion for the country. The coup-appointed Prime Minister, Surayud Chulanont, noted that the issue could cause problems with the upcoming referendum to ratify the proposed constitution. According to the Bangkok Post 20,000 protesters gathered outside the parliament building in Bangkok, and a procession of nine elephants joined the protest with Senator Sawet Thinnakul riding one of them. It would appear that the

After resigning from the Australian Senate, Amanda Vanstone earlier today, it has been announced that she will receive a diplomatic posting in Italy. Ms Vanstone served as a senator for South Australia since 1984 and held a number of portfolios in the Howard government. Ms Vanstone was removed from the Howard ministry in January and said she had been contemplating her future since then. Speaking in Adelaide Ms Vanstone announced her resignation from the senate - effective immediately. She told reporters she was fortunate to have been given th

Nearing the end of his second term as President of Russia, Vladimir Putin delivered his eighth annual state-of-the-nation address to the Federal Assembly of Russia today. Putin said foreign cash is being used to meddle with domestic affairs, criticised the United States plans to install an anti-missile shield in Eastern Europe, while arguing to declare a moratorium on the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. He also discussed economic issues and internal affairs, and made it clear that next year's address would be given by another Pr

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has submitted a resolution for the impeachment of United States Vice President Dick Cheney. Resolution HR 333 contains three articles, the first two holding Cheney responsible for manipulating intelligence to fabricate a threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and allege a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda, in order to justify the use of the United States Armed Forces against Iraq. The third article alleges that Cheney has threatened aggression against Iran despite the absence of any real threat f

After three vote recounts it has been confirmed today for the third time that Vaughan, Ontario mayor Linda Jackson was elected on the November 13, 2006 election. A request for a recount was made by former mayor Michael Di Biase after Jackson was elected short of 94 votes. He then requested another one with the city council and received the same result. Di Biase said the electronic voting machines could have made an error. He then declared the votes illegal and void to the Ontario Superior Court on April 2. The judge just recently requested the

A camera set up in the jungles of Malaysian Borneo in Sabah by the World Wide Fund for Nature or WWF, has captured, for the first time, a Borneo Rhino on videotape. "This astonishing footage captures of one of the world’s most elusive creatures. Tremendous progress has been made in recent years to secure the rhino’s habitat but so much more needs to be done considering this species may very well disappear in the next 10 years," said President and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund in a press release, Carter Roberts. In the video, the rhino comes

Thailand's anti-corruption body, the Assets Examination Committee (AEC) has instructed the country's tax authorities to issue a tax bill to the company set up by ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The amount is US$616 million, or 20.89 billion baht. The company Ample Rich is registered in the British Virgin Islands, however the AEC stated the company could not evade corporate tax due to their operations taking place within the Kingdom of Thailand. With two of Thaksin's children on the board of directors of the company, and earlier rul

Abdullah Gül, current deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Turkey, has been named as the new presidential candidate by his party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP). In Turkey, the parliament votes to elect the new President of Turkey. The AKP has 353 of the 550 seats in Grand National Assembly of Turkey. While Gül may not get elected in the first or second round, when a two-thirds majority is needed, their votes are enough to elect the new president at the third or fourth rounds of the election process, when a simple majority is

Former President of Russia Boris Yeltsin has died at age 76, according to a Kremlin spokesperson. "Today, at 15:45 (11:45 GMT) Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin died in the Central Clinical Hospital as a result of a deteriorating cardio-vascular problem," said the spokesperson. Yeltsin had a history of heart problems. Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (Russian: Бори́с Никола́евич Е́льцин) was the first President of the Russian Federation from 1991 to 1999. The Yeltsin era was a traumatic period in Russian history— marked by widespread corruption, economic

A new drink called Robby Bubble has sparkled up some sparkled debate with distributors and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in Calgary, Alberta. The drink, similar to sparkling wine, is a non-alcoholic sparkling drink which is currently for sale in Alberta liquor stores. The bottle has the words "Party, Party!" with cartoon characters. Their slogan is "Celebrate like the grown-ups" and is shaped as a champagne bottle. It is under the approval of the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission. Tracy Franklin, president of MADD in Calgary, said:

As voting began in the first round of the presidential elections, French voters showed up at polling stations at a brisk pace on Sunday. The Interior Ministry reported that by noon local time, turnout had reached 31.2%, a level not seen since 1981 and ten percent higher than the last election for President of France. Voting stations were to begin closing at 6:00 p.m., but those in large cities will be open until 8:00 p.m. Initial projections are expected to be published at that time, based on a partial count of votes from hundreds of stations