Politics

Hifikepunye Pohamba, the president of the southern African country of Namibia, declared a state of emergency in in the country on Tuesday after heavy flooding killed 92 and displaced 5,032 since January. "It is with a heavy heart that I declare an emergency for the north-central and north-eastern parts of Namibia," the president said to reporters. "Crop fields are submerged in water and I send out an urgent appeal to the international community for assistance [...] as the current flood is worse than a year ago and could be one of the worst in

Gunfire, believed to be shots into the air by celebrating soldiers, was heard in Antananarivo today as the army of Madagascar forced armored vehicles into one of the country's many presidential palaces in an apparent military coup. Madagascan President Marc Ravalomanana, whose I Love Madagascar party controls an overwhelming majority of seats in the National Assembly, was not in the palace and is said to be taking shelter in another palace six miles (10 km) from the site. "The President of the Republic, the National Assembly and the Senate, an

United States President Barack Obama announced on Saturday that the country's food safety system is a "hazard to public health". The president announced the nomination of a new agency commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), former New York City Health Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. Obama said that the FDA was able to make inspections at only 5% of the nation's 150,000 food processing premises after recent understaffing and underfunding at the agency. He added that outbreaks of food contamination have increased from 100 a year

At the Saskatchewan Association of Rural Municipalities (SARM) conference, a resolution was passed that encourages the Government of Saskatchewan, Canada to place a moratorium on specialty livestock farms raising wild boar. All wild boars that have escaped to roam wild should be killed, according to the resolution. Agriculture Minister Bob Bjornerud endorses a ban on wild boar farming. The wild boar population is expanding exponentially. There are over 2,000 feral Sus scrofa swine roaming the prairies. Two litters of approximately 12 piglets a

With a Queensland state election coming up in Australia, many minor parties will be looking to hold balance of power and making the major parties listen to what they have to say. The Queensland Greens are one of these parties. Wikinews reporter Patrick Gillett held an exclusive over-the-phone interview with Greens candidate for the electoral district of Maroochydore, Brenton Clutterbuck. Mr. Clutterbuck is a graduate of Sunshine Coast Grammar School and is currently studying Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Queensland's un

A team of archaeologists excavating an Ancient Egyptian tomb have discovered golden jewelry in a recently-discovered lower chamber at the Valley of the Kings burial site in Luxor, Egypt. Two golden rings and five golden earrings were found in the tomb of Djehuty, an 18th-dynasty official of Queen Hatshepsut, and were probably the property of Djehuty or his family. The discovery was announced by Farouk Hosni, Egypt's current Minister of Culture. Djehuty was overseer of the treasury and overseer of works for the Queen. Hatshepsut reigned app

The administration of United States President Barack Obama issued a court order Friday dropping "enemy combatant" as a term to describe those held in the U.S. military prison in Guantánamo Bay. The move is a symbolic gesture that has been widely seen as a break from the administration of former President George W. Bush, which made the term an important aspect of his legal construct for dealing with terrorism suspects. The United States Department of Justice filed the order in response to a federal judge's order seeking a definition of the ter

Billionaire philanthropist and former Chief of Protocol of the United States Leonore Annenberg, widow of the late publishing magnate Walter Annenberg, died Thursday, at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. She was 91 and had been in declining health at the time of her death. An Annenberg family spokesperson issued a statement confirming Mrs. Annenberg's death, and giving the cause of death as natural. Annenberg served as Chief of Protocol from 1981 to 1982 under President Ronald Reagan. Once out of the public eye, the Annen

Several candidates have announced their intent to run in the special Flint, Michigan mayoral primary election scheduled for May 5, 2009. The primary election was called to fill the remainder of resigning Mayor Don Williamson's term ending in 2011. The two candidates with the most votes will face off in the August special general election. Each candidate will need to collect at least 900 signatures of registered Flint electors in twenty day to qualify for the May 5, 2009 ballot. On the first day petitions were available, the City Clerk's off

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands has ordered the arrest of the president of the African country of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The warrant was issued by the ICC for seven charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, in the Darfur region of the country. In the ruling, the ICC said that al-Bashir was "intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians and pill

India, the world’s largest democracy, will go to polls in 5 phases to elect the 15th Lok Sabha (lower house) of the Parliament of India. The polls will take place on April 16, April 23, April 30, May 7 and May 13. This was announced by the Chief Election Commissioner of India N. Gopalaswami at New Delhi. The counting will take place on May 16th and the results will be available immediately. All poll related processes would end by May 28th. A total of 714 million voters are expected to cast their ballots to elect 543 members of the Lok Sabha.

With a Queensland state election coming up in Australia, many minor parties will be looking to hold balance of power and making the major parties listen to what they have to say. The Socialist Alliance (SA) is one of these parties. SA is a left-wing political party. There stated describes itself as an anti-capitalist party which believes in "a democratic society that is run by and for working people, not the tiny, greedy, destructive elite that now rules." It should be noted that SA is not registered for Queensland elections due to what they