Politics

A bomb has been ruled out in the crash of a government-owned Learjet L45 in Mexico City, Mexico on Friday, killing all nine on board and five on the ground. There have been rumours that the crash was deliberate as two prominent politicians, interior minister Juan Camilo Mourino and leading anti-drug advisor Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos were aboard. Investigators have also confirmed both engines were still functioning upon impact and that there was no fire, structural failure or evidence of malfunction prior to impact, suggesting a loss of co

An email circulated to airlines yesterday revealed that the UK government has revoked the visas of Thai ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife. Both have been convicted and sentenced to jail terms in Thailand. The email instructs airlines not to facilitate travel for the couple to return to the UK. Reports indicate that the deposed and convicted ex-PM is currently in China with plans to travel to the Philippines this weekend. The whereabouts of his wife are not currently known. Thaksin and his wife, Potjaman Shinawatra, have spent m

At least 82 people have died after a school collapsed in Haiti on Friday. The death toll rose from 61 to 82 after rescue workers found 20 students and their teacher between two floors of the school. At least 200 more are feared trapped and over 100 have been injured, some seriously. "This morning we found a classroom with 21 inside — students and their professor — and they are all dead," said Rene Preval, the president of Haiti during a press conference on site of the disaster. Reports say that the third floor of the College La Promesse Evang

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the Prime Minister of Denmark, said on Tuesday that he will seek broad parliamentary support for a national referendum on joining the euro, the common currency of the Eurozone. "I'm convinced that we need broad support in parliament to hold a referendum, because it's about the Danish currency and about stability and safety," he said, speaking at his weekly press conference. "Recent events have shown the necessity to give the population the opportunity to vote on Denmark joining the euro." Berlingske Tidende is reporting

In the wake of Barack Obama being elected the next President of the United States, many world leaders have contacted the president-elect directly. Others have issued statements. The President of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, sent a message in a telegram which read: “I hope for a constructive dialogue with you, based on trust and consideration of each other's interests.” United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown reportedly phoned Obama. The two talked about “global and bilateral issues,” according to a Downing Street statement. Nicolas Sarkozy,

Labour victory in UK by-election Labour Party candidate Lindsay Roy defeated the Scottish Nationalist candidate by 6,737 votes, to win the UK parliamentary seat for Glenrothes in Scotland. Opinion polls had predicted a close race, but personal campaigning by Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and a high turnout of 52% in Thursday's vote, secured a high margin for the UK's governing party. Sources Explosion kills 12 at Russian bus stop 28 people were wounded and at least 11 are dead after an explosion in the centre of Vladikavkaz, capital of the

Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, has opened a new terminal at Kabul International Airport. The US$35m (£22m) two-story structure was gifted by Japan as the old terminal building had become badly damaged by decades of war. Speaking at the event, attended by 150 Afghan and Japanese officials, Karzai expressed his gratitude for the building, saying "Afghanistan could not have made this terminal on its own for many years or without lots of effort." The new terminal is built next to the original sixties building, which had been considered lu

The 2008 Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, 47, is projected to win at least 349 electoral votes, more than enough to clinch the Presidency of the United States. Obama is the first African American to be elected President in U.S. history. His Republican opponent, Arizona senator John McCain is projected to win at least 173 electoral votes. McCain has phoned Obama to concede the election. Obama officially became the President-elect when John McCain issued his concession speech shortly after 9:00PM Mountain Time.

General Mario Montoya resigned on Tuesday amid a widening scandal surrounding the Colombian armed forces. An investigation showed that the military personnel under his command had been inflating their successess against rebels by killing innocent civilians and claiming the bodies as enemy insurgents killed. Montaya is the highest-ranking official to lose his job over the scandal, which last week forced President Álvaro Uribe to dismiss 20 officers from the army's leadership corps. In addition to the recent deaths of 11 young men from the slum

Republican John McCain has conceded the election to Democrat Barack Obama. After two years of campaigning, today United States citizens went to the polls to vote for the Presidency and for numerous Senate, House, state and local races across the country. The District of Columbia and at least 32 states had early voting before election day. By October 31, over 23 million people had voted by mail or at early voting locations. Of the approximately 6 million people of known party affiliation who voted early, 58% were Democrats and 42% were Republi

October on the campaign trail presented the last chances for the campaigns to present their messages to the American people. A vice-presidential and two presidential debates were held, one of which added a new political lexicon, perhaps the closest thing to an October surprise. One candidate seemed to pull way ahead as early voting began in many states near the conclusion of the month. Democrats At the beginning of the month, due to the continued economic crisis, Obama took a clear lead over McCain in opinion polling, leading by double-digit

Madelyn Dunham, the maternal grandmother of United States 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama, has died of cancer at 86, just one day before the election. Dunham, who was born in Peru, Kansas in 1922, helped to raise Obama from the age of 10. She lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for most of her life, where she died peacefully in her apartment shortly before midnight local time. "It is with great sadness that we announce that our grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, has died peacefully after a battle with cancer. She was the cornerstone of our family,