Politics

The Sri Lankan highways minister, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, was today killed, by a bombing, while attending an event to mark the upcoming Tamil New Year. Over 14 others were also killed in the blast. At least 90 others were injured. The Media Minister for Sri Lanka commented on the bombings. "It was a suicide bombing of the Tigers," he said. 'Tigers' was referring to the militant organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and is recognised by over 30 countries as a terrorist organization. The Tigers are advocates of a separate state in

Zanu-PF, the party of the incumbent Robert Mugabe has said that there should be a recount of the presidential election results to check for possible "errors and miscalculations." Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), questioned the legality of these actions. They said that recounts are only legal after the original set of results are made available. The MDC released premature election results last Sunday, which claimed a large victory for their presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai against Robert Mugabe

Steve Sinnott, who was the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers has died aged 56 of a suspected heart attack. Just days before his death his union voted for a 24 hr strike, to take place on the 24 April as part of a campaign over government attempts to impose real-terms pay "cuts". The Prime Minister Gordon Brown commented on the Union leaders death, saying, "Steve Sinnott was inspirational in his devotion to teaching, not just for children in Britain, but around the world". Born in Liverpool in 1952, he received a Social Scie

The city of Cincinnati, Ohio is host to 24 candidates for the what is arguably the world's top political office. As the United States presidential election draws nearer, the candidates meet to debate the issues with each other. But you won't find anyone named Hillary or Barack on stage. You will find men named John, but they're Jon Greenspon, John Blyth, and John Bootie, not Republican favorite McCain. This slate of diverse candidates gathering at the University of Cincinnati are the top independent candidates in the nation, those who have ch

In his speech at NATO's 2008 Bucharest summit on Thursday, the President of Moldova Vladimir Voronin asked for international support in solving the Transnistrian conflict and in overcoming polemics with regard to Moldova's national identity and present borders. The president said Moldova does its utmost to attract the international community's attention to the uncertain situation created by the conflict in the country's eastern region, which over the last 16 years, has remained a zone of instability, which affects regional security. Transnis

Australia's Department of Defence spent thousands of dollars on controversial development seminars, Australian media reported Wednesday. The seminars are run by a San Francisco, California-based training company called Landmark Education. The company evolved from Erhard Seminars Training "est", and has faced criticism regarding its techniques and its use of unpaid labor. Australia's Defence Minister Warren Snowdon said that the government is in the process of reviewing Defence Department expenditures on career development. "We're in the proces

Bertie Ahern has today announced that he intends to stand down from the office of Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) on the 6th of May. Mr. Ahern made the announcement today at a press conference in Government Buildings in Dublin. Ahern's imminent resignation comes on the back of over a year of controversy surrounding payments received by him in the early 1990's while he was serving as Minister of Finance. He has been forced to give evidence on these payments to a tribunal of inquiry and his evidence there is ongoing. Mr. Ahern has been a TD (M

A new government has been formed in the Republic of Moldova on Monday afternoon EEST (UTC+3), though the vote of confidence in the Zinaida Greceanîi - cabinet came from only 56 members of the 101-seat Parliament of Moldova. New ministers constitute only one - third of the governmental team. For the first time in the independent republic's history, the government is headed by a woman. More that than, this is the Cabinet with the most number of women in the Moldova's history - Prime Minister Zinaida Greceanîi will be among five other women head

While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms. As a non-partisan news source, Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, who are looking to become the 43rd person elected to serve their nation from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Wikinews' own Patrick Mannion corresponded with the So

Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), released premature election results on Sunday, which claim a large victory for their presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai against incumbent Robert Mugabe. MDC leaders said the unofficial tally, based on one-third of the election returns, shows Tsvangirai with 67% of the vote. The results were posted on the doors of polling stations, and then sent to party officials by text messaging. MDC Secretary General Tendai Biti said, "Barring a miracle, Mugabe can't win." Th

An oil depot in Russia is burning after an explosion at the facility near the Caspian Sea in Dagestan. A female worker has been hospitalised with burns covering her entire body. A 10,000 tonne oil reservoir has been burning since the explosion at 4:10 p.m. local time (13:10 GMT). Eyewitnesses describe thick plumes of smoke rising from the area. At least 20 fire engines are using foam to try and quench the blaze. Dagestan's Emergencies Minister Murtazali Gadzhiyev went on Russia's Vesti-24 channel to discuss the current situation. "We managed

A parliamentary election and a presidential election will be held in Zimbabwe on Saturday, March 29, 2008. The parliamentary election is for both the House of Assembly and the Senate. In the presidential election, Voice of America has reported that analysts in Zimbabwe have predicted a victory for incumbent Robert Mugabe. With the last parliamentary election having been held in 2005, the subsequent election was initially planned to be held in 2010, but after an abortive plan to delay the 2008 presidential election to 2010, it was decided to in