Politics

President Vladimir Voronin of Moldova today signed a decree nominating Zinaida Greceanii as prime minister. Under the constitution, Ms Greceanii has 15 days from the date of the decree to submit her government's program and a list of executive members to parliament. 52 of the 101 MPs must endorse her proposals. Zinaida Greceanii was born in 1956 and graduated from the Chisinau-based Financial and Economic College and the Moldovan State University, specialising in economics. Since 1994, she has held various posts at the Finance Ministry. Ms Gre

Just hours after firing two contract employees and disciplining a third for inappropriately examining the passport file of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Sen. Hillary Clinton that her passport file was also breached in 2007. Sen. John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, also had his file breached — this time by one of the same individuals who had examined Obama's records. Both Clinton and McCain were informed that their files were improperly accessed, according to t

Yesterday, the U.K. Labour Party successfully prevented a bill restricting the closure of post offices from being passed, although the governing Labour party only had a majority of 20 due to 19 of its MPs' voting against the party line. One of these was Diane Abbott, who told Wikinews why she voted for the bill. She told Wikinews: "Post offices are central spaces within a community." She added that they provided invaluable services and a point of contact for vulnerable people. She also claimed they were more important in places like her const

After almost nine and a half months, government formation talks in Belgium have resulted in a new government. New Prime Minister Yves Leterme was sworn in by King Albert II today, together with 15 new Ministers and 7 Secretaries of State. After the election on June 10 last year, a confidence vote in the parliament in Brussels on Saturday is expected to confirm the coalition's promise of a government in time before Easter. In his inaugural speech, Flemish Christian Democrat Leterme replied to criticism from the media and opposition that his gov

Bertie Ahern, the Prime Minister of Ireland visited the White House Monday to commemorate St. Patrick's Day. Mr. Ahern makes this visit annually, for what he calls a "very substantial and useful meeting." Mr. Ahern started his speech by saying "Mr. President and Mrs. Bush, thank you for the welcome and honor which you've extended to our delegation, and to all the Irish guests, from North and from South, who are here at the White House this morning to mark St. Patrick's Day, Ireland's National Day. I'm very grateful, Mr. President, for the oppor

Moldova's Prime Minister Vasile Tarlev resigned on Wednesday at a government meeting. The president of the Republic of Moldova Vladimir Voronin took part at the meeting. Vasile Tarlev expressed his satisfaction with the results the government has attained so far, which, according to him, have been appreciated by many international structures. According to Tarlev, during the period he headed the government, a range of the government's representatives were trained, so that now they are ready to function as members of any Government. Vasile Tar

George W. Bush, the President of the United States delivered today a speech regarding Iraq and the "global war on terror." Bush claimed that the war in Iraq had been successful. He said that "removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision — and this is a fight America can and must win." The speech marked five years since the start of the Iraq War. Bush said that "five years into this battle [the war in Iraq], there is an understandable debate over whether the war was worth fighting, whether the fight is worth winning, and whether we

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced its first national authority for scientific research (NASR) to coordinate and fund scientific research in the country. The national authority for scientific research was announced on March 7 by Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE minister for higher education and scientific research. NASR will begin with an annual budget of AED100 million (approximately US$27.2 million). The authority hopes to receive additional contributions from the public and the private sector. NASR will look to fund resea

The National Assembly of Pakistan has elected Fahmida Mirza of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as its first female speaker, weeks after the general elections which ousted President Pervez Musharraf's party and gave the PPP the most seats in Parliament. Mirza, a former medical doctor who has previously served three terms in the National Assembly, was the joint candidate of the PPP, the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), the Awami National Party (ANP), and other allied parties. She received 249 votes out of the 324 who were present. Her main

United States presidential candidate Barack Obama today gave a speech concerning racial division, which has become a major issue in his campaign after his former pastor's racially-charged statements were widely reported in the media last week. The 37-minute speech, which Obama's advisers say was written by Barack himself, was delivered at the National Constitution Center, a history museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was broadcast live on national television. Obama said Rev. Jeremiah Wright's statements "expressed a profoundly distorted

The final resting place of HMAS Sydney has been found. Ted Graham chairman of Finding Sydney Foundation said "From my point of view ... they contain the remains of many people and our firm view is that they should be left alone." Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd confirmed at a press conference in Canberra this morning that the wreckage of HMAS Sydney has been found. Mr Rudd said "The Australian Government hopes that the discovery of HMAS Sydney brings some closure to the families of the 645 Defence Force personnel who lost their lives b

Indonesian budget airline Adam Air has been given a three-week ultimatum by the authorities to prove its economic stability or its license will be revoked, said Transportation Minister Jusman Djamal. This is because major financial difficulties have become apparent today, with two major shareholders pulling out of the company. PT Global Transport Service (GTS) and Bright Star Perkasa, who between them own a 50% stake in the company, have decided to sell back all their shares to their original owners, who control the other 50%. These are the fa