Politics

The former General Secretary of the Greek Ministry of Culture, Christos Zachopoulos, 54, attempted suicide by jumping from the fourth floor of his apartment in central Athens. He was found lying in the pavement outside his home in Kolonaki at 14:00 EET (UTC+2). According to evidence, Mr. Zahopoulos had fallen from the fourth floor of his apartment under unclear circumstances. The attempted suicide of Zachopoulos shocked the political world of Greece, mainly after published allegations about misuse of EU funds from the Ministry of Culture. Tel

Jusman Syafii Djamal, minister of transport for Indonesia, has recommended that local airlines should not purchase aircraft from European manufacturers, such as Airbus. It is a direct response to the decision of the European Union (EU) to add all 51 of Indonesia's air carriers to the list of air carriers banned in the EU. The EU made the decision to ban the Indonesian air traffic due to a string of accidents in the country, including two major disasters this year - the losses of Adam Air Flight 574 and Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, which killed

The proposed amendments to the Electoral Finance Act have been passed into law, which critics call an attack on free speech. The law will come into effect on January 1, 2008 - the start of election year in New Zealand - after receiving royal assent by the Queen's representative in New Zealand, Governor-General Anand Satyanand. Under the new law, individuals or groups of New Zealanders will face restrictions on what they can say for or against a political party. Once an organisation has spent over NZ$12,000 (currently USD$9,080) on a campaign,

Nick Clegg has came out first in the race to become the new leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, the third largest party in the United Kingdom. Clegg congratulated Vincent Cable on his performance as acting leader of the Liberal Democrats, which he took after the resignation of Menzies Camp He beat Chris Huhne in the party's election, although the number of votes was very close - Nick Clegg had just 511 more votes than Huhne. During his acceptance speech he said "I want the Liberal Democrats to be the future of politics," and that he hoped

On December 15, Pervez Musharraf appeared in a nationally televised address in Pakistan to announce the end of emergency rule which had been invoked on November 3, 2007. Musharraf said that his objective of saving Pakistan from being destabilized had been achieved. However, a ban that prevents media from making live broadcasts has been left in place. Benazir Bhutto, a former Prime Minister and key opposition member, said that this is "an important step forward," however, more is need to achieve a "restoration of democracy" in Pakistan. "We we

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will accept a nomination for Prime Minister of Russia, as Dmitry Medvedev has suggested he will do, if he wins the presidential election. Meanwhile, the United Russia ruling party, which is backed by Putin, officially nominated Medvedev for presidency today. The intention was declared on December 10, being the long-awaited answer to the question on "Putin's successor". The next day Medvedev, who is the current deputy prime minister of the Russian government and the chairman in the board of directors of

United States presidential candidate Ron Paul, has broken a fund raising record by raising over US$6,000,000 on the internet in 24 hours on December 16, setting the record for the most money raised in a single day online. John Kerry held the previous record of US$5.7 million. Paul's goal for the fourth quarter fund raising bid was US$12 million, but so far has managed to raise over US$18 million. At least 58,000 people contributed financially to Paul's campaign, 25,000 of which were contributing to his campaign for the first time. Campaign o

Garry Kasparov, the world champion chess-player turned political activist, says he will not contest the 2008 presidential election in March. Kasparov says that he is forced to withdraw from the race because his political group, The Other Russia has been unable to hold a nominating convention. "In all Moscow we have not been able to find a hall where our supporters could meet," Kasparov said. "We pay and the people agree. There are no problems. And then they call us to say they are refusing, can't give us the hall any more," he continued. "They

Today, leaders from the nations of the European Union signed the landmark Treaty of Lisbon which is to redefine foreign policy for the EU and creates an EU president. The treaty is a replacement for the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe which was abandoned after suffering defeats in referendums in France and the Netherlands. "From this old continent, a new Europe is born," said European Commission President José Manuel Barroso. "For the first time, the countries that were once divided by a totalitarian curtain, are now united in su

At least two new outbreaks of the H5N1 Avian Flu virus, also known as Bird Flu, have been found in Poland. One of the outbreaks was on a farm in Saldowo which affected at least 40 chickens. The other outbreak was found in unnamed wild birds near Orneta. "The new case was discovered in the village of Saldowo, near to Bieżuń, (central Poland) close to other recent cases. Just as in the previous cases all the chickens will be culled," said Poland's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Marek Sawicki. Officials have set up a zone of pro

Today, Dmitry Medvedev was named the candidate for President of Russia by the ruling party United Russia, which holds majority in the newly-elected State Duma, the lower parliament of Russia. Medvedev, who is the current deputy prime minister of the Russian government and the chairman in the board of directors of Gazprom, was also backed by three other parties and by the current president Vladimir Putin. This means the highly anticipated decision about the supposed successor has been announced. "I have known him for more than 17 years, I hav

Hugo Chávez, the President of Venezuela has set a new time zone for his country. The new time zone, which is UTC-4:30, is half an hour earlier than the old time. This time zone is unique and does not match any of those used by Venzuela's neighbors. This morning, Venezuelans began the work week for the first time under the new time zone, which Chávez announced for the first time in a decree on November 27. According to Chávez, the new time zone would allow school children to wake up with the sun and it would prevent many poor citizens from havi