Politics

The labor strikes in France, which began on November 13, 2007, are continuing as hundreds of thousands of civil servants hold a 24-hour work stoppage. The action by postal workers, teachers, air traffic controllers and hospital staff, have left many schools closed and airports facing delays and flight cancellations. The November 2007 strikes in France began when SNCF rail workers and Paris Métro engineers went on strike to protest reforms by President Nicolas Sarkozy, which would reduce early retirement pensions. Under current regulations, ci

The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, warned that the price of crude oil could reach $200 per barrel "if the United States committed the madness of invading Iran", or attacked his country. Chávez made this statement in the act of opening the third Summit of Chiefs of State of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Mr. Chávez pleaded that OPEC should adopt a more political agenda and requested "that the threats against the countries" of the organization should stop. He said that $100 dollars per barrel was a "fair" price

In statements to the press on November 14, the president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, defended the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, and minimized the incident between him and the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I during the 17th Ibero-American Summit in Chile. According to Brazil Agency, Lula said after meeting with the president of the Guiné-Bissau: "There is little difference in opinion between King Juan Carlos and Chavez. There are many other differences between heads of State. Divergence is part of a democratic meeting." The Brazi

Oral Roberts, founder and former faith healer, called an "emergency meeting" to reinstate Richard Roberts as president of Oral Roberts University. Richard stepped down last month when he was accused of illegal political contributions, financial wrong-doing, and wrongful firings in a lawsuit. On Wednesday Oral called an 'emergency meeting' for the faculty following the previous "no confidence" vote. At the recent meeting Oral asked for the faculty who were willing to forgive and start fresh to "stand up." Donald Vance, a professor of Bible stu

Yesterday, the United Nations General Assembly's Third Commission passed resolution L29 against capital punishment; the project was presented by New Zealand and Brazil, and was defended vigorously by Italy. With 99 votes in favor, 52 against and 33 abstentions, the necessary majority was met, needed in order to pass the resolution. Italy had proposed a resolution against capital punishments several times – in 1994, 1999, and in 2003 – but had been denied in all cases. Massimo D'Alema, Italian Minister of State and Vicepresident of the Council,

The votes for the 2007 election in Denmark have been counted. Of the 179 Folketing seats, 2 represent Greenland and 2 represent Faroe Islands as part of the Danish commonwealth. The results are as follow: Party Votes (national total) Seats Percent A. Socialdemokraterne 881,530 45 (-2) 25.5 % F. Socialistisk Folkeparti 451,065 23 (+12) 13.0 % B. Det Radikale Venstre 177,148 9 (-8) 5.1 % Ø. Enhedslisten 74,781 4 (-2) 2.2 % K. Kristendemokraterne 30,004 0 (+0) 0.9 % V. Venstre 908,831 46 (-6) 26.3 % O. Dansk Folkeparti 479,281 25 (+1) 13.8 %

Pakistan's parliament dissolved itself at midnight Thursday to make way for a new caretaker government to oversee January elections. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad that while President Pervez Musharraf tries to make the elections appear credible despite emergency rule, his opponents are busy uniting against him. Senate chairman and member of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q), Muhammad Mian Soomro, was appointed by Musharraf as interim Prime Minister. The rest of the cabinet will be announced later, though local television

Kasur Tashi Wangdi was appointed Representative of the Dalai Lama to the Americas on April 16, 2005. He had previously served as His Holiness' representative in New Delhi. He has served the Tibetan government-in-exile since 1966, starting as a junior officer and rising to the highest rank of Kalon (Cabinet Minister). As a Kalon, he at one time or another was head of the major ministries, including the Department of Religion and Culture, Department of Home, Department of Education, Department of Information and International Relations, Departm

Conservative evangelical preacher Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudy Giuliani's bid for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. Robertson said that he was supporting the former New York City mayor, despite their disagreements on social issues, because Giuliani was the best hope for the United States against "the blood lust of Islamic terrorists". Robertson said that Giuliani was a "proven leader who is not afraid of what lies ahead, and who will cast a hopeful vision for all Americans." Although Robertson's influence in the religious right is not as

The far-right coalition Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty (ITS) in the European Parliament, collapsed today after the Romanian delegates withdrew over a dispute with Italian Alessandra Mussolini, grand-daughter of dictator Benito Mussolini. After a Roma gipsy was accused of murdering the wife of an Italian naval officer recently, Ms Mussolini told the Romanian newspaper Cotidianul on November 2nd: "Breaking the law has become a way of life for Romanians. However, it is not about petty crimes, but horrifying crimes, that give one goose bumps."

Augustus Freeman Hawkins, a prominent U.S. figure in Civil Rights and Organized Labor history, has died at the age of 100, just three days ago, on November 10. Born on August 31, 1907, Shreveport, Louisiana, he served as the first African American from California in the United States Congress, where he sponsored the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act. Hawkins was a Democratic member of the State Assembly in 1935 to 1963; he was also a delegate to the National Conventions of 1940, 1944 and 1960 and a California Presidential Elector in the 19

During a summit of the Latin American nations in Chile on Saturday, November 10, the King of Spain, Juan Carlos I, told the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez to "shut up." The remarks quickly put an end to the meeting. "Why don't you shut up?" said King Juan Carlos I, interrupting a speech by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero of Spain who was condemning words by Chávez who called the country's former prime minister, José María Aznar, a "fascist." The King was waving a finger at Chávez. "I want to express to you President Hugo Cháv