Provincial elections pushed back after veto

By vetoing the legislation on provincial elections, the Iraqi president sent it back to lawmakers for revisions, while political leaders continued to try to strike a deal allowing the vote to be held this year as planned.

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Obama wants closer European ties

After meeting German leaders, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, earlier in the day, Barak Obama (photo, from bbc.co.uk) spoke in the city’s Tiergarten park, in Germany’s capital, at the beginning of the European leg of an international tour. The Democratic presidential candidate has told Berliners that after having drifted apart, it is time for the US [...]

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Zimbabweans leaders began talks

Power-sharing talks gathering representatives of Zimbabwe’s ruling and opposition parties have begun, after the arrival of the four main negotiators from Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, to South Africa, officials there have said.

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More settlements in West Bank

Construction of the first new Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a decade has been approved by a key committed, said an Israeli official on Thursday. Palestinians have been infuriated by the news and said that peace efforts could be crippled by the decision.
Ehud Barak, Israeli defence minister, remains the only hurdle, although he [...]

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Karadzic helpers will be ‘tracked down and punished’

Those who aided the false identity of captured Bosnian Serb ex-leader Rodavan Karadzic (photo) will be tracked down and punished, say officials investigating. According to Serb prosecutors, he held the identity of Dragan Dabic for a long tome, thanks to papers issued under the regime of president Slobodan Milosevic.

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North Korea signs non-agression treaty

A non-agression treaty has been signed by North Korea with the Association of the South East Asian Nations (Asean), in a large symbolic move.

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Poverty worsening in Gaza

A report by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said that conditions for Palestinians living in Gaza have deteriorated to unprecedented levels.
On Thurdsay, the UNRWA said that aid granted to Gaza has failed to stop more than half of the population in the territory from sliding below the poverty line.

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Schwarzenegger threatens to pay state workers federal minimum wage

Paying thousands of state employees the federal minimum wage of $6.55 an hour, that is what Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger is threatening to do, until lawmakers reach a deal on California’s overdue state budget.

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