Key support for Barack Obama

Barack Obama leads in the race to win the Democratic nomination to the presidential election, has received, in the run-up to a key primary contest, the endorsement of Bob Casey (photo), a popular senator.

Bob Casey’s backing could help the Illinois senator with Catholic voters on April 22, for the primary in Pennsylvania. Mr Casey is also very popular among white working-class voters, known as “Casey Democrats”.

Read Full Post »

New prime minister elected in Pakistan

Yousuf Raza Gilani (photo), a former speaker and aide to assassinated politician Benazir Bhutto, has been elected by the Pakistan’s parliament as the new country’s prime minister.

Read Full Post »

Website ‘shut’ over hate language

Geert Wilders, a Dutch right-wing politician, won’t be able to release his film on the website he picked, because it’s been shut.

Network Solutions, the US hosting service that Mr Wilders has been using to promote the film, said it was investigating complaints it received that said it may have breached guidelines on hate language.

Read Full Post »

Being a journalist in Russia : a fatal work

Russia still looks dangerous for journalists, as two more reporters have been found dead. Ilyas Shurpayev was working on Channel One and has been found dead in his rented studio apartment on Friday, with a belt around his neck and numerous stab wounds.

Read Full Post »

Tibet crackdown intensified by China

For the first time, China has admitted that anti-beijing protests have spread outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region, as security is ratcheted up.

On Sunday, in Sichuan, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported huge damage after riots, to government buildings and shops.

Read Full Post »

Nuon Chea’s bail denied

 Nuon Chea, former “brother number two” of the Khmer Rouge, has had an appeal against his pretrial detention, rejected in Cambodia, by a special UN-backed tribunal.

The tribunal judges, meeting in Phnom Penh on Thursday, said there were “well founded” reasons to believe that Nuon Chea committed the crimes of which he is accused.

Read Full Post »

New primary plan in Florida

In Florida, the Democratic Party has decided not to stage a re-run of the state’s primary election, in order to choose a candidate for the US presidential poll.

Florida Democrats had planned to re-run the ballot, using a combination of postal and walk-in votes, to try to resolve a row over the vote. By a large margin, Hillary Clinton won January’s vote, so theorically she won many delegates.

Read Full Post »

Celebrities’ bad influence on children

Teachers’ leaders have warned that the cult of celebrity among children can damage their education. According to teachers, pupil’s obsessions with footballers, pop stars and actors are affecting their progress in school as well as limiting their career aspirations.

Read Full Post »

Pakistan’s new parliament has convened

For the first time since the parliamentary elections last month, Pakistan’s new parliament has convened. The parties of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, another prime minister, have agreed to form a coalition against Pervez Musharraf.

Read Full Post »

World’s protest against Iraq war

All over the world, tens of thousands of protesters have taken part in a day of demonstration, demanding the withdrawal of US and British troops from Iraq and Afghanistan. This World Against War action was set to mark the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq, on March 20.

Read Full Post »