December 14, 2011
US House Passes Payroll Tax Cut, Links it to Pipeline Plan
The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to extend a payroll tax cut that expires at the end of the year, but the extension is tied to a provision that restarts work on a much-disputed U.S.-Canada oil pipeline project. Despite the…
December 13, 2011
ICC Rejects Malawi’s Immunity Claim for Sudan’s Bashir
The International Criminal Court says Malawi failed to cooperate with the Court by not arresting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir during his visit to the country, and said it is referring the matter to the U.N. Security Council. The Hague-based…
December 13, 2011
Burma Recognizes Suu Kyi’s NLD Party
Burmese authorities have officially recognized opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, allowing the party to re-enter the mainstream political process ahead of an upcoming parliamentary election. State media said…
December 13, 2011
PNG Political Stalemate over PM Post Continues
Papua New Guinea's parliamentary speaker has refused to comply with a Supreme Court order reinstating independence leader Michael Somare as prime minister. Speaker Jeffery Nape said Tuesday that he would only recognize the government of Peter…
December 13, 2011
Iranian president targeted by shoe thrower
A 45-year-old textile worker who has been out of work for a year threw his shoes Monday at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to protest not having received unemployment benefits, an Iranian website reported. He missed, striking a banner…
December 13, 2011
West Coast Occupy Protestors Disrupt US, Canadian Ports
Hundreds of anti-Wall Street protestors blocked gates at some of the West Coast's busiest ports in the U.S. and Canada, as part of a nearly three-month-old movement against what they say is corporate greed. Monday's protests caused a partial shut…
December 13, 2011
Syria Crackdown Death Toll Exceeds 5,000: UN
The United Nations says the death toll from months of unrest in Syria has now surpassed 5,000 people. U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay said Monday her office has received credible reports from a variety of sources that indicate the death toll…
December 12, 2011
France election: De Villepin to stand for president
French former prime minister and centre-right politician Dominique de Villepin has…
December 12, 2011
Obama Makes His Case for Second Term
U.S. President Barack Obama has made a case for his re-election by setting himself apart from his Republican challengers. In an interview Sunday on American television (the CBS news show 60 Minutes), the president compared himself to a ship's…
December 12, 2011
US Military Vacates Pakistani Air Base
U.S. military vacated an air base in Pakistan's southwest Sunday, meeting a December 11 deadline set by Islamabad in response to NATO's November 26 air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistani military said it took over the Shamsi…