Previous Day
New York governor linked to prostitution ring
US: NEW YORK governor Eliot Spitzer has admitted to
violating "any sense of right or wrong" after he was linked
yesterday to an expensive prostitution ring under investigation by
the FBI. The New York Times reported on its website yesterday that
the governor was caught last month on a federal wiretap arranging
for a prostitute to travel from New York to meet him at a
Washington hotel. p
Israeli PM denies ceasefire talks with Hamas
ISRAEL: EHUD OLMERT, the Israeli prime minister,
insisted yesterday that he was not negotiating a ceasefire with
Hamas, but he also said that if the Islamic movement ceased firing
rockets into Israel, the Israeli military would halt attacks in the
Gaza Strip. p
Spain's Zapatero confirmed as PM for second term
SPAIN: WITH NEARLY all the votes counted yesterday, it was confirmed that Socialist leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will be Spain's prime minister for a second four years. p
Other World Stories
Socialist leader has wind in his sails to pursue reforms
SPAIN: Zapatero has shown he is now the master of a party that once gave him merely lukewarm support, writes PADDY WOODWORTH pLatest spat concerns Obama's qualifications
US: BARACK OBAMA and Hillary Clinton face off in Mississippi today as the two candidates continue to bicker over foreign policy qualifications and which of them is ready to be commander in chief. pEvangelicals in US divided over global warming
US: A GROUP of more than 40 leading Southern Baptists has widened the divisions within the powerful American evangelical movement over global warming, denouncing the denomination's stance as "too timid" and warning that its cautious response to the environment is seen around the world as "uncaring, reckless and ill-informed ". pEU raises concerns ahead of Zimbabwe poll
ZIMBABWE: THE EU has expressed concern about the prospects for free and fair elections in Zimbabwe later this month and the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country. pHuman cost of country's meltdown must be counted in misery
ZIMBABWE: THE NUMBERS ceased to mean much to Sarah Chekani about the time inflation in Zimbabwe surged past 50,000 per cent late last year. pPoles win pledge from Bush in return for missile shield
POLAND: PRESIDENT George Bush pledged yesterday to beef up Poland's defences against Russia in return for Warsaw agreeing to host a US base of interceptor rockets for Washington's missile defence project. pChina blacklists actress over steamy Ang Lee film
CHINA: IN THE latest sign of tougher censorship in China, regulators have blacklisted rising starlet Tang Wei for her steamy role in the Ang Lee movie Lust, Caution, months after it screened in the country, because the film supposedly glorifies traitors. pThousands of reform candidates barred from Iran elections
IRAN: IT WAS a case of mending political fences, Iranian-style. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the former Revolutionary Guard commando who had unsettled Iran's clerical establishment with his populist agenda, met Shia Muslim clergy in the southern province of Bushehr ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections on Friday. pEmbattled PM ignores calls to resign
MALAYSIA: "APRÈS MOI le déluge" could be the motto for Abdullah Badawi as he was sworn in yesterday for a second term as Malaysian prime minister, ignoring calls for his resignation in the wake of the National Front coalition government's worst election setback in 50 years. pEU urges Serbs to back liberals as Kostunica dissolves government
SERBIA: NATIONALIST SERB prime minister Vojislav Kostunica formally dissolved his government yesterday and asked president Boris Tadic to call snap elections for May 11th, as the EU urged voters to back liberal parties that favour closer ties with the bloc. pScandal of MEPs' expenses a cloud over 50th anniversary of EU
EUROPEAN DIARY : THE EUROPEAN Parliament marks its 50th birthday this week at its monthly plenary session in Strasbourg, which will see some of Europe's top politicians make celebratory speeches about its role in boosting European democracy, writes JAMIE SMYTH pA comparison: salaries and perks for MEPs and TDs
Salary: TDs get €95,363 - €101,445, depending on length of service. Irish MEPs get the same salary but it will fall to €88,000 from 2009. pGermany's Social Democratic Party breaks taboo by courting reformed communists
GERMANY: IN A move that is likely to exacerbate important divisions in Germany's Social Democratic Party (SPD), its leader, Kurt Beck, has said alliances with the reformed communist Left Party are no longer taboo. pIn short
A round-up of today's world news in brief p
