Full coverage: Politics

28.02.2005 Faure Gnassingbe has stepped down as Togo's interim president but declared he expects to be back in the position soon as a special election will be held within weeks. Saturday, West African nations dropped sanctions imposed after Gnassingbe's illegal succession, but opposition parties inside the country were still not optimistic they would be given a fair shot at the presidency.

28.02.2005 The first way to analyze a federal budget is to look at what's been called for and what was delivered. Last fall, CPJ called for a limited, realistic mix of measures that would make a serious difference in the level and depth of child and family poverty in Canada. The government came through on its childcare commitment but offered nothing new on housing, child benefits or the Canada Social Transfer.

28.02.2005 Tupakkaa koskeva kansainvälinen puitesopimus astui voimaan sunnuntaina. Sen on ratifioinut 57 maata. Sopimuksella pyritään ehkäisemään tupakan aiheuttamia terveyshaittoja ja se velvoittaa valtiot muun muassa kieltämään tupakan mainonnan ja lisäämään varoitustekstit tupakkatuotteisiin. USA on allekirjoittanut sopimuksen, mutta ei ole ratifioinut sitä.

25.02.2005 Last week, the Nigerian president promoted a law requiring all political parties to ensure at least 25% of their candidates are female, and rights activists are demanding fully 30% of political offices be reserved for women. The country's 67 million women are currently represented by only three of 109 elected senators.

25.02.2005 Sujata Koirala, a senior leader of one of Nepal's main political parties, fled the country in disguise after the King seized absolute power earlier this month and began an intense crackdown against political leaders, students, trade unionists, and human rights activists. She sheds light on how the country reached such a crossroads, and what's coming next.

25.02.2005 The United States is one of only two major industrialized nations that has not signed on to the Kyoto Protocol on global warming, which went into effect last week. "This is madness...If the leaders won’t lead, then We the People must," says Global Exchange, co-sponsoring a People's Ratification of the Global Warming Treaty that any citizen can sign on to.

24.02.2005 Uprkos 7000 potpisa na peticiji i 30-tak zahtjeva potpisanih od strane nevladinih organizacija iz cijele BiH, Dom naroda BiH je potvrdio odluku o prodaju dijela zemljišta bivše kasarne Maršal Tito za izgradnju američke ambasade.

24.02.2005 I pokraj 7000 potpisi na peticijata i 30-te baranja potpisani od strana na nevladinite organizacii od cela BiH, Domot na narodot ja potvrdi odlukata za prodazba na del od zemjisteto na bivsata kasarna Marsal Tito za izgradba na amerikanska ambasada..

24.02.2005 Afrikan Suurten järvien maiden ulkoministerit pyytävät kansainväliseltä yhteisöltä varoja erityisen kehitysrahaston perustamiseksi. Runsaista luonnonvaroista huolimatta osa alueen valtioista kuuluu maailman köyhimpiin. Jatkuvien konfliktien runtelemissa maissa talouskasvu on lamaantunut ja sosiaalinen infrastruktuuri romahtanut.

24.02.2005 In Campania si ritorna nella crisi rifiuti. Il ministro Matteoli ha richiamato al legame tra la gestione dei rifiuti e le cosche mafiose e criticato la magistratura che ha disposto il sequestro dei 7 impianti di produzione di Cdr della regione, provvedimento appoggiato da Legambiente. A questo si lega il problema delle discariche “emergenziali” che ha portato alla protesta che blocca l’autostrada Salerno–Reggio Calabria. In un’intervista al sito Eco dalle città Giulio Facchi, ex sub-commissario governativo per l’emergenza rifiuti campana ha dichiarato che “si è già andati oltre agli impegni presi”. Di fatto gli ultimi fondi governativi per la gestione rifiuti in Campania risalgono al 1998. Intanto la raccolta differenziata sta diminuendo anche a causa della confusione creata dalle diverse modalità di raccolta dei rifiuti.

24.02.2005 Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's budget does not go far enough to address the pressing concerns of poor people world wide. Additionally, the government has failed to give any indication, through a timetable, when it might reach the internationally agreed to target of 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income for aid spending.

24.02.2005 Liberal MPs, hoping to retain their grip on power, or save their seats if an election is forced upon them, applauded giddily when Finance Minister Ralph Goodale tabled the eighth straight black ink budget, an achievement he described as "the longest unbroken string of surpluses since Confederation." The big winners are the military, corporations, seniors and Canadians with the money to sock away in Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs).

24.02.2005 George W. Bush has made the privatization of the U.S. public pension system the legacy issue of his second term. He has warned that Social Security (the equivalent of our Canada Pension Plan) is headed toward bankruptcy. His red flag about bankruptcy is about as believable as his claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

23.02.2005 Ce gouvernement jette l'armée et la police contre l'ouvrier lors de manifestations légales (qui s'oppose au gouvernement), comme l'ont fait avant lui les généraux pendant la dictature militaire (1964-85).

23.02.2005 Togo's parliament Monday reversed a hastily made revision of the constitution putting off elections following the death of former president Eyadema, and said a vote would indeed be held within two months. But the former president's son, who was installed at the time, has refused to step down in the interim; opposition parties don't believe he will organize free or fair elections.

23.02.2005 “After years of surpluses, it’s time to rebuild strong communities across the country with public investment for public services,” says Paul Moist, national president of CUPE, as the government prepares to bring down its budget. “The federal government must place accountability – not private profit – at the heart of its budget by setting clear conditions for funding.”

22.02.2005 Nakon poslednjeg napada Skinhedsa na mladića i devojku romske nacionalnosti, Romi u Nišu ne osećaju se bezbedno. Niška policija podnela je krivične prijave protiv trojice Nišlija zbog krivičnog dela izazivanje nacionalne, rasne i verske mržnje, razdora ili netrpeljivosti. U Nišu i okolini prema nezvaničnim podacima živi oko 25.000 Roma

22.02.2005 Nycole Turmel, National President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) is calling on women in the union to adopt a political agenda in order to achieve change. She says that women's leadership is important in changing the face of power within their union, their workplaces, in their communities in Canada and beyond.

22.02.2005 Uruguayn uusi parlamentti aloitti työnsä entisten tupamaros-sissien johdolla, sillä entinen sissi valittiin kummankin kamarin puhemieheksi. Vasemmistolla on parlamentissa enemmistö ensi kertaa maan historiassa. Uruguay sai lokakuun lopun vaaleissa myös vasemmistolaisen presidentin, Tabaré Vázquezin, jonka virkakausi alkaa maaliskuun alussa.

21.02.2005 WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb 21 (OneWorld) - A diverse array of advocacy groups is expressing hope that proposals in President George W. Bush's budget for fiscal year 2006 and in legislation before the U.S. Senate will help tackle rural poverty in the United States and the developing world.