Thai PM admits boat people pushed out to sea

Thailand’s prime minister suspects there were "some instances" in which Thai authorities pushed Myanmar’s Rohingya boat people out to sea, a frank admittance of a practice drawing worldwide condemnation. In an exclusive interview with CNN Thursday, Abhisit Vejjajiva said he could not pinpoint who in the government approved the practice, but said he was working on rectifying the problem.

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In Hard Times, Olympic Plans Go On a Budget

Work on London’s main Olympic site is progressing well. The 600-acre former industrial zone in east London that will become the focal point of the 2012 event has been transformed into Europe’s biggest construction site. Steel for shoring up the massive new stadium’s seating terraces is being installed

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GOP Governors: Split over Obama’s Stimulus Plan

When President Barack Obama took his stimulus road show into Florida on Tuesday, Governor Charlie Crist was waiting, tapping his foot. Crist, a Republican, is actually six months ahead of Washington in the stimulus game: in August, in response to his state’s economic implosion, he launched Accelerate Florida, which is pouring out more than $28 billion in stored-up state funds for the kind of infrastructure and school-construction projects that are still being debated inside the Beltway. At the time Crist announced Accelerate Florida, few if any fellow Republicans seemed to condemn the idea.

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Tsvangirai sworn in as Zimbabwe PM

Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in as prime minister of Zimbabwe Wednesday as part of a new unity government that Zimbabweans hope will signal an end to the political and economic crises that have gripped the nation for months. The unity government is the result of a power-sharing agreement reached in September between Tsvangirai — the leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) — and President Robert Mugabe after months of squabbling about the results of elections earlier in the year

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Exit polls suggest Israel taking center line

Early exit polls showed a surprise narrow lead for the centrist Kadima party as voting ended in Israel’s elections Tuesday, Israeli television networks reported. Kadima, led by Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, appeared to have an edge over the conservative Likud bloc led by former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman and Israeli political analysts warned that exit polls had been wrong in past elections

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Israelis go to polls in crucial election

Israelis braved pouring rain and strong winds Tuesday to cast ballots in an election that will pick not just the next prime minister but create a new balance of power and lay the groundwork for the next stage of the nation’s future. If the polls hold true, the right-wing Likud Party may come out ahead, allowing former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to once again take the reins of the country.

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