Daily News Channel
The ruling African National Congress is expected to win Wednesday’s elections in South Africa by a landslide, but polls predict it might lose its two-thirds parliamentary majority. The ANC has gained votes in every election since 1994, but a new player that threatens the party’s grip on power has entered the fray. The ANC is also dogged by corruption and is accused of failing to deliver services to the poor.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appears to believe that only desperate measures on the economy can save his presidency when Iranians go to the polls in June, but he suffered a shocking setback on Monday when the legislature dominated by like-minded conservatives blocked his key initiative. Ahmadinejad had proposed legislation in the Majlis, Iran’s parliament, that would have summarily withdrawn government subsidies on oil, gasoline and electricity, freeing up about $20 billion in government funds, of which he planned to transfer more than half in direct cash handouts to middle- and lower-income households
The U.S. Senate has given final approval to a $787 billion economic-stimulus package backed by President Obama, with Democratic Ohio Sen
Israel’s centrist Kadima is maintaining its one-seat lead over right-wing Likud but with about 100,000 ballots yet to be counted the result is not yet official, the Central Elections Committee said Thursday. About 99 percent of the vote has been counted and the parties have already begun negotiations to form a ruling coalition in the 120-seat Knesset. The elections committee said ballots from such people as soldiers and diplomats remain to be counted, and final certification of the vote totals won’t come until next week.