Shorthand Politics :: Wessex Scene Online

Shorthand Politics

5th March 2008

Rate this story

Jan 08 - Shorthand Politics
Oct 07 - Shorthand Politics
Apr 07 - Shorthand Politics
Mar 07 - News in Brief: Casino in Danger; Connaught JCR; Film Prize
Feb 07 - Shorthand Politics

In Manchester, plans for the super casino have been defeated after months of debate.

The Casino was part of an urban renewal plan for the city and was expected to generate a great deal of revenue and create large employment for the city. Plans for 16 smaller casinos around the country, including Southampton have been confirmed.

In Chad fighting between government forces and rebels has claimed hundreds of lives in the capitol N’Djamena during an attempted coup. Herve Morin, French Defence Minister, visited Chad to show support for the government led by President Deby, who has thanked the French government for their assistance during the fighting. Deby has accused Sudam of playing a key role in the attack.

In Westminster Prime Minister Gordon Brown has supported the use of phone tapping in certain cases following the Chilcot report. The evidence will be used at the discretion of the agencies which collected it and will not be used if the evidence could be collected in another way. The United Kingdom is one of only a handful of countries which does not currently allow the use of this evidence in court.

In the United States, 5 February marked "Super Tuesday" in which 22 states voted on potential Presidential nominees. Republican, John McCain secured a large lead but was unable to win an outright victory, with Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee performing better than expected. Amongst the Democrats, Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama were also unable to break the deadlock with Clinton gaining a greater share of the delegates on offer but with Obama winning more states.

Israel has planned to build a border fence with Eygpt to prevent militants making use of the Sinai desert. This comes in wake of Israel’s first suicide bomber in more than a year. Plans for a similar fence had been dropped due to fears over expense. The new fence will make use of radar sensors to detect human activity in the mountainous regions.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, UN Secretary General has warned that failure in Afganistan could lead to attacks on Western Nations, but maintained that the Nato mission is not failling. His words will put pressure on US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice

INuon Chea, the senior surviving leader of Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime has appeared in court on charges of crimes against humanity. Second to Pol Pot is considered the ideological driving force behind the regime responsible for the deaths of over a million people between 1975-1979.

In Pakistan supporters of Benazir Bhutto have ended their forty day mourning period and vowed to win this month’s elections. This comes as Baitullah Mehsud’s pro Taleban guerrillas, thought to be involved in Mrs Bhutto’s assination, announced a ceasefire.

In Southampton. the SUSU elections begin with potential candidates registering themselves.