Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy was elected the very first permanent president of the European Union. He will assume the post on December 1, 2009 as mandated by the European Union Treaty of Lisbon. He will be chairing EU summits and coordinate meetings between the European governments.

Elected with him is British Baroness Catherine Margaret Ashton of Upholland as the first High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The appointments were met with mixed reactions. Both are considered little, low-key figures. Van Rompuy has been prime minister for less than a year and he assumed the post after King Albert II asked him to form a new government after the 2007-2008 Belgian Political Crisis. Ashton never held an elected office before.

US President Barack Obama, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy all welcomed the appointments.

Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair had been pursuing the EU President position but lost out his bid when current British Prime Minister Gordon Brown can’t find enough support for Blair.

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European Union’s First President Elected

One of Iraq’s Vice Presidents, Tariq Hashimi, vetoes a recently approved elections law putting a possible problem for the national elections to push through early next year. This will also put on hold the plans of the United States to withdraw its troops from the Middle East country.

Under Iraqi law, the president and its two vice presidents are entitled with the power to veto legislation. Under the Iraqi constitution, national elections should be conducted by the end of January.

Hashimi, a Sunni, made the move to demand that additional seats be provided to represent Iraqi refugees who had fled the country. The election law states that a given number of seats must be given to the minority, internally displaced nationals and refugees in other countries.

The election law was sent back to parliament. The parliament has been delayed in producing the law and is already in doubt on whether they can revise it in time.

The US under agreement with Baghdad needs to withdraw its troops by the end of 2011. US President Barack Obama wants the troops out by August. The withdrawal can only start after a national election occurs.

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Iraq’s 2010 National Elections in Trouble

Democratic West Virginia Senator Robert C. Byrd became the longest serving member of the congress. He served uninterruptedly for 20, 744 days or 56 years and 320 days as of November 18, 2009. He broke the record of 56 years and 319 days set by Senator Carl Hayden.

He earned from the senate a formal salute and a resolution to mark the milestone. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid acknowledgement of Byrd’s achievements was one of the first business in the floor.

Byrd was elected in the House on 1952 and became a senator on January 3, 1959. He’s been there ever since serving. He was once Senate Minority Leader and twice Senate Majority Leader. He is currently the President Pro Tempore of the United States, putting him third in line of the presidential succession behind Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Among the other records he is currently holding in the Congress are the following: the longest serving senator, the most number of votes casted (already above 18,000) and the only surviving senator to have voted on a bill giving statehood to a US territory.

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US Senator Byrd Becomes Longest Serving Congress Member

Kosovo held its first elections since declaring itself as an independent nation. Kosovo broke away from Serbia last February 2008. Serbia refuses to recognize Kosovo as independent. The polls were generally peaceful.

Voter turnout exceeded the 45% expectations. Members of the ethnic Serbs community were visibly seen to have opted to join the polls despite calls from Belgrade, Serbia’s capital that they should not participate.

“Full success [of these elections] will reflect well on the country in the continuing process of Kosovo’s international recognition”, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said. “This is a great step forward for the sovereign state.”

There were, however, rival ethnic parties issued allegations of fraud to the prime minister’s ruling party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, by manipulating the commission handling the elections.

63 out of the 192 (32%) member states of the United Nations recognize Kosovo as independent. This includes Security Council permanent members United States, United Kingdom and France. Russia and China refused recognition. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) already considered Kosovo as a member country.

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Kosovo holds First Election Since Disputed Independence

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-described mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and four other Guantanamo detainees accused in the conspiracy will be tried in a civilian federal court in New York, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Friday.

Mohammed, Ramzi Bin al-Shibh, Walid bin Attash, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali and Mustafa Ahmed al-Hawsawi will all be transferred to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York – just blocks from the site of the former World Trade Center.

The decision marks a landmark in the administration’s efforts to close down Guantanamo Bay’s terror suspect detention center, something that President Barack Obama announced shortly after taking office that he would do within a year.

However, the assessment is quite controversial due to the fact that many are skeptical about whether or not the cases will endure any setback that would prevent appropriate penalties for the five suspects.

VIDEO: Attorney General Holder announces trials for terror detainees

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Alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to be tried in New York

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) announced its acquisition of networking gear outfit 3Com (COMS) for $2.7 billion or $7.90 per share.

The acquisition, which was approved by both companies’ respective boards of directors, will bolster up HP against Cisco (CSCO). The latter is venturing out to HP’s businesses especially after it announced its plan to enter the server market early this year. The acquisition however is still needed to be approved by the stockholders of 3Com. HP is expecting to close the deal by the first half 2010.

HP stated that they want to “transform the networking industry,” and “enable customers to build a next-generation network infrastructure that supports customer needs from the edge of the network to the heart of the data center.”

The merge will bring together HP’s powerful data center strategy and 3Com’s extensive product line and innovative technology of routing and networking systems.

Meanwhile Brocade (BRCD) another networking solutions company fell victim in the acquisition. It has been shopping for a buyer and HP was one of the potential buyers. After the announcement, that would be highly unlikely.

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HP Acquires 3COM for $2.7 Billion

German national football team goalkeeper and probable World Cup 2010 starter Robert Enke was found dead. He was struck and killed by a train in Neustadt am Rubenburge close to a level crossing near his home on Tuesday. Initial investigation results show that it was a suicide. He was 32.

The two drivers of the train reported that they have seen a man in the tracks but were not able to stop the train in time that was running at about 100 mph.

The sportsman previously played for Hanover 96 in the German Bundesliga and had eight appearances with the national team.

Martin Kind, Hannover President who announced the death said that Enke appeared “unstable” lately. He and wife Teresa lost their two-year old daughter to a heart ailment in 2006 and was recently diagnosed with stomach bacteria.

It was widely considered that Enke would be starting as Goalkeeper for the German team, which recently qualified in the upcoming 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Enke’s death may bring about the cancellation of a friendly match between Germany and Chile scheduled this Saturday. Meanwhile, fans flocked Hannover stadium and were laying flowers and lighting candles at the gates.

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Potential German World Cup Team Goalkeeper Found Dead

Heavy rains in El Salvador triggered flooding and mudslides that left more than 100 people dead and dozens missing across the Central American nation. The capital of San Salvador and central San Vicente province are the hardest-hit regions.

About 7,000 people, many of them poor cliff dwellers, saw their homes damaged, destroyed or cut off by floods and mudslides.

In a national radio broadcast, President Mauricio Funes described the disaster as “tragedy” and said the damage was “incalculable”.

Watch the full report below:

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Hurricane Ida wreaks havoc in El Salvador

After a long and awful debate, the US House of Representatives on Saturday night passed a sweeping healthcare bill by a vote of 220-215. Only one Republican, Representative Joseph Cao of Louisiana, supported the House measure. 39 Democrats opposed it, including 24 members of the Blue Dog Coalition.

The landmark vote was a huge step for President Barack Obama, who has staked much of his political capital on the healthcare battle.

WATCH:

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US House passes healthcare reform bill

Marissa Mayer, Google’s Vice President of Search Product and User Experience has been named as one of Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year for 2009.

She is a Woman of the Year because: “She has been a powerhouse of creativity and business acumen for one of the world’s most innovative companies. Marissa Mayer is leading the way in keeping America number one.” —Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and 2002 Woman of the Year

Marissa has been featured in various publications, including Newsweek (”10 Tech Leaders of the Future”), Red Herring (”15 Women to Watch”), Business 2.0 (”Silicon Valley Dream Team”), BusinessWeek, and Fast Company. In 2008, at 33, Marissa became the youngest woman ever to be included on Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list (#50).

Marissa Ann Mayer (born on 30 May 1975) acts as a gatekeeper for their product release process, determining when or whether a particular Google product is ready to be released to users. She has become one of the public faces of Google, providing a number of press interviews and appearing at events frequently to speak on behalf of the company.

Other women on the list includes Rihanna, Marie Shiver, Stella McCartney, Amie Poehler, Serena Williams, Jane Aronson, Susan Rice, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, The Women of Iran’s One Million Signature Campaign and Maya Angelou with special recognition to Michelle Obama.

[Glamour via TechCrunch]

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Marissa Mayer is one of Glamour’s “Woman Of The Year”

Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao was lined up with other boxing greats like Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Frazier, and Muhammad Ali as he appears on the cover of Time Magazine Asia.

Manny Pacquiao is the second non-heavyweigth professional boxer to be featured in the cover of the well-respected magazine.

Apart from heavyweights Louis, Schmeling, Frazier, Ali and middleweight Robinson, other boxers who had made it to the magazine’s cover include heavyweights Jack Dempsey, Primo Carnerra, Gene Tunney and the controversial Mike Tyson.

Pacquiao said being featured in the magazine is the “most humbling experience” in his boxing career.

“It is a great honor for me to be the face of my people and let everyone know we are a small but mighty country”, Pacquiao said.

Pacquiao will face Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto on November 14 in Las Vegas and will try to be the first boxer to ever record seven world titles in seven different weight classes. Pacquiao has won titles in the junior welterweight, lightweight, super featherweight, featherweight, super bantamweight and flyweight divisions.

[via Philstar | abs-cbn]

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Manny Pacquiao graces Time Magazine cover

Violence erupted in Tehran on Wednesday as Iranian security forces clashed with thousands of anti-government demonstrators who were seeking to disrupt a state-sponsored rally marking the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the US Embassy.

The activists were angry about the disputed presidential election in June, which led to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad winning a second term. According to various reports, riot police fired shots into the air and tear gas to disperse the crowd. In nearby Haft-e-Tir Square, several people were beaten and others pushed into a van by the law enforcement.

A video posted on the Guardian’s live blog appeared to show people bleeding from wounds after clashes with security personnel. There were also unconfirmed reports that Medhi Karoubi, an opposition leader and former Parliamentary Speaker, had been attacked.

November 4 has been a big day in Iran for the past three decades—ever since Islamic students stormed the U.S. embassy and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

[Image via Mowjcamp]

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Police clash with Iranian protesters as Tehran rally turns violent

Hamid Karzai was handed a second term as President of Afghanistan on Monday when poll officials scrapped the second round of voting following the withdrawal of his challenger.

Abdullah Abdullah was Karzai’s sole opponent in the November 7 runoff, but the former Afghan foreign minister dropped out of the race Sunday because he said the vote would not be free or fair.

“We declare that Hamid Karzai, who won the majority of votes in the first round, and is the only candidate in the second round, is the elected president of Afghanistan,” Independent Election Commission (IEC) spokesman Azizullah Ludin said in a statement televised live from Kabul.

Two months after the August 20 Afghan election, the Electoral Complaints Commission nullified a large number of ballots because of fraud and forced a runoff.

Internationally, the runoff was seen as a way to restore legitimacy to the nation’s electoral process.

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Karzai declared elected president after runoff canceled

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah withdrew Sunday from the upcoming runoff election against President Hamid Karzai, saying that the government is not meeting his demands for a fair vote.

“I want this to be an example for the future so that no one again tries to use fraud to abuse the rights of the Afghan people,” Abdullah said.

Following his announcement Sunday, Abdullah had a request for his supporters.

“Not to take to the streets. Not to feel grief. I know it is difficult,” Abdullah said. “After all, this is not [a] democratic environment. But at the same time, it is for a good cause. It is for the future generations of this country.”

The Nov. 7 runoff election will not be affected with Abdullah’s withdrawal, and ensures the re-election of President Hamid Karzai if the voting proceeds as scheduled.

According to Afghan election officials, the election must continue as it is according to the country’s constitution. A spokesman for the election commission also told VOA that Abdullah had missed the deadline to officially withdraw.

Watch this report by CNN:

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Afghan Presidential Challenger Quits Runoff

A huge fire erupted in a fuel storage facility in India Thursday night, killing at least 12 people and injuring around 150.

The blaze, caused by a suspected oil pipeline leak, broke out at around 7.30 p.m. at the state-run Indian Oil Corporation depot on the outskirts of Jaipur, local media reported.

Television footage showed the fire still raging some 17 hours after it began, with thick black smoke and flames as high as 9 meters rising from the depot.

At least 11 tanks containing 8 million liters of oil were engulfed by the inferno, and up to half a million people near the site have been evacuated.

The video below was taken from just 200 meters from the oil tanks from the back side of the fuel storage facility.

WATCH:

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Massive blaze at India oil depot kills at least 12