French linguistic purists are waging a war in defense of the point-virgule (semi-colon), which they say is being driven to extinction by the lazy habits of English speakers.
>>Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has lost control of parliament for the first time since the nation's independence, according to official results released by the Zimbabwe Elections Commisison. The final results from the presidential election have not yet been released, but it appears from the posturing of President Mugabe and the state-run media as if there will be a runoff between the president and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change contends that Tsvangirai has garnered the necessary votes to avoid a runoff. Meanwhile, the British are working on an unprecedented £1-billion-a-year aid and development package for Zimbabwe, to be coordinated by the UN, IMF, EU, and World Bank, which believe that Zimbabwe's hyperinflation, as much as 100,000%, could be brought under control in as little as a year. President Mugabe has turned down similar packages in the past.
>>NATO - Yesterday NATO leaders did not grant a Membership Action Plan (MAP), the path to eventual membership, to Georgia or the Ukraine, whose candidacies were strongly supported by President Bush. They did, however, agree that the two nations would some day join NATO and to review their progress in December. Bush instead won NATO's endorsement for the U.S.'s missile defense system, which coincided with the Czech Republic's announcement that they would install a missile tracking site for the system. NATO also failed to offer Macedonia an invitation to join, due to Greece's objection over the name issue.
>>Ireland - Prime Minister Bertie "Teflon Taoiseach" Ahern unexpectedly stepped down after 11 years in office amid corruption charges. Ahern denied the allegations, and supporters suggest that his political career is not over, floating the possibility of his taking the helm as the first permanent president of the European Union.
>>Cyprus - As Greek and Turkish Cypriots prepare for talks to end the island's division, they tore down barricades and reopened Ledra street, which has symbolized the line of partition for decades.