Italy have defeated Portugal 31-5 in Pool C of the 2007 Rugby World Cup at Parc des Princes, Paris, France. 
Andrea Masi opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a try for Italy. 
Despite controlling the game for much of the first half, Italy could not score any other tries before the interval but David Bortolussi kicked three penalties to extend their lead. 
Portugal never gave up and David Penalva scored a try in the 33rd minute, providing their only points of the match. 
Italy led 16-5 at half time but were matched by Portugal for much of the second half. 
However Bortolussi scored his fourth penalty of the match, followed by tries from Mauro Bergamasco and a second from Andrea Masi to wrap up the win for Italy. 
Currently third in Pool C with eight points, Italy face a tough match against second placed Scotland on 29 September. 
New Zealand lead the group with ten points, ahead of Scotland on points difference. 
Portugal are bottom of the group with no points, behind Romania with one. 
Some personal details of 3 million British learner drivers who had applied for the 'theory test' component of their Driving licence have been lost in Iowa, in the USA. 
The data was lost on a hard drive that was owned by Pearson Driving Assessments Ltd, a private contractor to the UK driving standards agency. 
Details were given by the UK Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, in the House of Commons at 1730 UTC yesterday. 
It is the first major loss of data in the UK since information on 25 million people was lost by HM Revenue in October. 
In her statement to MPs, Ruth Kelly confirmed that no banking information was contained within the lost data, nor were individuals' dates of birth. 
She highlighted that security measures had been taken, and that the information that had been stored was not in a format "readily usable or accessible" by standard means. 
Political figures in the UK continue to raise concerns about both the specific loss of this information, and the nature of governments ability to safely gather and maintain information. 
Susan Kramer, representing the Liberal Democrats stated "This constant attempt to gather data, to get more data, to know more about you, to link it more together, all of that it seems to me is what comes into question." 
Criticism was targeted to Government efforts in the affair of the Jian Seng in the Australian Senate March 28 and 29 over the handling of the ghost ship, the tanker Jian Seng, which was found abandoned and unlit in the Gulf of Carpentaria. 
Senator Joe Ludwig (Labor, Queensland) asked of the Minister for Justice and Customs Senator Chris Ellison in Question Time whether he stood by his claim that he made yesterday that the discovery of the Jian Seng demonstrated that the Australian Government had in place "aerial and maritime surveillance to intercept a vessel in these circumstances, and that was done", and asked why it took the Government two weeks to intercept the vessel after it entered Australian waters. 
Senator Ellison responded that at the vessel's first sighting on March 8 "it was not doing anything illegal", and criticised the Opposition's claim that the ship was drifting for seventeen days, saying that "it was not stated as having drifted for the whole of the 17 days". 
Ludwig went on to note that it was not Customs that spotted the ship but a "passing Australian barge", but Ellison had defended this, stating that Ludwig "thinks that commercial vessels have absolutely no role in looking out for Australia" and that Ellison will "rely on reports to our hotline and go out and inspect vessels". 
Later, Senator Kerry O'Brien (Labor, Tasmania) criticised the Government's implementation of coastal defense, and highlighted the dangers of ignoring the ship for seventeen days, saying that "it posed and possibly still poses unknown environmental and quarantine risks" and that the Jian Seng "has been refused admission to Weipa harbour...It could have been carrying literally anything." 
Senator David Johnston (Liberal, Western Australia) went on to debate that there are no shipping lanes in the area where the Jian Seng was found, and that devoting resources to a harmless ship would leave gaps in the coastal defenses elsewhere. 
The murder probably took place on Sunday, July 31 according to the local police, which also states that at least ten suspects have been questioned. 
The body of Joana Dudushi was found near her apartment where she lived with her several-month-old baby. 
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson won his second consecutive race of the season on Sunday during the 2010 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. 
It was his fifth victory in the 2010 season of the US's leading professional stock car series, drawing him level with Denny Hamlin for the most wins. 
The victory earned Johnson 190 points (including a 5 point bonus), moving him closer to point leader Kevin Harvick, but he is still 105 points behind in second position. 
In the point standings, Harvick and Johnson remained in the first and second position. 
Kyle Busch, because of his accident with Jeff Burton maintained the third position while his team mate Hamlin is fourth. 
Gordon, Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth, and Burton followed in the top-eight points positions. 
Stewart move up one position after finishing second and is in the ninth position, as Greg Biffle fell to tenth. 
Mark Martin and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-twelve, and is currently in the Chase. 
Palestinian militants denied claims by an Israeli minister that they had agreed a ceasefire. 
Just a short while after a ceasefire was apparently agreed between Israel and the new Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, a spokesman for Palestinian militant group Hamas denied the claim. 
City officials in seven United States cities were warned today about a possible attack on NFL stadiums using "dirty bombs." 
The Department of Homeland Security, which issued the warnings, has also added that the threat is "not credible." 
The bomb threat, originally discovered on 4chan, stated that truck bombs containing radiological materials would be detonated during the football games this Sunday. 
While the Department of Homeland Security did not disclose which cities were mentioned, an unnamed department official has said the cities named were Atlanta, Miami, New York, Seattle, Houston, Oakland, California, and Cleveland, Ohio. 
In response to the threat, several teams are scheduled to sweep some stadiums with radiation detection devices on Sunday for the presence of radioactive materials. 
In addition, the parking areas and entrances will be monitored closely for suspicious activity. 
The NFL has released a statement saying that the stadiums are well protected through security measures already in place. 
The FBI has questioned a Milwaukee resident said to be responsible for the threats, which were posted on the web site last week. 
The FBI has declined to release the details of the investigation. 
South-east China has been flooded by torrential rainstorms as the Severe Tropical Storm Bilis came ashore on Friday, July 14. 
The total death toll stands at 178 people but many people are missing, and the figure might rise. 
Floods, 10 meters high in some areas washed away 19,100 houses, damaged roads, power lines, and devastated villages and agriculture. 
Three million people were affected by the tropical storm which Xinhua, the state news agency, estimated would cost three billion yuan ($375 million) damage. 
The worse-hit provinces were Fujian, Hunan and Guangdong while there were deaths and an economic impact in Zhejian, Jiangxi and Guangxi provinces. 
At least 92 died in Hunan where dam reservoirs rose to their limits. 
The water swell in Leiyang rose 10 metres above the levels from Friday. 
40,000 people in the cities of Hengyang and Chenzhou were reported stranded. 
14 coal miners died when a dam burst, ravaging the land and flooding their pit at Shenjiawan Colliery. 
The floods in Hunan also took out the Beijing-Guangzhou railway leaving 5,000 stranded in the capital, Changsha. 
10,000 workers were sent to repair the damaged sections of line. 
An estimated 33 people died in Guangdong, an important economic area near Hong Kong. 
Lechang was submerged under three metres of water and 1663 prisoners had to be moved from the city. 
Deadly mudslides killed 10 in the city of Zhangzhou and another 10 are missing from a second mudslide. 
At least two people were wounded after two freight trains collided with each other near Kotri in southern Pakistan today. 
A freight train was on the track near the Kotri railway station when a Hyderabad-bound freight train coming from Karachi, loaded with oil drums, hit it and a fire broke out. 
Twenty eight goods wagons of the freight train carrying 1,372,000 litres of oil were derailed, and oil was spilled. 
Rail traffic in both directions has been suspended on the track following this incident. 
Firebrigade and ambulance immediately reached the spot while Pakistan Railway's emergency relief train has left Karachi towards the spot. 
Pakistani officials have said that a suspected suicide bomber exploded a car near the provincial legislative assembly that was in session in Peshawar, killing at least 49 people and wounding more than 100 others. 
The blast scattered debris and destroyed vehicles in Peshawar's crowded Khyber Bazaar area, located in the center of the city. 
"A suicide bomber blew himself up as the car was next to a passenger bus passing through the market," said senior police officer Shafqat Malik. 
He said that the bomb consisted of fifty kilograms of explosives, and contained shells and bearings to maximise damage. 
One eyewitness told the Voice of America news agency he was sitting in his shop when a big explosion shook the area Friday morning, sending dust in the air and causing objects to fall from the walls. 
A teacher working in a nearby school also said that when he went outside after the blast, he saw bodies lying all around the area. 
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik indicated that such acts of terrorism might force the government to launch a much anticipated anti-Taliban operation in South Waziristan. 
He said that Friday's blast, along with a number of other deadly attacks in Peshawar, shows the government has in his words "no option" but to go on the offensive. 
While the military has not publicly set a date for any major operation in the area, UN officials say some 80,000 civilians have fled the region in anticipation of a new offensive. 
After three days of talks, parties in Northern Ireland have come to a stalemate over the election of a chairperson for a committee to help setup a devolved government in Northern Ireland. 
It is now up to Northern Ireland Secretary of State Peter Hain to choose the next course of action. 
The committee, known as the Preparation for Government Committee, convened Monday to begin its first task: the election of a chairperson for the committee. 
Its main task however is to help set a roadmap for devolved government in Northern Ireland. 
The committee is made up of the two republican parties (Sinn Féin and SDLP), the two unionist parties (DUP and UUP) and the non-sectarianist Alliance Party. 
Sinn Féin's proposal is for the chairpersonship to revolve between them and the Democratic Unionist Party. 
The DUP proposed that Speaker of the Assembly Eileen Bell should be the chairperson. 
However, Bell stated that it would inappropriate for her to take the post and refused. 
They also suggested the DUP MP for South Antrim William McCrea and Alliance Party leader David Ford as possible candidates. 
Peter Hain called the refusal of parties to cooperate "frustrating." 
Sinn Féin, SDLP and the Alliance Party have all blamed the DUP for the failure. 
"Yet again the DUP, instead of helping to remove obstacles to devolution, have shown themselves to be nothing but obstructive and lacking in any spirit of co-operation," said Sean Farren of the SDLP. 
"If the DUP is not prepared to do the business or give any substantive indication in the course of June, then the British government would be as well stopping the salaries at the end of June," said Sinn Fein's Martin McGuinness. 
"The practical reality is that the two biggest parties have not shown they are prepared to move forward at all." 
"The prevarication and petty wriggling by the DUP is preventing the potential for progress and holding us all up to public ridicule." 
On Monday, Ian Paisley asked for extension of the November 24 deadline fot two weeks. 
This is part of plan by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Toaiseach Bertie Ahern to set up a devolved government in Northern Ireland after its assembly was suspended in October 2002 over allegations of a IRA spy ring. 
If a plan for devolved government is not setup by November 24, direct rule from London will continue with greater input from the Republic of Ireland. 
PC manufacturer and Apple Computer competitor Dell, Inc. has stated that it is interested in shipping computers running Apple's Mac OS X. Michael Dell, founder and chairman of Dell Computers, made the comments while talking to David Kirkpatrick of Fortune magazine. 
"If Apple decides to open the Mac OS to others, we would be happy to offer it to our customers," Dell wrote in an email to Kirkpatrick. 
Apple recently announced that it would begin using Intel x86 microprocessors in its computers next year, but has continued to deny reports that they will allow their OS to be run on non-Apple hardware. 
Seismologists at USGS have indicated that this earthquake is an aftershock of the 9.0 earthquake which had occurred just a few hours earlier, 305 km (190 miles) distant, in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra, Indonesia. 
The Bangladesh Meteorological Department issued a statement that the quake had struck Chittagong, a southern port that is the second largest city in Bangladesh. 
Researchers say that two men claiming to be 'Bigfoot' hunters in Georgia in the United States and who claimed to have found the remains of the mythical creature earlier this month, are part of an elaborate hoax. 
Bigfoot hunters Matt Whitton and Rick Dyer stated on August 15, 2008 that they were hunting for the creature in the forests of northeastern Georgia when they came across the supposed corpse of one of the legendary cryptids. 
After finding the body, they claimed to have taken it home where they stored it in a freezer. 
The researchers then attempted to reclaim their money and went to the hotel Whitton and Dyer were staying in, only to find the rooms empty, and the two men nowhere to be found. 
Whitton and Dyer claimed they had photos, video and DNA evidence to support their claim, but only one photo portraying a blurred black figure in the distance in the forest was provided. 
The TimesOnline reports that the joke fell flat with Jeffrey Turner, who as Chief of Police in Clayton County, Georgia, put Mr Whitton on medical leave when he was shot in the wrist as he tried to foil a robbery earlier this summer. 
"As soon as we saw it was a hoax, I filed the paperwork to terminate his employment," said Chief Turner. 
"He's disgraced himself, he's an embarrassment to the Clayton County Police Department, his credibility and integrity as an officer is gone, and I have no use for him," he declared. 
London, England — With the 2012 Summer Paralympics starting in less than a week, parts of Papua New Guinea's Paralympic delegation arrived in London earlier today in order to support the pair of athletes the country qualified for the Games, athletics competitor Francis Kompaon and powerlifter Timothy Harabe. 
The Games are Kompaon's second, having competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics where he earned his country's first Paralympic medal when he finished second in the 100 metre event. 
Harabe, only the tenth person ever to represent his country at the Games, is making his Paralympic Games debut. 
The British High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea, Jackie Barson, MBE, wished both athletes well, saying in a written statement, "It is a fantastic achievement for the PNG to be represented by two world class Paralympic athletes". 
PNG Paralympic Committee President Bernard Chan also congratulated his country's athletes, saying, "They will be great ambassadors for PNG and I hope both Francis and Timothy will inspire other athletes to train hard and hope to represent PNG at this Paralympic level during their participation." 
The 2012 Games will be the fourth time the country has participated, with the three other appearances happening at the 1984 Summer Paralympics, 2000 Summer Paralympics and 2008 Summer Paralympics. 
Other members of the Papua New Guinea 2012 Paralympic delegation include PNG Paralympic Committee President Bernard Chan; Chef de Mission Dr. Kefu Ma; team manager Rosemary Mawe; Davina Chan, the president's wife; coach William McKenny; and official Jeffrey Robby. 
India's economy has grown by 9.2 percent in Q2 (July-September) of the fiscal year 2006-07, which was 8.4 percent last year for the same quarter. 
The annual growth rate, of Asia's fourth-largest economy, for the quarter is also higher than that of the last quarter's (April-June), which was 8.9 percent. 
India's annual economic growth has been an average of 8 percent since past three fiscal years. 
According to Central Statistical Organisation, real estate and communications-led services recorded an unexpected increase of 13.9% in the quarter. 
Manufacturing sectors, which contribute 17 percent in the GDP, have been recorded 11.9 percent growth comparing to last year's 11.3 percent for the same quarter. 
Reserve Bank of India hiked repo rate by 0.25 percent to 7.25 percent, keeping the reverse repo rate unchanged at 6% on October 31. 
Finance minister P. Chidambaram said that he was very worried about the higher inflation rate due to supply side constraints. 
At least seven bomb blasts occurred early on New Year's Eve in Bangkok. 
Four explosions went off almost simultaneously in different parts of Thailand's capital city, at around 6:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT). 
The first blast was in a bus-stop shelter at Victory Monument, which is a busy hub for public transportation. 
Five people were injured, and one of them died later at a hospital. 
Another fatal attack was in the Khlong Toei port district near the Na Ranong intersection, where a bomb hidden in a trash can near a Chinese spirit shrine exploded and injured seven people, one of them a 10-year-old girl. 
Another was a 61-year-old man who later died at a hospital. 
The blast caused a secondary explosion to some nearby cooking-gas cylinders. 
Seventeen people were wounded in a blast at a police box near a Big C supermarket at the Saphan Kwai intersection. 
A witness there said a man dropped a grenade from a pedestrian bridge. 
Another blast was at a police box on Sukhumvit Soi 62. 
A blast was reported at a police box in Nonthaburi Province on the northern outskirts of Bangkok. 
There was another explosion at a Tesco Lotus store in Prachachuen, while another was planted in a trash bin at Seacon Square, a shopping mall in suburban Bangkok's Prawet district. 
A bomb squad was able to defuse the device without mishap. 
Other suspicious packages are being investigated by police at locations throughout the capital, the iTV network in Thailand has reported. 
The New Year's countdown at CentralWorld was held at around 9:00 p.m. with police and Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayothin then urging the thousands of gathered revelers to "go home and stay in peace." 
Since then, there have been a number of schools burnt by suspected Thaksin sympathizers in various parts of the country. 
There is also the ongoing violence by Muslim separatists in the South Thailand insurgency, which has left 1,900 people dead since 2004. 
It was not immediately clear if the bombings had anything to do with the coup or the southern insurgency. 
In southern Afghanistan in the province of Ghazni, the 29-year old Dutch pilot Michael Donkervoort died when his F-16 fighter jet crashed. 
"The plane was flying at a great height when the accident occurred, which means it can be ruled out that the craft was shot down. " 
"We therefore assume it was an accident," said the Dutch Defense Ministry. 
There has been an investigation launched into the cause of the crash, which was found by a team of rescuers from the United States. 
The jet was flying with another F-16 when it crashed. 
The history of the riding can, in some measure, be read in the parties fielding candidates; in addition to the four national parties there are contestants from Libertarian, Communist, and Marxist-Leninist parties. 
The rich diversity of the riding has less than half of all households reporting English as the first language at home. 
Emerson cited this diversity after announcing he would not be running for a third term. 
"The reality is, Kingsway was an eminently winnable seat," said the Conservative Minister. 
"Not because I'm a hugely popular fellow in Kingsway, but because of vote splits and the way the first-past-the-post system works." 
Key in those vote splits are issues dividing the Liberal and NDP candidates. 
Naturalized Canadian Yuan points to her immigrant history, giving her an empathy with the immigrant and ethnic neighborhoods of the riding. 
"I came with limited means but through hard work, I got recognized and became a successful businesswoman." 
"I understand what immigrants have to go through to reach what they want." 
"I really respect and appreciate and like the multicultural fabric of our riding," says her NDP opponent Davies. 
"I'm the only candidate who lives here with roots here." The Teamster's lawyer is originally from Edmonton, but has been living in Vancouver environs since 1991. 
The Teamster's lawyer is originally from Edmonton, but has been living in Vancouver environs since 1991. 
The Conservative party candidate Salomon Rayek is not responding to press inquiries from several sources, and is cited as an example of a long-shot candidate - a candidate with little likelihood of being elected yet represents the party anyway. 
He's lived for the past three years in the riding, an engineer and small business owner who has a history of community involvement across south Vancouver. 
"I see the neighbourhoods in and around Kingsway as a great place to build on the natural vibrancy of the small business sector as a backbone for ethnically and economically diverse communities." 
The stage for this fight was set in 2006, when newly-elected Liberal Dave Emerson crossed the floor and directly into the Conservative Cabinet, first as Minister of International Trade then as Minister of Foreign Affairs following the resignation of Maxime Bernier. 
His defection stirred a firestorm of controversy locally in the staunchly left-leaning riding, which had elected a Progressive Conservative candidate exactly once since it's creation in 1953 - during the 1958 Diefenbaker landslide. 
The resolution, was submitted in the House of Representatives and referred to the U.S. House Committee on International Relations. 
The resolution comes in response to questions that have been raised about the handling of pre-war intelligence by the Bush administration, and the planning and execution of the Iraq war. 
"We would like to see a member of Congress look into whether or not the president committed impeachable offenses," said John Bonifaz, a constitutional lawyer. 
"We've been having that discussion with a number of offices." 
But Conyers is reluctant to take such a bold step just yet. 
"My inclination at this time is not to do something like that," Conyers said, although he noted that he wanted to press for an investigation in other ways, including sending committee investigators to London. 
Earlier this month, Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) said at a forum held by Conyers "If you read the record of the writing of the Constitution, 'high crimes and misdemeanors' had a very particular meaning at the time of the drafting of the Constitution." 
Rep. Barbara Lee's resolution of inquiry is a less-drastic parliamentary maneuver that would ask the administration to provide more information related to the claims in classified British memos that suggest that pre-war intelligence in Iraq was "fixed" in order to justify the invasion. 
The Resolution of Inquiry is a privileged resolution, which means that if it is not acted on in 14 legislative days after it is introduced, the member of Congress who introduced it is entitled to request that it be brought to the House floor for a vote. 
The committee may take the matter up right away, and could vote it down before the August recess. 
If they do not, they will be required to take it up by September 16th. 
The United States has said that "regional extremists" may be targeting Air Uganda airplane flights between Southern Sudan and Uganda. 
A warning posted yesterday on the Web site of the US Embassy in Khartoum says there is a "potential threat" on the flights between Juba, Sudan and Kampala, Uganda. 
The embassy did not name the potential attackers but said the threat is of "sufficient seriousness," and that air travelers should "maintain vigilance at all times." 
The US has increased its airport security following the failed attempted December 25 bombing of a Delta flight by a Nigerian man with explosives in his underpants. 
Sudan is one of fourteen countries where passengers headed for the US will undergo additional searches at airport security. 
Two scientists working at McGill University in Canada, reporting on their research and the research of other scientists, state in Scientific American that Vitamin D may have many uses in the human body besides building strong bones. 
According to the scientists, Luz E. Tavera-Mendoza and John H. White, Vitamin D intake may also be beneficial in the prevention of cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and fighting tuberculosis, influenza and inflammatory bowel disease. 
The researchers say that there is an emerging "widespread consensus" among experts that a large part of the population has levels of Vitamin D in their bodies that is well below optimal concentrations for health, particularly in temperate regions, due to decreased sunlight and or less time outdoors, and during or just after the winter months. 
One study indicated that as many as 92% of adolescent girls in Northern Europe may have deficient levels of Vitamin D and 37% have severely deficient levels. 
The problem is far worse among African-Americans than Americans with lighter skin. 
Almost half of African-American women may be seriously Vitamin D deficient, with presumably still another fraction deficient. 
Furthermore, the authors say researchers at Harvard University and elsewhere believe the FDA minimum recommended daily allowance of Vitamin D is far too low. 
The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) ranges from 200 to 600 International Units (IU). 
The first author takes 1000 IU during wintertime and the second author takes 5,000 IU in wintertime. 
They do caution, however, that there is a level at which Vitamin D becomes toxic. 
Similar research has also been recently performed by researchers at the Queensland University of Technology who found that many elderly were likely not getting sufficient Vitamin D due in part to insufficient exposure to the sun. 
The shooting death by Canadian troops of a 10 year-old boy in Afghanistan has raised fears of a backlash and retaliation. 
The boy was shot and a teenager injured at around 5pm local time yesterday when, while driving a motorcycle, they sped through a roadblock cordoning off the scene of a suicide bombing. 
A soldier fired a bullet which passed through the 17 year-old driver and killed the boy. 
"A motorcycle carrying two people broke through the Afghan National Police outer security cordon at high speed," said Colonel Fred Lewis, deputy commander of the Canadian contingent of NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. 
"The driver failed to heed multiple warnings to stop as he headed towards the inner Canadian cordon. " 
"A Canadian ISAF soldier then opened fire in a defensive application of our rules of engagement. " 
"A single round struck both the driver and the passenger of the motorcycle." 
Lewis doubts soldiers had time to fire warning shots due to the speed of the oncoming motorcycle. 
He also said that while no explosives were found on the vehicle he had a "sneaking suspicion" that soldiers feared the motorcycle carried a second suicide bomber and acted defensively. 
He added that he was concerned that the Taliban would try to exploit the incident for propaganda purposes and that he was concerned about a possible backlash by locals. 
"I would be concerned about it and I think we need to pass the right message to the Afghan people," he said. 
"The message is that we're here to help them and we certainly would never want to hurt them." 
Relatives of the boys were at the gates of the Canadian military base last night demanding answers. 
Corporal David Braun was killed in the suicide attack which occurred two hours before the shooting. 
Three other soldiers were wounded but are listed in good condition. 
An Afghan child also died in the blast which occurred when a suicide bomber rammed his car into a Canadian convoy on patrol in Kandahar. 
Corporal Braun is the 27th Canadian soldier to die since Canadian military operations in Afghanistan began in late 2001 as part of the American led "War on Terror". 
Researchers at Japan's Kanazawa University announced the identification of a hormone produced by the liver, apparently a previously unknown cause of insulin resistance. 
The discovery may offer new research targets in treating insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. 
Insulin resistance (IR) is a condition where the body's cells are unable to respond properly to insulin-based treatments. 
The pancreas continues insulin production but fails to prevent increases in glucose levels; in other words, the body becomes unable to respond to the insulin properly. 
The researchers found the liver expresses higher levels of the gene encoding "selenoprotein P" (SEPP1) in people with type 2 diabetes – those with more insulin resistance. 
This new connection between SEPP1 and adipokine is to be an area for further research. 
The discovery may help in understanding plaques associated with Alzheimer's disease. 
Researchers at Kyushu University in Fukuoka, Japan concluded in an earlier study that insulin resistance and the development of plaques found in Alzheimer's sufferers were likely linked. 
The World Health Organisation estimates 37 million people worldwide live with dementia and/or Alzheimer's. 
Former New Mexico governor Gary Johnson received the 2012 presidential nomination of the U.S. Libertarian Party at Saturday's Libertarian National Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada. 
Judge James P. Gray of California was selected as his running mate. 
Johnson's association with the Libertarian Party stretches back to 1993, when he was a dues-paying-member for about a year. 
In 2000, the party recruited him to run as their presidential nominee, but he rejected the offer, saying, "I'm a Republican, and I'm not going to run for President." 
As a Republican, Johnson was elected and re-elected as governor of New Mexico in 1994 and 1998. 
During his governorship, he vetoed over 750 bills, more than all other then-governors combined, and left the state with a $1 billion budget surplus. 
Since leaving office in 2003 due to term limits, he has advocated for marijuana legalization, climbed Mount Everest, and has entered into presidential politics. 
During the 2008 Republican primaries, Johnson endorsed the candidacy of Congressman Ron Paul, the Libertarian Party's 1988 presidential nominee. 
In 2012, he chose to mount his own presidential campaign, seeking the Republican Party nomination on a platform of non-interventionism in foreign affairs and extensive cuts to the federal budget. 
Though he participated in two early Republican debates, Johnson was barred from most due to low poll numbers. 
As a result, in December, he decided to end his Republican campaign and return to the Libertarian Party. 
After months of campaigning, Johnson edged activist R. Lee Wrights on the first ballot with 70 percent of the 595 convention delegates. 
In contrast, former Congressman Bob Barr took six ballots to secure the 2008 nomination. 
Upon his victory, Johnson proclaimed, "I am honored and I just want to pledge that no one will be disappointed." 
He suggested the party nominate James P. Gray as his running mate, and they complied, choosing Gray as the vice presidential nominee. 
Gray is a jurist, who has served as a trial judge for Orange County, California since 1983. 
He ran for Congress as a Republican in 1998, and was the Libertarian Party's 2004 nominee for U.S. Senate in California. 
In his writings and media appearances, Gray has advocated against the War on Drugs. 
In 2008, the Libertarian Party appeared on 45 state ballots with Barr winning 0.4 percent of the popular vote. 
A recent Public Policy Polling (PPP) survey shows Johnson with six percent national support in a matchup with President Barack Obama and the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. 
A PPP poll from December showed Johnson with 23 percent support in a three way race in New Mexico. 
The United Kingdom Home Secretary Charles Clarke has lost his position in a Cabinet reshuffle by Tony Blair, on the morning after the Labour Party suffered losses in local elections across England. 
The news follows two weeks of headlines caused by the release of over 1000 foreign prisoners mistakenly released from prison at the end of their sentence rather than being deported. 
Current Defence Secretary John Reid will replace Clarke as the new Home Secretary, and Jack Straw will become Commons leader. 
The inventor of The Club steering lock James E. Winner, Jr. has died in a head-on car accident in Clarion County, Pennsylvania aged 81 today. 
Authorities say the accident occurred when Winner drove his SUV into oncoming traffic. 
Winner created The Club steering lock in the early 80s after his car was stolen. 
He came up with the idea while fighting in the Korean War; he secured his vehicle with metal chains to stop anybody taking it. 
He sold the first Club in Pennsylvania and later founded Winner International and sold over ten million units. 
Winner also owned hotels, a steel company, and other companies. 
A spokesman for Winner International said in a statement, "[this is] a very difficult time for all of us and the family would request that you honor their privacy." 
Friday, an undersea earthquake off the far east coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula was felt in the capital city of Moscow, 10,000 kilometers away. 
The earthquake occurred 600km below sea level in the Okhotsk Sea and recorded an 8.2 magnitude on the Richter Scale, with the Moscow shock measured as 1.0 on the scale. 
Citizens in Moscow said that the tremors were not "really strong" but they were enough to shake things hanging on walls. 
The last time such a shock was felt in Moscow was in 1984. 
This is a so-called deep-focus earthquake, that's why it was felt at such a large territory. 
If an earthquake happens at such a low depth, the waves move along low layers, practically the mantle, but weaken significantly before reaching the earth surface. 
This is why there usually is no injuries or casualties in such cases. 
Sahkalin Island was under a tsunami warning on Friday, however, it was lifted soon after. 
The island may have to prepare for a tsunami situation again, with another under sea earthquake predicted in the next week with a magnitude of over 7.0. 
Authorities from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation are currently investigating death threats targeted towards the New York investment firm Goldman Sachs. 
Threatening letters were sent to 20 U.S. newspapers, stating: "Goldman Sachs." 
The letter was described as being neatly written in red ink on blue-lined loose-leaf paper, and was signed "A.Q.U.S.A". 
The letters were believed to have been mailed from Queens, New York. 
The bank is working closely with law enforcement authorities, however, it was told by Goldman Sachs that the threat is not likely to be credible. 
A spokesperson for the bank says they take any threat very seriously. 
"We have a broad range of security measures in place to counter all likely threats and we're monitoring the situation closely." 
Goldman Sachs is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers. 
More than 3,000 of its employees work in Jersey City, New Jersey, in the state's tallest building. 
Three people were killed and another was injured during a campus shooting at University of Alabama's Shelby Center for Science and Technology in Huntsville, Alabama. 
Several other possible victims were soon rushed by ambulance to a nearby hospital. 
The surrounding area has since been cordoned off, and the entire university is currently under lockdown. 
"We have three confirmed people who are dead, one injured. 
"The shooter is in custody," university spokesperson, Ray Garner, told local media on the scene. 
Mr. Garner also said the shooter was a female, but he could not identify her or any of the victims. 
Pioneer Malaysian bloggers Ahiruddin Attan and Jeff Ooi have been sued for defamation by a leading Malaysian newspaper, The New Straits Times. 
They are alleged to have defamed top executives of the English daily. 
The case marks the first time bloggers have been sued for libel in the country. 
The oldest newspaper group in Malaysia is owned by the Media Prima group, which is in turn owned by the United Malays National Organization, the leading party in the government. 
Malaysia has strict media laws but they function less effectively on newer forms of electronic media. 
Leading members of the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (the National Front) have suggested making amendments to its media laws, such as to punish bloggers who publish materials that are deemed controversial and "anti-government". 
Falkirk were today relegated from the Scottish Premier League (SPL), after they failed to beat Kilmarnock away from home. 
The teams fought out a 0–0 draw at Rugby Park, a game which did not see many shots on goal with only nine in the whole game. 
It is the first time Falkirk have been in the second tier of Scottish football since 2005. 
Kilmarnock had previously been two points clear of twelfth position, occupied instead by Falkirk. 
The team in last place would be relegated, and, only needing a draw, Kilmarnock played a slow and defensive game. 
It is the first time Falkirk have been in the second tier of Scottish football since 2005. 
With only two shots on target the entire game, much of the credit for the draw went to each team's defensive line, putting in several last-ditch tackles to stifle attacks. 
While Falkirk had the upper hand in the first half possession-wise, the contest was more even in the second. 
On 77 minutes, the Falkirk side had the ball in the net, but the goal was disallowed for a clear foul on the Kilmarnock goalkeeper. 
Shortly after, Kilmarnock clipped the crossbar with a Craig Bryson effort. 
Falkirk had a glorious opportunity to win the game on 86 minutes, when the ball landed for Ryan Flynn with the goal empty, but the young midfielder put it over from ten yards. 
Kilmarnock manager Jimmy Calderwood, speaking after the game, spoke of his experiences: "It was a long, long day." 
"I wouldn't advise it for anybody to be honest, you know. " 
"We had a chance on the counter attack, we didn't take it, and then I think it was the 92nd or 93rd minute young Flynn missed a dottie of a chance." 
When asked about his future at the club, Calderwood replied: "I'll see what the idea is." 
" I wouldn't want to stay with too many games like this." 
The manager of Falkirk, Steven Pressley, also told Radio Scotland his views on the game: "It was a very emotional day, you know, we're bitterly disappointed, but once again I couldn't ask any more from this group of players. " 
"The things we talk about, the desire, the effort, the application, they were in abundance today." 
This was Pressley's first season as a manager, and he was questioned on his experience in the role: "I love it. " 
"It's been an emotional day today, but in terms of my three months in charge, it's been a terrific experience. " 
"I very much enjoy it here and hopefully we can certainly build for next season." 
14 people have died after heavy rain and flash flooding hit a gorge near the south western city of Chongqing, China. 
It is reported that a group of hikers entered a forbidden area of the Tanzhangxia Gorge along with a guide. 
16 members of the group of 35 were rescued but 14 died and 5 are still missing. 
The flooding was caused by a heavy rainstorm on Saturday which caused a wall of water to trigger down the gorge. 
Around 400 rescue workers are helping the rescue effort and looking for any possible survivors. 
Several homes and streets were flooded during the rainstorm despite the effort of the villagers who built temporary flood guards. 
On Saturday, May 29, Bingu wa Mutharika, President of the African country of Malawi, granted pardons to a gay couple who had been sentenced to 14 years in jail for sodomy and indecency charges. 
Mutharika, who has in the past dismissed homosexuality as alien, stated that he was releasing the couple on humanitarian grounds. 
On Thursday, the President of South Africa condemned the decision of the Malawi courts in a rare dissenting statement stating, "We have condemned the action taken to arrest people in terms of our constitution," in response to questions about the Malawi arrests. 
In December, Steven Monjeza, 26, and Tiwonge Chimbalanga, 20, were arrested following a personal engagement ceremony. 
The men were charged with gross indecency and unnatural acts, based on laws imposed during the British colonial period in Malawi. 
The largest extrasolar planet or exoplanet has been discovered orbiting the star GSC 02620-00648, around 1,435 light years away. 
The planet, named TrES-4, after the Transatlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES) is 1.7 times the size of the planet Jupiter. 
TrES-4 also has a lower mass than Jupiter and an extremely low density of 0.2 grams per cubic centimetre, which is less than a wine cork. 
TrES-4 orbits its star at a distance of only 7 million km (4.5 million miles), meaning that the temperature of the planet is estimated at 1,327°C (approximately 1,600K or 2,300°F). 
Mandushev went on to say, "Because of the planet's relatively weak pull on its upper atmosphere, some of the atmosphere probably escapes in a comet-like tail." 
Due to the planet's size, current theories about superheated giant planets find it hard to explain why it is so large. 
Francis O'Donovan, a graduate student in astronomy at the California Institute of Technology which operates one of the TrES telescopes said, "We continue to be surprised by how relatively large these giant planets can be. 
"But if we can explain the sizes of these bloated planets in their harsh environments, it may help us better understand our own Solar System planets and their formation." 
Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who jointly wrote together with a third author, a 1982 Non-Fiction book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail have taken The Da Vinci Code publisher Random House, to court claiming that The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail storyline has been stolen by Dan Brown. 
The third author of Holy Blood and the Holy Grail Henry Lincoln, is not involved in the case. 
Random House is the of publisher of both The Da Vinci Code and The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail. 
The central theme of the two books is that the bloodline from a marriage between Jesus and Mary Magdalene survives today. 
Random House has denied the claim and, Random House chief executive Gail Rebuck says in a statement that she believed the lawsuit was without merit. 
"As publisher of both The Da Vinci Code and The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, we are genuinely saddened that two of the three authors of HBHG have chosen to bring this litigation against us...Random House takes no pleasure in defending a legal action that it believes is without merit and we are confident that we will prevail." 
If this case is successful it could threaten the film; starring Tom Hanks and Sir Ian McKellen from opening. 
The Da Vinci Code is a fiction book and has over 36 million copies in print worldwide. 
The dust jacket for the novel apparently includes longitude and latitude coordinates which lead to the CIA headquarters near Langley, Virginia. 
Brown's next book, The Solomon Key, is rumoured to be about the Yale Skull and Bones society. 
Notable alumni of the society include current United States President George W. Bush, former President George H.W. Bush, and Massachusettes Senator John Kerry. 
New Zealand beat South Africa by 5 wickets in the Super 8 phase of the World Cup at the Cricket National Stadium, St. George's, Grenada, securing their place in the semi-finals, along with Australia, Sri Lanka and a currently unknown team. 
South Africa will have to beat England in their upcoming game in order to secure their progression. 
Wikinews has learned that American rock singer Meat Loaf has taken ill during a concert in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. 
He told the audience that it was "the last concert of his life," and left the stage. 
The incident came 70 minutes into the show on Halloween night. 
During the opening of Paradise by the Dashboard Light he suggested that the crowd of thousands should enjoy the performance as it was the last of his career. 
He attempted to sing the first line of the song, but instead said "Ladies and gentlemen, I love you, and I thank you for coming, but I can no longer continue." 
"I'm taking my coat off; I bow; and I say goodbye forever." 
He then left the stage, soon followed by his band. 
The venue, Metro Radio Arena, have announced that the singer had a sore throat. 
However, they also say that fans are unlikely to be refunded the cost of their tickets, priced at between £37.50 and £45, because he had performed for over an hour. 
Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes, along with his entire cabinet, resigned Saturday after President Jorge Sampaio dissolved the Western European nation's parliament. 
After a slew of crises during Santana Lopes's tenure, including poor credit ratings and accusations of media censorship, Sampaio dissolved the parliament on Friday in an attempt to restore credibility to the nation. 
He then scheduled new elections ahead of the ones already scheduled for 2006. 
Two sculptures have been confiscated and thirteen pro-democracy activists arrested in Hong Kong, in what critics have described as "politically motivated" censorship. 
The sculptures, a new replica of the "Goddess of Democracy" and a carving called the "Tiananmen Massacre Relief", had been placed in the piazza of Hong Kong's Times Square shopping mall in remembrance of the 21st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Incident. 
Although the Causeway Bay piazza is designated as a public space, its day-to-day operations are run by the shopping mall's management. 
They made a complaint that the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China, or the "Alliance" for short, had failed to ask permission for their activities. 
When police and officials from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department attempted to remove the sculptures on the grounds for obstructing public access, they were prevented from doing so by activists for two hours. 
The police made 13 arrests, including that of a legislator for preventing the police from carrying out their duties. 
The statue was removed and is currently in the custody of the Customs and Excise department (C&ED). 
The 13 persons arrested were released on bail the same day. 
Alliance secretary Albert Ho claimed that as Times Square was a public area, the police had no right to stop them, that similar activities had been held before, and that he had "...never been treated so barbarically and so violently...". 
Alliance vice-chairman Lee Cheuk-yan said that C&ED's action was unusual, and that he has contacted the department to find out if the department was trying to censor materials related to the Tiananmen Square incident. 
As part of its Basic Law, Hong Kong continues to enjoy western-style liberties within the One country, two systems settlement within China. 
In the past political activities that are taboo in China proper have been tolerated by the Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (SAR) authorities. 
A passenger was killed Monday evening after a fire started in a washroom aboard a train near Leighton Buzzard, in Bedfordshire, England. 
Emergency services were called to the London Midland train, where they found the body of a female passenger who had suffered burns. 
British Transport Police confirmed one female individual was killed in the blaze. 
A spokesperson said: "The deceased woman has injuries consistent with burns, no other person is believed to have been involved in the incident." 
"Officers from the fire and ambulance services are on the scene." 
The fire has caused serious disruption to trains on the West Coast Main Line. 
A spokesperson for Network Rail said they were attempting to reopen two of the four tracks on the line as London Midland scrambled to organise a replacement bus service. 
London Midland said no-one else was injured in the incident. 
"The fire appeared to have been in the toilet," a spokesperson said. 
Zulia has a large portion of Venezuela's oil and gas reserves and is ruled by governor Manuel Rosales, a friend of the United States. 
He said that the imperialists are attempting to give strength and form to the secessionist movement, with the goal of controlling the oil in the region. 
Wikinews witnessed three rugby union matches at Sunshine Coast Stadium in Queensland, Australia this past Saturday. 
Upon arrival, a woman's sevens match was in progress between the Sunshine Coast Stingrays and Toowoomba Army. 
Sunshine Coast won this contest 26 to 15, an 11 point margin. 
The local A-Grade contest between University and Caloundra started almost immediately after the completion of the woman's game. 
Caloundra went ahead after 12 minutes with a converted try. 
They would lead by 26 points early in the second half before University gained the momentum. 
University put on 21 points to 6 in the final half an hour. 
The Sunshine Coast Stingrays lost their last Premier Rugby home game for a month against Sunnybank 36 points to 6. 
Sunnybank lead 17 points to 3 in the dying moments of the first half, but conceded a penalty which resulted in the hosts scoring what would ultimately be their final points of the game. 
They won lineouts against the throw and counter rucked in a more efficient manner than Sunshine Coast. 
The final score in a lop side contest — Sunnybank Dragons 36 defeated Sunshine Coast Stingrays 6. 
Aid agencies and Indian government officials have warned that there may be food shortages in the country, following severe floods that affected southern states. 
They said that agricultural production is likely to drop dramatically due to flooding of farmland and crops. 
Officials have predicted that food production in Andra Pradesh, one of the southern states most affected by flooding, will go down by over 900,000 tonnes. 
The waters are said to have ruined large quantities of grain stocks as well. 
Jayakumar Christian, director of World Vision India, an aid agency working in the region, said that "floods and drought have set back India's fight against poverty by years." 
Heavy flooding last week, mainly in Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Karnataka, has killed about three hundred people and forced the evacuation of over a milion. 
The Group of Ministers (GoM) set up by the union government has given the thumbs-up for community radio stations to operate in India. 
The GoM has proposed that universities, registered trusts, civil society bodies and NGOs be allowed to run such stations. 
It has also proposed a single window clearance system to authorise such networks, with the assurance that the requisite clearances will be provided within three months. 
The GoM has also proposed that community radios be allowed up to 5 minutes of commercial advertising for every hour of broadcast. 
The possibility that the proposal may run into some trouble when put before the Cabinet does exist. 
Many private FM channels are supposedly displeased with the idea of having to face more competition. 
There are also concerns that community radios may be used by insurgent groups to compromise India's internal security. 
Those in favour of the proposal, however, say that this concept will start a revolution and empower rural India. 
Columnist, author and visiting professor at Centre for Policy Research, B G Verghese says, "This operates at the grassroot level and once people can have access to this kind of information, you can put across anything to them, whether it is education or health." 
"The twin towers have happened, there is no way you can stop it." 
According to reports, the government of People's Republic of China has stopped restricting access to the Chinese Wikipedia in some parts of the country starting on July 3. 
The report originated on the Wikimedia Foundation's mailing list quoting a website saying "Wikipedia Chinese version unblocked." 
Wikinews has confirmed that the reports are accurate through discussion with people attempting to access Wikipedia from China. 
Despite the report, there are still some issues with accessing the site according to readers of the site. 
Sources tell Wikinews that although the English version is unblocked, the Chinese version still remains blocked or hard to access in many parts of the country. 
This comes after the Chinese unblocking of the all other language variations of Wikipedia in April. 
Ian A. Holton, who is an administrator on the English Wikipedia, has confirmed that the Chinese Wikipedia is accessible in the Liaoning Province, although users in Shanghai, Shenzhen and some in Beijing are still unable to access the site. 
The restriction in Beijing does not appear to cover the entire area: sources have told Wikinews the site can be accessed in many parts of Beijing. 
There has been some doubt on whether Wikipedia will remain accessible after the Olympic games. 
Christiano Moreschi, another active contributor to the English Wikipedia, said that "I doubt this will last 5 minutes beyond the end of the closing ceremony of the Olympics." 
The International Olympic Committee warned China in April that it wanted the internet freely accessible for the entire duration of the Olympic Summer Games. 
Unrestricted access is guaranteed to the 30,000 reporters and media staff expected for the Olympics under Beijing's 'host city contract'. 
Former President of Russia Boris Yeltsin has died at age 76, according to a Kremlin spokesperson. 
"Today, at 15:45 (11:45 GMT) Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin died in the Central Clinical Hospital as a result of a deteriorating cardio-vascular problem," said the spokesperson. 
The Yeltsin era was a traumatic period in Russian history— marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems. 
Yeltsin maintained a low profile since his resignation, making almost no public statements or appearances. 
However, on February 1, 2006, Yeltsin celebrated his 75th birthday. 
He used this occasion as an opportunity to criticize a "monopolistic" United States foreign policy, and to state that Vladimir Putin was the right choice for Russia. 
Sporting games are more popular with younger gamers and sporting people with a conjunction from two industries, between sporting and gaming. 
Although games from the NBA series are not the official games of the World Cyber Games, but with fashions of the NBA, and PC gaming population having a stable scale, the NBA game series attracted not only basketball and game fans but also sporting and gaming media world-wide, and its market was progressively expanded from America and Europe to Asia and other countries. 
With those issues in mind, Wikinews Reporter Rico Shen briefly interviewed Event Director of NBA Asia Corporation Ritchie Lai about the sports gaming market developments at the NBA 2K8 Asia Championship Taiwan Qualifier. 
The Colombian Caracol Radio reported on January 31, 2005 that the government of Colombia released a detailed document which describes how the FARC operates in Colombia and around the world. 
Kevin Rudd, Australia's Leader of the Opposition has promised a special home buyers' bank account with tax concessions if Labor is elected on November 24. 
Mr Rudd says AU$64,000 could be saved by a couple on the average wage over five years. 
The Housing Industry Association has welcomed the announcement but says it would be a start and would "avoid a stampede of first home buyers into the market." 
Prime Minister John Howard is bracing himself for a possible Wednesday interest rate rise which may decide the election. 
Howard has defended the rumours, saying that some rise would be 'unavoidable'. 
Police are investigating a shooting on Buffalo's East Side late Saturday night which left one person in critical condition at a local hospital. 
According to Buffalo police communications, at approximately 11:00 p.m. EDT a young male in his late teens was shot at least once in the head near 118 East Utica Street. 
Police say that witness reports indicate that the shooter then ran over the victim with a car and sped off Westbound on E. Utica. 
No other details on the suspect or his vehicle were given. 
The victim was taken to Erie County Medical Center where he is undergoing treatment. 
The extent of his injuries has not yet been released, but he is listed in stable condition. 
Three nations in three continents have seen attention focused on high suicide rates this week. 
A study found Scotland's suicide rate to be increasing away from neighbouring England, Russian press and politicians are examining the world's third-highest teen suicide rate, and new figures showed increasing Aboriginal children's suicides in Australia's Northern Territory. 
"Until the highest authorities see suicide as a problem, our joint efforts will be unlikely to yield any results," Boris Polozhy of Moscow's Serbsky psychiatric center said yesterday. 
Only fellow ex-USSR nations Belarus and Kazakhstan have higher teen suicide rates than Russia, which is at around 20 per 100,000 nationally. 
Tuva, Siberia, and nearby Buryatiya have rates of 120 and 77 per 100,000 respectively. 
Thursday saw national children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov say 4,000 youths kill themselves each year. 
He said Russian schools, which are criticised for understaffing and perceived inattention to bullying, should teach psychology. 
"I have seen websites that offer a thousand ways of killing oneself," he claimed. 
Astakhov wanted schools to offer assistance via a social networking presence and tackle online bullying. 
The overall national suicide rate is decreasing — down from 42 per 100,000 in 1995 to 23.5 two years ago. 
The high rate amongst teens is attributed to both school problems and violence at home. 
Recent high-profile cases include yesterday's death of a twelve-year-old who hung himself at home in Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, and two fourteen-year-olds who jumped hand-in-hand to their ends from a building in Lobnya, Moscow. 
Researchers from the Scottish cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Manchester in England, have been looking at data from 1960 to 2008. 
Although Scotland had the lower rate until 1968, England and Wales has had the lower rate since. 
Both areas had increasing rates until the southern side started to fall in the '90s, and in recent years the gap has significantly increased. 
Data was sorted by age, gender, and method; marked increases were seen among Scotsmen aged from 25 to 54 with hanging increasing in popularity. 
"This study adds to our understanding about patterns of suicide in Great Britain by producing sound evidence on divergences in long-term trends in Scotland compared to England and Wales," said Professor Stephen Platt, a lead researcher from Edinburgh University's Centre for Population Health Sciences. 
"In a future companion paper we will suggest explanations for the persisting higher rate of suicide in Scotland." 
Fellow joint lead researcher Roger Webb of the Centre for Suicide Prevention of Manchester University said the high Scottish hanging rate was "of particular concern as hanging has high case-fatality and is difficult to prevent, except within institutional settings." 
He noted "a public information campaign about hanging" could be one way of reducing the rate. 
Paid for by the Scottish taxpayer, the results appeared in the British Journal of Psychiatry. 
In an incident with parallels to the recent Moscow deaths, in 2009 Scottish and British media publicised a high-profile case in which two teenagers leap together from the Erskine Bridge, a famed suicide spot over the where an estimated fifteen people kill themselves each year. 
This week also saw Howard Bath, Children's Commissioner for Australia's Northern Territory, suggest the area had the highest proportion of Aborignal girl suicides in the West. 
There has been a significant increase since an emergency intervention five years ago in response to a report titled Little Children are Sacred which documented widespread sexual abuse of Northern Territory children and failures by authorities to adequately respond. 
A national government-backed Northern Territory suicide inquiry is ongoing and due to report next month. 
The inquiry has heard clusters of deaths occurred around East and West Arnhem, Katherine, and the vicinity of Alice Springs. 
The Tiwi Islands had a very high rate from 2000 to 2005, but has now not had a suicide for a year. 
Female suicide rates have greatly increased to account for 40% of Northern Territory suicides amongst those aged less than eighteen. 
"We now have a situation in the territory where there are almost as many female as male suicides," said Bath. 
Lack of information is a problem; the all-party inquiry has heard evidence of much under-reporting and poor data collection. 
The Menzies School of Health's Gary Robinson called for a Queensland-style register of suicides. 
Robinson suggests cannabis-induced psychosis to be a contributing factor but laments "The big problem is nobody keeps any data." 
He also suggested bullying, as in Russia, is a problem while Bath notes violence against women may also take a role. 
"Aboriginal women are being hospitalised for assault at 80 times the rate of other women... " 
"Exposure to violence greatly increases the risk of a person taking their life." 
He also notes "I am concerned, as the commissioner, about children who are frequently exposed to violence in the home or in the immediate family." 
"The method chosen is usually hanging and it is a particularly lethal method, far more than an overdose," said Bath. 
New South Wales, with the nation's largest indigenous population, has a suicide rate of one per 100,000 but the Northern Territory rate is over 30 per 100,000. 
At around noon yesterday, a Heli-Express helicopter heading towards Macau crashed into the sea near Hong Kong's Shun Tak Centre with thirteen on board. 
Witnesses say the aircraft let out a loud 'bang', with no flames, then slowly descended to the sea. 
The New Zealand Herald quoted Hong Kong's Cable TV as saying that the rotorcraft performed an emergency landing on water after experiencing mechanical problems. 
Marine police, fire services, the Civil Aviation Department, and the Marine Department immediately sent rescue ships to the scene, which is between Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsular, inside Victoria Harbour. 
All passengers were safely rescued and sent to the Queen Mary Hospital for treatment. 
Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine can be jailed for refusing to reveal their sources to a U.S. federal grand jury, according to the decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington D.C. 
The reporters were among those approached with information about Valerie Plame as a CIA employee, and have refused to testify before an inquiry into the leak of national security information. 
Neither reporter actually wrote an article about Ms. Plame, whose identity was actually broken by Robert Novak in a July 14, 2003 column in the Chicago Sun-Times, but they have been the target of Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald of Illinois. 
The U.S. Intelligence Identities Act makes it illegal to reveal the identity of CIA officers. 
However, the three-judge panel's decision on Tuesday upheld a lower court's ruling last year that Ms. Miller and Mr. Cooper should answer confidential conversations with government sources. 
Citing secret evidence presented by Mr. Fitzgerald, the panel said this case differs from the classic uncovering of wrongdoing by reporters relying on unnamed sources. 
The Russian and Turkish governments today signed an agreement that would lead to Russia building a US$20 billion nuclear power plant in Turkey, the country's first. 
The plant will be built on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and construction will commence as soon as the deal is approved by both countries; the building process is expected to take around seven years. 
The reactor will also be owned by Russia, which will hold "no less than a controlling stake," according to Sergey Kiriyenko, who is the head of Rosatom, a Russian nuclear energy corporation. 
The reactor to be built is the second proposed power plant in the same location; a separate proposal for a four-reactor complex built by a Russian-led consortium was rejected by a Turkish court last year. 
Russia has attempted to build a nuclear power plant in Turkey, and the contract signed Wednesday "really looks rather impressive," according to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. 
The contract for the reactor was one of 20 signed by the two countries today, expected to result in around US$25 billion of Russian investment in Turkey. 
Other major contracts signed include projects to transport Russian oil and natural gas through Turkey to ports on the Mediterranean Sea. 
One such project is a major pipeline between the Turkish ports of Samsun on the Black Sea and Ceyhan on the Mediterranean Sea, built in conjunction with an oil refinery in Ceyhan. 
In a press conference, Russian President Medvedev said that the agreements signal "a new page in our cooperation...Our talks today showed that Turkey and Russia are strategic partners not only in words but in deeds." 
Turkish President Abdullah Gul said that the two countries "share a determination to increase the trade volume from a current US$38 billion to US$100 billion in five years." 
Riad al-Saray, an Iraqi television presenter, has been shot dead. 
He was killed at 06.00 am (03.00 GMT) on Tuesday in western Baghdad by unknown gunmen while he was heading to his work place in Karbala. 
Saray presented several political and religious programs on al-Iraqiya TV. 
Television journalist Ahmed al-Mullah said that traffic police saw Saray's car veer off the road and crash but did not hear any gunshots. 
He said that police have reported a silencer was used in what is thought to have been a planned attack. 
In addition to being a television presenter, Saray was also a trained lawyer, and served on the local council of a Shiite neighborhood. 
Human rights organization Reporters Without Borders released a statement stating, "Reporters Without Borders calls for a proper investigation capable of identifying and arresting both the perpetrators and instigators of this murder and bringing them to justice." 
"It would be deplorable it this killing were to go unpunished, which unfortunately has been the case in 99 per cent of the 230 murders of journalists and media workers since the US-led invasion in 2003." 
Saray's death brings the death toll of al-Iraqiya journalists killed since the removal of Saddam Hussien to 15. 
A total of 230 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since the 2003 U.S invasion. 
A song released yesterday in support of the BBC is making an impact on several UK music charts. 
Stand-up comic Mitch Benn wrote I'm Proud of the BBC in response to the criticism the licence fee-funded corporation has received from its commercial competitors and the right-wing press. 
The Conservative-led coalition government announced two weeks ago that the licence fee is to be frozen for six years, and that the BBC will take over responsibility from the Foreign Office for funding the World Service. 
The song, loosely inspired by Billy Joel, lists many of the BBC's achievements. 
Benn, a regular on BBC Radio 4's satirical programme The Now Show, decided to release I'm Proud of the BBC as a single after realising that it was provoking emotional responses from audiences during his nationwide tour. 
He told BBC Radio 5 Live that the song was receiving standing ovations, and people were wiping away tears. 
A video was filmed last month outside of Broadcasting House, White City and Television Centre with a cast of volunteers recruited from the social networking site Twitter. 
The song was officially released as a 'download-only' track on Monday. 
Yesterday's charts reveal that it has reached pole position on Amazon's rock chart, and is listed as the 14th most downloaded track overall. 
Fans have created two Facebook groups to promote the single in an attempt to get it to a good position in the UK Singles Chart, which would force the BBC's commercial rivals to play the track. 
Benn says that he has always been a supporter of the BBC, and yesterday compared it to the emergency services. 
"You also pay for the Fire Brigade, whether or not your house burns down. " 
He points out that he only receives a small percentage of his income from the corporation; last night he played with his band The Distractions at the Bloomsbury Theatre in London. 
The body of a 28-year-old Pakistani journalist was found in his home in Lahore, Pakistan on Friday. 
The Pakistani police stated the journalist, Faisal Qureshi, who was working for a London-based online site, The London Post, was murdered on Friday in the early morning. 
Zahid Ahmed, a brother of the deceased, told police his brother had been "receiving threats" and "was a victim of targeted killing". 
Investigators have said the journalist was found with visible torture marks, as well as numerous stab wounds. 
Zahid told police he hurried to his brother's place late Thursday after his brother failed to answer his phone. 
Police have stated Faisal's laptop computer and phone were missing at the scene of the crime. 
The independent New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Friday for an independent inquiry into the death. 
Over 100 people died in a massive stampede at the Chamunda Devi temple Jodhpur, in the western state of Rajasthan, India. 
A temple wall collapsed, causing panic among ten of thousands of gathered Hindu worshippers who then began to run for safety, causing the stampede. 
Several are still believed to be trapped under the rubble. 
According to Malini Agarwal, a Jodhpur police officer, over 10,000 Hindus had gathered at a temple to perform their religious rites. 
Most of the injured have been transported to the nearest hospital and appeals were being made for the remaining pilgrims to be calm and peaceful. 
In August another deadly incident resulting from a stampede occurred in the second day of a nine-day religious festival at the Naina Devi Temple in Himachal Pradesh state; more than 130 people were killed due to panic in Northern India. 
Another incident in January 2005 saw more than 250 Hindu worshippers killed in a stampede near a remote temple in the state of Maharashtra. 
The UK Audit Commission has delivered a report that questions the reappointment of Mike Storey, the former leader of Liverpool City Council. 
It also brings into question the conduct of his replacement as leader, Warren Bradley. 
This follows a report from KPMG, which the council has refused to release. 
Earlier in 2006 the council was the subject of a series of reports from alleged council insiders via a blog. 
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake has hit the Western Australian mining town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder. 
The earthquake, which struck at 08:17 am AWST (00:17 UTC), is the strongest to hit the region of Goldfields-Esperance in 50 years. 
Goldfields is considered one of the more geologically stable regions of Australia, in comparison to the southwest corner of the state, which is an active zone at the edge of the Yilgarn block. 
Kalgoorlie is located 600 kilometres (370 miles) east of the Western Australian capital Perth and is historically the largest gold producing centre of its type in Australia. 
Kalgoorlie is also the largest urban centre in Goldfields, and has the largest number of buildings that would be vulnerable to such an earthquake. 
Minor casualties and building damage have been reported, and miners and schoolchildren have been evacuated. 
Lech Walesa, the founder of the Solidarity movement has quit the organisation. 
The Solidarity trade union movement and political party was founded in 1980 to combat Poland's Communist government. 
"I have given up my membership last year because Solidarity and I have gone separate ways," said Walesa who served as Poland's first post-Communist president from 1990 to 1995. 
Walesa, 62, is boycotting Solidarity's 26th anniversary celebration this month as he does not want to appear with current President Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski with whose policies he disagrees. 
"His approach is to first destroy and then think about what to build," Walesa said of the president. 
Last August, he said of the union "This is no longer my union." 
It was revealed today that Walesa has not formally been a member of Solidarity since the beginning of this year. 
Walesa says he left Solidarity after the union ignored his criticism of its support of the Law and Justice Party led by the Kaczynskis. 
Solidarity was created as an independent trade union when such organizations were outlawed under the Communist state. 
Despite attempts to destroy the group through repressions, it came to embody a broad social anti-communist movement within Poland. 
It is credited as one of many dissident movements which in the 1980s pressured reforms which eventually led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and states in its sphere of influence. 
Solidarity eventually came to power in Poland with Walesa serving as President of Poland from 1990 to 1995. 
The Baltic state of Estonia expects to sign a border agreement with the Russian Federation in a few weeks, before the European Union-Russia Summit, which is set to take place in early May. 
Urmas Paet, the Estonian Foreign Minister said, "There are no concrete arrangements yet but we hope the border agreement will be signed by the time the EU-Russia summit begins in Moscow on May 10." 
Estonia and Latvia, which were occupied by the Soviet Union until the early 1990s, joined the European Union in 2004. 
The two countries both border the Russian Federation, and have been trying to sign definitive border treaties for a long time since independence, but Moscow has repeatedly delayed on signing. 
Solana said he hoped the treaty would be signed at the EU-Russia Summit, because "Relations with the countries on the EU border [such as Russia] are very important." 
Catholic priest Andrea Santore, 61, who was based at the Trabzon Santa Maria Catholic Church was shot dead during prayer in the northern Turkish province of Trabzon on Sunday. 
The murderer, a 17-18 year old man is being sought by the police. 
The killer entered the church at 3:45 pm and shot the Italian priest from behind. 
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the assassination of a Catholic priest. 
Many people in Turkey associate this incident with the current crisis over the publication of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in European papers. 
In accordance with the Treaty on Open Skies, Norway and Denmark started conducting observation flights over Belarus and Russia yesterday. 
These flights are expected to last until July 1, with seven Belarusian and two Russian inspectors monitoring foreign planes. 
The treaty establishes a program of unarmed aerial surveillance flights over the entire territory of its 34 state participants. 
The treaty is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants, regardless of size, a direct role in gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them. 
Russia and Belarus signed the treaty in 1992 in Helsinki. 
According to the spokesman of Belarusian Ministry of Defense, Russia and Belarus have finished their analogous flight over the USA on June 25. 
Miriam Stucky is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Peterborough riding. 
Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed her regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign. 
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. 
Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents. 
Australian Federal Police (AFP) have arrested six people following a breach of security at the secretive Pine Gap Joint Defence Facility in central Australia on Friday. 
The members of the group Christians Against All Terrorism (CAAT) breached base security at dawn and two of them infiltrated two perimeter fences and scaled a building, before being arrested. 
Two of the protesters photographed themselves atop a building inside the spy base. 
A Northern Territory police spokeswoman said three men and two women had been charged over the incident while another woman would be summoned to appear in Alice Springs court next week over obstructing police. 
The spokeswoman said the activists had allegedly cut holes in the external and internal fences at the defence facility. 
She said the combined charges carried a maximum penalty of seven years jail. 
The group claims it was the first break-in of its kind at Pine Gap. 
The group spoke yesterday of their efforts to conceal a digital camera memory stick in the clothing of key members to avoid the images being confiscated by police. 
Four of the protesters are from Queensland, one is from New South Wales, and the other is from Victoria. 
They say they wanted to conduct a citizens inspection of the controversial Pine Gap facility. 
"We could not allow the US and Australian governments to continue to conceal the role of Pine Gap in the ongoing war in Iraq," said Sean O'Reilly of the group. 
"It's time the Australian public knew the reality of what is happening on our land." 
Group member Jessica Morrison claims there is a lot of secrecy surrounding the facility. 
"So for me it was an attempt to come to a place that I think propagates death and start to proclaim truth," she said. 
Two of the group were released on bail facing charges, including: unlawfully entering a prohibited area destroying or damaging Commonwealth property; trespassing on Commonwealth land; damaging property under the NT law. 
A sixth member was arrested for aiding and abetting but was released without charge. 
Up to 30 police officers were stationed at a roadblock at the turn-off to Pine Gap at 6:00 a.m. local time and Gap staff were ordered to remain in their cars at the roadblock. 
CAAT member Brian Law, said four of the group split into two groups and entered the base in a co-ordinated movement. 
He said four members walked 10km through thick scrub and entered the base at 4:00 a.m. local time. 
Mr Law and the fourth member arrested, former human shield Donna Mulhearn, 37, (taken hostage by militants in Fallujah in Iraq last year) were released. 
Mr O'Reilly said the group conducted a citizens' inspection in protest at Pine Gap's involvement in the ongoing war in Iraq after the group had been refused official entry by Defence Minister Robert Hill. 
"We could not allow the US and Australian governments to continue to conceal the role of Pine Gap in the ongoing war in Iraq," Mr O'Reilly said. 
It was unclear last night whether the group would be charged under the Federal Government's tough new anti-terror laws. 
They were bailed to face the Alice Springs Magistrates Court next Wednesday. 
Toronto FC ended their inaugural season with a 2-2 draw against New England Revolution. 
The game was more evenly match as opposed from the 1st 2 games when New England Revolution won the 1st game 4-0 on April 14 and won the 2nd game 3-0. 
Michael Parkhurst opened the scoring with a goal from his own half just before halftime. 
Taylor Twellman doubled the Revolution lead immediately after the break off a corner kick. 
Toronto FC got a goal back about an hour into the game with Danny Dichio's goal in stoppage time in the 2nd half to secure a point for Toronto FC. 
Toronto FC's season is finished as New England Revolution will face New York Red Bulls in the 1st Round of the playoffs. 
The 2005-2006 Ontario Hockey League season kicked off to a start Wednesday night at Wendler arena in The Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan, USA with the Saginaw Spirit hosting the Plymouth Whalers, with over 4,600 people attending. 
A power shot by a player sent the game into a 5-minute delay when a piece of glass on the boards was shattered during the first period. 
The game opened its first period with 4 goals for the Whalers, with right wing player Dan Collins scoring two. 
Teammates James Neal and John Vigilante picked up the remainder. 
The Spirit also received a goal, made by defenseman Patrick McNeill. 
The second period started with an early goal by Michal Birner for the Spirit. 
Plymouth later rebounded with two goals from players Ryan McGinnis and Dan Collins. 
Later on in the period, Plymouth member Jared Boll was penalized with a ten minute misconduct. 
He did not return to play for the remainder of the game. 
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is facing several lawsuits, including one filed by residents of San Bruno, California, after a gas line exploded in their neighborhood on September 10, completely destroying over 50 structures, 37 of them homes. 
In their lawsuit, residents claim that PG&E knew the pipeline was "defective" and was a "ticking time bomb". 
They further allege that the company was aware that the pipeline could fail, but did not act. 
The lawsuit was filed by at least five families who resided in the Glenview neighborhood of San Bruno. 
The Danko firm who is representing the residents say they expect to file at least a dozen more lawsuits against the company alleging they were liable and responsible for the explosion and the damages that occurred as a result of it. 
"This was a foreseeable consequence of ignoring safety measures," one attorney representing the families said. 
It has also been reported that several other wrongful death lawsuits have been filed against PG&E. 
The explosion and subsequent fire was originally thought to have been a downed commercial aircraft. 
Live scanner communications at the time of the explosion had stated that fire departments from six different companies reported to the scene. 
Residents say that firefighters were not able to bring the blaze under control because the pipeline was active for at least 5 hours after the explosion. 
Residents filing the lawsuits are seeking damages and removal of the pipeline from the neighborhood. 
Jim Ruane, the mayor of San Bruno, backs residents in their request to PG&E to remove the pipeline from Glenview. 
"We want our neighborhood rebuilt, and we want our people back," he said. 
A PG&E spokesperson denied having officially received the lawsuits, but said: "We remain committed to our customers in San Bruno and will continue to be there to help rebuild the neighborhood." 
California State Senator Joseph Dunn, school officials, and environmental professionals met with Kennedy Elementary School parents in a town-hall style meeting in Santa Ana Thursday evening. 
The parents aired their concerns over health issues at schools and workplaces, including a rash of leukemia cases in the student population, and began a dialogue they have been working toward for years. 
Representatives of Markland Manufacturing and of AQMD also spoke at the meeting, explaining their positions. 
The outcome of the meeting was that Senator Dunn and members of the community will tour the Markland facility and meet with county officials, and another public meeting will be held in a couple of weeks. 
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) throughout Europe and the United States are currently assembling a flotilla of up to 20 ships, which will set sail for the Gaza strip in the coming months in an attempt break the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian territory. 
Israeli-Swedish activist Dror Feiler said that the goal of the new flotilla is to double the size of the previous one, and for it to include more than a thousand people. 
"The Israeli Army can stop 12 to 50 ships if it wants," Feiler said. 
The Israel Defense Force is monitoring the actions of the planned flotilla, according to a report in the Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. 
The Israeli army is calling this new fleet of ships "the mother of all flotillas." 
A wide range of scenarios is being prepared for which include the possibility that due to the larger number of ships reported to be part of the flotilla, the Israeli navy may need to intercept it before the ships get close to Israel's shoreline. 
Officials say that Israel will warn ship operators that their crew may be detained and the vessel held until impound fees are paid, claiming the backing of international maritime treaties. 
"The legal approach proved effective as a deterrent, and we're prepared to see it through as a punishment. 
"If we are to pay a price for defending the blockade, the other side will pay a price for challenging it," a senior Israeli government official. 
The first flotilla to challenge the blockade was stopped by Israeli naval commandos in May this year. 
Nine activists were killed, and several dozen activists and seven Israeli commandos were wounded after Israeli troops clashed with activists. 
Islamic militants have vowed to fight pirates holding the Saudi Arabian oil tanker Sirius Star off the Somalian coast. 
The militants are angered over the seizure of a 'Muslim' ship. 
The tanker is anchored near Haradheere, a town controlled by the Islamists. 
The Sirius Star, owned by Saudi state firm Vela International Marine, has a crew of 25 from the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Croatia, Poland, and Britain. 
A ransom of $25 million is being sought, a quarter of the value of the vessel's cargo of oil. 
"Hijacking a Muslim ship is a major crime," said militant spokesman Sheikh Abdi Rihin Isse Adow. 
Spokesman Abdirahim Isse Adow said: "We have arranged our fighters." 
"The first step is to cut off pirates inland from those on the Saudi ship by restricting their supplies and cutting their communications." 
They could have a fight on their hands, as the pirates have also been bringing in fighters in preparation for possible military attacks from various foreign navies that have arrived in the area to combat the growing threat from pirates. 
"I hope the owner of the tanker is wise enough and won't allow any military option because that would be disastrous for everybody. 
"We are here to defend the tanker if attacked," said pirate Abdiyare Moalim. 
91 ships have been attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Arden since the year began, but the Sirius Star is both the largest and furthest from shore to be taken, captured some 420 nautical miles (833 kilometers) from Somalia's coast. 
The news is not entirely bad, however, as a Greek tanker full of refined oil was released today, complete with cargo intact and crew of 19 unharmed. 
The MV Genius, now headed out of the area, was captured September 26, the same day as the MV Faina was taken. 
The Faina remains held with a cargo of military hardware including tanks. 
A man claiming to have attached a bomb to his body has been arrested after a stand-off with police officers in a town in Hertfordshire, England. 
Police were notified of the incident at the Co-operative Bank on Market Street, Watford at approximately 1020 BST (0920 UTC) Thursday. 
Noises resembling bangs were heard at approximately 1320 BST (1220 UTC); the male suspect was placed under arrest at about 1345 BST (1245 UTC), just over three hours after the incident began. 
According to a spokeswoman for the police, "[a]n explosive device of some kind - as yet we don't know what this is - has been removed from this individual." 
Much of the town centre was sealed off during this incident. 
According to a statement from Hertfordshire Constabulary: "Safety of members of the public was paramount and a cordon was put in place and people were evacuated from nearby premises." 
"There will be police activity in the town centre for a while to come." 
"Understandably this caused concern within the community and we would like to thank members of the public for their co-operation in this matter." 
The spokeswoman has reported that the alleged criminal "has been arrested and will be taken to police custody for interview" and that "[i]nvestigations into the nature of this device will continue". 
Complex 40 was first used in 1965, for the maiden flight of the Titan IIIC rocket. 
Following the second Titan III launch, it was modified to serve as a launch pad for the US Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). 
In November 1966, a boilerplate MOL space station was launched on a Titan IIIC from the complex, along with a Gemini capsule, and four satellites. 
Following the cancellation of MOL, it was converted back to a regular Titan launch complex, and was used for 55 launches, of Titan IIIC, 34D, and IV rockets. 
Two planetary probes, two commercial satellites, a British military communications satellite, and numerous payloads for the American armed forces were launched from the complex, which ceased operations in April 2005, when the penultimate Titan IV launched the Lacrosse-5 spy satellite for America's National Reconnaissance Office. 
Along with Launch Complex 41, which was demolished in 1999, LC-40 was used for heavy-lift Titan rocket launches. 
The Mars Observer and Cassini-Huygens missions to Mars and Saturn respectively were launched from Complex 40. 
The launch pad is being demolished to make way for a new complex, which will be used by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, currently scheduled to make its maiden flight in 2009. 
As well as being used for commercial launches, the new LC-40 will be used for cargo resupply missions to the International Space Station, under a Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract with NASA. 
It could eventually be used for manned missions using the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. 
SpaceX currently has a five year lease on the site. 
President George W. Bush has made a surprise visit to Iraq hoping to bolster some support. 
He also went to meet their new Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and talk about next steps in the war. 
Even al-Maliki didn't know that Bush was coming until five minutes before he arrived. 
The trip comes as over 70,000 mostly Iraqi citizens prepare to deploy into Baghdad to try and bring security to the capital. 
It was a very dramatic move by the president to travel to a violence crazed area in Baghdad less than a week after the death of al-Zarqawi. 
Bush met with al-Maliki in a very well forified green zone in a palace once used by Saddam Hussien. 
Quaero is being termed eurozone's response to the US-based internet search giants such as Google, Yahoo and MSN. 
The project includes the French and German governments along with a host of European technology companies such as Thomson, France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom. 
It is scheduled to be submitted to France's Agency of Industrial Innovation later this month. 
The agency which has a budget of €2 billion ($2.41 billion) hasn't specified how much of this money will be spent on Quaero. 
President Jacques Chirac announced the launch of Quaero during the French-German ministerial conference in April of last year. 
It is the latest in a series of initiatives by the Europeans to compete with US dominance in technology. 
Europe launched the Galileo satellite navigation system last month aimed at rivaling a similar system already available in the US. 
French broadcasters are also planning an international television network, CFII aimed at presenting the French view on world events. 
The network is slated to begin broadcasting in French and English to Europe, the Middle East and Africa sometime next year. 
Designers hope that Quaero will be the world's most advanced multimedia search engine to locate and translate video and audio over the internet. 
None of the key players has commented on cost and last week, Thomson, removed access to the page on its corporate web site devoted to Quaero and instructed its executives not to give any interviews for the project. 
Most industry experts remain skeptical and fear that the program would be costly and unwieldy to administer and would produce no tangible commercial advances. 
"I'm not too confident that Quaero will be able to produce anything that the private sector isn't already offering or will develop on its own in the future," said John Lervik, chief executive of Fast Search & Transfer, a Norwegian software company that provides search solutions to businesses for data stored on their corporate networks. 
In what police believe is the second-largest heist in Britain, armed robbers stole almost £40 million from a London jewellery shop on August 6. 
Two men armed with handguns held up employees of the Graff jewellers shop on New Bond Street, taking 43 items, among them expensive watches, bracelets, and rings. 
The duo escaped in a blue BMW, which they soon abandoned for a Mercedes. 
After driving to Farm Street, it is believed they may have got away in a third vehicle. 
"This was a well planned robbery with a number of vehicles used to help the robbers escape. 
"These men are extremely dangerous and fired at least two shots in busy London streets as they made their getaway," said Detective Chief Inspector Pam Mace. 
"Someone knows who these men are, they would undoubtedly have spoken about it beforehand or boasted about it afterwards," she added. 
"I would urge anyone who recognises them, knows the whereabouts of the jewellery or has any other information to contact us." 
The governing body of world football, FIFA, has threatened Iraq with expulsion after the Iraqi Olympic Committee (IOC) took control of the country's governing body of football and disbanded it. 
FIFA has given the country 72 hours to restore the Iraq Football Association (IFA); if this is not done, the case is to be referred to FIFA's emergency committee. 
The IFA and the IOC have disputed over who controls the game in the country for several years. 
The IOC has blamed the IFA for the FIFA ban on the country not being allowed to host international friendly matches due to security reasons. 
Since the 2003 invasion by American forces, Iraq has hosted two internationals matches, both against Palestine. 
They are due to play against the United Arab Emirates tomorrow, but the general ban still remains in place. 
A statement was released on the FIFA website said: "FIFA appeals once more to all stakeholders in Iraq to respect the autonomy of sport in general and the IFA in particular and to allow IFA to conduct its affairs according its statutes and those of FIFA." 
Should the case be passed over to FIFA's emergency committee, it would most likely result in a ban from the sport. 
New Zealand farmers have won a key victory in Parliament, with MPs voting to exempt Working farm dogs from microchipping legislation, passing 61:60. 
The Federated Farmers debated the law for a long time, saying that the cost of microchipping all their dogs will be a huge cost and an inconvenience. 
Under previous legislation, all newly registered dogs were to have identification microchips embedded by July 1. 
The microchips in dogs are for owner identification, in case of attacks on humans. 
This law was introduced when Carolina Anderson, 7-year-old, was attacked in 2003. 
Parliament has been debating several proposed amendments to the Local Government Law Reform bill, which aimed to change the microchipping requirement. 
Blogger David Farrar says "It is very messy for the Government to lose the vote after piling so much pressure on." 
In the end only Labour, Progressive plus New Zealand First voted for it. 
Four Greens MPs voted for the farm dog exemption and two against. 
The Greens had previously proposed that only dangerous dogs should be microchipped. 
Russia Today TV, Moscow's English-language satellite television channel, reported that Russian government officials are considering filing libel suits against international journalists over their reporting on the poisoning death of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko. 
Litvinenko was a strong critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin and shortly before he died in London from radiation poisoning in late November, Litvinenko accused Putin of ordering his assassination. 
Putin and other Russian officials strongly denied any prior knowledge of a plot to kill Litvinenko. 
According to a report posted late Friday on the Russia Today TV web site, the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media is gathering publications worldwide to be studied for libelous and offensive comments against Russia in their coverage of the Litvinenko's case. 
Russia Today TV reported that the Russian government intends to file law suits for libel against international media if there is evidence of journalistic misconduct. 
In a Voice of America interview shortly before he was poisoned by a radioactive substance polonium-210, former Russian spy Litvinenko had accused Putin of ordering the murder of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya to silence her and intimidate other independent journalists. 
She had been killed by an unknown assailant in Moscow in early October. 
Several senior Russian politicians have said that the deaths of Politkovskaya and Litvinenko were playing into the hands of Russia's enemies and, therefore, could not have been authorized by Moscow. 
The Russian government's warnings aimed at international journalists follow Putin's largely successful efforts to bring major media outlets in Russia under government control and to limit media criticism of his policies. 
Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based nongovernmental organization, has called Putin one of the world's top "Predators of Press Freedom." 
FreeMediaOnline.org, a California-based nonprofit organization which monitors media and supports press freedom worldwide, said that the latest warnings issued by the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media would prove a major embarrassment for Putin and for Russia if they were carried out. 
An article on the FreeMediaOnline.org web site claims that even if there is no direct link between the two assassinations and the Kremlin, Putin is ultimately responsible for the climate of lawlessness and suppression of free media that may have contributed to these murders. 
FreeMediaOnline.org also noted that uncovering the truth about the murders of Politkovskaya and Litvinenko would be difficult because independent journalists in Russia have been either silenced or intimidated by President Putin's media advisors, government regulators, and security services. 
Putin insists he is a strong supporter of democracy and press freedom. 
In a speech to Russian television broadcasters in late November 2006, Putin said that the development of Russian state and society would be unthinkable without independent media, without the possibility of listening to different points of view, and without television. 
Putin's critics point out that he has successfully placed under the Kremlin's control all major nationwide television channels. 
According to FreeMediaOnline.org, journalists working for these channels no longer dare to offer any significant criticism of Mr. Putin's policies. 
The organization warned that restrictions on media freedom in Russia have emboldened criminal elements to engage in illegal activities. 
American singer and actor Al Martino died yesterday, aged 82. 
Martino was born as Alfred Cini in Philadelphia, US state of Pennsylvania on October 7, 1927. 
One of the ways in which he was best known was for his first single, "Here in My Heart", which became the first ever number 1 single in the UK Singles Chart on November 14, 1952. 
It stayed at the top spot for nine weeks before being succeeded by "You Belong To Me" by Jo Stafford. 
More recently, Martino was known was for his character Johnny Fontane in the 1972 film The Godfather. 
He reprised the role in the sequel films The Godfather II and The Godfather III. 
Martino died at his childhood hometown of Philadelphia, following an active 58 years in the music business. 
The British actor Chris Langham has been found guilty on 15 counts of downloading child pornography. 
A jury of four women and seven men took two hours and forty minutes to reach a verdict at Maidstone Crown Court. 
Judge Philip Statman said that Langham will remain in custody till his sentencing on September 14. 
Langham, 58, from Goldford, Kent claimed that he had been studying porn sites, researching for a character called, "Pedro," for the television series Help. 
However, co-star Paul Whitehouse claimed he had no knowledge of this research. 
Langham refused to answer questions about certain images found on his computer. 
During his time in court, Langham claimed that he was abused at the age of eight during a holiday to Canada. 
He also said his brothers and sisters were abused, and that he felt no shame at looking at child pornography. 
Langham said he pleaded not guilty because he did not want to be labelled a, "Paedophile". 
Langham however was cleared of charges of indecently assaulting an underage girl. 
The girl claimed that Langham took her virginity at the age of 14, but Judge Statman said, "The Crown accepts that there is no evidence to support these particular counts on the indictment." 
Langham said, in a statement read out by his solicitor, "I am absolutely delighted my name has been cleared of all the charges I have consistently denied." 
"I have been found guilty on charges I have made admission to from the moment of my first arrest." 
"I am grateful to the jury for their careful deliberation and I would also like to thank the press for their restraint in not making the lives of my wife, children and family difficult during this time and I implore them to continue to grant my family the privacy they need." 
"I am afraid I am unable to comment further until sentence on the 14 September." 
Derek Cuff, Deputy Inspector of Kent Police said, "Let us not forget that child abuse images circulating on the internet are real situations involving real children, who are sexually abused for other's gain and self-gratification." 
The jury had to view some images that had to be selected carefully - but what they saw and heard in evidence is harrowing and disturbing. 
"I think this itself puts some measure of perspective on the level of child abuse we are dealing with." 
This will affect the filming of the next series of the satirical sitcom The Thick of It, where Langham plays Hugh Abbot MP. 
The last two special episodes did not star Langham due to his arrest. 
Writer Armando Iannucci hoped that if Langham was found not guilty, he would be able to appear in his show again. 
As of 9 am this morning, flaring is still being carried out by ExxonMobil at Jurong Island, Singapore. 
This is the 3rd day flaring works are being carried out by the company to burn off excess fuel from the refinery plant. 
The flame, according to Ms Eva Ho, Communications Manager of ExxonMobil, is dying. 
ExxonMobil wishes to assure members of the public that no health risk is posed as water and carbon dioxide are produced as a result of the flaring. 
Meng Yew Choong, Assistant Director of Corporate Communication at the National Environment Agency also clarifies: 
"The hydrocarbon gases are burnt safely into water vapour and carbon dioxide, both harmless gases. 
Regular STOMP contributor Mike Muk shot a video of the flaring as well and he sent it in to Stomp. 
STOMPer NZSheep also sent a picture to a website, offering the closest look of the flaring activity, taken just outside the security fences surrounding Jurong Island. 
A leading Queensland union says that the Melbourne Cup due to be run tomorrow at 3:00pm Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time could be used as a valuable educational tool in the classroom. 
The Queensland Teachers Union president Steve Ryan said that he supported staff making their own decisions on whether to watch the race but statistics principles could be taught in conjunction with showing the race. 
Mr Ryan said that incorporating the Cup into the curriculum would make statistics 'real' to work with, rather than using textbook material. 
"It's about making subjects real and certainly that's a good example of how you can use a particular situation." 
Many religious schools in Brisbane have chosen not to show the race due to gambling concerns. 
Hamas, a radical islamist party, has won by a large majority in the Gaza Strip council elections held last month. 
Hamas won 75 out of the 118 seats, with Fatah, the party of Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas only managing to secure 39 seats. 
Of the ten council areas in Gaza, Hamas has control of seven. 
Fathiya Barghouti Rheime, a 30-year-old high school teacher, and mother of two, was one of the seven Hamas mayors elected in the Gaza strip. 
She has become the second female mayor of a Palestinian community, and the first ever elected one. 
"It's a sign of change," she said. 
"I'm deeply concerned about transmitting the picture of the active Islamic woman to the world, to wipe away the blemish of the veil." 
In the West Bank, Female candidates won 52 of 306 seats. 
Two and a half times the number of seats that had been reserved for women. 
Environmental scientists say they have concrete evidence that the planet is undergoing the "largest mass extinction in 65 million years". 
Leading environmental scientist Professor Norman Myers says the Earth is experiencing its "Sixth Extinction." 
Scientists forecast that up to five million species will be lost this century. 
"We are well into the opening phase of a mass extinction of species. " 
"If we carry on as we are, we could lose half of all those 10 million species," Myers said. 
"If we do not do more," Myers says, "the planet will continue to lose around 50 species per day compared to the natural extinction rate of one species every five years." 
He projected this rate in the late 1980s to much criticism, but the figure is now widely accepted by scientists. 
"The whole thing is taking place in what you might call a flickering of an evolutionary eye," said Myers. 
"It's hard to keep up with unless we damp down on some of the causes of the evolution." 
More than 650 people have now died after a tsunami hit the Indonesian island of Java on Monday afternoon. 
In the past few days, around 100 dead bodies have been recovered, and it is estimated that over 300 people are still missing. 
An underwater earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 triggered the deadly wave which ravaged a 200km stretch of Java's southern coast. 
Thousands of people are continuing to camp in the hills. 
They are too apprehensive to return home due to fears of another tsunami, but according to Reuters, health officials are worried about the threat of disease among those who are still in refuge. 
"The risk of catching diseases is there because they live in an open area with limited tents and water," said Rustan Pakaya, from the health ministry's crisis centre. 
He added that people were being given injections to protect them from diseases like measles, tetanus and cholera. 
Areas worst hit, like the small town of Pangandaran, are beginning to return to normal, and many businesses there have begun to open up again. 
"The market and many shops are already open today and although they are not operating fully, things are slowly returning to normal," district spokesman Wasdi bin Umri told AFP. 
Yesterday, Indonesia's President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono toured Pangandaran and met people who were staying in a temporary camp. 
The Indonesian government has been criticised for failing to inform residents living on the coast that a tsunami was looming. 
After the underwater earthquake was detected, US and Japanese agencies issued warning notices, but the government has admitted it was unable to transmit the bulletins to coastal areas. 
Speaking yesterday, Mr Yudhoyono vowed to hasten efforts to build an early warning system planned after the 2004 Asian tsunami. 
"We want to expedite efforts to get infrastructure for the tsunami warning system in place," AP quoted him as saying. 
His announcement came after a similar initiative by Maharashtra and a day after Union Petroleum Minister Murli Deora met him in Chennai. 
A couple of days ago, the Chief Minister had said that any reduction in the sales tax could result in the bus fares going up. 
In the statement, Mr. Karunanidhi said the rising crude oil prices globally necessitated an increase in fuel prices. 
It had become routine for the ruling party to explain the circumstances leading to the increase and the Opposition to protest. 
The upward revision in petrol and diesel prices was being talked about by the Centre for some months now, but was put on hold. 
The Centre, he said, had little option but to increase the price despite some of the coalition partners opposing the move and even the President of the Indian National Congress (Congress Party) Sonia Gandhi not favouring it. 
While a reduction in levies on petroleum products by the Centre and the State Government was a temporary solution, the long-term solution was to reduce consumption of petroleum products and promote research on their alternatives. 
In a statement, AIADMK General Secretary Jayalalithaa said the State Government could reduce the price burden by reducing the sales tax on petrol and diesel. 
Noting that it was not her suggestion but what Mr. Karunanidhi had given when she was Chief Minister, she said the Centre had recently said that such a move could reduce the impact of petrol and diesel price increase. 
The massive surge of hot air that has plagued the West and Midwest during last week has now moved over the eastern seaboard of the United States. 
Residents are bracing themselves for what could be record breaking temperatures. 
Many cities are already struggling due to power outages from mid-July's Heat Wave, particularly some in the Queens and Staten Island in New York City. 
Consolidated Edison, the power supplier for the New York City area, has reported that many customers are still without power. 
They urge customers to lighten the load on power usage to help avoid further service interruption. 
Baltimore, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia are all expecting highs to reach above 100ºF (37.8ºC). 
The National Weather Service has posted Excessive Heat Warnings for many of the cities in the eastern seaboard that do not normally experience this type of dangerously hot weather. 
On Tuesday August 1, 2006 according to The Weather Channel, New York City will have a high temperature of 98ºF in Central Park, however other areas in the New York City area are expected to rise above 100ºF. 
Philadelphia will reach 100ºF, Washington D.C. will have a high of 101ºF and Baltimore and Richmond may see temperatures rise above the 100 mark. 
To exacerbate the situation, heat indices are expected to reach well over the 110s for much of the east coast due to high humidity levels. 
An Air Stagnation Advisory has also been issued for much of the urban areas on the eastern seaboard and "BosWash", as rain is expected to be very minimal through Thursday. 
Many residents say this heat is unheard of as temperatures are expected to be higher than that of Florida and some parts of Texas, where it is typically hotter. 
The oppressive and dangerously high temperatures will remain this way well into Thursday afternoon, according to meteorologists, when a cool front is expected to move in and provide much needed relief. 
Six people have been killed after a bus carrying Polish tourists crashed in Serbia. 
The accident happened yesterday on a road north of Belgrade that led to Novi Sad. 
The bus had been taking the tourists home after a trip to Bulgaria. 
Of a total of sixty-eight on the bus, around forty are injured, although exact figures are unclear. 
All the victims are passengers, as the owner of the vehicle's operator Moana, Josef Rzepka, said both of the drivers on board escaped unhurt. 
A Reuters photograph shows the bus lying on its right side next to what appears to be a straight stretch of road. 
There is a slight slope under the bus and its rear end appears to have reached the bottom of the drop, crushing the roof at the back of the bus. 
It is not yet clear what caused the bus to swerve off the road, but as the crash occurred at 6:30 a.m. local time the driver may have fallen asleep at the wheel. 
There are also allegations that the double-decker bus may have been in a poor state of repair. 
The father of one victim said that the vehicle's windscreen wipers were taped together and the paintwork had been done by a brush instead of sprayed on. 
He also said that his daughter had reported rain leaking through the buses roof. 
Polish media also says some parents were concerned by the bus before they sent their children on the journey, although others say the bus appeared mechanically safe. 
Regardless, the bus has been removed with a crane and subjected to a technical examination by police. 
Poland supplied a military aircraft to transport relatives into Serbia. 
The crash is the worst in the area since a disaster in April 2004 that saw a Bulgarian coach returning from a journey to Croatia crashed into the Lim river, leaving twelve students dead. 
Road accidents are common in Serbia as regulations are commonly ignored. 
New legislation has been proposed to fine violators more heavily, but has yet to be implemented. 
Two suspected robbers west of Kissimmee, Florida released one hostage after negotiating with sheriffs' deputies. 
Police later shot and killed one bank robber and arrested a second on after a 10 hour stand-off with police. 
"A sniper shot the male suspect while the female was in custody," said Osceola County Sheriff Bob Hansell. 
The suspects had escaped the Mercantile Bank, a mile west of Walt Disney World's Wide World of Sports, with one hostage after authorities blasted through the rear door using an explosive device. 
But police soon cornered them in their getaway car, authorities said. 
The male suspect then "used the hostage again as a shield to get into another vehicle," Hansell said. 
"He tried to leave again and at that point he was taken down by one of our snipers." 
Deputies had been using cell phones to negotiate with the suspects, who were wearing masks, wigs and coats. 
Around 7:15 p.m. EST, police blasted through the bank's rear door. 
The suspects escaped with a female hostage and drove away in a bank employee's car, but they traveled less than a mile before street barricades stopped them. 
Shots were fired at deputies but nobody was hurt, police said. 
The suspects had been holed up in the bank since Tuesday morning. 
The first hostage was released when the robbers panicked when deputies arrived so quickly after the robbery, said sheriff's spokeswoman Twis Lizasuain. 
The second was freed in exchange for cigarettes and the third after deputies agreed to back their vehicles a few feet farther away from the bank, Lizasuain said. 
Police did not release the names the hostages, but the suspects were identified Wednesday as a 50-year-old male, Gaetano Alessandrello, and a 26-year old woman, Amanda Lynn Moeller. 
It was not immediately clear whether the suspects ever got any money. 
Tourists near the bank, in hotels, were confined to them for hours as police asked them "to stay indoors". 
The hostages said they were treated well and were not threatened with violence, Hansell said. 
The same bank was robbed just 2 months ago on November 16, 2005. 
It is unclear if the two robberies are connected or not. 
Bangladesh pulled off a surprising victory over South Africa by 67 runs in the Super 8 phase of the World Cup at the Providence Stadium, Georgetown, Guyana. 
The U.S. armed forces detained five Iranians working at a "liaison office" located in Erbil, Iraq before dawn on Friday. 
Sources said that the U.S. forces first landed their helicopters around the building, then broke through the office's gate, disarmed the guards, confiscated some documents and certain objects, arrested five suspected terrorists, and then left for an undisclosed location. 
However, there was no raid on the Iranian Consulate General as earlier reported. 
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told Agence France-Presse that the building raided was "not a consulate or a government building", which appears to be confirmed by the Iraqi foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, who said the Iranians were working at an office that had government approval and was in the process of being approved as a consulate, but was not a Consulate nor the Iranian Consulate General. 
The US is strategically insisting that they raided a "liaison office" instead of a Consulate to avoid being found in violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. 
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Kamynin said that the raid was absolutely unacceptable and was a violation of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. 
The Kurdistan Regional Government also expressed their shock and disapproval of the raid. 
On Thursday's hearing on Iraq, Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delware), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that the Bush Administration did not have the authority to send U.S. troops on cross-border raids. 
Biden said, "I believe the present authorization granted the president to use force in Iraq does not cover that, and he does need congressional authority to do that." 
After the meeting, Biden sent a follow-up letter to the White House asking for an explanation from the Bush Administration on the matter. 
On Thursday morning, Iran's foreign ministry official sent a letter to Iraq's foreign ministry asking Iraq to stop the Bush Administration from interfering with Iraq-Iran relations, and has protested the raid on its liaison office. 
The official said, "We expect the Iraqi government to take immediate measures to set the aforesaid individuals free and to condemn the U.S. troopers for the measure." 
"Following up on the case and releasing the arrestees is a responsibility of primarily the Iraqi government and then the local government and officials of the Iraqi Kurdistan." 
This past Tuesday, a United States federal judge ordered the popular video sharing website YouTube to hand over a record of every video that users have watched, including registered accounts and IPs. 
Viacom, which owns several U.S. television networks such as MTV and Nickelodeon, launched a $1 billion lawsuit last year alleging that YouTube wasn't doing enough to stop its copyrighted material from appearing in over 160,000 unauthorized clips that have been viewed over 1.5 billion times. 
Viacom argued that since they claimed that copyright material is more popular than user-made videos, they needed access to the information to strengthen the case, in which US District Court judge Louis L. Stanton agreed and ordered Google to turn over such information. 
Google argued that this would cause privacy issues, but Stanton said it was just speculation. 
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based privacy advocate group, said the ruling was "a setback to privacy rights, and will allow Viacom to see what you are watching on YouTube." said EFF's senior staff attorney Kurt Opsahl. 
Viacom had also requested for the code used to search keywords for each video and access to Google's advertising database to see if Google was receiving revenue from ads from the alleged videos, but these requests were denied by the judge, arguing that code and ad data was too valuable. 
There are concerns that Google is violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which allows a video provider service to not to be sued if it removes copyrighted material. 
After a referendum, the Montenegro region of Serbia and Montenegro declares independence to form the new Republic of Montenegro. 
Unlike other Balkan states such as Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, Montenegro has achieved independence without violence. 
"I am convinced Montenegro could be the next country from this region to join the European Union, after Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia, which are further along the process," says Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic, who has promoted Montenegro's independence. 
It is also predicted that Montenegro will join the United Nations in September. 
The referendum, with an 86.3% voter turnout, had a 55.4% approval for the secession, which satisfies the European Union's minimum 55% approval. 
With a population of 650,000, Montenegro is the world's newest country. 
Serbia reluctantly agreed to the split, and the European Union approved. 
Despite expectations, there were no riots that night; however, early celebrations had occurred in the capital Podgorica based off of expected results. 
This is the first time Montenegro has been independent since 1916, when it became a part of Austro-Hungary. 
Soon Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia together formed "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians", which later changed the name into Kingdom Yugoslavia. 
In 1991 and 1992 four of six Yugoslavian republics declared independence but two, Serbia and Montenegro, remained together. 
Some analysts note that Serbia and Montenegro has not functioned as one state since the Belgrade agreement, signed three years ago. 
Each republic had separate anthems, laws, and currencies and their joint parliament did not meet very often. 
The lead singer of Boston, Brad Delp was found dead in his house alone last Friday. 
The Atkinson police have stated that there was no "foul play" involved, and the cause was still under investigation by the medical examiner. 
After the death, the bands website went down and was replaced with the message: "We just lost the nicest guy in rock and roll." 
Delp joined Boston in the ealry 70's after meeting with guitarist, songwriter and producer Tom Scholz. 
Their first album, which was self titled, was a huge success. 
The album had hits on it such as "Long Time" and "More than a Feeling". 
Delp left the band in 1991, and was replaced by Fran Cosmo. 
Delp rejoined the band later for the Walk On tour, and shared vocal duties with Cosmo. 
A new album with Delp singing was reported to have been in the making, but no release date was ever given. 
Amidst ongoing Israeli bombings of Gaza, with the death toll of the bombardments up to 537 with another 2,500 people wounded, UN food agencies again warned that the people of Gaza are facing a heavy humanitarian crisis. 
"The current situation in Gaza is appalling, and many basic food items are no longer available on the market," Said Christine van Nieuwenhuyse, the World Food Program's (WFP) representative in the Palestinian territory, in a statement that was released on Friday. 
"This area ... is one of the poorest and most heavily affected by the recent conflict," she added. 
WFP officials said that they have begun to give bread to 15,000 new recipients, a number which added to the already large group of people that had been lining up for bread after two years of Israeli blockades of Gaza, the most recent of which began in early November. 
The blockades, surely a catalyst for violent Hamas attacks, have been condemned by Human Rights Watch as a "violation of international humanitarian law." 
Struggling Gazan hospitals say that they are completely out of even the most basic medical supplies and have little or no capacity to deal with further casualties. 
In addition, Israeli ground forces entered Gaza on Saturday causing an immediate spike in casualties and even attacks on the hospitals and paramedics themselves. 
As sewage runs through the streets, many Gazans are trying to flee the area by storming the border with Egypt, a move which Egyptian police blocked on Sunday and are planning to do so again today as Egyptian leaders ordered their policemen to open fire on Gazans trying to flee into Egypt. 
Hasan Khalaf, Gaza's assistant deputy health minister, described the ongoing assault on Gaza as "an Israeli massacre". 
"There is no comparison between what we have and what [Israel] are doing to us." 
"The international community are standing unable to help us, and yet we know they have been helping Israel for tens of years." 
Pope John Paul II has a Brazilian cousin living in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 
Bolessuaf, 86, likes to read the card written in Polish that he received from his cousin, the Pope. 
"A great man, who always fought for the good of the others," he adds. 
The cousins got very sad when they heard that the Pope was gone. 
"To me, he seems to be a brother, more than my own brother ," said Isidoro. 
João said about the Pope: "I think he did the work what should be done." 
He added: "It is like to lose a father, I am very sad". 
According to Folha de São Paulo, Brazilian government invited João to take part in the funeral of the Pope. 
He declined saying that he is afraid of flying in airplanes. 
He succumbed to injuries suffered when a young police officer allegedly beat him into a coma earlier in the month while in a holding cell reserved for the drunk and disorderly. 
The injuries included severe damage to many of his internal organs. 
Authorities identified this little-known reporter who specialized in economics as Konstantin Popov. 
Popov was one of the cofounders of a small regional newspaper publisher and a local magazine called Tema. 
In a country where police brutality and corruption—especially against journalists—is not uncommon, the editor-in-chief of Tema, Konstantin Karpachyov, said it was unlikely Popov's murder was in any way related to his work. 
However, Karpachyov went on to say that, "This could happen to absolutely anyone." 
"The only thing different about this case is that he happened to be a journalist, so it became a high-profile public case." 
"But the same thing happens every day," said Svetlana Gannushkina, of Russia's Civic Assistance committee. 
"Usually the cases are just closed down because there's no evidence, nobody testifies, and it's impossible to get to the bottom of it." 
Upon learning Popov's identity, numerous members of the state-controlled media strongly criticized the police for their passive response to the actions allegedly committed by one of their own. 
Following which, news conferences were called, and before long Popov's case began to draw national attention. 
This resulted in the holding cell where Popov's beating occurred being closed down. 
In addition, the deputy police chief resigned as well as supervisor of the precinct in question. 
The suspected officer, Alexei Mitayev, was dismissed from the force, arrested, and is said to have since confessed to this crime. 
Mitayev cited that "stress due to family problems" is what led to his actions against Popov. 
The chairman of the Tomsk branch of the Union of Journalists of Russia said that a source close to the investigation told him that Popov was not only beaten but was also "tortured" and "violated" with a foreign object. 
"Hands off journalists!" the journalist union said in a statement on its website. 
According to the United States-based Committee to Protect Journalists, as far as they know, "since 2000, at least seventeen Russian journalists have been killed due to their work, and the killers have been convicted in only one case." 
President Dmitry Medvedev said that such police misconduct was not only angering the Russian public, but was also undermining the state's authority. 
He called for comprehensive reform and ordered the Interior Ministry to cut its staff by one-fifth by 2012. 
In the "2008 Taipei City New Year Countdown Party", several local and foreign media focused on the fireworks of the Taipei 101 due to the notability of the skyscraper world-wide. 
After some criticism from government executives because some wordmarks by sponsors appeared on the Taipei 101, the Taipei Financial Center (owner of Taipei 101) decided to set up 12,000 sparklers 500 meters tall from the 34th floor to the top of the tower on the 101st floor. 
Even though the ingredients of the sparklers were made in China, Vice President of Taipei 101 Michael Liu commented that the idea issues on quality of production and trends of industry. 
According to TV channel TVBS, the light of "Love Taiwan" wordmarks accidentally appeared before the celebration while President of the Republic of China Shui-bian Chen addressed in the "2008 Dream More Kaohsiung" New Year Celebration in Kaohsiung City. 
After the Taipei City Government became aware of this accident and remonstrated against current Chairman of Taipei 101 Diana Chen, the Taipei 101 re-lighted the wordmark after successfully celebrating New Year's. 
Current Mayor of Taipei Lung-pin Hau regretted the incident and hoped the Executive Yuan could notify the government in the future of the incident. 
The Minister of the Government Information Office Jhy-wey Hsieh complained in the City's Government of the sponsorships. 
The 2008 Taipei City New Year Countdown Party was apparently "faded" with political factor. 
At least eight construction workers have died and thirteen more are injured after a building collapsed during construction in Qiuzhigou Village, a suburb of China's Wuhan City. 
It is unclear how many more if any are trapped as the project's coordinator fled and is being sought by police. 
The collapse occurred at 5 p.m. local time yesterday and reduced the four-story structure to a five-metre pile of rubble. 
The building was a private residence and was illegal as authorities had not been informed of it. 
Its location in an area accessible only via narrow alleys is hampering search and rescue efforts as heavy equipment such as cranes is having difficulty reaching the scene. 
Around 100 rescuers continue to pick through the rubble in the rain. 
This is an excerpt translation of a text found on the German wikipedia site, with an update. 
The roof over the local ice and tennis court crashed shortly after the end of the official skating time on 2 Jan 05, at about 16.50 hrs. 
At the time, there were about 50 people inside, mostly families with children. 
By 10 pm, five had been found dead, one child among them. 
20 to 25 people have been injured, just as many are missing. 
The reason for the cave-in of the roof was most likely massive snowfalls. 
Earlier that afternoon, measurements had been taken to determine its stability. 
Update on 4 January, 15:42 GMT: So far, 14 bodies have been found. 
In an investigation reported on first by Wikinews, Wikileaks today revealed another chapter in the story of the Standard Operations Procedure (SOP) manual for the Camp Delta facility at Guantanamo Bay. 
The latest documents they have received are the details of the 2004 copy of the manual signed off by Major General Geoffrey D. Miller of the U.S. Southern Command. 
This is following on from the earlier leaking of the 2003 version. 
Wikileaks passed this document to people they consider experts in the field to carry out an analysis trying to validate it. 
Following this, they set out to assess what had changed between 2003 and 2004; including attempts to link publicly known incidents with changes to the manual. 
The American Civil Liberties Union had previously made a request to view and obtain copies of the same document, but was denied access to them. 
One of the first notable changes to the document relates to the detainees themselves. 
Rules are now posted around the camp in detainees' languages. 
Of concern to groups such as Amnesty International who campaign for the camp's closure, or Human Rights Watch concerned about prisoner handling under the prisoner of war aspects of the Geneva Convention, is the fact that policy for newly admitted detainees still allows for up to 4 weeks where access to the detainee by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) may be denied. 
In addition, guards are not to allow ICRC staff to pass mail to detainees. 
A new process has been formed which allows guards to determine whether or not a detainee receives awards, or is punished. 
The form is called a GTMO Form 508-1 (pictured to the right). 
According to the manual, the form "is used to determine which rewards the detainee will lose or gain," but "special rewards" can also be earned, outside of the process. 
Another special reward is a roll of toilet paper, but the detainee cannot share it with others. 
Doing so will result in "punishment" and confiscation of the roll. 
If the detainee already has a roll of toilet paper, he is not allowed to have another. 
"Guards need to ensure that the detainee doesn't receive additional toilet paper when the detainee already has it." 
"The amount given to the detainee will be the same amount as normally distributed to the detainee," states the manual. 
No matter how bad a detainee may act, "haircuts will never be used as punitive action" against them, but they can have hair removed for health reasons. 
"If a detainee has committed an offense that requires segregation time, even if a segregation cell is not available, the detainee will receive a shave and a haircut for hygiene and medical reasons." 
"If the detainee is IRFed, the haircut and shave will follow the decontamination process," adds the manual. 
Infractions such as spitting, throwing water at, or attempting to urinate on guards appear as explicitly listed cases where pepper spray may not be used. 
Extensive decontamination procedures are included in the document, including immediately calling for a medical check on any detainee exposed to pepper spray. 
As a counter to the clearer instructions on use of pepper spray, Wikileaks asserts that many of the stricter rules for guards (referred to as Military Police or MPs in the 2003 manual) aim to reduce fraternisation that may improve detainee morale and adversely influence any interrogation process. 
Guards are informed in the manual not to take personal mail and parcels within the detention blocks or at any other duty stations. 
All electronic devices except issued materiel are prohibited, and guards may face disciplinary action should they keep detainees apprised of current affairs or discuss issues in their personal lives. 
Additional restrictions on the detainees' chaplain are included in the revised document. 
Wikileaks speculated that many of these changes might have stemmed from the widely publicised case of James Yee. 
Captain Yee, a West Point graduate, served at the Guantanamo Bay base as a Muslim chaplain to the detainees and received two Distinguished Service medals for his work. 
Following discovery of a list of detainees and interrogators by U.S. Customs in Florida Yee was charged with sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage, and failure to obey a general order. 
Eventually all charges were dropped with national security concerns being raised should evidence be released. 
The most notable changes surrounding the role of the chaplain include its removal as a permanent position on the facility's Library Working group and its exclusion from the decision process on appropriate detainee reading material. 
Wikileaks contacted lawyers representing detainees in the camp to perform their own analysis. 
Their opinion of the changes were that the library operation had been considerably tightened up. 
Duplicate books are required for the individual four camps to prevent covert use of books to communicate between camps. 
Periodicals, dictionaries, language instruction books, technology or medical update information, and geography were additions to the prohibited material. 
Instructions indicate such books must be returned to the source or donor. 
The revised SOP manual makes considerable progress on documenting procedures, even those that are remote possibilities. 
A lengthy addition details rules to follow in the event of an escape or escape attempt. 
Laced throughout this procedure is an emphasis on having any such incident fully documented and - wherever possible - filmed. 
The procedure is explicit in how to recapture an escaped detainee with minimal use of force. 
One additional procedure covers the admission of ambulances to the main base area. 
A detailed security protocol to ensure only expected and authorised traffic gains access is included, as is a procedure streamlined to ensure the ambulance arrives on the scene as quickly as possible. 
Unchanged from the 2003 manual is the set menu of four ready-to-eat meals (Meal, Ready-to-Eat or MRE) issued to detainees. 
However, additional steps are to be taken for "MRE Sanitization"; supply personnel must remove anything that can damage waste disposal systems— presumably a military term for toilets. 
Under normal camp conditions, detainees should be fed hot meals as opposed to MREs, but no details on the variety of menu are included. 
US Southern Command passed a query on to Rick Haupt (Commander, U.S. Navy Director of Public Affairs, Joint Task Force at Guantanamo) who responded that "questions were forwarded along with a request to authenticate the leaked document; a response is pending." 
At this time no response to emails has been received from the ICRC or Human Rights Watch. 
The Pentagon has requested that the document be removed from Wikileaks because "information with the FOUO (For Official Use Only) label is not approved for release to the public." 
They then state that the document can be "made available through a Freedom Of Information Act request through official channels." 
Two weeks ago, on February 1st, it was the second day of the national environmental Focus the Nation teach-in. 
One of these events, which took place at the same time at other educational institutions across the country, took place in the city of Lynn at the campus of North Shore Community College. 
Wikinews accredited reporter Patrick Mannion was there in attendance along with Congressman John F. Tierney of Massachusetts's 6th congressional district and Lynn's State Senator Thomas McGee. 
One of Lynn's two representatives, Robert Fennell, also attended; the other representative Steven Walsh sent an aide. 
The representatives for the nearby cities of Salem and Beverly, John Keenan and Mary Grant along with various local area mayors and city councilors also attended the event. 
John F. Kerry, the senator for Massachusetts was supposed to attend but could not due to voting on the economic stimulus package in Washington D.C.. 
However, Senator Kerry did record a video statement DVD for the event in which he addressed the gathered crowd. 
Senator McGee started things off by talking about the need to recreate the North Shore Technical High School to include a focus on environmental jobs and the need to improve the Essex Agricultural and Technical High School which is deteriorating, but is known for it's agricultural teaching which would help to save the dwindling farming areas north of Boston. 
McGee urged people that should get more involved with their local farming co-ops and that farmland needs to be recognized and redeveloped. 
He noted that obesity in young people is a problem and that schools are developing partnerships with local farms to provide more healthy meals and to show students whats going on at their local farm. 
Representative Keenan commended the college for holding this dialogue and Al Gore along with his movie, An Inconvenient Truth. 
Keenan noted the need for Salem's coal-fired power station for the need to switch to clean coal. 
Walsh aide's brought up the fact he is committed to ending paper waste at the Massachusetts State House. 
The city council president from Chelsea, Roseann Bongiovanni, who is also the associate executive director of the local community organization, the Chelsea Collaborative, asked the various reasons for the crowd in why they became concerned about global warming. 
The audience noted the melting of ice sheets, air quality, Hurricane Katrina and Al Gore. 
Bongiovanni then noted that Chelsea and neighboring East Boston have no green space or waterfront due the industrialization of both areas, noting that 100% of the jet fuel for planes at Logan Airport, 70% to 80% of heating oil and that the trucks delivering the oil are spewing diesel. 
She also noted the large salt pile in Chelsea used for the deicing of highways in the Commonwealth and said that it is located there "illegally." 
She further noted the company, Energy Management Inc., behind the controversial Cape Wind project, proposed building a diesel power plant across the street from a Chelsea elementary school and that air quality in Chelsea is bad. 
She closed her dialogue by noting that "Global warming does not recognize boundaries." 
Mary Grant said she was interested in hearing ideas and noted the redeveloping of Beverly's high school to include more solar panels and a new wind turbine and that the school would be powered by 50% of it. 
One person asked the need to lower the level of bureaucracy in government as she was "running around city government" in order to have a bee farm in her backyard. 
Robert Fenell, the owner of Lynn's Capitol Diner who is notable for keeping chickens at the establishment located in downtown Lynn just two blocks away from the college noted that people should start going organic and going back to nature, that people should switch to more energy efficient lighting and grow gardens in their backyard. 
After Fennell spoke it was time for questions and answers, and questions were given by various audiences members including Mannion himself, who asked about the MBTA's Blue Line and rapid transit and others asking various questions such wither or not to include a green curriculum in state education or asking for the politicians to talk more on some of their positions. 
After questions and answers finished, the video statement from John Kerry began to play. 
Kerry noted that there are still skeptics of global warming and climate change in Congress who "test the science" despite the efforts and research of Al Gore and the United Nations and noting that "the White House is the last place for change." 
He then went on to say that the world needed a new international treaty on climate change and noted that America is horrendous when it comes to energy efficiency. 
Kerry also noted that the Bush administration resisted the change and the points of the climate conference in Bali; "Luckily, time is almost up," added Kerry. 
Kerry went on to mention the need for massive new research on new energy and capturing carbon and noted he was working with Alaska's senator, Ted Stevens on pushing for sequestering plants. 
Kerry continued the theme of environmental conservation and change by topping off his statement by reminding the crowd of first Earth Day and how it lead to the creation of the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and the Environmental Protection Agency and it noted it happened because of people's actions. 
Tierney finished off the speech by noting the need for high risk energy research in the style of DARPA so we can better compete against the "Chinas and Japans." 
He also called for more green-collar jobs and noted his work on last year's Green Jobs Act. 
The United Stated Department of Justice has asked for corruption charges against former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens to be dropped because evidence was withheld from the defense team by the original prosecutors. 
The Justice Department has stated that they will not retry Stevens. 
In a statement, US Attorney General Eric Holder said, "After careful review, I have concluded that certain information should have been provided to the defense for use at trial." 
"In light of this conclusion, and in consideration of the totality of the circumstances of this particular case, I have determined that it is in the interest of justice to dismiss the indictment and not proceed with a new trial." 
Stevens was convicted in October on seven felony counts of lying on senate disclosure forms about gifts, largely in the form of free renovations to his home, received from an oil service company; his conviction is thought to have been a large factor in his November electoral defeat to former Anchorage mayor Mark Begich, the current junior Senator from Alaska. 
Stevens immediately appealed his conviction and has maintained his innocence. 
The prosecution case has met with a number of procedural difficulties, with US District Court judge Emmet G. Sullivan holding the prosecution in contempt in March for failing to turn over documents concerning an FBI whistleblower's reports of mishandling of the case. 
The Justice Department has since replaced the case's prosecutors, and the allegations of misconduct have held up sentencing from the original convictions. 
The filed papers indicate that notes were never turned over from an interview that has the oil contractor estimated the house renovation for far less then he specified at trial. 
The original trial team was removed, but in the end Attorney General Eric Holder thought it would be best if the case was dropped. 
NPR's source indicate that Holder wish to forcefully transmit that prosecutorial misconduct will not be tolerated. 
The trying prosecutors are under investigation by the Justice Department for their conduct in the matter. 
Stevens, now 85, served as Alaska's Senator from 1968 to 2009. 
On Saturday Mikheil Saakashvili, the President of Georgia, called for a ceasefire in the South Ossetia war. 
"I call for an immediate ceasefire," said Saakashvili, speaking in Tbilisi. 
"Russia has launched a full scale military invasion of Georgia." 
After calling for the ceasefire Saakashvili continued by saying that "I am willing to have international mediation; I am willing to have international separation of forces; we have to establish normal regime under international supervision." 
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated his position regarding the ending of the conflict in a phone call with Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel: "The only possible and reasonable way out of this situation is the withdrawal of Georgian troops to their initial positions and the immediate signing of a legally binding agreement on the non-use of force." 
He reiterated much the same position in telephone conversation with the President of the United States, George W. Bush, today. 
Saakashvili's call for a ceasefire comes soon after his declaration that Georgia is now in a state of war. 
"I have signed a decree on a state of war." 
"Georgia is under a state of total military aggression by the Russian navy, air force, large-scale ground operations," he said in a televised meeting that was broadcast on national television. 
Alexandre Lomaia, the head of the Georgian security council, said that President Saakashvili's proposal states that the Georgian troops will withdraw from Tskhinvali, and will stop reacting to the Russian bombings. 
The crisis broke out after days of heavy fighting in the region. 
On August 7, Georgian troops launched an offensive against the Ossetian town of Tskhinvali. 
Russia responded to these actions by sending their own troops into South Ossetia on August 8. 
According to the Russian Presidents office, drinking water is no longer available in what constitutes South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali, because "the water and sewage treatment plants have been destroyed". 
It is further stated that 30,000 people have left South Ossetia to seek refuge in Russia in the last 36 hours alone; and that preparations are underway to provide tented and permanent accommodation for these. 
South Ossetia is a former province of Georgia that broke away from Georgia and declared its independence on November 28, 1991. 
Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board in the United States have issued an 'urgent safety recommendation' in connection to their role alongside the United Kingdom's Air Accidents Investigation Branch in investigating loss of power in Rolls-Royce engines on Boeing 777s, with the AAIB following suit. 
One of them resulted in British Airways Flight 38 crashing short of the runway at London's Heathrow Airport last year. 
The NTSB and the AAIB want Rolls-Royce to redesign the engines. 
Both events occurred on Boeing 777-200ER airplanes powered by Rolls-Royce RB211 Trent 800 Series engines. 
On January 17, 2008 British Airways Flight 38 experienced a dual engine rollback (reduction of engine power) on final approach to Heathrow and crashed, leaving one passenger seriously injured, eight passengers and four of the flight crew with minor injuries and the airplane written off. 
The second event occurred on November 26, 2008, when a Delta Air Lines Boeing 777 experienced a single engine rollback during cruise flight over Montana, United States while en route from Shanghai to Atlanta. 
Normal operations resumed after the flight crew followed Boeing's published procedure to recover engine performance and the airplane landed safely in Atlanta. 
Boeing has already developed new procedures after the crash to prevent ice from building up within their 777 fuel systems after it became apparent that icing may have been a factor, and it was some of these that the Delta flight crew had followed. 
As part of the recent releases by the NTSB and AAIB it has become apparent that investigators from both bodies, which are collaborating, have found ice buildup in the fuel system caused both rollbacks. 
In both cases a build-up of ice (from water normally present in all jet fuel) developed on a component called the fuel/oil heat exchanger. 
This restricted the flow of fuel to the engine, resulting in the uncommanded engine rollback. 
Investigators initially struggled to produce enough ice under test conditions but have now found that at high concentration, fuel can form ice at very low temperatures in enough quantity to seriously restrict fuel flow, according to a new interim report by the AAIB. 
This does not occur when fuel demand is lower, as the hot oil then becomes sufficient to entirely melt the ice. 
The vigorous tests are thought to be the first of their kind. 
They have also confirmed that while ice may have formed elsewhere in the airliner's fuel system fuel was probably not restricted at any other location. 
Instead, it is thought 'soft' ice formed in the pipes and then broke off, travelling to the fuel/oil heat exchanger and restricting it. 
The NTSB has now revealed that they have advised Rolls-Royce to redesign the fuel/oil heat exchanger, and Rolls-Royce have stated that they are indeed working on a replacement part that will be available within twelve months. 
The AAIB advised Boeing and Rolls-Royce to jointly review the problem across the fuel system, and both companies responded that they 'accepted' this recommendation and repeated that a replacement part was being developed. 
Both the NTSB and the AAIB also sent letters to the US Federal Aviation Administration and the European Aviation Safety Agency requesting the installment of the modified component be mandatory. 
The NTSB suggested this should be either the next maintenance check or within six months. 
There are 220 Boeing 777-200s - the only type using the affected engine - with Trent 800 series engines. 
The fuel/oil heat exchanger is a dual purpose part designed to simultaneously melt fuel ice and cool down engine oil. 
The AAIB further noted that it is unclear whether other aircraft designs are at risk, and advised the FAA and EASA to look into increased use of de-icing additives and investigate both the accumulation and sudden movement of ice in aircraft fuel systems and the actual formation of ice in the fuel itself. 
A new advertising campaign in USA for the Sony PSP which looks like graffiti and is often sprayed on previously vandalized walls has come under attack from other graffiti artists. 
A collective group of graffiti artists and street artists are now banding together, vandalizing the look-alike graffiti advertisements. 
The campaign has offended a lot of graffiti artists and street artists, drawing responses like "keep your desperate corporate long arm out of a movement that is the only thing that is ours!" 
But not all the responses have been negative, with many artists defending Sony saying they have the right. 
"Sony and PSP have every right to use this type of media," Floyd Hayes, the head creative director at Cunning Work told Wired News. 
"They have done it for (a) very long time very successfully and spoke the language of the streets without being patronizing." 
Sony says it is paying the building owners like Casa Maria for the right to advertise on their walls. 
Casa Maria was paid $100 for two weeks' use of its wall, co-owner Mario Arana told Wired News. 
Tats Cru, the graffiti crew responsible for the designs, have also been targeted with insulting slogans on Sony's advertisements. 
Six energy companies in the United Kingdom have announced that it is likely that the prices for energy bills could increase over the course of 2010. 
The companies, which are nicknamed the "big six" in the United Kingdom, did not pass on information that there would be price cuts in energy bills despite increasing profits. 
However, the companies have in fact sent a message in response saying that the prices of bills may even increase over the course of the next year. 
Energy company watchdog the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) have estimated that energy companies will make gross margins of ￡170 ($276) per dual fuel customer over the course of the next twelve months, due to the recent fall in wholesale energy costs. 
Ofgem have said: "Our analysis shows that based on an 18-month hedging strategy and assuming that retail prices remain unchanged, projected gross margin is set to increase by around ￡80 for dual fuel customers over the next six months." 
The "big six" energy companies in the United Kingdom are British Gas, E-on, Npower, Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Power, and EDF Energy. 
British Gas stated: "Prices [are] likely to remain at historically high levels, and in fact likely to increase as non-commodity costs rise ever upwards." 
EDF Energy said: "[We] would of course be prepared to reduce tariffs if market conditions allowed." 
Scottish Power stated: "There are no immediate signals that would indicate a fall in retail prices for this winter, and risks of an increase next year." 
Scottish & Southern Energy commented: "With forward annual wholesale prices significantly higher, and with upward pressures in terms of distribution, environmental and social costs, seeking to avoid an increase between now and the end of 2010 is an important goal." 
Meanwhile, a study by Consumer Focus in early September 2009 suggested that "energy companies were overcharging customers by ￡100 ($162) every year." 
A spokesperson for Ofgem said that there was no evidence of any cartel in operation, or evidence of profiteering. 
The spokesperson commented: "It is up to the companies themselves to decide whether to cut their bills." 
"Consumer Focus data suggests that Scottish Power has increased dual fuel prices by the most since 2003 - up 148% - while decreasing prices by 0.6% so far this year." 
"RWE's Npower has increased tariffs by 132% since 2003, but has reduced bills by 2.7% in 2009." 
The University of California, Berkeley announced that one of its graduate students, Michael Park, rediscovered on May 24 the Mount Diablo buckwheat, a plant not sighted since 1936 and believed to have been extinct. 
Found nearly 30 miles east of San Francisco, Park [aged 35] identified the small pink flowering plant said to resemble baby's breath during a routine visit to the mountain. 
The significance of the find drew comparisons to the recent discovery of the Ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas earlier this year in April. 
The exact location of the flowering plant is, for now, being kept secret. 
Several botanists have confirmed it along with the nearly dozen or so other plants. 
The property is being preserved by the Save Mount Diablo conservation group operating in the Mount Diablo State Park. 
Mohammed Bouyeri, a radical Islamist who was a member of the Hofstad Network, was sentenced to life in prison by a court in Amsterdam for the killing of the controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh in November 2004. 
Van Gogh was ambushed on an Amsterdam street and shot repeatedly in the chest before Bouyeri stabbed him and slit his throat. 
The judgment said that Bouyeri showed "complete disregard for human life" and butchered Van Gogh "mercilessly". 
Bouyeri, a 27 year who holds joint Dutch-Moroccan citizenship, claimed he acted on behalf of Islam. 
He made a confession in the courtroom and vowed he would "do it again" if he had the chance. 
Van Gogh had been a staunch critic of Islam and its perceived mistreatment of women. 
Van Gogh directed several movies critical of Islam, most notably Submission in which verses of the Qur'an were written on naked women's bodies. 
Severe flooding in the island nation of Fiji has killed eight people and forced thousands to evacuate. 
The flooding is mainly in the western part of the country's main island, Viti Levu, where most of the resorts hosting international travellers are located. 
Fiji's National Disaster Office has advised all tourists still in the country to prepare for more bad weather and possibly more flooding. 
Fiji's chief of disaster management Aisea Qumihajelo said in a statement, "There's another depression heading toward Fiji within the next two days and that will bring an additional threat." 
The government of Fiji's military dictator Frank Bainimarama declared a state of emergency in the city of Nadi, the country's tourist centre, and other parts of western Viti Levu. 
Over 6,000 people have evacuated the area and are now in one of Fiji's 144 evacuation centers sheltered from the storm. 
Government sources have reported that at least six people have been killed by floodwaters, and two people were crushed by a landslide. 
The flood has affected many of the rural areas of the island, washing out sugar cane crops across the area and damaging roads and bridges. 
"Widespread flooding, including severe flooding of major rivers and streams, is expected on Wednesday and Thursday." 
"The western division is likely to be worse affected once again," said Fiji's director of meteorology, Rajendra Prasad. 
Rescue efforts, led by the government and the Red Cross, have begun especially in rural and heavily-flooded areas. 
Vetaia Dokonivalu, a local resident from Ba, a hard-hit town, commented, "It was really frightening." 
"We watched as the doors of our homes were forced open by the water." 
"We saw our belongings being swept out of the houses." 
This flooding has also caused a food crisis in some parts. 
Isimeli Tukana, a health official, said, "People need to collect as much rainwater as possible and drink as much of this as possible." 
"Watch out for food from supermarkets especially from the towns of Ba, Nadi, Sigatoka and Rakiraki." 
"Our health inspectors will be doing their rounds as soon as the water goes down." 
According to the Fiji Retailers Association, the storm has caused over a million dollars worth of damage to Fiji's businesses. 
At 07:00 UTC today (19:00 NZST, local time), the polls closed in the New Zealand general election, 2005. 
Turnout was strong, turnout results are predicted to be to be higher than the 2002 turnout (77%) 
Under New Zealand's MMP system, parties must win either a electorate seat or 5% of the party vote to win a seat in the 120-seat, parliament. 
Preliminary election results will be on Wikinews as they come through it is expected that all votes will be counted by 11:30 UTC (23:30 NZST) 
The official results are expected to be available by Saturday, 1 October 2005, on the Chief Electoral Office 2005 General Election Results website 
The three armed robbers entered the museum half an hour before closing. 
One man with a pistol forced employees to the ground while the other two men stole the paintings. 
The four paintings are worth a total of 163 million US dollars. 
It's said that it would be hard to sell the stolen paintings on the open market due to the popularity of the paintings. 
There is a reward of 90 thousand US dollars for the artwork. 
The robbers, who were still at large, stole the paintings Sunday from the E.G. Bührle Collection, one of Europe's finest private museums for Impressionist and ｖ, police said. 
It was the largest art robbery in Swiss history and one of the biggest ever in Europe, said Marco Cortesi, spokesman for the Zurich police. 
He compared it to the theft in 2004 of Edvard Munch's The Scream and Madonna from the Munch Museum in Norway. 
Last week, Swiss police reported that two Pablo Picasso paintings were stolen from a Swiss exhibition near Zurich. 
Fires continue to burn in Greece on Monday destroying everything in their path. 
Death toll has exceeded 60 with daily Greek newspapers Kathimerini and Ta Nea reporting 61 and 63 deaths respectively. 
Ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Olympics, was also threatened but firefighters kept the site safe. 
The new museum of Olympia was saved in the last minute but part of the ancient stadium was not spared. 
The Greek Government has offered a €1 million reward for anyone providing information which leads to the arrest of an arsonist. 
Rescuers were today sending a pod of 13 pilot whales back into the ocean at Geographe Bay, near to Busselton, south of Perth, in Western Australia. 
Six additional members of the pod had died during the stranding, including at least one calf. 
More than 300 people were watching as the whales set out to sea following a 30 hour rescue effort. 
Several power boats and a spotter plane were escorting the surviving whales towards Cape Naturalist, in an operation expected to take several hours. 
Western Australian State Government Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) officers feared that the whales could become stranded again. 
One CALM officer, Neil Taylor, told ABC News dozens of his colleagues and community volunteers had helped the whales survive throughout the night. 
"The vet has checked them all and given them some antibiotics yesterday, last thing before dark," he had told the Australian national broadcaster. 
"I think the plan is that the vet will be there again [today] and will give them some vitamins to kick them along before they actually take their swim out to sea." 
Two diplomats within the Romanian Embassy to Moldova have been declared personae non gratae due to the incompatibility between their activity and the diplomatic status they are holding. 
In line with a press statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI), on Wednesday, December 12, Romanian Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Moldova Filip Teodorescu was invited to the MFAEI. 
"The Foreign Ministry considers such an act as inimical, totally unjustified and incompatible with Romania’s permanent constructive and cooperative attitude towards Moldova," the Romanian Foreign Ministry says in a communique releases in reaction... 
"I expected many of the problems in our relations to disappear after Romania joined the EU," said Vladimir Voronin President of Moldova, "but relations between Moldova and Romania have not changed." 
"All those statements are so stupid they don't deserve criticism." 
Taiwan Electromagnetic Radiation Hazard Protection and Control Association (TEPCA), an environmental organization set to promote environmental hazard warnings on electromagnetic radiation, protested over the potential health impact of electromagnetic radiation as Ying-jeou Ma, President of the Republic of China, visited this show on the 2nd Day of 2008 WiMAX Expo Taipei (June 3). 
"Base stations of WiMAX are unnecessary in Taiwan! The governmental people didn't care about the living and health of the public!" strongly stated Jiau-hua Chen, Chairman of TEPCA during the protest. 
The on-site rate of electromagnetic radiation was firmly higher than the international standards as some experts examined at the showground, according to the Taiwan Hakka Television. 
In addition, the TEPCA strongly appealed the governments and organizers to announce the place of base stations for health and safety issue. 
As a result of the protest, not only the information security, but also environmentalists disputed the future of WiMAX. 
Nonetheless the national health system of Sierra Leone demands payment for all treatment with simple consultations costing as much as 25 days of income. 
According to Action Against Hunger the number of children with acute malnutrition has reached almost twice the level of the WHO's emergency threshold of 2% in the Moyamba district of Sierra Leone. 
The Los Angeles Times writes that Sierra Leone, in spite of decades of foreign aid, has not yet increased the standard of living of its people considerably and 60% of the public spending of Sierra Leone come from other governments and nonprofit organizations. 
Since 2002 the country received $1 billion in aid but the infant mortality rate is almost the highest in the world, lower than Angola but higher than Afghanistan. 
The newspaper further reports that the United Nations state that 1 in 8 Sierra Leonean women die giving birth, as compared to 1 in 4,800 in the United States and that life expectancy in Sierra Leone is merely 41 years while in Bangladesh life expectancy reaches 60 years. 
The government of Sierra Leone had expressed its intend to abolish user fees for women and children with a new plan for a fairer health care system that was to be revealed on the Sierra Leone Investment and Donor Conference, which was held in London on November 18 and 19. 
"The Sierra Leone government has publicly stated its commitment to abolish user fees, and the UK government and other donors have promised to help," said Seco Gerard, advisor at Medecins Sans Frontieres’s analysis and advocacy unit. 
"What is crucial now is that Sierra Leone actually receives the necessary funding and technical assistance to realise this objective." 
"It is time that words are being followed up by concrete action." 
"If not, people who could otherwise be saved will continue to die needlessly every day." 
The Telegraph reports that president Bai Koroma was also hoping to secure a significant increase in aid donations with his new health plan. 
While Germany declined to support president Bai Koroma’s "Agenda for Change" and urged to give more consideration to women's welfare the country received support from the European Union, DFID, UNIPSIL, World Bank, IFAD and the African Development Bank. 
From the pledges of $850 million the government of Sierra Leone was hoping for only about $300 millions could be secured, with attached conditionalities concerning the use of funding. 
In a presentation at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development in Freetown the Unicef representative for Sierra Leone, Mr. Mahimbo Mdoe, expressed gratitude about a pledge of about $1.3 million conveyed by the Ambassador of Japan to Sierra Leone, His Excellency Mr. Keiichi Katakami, and about earlier donations to UNICEF-Sierra Leone in the past years, amounting to over $20 million. 
The intended application of the funding is the goal to half child and maternal mortality by 2010, to introduce a social health insurance scheme, to improve equipment and to train health professionals. 
Over 500 groups, including the Democratic Progressive Party, are planning a massive march and rally for Saturday in Taipei City. 
March promoters are vowing to bring one million people onto the streets to protest the People's Republic of China's "anti-secession" law aimed at thwarting Taiwan independence. 
The march, titled "326 March for Democracy and Peace", will begin in ten different locations, converging on the square near the Presidential Office in downtown Taipei City. 
"Democracy and peace are the ultimate goal of the march," said Joseph Wu, the Mainland Affairs Council Chairman. 
Wu announced on Friday that he would take part in the rally, but did not disclose in which part of the parade he would appear. 
Taiwan's President Chen Shui-bian announced on Thursday that he will also attend the event with his family. 
"I cannot and will not be absent on March 26, and I will take my entire family to participate in this sacred moment in history to walk and stand up together with the Taiwanese people," Chen said. 
Chen further declared that he has, "heard the outrage and anger of the Taiwan people." 
A Chinese scholar warned that the situation could become "further aggravated" by Saturday's planned event. 
"The secessionist forces plot to stir up public sentiments to embolden themselves." 
"Such moves are doomed to meet failure," said Huang Jiashu, a professor at the People's University of China. 
He stated that secessionist forces had "malevolently distorted" the anti-secession law. 
The Taiwan Domestic News Hour on ETTV is running a 326 graphic to note the march and rally during its news reports about the upcoming event, and also has an animated graphic with marchers carrying signs in the lower-left hand corner of the screen. 
Zorn discussed a variety of issues, including frustration with the classification system that has disadvantaged some United States swimmers because of what she sees as its subjective nature. 
She also talked about the increased visibility of the Games, how things have changed from when she started in 1980 to the current 2012 Summer Paralympics. 
Zorn discussed how sponsorship has evolved from her early time participating, and issues with the Paralympics inside the United States at the present. 
This year Zorn was inducted into the International Paralympic Hall of Fame at a ceremony in London. 
Having last competed in the 2004 Summer Paralympics, if she was swimming today, she would be classified as an S12 swimmer. 
She currently works for the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, helping returning soldiers adjust to life as civilians. 
Between 3,000 (police estimate) and 8,000 people (organiser's estimate) took to the streets in Gießen, Germany today, protesting the planned introduction of tuition fees at Hessian universities. 
Beginning at 1pm CEST (1100 UTC) students, pupils and ordinary citizens marched through much of downtown Gießen, accompanied by a massive police presence, in the largest demonstration the city has seen in years. 
They occupied the office of the Regierungsbezirk and the city office. 
From 4 to 7pm, at least 200 people also blocked the Berliner Platz, the most important inner city crossing, bringing most of the downtown bus and car traffic to a standstill. 
The crowd dispersed after the police threatend several times to clear the crossing by force. 
Students unions from all parts of Hesse called for the joint demonstration in Gießen. 
In July, the Hessian state legislature is due to pass a bill that would require all undergraduate students to pay a tuition fee of 500€ per semester; graduate students could be charged up to 1,500€. 
Slovenians yesterday voted in a referendum in favour of a border deal with Croatia. 
The Border Arbitration Agreement allows for international arbitrators to resolve a 20-year border dispute that dates back to the break-up of Yugoslavia. 
Parliaments in both countries approved the deal, which will be binding on both countries. 
In March, Slovenian Prime Minister Borut Pahor's centre-left government yielded to demands for a referendum on whether to accept a border deal. 
"Solving the border dispute with Croatia is the basis for a lasting peace, security and friendship of both nations," Pahor said. 
"If it is rejected, it is questionable how long I or my successor will need to reach another agreement which, I believe, could not be better." 
The national Electoral Commission said that after 99.9 per cent of votes were counted, 51.5 per cent voted for the deal and 48.5 were against it. 
It is impossible for the remaining 2,000 votes, cast by Slovenians living abroad, to change the outcome. 
Slovenia is situated between Italy and Croatia, where the dispute involves land on the Istrian peninsula in the northern Adriatic and the small Bay of Piran in the Adriatic Sea. 
A panel of five international experts will define the new land and maritime borders and could force Croatia to cede some of the sea it views as its own. 
In the past, Croatia has called for the border to be drawn down the middle of the bay. 
However, Slovenia, which has a much shorter coastline, feared that this would deny its ships direct passage to international waters. 
Slovenia is the only former Yugoslav state to have joined the European Union (EU), while Croatia hopes to conclude EU accession talks this year and join the twenty-seven member union in 2012. 
Slovenia has blocked Croatia's membership talks over the border issue in the past. 
"Resolving this bilateral issue is an important signal for the region and the relations between Slovenia and Croatia." 
The bodies of two of the four Alabama children allegedly thrown off a bridge by their father have been found. 
On Saturday, Danny Luong, the youngest of the children at four months old, was discovered by a duck hunter in a marshy area near Bayou la Batre, about 5 miles west of the 80 foot high Dauphin Island Bridge. 
A second child, 3-year-old Ryan Phan, was found near Barton Bay by a search and rescue team today at 10:30 am local time. 
Barton Bay is about 10 miles northwest of the bridge. 
The father, Lam Luong, a 37 year old shrimp fisherman, has been charged with four counts of capital murder. 
If convicted, he faces either the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. 
"The inevitable nightmare we have feared has now been confirmed." 
"We believe, certainly now, that the father of these children threw these children off the Dauphin Island bridge," Mobile County sheriff Sam Cochran said on Saturday. 
Luong and his wife, Kieu Ngoc Phan, reported the children missing on Monday. 
When questioned, Luong claimed responsibility for the act, saying that he threw the children into the river after an argument with his wife. 
However, he later retracted his confession, instead claiming that two women, one of whom is named "Kim", took the children and drove off in a van. 
"Why didn't he kill me instead of the children? It's too much hurting," Phan said through an interpreter while weeping. 
She was being comforted by an associate pastor from a Vietnamese church. 
According to the family, Luong called from jail and told them he wanted to be "more famous than the 9/11 hijackers" and that he "wasn't afraid of the electric chair". 
The search continues for the other two children - Hannah Luong, 2, and Lindsey Luong, 1. 
The search area has been expanded across the state border towards Pascagoula, Mississippi, as authorities believe the strong currents may have moved the bodies westward. 
Mobile County Commissioner Steve Nodine reports that the search is costing an estimated $100,000 per day. 
Heavy rain has washed away a 20-metre stretch of National Highway 75, in Alba county, western Romania, leaving only one of the lanes open to traffic. 
Both the road and the side fences fell into the Arieş River due to the rain. 
Repair teams from the National Roads Department were called in to assess the damage and clear away the trees that had fallen onto the highway. 
Western Romania has recently faced a week of heavy rain, which has caused heavy flooding in some areas, and in other areas has damaged infrastructure. 
Parts of Timiş county remain heavily flooded, along with the northern Serbian region of Vojvodina. 
Some people have deemed the floods in this region to be the worst in 50 years. 
Actor, director, and artist Dennis Hopper has died today at the age of 74. 
He was known to suffer from prostate cancer since October 2009. 
He was born Dennis Lee Hopper on May 17, 1936 in Dodge City, Kansas. 
As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors Studio. 
He made his first television appearance in 1955, and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause (1955) and Giant (1956). 
Over the next ten years, Hopper appeared frequently on television in guest roles, and by the end of the 1960s had played supporting roles in several films. 
He directed and starred in Easy Rider (1969), winning an award at the Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay as co-writer of the film's script. 
Hopper was unable to build on this success for several years, until a featured role in Apocalypse Now (1979) brought him attention. 
He subsequently received critical recognition for his work in Blue Velvet and Hoosiers, with the latter film garnering him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. 
Hopper's more recent work included a leading role in the television series Crash. 
Hopper was a prolific photographer, painter, and sculptor whose works have been exhibited worldwide. 
On January 12, 2010, several months after the cancer diagnosis, Hopper had filed for divorce from his wife Victoria Duffy leading to an extended public feud between the couple over the course of the following months. 
The Swiss people have voted yes to the freedom of circulation to the new EU states. 
Overall 55.95% (1 457 355) voted yes and 44.05% (1 147 236) voted no. 
All the cantons voted yes, apart from the six and a half Ticino, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Obwalden, Nidwalden, Glarus, Schwyz and Uri. 
German-speaking and French-speaking parts of Switzerland had similar results; in previous national popular consultations, German-speaking cantons were regarded as less progressive than French-speaking ones. 
The campaign was especially harsh, most governmental parties calling for acceptance, except the far-right wing Swiss People's Party (though Swiss People's Party's charismatic figure Christoph Blocher personally called for acceptance as well). 
Smaller formations, both from the extreme Right and extreme Left, attempted to smear fear of massive immigration and unemployement. 
Switzerland has ratified bilateral agreements with the members of the European Union in March 2004, but the new members (Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) were not included in the deal. 
The results have been greeted by most of the political establishment. 
Alinghi has defeated Team New Zealand by one second in the seventh race to win the 32nd America's Cup in a close run race. 
The final score was five wins for Alinghi and two for Team New Zealand in the best of nine challenge. 
Skipper Brad Butterworth, coincidently a New Zealander, led the Switzerland-based boat to a second straight "Auld Mug" trophy. 
The race started with Team New Zealand, skippered by Dean Barker, having a slight advantage. 
This was soon lost to Alinghi however, ending the first mark with a seven second lead. 
Nearing the end of the second mark, Team New Zealand managed to overtake Alinghi to gain a 14 second lead. 
However, when SUI-100 were catching up to NZL-92, Team New Zealand were penalised for port-starboard incident. 
Coming up to the final leg of the race, Team New Zealand managed to take a 70 metre lead after the wind faded, and both yachts had dropped their spinnakers and Alinghi dropped into a hole. 
Team New Zealand still had to complete their 360 degree penalty turn, and did so. 
After completing the turn, Alinghi sailed up beside them and took the win by one second. 
Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey congratulated the team, sending a telegram that read: "We Swiss find our way at sea, not just in the mountains." 
Micheline Calmy-Rey, president of Switzerland, sent a telegram to the team congratulating them of their win. 
"We Swiss find our way at sea, not just in the mountains," referring to Switzerland being most popular for Alpine skiing. 
Managing director of Team New Zealand, Grant Dalton, said, "All credit to Alinghi." 
"They kept it close when we got past them on the first run they just kept on sailing the way they do and beat us fair and square in the end." 
The New Zealand Government has announced that it is setting aside NZ$10 million to help retain key yachties. 
This is just under double what the government gave them after the loss in 2003. 
Sports and recreation minister for New Zealand, Trevor Mallard, said, "It is the view of the government that the team should continue, that it should be based in New Zealand and that Auckland should host an America's Cup regatta again." 
Martin Garbus, Esq. filed a shareholder derivative suit Monday against Marvel Entertainment and its Chief Executive Officer Isaac Perlmutter, as well as Stan Lee, the creator of Marvel superhero characters, and Lee's wife and former Marvel Studios head, Avi Arad. 
The suit is for more than US$750 million (£528M) — about half of the estimated proceeds from Marvel's movies. 
Plaintiff Stan Lee Media (SLM) has four shareholders who live in Florida, California and Canada, and include Jose Abadin and Nelson Thall. 
The company is suing for recovery of civil damages representing one-half of film and book earnings from such blockbuster films as Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men, Hulk, and Fantastic Four franchises. 
Defendants are accused of copyright violations over both the Marvel superhero characters and intellectual properties created by Stan Lee. 
Spider-Man's three cinematic outings, starring Tobey Maguire, earned more than $1bn (￡702m). 
"Most of Marvel's financial success, including from the films, comes out of assets created by Stan Lee that are the subject of this suit," the complaint states. 
Lee, 86, has denied the allegations and has previously filed his own $50 million counter lawsuit against SLM, claiming the company has destroyed his name and reputation and prevented his effort to develop such properties as "The Accuser" and "The Drifter" and others via his first-look deals with Disney and Virgin Comics. 
Former dot-com company STM further alleges that it has agreed to pay Lee a $250,000 annual salary plus $100 million in company stock in exchange for the rights to the superhero characters. 
"That money should have gone to the corporation," said Garbus. 
Lee's counsel, Mark Williams, replied: "We look forward to a positive resolution for Stan Lee and his family." 
Marvel has said the court pleadings, which were filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, are filled with "ridiculous claims". 
SLM ran out of operating capital during the dot-com meltdown in December 2000, closing operations entirely by December 19 of that year. 
The company was placed into Chapter 11 Reorganization in Bankruptcy by Stan Lee in 2001. 
During the insolvency proceedings, Lee assigned the major character franchises he had created to his new public company, POW! Entertainment, without the bankruptcy court's approval. 
Two multi-billion dollar lawsuits for damages were filed against Lee, his new company, his new partner Arthur Lieberman and Marvel Entertainment for cybersquatting and failure to disclose the existence and value of the Rights Assignment Lee made to the company when he founded it. 
The company remained under bankruptcy protection until the US Trustee for the Central District of California moved to dismiss the bankruptcy proceedings for failure of the company as debtor in possession to comply with basic requirements of filing monthly reports and paying quarterly fees to the Trustee. 
SLM was taken back by the shareholders after its dismissal from bankruptcy and hired a legal and accounting forensic consultant to review all transactions that occurred during bankruptcy. 
By November 2006, all of the officers and directors of the company had resigned or abandoned their positions and the company's lawyers for the debtors in possession attempted to obtain court authorization to destroy or dispose of the company's books and records. 
This initiated a long-running legal battle between shareholders and the company's founder, Lee. 
The plaintiffs in this most recent suit contend that Lee, Perlmutter, Arthur Lieberman and Avi Arad conspired in bad faith to conceal and misappropriate financial interests in Lee's creations assigned to Stan Lee Media in 1998. 
SLM's meltdown involved its former President Peter F. Paul fleeing to Brazil, contributions made to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Paul's extradition and more. 
In 2007, SLM filed a $5 billion lawsuit in which it claimed co-ownership of all of Stan Lee's creations for Marvel. 
Polling places opened at 13:00 UTC (8:00 AM EST) this morning in Palm Beach County, Florida for the United States midterm elections. 
Early voters wreaked havoc on the city streets, causing backups near polling locations and interrupting traffic flows to area elementary and senior high schools. 
Due to the increase in traffic, some area school administrations asked teachers to accept late students without reprimand. 
Florida will elect a Federal senator, all of its House membership, a Governor, various other officers and vote on various questions. 
On Sunday, Iran tested its second underwater missile, the Fajr-3. 
"The missile carries a very powerful warhead that enables it to operate against groups of warships and big submarines." 
"Even if an enemy's warship sonar can detect the missile, no warship can escape from this missile because of its high speed," said General Ali Fadavi of the Revolutionary Guards. 
He said the missile can travel at 328 feet a second. 
If Iran's claims are correct, it would make this missile the fastest underwater missile in the world. 
The second fastest missile would be the Russian's VA-111 Shkval, which was developed in 1995. 
Iran successfully tested its first missile on March 31, 2006, and claims that it can "evade radar and it can evade anti-missile missiles," said Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guards Air Force. 
"This technology is completely new, without copying any other missile systems that may exist in other countries" and also says it can carry several warheads. 
It is also reported that more missiles will be tested during war games later in the week. 
Norwegian cyclist Thor Hushovd sprinted his way to a stage four victory in the 2007 Tour de France on Wednesday. 
Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland maintained the overall lead, while Hushovd moved into second place, 29 seconds behind Cancellara. 
"When I get into the mountains, it's sure that it's finished," Cancellara said. 
Danish mountain specialist, and "King of the Mountains" for 2005 and 2006, Michael Rasmussen agrees that the Alps will be a turning point in the race. 
"We'll definitely get some answers on those days," Rasmussen said. 
French mountain specialist Remy Di Gregorio withdrew from the Tour after fracturing his elbow during stage 4. 
The Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services is considering prosecuting and banning some Scientology practices, in particular the use of the Scientology personality test to sell courses. 
State Secretary Rigmor Aasrud said that the activities in question might be prosecuted as fraud or as violations of existing healthcare regulations. 
A Norwegian Member of Parliament (MP) whose daughter killed herself after taking such a test, supports the idea of prosecuting illegal practices rather than trying to ban the movement as a whole. 
The statement was made after three journalists from the online edition of the newspaper Verdens Gang (VG) took the test. 
The journalists wore hidden recording devices, and did not disclose that they were journalists; VG put the recordings on its website. 
Scientology staff members told all three that they should buy a course to handle psychological issues. 
Two of the journalists filled out the 200 questions with honest answers, while the third gave answers consistent with being depressed. 
The "depressed" journalist was told that he should avoid traditional medicine, while one of the "normal" journalists was told that the course was her only hope for improvement unless she wanted to start taking "chemicals". 
Matthias Fosse, spokesperson for the Church of Scientology in Norway, said that the staff members in question were acting individually. 
He said that the Church of Scientology does not give medical advice, but that it encourages people to focus on the side effects of medications, and is critical of the "over-medication" of psychiatric patients. 
Olav Gunnar Ballo, a Norwegian MP and medical doctor whose daughter Kaja suddenly killed herself after a negative experience with the Scientology test in France in March 2008, released a book about Kaja Ballo's life in April 2009. 
The book debuted on 2nd place in the Norwegian best seller list. 
Ballo listened to the recorded test result sessions from VG and said that he found the practice "horrible and harmful". 
He told the newspaper Dagbladet that Norway could have something to learn from the current French prosecution of Scientology corporations and individuals, by prosecuting specific harmful practices rather than banning Scientology as a whole. 
Matthias Fosse said that France is a far more secular society than Norway, and that France were going too far in their prosecution. 
He said that France has a list of 165 organizations considered to be "sects", which not just included Scientology but also covered Baptists such as former U.S. president Bill Clinton. 
The list which Fosse referred to is a list from the 1995 Parliamentary Commission on Cults in France. 
Fosse said that the OSCE, the U.S. State Department and the UN had criticised French "violations of human rights". 
General Motors Corporation (GM) announced on Wednesday that it saw a 45% drop in United States vehicle sales for its cars in March. 
Executives from several auto firms, however, said that there was some hope for the auto industry to stabilise, as car sales rebounded in the last week of March. 
"The market is starting to show small signs of life which need to be nourished like seedlings," said the vice president and chairman of Chrysler LLC Jim Press. 
"It's too early to see a trend, but spring shows signs of hope." 
Other automobile manufacturers also saw their car sales slip: Chrysler and the Japanese Toyota both reported a 39% loss, whilst Ford Motor Company sales fell 41%. 
Annualised sales of vehicles in the car industry in the US are predicted to have dipped below nine million in March, compared to February's 9.12 million, which was the lowest number since 1981. 
"Auto makers are pulling every lever in their effort to attract buyers, as evidenced by the new programs from Ford and GM." 
"The typical incentive programs simply do not resonate in today's economy," Jesse Toprak, an analyst for Edmunds. 
Ford shares gained 2.3% to a level of US$2.69 in early trading at US stock markets on Wednesday, while stocks for Toyota's US depository increased 5.9% to $67. 
The cause of death was established to be complications of diabetes. 
Gonzalez had suffered with the illness for several years and was wheelchair bound. 
Standing over 7.5 feet (2.3 metres) tall, Gonzalez was originally a basketball player before becoming a wrestler. 
Upon moving to the United States, he was drafted in the third round of the 1988 NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks. 
After his basketball career ended, he joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW). 
During his time there, he wrestled as El Gigante for two years, then joining the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), now World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). 
He debuted at the 1993 Royal Rumble where he eliminated Undertaker from the Royal Rumble match. 
He spent the entire of his time at with the WWF feuding with Undertaker and left the company in July 1993 after losing a Rest in Peace match to him. 
After leaving the company, he wrestled in Japan before retiring in 1995 after suffering from sciatic nerve pain. 
A gunman shot and injured two men early this morning outside the Vault XXI nightclub in the Little Tokyo district in Los Angeles, California. 
Lieutenant Paul Vernon of the Los Angeles Police Department says the two men are in critical condition. 
Witnesses say the two men, both Asian and in their 20s, were smoking outside the club when a man wearing a ski mask approached and shot the two around 1:30 a.m. local time (9:30 UTC). 
The men suffered multiple wounds and crawled into the club. 
Police believe the shooter was possibly Asian and was about five feet seven inches tall. 
Investigators say there were ten bullet casings at the scene from a semiautomatic firearm. 
Lt. Vernon said, "We’re lucky more people were not injured in this attack." 
"It appears the victims were targeted by the suspect as they stood at the entrance to the nightclub." 
In the second set, Great Britain managed to keep the game competitive by forcing Ukraine to make more use of the full court. 
They went from being behind 14-8 to being down 20-17; at which point, Ukraine took a time out. 
Ukraine managed to stay ahead despite a challenge from Great Britain in the second set, which saw the score get to 23-20. 
Following the game, both teams were loudly cheered as they exited the court. 
This was followed by a demonstration of the sport by the Lord Mayor of London Boris Johnson and British actress Barbara Windsor, with the arena commentator noting Johnson is a surprisingly good player. 
The game was the first for Great Britain in the country's history, having never qualified a team before. 
Players on the team are drawn from several clubs around the nation, with Julie Rogers, Jessica Frezza and Andrea Green coming from the Loughborough Lions, Victoria Widdup, Martine Wright and Claire Harvey usually playing for the London Lynx, Samantha Bowen, Jessica O'Brien and Amy Brierly playing for the FDSW Celtic Dragons, and Emma Wiggs and Nicole Hill playing for Portsmouth. 
They will play their second match of pool play tomorrow when they face the Netherlands. 
Ukraine, the top ranked European side in the competition, entered the tournament having finished second at the Intercontinental Cup earlier in the year where they beat Russia, Slovenia, Brazil and Great Britain. 
According to media reports, John McCain has won the New Hampshire Primary for the Republicans in the 2008 Presidential race. 
"I hate to use to the word kid, but I think we showed the people of this country what a real comeback looks like." 
"I'm committed to keeping this country safe, and we're going to move on to Michigan and South Carolina and win the nomination," said McCain. 
Also according to media reports, New York Senator Hillary Clinton has won the New Hampshire Primary in the 2008 United States Presidential race. 
MSNBC reports that Clinton beat Barack Obama by a "very narrow margin." 
Opinion polls held before the polls closed showed Obama winning. 
The BBC has announced it will not play "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead" in its entirety on today's Radio 1 Chart Show. 
The song has become the third most downloaded single of the week, following the death of former United Kingdom Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. 
The song is featured in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. 
Controller of Radio 1 Ben Cooper said "about a four or five second clip" of the song would be included in a news item explaining why it has featured in the charts, which will air as part of the programme. 
BBC Director-General Tony Hall stated that although he believed the song was "distasteful and inappropriate", an outright ban would breach the principle of free speech. 
"But on the other hand they couldn't have just ignored the fact that it does feature amongst the most downloaded singles of the week." 
Mrs Thatcher's supporters have launched a campaign to get "I'm in Love with Margaret Thatcher" into the music chart alongside "Ding Dong the Witch is Dead". 
Mrs Thatcher's funeral is scheduled for St.Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday. 
It is to be attended by leading figures from the worlds of politics and entertainment, as well as several international figures, including former Australian Prime Minister John Howard and inventor of the World Wide Web Sir Tim Berners-Lee. 
Operation NANOOK 2008 was held from August 11 to August 25 by the Canadian Forces for the purpose of conducting mock emergency rescue operations for potential maritime disasters in the northeastern Canadian Arctic waters. 
Two Canadian navy ships and two airforce planes, a CC-138 Twin Otter and a CP-140 Aurora, took part in the exercises in the Canada's Arctic. 
The HMCS Toronto and the Canadian Coast Guard ship Pierre Radisson travelled along the Hudson Strait. 
The Operation extended to Davis Strait, and Frobisher Bay during the annual NANOOK Operation. 
As more Arctic ice melts, the ships sail through uncharted waters. 
Emergency response times were tested for such potential disasters as oil spills, or rescue operations such as responding to cruise ship emergencies. 
General Walter Natynczyk, Canada's chief of Defence staff, the Honourable Peter MacKay, Defence Minister as well as Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and Steven Fletcher, Member of Parliament for Charleswood–St.James–Assiniboia and Parliamentary Secretary for Health, flew to Iqaluit, Nunavut to officially launch the exercise on August 19, 2008 and observe the process. 
In addition to the military exercises, Veterans Affairs Canada held a commemorative event onboard the HMCS Toronto to honour the 55th Anniversary of the Cease Fire in Korea, the 65th Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic, and the start of the Last 100 days of the First World War. 
The inaugural ceremonies were held during Community Day activities in the capital city of Iqaluit, followed by the public panel discussion held on Saturday. 
The community day ceremonies were organized by participants in Operation NANOOK 2008. 
The public ceremonies received neither Nunavut politicians nor Inuit leaders. 
United States presidential candidate Hillary Clinton warned Iran against an attack on Israel; "I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," the former First Lady said. 
Clinton was speaking in an interview on ABC's Good Morning America television program. 
"In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them," Clinton said. 
"That's a terrible thing to say but those people who run Iran need to understand that because that perhaps will deter them from doing something that would be reckless, foolish and tragic." 
"One of the things that we've seen over the last several years is a bunch of talk using words like 'obliterate,'" Barack Obama said in a separate ABC interview. 
Last night, on MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Hillary Clinton said US allies in the Middle East are "intimidated and bullied into submission by Iran." 
Here also, she warned that an attack on Israel would bring "massive retaliation" for Iran. 
Clinton and Obama face off today in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary. 
With 158 delegates at stake, Pennsylvania is the largest of the remaining states and territories yet to decide. 
The 2013 Beverly Hills Film Festival is set to open on Wednesday. 
The event will feature multiple independently produced films and screenplays. 
130 screenplays have been listed as finalists in the Screenplays category. 
Numerous films will be screened at the festival, including the short film, Byron's Theme. 
Other films include A Thousand Kisses Deep, and A White Mule. 
Screenwriter and indie film producer, Kara Rainer's story entitled RORRIM was selected as a finalist in the screenplay category. 
Rainer told Wikinews, "...I am thrilled that RORRIM was picked with so many [screenplays] being selected." 
Rainer's story revolves largely around an old hand mirror she discovered while attending an estate sale in Dallas, Texas. 
In 2012, the festival opened with the film, The Black Tulip, a film shot entirely in Afghanistan. 
That film ultimately won multiple awards at that year's festival, including Best Producer and Best Actor. 
Previous festival attendees reads like a 'Who's Who' in Hollywood: Martin Landua, Danny Devito and Doris Roberts, among many others. 
The festival will be featured at the historic Chinese 6 Theatres on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. 
An oil rig in the North Sea has been evacuated after a security alert. 
Up to 539 oil workers are being moved off the affected rig in an operation that began at 09:20 UTC this morning. 
Barry Nielson, a Squadron leader with the RAF was quoted (BBC News) as saying "It's unusual, that's probably the best way to describe it." 
"But it falls within our normal operating procedures and we are reacting accordingly." 
By the end of the day, the alert had ended, with Kathy McGill (manging director of the firm responsible for the rig) being quoted as saying "We are very relieved that this has turned out to be a false alarm, but we obviously had to treat it seriously and act appropriately to ensure the safety and well being of all our people." 
A Mig-29 jet fighter of the Serbian Air Force and Air Defense crashed near Belgrade, Serbia, on Tuesday. 
The pilot ejected from the airplane and was transferred to military hospital. 
Lt. Col. Rade Randjelovic, aged 47, suffered serious injuries and died at the hospital. 
A soldier located on the ground was also killed, and another injured. 
Randjelovic was conducting a training flight at the time of the accident and was preparing for the Belgrade aircraft acrobatics show. 
The Serbian Air Force has five MiG-29s which were repaired between 2007 and 2008 at a cost of €15m (£13 m). 
The cause of the crash is still unknown, pending an official investigation. 
The Australian federal government has announced it will subsidise the breast-cancer drug Herceptin under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for women with HER2 positive cancer. 
Those with advanced breast cancer will continue to be eligible for special assistance from Medicare Australia independently from the PBS. 
According to the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, around 2,000 of the 14,000 cases of breast cancer diagnosed annually are of the HER2 positive type. 
Herceptin has shown to prevent the recurrence of cancer in 30% of these patients. 
In order to constrain costs, the government has accepted a recommendation from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PABC) to provide Herceptin under the PBS only to patients who have the HER2 positive type of cancer, who have undergone surgery and who are undergoing chemotherapy. 
In addition, those who are predisposed to heart damage (which can be a side effect of the drug) will not be provided with the subsidised medication. 
The government will provide subsidised Herceptin for 52 weeks (as found to be most effective in clinical trials) at a cost of around AUD$50,000 per patient. 
Herceptin will become available on the PBS from 1 October. 
The most successful country this year was Italy, with a total of 153 medals, 57 of which were gold. 
France tied in their total number of medals, but had one less gold medal. 
The next Mediterranean Games will be held in Pescara, Italy in 2009. 
Washington, D.C. - The Environmental Protection Agency may have a new tool in its arsenal to fight global warming. 
The agency has submitted a proposal to the Obama administration which aims to list carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses as pollutants under the Clean Air Act. 
The policy had previously been proposed to and rejected by the Bush administration, which said it was the wrong tool to be using. 
The proposal lists the negative effects of global warming, including longer and hotter heat waves, increased flooding, and the increased spread of diseases due to warmer weather. 
EPA administrator Lisa Jackson has previously suggested declaring global warming a health threat, and that the agency could use the 1970 Clean Air Act to use to combat it. 
Environmental groups applauded the finding, with the director of Clean Air Watch, Frank O'Donnell, calling it "a green-letter day for the environment." 
One of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce vice presidents, William L. Kovacs, said if the the proposal is put into effect that it "will be devastating to the economy." 
It is unclear whether the Obama administration will go along with the proposal. 
White House spokesman Ben LaBolt commented that "The president has made clear that to combat climate change, his strong preference is for Congress to pass energy security legislation that includes a cap on greenhouse gas emissions." 
No specific timeline has been given for when a decision would be made. 
An upcoming conference in Copenhagen, Denmark will focus on drawing up a new international global warming treaty, which the United States plans to attend, a clear reversal from the Bush administration's non-participation in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. 
Facebook announced Thursday it will begin to share some of the technology from their social network. 
The company indicated it would like to share specifications and design documents to help startups and to support innovation. 
Facebook hopes that they will be able to benefit from the innovations of others. 
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, announced the company's "Open Compute Project" at an event held for reporters at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, California. 
Facebook will not directly make any money from the new project. 
However, by making the designs of its servers open source, the company hopes others will find ways to improve them. 
They can then incorporate those advances into their own servers. 
Anything that can make Facebook's servers run more efficiently provides a major benefit for the company. 
More efficient servers will also drive down utility costs for the social media giant, which relies on massive data centers around the United States to keep its operations going. 
Facebook says it is already working with manufacturers, including Dell, that are manufacturing servers based on its designs. 
Republican John McCain has conceded the election to Democrat Barack Obama. 
After two years of campaigning, today United States citizens went to the polls to vote for the Presidency and for numerous Senate, House, state and local races across the country. 
The District of Columbia and at least 32 states had early voting before election day. 
By October 31, over 23 million people had voted by mail or at early voting locations. 
Of the approximately 6 million people of known party affiliation who voted early, 58% were Democrats and 42% were Republicans. 
Record numbers of voters were expected to the polls on election day. 
There were reports of technical problems and long lines across the country. 
Heavy turnouts were reported in Indiana, Ohio, and Wyoming, among other states. 
By 11:45 A.M. EST Obama is projected to have won 349 electoral votes to McCain's 163 votes. 
The popular vote at this time was 62,992,553 (52%) for Obama, 55,796,823 (46%) for McCain. 
I'll Have Another, who won both the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, was removed from the field in this weekend's Belmont Stakes — effectively ending the thoroughbred's attempt to become the twelfth US Triple Crown winner in history. 
At a Friday press conference, owner J. Paul Reddam announced that the thoroughbred was injured and he will not only be removed from the race Saturday but he will be retired from any further racing. 
The reason I'll Have Another was scratched from the field was because of a swelling in his left front tendon, according to trainer Doug O'Neill. 
I'll Have Another was not the favorite in either the Kentucky Derby or the Preakness Stakes, but he was twice able to pass the leader Bodemeister, who was the pace setting horse in both those races, to take the victories. 
Bodemeister will also not race in the Belmont Stakes Saturday. 
Before the Kentucky Derby, I'll Have Another won the Santa Anita Derby. 
All of these races were won with Mexican jockey Mario Gutierrez. 
Dale Romans, who is Dullahan's trainer, reacted to the news, "It's devastating." 
"I thought this was going to be one of the greatest races in history, and I wanted the opportunity to be part of it." 
Dullahan raced in this year's Kentucky Derby and took third place. 
Only eleven horses have ever won the Triple Crown in the United States. 
In order to win the Triple Crown, a horse has to race and win the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. 
The first Triple Crown winner was Sir Barton in 1919 and the last was Affirmed in 1978. 
The dry spell will continue at least another year — the 34th year without a Triple Crown victory. 
In a 5-4 vote, the United States Supreme Court overturned the death penalty for Patrick Kennedy, convicted of raping a child, saying it is not proportional to the crime and that it violates the Constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, and thereby setting a precedent. 
In the case Kennedy v. Louisiana, Patrick Kennedy of New Orleans, Louisiana was convicted of raping his eight-year old stepdaughter, and was sentenced to death for the crime. 
A Louisiana law adopted in 1995 allowed the death penalty for those who had raped a child under 12 years old (later amended to 13). 
Five other states have similar laws, while the remaining states ban the death penalty for rape. 
The last execution for rape in America occurred in 1964. 
The Louisiana Supreme Court defended Kennedy's sentence, saying that "short of first-degree murder, we can think of no other non-homicide crime more deserving" of the death penalty. 
Kennedy, who was one of two criminals on death row in America who did not commit murder, challenged the court's decision, and the case was brought to the U.S. Supreme Court. 
Writing for the majority, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the Constitution did not allow the death penalty where the crime did not result, and was not intended to result, in a person's death. 
He noted exceptions in cases of crimes against the state, such as treason and espionage. 
Despite "the years of long anguish that must be endured by the victim of child rape," Justice Kennedy wrote, "the death penalty should not be expanded to instances where the victim's life was not taken." 
He added, "When the law punishes by death, it risks its own sudden descent into brutality, transgressing the constitutional commitment to decency and restraint." 
The four liberal-leaning justices (Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyer) joined Kennedy, a moderate who often casts the deciding vote in close cases. 
The four conservative-leaning justices (Roberts, Scalia, Thomas and Alito) dissented. 
Samuel Alito wrote in his dissent, "The harm that is caused to the victims and to society at large by the worst child rapists is grave..." 
"It is the judgment of the Louisiana lawmakers and those in an increasing number of other states that these harms justify the death penalty." 
Alito said the decision would bar the death penalty "no matter how young the child, no matter how many times the child is raped, no matter how many children the perpetrator rapes, no matter how sadistic the crime, no matter how much physical or psychological trauma is inflicted, and no matter how heinous the perpetrator's prior criminal record may be." 
"One thing is clear: The five members of the court who issued the opinion do not share the same 'standards of decency' as the people of Louisiana," Jindal said. 
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that Internet file sharing networks can be sued for copyright infringement. 
The court ruled that businesses created with the purpose of letting users commit copyright violations should be held liable for the infringement. 
Writing for the court, Justice David Souter wrote: "One who distributes a device with the object of promoting its use to infringe copyright, as shown by clear expression or other affirmative steps taken to foster infringement, going beyond mere distribution with knowledge of third-party action, is liable for the resulting acts of infringement by third parties using the device, regardless of the device's lawful uses." 
The strength of the decision was unexpected — this is the first major Internet copyright case to reach the Supreme Court in many years, and the Justices' unanimity sends a strong message about their lack of tolerance for companies designed to violate the law. 
The decision affects such companies as Grokster and StreamCast, both of which were defendants in this suit. 
The court's ruling does not have an immediate effect, however, as the Justices referred the decisions to a lower court to be reconsidered. 
Fred von Lohmann, senior staff attorney for the EFF, panned the court for not providing a clear test for what constitutes inducement, saying it would discourage innovators unsure of their project's legality. 
He did however remain optimistic about Grokster and StreamCast's chances in the lower courts. 
An internet forum, run by the non-profit Epilepsy Foundation, was attacked last week by a group of vandals. 
The attack, first reported by Wired News, exploited a function of the forums to post JavaScript code. 
The code injected by the vandals flashed two images repeatedly and tried to lead users off to external websites showing flashing lights and shapes intended to trigger off epileptic fits. 
The Epilepsy Foundation had to shut down the forum, and took some measures to prevent future attacks. 
In a press release, the Foundation stated that several users of the forum, sufferers of epilepsy, experienced harsh migraines and seizures as a result of the attack. 
One woman, RyAnne Fultz, was paralyzed by the flashing images in what she calls her worst attack in over a year, until her 11-year old son managed to get her to stop looking at the screen and close the flashing images. 
They also posted a message regarding new measures saying "In our upping of security on the forums, we have established the following new rules: No animated images are allowed to be used anywhere from now on." 
"No rich text is allowed in the body of messages at all, either." 
Wired News additionally reports that there is "circumstantial evidence" linking the perpetrators of the attack to the internet group "Anonymous", who are most well known for their recent protests and attacks against the Church of Scientology, and their members created a reputation as "griefers" in the virtual worlds Second Life, and Habbo Hotel. 
The Austrian paper Krone reports that the "usual goal of their attacks is to raise a fuss or disturb others". 
Following critical reports about the attack, members of the group blamed the attack on the Church of Scientology. 
Wired News states that the attack on the forum may have been the first computer attack in history to inflict physical harm on its victims. 
Between three and five per cent of all epilepsy sufferers are vulnerable to seizures triggered by flashing lights, shapes or colours, like ones used in the attack. 
Photosensitive epilepsy has been in the news increasingly over the last few years as various media have triggered seizures in people. 
Recently a logo animation for the 2012 London Olympics caused thousands of people to experience seizures. 
In another incident, the episode "Dennō Senshi Porygon" of the animated TV series Pokémon caused thousands of children to experience seizures in Japan. 
In March, MTV refused to air a new video by Gnarls Barkley out of fear it would trigger seizures. 
Irish low fares airline, Ryanair, this week celebrated its 20th birthday. 
Having reached the milestone, the airline promptly used the opportunity, as always, to sell seats; launching a massive 200,000 seat sale at 99p/99c a seat. 
The airline was founded in 1985 by the Irish businessman, Dr Tony Ryan. 
It began its existence flying a small 15 seat aircraft between Waterford and London Gatwick with the small aim of breaking the duopoly on London-Ireland flights, held at that time by British Airways and Aer Lingus. 
Today however, the airline now flies to over 200 European destinations with its fleet of 84 Boeing 737's and is awaiting the arrival of a future 225 aircraft from Boeing. 
The company today carries as much as 3m passengers a month (depending on the season) and has revealed it made a profit of €245m (USD$307,916,000) in the past year. 
Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary has stated that the airline will carry over 70m passengers annually within five years. 
The notoriously eccentric Mullingar man went on to tell the press "The very fact that a Mickey Mouse Irish airline can start in a field in Waterford 20 years ago and in 20 years overtake the world's self-styled, self proclaimed favourite airline is testament to the almost unstoppable demand for low airfare travel around Europe." 
To demonstrate the huge drop in airfares over the last year, the company claimed while the price of a Ryanair seat had dropped from ￡99.99 in 1985 to 99p today, the price of a pint of beer had trebled and the average house price in England had increased by 500%. 
Australian airline Qantas has returned the first of its fleet of Airbus A380s to service, after all six of the "superjumbo" aircraft were grounded three weeks ago following one aircraft's engine sustaining extensive midair damage; it landed safely in Singapore without injury. 
The airline stated that all of the aircraft have undergone extensive safety inspections and they are satisfied they are safe. 
Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas, said: "It's great that we can reintroduce the aircraft." 
"If we weren't, we wouldn't be restarting the operations today." 
A spokesperson confirmed that tests had been performed "in close consultation with Rolls-Royce and Airbus" on the model's Trent 900 engines. 
Qantas has replaced at least 14 engines, and modifications have been made to Trent 900s used by two other companies, Lufthansa and Singapore Airlines. 
Experts said that the incident was embarrassing for Airbus; the airline's shares have dropped by 7% since. 
Aviation journalist Tom Ballantyne said that the failure earlier this month was "certainly the most serious incident that the A380 has experienced since it entered operations." 
The A380 made its first commercial flight in 2007, and is now in service with several other airlines, including Air France. 
It is the largest commercial passenger airliner in the world, with an 840-passenger maximum capacity, though Qantas's can carry 450. 
There are reportedly plans to build a cargo version of the plane, which, aviation experts have suggested, would be the world's first "triple-decker" freight aircraft; Airbus has not confirmed that this variant will be built. 
The U.S. space agency NASA called off the launch of Space shuttle Discovery today after a problem with a fuel sensor in the external tank used to detect fuel exhaustion. 
According to the agency-run NASA TV, the low-fuel sensor was either malfunctioning or damaged. 
The launch was already facing the threat of a scrub due to thunderstorms in the area. 
The sensor is one of four used to trigger the engine cutout after launch. 
Although only two are required for normal operation, and the Shuttle can be flown with one, NASA elected to maintain full redundancy. 
Should more of the sensors fail, the engine might burn out due to lack of fuel, a situation that has not been tested. 
The problem was detected during a simulation of an empty tank. 
When placed in a mode simulating an empty tank, three of the sensors correctly registered that the tank was empty, while the faulty sensor stayed in the "full" state. 
NASA is currently unsure whether the problem relates to the sensor, the instrumentation circuits reporting the sensor's state, or the simulation circuits. 
The problem comes after a separate incident yesterday when a cockpit window cover fell from the Orbiter, damaging thermal protection tiles. 
A similar problem caused the replacement of the fuel tank in June. 
The launch, which was scheduled for 3:51 ET (20:51 UTC), would have been the first launch of a shuttle since Columbia's February 2003 crash which killed all crew members aboard. 
It is still unknown to NASA officials what caused the sensor to become defective. 
It is also unknown at the moment whether the issue will be fixed on the launch pad, or in the Vehicle Assembly Building - in which it takes close to a full day's time to transport a shuttle between the two areas. 
In the interim, the crew of the shuttle will stay at KSC unless there are further delays, in which case the crew might be transported back to JSC in Houston for refresher training. 
The president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, has distanced himself from a controversial bill in the Parliament that would make certain acts of homosexuality punishable by death. 
Until President Museveni publicly spoke out, this proposal was widely supported by the ruling majority party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), and, as a result, was expected to easily pass with a significant number of votes in its favor. 
In a nation where homosexuality is already a criminal offense punishable by up to fourteen years in jail, this bill would raise that penalty to life in prison. 
It would also dole out the death penalty for any offense categorized as "aggravated homosexuality"—meaning a case in which one of the participants is either a minor, HIV-positive, or a "serial offender." 
Museveni stressed in this statement on Wednesday, that the Member of Parliament who drafted the legislation in question, although he is a member of the NRM, was not following government policy and did so solely as an individual. 
Museveni, who admitted being at the center of widespread international criticism, said in the same statement that this matter was now a "foreign policy issue," and therefore his government, Parliament included, "must take into account [Uganda's] foreign policy interests." 
Case in point, Sweden has since threatened to cut financial support to the small African nation if this bill does in fact go through. 
In addition, numerous other world powers over the past weeks have contacted Museveni directly to elaborate upon their objections. 
Following which, a frustrated Museveni told the BBC, "The Prime Minister of Canada came to see me and what was he talking about? Gays." 
"Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to see me and what was he talking about? Gays." 
In light of all that has occurred, Museveni told his party that the issue as of today was no longer a parliamentary one, and that it is to be discussed and handled accordingly by him and his cabinet alone. 
UK Prime Minister Tony Blair is at 3:30pm to present a White Paper in the House of Commons today indicating the Government’s plans to replace the Trident missile system with a similar system but on a reduced scale. 
The speech is called : Statement: Trident - The Future of the UK Nuclear Deterrent. 
The Trident defence system was developed as Britain’s response to the Cold War which ended with the collapse of the USSR in December 1991. 
The first Trident submarine went on patrol in December 1994. 
The present system consists of Trident ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads carried by four Vanguard class nuclear powered submarines. 
The main issue is about the replacement of the submarine fleet. 
Supporters who include the majority of the main opposition party, argue that because of the proliferation of nuclear weapons and threats from countries such as Iran and North Korea, Britain must have a nuclear defence capability. 
Opponents including at least one Cabinet Minister and several Labour backbenchers, say that the system is an inappropriate response to the present threats to national security, terrorism, energy shortage and climate change and that there are better ways of spending the money. 
Fifteen Anglican bishops have denounced the possession of such a weapon as ‘evil’. 
Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), said that although Scotland had no power to stop the replacment of the Trident weapons system, it had a host of powers to protect the environment. 
He promised that if the UK government went ahead with the Trident project, the SNP would propose to use those powers to stop it proceeding in Scotland. 
There are two establishments in Scotland, at Faslane and Rosyth, providing services to the nuclear submarine fleet. 
Three rescue workers at the Crandall Canyon Mine in Utah were killed trying to rescue six trapped miners who have been missing for over a week. 
Utah's governor, Jon Huntsman, honored the dead rescuers by saying, "There's nothing more selfless than someone giving their life in pursuit of saving someone else." 
Six other workers were injured in what is being called a seismic "bump." 
Seismologists said a similar incident happened on the day of the original August 6 cave in. 
A "bump" is caused by coal shooting out from the walls of a mine due to extreme pressure. 
No further details were available about the official cause of the rescuers' deaths. 
All rescue efforts to find the remaining six missing miners have been called off for now. 
It is not known at this time if the six miners are alive or dead. 
Most of the Eurovision entrants have returned home from their sojourn in Moscow, Russia, and the newspapers across Europe have varied opinions. 
Most national newspapers congratulated their entrants on a job well done, while others trash-talked other entrants, and still others called for their countries to pull out of the Contest. 
Here are some interviews, articles and opinions that made it to the front pages of newspapers and to their sanctioned blogs. 
The Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously to sue a police officer accused of creating a story about being shot by someone at El Camino High School, causing a costly search for the assailant by police. 
The officer, Jeffrey Stenroos, who had worked for the Los Angeles Unified School District police for eight years, caused thousands of students to remain on lockdown for hours. 
Traffic officers, county sheriffs, California Highway Patrol, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were involved in the search. 
The council voted to ask Stenroos to pay the city for the cost of the search. 
Council president Eric Garcetti said, "We had thousands of dollars spent on police overtime." 
Thursday, the Los Angeles Police chief announced Stenroos' claim was false and he was later arrested and released on $20,000 (€14,600) bail, charged with filing a false police report. 
Stenroos allegedly mishandled a firearm and shot himself in his bulletproof vest, according to an anonymous police official. 
A chemical part of the saliva of a poisonous lizard, the Gila monster, has become an integral partner in the control of Type 2 diabetes. 
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its use for people who have not achieved adequate control of their diabetes with oral medications. 
It is injected before eating morning and evening meals as part of a combination treatment with oral drugs. 
The FDA said it could be approved as a stand-alone treatment if the drug companies can support such use with data. 
Eli Lilly & Co. was the development partner in creation of the drug. 
"With Byetta's demonstrated effects on blood sugar and its safety profile, physicians and patients now have a new approach to fight the growing diabetes epidemic," said Sidney Taurel, CEO of Lilly. 
Microsoft has extended the warranty on its Xbox 360 video game console to three years from the date of purchase following a large number of problems with the console and "an unacceptable number of repairs", costing the company more than one billion US dollars. 
The fault, which has been dubbed the "red ring of death", causes the console to fail completely. 
In an open letter to owners of the Xbox 360, Peter Moore of Microsoft said, "As of today, all Xbox 360 consoles are covered by an enhanced warranty program to address specifically the general hardware failures indicated by the three flashing red lights on the console." 
The extended warranty covers repairing and shipping of the console and the company has promised to reimburse those owners who have already had to pay for repairs. 
Microsoft has not released details of the number of units that have suffered from the problem but has said it is "bigger than we are comfortable with". 
The Xbox 360 was launched by Microsoft in 2005 and in January of this year the company lowered its sales expectations to 12 million units for the year ending June 2007. 
Kasey Kahne rode into victory early Sunday morning at Richmond International Raceway in the state of Virginia, USA, in his first Nascar Nextel Cup victory. 
Kahne, who drives a Dodge, and is sponsored by the same company, won automaker competitor Chevrolet's sponsored race, the Chevy American Revolution 400. 
The 25-year old from Huntersville, North Carolina had previously gained the pole position for Saturday's night race on Friday. 
Early in the race, second-place finisher Tony Stewart took lead from Kahne, continuing on to lead over 100 cumulative laps in the race. 
At lap 234 of 400, Stewart spun out coming out of the fourth turn, which resulted in Kahne regaining the lead. 
After two more lead changes between the two, Kahne led the last 7 laps to take the checkered flag. 
Points leader Jimmie Johnson crashed his car early into the race, taking a last-place finish. 
A 6.4 magnitude earthquake hit near the east coast of Honshu, Japan early Monday morning, according to the USGS. 
The earthquake took place at 06:55:51 AM local time on July 5. 
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 23.7 kilometres (14.7 miles) and the epicentre was located 120 kilometers to the east of Morioka, Honshu, 125 kilometers to the southeast of Hachinohe, 195 kilometers to the southeast of Aomori, Honshu and 510 kilometers to the northeast of Tokyo. 
No tsunami warnings were issued, and the quake was not reported to have caused any major damage. 
Oregon State University (OSU) animal researchers in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Dubois, Idaho-based Sheep Experiment Station released a report on an OSU-USDA study which was initiated in 1995 after breeders asked the government to determine why some rams bought as breeding studs showed no interest in females. 
The researchers are working under a $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in hopes of developing a test which can determine the likelihood of a ram being female-oriented before it is sold as a stud. 
By studying difference in the animal's brains after slaughter, the study also showed what could be a biological determiner for what makes a ram male-oriented instead of female-oriented sexually. 
The scientists' results showed that the anterior preoptic area of the rams' hypothalamus was 50 percent smaller in male-oriented rams as opposed to female oriented rams. 
A 1991 study of human brains of AIDS victims showed a similar hypothalamus size difference between gay and heterosexual men. 
The sheep researchers postulate that low levels of aromatase hormones in the brain of a developing male sheep fetus may have kept the brain from fully masculinizing, leading to sexually male-oriented rams. 
"This lends further support to the idea that homosexuality has biological underpinnings," Charles Roselli, a professor of physiology and pharmacology, said in an interview with the Corvallis Gazette-Times. 
Professor Stormshak believes that "understanding sexual drives and the continuum of sexual behavior could possibly help explain the scientific basis of sexual assault [and] put an end to assertions that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice." 
A 67-year-old man, Thomas Ouellette, of Bonita Springs, Florida was questioned by the FBI Monday after he brought fireworks onto an airliner. 
Piedmont Airlines flight 4126, a Bombardier Dash 8, from Baltimore, Maryland landed safely and without complications in New York's LaGuardia Airport. 
No suspicions were raised until cleaning crews found the pyrotechnics on the airplane. 
The fireworks are currently being held as evidence by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police, owner of LaGuardia Airport. 
Ouellette has been issued a summons to appear in federal court. 
Pyrotechnics are banned on American flights and individuals face a $10,000 civil penalty for bringing them on board. 
This case comes after an incident on December 25 when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national, attempted to bomb an airliner with explosives concealed in his underpants. 
Multiple news agencies, including the New York Times and CNET yesterday suggested that a campaign operative for Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, worked on the Wikipedia article on her in the 24 hours before the vice presidential candidate was announced. 
Wikinews has investigated the claim further, after seeing these allegations. 
The user who added the content on Wikipedia was known as Young Trigg, and Wikinews has learned that the account was created at exactly 08:02 UTC on August 28. 
Just eight minutes later the user made their first edit to Wikipedia. 
In this first edit the user said that Palin "briefly worked as a sports reporter for local Anchorage television stations, while also working as a commercial fisherman with her husband, Todd, her high school sweetheart". 
In the second edit Palin and her family were described as "avid outdoors enthusiasts." 
This edit also said that "Sarah and her father would sometimes wake at three am to hunt moose before school, and the family would regularly run 5k and 10k races". 
Some of the other edits say that Sarah was "brought to statewide attention because of whistleblowing on ethical violations by state Republican Party leaders," she played in a "championship game despite a stress fracture in her ankle, hitting a critical free throw in the last seconds," and she won a "scholarship to help pay her way through college." 
Young Trigg also noted that "Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association". 
The editor also said that her election of mayor came "despite the lack of support from party leaders and being outspent by her Democratic opponent." 
Other positive claims added included the statement that "Palin successfully killed the Bridge to Nowhere project that had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending". 
Young Trigg also removed the sentence that said that "critics [of Palin] included the state Republican party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners". 
This unusual editing pattern aroused some suspicion among other editors of Wikipedia. 
One of these editors is Justen Deal, who told Young Trigg that "some of yours edits may have affected the article in such a way so as to reflect more favorably on the subject of the article." 
Deal described his reason for suspecting a conflict of interest to a reporter for Wikinews. 
He said that "It was clear to me that an editor very familiar with Wikipedia and the governor had made a single-purpose account that had made a significant number of edits that were universally favorable to the subject of the article." 
"Given the fortuitous timing, it made sense to remind the editor of our conflict of interest guidelines". 
After this message was sent by Deal, Young Trigg said that "I will acknowledge that I volunteer for the McCain campaign." 
The user did however state that "I did not know Palin was the nominee when I made my edits," and "no one instructed me to make these edits." 
"I did this on my own 'becuz' I like improving Wikipedia articles". 
Young Trigg made a total of 43 contributions (many on talk pages) and announced they would retire from Wikipedia at 07:58 UTC on August 31. 
In addition to editing the article on Sarah Palin, the user also asked an anonymous contributor to Wikipedia about that person's edit that stated that Palin was the VP nominee, before the official announcement: 
Wikinews contacted the McCain campaign with a request for a statement regarding this issue; and, at the time of publication, had not received a response. 
Following misleading reports that Rev Professor Michael Reiss had advocated that creation should be taught in science class, he left his post as director of education at the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science. 
Last week at the British Association's science festival Rev Professor Michael Reiss said that creation should not be ignored if it come up in class. 
Professor Reiss, who was director of education at the Royal Society, said that since a substantial number of pupils have concerns about the issue, they are likely to "detach from" science if their concerns and world view are not addressed. 
Creation should not be taught, he said, but if it comes up, teachers should be encouraged to explain the science of evolution. 
He also said that students should be taught the nature of a scientific theory - that it does not simply mean a hypothesis about the way things might work, but a rigorously supported system of ideas that fit with the available evidence. 
The Times of London reported him as saying that Creationism should be taught in science classes as a legitimate point of view. 
This provoked a storm of protest from a group that included two Nobel Laureates and other scientists who strongly oppose the teaching, or even the discussion of creation in science class. 
Yesterday the Royal Society said in a statement that some of Professor Reiss' comments had been "open to misinterpretation", and that this had damaged the Society's reputation. 
"As a result, Professor Reiss and the Royal Society have agreed that, in the best interests of the society, he will step down immediately as director of education." 
The Royal Society went on to say: "However, if a young person raises creationism in a science class, teachers should be in a position to explain why evolution is a sound scientific theory and why creationism is not, in any way, scientific." 
The chief executive of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Roland Jackson, said that the Royal Society should have supported Professor Reiss and used this opportunity to further a reasoned debate. 
"I was at the actual discussion, and what I heard him say, however it has been reported, was essentially the position advocated by the Royal Society," Jackson said. 
French Presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has promised to address what he calls the French "moral crisis... of work". 
With unemployment for younger people running at alarming levels (15.5% in 2002 for those aged between 20 and 24 according to the OECD) and the memory of the 2005 riots still recent, Sarkozy promised to reign in government spending and implement tax policies that reward longer working hours. 
Once a matter of pride, the 35 hour maximum working week is seen by Mr. Sarkozy as contributing to the sluggish growth of the French economy. 
In previous years France's aversion to "anglo-saxon" economic and labour policies contributed to the rejection of the EU constitution in a referendum last year. 
However, such views are now being challenged by the French right's main Presidential candidate as he proposes to abolish tax on hours worked above the 35 hours limit as well as proposing to introduce new measures to increase share options for employees outside of the managerial elite. 
As well as challenging France's work ethic he is planning to roll back the boundaries of the State by adopting policies that will reduce the size of State organisations to allow for tax reductions in the hope of kick-starting the economy. 
The effect of his tax and spend reduction plans on state social provision has not yet been explained. 
Reaction from Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal was immediate in describing his proposal as "scandalous" and that tax reductions on the richest on society would aggravate the already existing social divisions in the country. 
She argues that State spending on public services were essential at a time when such divisions existed in the country. 
Mr. Sarkozy is currently pulling ahead in the polls one week after announcing his candidacy for the May poll. 
Police briefly cordoned off Mile-End tube station in East London on Saturday morning. 
A man has been taken away and the alert has now been lifted. 
This is the latest of many security alerts in London, which is at a high state of alert. 
The Swedish Navy have released a picture regarding a foreign submarine discovered in the Saltsjöbaden river of Lake Mälaren in Stockholm, the capital city of Sweden, situated on the western coast of the Baltic Sea. 
The submarine was seen by Hanna Harge, a 40-year-old entrepreneur who lives locally, when walking with her dog on the morning of 13 April this year. 
She woke up her family, brought them to the location and took pictures of the submarine, before it disappeared. 
She and her family immediately called the Swedish Navy, believing it to be an exercise, and told them to hide the vessel better. 
The Navy, however, had no knowledge of such an exercise, and no reports from other nations regarding the submarine. 
Soon afterwards, the Navy's intelligence agency visited Harge, taking the pictures to technical staff. 
The Harge family compares them to the submarines of the former Soviet Union and the early Russian Federation which allegedly violated Sweden's border in the same vicinity. 
In addition to the Armed Forces of Sweden, other government agencies are also involved in the investigation such as SMHI and Environmental Protection Agency. 
According to Andersson Larsson of the technical staff, the proceedings of the investigation are classified and it is expected to be finished and sent to the Government of Sweden within two months. 
In a small-scale trial on humans, American scientists say they may have developed a new drug that could stop the spread of HIV and "rapidly clears" the blood of the virus. 
"There is a lot of interest in this product," said editor Keith Alcorn of the National Aids Manual. 
The drug called PA-457, which is derived from betulinic acid and comes from by-products from paper manufacturers, is being manufactured and developed by Maryland drug manufacturer Panacos Pharmaceuticals. 
The drug is known as a maturation inhibitor, which is a new group of drugs. 
Its purpose is to break down the protective protein coating of HIV. 
The drug exposes the inner genetic material by making holes in the coating of the virus essentially causing it to break down and disabling its ability to be passed from one human to the next. 
The drug also shows that it works on strains of HIV that are resistant to other medications. 
"It's a truly novel new class of drugs, and I really support their development." 
"If PA-457 turns out to be non-toxic, easy to use and not to select for resistance, it will find good use," said Charles Boucher who researches HIV at Utrecht university medical center in the Netherlands. 
"It stops the virus by interfering in one of the final stages in its assembly and stops it from 'budding out' from the wall of a cell," said Alcorn. 
Scientists are expected to begin a larger scale test on 48 people in one month, whose drugs are no longer working; however, the drug itself is not likely to be available for wide-scale use for at least 3 years. 
Test subjects will be administered either a placebo or PA-457 that will be taken in combination with the medication they already take. 
"This provides the basis for future studies that will be designed to provide a detailed understanding of the interaction between PA-457 and its target as well as insights into the design of new generations of maturation inhibitors," said CEO of Panacos Pharmaceuticals, Graham Allaway. 
At least 80% of those suffering from the disease have shown resistance to other medications. 
In the United Kingdom, television presenter Derek Batey has died at the age of 84. 
Yesterday, ITV Border, the company for whom he used to work, said Batey died Sunday night in a hospice near his Lytham St Annes residence in Lancashire, England after experiencing a brief illness. 
Batey, who was born in Brampton, Carlisle in 1928, was at one time a ventriloquist. 
According to BBC News Online, Batey first worked in broadcasting for the BBC. 
He went on to work for Carlisle-based Border Television, which is now called ITV Border, from its inception in 1961. 
He continued to work at the station for about 25 years, gaining the nickname 'Mr Border' as a result. 
Batey was notable for presenting the game show Mr. and Mrs., a format which he developed for Border Television after seeing a similar game show on Canadian television. 
Batey presented 500 episodes of the TV programme, which tested married persons on their knowledge of their partners to see which which couple had the best knowledge of each other. 
At its peak in the 1970s, the programme achieved nine million viewers. 
Batey adapted the game show into a successful stage show which he presented 5000 times. 
Batey also presented a talk show called Look Who's Talking. 
Recalling the basis for the launch of the series, Batey said: "[T]here wasn't a lot of theatre in the Border area and we thought if we could bring the national names to Carlisle and invite the audiences in, it is a chance to see names where they couldn't see elsewhere, so we did that." 
Both Mr. and Mrs. and Look Who's Talking were originally regional programmes and were later broadcast across the ITV Network, Batey reported. 
Harry King, a former colleague and friend of Derek Batey, described him as "a proud Cumbrian [...] a people person and was never happier than when he was talking to people." 
"He could be talking to the Queen or the person next door". 
King described Mr. and Mrs. as "iconic" and said Batey "would always let the people he was talking to take the limelight". 
ITV News Border reporter Matthew Taylor said Batey "will leave a lasting legacy in this region". 
James Brown, often referred to as the Godfather of Soul, died in Atlanta due to congestive heart failure, combined with pneumonia. 
His death at age 73 was announced by his agent. 
After his dentist noticed something unusual with him, Brown was told to visit a doctor immediately. 
He was taken into the hospital yesterday for treatment of his pneumonia until his death at around 1:45 AM (6:45 AM GMT). 
It is not known whether he received a pneumonia vaccination, as recommended for people of his age. 
He was born in 1933 and grew up in poverty until he formed James Brown & The Famous Flames. 
His influence on 20th century music, from funk to hip hop was profound. 
Before he died, he scheduled a New Year's Eve concert series in New Jersey and New York that would help kick off a 2007 tour. 
Chicago peace activist and musician Malachi Ritscher burned himself alive Friday morning (Nov. 3, 2006) on the Kennedy Expressway, apparently in protest of the Iraq war. 
Police found a homemade sign near his body which said "Thou Shalt Not Kill." 
Before the act, he posted a suicide note on his website. 
The United Kingdom Parliament is planning to expand the powers of bailiffs in pursuit of unpaid debts. 
While the new measures are not yet officially active, bailiffs are expected to soon be able to use force in entering debtors' homes and restraining them. 
The preemptive crackdown was introduced with predictions of hundreds of thousands of British citizens losing their homes to credit companies as the international financial crisis grows worse. 
Previous to the proposed laws, bailiffs were not allowed to break into or enter homes unless the debtor was already there, or as a last resort. 
Justice Lord Bach stated the Act would not be made active until after Parliament had finished extensive consulting, and that the new powers of bailiffs would be carefully monitored. 
Civil rights activists like Paul Nicolson of the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust, however, have heavily criticized the new laws, accusing them of destroying fundamental civil rights and stripping away "tried and tested protections that make a person's home his castle and which have stood for centuries". 
A government spokesman said the Parliament was considering its options for implementing the new laws and would make an announcement soon. 
Chris Christie, governor of the US state of New Jersey, complained on ABC's Sunday morning talk show This Week that TV series Jersey Shore promotes a negative image of the state. 
Prompted by a feature in The New York Times on Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi, one of the stars of the MTV show, interviewer Jake Tapper asked the governor whether he thought the series was positive or negative for the state. 
Christie unequivocally answered that the show was "negative for New Jersey..." 
"It takes a bunch of New Yorkers, drops them on the Jersey Shore, and tries to make America feel like this is New Jersey". 
He concluded, "I can tell people: they want to know what New Jersey really is? I welcome them to come to New Jersey any time." 
In a wide-ranging interview the governor also faced questions about local and national politics, including New Jersey's US$11 billion budget deficit. 
Specifically, he was challenged over his plans to not pay $3 billion into public pension funds, payments described by the interviewer as a "legal obligation". 
He said that he "wasn't going to put $3 billion into a failing pension system" and that there would be further reforms of pensions and health benefits. 
Christie was further questioned over his ongoing conflicts with teachers unions. 
He responded that "we can't have one sector of our society sheltered from the ravages of the recession, at the cost to people who have been hurt by the recession the most", citing the example of construction unions in New Jersey currently suffering unemployment between 35 and 50%. 
Sir Alan Sugar will continue to front the BBC series The Apprentice after his appointment as "enterprise tsar" for the British government. 
Sugar will return as host for the sixth series in the spring of next year. 
Sugar was previously being pushed to choose between the roles. 
The BBC released a statement saying that "The BBC is satisfied that [Sir Alan's] new role as an Enterprise Champion to the government will not compromise the BBC's impartiality or his ability to present The Apprentice." 
Critics have raised concerns over Sir Alan holding both roles. 
They commented that they have stated that it would breach the BBC's impartiality rules. 
The Conservatives said that it would be impossible for him to continue both roles. 
They added the fact that the next series is due to start during the build up to a possible General Election. 
According to a new diagnosis by a surgical pathologist, Frida Kahlo most likely suffered uterine damage during a streetcar accident as a teenager and this led to a rare condition known as Asherman's syndrome, and that would explain the Mexican artist's infertility. 
Dr. Fernando Antelo, from the Harbor–UCLA Medical Center, said, "Her survival defied the grim prognostication by her physicians; however, complications from this physical trauma would emerge in her adulthood." 
He presented his diagnosis yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Association of Anatomists in San Diego. 
Asherman's syndrome is normally caused by a trauma to the uterus that results in internal scar tissue. 
For example, it can occur after multiple procedures to clear the uterus after a miscarriage or abortion, which is known as a "D & C" procedure. 
Antelo said Kahlo tried to have children many times and her miscarriages, as well as three therapeutic abortions, could have further aggravated the scarring. 
At present the condition could be diagnosed and treated after advancements in medical imaging and hysteroscopy, but in Kahlo's time, Dr. Antelo said, the technology had not advanced far enough to diagnose and treat her. 
Asherman's syndrome has been known since 1894 when it was first reported. 
"She kept attempting to have children with a uterus that wasn't in any condition to do that," Antelo said. 
Antelo, who has been working on connections between art and medicine, says that Kahlo brought her infertility to the canvas and this can be seen in her many paintings of reproductive organs or in her depiction of her own bleeding body in the 1932 painting Henry Ford Hospital. 
In that image, Kahlo is shown lying on a hospital bed with multiple umbilical cords extending from her body and each one holds an object or body part, except one holding a baby. 
Manchester United and Barcelona will face off in the Champions League semi-finals after both teams won their quarterfinal matches. 
Both sides came into their second legs having won their away legs, Barcelona having defeated Schalke 04 1-0 in Germany, and United coming out of Italy with a 2-0 decision. 
Abkhazia, a region located within the internationally recognised borders of Georgia, but which is a de facto independent republic without international recognition, has closed its border with the country following recent bomb blasts. 
Several people have been injured in the blasts which occurred today and on Sunday when two bombs exploded in Gagra. 
Abkhazia broke away from Georgia after the early 1990s war when separatists defeated Georgian forces and commenced a campaign of ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia. 
The region's foreign minister said, "Georgia's aim is to destabilise the economic situation in Abkhazia." 
Georgian authorities have denied any involvement in the bomb blasts. 
Shota Utiashvili ,an interior ministry spokesman, said, "It will be a humanitarian catastrophe if the border is closed." 
"Thousands of Georgians in Abkhazia cross the border to get pensions, do their shopping and work". 
Russia, which is said to support the separatist forces, have peacekeeping troops within the region but this has been described as an occupying force by Georgia and Russia accused of trying to take over the region by stealth. 
The border will be shut from tomorrow as security in the region is tightened. 
Serie A champions Juventus have confirmed the $24,000,000 (£13,700,000, €20,000,000) capture of Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira. 
The central midfielder, who will now partner Brazilian - Emerson, has signed a 5 year contract at the Stadio Delle Alpi. 
Juve had been in talks for the 29-year-old for the last few weeks and a deal has been completed. 
Vieira will now link up with boss Fabio Capello again after a brief stint at AC Milan with him almost a decade ago. 
The Frenchman joins the side despite being strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid over the last two summers. 
Vieira ends his Premiership stay after nine years in England since he became Arsene Wenger's first signing at Arsenal. 
A man, reportedly a postman, has died as the result of a one-vehicle road traffic collision in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. 
Emergency services were alerted to the incident, which occurred on Ford Terrace on the island of Benbecula, at 1139 UTC yesterday. 
STV News reported the mail carrier, who has not yet been publicly identified, was conducting his duties at the time of the incident. 
According to Hebrides News, the accident occurred when the man was standing outside of the van he was driving; the vehicle rolled over the man, fatally injuring him. 
The Northern Constabulary said the local Road Policing Unit based in the town of Dingwall in the Scottish Highlands has launched an investigation into the incident. 
A spokesperson for the Royal Mail said the postal service is cooperating with police as they investigate the incident. 
"Our thoughts are with the postman's family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time", the spokesperson added. 
Police do not intend to disclose any further information about the incident until relatives of the deceased have been informed of the incident. 
No other vehicles are thought to have been involved; the Northern Constabulary has not yet said if it is looking for any other persons in relation to the fatality. 
The Kenyan government has dismissed 25,000 striking health workers, mostly nurses, citing failure to heed government orders to recommence work and concern for the welfare of hospital patients. 
The workers, who had been on strike for four days, were wishing to have improvements made to their wages, working conditions, and allowances. 
The strikes have caused a significant number of Kenyan hospitals to cease operations. 
According to Kenya Health Professionals Society spokesperson Alex Orina, the average monthly wage plus allowances for health workers in Kenya is KSh25,000 (£193, US$302 or €230) approximately. 
With an increasing number of reports of patients neglected in hospitals emerging, two trade unions met with the Kenyan government yesterday and negotitated a return to work, although a significant proportion of demonstrators defied the agreement, The Guardian reported. 
Orina told Reuters the dismissals were "cat-and-mouse games, you cannot sack an entire workforce." 
"It is a ploy to get us to rush back to work, but our strike continues until our demands are met". 
Frederick Omiah, a member of the same society, believed the government's actions would "make an already delicate and volatile situation worse", expressing concern that demonstrations may continue in the capital Nairobi, amongst other locations. 
Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union chairperson Dr. Victor Ng'ani described government actions as "reckless". 
Mutua said the health workers were "no longer employees of the government" and had been eliminated from the payroll. 
While Ng'ani told the BBC of difficulties with finding other workers as skilled and experienced, Mutua reportedly stated that this would not be an issue. 
"We have over 100,000 to 200,000 health professionals looking for work today," Mutua commented. 
"There will be a lag of a day or two ... but it is better than letting people die on the floor, at the gate, or suffer in pain". 
Over the summer a customized distribution of the Linux (or GNU/Linux) operating system was installed on 2,460 desktops in the Italian South Tyrol province of Bolzano. 
This deployment included all 70 of the province's private and public schools and affects more than 16,000 students. 
The distribution installed, FUSS Soledad GNU/Linux, is a customized version of the popular Debian GNU/Linux distribution. 
FUSS Soledad GNU/Linux has multi-language support and uses the GNOME desktop environment. 
In addition to the desktops in the schools, more than 20,000 LiveCDs are scheduled to be created and given free of charge to the students and their families. 
These LiveCDs allow students to use the same software on their home computers that they are going to use at school. 
Project co-director Antonio Russo said, "With the participation of all the public and private schools, this will give to all the students, families, teachers, and operators from the educational world the opportunity to use a entirely free operating system, both at school and at home." 
The switch was funded by the province of Bolzano, the European Social Fund, and the Center for Professional Formation in Italian Language. 
Earlier this week, Wikinews interviewed Sarah Walsh, a former Australian women's national soccer team (Matilidas) player, about women's football in the country. 
The Australian women's team is currently ranked ninth by FIFA, down one spot from the previous quarter when they were tied at eighth with the North Korea women's national football team. 
Meanwhile, Australia's men (Socceroos) are currently ranked 59th in the world, between the Burkina Faso and Slovakia national football team. 
Walsh retired from the national team in September of last year, after scoring 32 goals in 71 appearances. 
She was on Matildas side that qualified for the World Cup for the first time while playing in the Asian Football Confederation instead of the Oceania Football Confederation. 
She also played in two World Cup quarter-finals for the team. 
Playing in Australia's top level domestic league, the W-League, she won the league championship in 2009. 
Walsh played professionally in the United States for Sky Blue FC and Saint Louis Athletica. 
The Matildas are ranked 8th by FIFA in the latest rankings. 
Should media coverage correlate to team performance and internationally rankings? 
Is there an element of tall poppy syndrome in the coverage of the Socceroos? 
What other factors can be used to explain the relative differences in media attention other than performance? 
::Sarah Walsh: Traditionally in Australia, male sports have dominated media coverage. 
Slowly we are seeing women's sports feature more frequently in mainstream media publications. 
There is a growing interest in women's sports, especially women's national teams in general here in Australia. 
With time, the public will be exposed to more female sports on a daily basis and perhaps will build the same affections for these female sports. 
As a teenager, I was exposed to NRL living in Sydney, so naturally I have a strong interest in this game along with football (soccer). 
Young female teenagers today, have the option to turn the TV on and watch the W-league and follow their heroes. 
I believe in 5–10 years' time we will see a cultural change with regards to media coverage and gender bias. 
: What's the difference in style of play between the men and women's national teams? 
::Sarah Walsh: Men :: They appear to play a possession-based game working at effective possession combined with a developing system of pressing using our natural athleticism and high work rate as well as our cultural mental strength. 
::Sarah Walsh: Women ::The women seem to employ a more defensive and well organized "block" making it hard for teams to play through particularly in the middle and our back thirds utilizing transitional moments (BPO – BP) to good effect with quick attacks through the natural speed of certain players. 
: Why are the Matildas more successful in international competitions and ranking wise than the Socceroos? 
::Sarah Walsh: There could be a number of contributing factors. 
Given there is more financial support for men's national teams globally in general, I believe the competition across the board is more extensive. 
Due to this, there are more teams that compete at a higher level, so effectively this would make it difficult for the Socceroos to reach the same ranking as Matildas. 
: Why do you think men don't watch the Matildas in the same numbers as they watch the Socceroos? 
: Does the media feed into traditional Australian gender stereotypes by not covering elite women's sports? 
: What is your role in sports? 
Journalist? 
Academic? 
Sport administrator? 
Player? 
Please provide one to two sentence biography to contextualize your answers. 
::Sarah Walsh: I started playing football at 5 years of age. 
I made my debut for the Matildas at 21 (2004–2012) I have spent the past two years working in community football at FFA delivering a Drug and Alcohol program. 
I am currently the Women's Football Coordinator and Female Elite Player mentor at FFA. 
Actually on wikipedia if you would like to cut and paste all that info! 
Brazilian driver Filipe Massa, driving for Ferrari, won the Brazilian Grand Prix at Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos, São Paulo. 
Massa became the first Brazilian to win on home soil since Ayrton Senna in 1993. 
Massa started from pole and controlled the race from start to the finish line. 
Alonso, along with the second Renault driver, Giancarlo Fisichella who finished sixth, won the constructors' cup for their team with only five points ahead of Ferrari. 
In the beginning of the third qualification session his car slowed down and forced him to start 10th on Sunday. 
In the race he was almost on the back of Fisichella, but damaged his tyre in the overtaking attempt and lose all positions. 
But the retiring champion was right on the back of Fisico for the second time near the end of the race. 
Giancarlo made a crucial mistake prior to Senna's "S"-curve allowing Michael to pass him. 
Must note that all Schumacher overtook most of the other drivers in the same turn. 
The "Red Baron" set up the fastest time and the top speed record for this track. 
Let's say the words Nick Heidfeld, Sauber-BMW team driver, wrote on the back of his aerodynamical spoiler - "Danke, Michael!". 
Danke, Michael, for the fantastic race and so many seasons together. 
Rubens Barrichello (Honda, Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren-Mercedes) and Poland Robert Kubica (Sauber-BMW) were 7-th, 8-th and 9-th respectfully. 
Takuma Sato closed the season with 10-th place, first who finished in one lap after the winner, the best result for Super Aguri-Honda team. 
With ten laps to go, the most surprising event was Kimi's resistance when his open wheels untimely overlapped with Michael's, especially when one knows Kimi will run with Ferrari next season. 
The Canadian Government is watching the "slowing growth" of the BP oil spill. 
Canada is running their dash-8 on a twice a day mission to the gulf, monitoring for signs that the BP Oil slick may expand up the Eastern seaboard into Canadian waters, and to provide assistance to US efforts to contain the spill. 
This started in May, and is expected to continue until the spill has been fully contained, or no longer needed. 
Canada has also provided technical experts, research and development teams, and general staffing to assist in spill containment and cleanup. 
While the risk is slim that the oil slick will move up the seaboard enough to get into Canadian waters, it is possible. 
Currently the spill is being held within the Gulf of Mexico, however, as the spill grows each day it is at bigger risk of being picked up by the Loop Current. 
If oil is swept up into the Loop Current—which moves at about 3.3 to 6.5 feet (one to two meters) a second—there's essentially no way to stop it, Tony Sturges, professor emeritus of oceanography at Florida State University, told National Geographic. 
After being picked up by the Loop Current, the oil spill could then quickly be carried further by the Gulf Stream, which can travel up to 2.5 metres per second (5.6 mph). 
This current leads right through some of Canada's best fishing waters, and could potentially even be washed up directly onto the shores of Canada, if not properly contained. 
This spill could devastate the fishing industry of Canada, and harm any potential tourism on the beautiful coastal waters of Eastern Canada. 
So while Canada is offering its hand to the United States as a gesture of assistance, it serves dually as a self assurance that Canada will not be affected by the spill, and to stop it before it reaches the border if it does get picked up by the currents. 
United States President George W. Bush today signed a bill providing $162 billion for the war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, which intends to fund the wars for the rest of Bush's term and well into the first year of the new President's term. 
In addition to war funds, the bill includes educational benefits for young troops and veterans, a 13-week extension of unemployment benefits, $2.7 billion in emergency relief for victims of the Midwest floods, and billions of dollars for items such as international food aid, anti-drug enforcement, and repairs of Louisiana levees. 
At a ceremony in the White House's Oval Office, Bush praised the legislation as a necessary product of bipartisanship. 
I appreciate that Republicans and Democrats in Congress agreed to provide these vital funds without tying the hands of our commanders, and without an artificial timetable of withdrawal from Iraq. 
This bill shows the American people that even in an election year, Republicans and Democrats can come together to stand behind our troops and their families. 
Although not mentioned by Bush in his statement, the bill also waives an older law that restricted America's capacity to finance the removal of nuclear weapons in North Korea. 
The absence of the waiver could have led to an embarrassing situation where progress on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program would have been delayed because of a technicality, said Leonor Tomero of the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. 
North Korea was recently removed from a U.S. list of countries that sponsor terrorism, as a reward for turning over all documents relating to the country's nuclear program. 
For months, the Democrats and Republicans in Congress had argued over the bill, forcing several compromises to be made in the form of amendments. 
One of these amendments, the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008, can be described as a modern version of the World War II-era G.I. 
It provides lower college tuition costs for war veterans, which was originally opposed by Bush and Senate Republicans, including Presidential candidate John McCain. 
The Republicans conceded after Democrats agreed to add "transferability" to the bill, which allows veterans to transfer the benefits to family members. 
Senate Democratic majority leader Harry Reid commented on the bill, saying, "At a time when 2 million men and women have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan and when our troops have had to endure multiple deployments ... and an unclear strategy, giving them the opportunity to fuel our future economy is the least we can do." 
With the passing of this bill, Congress has provided $650 billion for the Iraq War effort, and nearly $200 billion for war operations in Afghanistan. 
The United Nations Committee against Torture told the United States today that the US should close its detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as well as disclose the existence of any secret prisons it operates. 
The committee, made up of 10 independent experts has urged the Bush administration to put a stop to the use of torture or cruel treatment during the interrogation of terror suspects. 
In an 11-page report, the committee said that the US should not detain anyone in a secret facility under its control. 
The committee also said that the US should disclose and investigate any such facilities. 
It is alleged that the US has a number of secret prisons where suspects are transported to and questioned using techniques that violate international human rights conventions. 
Earlier this month, the US sent 30 officials to a torture committee hearing in Geneva. 
The delegation was criticized for failing to comment on questions relating to America's alleged secret prisons. 
The committee ruled that there was evidence that US military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan had violated the rights of some detainees. 
The committee said that some of the US' techniques had resulted in the deaths of prisoners during the interrogation process. 
The committee further claimed that "vague" guidelines had led to abuse of detainees. 
According to the Associated Press, John B. Bellinger III, a State Department legal advisor and participant during the hearings at Geneva, said of the recommendation to close the base that, "one, seems to be beyond their mandate; two, legally wrong to say that the existence of Guantanamo is a per se violation of the convention; and, three, a not very practical recommendation given that they say that it ought to be closed but that individuals can't be sent back to a large number of countries." 
President Bush said previously on ARD German television that he wants to close the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp. 
According to White House spokesman Tony Snow, the President is waiting for the US Supreme Court to decide on the issue of whether military tribunals or civilian courts would try the detainees. 
On Friday, the 189 Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) agreed to a final resolution calling for steps toward the banning of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the Middle East. 
The resolution directs United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to organize a conference of all the Middle East states. 
The resolution singles out Israel, calling on "all states in the Middle East that have not yet done so to accede to the treaty as non-nuclear weapon states so as to achieve its universality at an early date." 
In an official statement from the Prime Minister's Office, Israel said the resolution, "is deeply flawed and hypocritical." 
"It ignores the realities of the Middle East and the real threats facing the region and the entire world." 
The statement went on to state, "[the resolution] singles out Israel, the Middle East's only true democracy and the only country threatened with annihilation." 
"Yet the terrorist regime in Iran, which is racing to develop nuclear weapons and which openly threatens to wipe Israel off the map, is not even mentioned in the resolution." 
An Arab-backed proposal for a WMD-Free zone in the Middle East, supported in 1995 by the NPT Conference, was never acted upon. 
As a non-signatory state, Israel is not bound by any resolutions of the NPT. 
President Niyazov of Turkmenistan had declared himself to be "President For Life" in 1999 after his last elected victory in 1992 and had not selected a successor. 
His reign in Turkmenistan led to 21 years of relative peace within the country, but was not welcoming of diverse opinions and viewpoints throughout the culture. 
Most opponents to his regime left the country over the last two decades as President Niyazov centralized his authority over the nation. 
His rule over Turkmenistan came after years of service in the Communist Party of the USSR. 
Twenty-five miners are confirmed dead, two injured, and four missing, after an explosion in a West Virginia coal mine Monday. 
The incident occurred in the Upper Big Branch mine in Montcoal, West Virginia. 
It is the deadliest mining accident in the United States since 1984. 
Search and rescue operations were suspended Tuesday due to high levels of methane gas which made conditions unsafe for rescuers. 
A team attempting to ventilate the mine is expected to complete the work by Wednesday evening. 
Officials said that it was unlikely that the missing miners were still alive, although they would not stop efforts until they were found. 
The mine is owned by Massey Energy but operated by Performance Coal Company, a subsidiary of Massey, which is the fourth largest coal producer in the US. 
Federal officials have fined Massey nearly US $900,000 after numerous safety violations were found at the mine that suffered the explosion. 
US President Barack Obama held a prayer breakfast in the White House Tuesday morning. 
He said that "I would ask for the faithful who are gathered here to pray for the safe return of the missing, the men and women who put their lives on the line to save them and the souls that have been lost in this tragic accident." 
"May they rest in peace, and may their families find comfort in the hard days ahead." 
The two dominant parties of Pakistan's National Assembly have united in a coalition to impeach President Pervez Musharraf. 
The decision was announced by party leaders Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former premier Benazir Bhutto, and Nawaz Sharif, with the parties aiming for a successful no-confidence vote against President Musharraf. 
The impeachment process is planned to start within the following week. 
There have been concerns that an attempt at impeachment would result in a detrimental political battle in a country already facing political instability. 
A senior member of a party allied with Musharraf stated that the impeachment would "open a Pandora's box" regarding Pakistan's future. 
Once the impeachment process begins, the coalition will need to muster a required two-thirds majority in order to successfully impeach Musharraf. 
Musharraf has little support in the National Assembly, as most of his political allies were defeated in the February elections. 
If the coalition is successful, Musharraf will be the first president in Pakistan's sixty-one year history to have been impeached. 
Musharraf has canceled his trip to the Beijing Olympics so that he can focus on planning a response to the coalition. 
Successfully defeating the impeachment will depend largely on the support of the military, for which he acted as chief until international pressure forced him to step down a year ago. 
Other options Musharraf may explore include declaring a state of emergency, which could aid him in getting the support of the military, or dissolving parliament, though this would likely lead to political chaos. 
Saturday, September 2nd, Wellington held a computer recycling day for free hosted by computer maker, Dell. 
Now Auckland is looking to host one of their own. 
During the recycling day, sponsored by Environment Ministry and Computer Access New Zealand Trust, Dell New Zealand took in more than 30 tonnes of obsolete equipment by 1,200 people at Wellington's Westpac Stadium. 
Instead of the equipment going to a landfill where it is unable to decompose and will leak chemicals into the ground, 97% of all equipment collected will be recycled. 
Susan McGregor, an Auckland City Council spokesperson, said: "There is a regional forum looking into waste disposal; but to date there is only a scheme for hazardous material to be collected separately by the council." 
"It [the council] would welcome computer companies taking some responsibility for disposing of old computer ware." 
Dell has indicated it will hold another PC clean up next year. 
According to Dell, out of the 6.3 million New Zealand computers, 250,000 of them are old and obsolete, mainly because most computer owners, according to a survey, will upgrade their computers every two to five years. 
Sydney, Australia had recently hosted one of their own computer recycling days; however Wellington's event was four times more successful. 
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is in San Raffaele Hospital overnight in Milan following an assault during an autograph session at the end of a rally. 
The 73 year-old media mogul received a punch in the face from an assailant who police named as 42 year-old Massimo Tartaglia, a local man who has been undergoing mental health treatment for ten years. 
Tartaglia was holding a replica of Milan's famous Domo Cathedral as he struck the premier; the composition of the replica is unknown, but eyewitnesses suggest it may have been made from marble, iron or another heavy material. 
The assailant is currently in custody at a police station somewhere in Milan; police have confirmed he has no prior criminal record. 
The attack on Berlusconi left him requiring treatment for damage to his mouth, a broken nose, cuts to his face and, according to reports from BBC News, at least two broken teeth. 
This is not the only attack Berlusconi has received; several years ago a man hit him with a tripod, leaving him with a cut to his forehead. 
More details have emerged over the weekend after the surprise announcement last week of Honda's intention to sell its Formula One racing team, Honda Racing F1. 
The team management, Nick Fry and Ross Brawn, have already announced confidence in their ability not only to find a buyer for the team but also to deliver the performance expected of Honda's 2009 car. 
Prices as low as £1 have been put forward as possible prices tags for the Northampton based team, with Honda CEO Takeo Fukui stating that "Just to make the team possible to exist, a small price tag is acceptable". 
On Saturday the Japanese car giant said that before selling the team it was going to offer British driver Jensen Button, who had given the Honda team its only victory, a way out of his recently signed multi-million pound contract with the team so he could try to get a drive with other teams. 
However, Ross Brawn appears eager to retain the Briton and either retain Brazilian Rubens Barrichello or sign GP2 driver Bruno Senna, nephew of legendary racer Ayrton Senna. 
At an industry awards dinner, Button indicated his desire for a buyer to be found for Honda, saying any buyer would get "... a great team with excellent facilities." 
"And with the leadership of Ross Brawn, and the whole team as they are, we can come through this and be on the grid in 2009." 
Button has also spoken of his shock and pain at Honda's decision. 
Ross Brawn, who was brought into the Honda team with much fan fare before the 2008 season, has spoken of his shock at finding out about the sale of the team. 
Brawn, who is credited with helping Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominate Formula One for much of the last decade, indicated he was expected funding cuts and had prepared a reduced budget but hadn't expected the full withdrawal of support that Honda announced. 
Brawn has also indicated understanding of Honda's reasoning, with their sales down 40% in some markets and Honda F1's £200m+ budget a cost they were unwilling to bear. 
Though Honda has committed to providing a budget for the team until March, the budget is lower than that which had been expected and so the team has had to pull out of the crucial winter tests at Jerez. 
This has denied Formula One hopeful Bruno Senna another test with the team and has combined with the engine implications of Honda's withdrawal to push the new car's final testing from January to March, just weeks before the first Grand Prix in Australia. 
Ross Brawn however remains confident of competing with new Formula One frontrunners BMW Sauber and Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has tipped the team as a great buy, saying "I've no doubt Honda would have been in top four next year without any problems." 
"They've spent a lot of money to put themselves in that position so if anyone does want to be in F1 this is a team they should look to buy." 
"It's a big opportunity for any company that's run efficiently to benefit." 
Two activists who helped identify a vagrant Genetically Modified (GM) crop of papaya, which was later confirmed and destroyed by Thai officials, now face prison over their actions, says Greenpeace. 
They were charged with theft, trespassing and destruction of property. 
Instead of getting to the bottom of who precisely was responsible for the contamination, the very department that was responsible for the contamination decided to take legal action against Pat and Jay. 
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will formally present a plan this morning to the UN General Assembly when it meets in New York later today. 
The plan, entitled In Larger Freedom, is part of the UN's attempt to revitalise itself during its sixtieth anniversary year. 
If implemented, this plan will be the largest change ever to the international body, calling for the addition of nine members to the Security Council, and for the creation of a new Human Rights Council to replace the 53-member Human Rights Commission. 
The Canadian ambassador to the UN, Allan Rock, was the first diplomat to officially respond by saying, "A lot of hard work lies ahead but we are optimistic." 
Oxfam, Amnesty International, and other NGOs, have come out in support of the plan. 
Nick Clarke, the UK radio broadcaster, died today from cancer at the age of 58. 
He had worked for the BBC for over 20 years, and won the Broadcasting Press Guild Broadcaster of the year award in 2001, but was best known for presenting the Radio 4 news show, The World at One. 
The Israeli Defence Forces have carried out 5 to 8 air strikes targeting the office of the Palestinian interior ministry's headquarters occupied by the governing party Hamas in Gaza and an office of President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah party in Gaza, Palestinian and Israeli sources say. 
There were mixed reports of casualties from the air strike, although one source said a member of Islamic Jihad had been killed in the air strikes. 
The Israeli military said the ministry office, controlled by Hamas, was "a meeting place to plan and direct terror activity." 
In addition, an Israeli official stated to the Associated Press that the attacks will only end when the captured Israeli soldier is unconditionally freed. 
Days after the initial raid reports from Israeli officials stated that they had found the body of 18-year-old Eliyahu Yitzhak Asheri who was kidnapped by the Palestinian ruling party, Hamas, and shot in the back of the head on Sunday. 
In his first appearance since the raid began, Palestinian PM and leader of the Hamas organization, Ismail Haniya denounced the raid saying it was a "premeditated plan" to bring down the new Hamas government. 
A significant portion of the American LGBT media landscape is about to become a conglomerate. 
(PlanetOut.com, Gay.com) sent out a press release stating it signed a definitive merger agreement with Here Networks LLC (operator of cable network here!) and Regent Entertainment Media Inc. (properties including magazines The Advocate, Out). 
The deal comes after PlanetOut had been on the market for nearly a year. 
The company sold its magazine and book publishing businesses back in April, and its vacation company in December. 
The newly formed public holding company, Here Media Inc., will be helmed by Chairman Stephen P. Jarchow and CEO Paul Colichman. 
Its unknown whether any of struggling PlanetOut's jobs will be cut. 
Plans are for all three companies to operate separately, as of subsidiaries of Here Media. 
The agreement still has to be approved by a majority of PlanetOut common stock holders, comply with regulatory filings and approvals, and meet various closing conditions. 
PlanetOut shareholders will represent only 20% of Here Media Inc.'s shares. 
A report by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) says rising demand for irrigation to produce food and biofuels will aggravate scarcities of water. 
One in three people is enduring one form or another of water scarcity, states the report compiled by 700 experts. 
IWMI warns there has to be a radical transformation in the management of water resources - citing as examples Australia, south-central China, and last year’s devastating drought in India. 
Report authors claim that the price of water could double or triple over the next two decades. 
The report, backed by the United Nations and farm research groups, shows that globally, water usage had increased by six times in the past 100 years and would double again by 2050 - driven mainly by irrigation and demands by agriculture. 
Record oil prices and concerns about rapid onset climate change are driving more countries to produce biofuels - from sugarcane, corn or wood - as an alternative to fossil fuel. 
If people are growing biofuels and food it will put another new stress, says David Molden, who led the study at the Sri Lanka-based IWMI. 
The big solution is to find ways to grow more food with less water. 
" The number one recommendation... is to look to improve rain-fed systems in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia." 
The report says conquering hunger and coping with an estimated 3 billion more humans by 2050 will result in an 80 percent increase in water use for agriculture. 
Irrigation absorbs around 74 percent and is likely to surge by 2050. 
We will have to change business as usual in order to deal with growing scarcity, said Frank Rijsberman, director general of the IWMI, of the report released at the 2006 "World Water Week" conference in Stockholm. 
Solutions included helping poor countries to grow more food with available fresh water via simple, low-cost measures, a shift from past policies that favoured expensive dams or canals, the report said. 
According to Rijsberman, there are two types of shortages: those observed in regions where water is over-exploited, causing a lowering of groundwater levels and rivers to dry up; and those in countries lacking the technical and financial resources to capture water - despite its abundance. 
Billions of people in Asia and Africa already faced water shortages because of poor water management, he said. 
We will not run out of bottled water any time soon, but some countries have already run out of water to produce their own food, he said. 
The report said that a calorie of food took roughly 1 litre of water to produce, with a kilo of grain needing only 500-4,000 litres compared to a kilo of industrially produced meat taking 10,000 litres. 
Without improvements in water productivity the consequences of this will be even more widespread water scarcity and rapidly increasing water prices. 
Rijsberman said water scarcity in Africa was caused by a lack of infrastructure to get the water to the people who needed it. 
The water is there, the rainfall is there, but the infrastructure isn't there, Rijsberman told reporters. 
Other recommendations for certain regions include the extension and the improvement of agriculture using rainwater, the introduction of cereal varieties that need less water as well as the development of irrigation systems. 
But the priority, Rijsberman stresses, is to change mentalities and often outdated government policies. 
Government policies and their approach to water are probably the most urgent that need changing in the short term, he said. 
There is, he says, enough land, water and human capacity to produce enough food for a growing population over the next 50 years, but one of the challenges is to provide enough water for agriculture without damaging the environment. 
Agriculture is driving water scarcity and water scarcity is driving environmental degradation and destruction, he said. 
In Australia last week, Rijsberman said he would "not be surprised to see the price of water double or triple over the next two decades." 
On Thursday the 22nd of March, 2005, Anna Ayala, a woman from Las Vegas, claimed to have found a human finger in her bowl of chili at a Wendy's restaurant located at 1405 Monterey Highway, just south of downtown San Jose, California, owned by Fresno-based Jern Management.. 
The finger, which probably belonged to a woman as it had a long and manicured fingernail, did not belong to any of the restaurant employees. 
The food supplies were seized by officials to be traced back to its manufacturers, while the restaurant was permitted to open again later with chili prepared from fresh ingredients. 
A British soldier has been killed in Afghanistan, taking the number of British deaths there since 2001 to 222. 
He was a member of the Royal Military Police, and was killed while on foot patrol in the Helmand province, close to the Gereshk district in Southern Afghanistan. 
The cause of death has been reported to be an explosion, but the source is unclear. 
It is my sad duty to confirm the death of a soldier, a Royal Military Policeman, in an explosion earlier today in Helmand Province, Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield said of the incident. 
He died doing his duty and we will remember him. 
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard supported the launch of a new book "How to Get Expelled from School: A Guide to Climate Change for Pupils, Pundits and Parents", authored by geology professor . 
The book includes 101 questions for students to use to challenge their climate science teachers. 
Professor Plimer said the previous book received feedback from parents concerned about education. 
This prompted him to address the next book to children. 
He said, "After Heaven and Earth came out I had many parents write to me and say, 'Look, what do we do, our kids are being fed activism." 
"I want my children to have the basics of scientists, I don't want to be fed activism'." 
He says he considered it feasible if the rest of the world acted too, otherwise to introduce carbon trading plans would risk Australian industries. 
Professor Ian Enting, complex system scientist at the University of Melbourne, said the book includes scientific errors and insufficient references. 
Margaret Watts, president of the Science Teachers' Association of New South Wales, said the educational bias claim is mistaken. 
What science teachers do, she said, "is put all of the facts, pro and con, against any topic, whatever it is, and show the children how to work through the evidence". 
Professor Plimer said of the 101 questions in his book, "They're questions that kids should be asking of teachers, because if the teacher can answer it means they might know something about the subject." 
"If they can't, or start to promote ideology, it shows that our schools have been captured." 
"Parents are telling me that schools have been captured by a lot of activists and kids are being fed stuff that is not relevant to the real world." 
At the recently held 22nd ICANN International Conference in Mar del Plata, Argentina, the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), officially designated three new top level domain names: .jobs and .travel and .eu. 
Tralliance will operate the new .travel domain and Employ Media will operate the .jobs. domain. 
.jobs was created for the use of personnel businesses, .travel for the travel industry, and .eu will be used by organizations based in the European Union. 
ICANN has also entered into negotiations with registries for .cat, .post and .mobi domains. 
The ICANN, established by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1998, is a non-profit corporation responsible for the technical coordination of the Internet through the assignment of domain names and IP addresses. 
The People's Republic of China has banned free plastic shopping bags in a move to take effect from June 1, 2008. 
The decision made by the Chinese Cabinet, the State Council, is intended to reduce the amount of plastic bags used in China, currently being estimated at three billion per day. 
The State Council also announced that at the same time as the ban, the manufacturing, sale and even use of very thin plastic bags, which are defined as being under 0.025mm thick, will be banned. 
Any company that does not follow this ban can be fined. 
The ban of free plastic bags and complete ban on very thin bags will, the government hopes, help reduce the amount of crude oil used for plastic packaging, which is currently at five million tonnes per year according to Times Online. 
The notice issued by the Chinese government said: "We should encourage people to return to carrying cloth bags, using baskets for their vegetables." 
The People's Republic of China is not the first country to ban or restrict plastic shopping bags and the notice names Uganda and South Africa according to CNN. 
Many supermarkets in the European Union have voluntarily adopted methods to reduce usage of plastic bags, which often also consist of charging for bags (e.g. Germany) or rewarding customer loyalty points for returning used carrier bags. 
Still, many of the world's leading polluting countries, including the United States of America, have not yet introduced any legislation intended to reduce the usage of plastic bags. 
The United States Environmental Protection Agency claimed that in 2000 only 1% of plastic bags in the United States were recycled. 
The People's Republic of China has attracted a lot of attention in the past for having possibly the highest greenhouse emissions in the world, disproportionate to the size of its economy, according to The Telegraph. 
Times Online quoted a Chinese activist as saying that plastic bags are not the main problem and the government needed to make people care more about the environment. 
On March 18, President Kevin Baugh of the Republic of Molossia, a micronation located in Nevada, announced that his country would hold its first ever international summit this June. 
Grand Prince Christopher I and Princess Erin of the Principality of Vikesland, another micronation located in Canada, will be attending. 
Besides the meeting itself, which is scheduled to take place in Molossia's capital city, Espera, President Baugh is to give them a tour of his country as well as the surrounding areas. 
He is looking forward to the event and hopes that it may "open the way to future visits between Molossia and the other small nations of the world." 
The Republic of Molossia and Principality of Vikesland are not recognized by any major countries or international organizations. 
Earlier this month, Wikinews held an interview with President Baugh. 
Bill Clinton, the former President of the United States of America, will make a visit to Romania on May 21, to participate as the keynote speaker at the BeyondBorders 2005 conference in Bucharest. 
The conference will have the theme of "Branding a Country: Building a Reputation from Within" and is the inaugural BeyondBorders conference launched by the Brand Academy, the first Romanian institution dedicated to brand education. 
Clinton's previous visit to Romania was July 11, 1997, when he visited the country to promote political and military integration around the time of the NATO Summit. 
He was the first US president to visit Romania since the Romanian Revolution of 1989 that overthrew the Communist regime. 
The BeyondBorders 2005 conference will focus on strategies to brand Romania and promote it to the world. 
In recent years, Romania has realised the need for branding and for improving its image in the world in order to fuel prosperity. 
Branding would focus on building a reputation a positive reputation for the country abroad and emphasising its authentic values. 
The conference organisers hope that it will act as a springboard for an integrated national branding project for Romania. 
Australian Capital Territory — Thousands of Canberrans took a look at the new Cotter Dam on the Cotter River on open day on Sunday. 
The public was given limited access to the still-active construction site. 
Buses took viewers from the car park below to top of the dam wall. 
They ran every 15 minutes from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm. 
The dam is to supply fresh water to the city of Canberra. 
This is to provide water security for the city as droughts become more frequent due to global warming. 
It is a gravity dam, which holds back the waters through sheer mass. 
In addition to the main dam, there are two saddle dams filling depressions in the landscape so flood waters flow over the spillway and not out the sides of the lake. 
The dam on the Cotter River has been under construction for four years. 
These are to be replanted to replace the native flora. 
The dam replaces an old dam, first built in 1911 but subsequently expanded several times. 
Now heritage listed, it has been submerged by the waters of the new dam. 
Some materials were salvaged from the old dam to build the new, and some have been put on display. 
The river is named after Garrett Cotter, an Irish-born convict who was transported to Australia and lived in the area in the 1830s and 1840s. 
The Philippine shipping company Sulpicio Lines has asked a court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) from proceeding with its investigation into the loss of MV Princess of the Stars. 
The passenger ferry capsised and sank off Sibuyan island on June 21 during Typhoon Fengshen (known locally as Typhhon Frank) with hundreds of casualties. 
Sulpicio told the Manila Regional Trial Court that both Republic Act 9295 and the Domestic Shipping Development Act of 2004 removed the BMI's power to investigate maritime incidents and that the investigation the board launched on June 25 is "irregular, illegal, and null and void". 
They say only the Maritime Industry Authority is allowed to investigate accidents at sea. 
Sulpicio also described the investigation as an 'inquisition' that was biased against Sulpicio from the start. 
They say "prejudgment" has increased the "pervasive negative publicity" surrounding the line, since negative accusations are most often published in newspapers. 
The company says one comment the board made was "Your vessel is not stable!" "You have no business being a safety officer!" 
As a result Sulpicio is seeking ₱650,000 from the BMI. 
This is split down as ₱500,000 in moral damages, ₱100,000 lawyer's fees and ₱50,000 further costs. 
The House Committee on Transportation also launched its own inquiry into the disaster today. 
Heavy rains in Indonesia yesterday triggered widespread flooding and landslides across the nation. 
It has emerged that last night a bridge was swept away by the swollen river it stretched across, leaving around 40 to 50 people missing in Madiun, East Java. 
Meanwhile, the total toll of those known or feared to be dead has reached 130. 
According to local police chief Supardi in a telephone conversation with Xinhua the flood waters weakened a foundation, resulting in the collapse. 
At least twenty motorcyclists, car drivers and passengers are thought to be dead, but as of midnight, no bodies had been recovered. 
Continuing heavy rain forced the search to be abandoned temporarily. 
Java as a whole is the worst affected island; in addition to the bridge collapse most of the landslides occurred in two Central Java districts. 
Health ministry official Rustam Pakaya told reporters that at least 28,000 people have been forced to abandon their homes in central Java, although exact figures are not yet available. 
The Red Cross commented that 45,000 East Javanese people have been similarly displaced. 
Thousands are seeking shelter in mosques and other public buildings. 
Landslides buried houses and made roads impassable, while hundreds police officers, military personnel, local officials and volunteers have been digging with farm tools and even their hands to search for survivors. 
Heavy machinery is available but the road conditions have prevented it arriving at the areas where it is required. 
Jakarta has dispatched aid in the form of five tonnes of biscuits and instant meals, ten tonnes of baby food and multiple boats. 
This brings the total confirmed death toll in the area to 48. 
He said that most bodies were recovered from three metre deep mud and required heavy digging machinery to retrieve. 
Local resident Siswo told AFP "Suddenly I felt my house shaking, and I thought it was an earthquake." 
"When I got outside, I saw that the houses next to mine were already covered by earth," and that it struck twelve neighbouring houses. 
In the next district, Wonogiri, disaster management centre head Sri Mubadi told reporters they had retrieved two more bodies, reaching a total of six, with eleven more missing. 
He also confirmed that they currently have no access to heavy equipment. 
In Tawangmangu about 1,000 rescuers were also searching for bodies and survivors without the aid of heavy machinery. 
Islamic cleric Abu Bakar Bashir toured a Karanganyar village, at which time he commented that he felt the disaster had been caused as a form of divine revenge, saying "This was likely caused by immoral acts going on here," and "This could be a lesson to be learned." 
The 69-year-old served two years after being linked to the 2002 Bali bombings, before having his conviction overturned last year. 
For five consecutive years landslides and floods have occurred in Java, claiming many lives. 
The main trigger is ecological destruction caused by deforestation, forest conversions and chaotic spatial planning, Chalid told Reuters. 
There have been no adequate efforts by the government to protect the people from disasters. 
When the landslides happened officials were on holiday and there was no access of heavy equipment to the affected areas. 
Roughly 600 enraged Sudanese protesters, some armed with knives and sticks, converged on Khartoum's Martyrs' Square after Friday Prayers to demand the death of Gillian Gibbons, the British teacher jailed yesterday for allowing her class of 7-year-olds to name a teddy bear Mohammad, one of the most common names in the Arab world. 
A number of prominent Sudanese clerics ignored government instructions not to inflame the situation, although they stopped short of directly calling for her death. 
By the end of Friday Prayers passions were running high. 
Sheikh Hussein Mubarak told thousands of the faithful gathered for the Muslim day of prayer that the court's "verdict was lenient out of fear of criticism from human rights organisations, America and the West", and he denounced "those who try to defend democracy and human rights and insult the Prophet." 
He claimed Ms Gibbons was part of a campaign to transform Sudan from an Islamic state into a Christian state. 
Imprisoning this lady does not satisfy the thirst of Muslims in Sudan. 
Leaflets distributed earlier in the week by Sudanese Muslim groups had condemned Gibbons as an infidel" and accused her of "the pollution of children's mentality". 
They promised a "popular release of anger" at demonstrations on Friday. 
An angry crowd of around 600 protesters - some reports say thousands - gathered at Martyrs' Square, outside the presidential palace. 
The mob chanted slogans like, "those who insult the Prophet of Islam should be punished with bullets", "No tolerance: Execution," "Kill her, kill her by firing squad," and "Shame, shame on the UK." 
Newspaper pictures of Ms Gibbons were set on fire, and foreign journalists were threatened, and forced to leave. 
Hundreds of riot police were deployed but they did not break up the demonstration. 
Britain's Foreign Office is understood to be arranging further talks with the Sudanese government today. 
Boris Johnson, an English MP writing in The Times in London, has welcomed Muslim opposition in Britain to the events in Sudan and called for muslims to publicly demonstrate their outrage: : "the voices we need to hear now belong to Britain's vast, sensible Muslim majority..." 
"Their arguments will be heard with respect in Khartoum, since they cannot be said to be founded on any kind of cultural imperialism, or to be actuated by Islamophobia." 
: "More importantly, a strong protest by British Muslims against the imprisonment of Gillian Gibbons would help to contradict the growing ranks of pessimists and neo-cons - the people who say that the real problem is Islam, the religion itself." 
Ms Gibbons' son John, from Liverpool, has asked that British people angered by his mother's jail sentence should not turn against Muslims. 
: "We have had a lot of support from Muslims in Britain, in Sudan and across the world…" 
"I do not want this to lead to any anti-Muslims feeling in this country." 
The Young Earth Creationist who sent threatening emails and letters to biologists at the University of Colorado at Boulder also sent threatening letters to the University chancellor G.P. Peterson as well as the vice-chancellor of undergraduate education and others. 
The man who had sent the threats has been identified as Menachem "Michael" Korn, a former Orthodox Jew who converted to Messianic Judaism (no longer affiliated with either) and who now self-identifies as "Christian". 
Claimed excerpts of the threats were posted on The Panda's Thumb, a biology blog that focuses on "the claims of the anti-evolution movement." 
Among other statements, Korn compared evolutionary biologists to child molesters and discussed killing the "enemies of Christian society" who are "terrorists against America". 
A spokesperson for Colorado University said that the excerpts were "consistent" with the threats but refused to confirm if they were actual excerpts. 
Korn had apparently distributed fliers on campus before and harassed professors but over the last few days the threats had become more extreme. 
News of his death was shared with Wikinews through the Australian Tax Office and Tony Naar of the Australian Paralympic Committee. 
French, who lived in Penrith, New South Wales, was one of fifteen athletes to compete at Australia's second Paralympic Games in 1964 in Tokyo when he won a silver medal in the men's 25 metre freestyle event. 
It was the only medal he earned at the Games and one of 30 Australia earned that year. 
In 2000, his medal was displayed at the Our Sporting Heritage exhibition at the Arms of Australia Inn Museum. 
His legacy of participation can be seen in the upcoming 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. 
Australia are sending 161 athletes to the Paralympics this year. 
The Paralympic team is expected to finish the Games having earned the country's one thousandth medal. 
An 11-year-old boy has died after being shot in the car park of the Fir Tree pub in the Croxteth area of Liverpool, shortly after 1930 BST. 
An eyewitness, who had been drinking outside the pub at the time, said the boy was one of three playing football in the car park when a teenager, believed to be male, on a BMX bicycle fired three shots at the group from approximately 30 metres away, one hitting the victim in the neck. 
The other shots missed the boys, one hitting a car. 
The boy's mother was called to the scene as people came out of the pub to help him. 
A spokesman for North West Ambulance Service said: "We treated an 11-year-old with serious gunshot wounds." 
He added the boy was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital, but police later confirmed he had died. 
Officers have sealed off the scene, including a neighbouring street of shops. 
There have currently been no arrests in connection with the shooting. 
In an appeal to the local community to help catch the killer, Merseyside Police Assistant Chief Constable Simon Byrne said: "Someone out there knows who put the gun in his hand and I want your help to get the community to turn that gunman in tonight." 
"This is quite an awful crime, quite senseless, and the community holds the clue to solving this crime quickly." 
"You can only imagine the heartache of the family that's been ripped apart." 
Local councillor Rose Bailey, who lives nearby, also appealed for people with information to come forward, saying: "It sends shockwaves through the community of Croxteth and really it must be devastating." 
"To think your young son is out playing football and then to get a call to say he's been shot, I really don't know as a parent how you would handle that." 
The area around the pub was made a "designated area" by police last year, meaning officers could disperse groups and move people away from the area. 
The incident is another in a growing list of shootings of minors, many gang-related, in the UK's major cities in 2007. 
Today the New Zealand Finance Minister, Hon. Dr Michael Cullen, presented the 2006 New Zealand Budget to the House of Representatives. 
There is a NZ$8.5 billion OBERAC surplus and a NZ$1.5 billion cash surplus. 
It has been labelled as the "Bondi Budget" by National leader Don Brash, "Helen Clark and Michael Cullen believe there is a place for tax cuts - it's called Australia" he said. 
The budget allocates new operating spending of $9.6 billion and capital of $2.7 billion over the next four years. 
West Indies have beaten England by 15 runs in the first Twenty20 international of their tour of England at The Oval, London, England. 
The West Indian innings started off badly by losing Gayle early, however they turned their fortunes around with some attacking and aggressive cricket and posted a huge total of 208. 
A bigger total could have been posted if it had not been for a late innings batting collapse. 
England started their reply by getting off to a flyer, but lost some early wickets that slowed down the run-rate. 
Leading the charge was Paul Collingwood with a fast 79 with 5 4's and 4 6's. 
Had they not have lost the early wickets, England would have probably won the match to take a 1-0 lead in the series. 
Instead, it is West Indies that have taken a 1-0 lead in the series. 
An Australian air safety group claims that Yogyakarta International Airport was opearating illegally with no license when Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, a Boeing 737, crashed at the airport, killing 16 Indonesians and five Australians. 
Flight Safety Pty Ltd had been asked to carry out an independent investigation by an anonymous client after the March 2007 disaster, which occurred when the aircraft landed at excessive speed and shot off the end of the runway. 
Flight Safety has now announced that they have found Yogyakarta International had been granted a five year license but this would be withdrawn after twelve months if several conditions were not met. 
Since these conditions remained unchanged, the license effectively voided six months before the disaster, claim Flight Safety. 
One of the conditions was extension of the runway and provision of an adequate Runway End Safety Area (RESA). 
The group adds that it also conducted checks on Solo International Airport and Semarang International Airport, and that these airports also had invalid Airport Operating Certificates. 
The final report was not released at the time as the client in question felt it 'too sensitive', and Flight Safety says that it was rapidly covered up three months later when it leaked in Indonesia. 
The group says it notified the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), and that they in turn said the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) - who assisted in the crash investigation - was in control of the situation. 
However, Flight Safety claim that when approached, the ATSB denied knowing about it. 
Allegedly, the ATSB had missed the licensing discrepancy because they only checked the front page of the airport's license and did not conduct a detailed analysis of the small print. 
Flight Safety claim that the Indonesian Director of Aviation Safety told them that the situation had been rectified. 
However, the group have now conducted a re-audit and say Solo and Yogyakarta airports both remain illegal. 
They go on to accuse the ICAO, ATSB and Indonesian Director of Aviation Safety of "keeping quiet" and described them as 'compromised'. 
Flight Safety go on to claim that the survivors of the crash and relatives of the deceased have not been informed either, and say that this will have a serious effect on the compensation process and on any insurance claims. 
Crikey, an Australian news service, also suggested that AU$12 million of aid promised by Australia to help Indonesia improve air safety is also being misused. 
All Indonesia's air carriers are currently on the list of air carriers banned in the EU. 
An official statement by Flight Safety head Chris Weir concluded "It [the group's findings] should now be exposed as the safety issues remain unresolved." 
Mardjono Siswo Suwarno of the National Transport Safety Committee, the body responsible for investigating the disaster, denied that Yogyakarta Airport was illegal, saying "At that time [the license] was still valid, but the RESA was not long enough…" 
"But still in the [Garuda] case, even if the RESA length was adequate, the plane would have still overrun because the speed was 1.8 times normal speed." 
The final report found that the pilot-in-command, who has been arrested and charged over the crash, attempted to land after fifteen Ground Proximity Warning System activations to tell him he was landing too fast, and says that although a longer runway and full-sized RESA wouldn't have stopped an airliner traveling at such excessive speed it could have reduced the toll of deaths and injuries. 
The directors of Yogyakarta and Solo airports claim that since the re-audit they have taken steps to improve safety and rectify any problems, but have not actually admitted their airports were illegal. 
Indonesian director general of air transportation Budi Mulyawan Suyitno said that although local budget limitations have prevented some airports from being improved there are no problems currently at Yogyakarta, with improvements including declaration of a RESA for 140 metres of the 2,250 metre runway and stationing Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting trucks at the airport. 
The prosecutor did not withhold complains for "simple" and "severe" physical harm by negligence against gendarmes Poget and Deiss in the trial of the Aubonne Bridge affair. 
A jawbone found in Aruba is not that of missing American Natalee Holloway, who was a recent high school-graduate at the time of her disappearance. 
Officials confirmed the news after Dutch scientists completed tests on the bone. 
The jawbone, which also had a wisdom tooth with it, was found by an American tourist close to the Phoenix Hotel. 
A second bone had also been found by another tourist earlier this month. 
The bone was sent to the Netherlands Forensic Institute where scientists completed tests. 
They compared the bone to dental records given to them by Natalee's father, from which they confirmed the the bone was not that of Natalee, although it was human. 
It was said to be unlikely that the bone was Holloway's as there is no physical evidence that she was murdered. 
Taco Stein, the Aruban Solicitor General, released a statement after the announcement was made. 
He commented on the speed of the identification; he said that they had quickly ruled out Holloway because her records had shown that she had her wisdom teeth previously removed. 
Last week, Naked News announced that it would dramatically increase its international language mandate to news reporting, with three new broadcasts. 
Already reporting in English and Japanese, the global organization is launching Spanish, Italian, and Korean-language programs, for television, the web, and mobile devices. 
Wikinews interviewed one of the English broadcast's anchors a little while ago, about the program. 
The broadcasts feature daily news and human interest pieces, presented by an anchor who gradually removes their clothing. 
The internationally-focused newscast created a stir upon its launch in 1999, but has since expanded with online viewers in 172 nations. 
Naked News President David Warga commented in a press release that "our intention at Naked News is to be a global media source, much like CNN or BBC World." 
"We are looking forward to expanding into other languages as well, because there is definitely a market demanding our brand of infotainment." 
Unlike the foreign stations run by the BBC or CNN, the international broadcasts will not be produced by the company. 
Branding and practices will be licensed to the other production and distribution companies. 
Warga claims that, instead of presenting the naked female form as "fluff-head bimbos", their news organization "encourages society to see women as being smart, powerful, and sophisticated." 
Despite this, the press release lists hotel rooms as being one of the primary distribution methods; hotels account for a large segment of the pornography industry's broadcast market. 
The Islamic Republic of Iran says it is conducting naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz. 
According to the Iranian navy's Habibollah Sayyari, the "Velayat 91" drills — to be held for a six day period ending on Wednesday — are intended to showcase "the armed forces' military capabilities." 
Iran's state-run media reports that the Iranian government warns all ships to stay away until the end of the exercises. 
According to this report the drills — which began on Friday — are to be conducted over roughly half a million square miles (a million square kilometers) of waters stretching from the Strait of Hormuz to the northern part of the Indian Ocean which includes the Gulf of Oman. 
The Strait of Hormuz is a major shipping route of great strategic importance. 
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 17 million barrels of oil passes through this part of the Persian Gulf per day. 
That is nearly 20% of the worldwide oil trade and about 35% of oil transported by sea. 
This is only one in a series of major naval drills held by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. 
Ten days of drills, "Velayat 90", was conducted last December and "Velayat 89" a year and a half before that in May 2010. 
Four months ago, the United States with some of its allies also conducted a series of exercises and naval drills, concerned with keeping the strait open. 
Iran has said it might close the strait if its nuclear program were attacked. 
South Africa crashed out of the 2011 Cricket World Cup after being beaten by New Zealand in the quarterfinals, played at Mirpur, in Bangladesh. 
Chasing a victory target of 222, South Africa were all out for 172 after some inspired bowling performance by Jacob Oram and Nathan McCullum. 
Earlier South Africa restricted the kiwis for 221 for the loss of 8 wickets. 
Afterward, Jesse Ryder top scored for NZ with 83 runs while Ross Taylor scored 43. 
Morne Morkel took three wickets while fast bowler Steyn and Spinner Imran Tahir took two wickets each. 
South Africa collapsed from 121 for three wickets and lost the final seven wickets for 51 runs. 
McCullum, who opened the bowling for NZ, took three wickets while Oram took another four wickets and triggered a collapse. 
NZ will now play either Srilanka or England in the semi-finals. 
Kadyrov did not appear in court but his lawyer, Andrei Krasnenkov, neither called witnesses nor questioned those brought by the defence. 
Krasnenkov said Orlov's words were helping destabilize Chechnya and told reporters that "Human rights defenders are miserable people." 
Estemirova had been threatened several times by Kadyrov and had fled Russia previously as a result, sometimes for months. 
She was, Kadyrov said, "without honour or a sense of shame." 
Memorial say they hope the court case, which gets under way on October 6, will reveal new evidence of serious crimes they claim Kadyrov routinely ignores. 
Early last night, massive attacks targeted China's Internet, slowing access to a crawl. 
The Chinese domain was targeted in the latest of many denial of service attacks against China. 
According to the China Internet Network Information Center, which manages the .cn domain, this attack was the largest of its kind. 
The domain was attacked twice, once at 2am local time, and again at 4am. 
The second was larger, and Chinese officials said work to restore service was progressing slowly. 
State-run newsmedia said numerous .cn websites and microblogging website Sina Weibo were targeted. 
This outage comes at a sensitive time for China, with the trial of , a former government official, having just ended. 
The attack also comes amidst rumors that the Chinese government will be cracking down on social media commentators, according the The Wall Street Journal. 
According to a Wall Street Journal interview with Matthew Prince, CEO of , a company that tracks web traffic and metrics, during the attack Chinese Internet traffic dropped by 32%. 
He also claimed this attack is an indicator of the susceptibility of Chinese Internet infrastructure to these attacks. 
When the host was calling up the Country Music Award Female Vocalist Of The Year award, Faith Hill stood up and was in shock after hearing Carrie Underwood's name. 
What?!, said Faith Hill directly into the camera as her smile turned into a look of shock. 
The idea that I would act disrespectful towards a fellow musician is unimaginable to me, Hill said in a statement. 
For this to become a focus of attention given the talent gathered is utterly ridiculous. 
Carrie is a talented and deserving female vocalist of the year. 
Underwood, 2005 former American Idol winner, did not take it seriously, according to her publicist, Jessie Schmidt. 
She didn't realize that the camera was rolling the whole time. 
She just thought they were doing a shot when they read the nominees off. 
Gary Borman, Hill's manager, said that it was just "a joke". 
Faith Hill had won the Female Vocalist Of The Year award in 2000. 
More than half of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's convoy was prevented from entering Rwanda on Thursday. 
The President was travelling to Kigali to hand over the chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to Rwandan president Paul Kagame. 
Rwandan officials have been quoted as saying that the Ugandan convoy violated rules on the number of guns they are allowed to carry across the border. 
Uganda has blamed the incident solely on Rwanda, arguing that the situation could have been resolved with much less controversy. 
What happened at the border was the sole responsibility of the Rwandese officials involved. 
If there had been extra guns, why could they not be left on the border for later collection and allow the vehicles to continue? said a statement from Uganda's foreign ministry. 
The guns could even have been returned to Uganda, it is only 200 meters away. 
The body guards normally travel with guns even in commercial airlines. 
They, then, give them to you on arrival, it added. 
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, is a free trade area stretching from Egypt to Namibia. 
Relations between Uganda and Rwanda have been improving over the last few years, however recently the situation has deteriorated. 
Oil has risen to a new all-time record high during trading in Asia, passing US$91.10 at 10:23 p.m. on October 25 (eastern time). 
In electronic trading at the NYMEX Crude Futures in the United States touched a record price of, at US$92.22, according to Bloomberg, setting another record all-time high. 
On the IntercontinentalExchange Brent Crude futures reached US$89.30 (basis December) as of 8:34 a.m.. 
NYMEX Crude closed at $91.86, while ICE Brent closed at $88.69, at the conclusion of Friday's trading. 
The raise come when the United States announced that it had an "unexpected loss" in the nation's stockpile of oil. 
The fear that Turkey may launch a large scale attack on Kurdish Militants inside Iraq is also being blamed for the raise in prices and the U.S. imposed more sanctions on Iran for continuing to enrich uranium. 
Australia's Commonwealth Banks states that the raise is "being supported by an increase in geopolitical tensions and also market developments." 
"The US has announced that it is imposing new sanctions on Iran, Oil markets also continued to have an eye on developments related to the current tensions between Turkey and Kurd rebels in Iraq." 
OPEC has agreed that by November 1, 2007, they will increase the amount of barrels of oil they produce by 500,000 barrels a day. 
The U.S. says that they would like that number increased. 
Just two weeks after China sent global markets into a tumble, growing worries about sub-prime mortgage lenders in the United States are sending jitters through stock exchanges around the globe. 
The three major US stock market indices each fell two percent from Monday's closing price, marking the second-biggest loss of 2007. 
London's FTSE 100, Paris' CAC 40 and Frankfurt's DAX 30 indices each closed down more than 1 percent. 
As the Mortgage Bankers Association reported that late payments on mortgages and home foreclosures in the US homes rose in the fourth quarter to their highest level in years, investors are concerned that not only US banks but also multi-national banks around the globe could have exposure. 
More than two dozen sub-prime lenders have closed or sold operations as defaults on those mortgages have risen. 
The delinquencies and defaults have started to soar, said Nicolas Retsinas, director of Housing Studies at Harvard University. 
A lot of these lenders started to make loans and lost track of some of the fundamentals. 
New Century Financial Corporation, the second largest sub-prime lender in the US, has recently revealed that its creditors were no longer providing funds and, further, it has become subject of an SEC investigation. 
The New York Stock Exchange has said it will delist New Century. 
Accredited Home Loan Lending, another major sub-prime mortgage specialist, said it was seeking fresh capital and waivers on its lending covenants. 
Sub-prime lenders provide mortgages to people who do not qualify for loans from mainstream lenders, typically due to their credit histories. 
The lenders then bundle these mortgages as collateral for loans that they obtain from other financing firms, such as GMAC. 
Such firms can then repackage these loans and sell them as mortgage-backed securities. 
These securities may end up in the hands of major multi-national banks such as Citibank, HSBC, and Commerzbank. 
Each level of lending assumes a level of financial risk, but trouble can arise when the risk tolerances are exceeded. 
If too many homeowners default on their mortgages, the sub-prime lender can end up defaulting. 
If too many of these lenders default, as it is feared may be happening now, the defaults can cascade upward. 
While no one is predicting major bank failures at this point, it is feared that their profits could be hurt. 
Oprah Winfrey has announced that she will retire from her talk show on September 9, 2011, during season 25. 
Winfrey made the announcement on Friday's broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey Show. 
Suppressing tears, she explained that careful thought and prayer had gone into her decision. 
Twenty-five years feels right in my bones and feels right in my spirit, she told her audience. 
The Oprah Winfrey Show was first televised on September 8, 1986. 
For the first ten years she competed with other talk shows by discussing relationships and parallel subjects. 
In the late 1990s her show changed focus to incorporate stories relating to spirituality and human interest. 
Winfrey has had lasting effects on the city of Chicago, Illinois. 
The surrounding neighborhood of Harpo Productions was rundown prior to the company's success. 
Chicago residents have expressed concern over what would occur if Winfrey were to leave. 
According to the Associated Press, citizens view The Oprah Winfrey Show as, "a reminder of what has been, and what could be lost." 
News sources speculate that Winfrey will air a replacement on the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2011. 
Australia's parliament will be hung after this year's federal election. 
With 73% of the nation wide vote counted, the governing Australian Labor Party has been confirmed to have 50.7% of the two party preferred votes, and predicted to win 73 seats in the House of Representatives, 3 short of majority. 
The coalition of the Liberal and National parties has 70 secure seats and predicted to win 73 seats. 
This figure includes Queensland's Liberal National Party and the Northern Territory's Country Liberal Party, both of which are mergers of the local branches of the Liberal and National parties. 
The Australian Greens have picked up their first seat at a general election in the House of Representatives. 
Adam Bandt is projected to become the member for the Division of Melbourne. 
The Greens vote in the Senate reached 12.95%, meaning 1.26 million Australians voted for the party in the upper house. 
Its predicted tally of nine senators will guarantee it the balance of power in the Senate. 
Two days after the election, a handful of seats are still in doubt. 
Sky News and ABC report that three seats are in doubt, while the Australian Electoral Commission lists four. 
At the launch of our campaign this morning we had representatives from the Opposition, the shadow minister for youth as well as the Greens spokesperson for youth showing that this is not about who people vote for, it's about the fact that they've got the chance to vote, said Prime Minister Julia Gillard as she launched the campaign five weeks ago. 
The ALP came to power in 2007 after they won 83 seats in the House of Representatives under the leadership of Kevin Rudd. 
In July 2010, Rudd was replaced as leader of the ALP and as Prime Minister by Ms Gillard. 
Tony Abbott became leader of the Liberal Party of Australia in December 2009 replacing Malcolm Turnbull, who had replaced Brendan Nelson two years previously. 
France yesterday ended Ireland's dream of winning the Grand Slam - European Rugby's top title. 
The RBS Six Nations clash, which took place at Dublin's Lansdowne Road finished with the French team ahead on 26 points against Ireland's 19. 
After a French dominated first half, Ireland had a glimmer of hope as Brian O'Driscoll managed to get a try almost from nothing mid-way through the second half, sadly for the homeside, it wasn't enough as France responded with a second try to take them to 26 ponits. 
Hurricane Emily has hit the small eastern Caribbean island of Grenada. 
The hurricane, which has been upgraded to Category 2 status, hit the island early this morning and has caused widespread damage. 
It has been reported that many buildings have lost their roofs and there has been much flooding. 
The storm affected the northern parishes of St. Patrick's and St. Andrew's the worst and also caused considerable damage to the nearby islands of Carriacou and Petite Martinique. 
Earlier this year Hurricane Dennis hit Cuba and Haiti, leaving 41 people dead. 
Last year Hurricane Ivan devastated the island and resulted in the deaths of 39 people. 
Emily is the fifth tropical storm to develop this hurricane season. 
It was the earliest time on record that five named storms had formed in the Atlantic. 
The British Royal Navy, which usually deploys two ships to the Caribbean, has placed the destroyer HMS Liverpool and the tanker RFA Wave Knight on standby. 
During Hurricane Frances and Ivan last year, HMS Richmond and RFA Wave Ruler were actively involved in humanitarian relief. 
Prime Minister Keith Mitchell of Grenada had effectively run his country for seven hours from Richmond after his home had been destroyed. 
A 72-golden-hour race of 2008 Tour de Taiwan in the Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area came to an end after entering the Taipei Xinyi Shopping Area as the final stage today. 
Before the main race, the organizer, Chinese Taipei Cycling Association held "The 3rd Taipei Citizen Elimination Road Race" to examine the achievements of basic cycling promotion. 
Even though its racing scale is one third of the Taipei Stage (60 laps, 1 km/lap), but several local cycling clubs and senior cyclists participated in this promotional race. 
Kuan-hua Lai, a cyclist from Giant Asia Racing Team, the current Taiwan leader of Tour de Taiwan, spoke to Wikinews Reporter Rico Shen before racing: "Since we [the Team] took the leading from Changhua County Stage until now, we were still be cautious of this current status because the competitors just lost behind within 15 seconds." 
And also, he commented about an "earlier suspension" incident in the same stage in 2007: "I didn't participate in this series last year." 
"However, with several cyclists' actual strengths in several criterium stages, I think that the same incident won't take place again this year." 
In the main race, due to a very close actual strength, not everyone can took the leading for a long-period especially in Asian cyclists' competition. 
As a result in the middle-end section, the main group extremity controlled the condition of this race. 
Finally, Marek Wesoły from Merida Europe Team won his second stage champion in this stage since he got former stage champion in Pingtung County. 
With the stage champion went to Wesoły, John Murphy firmly won the overall champion in this series after 8 stages' racing. 
By the way, Kuan-hua Lai not only won the Taiwan Champion and was voted as the "Most Popular Taiwanese Cyclist", but also helped his team (Giant Asia Racing Team) to win the Team Champion in this series. 
After the race, He commented about this race: "Even though we got a great difference after we [the Team] got the lead from Changhua [stage], but we got a damn difficult situation because the competitors just lost behind within a small difference." 
"Because of this issue, we cautiously chose some roads to do several attacks to keep the leading to the end." 
After this, my current teammates did several attempts covering me to the end, and finally, it took a good effort for me. 
April 9, 2005 A rise in flesh-eating staph infections has worried doctors about the possible spread of drug resistant bacteria. 
Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as staph, is a bacteria that commonly causes skin infections in otherwise healthy people. 
However, as a persistent threat in hospitals, it tends to infect patients who are already sick and whose systems are vulnerable due to IV lines that pierce the skin. 
Doctors have already battled for years against drug-resistant strains of the bacteria, but the struggle has generally been confined to hospitals. 
Now, however, Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus (MRSA) has been spreading in communities outside hospitals. 
Cases have multiplied by 25 times since 1998 at the University of Chicago. 
A Los Angeles hospital documented 14 cases of the flesh-eating infection, where patients required substantial time in intensive care and surgery. 
The infections are particularly problematic because nearly a quarter of people who get a staph infection require hospitalization. 
Staph infections are spread much like other diseases, with crowded conditions, poor hygiene, and skin-to-skin contact most frequently to blame. 
At higher risk are prison inmates, homeless people, military personnel, and families with kids in day care. 
Athletes also have a higher risk, because sweating makes it easier for bacteria to infect the skin. 
An overnight explosion and fire at a Washington State oil refinery in Anacortes, Washington, United States, a city about 80 miles south of Vancouver, Canada, yesterday killed four people and critically injured three others. 
A Tesoro Corp. refinery caught fire at about 0030 local time (0830 GMT) while maintenance work was being performed in preparation for returning a part of the plant to operation in a dangerous procedure involving increasing heat and pressure in the unit involved. 
Some people reportedly felt the explosion, which sent flames as high as the tower in the refinery, from as far as five miles away. 
The fire, whose cause is not yet known, burned for around an hour and a half before being extinguished. 
Initially, Tesoro announced that three people had died in the fire. 
According to a spokesperson from Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, a fourth person, a 29-year-old woman, later died from her injuries at the hospital, while three other people, a woman and two men, all remain in critical condition with major burns. 
Three of the dead were named as Matthew Bowen, Darren Hoines and Daniel Aldridge, while the person who died in the hospital has not been identified. 
According to CNN, three workers are still missing, and a search has begun for them. 
The incident was the first fire at an oil refinery in Anacortes since 2007, when a fire at the Shell Puget Sound Refinery damaged a storage, resulting in three minor injuries. 
A Tesoro-owned refinery was involved in another fire in 2002, also with no reported injuries. 
The 15-year-old Australian boy charged on Sunday night related to the alleged theft of a Tram, faces another nine charges over prior incidents, bringing the total to 18 charges. 
The new allegations relate to theft of a bus, attempted theft of a train, and another incident with a tram. 
On Monday he was also charged over an incident, in which a tram was allegedly stolen from Southbank on Friday. 
The boy was arrested yesterday at his Sunshine home and bailed to appear in Melbourne Children's Court in June, over the nine new charges. 
On Monday, Yarra Trams spokesperson Colin Tyrus told The Age that there had been "a mystery collision in the depot on April 10". 
After what happened on Sunday we obviously reported all of that to the police and we are continuing to assist them with their inquiries, Mr Tyrus said. 
Police allege he drove a vehicle in the Southbank yard and hit another tram, on April 10, causing $2000 damage. 
And on April 9, it is alleged, he jumped a fence at a Footscray bus depot, found some keys and drove a bus around the yard. 
Later, it is believed he tried unsuccessfully to start a diesel train at a rail yard in North Melbourne, and then absconded carrying the keys. 
Police forces in India have ended the hostage sieges which followed the Mumbai attacks, which began on Wednesday in Mumbai, the financial capital of India. 
It ended when commandos finally caught up with a lone gunman, who had played a cat-and-mouse game in the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, nearly 56 hours after the attacks began. 
According to Indian television and radio, 155 people have been killed and 327 others wounded. 
Police say that they are in control of both the Taj Mahal and Oberoi Trident hotels. 
These people were very, very familiar with the hotel layouts and it appears they had carried out a survey before, said an unidentified commander of MARCOS, India's elite marine commandos. 
The commandos were hampered because they feared injuring hotel guests if they used overwhelming force. 
Bodies were strewn all over the place, and there was blood everywhere, he said. 
The commander also noted that his unit found a backpack belonging to one of the gunmen. 
Inside they found dried fruit, 400 rounds of AK-47 ammunition, four grenades, Indian rupees and American dollars, and seven credit cards from some of the world’s leading banks and a national ID card for the island nation of Mauritius. 
Once the bodies are collected, the number of deaths might go up to 200, said India's Minister of Home Affairs Sri Prakash Jaiswal. 
We came up against highly motivated terrorists, said Vice-Admiral J.S. 
India's foreign minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said, "Preliminary evidence indicates that elements with links to Pakistan are involved," stirring a diplomatic row between India and Pakistan. 
Observers have said that the attacks bear the hallmarks of Lashkar-e-Toiba or Jaish-e-Mohammed, both of which are believed to be based in Pakistan and also responsible for previous attacks on India. 
However, Prime Minister of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gillani said that Pakistan had "nothing to do with the attacks." 
It is unfair to blame Pakistan or Pakistanis for these acts of terrorism even before an investigation is undertaken, Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. 
Instead of scoring political points at the expense of a neighboring country that is itself a victim of terrorism, it is time for India's leaders to work together with Pakistan's elected leaders in putting up a joint front against terrorism. 
Thursday at Madrid–Barajas Airport, Wikinews interviewed Spanish Paralympic swimmer Marta Gomez, who is scheduled to compete at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships that start on Monday in Montreal, Canada. 
This is Laura Hale, I'm interviewing Marta Gómez, a Spanish Paralympic swimmer going to the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal. 
Are you going to Montreal and what strokes and distances are you competing in? 
Following Hungary's release and repatriation of convicted Azeri axe-murderer Ramil Safarov, who Azerbaijan subsequently pardoned, Armenia announced it is "ready for war". 
The declaration is in-response to Safarov's pardon and promotion, despite the Azeri officer having been given a life sentence — with a minimum jail term of 30 years, by Hungarian authorities in 2006. 
Safarov was found guilty of the 2004 murder of Armenian officer Gurgen Margaryan in Budapest, when both Safarov and Margaryan were attending a NATO Partnership for Peace programme. 
Safarov killed Margaryan in his sleep with an axe; the attack allegedly stemming from a desire to avenge Azeris killed during the Nagorno-Karabakh War and being mocked by Margaryan and another Armenian. 
On his return home, Safarov was met with a hero's welcome, given a pardon by president Ilham Aliyev, promoted to the rank of major, awarded eight-years of back-pay and given a house. 
Armenia sees these acts, when it was expected that Safarov would serve out his prison term in Azerbaijan, as highly provocative. 
Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian declared: "We don't want a war, but if we have to, we will fight and win." 
"We are not afraid of killers, even if they enjoy the protection of the head of state" . 
Historically both Armenia and Azerbaijan lay claim to some of the same territories, an issue complicated by the intermingling of ethnic populations so some areas have no clearly demarcated Azeri and Armenian border; these potential sources of conflict remained quiescent whilst both nations were subsumed by greater powers. 
However, the collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires in the wake of the First World War led to the Armenian–Azerbaijani War. 
With the demise of the short-lived Armenian-Azerbaijan-Georgia Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, fighting broke out which only ended when the two nations were annexed by the expanding Soviet Union. 
With the USSR's collapse, Armenia and Azerbaijan re-emerged as independent states — as-did old rivalries over territory. 
Between 1988 and 1994 over thirty thousand people died, and a million were displaced in bitter ethnic fighting between Armenians and Azeris over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh; despite an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe brokered ceasefire, no final armistice has been signed and intermittent violence between them the two states continues. 
Nagorno-Karabakh remains legally part of Azerbaijan, but under effective Armenian control. 
On multiple occasions president Ilham Aliyev has stated his willingness to resort to force in order to assert Azeri rule, with oil wealth tipping any local arms race in favour of Azerbaijan. 
On Friday, The National Security Council of Armenia decided to break ties with Hungary during an emergency summit, describing the Hungarian actions as a "grave mistake". 
In turn, the Azeri ambassador was summoned by Hungary on Monday regarding the breach of Azeri assurances that Safarov would serve out the remainder of his sentence in Azerbaijan. 
The camp of Manny Pacquiao led by manager Freddie Roach claimed that Diaz will need a "fucking miracle" to stop 'The Pacman' from moving up to the 135 lbs. weight class where Diaz is top brass. 
The side of Diaz led by Jim Strickland warned that tough Pacquiao has three belts in boxing, Diaz should not be discounted. 
Boxing punters observed that Diaz has a lot of heft in the way he delivers his punches but Pacquiao's speed and strong punches are something Diaz should be wary about. 
Pacquiao has won three different belts in three different weight classes of the World Boxing Council or WBC. 
Diaz debuted in the boxing world when he was part of the winning United States Olympic boxing team during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games. 
The 32-year-old native of Chicago claimed the 135 lbs. title from Mexican Érik Morales and plans to defend it a third time against the Philippines' prize fighter. 
Meanwhile, Pacquiao dedicated his bout against Diaz to all the victims of Typhoon Fengshen which devastated his home country, the Philippines, and killed hundreds of people. 
Bucharest, the capital of Romania, will become the first southeastern European city to host CowParade. 
Between June 1 and the end of August this year, the city will be flooded by herds of decorated cow sculptures, exhibited at well-known landmarks, such as The Palace of the Parliament, Europe's largest building, as well as on the streets and outside metro stations. 
Over 3000 local and international artists will participate in the event, decorating more than 100 life-sized fibreglass cows. 
The decorated cows will feature Romanian and Bucharestean themes, as well as issues related to international city life. 
After the event ends, all the cows will be auctioned off, with the proceeds donated to the Special Olympics Romania, a charity helping athletes with mental disabilities. 
The Bucharest CowParade is organised by Event Horizon, a Romanian marketing consultancy. 
CowParade, which was first held in Zurich in 1998, has been held in 22 cities in 5 continents and is today the world's largest public art event. 
Bucharest was chosen from over 500 other candidate cities and has waited for the event for a couple of years. 
The new local government in Bucharest wants to relaunch the city's image as a creative and colourful metropolis and have therefore enthusiastically supported the exhibition. 
The high-profile event is expected to boost the image of Bucharest worldwide, especially in the artistic scene. 
A controversial development training course called "Landmark Forum" is cited in religious discrimination lawsuits in United States federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C. 
The seminars are run by a San Francisco, California-based for-profit training company called Landmark Education. 
The company evolved from Erhard Seminars Training "est", and has faced criticism regarding its techniques and its use of unpaid labor. 
The sperm bank and surrogacy company Los Angeles-based Growing Generations is named as a defendant in the New York lawsuit, and the Democratic political action committee Twenty-First Century Democrats is a defendant in the Washington, D.C. case. 
In separate lawsuits filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, New York, and in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C., former employees are suing their employers for monetary damages and claiming religious discrimination after their employers allegedly mandated that they attend courses at Landmark Education. 
In the US$3 million federal lawsuit filed in New York, Scott Glasgow is suing his former employer Growing Generations and its CEO Stuart Miller. 
Growing Generations maintains sperm banks and also arranges surrogacy for gay couples who wish to have children. 
The company has offices in New York and Los Angeles, and has done business with celebrities including actor B. D. Wong of Law & Order: SVU. 
Glasgow was marketing director of Growing Generations, and claims he was fired in June 2007 after refusing to continue attending Landmark Education seminars. 
Glasgow is also suing for sexual harassment, and claims Miller came on to him in September 2006. 
He made approximately $100,000 per year as the company's marketing director, and was the company's only employee based out of New York City. 
"I want them to stop imposing Landmark on the employees, and I want an apology," said Glasgow in a statement in The Village Voice. 
Brent Pelton, one of Glasgow's attorneys, stated that: "The Landmark philosophy is deeply ingrained in the culture of the company". 
Glasgow said that the Landmark Education training courses were "opposite" to his Christian beliefs. 
According to Glasgow he was questioned by Miller in May 2007 after he walked out of a Landmark Education course, and was fired shortly thereafter. 
We stand by the allegations contained in the complaint and we look forward to proving them at trial, said Pelton in a statement to ABC News. 
Ian Wallace, an attorney who represents Growing Generations, claimed that Glasgow wasn't fired but walked away from his position. 
Growing Generations and Mr. Miller are very confident that these claims will be dismissed ultimately, and there's no factual basis for them whatsoever, said Wallace in a statement to The Village Voice. 
Lawyers representing Growing Generations and Stuart Miller declined comment to The New York Post, and did not immediately return a message from ABC News. 
In Glasgow's complaint, entered into federal court record on April 18, he asserts that Landmark Education constitutes a "religion", and "perceived their philosophy as a form of religion that contradicted his own personal beliefs". 
He states that when he was promoted to Director of Marketing, he asked Miller if he could stop attending the Landmark sessions but was told that they were mandatory for all of the company's executives and that Landmark is "very much the language of the company." 
Glasgow said his performance at the company was assessed based on how he was "touching, moving and inspiring" others, a phrase from the Landmark philosophy, as opposed to his business accomplishments at the company. 
The complaint claims that the actions of Miller and Growing Generations violated Federal, New York State and New York City civil rights laws. 
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Washington, D.C. deals with a separate plaintiff and company, but the plaintiff in the suit also claims that religious discrimination took place for allegedly being mandated to attend Landmark Education courses. 
Kenneth Goldman is suing the United States Democratic political action committee Twenty-First Century Democrats (also 21st Century Democrats) and its former executive director Kelly Young. 
Goldman was formerly the communications director of 21st Century Democrats. 
According to Goldman's complaint, three employees of 21st Century Democrats were fired after refusing to attend the Landmark Forum course. 
The complaint asserts that Landmark Education has "religious characteristics and theological implications" which influenced the mission of 21st Century Democrats and the way the organization conducted business. 
Goldman's complaint states that in addition to himself, a training director and field director were also fired after they made it clear they would not attend the Landmark Forum. 
Goldman says executive director Young infused Landmark Education jargon terms into staff meetings such as "create possibilities", "create a new context", and "enroll in possibilities". 
He also claims that Young "urged" staff members to participate in Landmark Education events outside of the workplace, drove employees to and from Landmark functions, and used funds from 21st Century Democrats to pay for employees to attend those functions. 
Goldman's complaint asserts that he was discriminated against in violation of the District of Columbia Human Rights Act. 
In a statement in The Washington Times, the executive director of 21st Century Democrats, Mark Lotwis, called the lawsuit "frivolous" and said: "we're going to defend our organization's integrity". 
Landmark Education spokeswoman Deborah Beroset said that the Landmark Forum "is in no way religious in nature and any claim to the contrary is simply absurd," and stated: "While we are not a party to this lawsuit and have no firsthand knowledge of it, we can only assume that we are being used as a legal and political football to further the plaintiff's own financial interests." 
The New York lawsuit was filed April 14, and is still in early filing stages. 
A conference with the federal court judge in the case has been scheduled for June 17. 
The Washington, D.C. suit began in November 2007, and entered mediation this past March. 
As of April 15 the parties in the case were due back to court on July 11 to update the court on the mediation process. 
Landmark Education is descended from Erhard Seminars Training, also called "est", which was founded by Werner Erhard. 
est began in 1971, and Erhard's company Werner Erhard and Associates repackaged the course as "The Forum" in 1985. 
Associates of Erhard bought the license to his "technology" and incorporated Landmark Education in California in 1991. 
This is not the first time employees have sued claiming mandatory attendance at "Forum" workshops violated their civil rights. 
In a lawsuit filed in December 1988 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, eight employees of DeKalb Farmers Market in Decatur, Georgia sued their employer claiming their religious freedom and civil rights were violated when they were allegedly coerced into attending "Forum" training sessions. 
Many of these training programs, particularly at large corporations, claim to be purely psychological, aimed at improving productivity and morale and loyalty. 
But in fact they are religious, said University of Denver religious studies professor Carl Raschke in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. 
The DeKalb Farmers Market employees were represented by lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union. 
Consulting Technologies Inc., an affiliate of Transformational Technologies Inc., was named as a party in the lawsuit. 
Transformational Technologies was founded by Werner Erhard, and was not named as a party in the suit. 
The "Forum" course that the employees claimed they were mandated to attend was developed by Werner Erhard and Associates. 
Employees said that they were fired or pressured to quit after they objected to the Forum courses. 
The workers claimed that the Forum course contradicted with their religious beliefs. 
The plaintiffs in the suit included adherents of varying religious backgrounds, including Christianity and Hinduism. 
"It's like brainwashing," said Dong Shik Kim, one of the plaintiffs in the case. 
The plaintiffs said they lost their jobs after objecting to a "new age quasi-religious cult" which they said was developed by Werner Erhard. 
The DeKalb Farmers Market denied the allegations, and an attorney for the company Edward D. Buckley III told The Wall Street Journal that employees were encouraged, not coerced, to attend the training sessions. 
According to The Wall Street Journal, The Forum said it would not sanction workers being coerced to attend its training sessions. 
The parties in the DeKalb Farmers Market religious discrimination case came to a settlement in May 1989, and the case was dismissed with prejudice in June. 
The terms of the out-of-court settlement were not made public, but the employees' attorney Amy Totenberg told The Wall Street Journal that the case "has made employers come to grips with the legitimate boundaries of employee training". 
According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers must "reasonably accommodate" their employees' religious beliefs unless this creates "undue hardship". 
In September 1988, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a policy-guidance notice which stated that New Age courses should be handled under Title VII of the Act. 
According to the Commission, employers must provide "reasonable accommodation" if an employee challenges a training course, unless this causes "undue hardship" for the company. 
In October 2006, Landmark Education took legal action against Google, YouTube, the Internet Archive and a website owner in Queensland, Australia in attempts to remove criticism of its products from the Internet. 
The company sought a subpoena under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in an attempt to discover the identity of an anonymous critic who uploaded a 2004 French documentary of the Landmark Forum to the Internet. 
The Electronic Frontier Foundation represented the anonymous critic and the Internet Archive, and Landmark withdrew its subpoena in November 2006 in exchange for a promise from the anonymous critic not to repost the video. 
Landmark Education itself has come under scrutiny for its controversial labor practices. 
The company has been investigated by the United States Department of Labor in separate investigations originating out of California, Colorado, and Texas. 
Investigations focused on the heavy reliance of unpaid labor in the company's workforce, which Landmark Education calls "assistants" and deems volunteers. 
Labor based out of Colorado found that activities performed by Landmark Education's "assistants" include: "office, clerical, telephone solicitation and enrollment, as well as greeting customers, setting up chairs, handling microphones during the seminars and making coffee." 
"Additionally, a number of volunteers actually teach the courses and provide testimonials during and after the courses." 
The Colorado investigation's 1996 report found that "No records are kept of any hours worked by any employees." 
According to a 1998 article in Metro Silicon Valley: "In the end the Department of Labor dropped the issue, leaving Landmark trumpeting about its volunteers' choice in the matter." 
Metro Silicon Valley reported that Landmark Education at the time employed 451 paid staff, and also utilized the services of 7,500 volunteers. 
After an investigation into Landmark Education's labor practices by the U.S. Dept.Labor's offices out of California, the company was deemed to have overtime violations. 
According to the Department of Labor's 2004 report on the investigation, back wages of $187,569.01 were found due to 45 employees. 
Labor in Texas which concluded in 2005 stated: "Minimum wage violation found." 
"Volunteers (Assistants) are not paid any wages for hours worked while performing the major duties of the firm." 
"The assistants set up rooms, call registrants, collect fees, keep stats of classroom data/participants, file, they also are answering phones, training and leading seminars." 
Landmark Education agreed to pay back wages for the overtime violation, but did not comply with the overtime violation found by the U.S. Dept. 
Landmark Education denied that the "assistants" are employees, though the Department of Labor report concluded: "Interviews reveal that the employees are taking payments, registering clients, billing, training, recruiting, setting up locations, cleaning, and other duties that would have to be performed by staff if the assistants did not perform them." 
According to the 2004 investigative report by Pièces à Conviction in the "Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous" program, Landmark Education was investigated by the French government in 1995. 
In the "Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous" program volunteers were filmed through a hidden camera and shown performing duties for Landmark Education in France including manning phones, recruitment and financial work for the company, and one volunteer was shown cleaning a toilet. 
Le Nouvel Observateur reported that after "Voyage au pays des nouveaux gourous" aired in France, labor inspectors investigated Landmark Education's use of unpaid volunteers. 
According to Le Nouvel Observateur, one month after the labor investigation took place the French branch of the company had disbanded. 
A former "Introduction Leader" to the Landmark Forum, Lars Bergwik, has recently posted a series of videos to YouTube critical of the company and its practices. 
Bergwik appeared on a 2004 investigative journalism program on Sweden's Channel 4, Kalla Fakta (Cold Facts). 
According to Bergwik, after the Kalla Fakta program on Landmark Education aired, "Landmark left Sweden". 
Last night, Adly Mansour, the interim leader of Egypt, announced plans to reform Egypt's constitution and hold a new round of parliamentary and presidential elections. 
The interim president also announced a judicial investigation into yesterday's shooting of at least 51 supporters of deposed president Mohamed Morsi. 
Mansour plans to form a panel within fifteen days to review and suggest changes to the now-suspended constitution. 
Those amendments would be voted on in a referendum within four months. 
Parliamentary elections would then be held, perhaps in early 2014, followed by presidential elections upon the forming of a new parliament. 
Yesterday in Cairo, protestors supporting Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood were shot outside the Presidential Guard barracks, where pro-Morsi supporters believe the former president is being kept under arrest. 
The Muslim Brotherhood claim 53 people died, while the health ministry claim 51 people died and 435 were injured. 
The Muslim Brotherhood claim the attack was unprovoked and those gathered were praying. 
Colonel Ahmed Mohammed Ali, spokesman for the army, said the group had attacked security forces and were armed with "large quantities of firearms, ammunition and Molotov cocktails". 
The Muslim Brotherhood claimed children were killed in the conflict but Colonel Ali claims the photos being used by the Muslim Brotherhood are actually photos from Syria in March. 
Colonel Ali also stated two policemen and a soldier were killed. 
I held my prayer mat in my hand and I started to cover my head with it. 
"But I couldn't stop the bleeding because there was so much blood." 
The shooting of 51 people on Monday follows violence last week which killed 36 people in Cairo. 
The Muslim Brotherhood have asked supporters to protest non-violently and support peaceful vigils. 
Some within the Muslim Brotherhood movement have suggested they may be outlawed, as they were under Hosni Mubarak. 
British Foreign Sectretary William Hague said: "It is crucial that there is a swift return to democratic processes in Egypt." 
"All sides of the political spectrum should work together for the sake of the country's political and economic future." 
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the intervention by the army was necessary to prevent "chaos", and said the protests that led to the downfall of Morsi are due to dissatisfaction with the efficacy of government: "When governments don't deliver, people protest." 
Blair also blamed the "ideology and intolerance of the Muslim Brotherhood": "People felt that the Brotherhood was steadily imposing its own doctrines on everyday life". 
Blair advised Western governments to "engage with the new de facto power and help the new government make the changes necessary, especially on the economy, so they can deliver for the people." 
"In that way, we can also help shape a path back to the ballot box that is designed by and for Egyptians". 
During his trial today, Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri, denied the claim that he had incited his followers to commit acts of murder. 
Instead he claimed that he had asked them to fight abroad. 
The charges against Abu Hamza include nine counts of soliciting to murder and three of trying to stir up racial hatred. 
The cleric also denies that he was in possession of a document which could be considered to help in the preparation of terrorist attacks. 
The defense barrister warned the jury to ignore the comments of the press as they may have convicted the defendant before the trial has begun. 
Comments such as "Captain Hook" and "Hook off Hooky" have been used. 
Mr. Fitzgerald told them of "exaggeration and misrepresentation by the media". 
The cleric faces nine charges under the Offences against the Person Act 1861, plus four charges under the Public Order Act 1986 of "using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior with the intention of stirring up racial hatred". 
The possession of video and audio recordings with the intent to be used to stir-up racial hatred, and a final charge of the possession of the Encyclopedia of the Afghani Jihad, which, is said to have information "of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism". 
Southampton bosses are now contemplating the sale of one of their top players, 16-year old Theo Walcott to the highest bidder. 
Currently, Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea have put in bids for the player, although he admits that he wants to transfer to his childhood dream-club, Arsenal. 
Walcott and his family are keen to take his current skills to an even higher plataeu, and feel that only this kind of skill could be achieved with Arsenal, despite the fact that other clubs have offered to outbid Arsenal. 
He is likely to make the move to Arsenal's squad when his current contract runs out on his 17th Birthday. 
Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger is as happy about the move as Walcott himself is. 
Despite the fact Southampton has released no details of the proceedings, Wenger let slip that the deal was almost done, after revealing he was buying "two and a half" players; Emmanuel Abedayor, Abo Daiby - Walcott being referred to has the "half". 
When interviewed on his interest in the striker, he revealed that he had been watching him and was a big admirer 
Two people were killed and two others were seriously injured yesterday when a boulder collapsed onto a house in the German town of Stein an der Traun, south-east of Munich. 
A family of four were said to have been watching television together in the lounge when a large lump of rock, about 50 tons, broke off from a 50 foot cliff above the house. 
The boulder fell from about 15 metres above the residence and landed on top of the house, crushing it. 
The cause of the rock fall is unknown, but police have said that there had been no prior signs that the cliff was unstable. 
The accident, which happened at approximately 1940 local time, killed a 45-year-old father and his 18-year-old daughter. 
A 40-year-old mother and her 16-year-old son were seriously injured and were taken to hospital for treatment, after a rescue operation that lasted into the early hours of the following morning. 
The task involved up to 250 rescue personnel, some with sniffer dogs. 
An official from the international humanitarian movement the Red Cross said "[w]e made contact with them early on and kept talking with them through the night as we pulled away at the debris." 
Joachim Herrmann, the Bavarian Interior Minister, spoke of his thoughts about the incident. 
I have never seen anything like this, he was quoted as saying. 
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), one of the main stock indices in the United States, has broken an all-time closing record, to close at 14,000.41 points which is up 82.19 points (0.59%) from its last close. 
Just 59 days before, the Dow hit an all-time high when it passed 13,000. 
This is the first time the DJIA has ever closed above 14,000 since its debut on May 26, 1896. 
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index closed at 1,553.08 points which was up 6.91 points (0.45%) and the NASDAQ Composite Index closed at a six-year high to 2,724.74 points, which was up 20.55 point (0.76%). 
Breaking News: Iran reported to U.N. Security Council. The IAEA has passed a resolution, by 27 to 3 votes, to report concerns over Iran's nuclear program to the UN Security Council. 
Iranian officials have said that Iran will respond by downgrading its cooperation with the IAEA and resuming full scale fuel enrichment. 
Two strong earthquakes shook the north of Argentina and a remote region of the Amazon, in Brazil. 
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that the first earthquake took place at 9:27 (-3 UTC) 165 kilometers from the city of Cruzeiro do Sul, in the Amazonian state of Acre and measured 6.1 degrees on the Richter scale. 
According to Elio Murilo, sergeant of the fire brigade of Cruzeiro do Sul, the phenomenon was not felt and no injuries or property damages were reported. 
The telluric movement took place at a depth of 632.9 kilometers. 
At 12:34 (-3 UTC) another earthquake with an intensity of 6.2 degrees in Richter scale shook the north of Argentina, and the phenomenon was also felt in some Bolivian cities. 
According to the USGS, the epicentre was the Jujuy region 140 kilometres east of Tarija (Bolivia) at a depth of 247 kilometers. 
The authorities have not reported any injuries or property damage. 
As Tom DeLay's (Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas), alleged ethical lapses began to dominate American political news stories and the Sunday talk shows, have led some Republican members of the Majority Leader’s own party to question the reasoning for his refusal to account for his actions or resign. 
Last year, in a glimpse of problems yet to surface, the Republican head of the U.S. House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, or "House Ethics Committee", presided over three admonitions that included offering to endorse the candidacy of a political lawmaker’s son in exchange for votes on legislation. 
The ethics complaints were originally filed by Democratic Rep. Chris Bell of Texas on June 15, 2004, and began to heat up in the months prior to last year's elections. 
A Texas grand jury is taking a hard look at Delay’s fund raising practices, and has already indicted three of his close associates. 
Last week the Washington Post reported that Mr. DeLay took a trip to Moscow in 1997, financed by lobbyists of the Russian Government. 
Delay’s representative, Dan Allen, told reporters "Congressman DeLay's effective leadership to build and strengthen the House majority is exactly the reason he is being targeted by liberal groups funded by George Soros." 
But Christopher Shays, a Republican from Connecticut, a Republican moderate, told the Associated Press that DeLay’s "conduct is hurting the Republican Party" and "hurting any Republican who is up for re-election [in 2006]." 
The news agency reported that DeLay would look forward to meeting the charges with the ethics committee in a sit-down and blamed all of his problems on House Democrats. 
Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, advised his Republican colleagues strongly to "Be careful about how closely you embrace Mr. DeLay, as long as he's there, he's going to become a pretty good target." 
Those Republicans working with the Majority Leader said his ethics are only a problem to Democrats trying to regain power in the House. 
But the Ethics Committee’s membership is equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. 
Other Republicans are starting to get jittery about their reelection hopes if DeLay is allowed to retain power. 
Tom's conduct is hurting the Republican Party, is hurting this Republican majority and it is hurting any Republican who is up for re-election, Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., told the Associated Press after making similar comments at community meetings in his home district this weekend. 
The third-ranking Republican in the Senate, Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, said DeLay needs to "clear the air." 
But he thinks everything done by DeLay was "according to the law." 
I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves, he said on ABC's This Week, a Sunday political talk program. 
Now you may not like some of the things he's done, that’s for the people of his district to decide, whether they want to approve that kind of behavior. 
The European Space Agency (ESA) reported on Friday that the Wilkins Shelf, an enormous Antarctic ice shelf half the size of Scotland, could break away from the continent very soon. 
According to reports, only a thin strip of ice connects it to the Charcot Island, and cracks are expanding rapidly. 
This is the largest shelf of ice so far to have disintegrated in the Antarctic. 
In February 2008, the shelf lost 425 square kilometres (164 square miles) of ice, followed by a loss of another 62 square miles in May 2008. 
During the last year the ice shelf has lost about 1800 square kilometers (694 square miles), or about 14 percent of its size, said Angelika Humbert from the Institute of Geophysics at University of Münster in Germany. 
Scientists say that the shelf, if it detaches from the mainland, won't cause an increase in sea levels, as it is already floating. 
Most scientists believe that the incident is further evidence of global warming. 
Average temperatures in the Antarctic peninsula have increased by about 2.5 degrees Celsius (3.8 degrees Fahrenheit) in the past fifty years. 
Britain's Secretary of State for Health, John Reid, is amongst those calling for the withdrawal of Conservative candidate for Dorset South, Ed Matts, after he doctored photos in campaign literature. 
The photo in question originally showed Matts and the Conservative front-bencher Anne Widdecombe campaigning on behalf of an immigrant family living in Weymouth, in the Dorset South constituency, in March last year. 
When the photo appeared in Matts' campaign literature, the people in the background were removed from the photo and a slogan calling for the family to be allowed to stay was replaced by one calling for immigration control. 
The seat, taken by Labour's Jim Knight in the 2001 general election, is one of the most fiercely contested in the country, being Labour's smallest majority. 
Conservative leader Michael Howard condemned Matts' behaviour but refused to sack him. 
Conservative shadow Chancellor Oliver Letwin, from neighbouring Dorset West, said that the message on the doctored photo was consistent with conservative policy. 
20-year-old pitching phenom Phil Hughes cruised through hitters in just his second start for the New York Yankees, but the end result created even more frustration for the organization and fans everywhere. 
Hughes retired 19 Texas Rangers without allowing a hit on Tuesday at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. 
Established big league stars such as Kenny Lofton, Mark Teixeira and Michael Young could not solve the youngster's blazing fastball or sharply biting curve. 
Even as his pitch count rose, the Yankees allowed him to keep firing. 
He was fine, manager Joe Torre said of the 2004 first round draft pick. 
We were going to allow him to go 100 pitches last time, so I didn't think that would be a problem. 
Just when the Yankees thought they found an answer to their early struggles, the organization was treated to an agonizing sight. 
After Teixeira fouled off an 0-2 pitch with one out in the sixth inning, Hughes grabbed his leg, having suffered a hamstring injury. 
His no-hit bid ended there (Texas would break up the no-hitter in the eighth inning off reliever Mike Myers), though he did earn his first big league win in a 10-1 Yankee romp over Texas. 
He walked off the mound under his own power, but will reportedly miss 4-6 weeks. 
He added, "I'm at a point now where our rotation really needs it," referring to his presence on the New York pitching staff. 
Several Yankees have already voiced their excitement for the righthander's chances in the big leagues. 
For his part, Yankees star Jason Giambi compared him to Roger Clemens during Spring Training: "He looks like a young Rocket." 
The Yankees are currently just 10-14, thanks in large part to injuries that have befallen pitchers Chien-Ming Wang, Mike Mussina, Carl Pavano and Jeff Karstens. 
In a related story from today, the Yankees fired strength and conditioning coach Marty Miller. 
Reportedly, this was out of general manager Brian Cashman's concern for the alarming number of hamstring injuries so far this season. 
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia has announced women will be allowed to vote in the country and run for municipal elections there. 
Abdullah made this announcement at the start of a new Shura Council term. 
In a speech, the king said "we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia" and so made the decision "to involve women in the Shura Council as members, starting from next term". 
Abdullah clarified that female adults "will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote." 
Such changes are to be put in place "according to Islamic principles," he said. 
Muslim women, he continued, "must not be marginalised in opinion or advice". 
Activists have sought women's right to vote in Saudi Arabia for years. 
As it stands, women in Saudi Arabia cannot drive, nor travel without male permission, based on Sunni Islam principles. 
Apple Inc. today has introduced the much-anticipated iPhone at the Macworld Conference in San Francisco. 
The iPhone is claimed to be "a revolutionary mobile phone" as stated on the Apple website. 
The device appears to be running a mobile version of the Apple operating system Mac OSX. 
It is approximately the same size as a 5th generation iPod, it has a 3.5-inch LCD touchscreen display that is used to access all features of the phone including number dial, as well as making phone calls. 
The iPhone plays music, movies, displays pictures and is able to connect to a wireless network. 
Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the device by walking onto the stage and taking the iPhone out of his jeans pocket. 
During his 2 hour speech he stated that "Today Apple is going to reinvent the phone, We are going to make history today". 
Today Apple also released their Media Center device - Apple TV. 
It will directly compete with Microsoft's Media Center operating system. 
Apple has taken a different approach to the media center market; rather than storing content (such as movies, music and photos) on the device, Apple TV connects to a computer (Mac and Windows) over a wirless network connection and plays all content stored on that computer. 
This makes it substantially easier for users to organize their media content. 
The global war on smoking passed a major milestone on 30 November 2004. 
On that date, Peru became the 40th country to ratify an international treaty to reduce smoking, thus triggering activation of the treaty in 90 days. 
According to the World Health Organization's World Health Report 2003, tobacco consumption is the single leading preventable cause of death. 
It prematurely ends the lives of 5 million people a year, a figure which will double by 2020 if current trends are not reversed. 
Tobacco is the only legal product that causes the death of one half of its regular users, more than many illegal drugs. 
This means that of the current 1.3 billion smokers, 650 million people will die prematurely due to tobacco. 
Another way to look at the effect of smoking is to measure the average reduction in life expectancy among smokers. 
A study published in the British Medical Journal in June 2004 followed 34,439 male doctors since 1951 and showed that smokers died on average 10 years earlier than non-smokers. 
Although the number of smokers has stabilized or fallen in developed areas, it is rising in developing or transitional regions, which contain more of the world's population and already 84% of the world's smokers. 
To fight this increasing health threat, the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC) was unanimously adopted by the 56th World Health Assembly in May 2003 following almost three years of negotiations. 
The treaty aims to reduce both the demand for and the supply of tobacco by setting standards on tobacco price and tax increases, tobacco advertising and sponsorship, labelling, illicit trade and second-hand smoke. 
Studies show that increasing prices through taxes on tobacco products is the most cost-effective way to reduce smoking. 
The World Bank estimated that a 10% increase in tobacco prices would, on average, result in a reduction of 4% of the demand in high-income countries and 8% in lower-income countries. 
Thus the treaty suggests tobacco taxes or price controls, although it neither suggests specific levels nor requires any taxes or price controls. 
The treaty requires all countries adopting it to ban, to the extent allowed by their constitutions, all tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship within five years. 
Health warnings must occupy at least half of the principal display areas of a pack, but they must not be less than 30%. 
These health warnings must be changed regularly and may include pictures. 
The treaty aims to reduce smuggling by requiring adopting nations to mark all tobacco packages for tracing purposes and to indicate their country of destination, as well as to cooperate with each other in monitoring and controlling the movement of tobacco products and investigating their diversion. 
The idea for an international instrument for tobacco control was initiated in May 1995 at the 48th World Health Assembly. 
But it wasn’t until 1999, a year after the then WHO Director-General, Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland, made global tobacco control a priority, that work on the present treaty began. 
During the year after the FCTC was written, 167 countries signed and 23 countries ratified it, making it one of the most rapidly embraced UN treaties of all time. 
The momentum growing around the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control seems unstoppable. 
It demonstrates the importance placed by the international community on saving many of the millions of lives now lost to tobacco, said Dr Lee Jong-wook, WHO Director-General. 
I look forward to more countries joining the 40 states that are making it possible for this Treaty to become law. 
Of the countries ratifying the treaty, the largest are (in order of decreasing population) India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Mexico, Thailand, France, and Burma. 
Nations that have signed but not yet ratified include China, USA, Brazil, Nigeria, Philippines, Viet Nam, Germany, and Egypt. 
The largest non-signers are Indonesia, Russia, Colombia, Tanzania, and Uzbekistan. 
The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan went beyond the treaty requirements when on December 17 it became the first country in the world to completely ban the sale of tobacco. 
Israel has purchased two more Dolphin class submarines which have the capacity to carry nuclear warheads. 
Israel already has three older nuclear weapons-capable Dolphin submarines but the new Dolphins have propulsion systems that allow them to remain submerged for longer periods of time, according to the Jerusalem Post, making it harder for them to be tracked by satellite. 
Experts view the purchase as a clear signal to Iran that Israel can retaliate if subjected to a nuclear attack. 
The Iranians would be very foolish if they attacked Israel, said Paul Beaver, a British based defence analyst, speaking to the Washington Post. 
According to Beaver, the submarines would provide Israel with both first strike and second strike capability. 
Israel already has land-based nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in the form of the Jericho I and II missiles. 
German officials confirm that the contracts for the new submarines was signed July 6. 
The Jerusalem Post reports that they will be operational shortly. 
Israel has never confirmed nor denied that it has nuclear weapons but is believed to have the world's sixth largest stockpile of the devices, with most outside estimates putting their stockpile in the low hundreds. 
Israel's possession of nuclear arms has often been a locus of bitter controversy in the Middle East, especially among countries who believe that the world community, and especially the United States, is hypocritical in its tolerance of Israeli nuclear arms while decrying the efforts of other Middle Eastern nations to develop their own nuclear capabilities. 
Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports there is a growing mood among Israel's defence establishment that the country will have to act independently to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons as the United States is unlikely to do so. 
America is stuck in Iraq and cannot go after Iran militarily right now, according to an unnamed official quoted by the paper. 
A report by the US House of Representatives' Intelligence Committee released on Wednesday asserts that if Iran arms itself with nuclear weapons, Israel would be pressed to respond militarily. 
"Israel would find it hard to live with a nuclear armed Iran and could take military action against Iranian nuclear facilities," the report states. 
Iran has continually maintained that it seeks only to develop nuclear technology for the production of electrical power, though this has been disputed by many nations. 
Thirty-four Indonesian fisherman have been jailed in Broome in northern Western Australia (WA) for illegal fishing offences. 
Seven of the 34 have been jailed in Australia before for previous fishing offences. 
Their vessels were found hiding in mangroves off the Kimberley coast. 
The fisherman were found in possession of nearly two tonnes of trochus shell, a shell valued for fashioning into high quality buttons, beads and trinkets. 
The WA Fisheries Department says the jail terms reflect the seriousness with which the offence is being viewed. 
Department officer Chris Mitchell says the fishermen had traversed 200 miles of Commonwealth waters and were inside the three nautical mile state limit when they were caught. 
He says their actions are a serious breach of fisheries laws. 
"In the early days, the courts would have given a good behaviour bond for a first offender", he said. 
That was more specifically for the traditional sail-powered vessels, not these motorised vessels that are coming down and because these are in state waters it is far more serious. 
On Thursday, skippers of 11 Indonesian fishing boats were fined by a Perth court. 
Three of the men, who had previous convictions, were fined $15,000 each, with 100 days to pay. 
The remaining eight were fined $9000 each and given 60 days to pay. 
The captains were fined between $9,000 and $15,000 for fishing and taking trochus shell from Australian waters off the north-west coast last month. 
Three of the captains have been caught fishing in Australian waters before between 1997 and 2004. 
Legal Aid lawyer David McKenzie, says the fishermen were very poor and it was highly unlikely they would be able to pay the fines. 
The magistrate ordered that they spend between 60 and 100 days in jail in Western Australia if the fines were not paid. 
The U.S. government warned private financial services that al Qaeda is planning a cyber attack on the U.S. stock and bank accounts, officials said on Thursday. 
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke says: "There is no information to corroborate this aspirational threat." 
"As a routine matter and out of an abundance of caution, US-CERT issued the situational awareness report to industry stakeholders." 
The officials said that the attacks are aimed at destroying the databases of U.S. banking and stock market web sites. 
The Homeland Security group claims that the threat was for all of December. 
A U.S. official said that the threat was posted on an website and called for the attack to avenge the imprisonment of Muslims in the Guantanamo detention camp. 
The independent and nonpartisan US congressional watchdog, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) called the Food and Drug Administration's decision not to allow over-the-counter (OTC) sales of an Emergency Contraceptive pill, "unusual". 
Emergency Contraceptive Pills or ECPs ("morning-after" or "next-day" pills ) are used to prevent an unintended pregnancy, following unprotected sexual intercourse. 
They are objectionable for abortion opponents who consider their use to be a form of abortion, though scientific studies (including those by the FDA) classify them as contraceptives. 
The pill, called Plan B is manufactured by Barr Laboratories and had been approved earlier by the FDA as a prescription drug. 
Barr Laboratories requested that the drug be approved for OTC sale for adults and prescription-only sale for minors. 
The decision to not approve went against the advice given by the FDA's Joint Advisory Committee and its Review staff and led to a GAO investigation into the decision making process. 
The investigation was requested by 30 House members and 17 Senators. 
The GAO found several anomalies in the decision making process. 
The rationale used by Dr. Steven Galson, the acting director of the Centre for Drug Evaluation and Research for rejecting the application was novel and did not follow usual FDA practices. 
The decision was not signed off by the director of the office responsible for the application and the director of the Office of New Drugs, as they disagreed with the "reject" decision. 
The GAO also found that the FDA's high-level management more involved in reviewing this decision than in other change-to-OTC applications. 
The Plan B decision was the only one of 67 proposed prescription to OTC changes to be disapproved, even after advisory committees approved the changes. 
FDA review staff told the investigators that they were told early in the review process that the decision would be made by high-level management. 
E-mail and other documents involving the then-FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan were found to have been destroyed "routinely". 
The FDA has disagreed with the GAO's finding that the high-level management was more involved in processing this application and that the rationale offered was novel, despite acknowledging that the adolescent cognitive ability rationale was unprecedented in FDA practice. 
The accounts as to whether the decision to reject was taken prior to the reviews being completed offered to the investigators were conflicting. 
The acting director cited concerns about the potential behavioral implications for younger adolescents from OTC marketing of Plan-B, given their supposed lower cognitive ability, and that it was not valid to extrapolate data from older to younger audiences. 
However, the FDA had not considered similar "potential behavioral implications" for younger users for other OTC-switches and had previously considered it appropriate to extrapolate data from older to younger audiences. 
On April 4, 2008 Bobbi-Jo Arnold, accompanied by her mother Mary Patricia Moore and other family members, claimed a $3.5 million lottery ticket win in Toronto. 
On October 2 the two women were arrested by Ontario Police. 
Both are facing charges including fraud over $5000, possession of property obtained by crime, false pretenses and uttering a forged document. 
The family dispute has led to Ms Moore (59) filing for divorce from her husband of ten years, Gerald Moore (81), in August. 
Mr Moore alleges Ms Arnold received the ticket from her mother, who took it from his bedside table. 
He further alleges his wife "manipulated" his medications to leave him incapable to grasp what was occurring. 
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation is also named in Mr Moore's civil suit for alleged negligence in investigating Ms Arnold's claim. 
The bail judge's order requires Ms Moore to live with her daughter Arnold in a home she purchased with the lottery winnings, and not with her husband. 
As well, both women are ordered not to leave Essex County, Ontario and to surrender their passports to the police. 
A gunman has opened fire on tourists in Amman, the capital of Jordan. 
One Briton was killed and five others were injured at the Roman Theatre in central Amman. 
Two British women were among the injured tourists, the rest were from the Netherlands, New Zealand and Australia (So far the dead man has not been named). 
It is not yet clear whether the man was acting on his own or as part of group. 
The attack took place at 12:30 local time (09:30 GMT). 
The lone gunman shouted "God is great" (in Arabic) before firing up to 12 shots, according to eye witness reports given to the AFP news agency. 
A BBC reporter in the area has said that the area is cordoned and currently being patrolled by armed police. 
Scottish IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti won his second Indianapolis 500 in four years today after leading 155 laps, which is the fourth most in the 99-year history of the race. 
Franchitti, aged 37, also won a rain-shortened race in 2007, when the race was stopped after 166 laps due to the inclement weather and he was declared the winner. 
The conditions at this race were far different, with the National Weather Service reporting temperatures of 88° F (31° C) at the track at race time. 
This temperature made the race the second hottest to the 1932 race, which reached 92° F. 
After a failed attempt to race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series in 2008, Franchitti returned to the IndyCar series to race for Chip Ganassi Racing. 
With this victory, owner Chip Ganassi became the first team owner in racing history to have their drivers win both the Daytona 500 of the Sprint Cup (won by Jamie McMurray) and the Indianapolis 500 in the same year. 
"The milk tastes just as good the second time around here," said Franchitti, referring to the ceremonial winner's milk drink following the race. 
"I just needed to know what the other guys were doing with fuel. " 
" There was a gap behind them and a lot of confusion. " 
"This means so much after coming back when I went away for a year in 2008 and to come back win a championship and win the Indianapolis 500," he added in an interview in the winner's circle. 
Franchitti won the race on less than a tenth of a gallon of fuel, after he and his team decided to not pit during the final laps of the race. 
The race ended on a caution after a massive crash between drivers Mike Conway and Ryan Hunter-Reay, when Conway's car got caught onto Hunter-Reay's left outside wheel and was sent airborne. 
Conway's car then hit the track's retaining wall and landed on its front side. 
Medics took Conway out of the car, and he was taken to the hospital with a leg injury. 
Finishing behind Franchitti in second place was British driver Dan Wheldon of Partner Racing. 
Conway's car then hit the track's retaining wall and landed on its front side. 
The last two journalists reported killed at the turn of the year were Syrians; just at a time when protests and violence in the country are escalating, and the Arab League begins its initial assessment of the situation. 
Shot on December 30, and the first journalist to die in 2012, was veteran journalist Shukri Ratib Abu Burghol. 
The senior journalist was shot in the face after arriving home from work at a radio station in Darayya, on the southern outskirts of the capital city Damascus. 
According to Reporters Without Borders, he died three days after the shooting at Al Mouwsat Hospital. 
Burghol, 56, was a journalist for about 21 years, working for the newspaper Al-Thawra (The Revolution) whilst also hosting a weekly show for Radio Damascus. 
A source told the Xinhua news agency Burghol had received threats. 
Basil Al-Sayed became the last journalist to die in 2011, shot on December 29 by a sniper in the city of Homs. 
The Arab League has confirmed that the Syrian government have been seen using snipers against protesters elsewhere in Daraa. 
The shooting of Al-Sayed took place in the Bab Amr section of Homs. 
The city has been one of the hot spots for protests against Bashar al-Assad's government during 2011. 
In the last week of the year, the Bab Amr neighbourhood was attacked by the Syrian military and experienced heavy violence. 
The 24-year-old camera operator was a citizen journalist who uploaded his videos to video-sharing sites to spread information about the protests. 
Photojournalists and camera operators have been some of the the most at-risk during the Arab uprisings in Tunisia and Libya. 
Ferzat Jarban — the first known journalist to be killed in Syria — was a freelance camera operator, arrested on November 19 whilst filming protests in Al-Qusayr, Homs Governorate. 
Currently information is hard to verify and reliable independent sources are largely banned or restricted inside Syria. 
Foreign journalists have been barred from the country, and from covering the protests. 
At the end of 2011 Arab League observers had sent out observers to different cities in Syria to monitor the situation, whilst one of its advisers called for the organization to retreat after Al-Assad's government reneged on agreements to halt the crackdown. 
According to Navi Pillay, High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations, more than 5,000 people have been killed during the Syrian uprising, a figure that includes around 300 children. 
Three journalists are now known to have been killed in Syria. 
In December, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) addressed an open letter to Syrian President Al-Assad calling for the release of all journalists in detention; the CPJ documented 29 cases of journalists being detained in 2011. 
The CPJ reported that 45 journalists were killed worldwide in 2011, whereas — using differing criteria — Reporters Without Borders state that 66 journalists around the world died in 2011, and assert that, by almost every indicator, violence and censorship against international journalists was worse in 2011, up 16% on their 2010 figures. 
A gunman opened fire at a hunting shop in the Russian city of yesterday, leaving six people dead. 
Two of the victims were young girls aged 14 and 16. 
The Moscow Investigative Committee identify the main suspect as former convict Sergei Pomazun. 
Authorities said the man, believed to have used a hunting rifle, killed three salespeople and two bystanders, and injured another woman who died of head wounds shortly after the incident. 
The man left the scene in a BMW, later abandoning the vehicle. 
Local authorities have said the search involves around 1200 police; InSerbia reports a team of 50 troops have also been dispatched to assist with the manhunt. 
Police also warned civilians the suspect may have a gas pistol and a semi-automatic rifle. 
Regional police spokesperson Alexei Pomorov told AFP, "We do not know whether it was a conflict because there's no one we can ask: everyone's dead". 
Police cordoned off the suspect's residence and found an empty weapons-storage safe. 
Wall Street had its best finish since November 2008 after a four day rally with the stock market’s indexes seeing their best weekly gain in nearly five months. 
The major indicators in the NYSE had a gain of around 10 percent. 
This was mainly due to bank shares bouncing and alleviating fears about the economy. 
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) finished on 7223.98, an increase of 54 points from March 12 2009. 
The S&P 500 Index finished at 756.55 a 6 point gain and the NASDAQ composite had a 5.40 point gain as well to end the day at 1431.50. 
The rally began earlier this week after the news from Citigroup Inc. about managing profits during first two months of the year. 
The news lessened fears about the country's major financial institutions collapsing after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September. 
There was more good news from Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., who announced that they have had profits in the current year. 
Today was a mixed day for the financial sector, Drug makers had some gains and so did General Motors and Berkshire Hathaway , which helped the indexes gain. 
The value of the US dollar fell against other world currencies, but gold prices increased. 
Prince Harry has today been ordered to return home, after details that the 23 year old's front line engagement was leaked by an American website. 
The details of the Prince's engagement had previously been kept secret by many British and international news agencies, including the BBC and the Associated Press. 
The leak of the information was said to be "regrettable" by the Ministry of Defence, however this meant that Prince Harry was ordered to return home due to fears for his, and the others in his unit's safety. 
Prince Harry will be flown home "immediately", after 10 weeks of front line service. 
During this he worked as a Joint terminal attack controller (JTAC) and was involved in major operations on the frontline against Taliban forces. 
The media blackout was created to lower the risk to the royal, whilst in service in Afghanistan, and was the first large scale agreement of its kind. 
The media groups who signed up to the agreement were rewarded with interviews with the Prince. 
The leader of the main opposition party, Alaksandar Milinkievič, has been jailed for 15 days in Belarus for taking part in an 'unsanctioned rally'. 
The march, held in the centre of Minsk, marked the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. 
Held every year, it is a traditional forum for expressing political opposition. 
At least 6,000 protesters took part, accompanied by riot police. 
Demonstrators are said to have asked permission for the rally and to have received authorisation for having the protest on some sites. 
Protestors say that their protest was on the authorised sites and was not unlawful. 
Conflicts between the opposition party and the government, led by Alexander Lukashenko, have been numerous since Lukashenko was re-elected as President on March 19, 2006. 
The opposition party has organised numerous demonstrations and rallies, and over 1,000 of their members being arrested. 
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has said the US "condemns this act" and called upon Belarus to act within accepted international principles on the treatment of political opposition. 
NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has also condemned the action. 
Tuggeranong, Canberra — Nineteen year old Australian Shadow Olympic team member Alice Ingley was attending the second day of the National Archery Championships, a few days before the start of the target recurve event that she hopes to represent Australia at the Olympics in. 
Injuries may impact her chances, but in an interview with her, she did not think it would be a big problem. 
The archer found out about her inclusion on the shadow team the night after returning from a concert by her favorite band, Celtic Thunder, in Wollongong. 
The National Championships have possible Olympic qualification implications for Ingley as there are more girls on the shadow squad than eligible to compete on the full team at the Olympics, so cuts will be made based on performance at the event. 
From here, the three Australian women chosen to represent Australia will compete at the archery team event qualifier in the United States six weeks before the 2012 London Games. 
The possibility of individual qualification at the Games is another important part of the event, as Australia has only secured one spot for a female archer. 
The only Olympic archery event is the target recurve competition, and it is the only event Ingley will be participating in at Nationals. 
She has competed in field recurve but is not competing to maximize her training for Olympic inclusion. 
She is hyper focused on the sport at the moment, with archery being her life. 
Ingley, who might be related to the historical Robin Hood, is not a stranger to high level international competition, having competed at the 2010 Youth Olympics. 
This event was the only time she enjoyed substantial media interest, as otherwise archery is largely ignored by the Australian press. 
She has also competed at the first Youth Olympics, the Junior World Cup and two senior World Cups. 
She has also participated at the 2011 University Games in China and the 2011 Olympic Test Event in London. 
She has an American doppelganger, Miranda Leek, and the two are sometimes mistaken for each other at international competitions. 
She is a member of the Yokine Archery Club in Western Australia. 
Previously, for two and a half years, she had been affiliated with the archery program at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), but poor performances by the national team and other considerations led to the AIS dropping their high performance archery sport. 
Ingley cannot drive, as she has not had the time to learn because of her archery focus. 
When not competing in archery, she works for Western Australian Newspapers. 
She deferred university for a year to try to realize her Olympic dream, taking time off from Edith Cowan University where she was working on a Bachelors of Arts in History. 
Conservative Party leader David Cameron was last night a victim of crime following the theft of his bicycle. 
The Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom was out shopping in West London when the incident happened at around 6:30 last night. 
He was said to have chained the bike to a short bollard while he picked up some groceries in Tesco on Portobello Road. 
When he came out, the bike along with its chain had vanished. 
He stated that he "would very much like it back" and that to him "it was absolutely priceless". 
He is also said to have reported the theft on the Scotland Yard online reporting website, but was pessimistic about it being returned. 
The thieves are said to be a group of teenagers. 
Around 19,000 bicycles are reported stolen every year in London alone. 
Cameron's spokesperson said he had owned the bike for five years, and used it regularly to cycle to work. 
She stated he was "pretty hacked off" by the theft. 
Amid the confusion surrounding today's London blasts, officials have urged the public to avoid the city if possible to allow emergency services to operate more quickly. 
All rail and underground stations remain closed, although efforts are being made to reopen them. 
Air links are now closed at Stansted, Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports. 
Those trying to contact friends and family via mobile have struggled as the largest mobile networks, Vodafone, O2 and Orange, have all suffered from full capacity on several occasions this morning meaning voice calls failed. 
On the web, websites such as BBC, TfL and the G8 2005 website struggled for a short time at one point this morning under the strain of so many web users visiting them. 
The national grid has said that it has sustained no damage to the electricity network. 
On the Traffic England site run by the Highways Agency, London has been marked as a 'Closed area'. 
The Royal Mail is warning customers that mail collections and deliveries across the UK will be disrupted because of the incidents. 
Royal Mail vehicles will not be moving in or out of London, or between Royal Mail sites in central London for the remainder of today. 
At least 25 per cent of the UK's mail moves through London, even if its end destination is elsewhere. 
Bus services in Zone 1 have resumed as of 16:00 BST. 
The following is the second in a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2012 presidential election. 
It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after a brief mention of some of the month's biggest stories. 
In this month's edition on the campaign trail: the campaign manager for a candidate already seeking two presidential nominations discusses the likelihood his candidate will run for the Reform Party's nomination; a lesser known candidates forum reveals an alternative fuel possibility and concludes in a dramatic fashion; and the newly nominated candidate for the Boston Tea Party talks with Wikinews. 
At least 15 people are feared dead and at least 60 others are wounded after three explosions in the Hindu pilgrimage town of Varanasi, India. 
At approximately 1230 UTC/0730 EST, the first explosion occurred outside the crowded Sankat Mochan temple. 
The second took place just minutes later at the Cantonment Railway Station, leaving a crater just outside the stationmaster's room, and the third occurred on the Shiv Ganga Express, which had been leaving for New Delhi. 
Officials say that the area has been cordoned off and the injured have been shifted to a hospital on the Benaras Hindu University campus. 
They also report that at least four unexploded bombs were found near a holy site by the Ganges River. 
According to media advisor Sanjay Baru, Prime Minister Manmohan "has appealed for peace and calm. 
Taiwan electronics giant Foxconn has moved to repair its reputation after the suicide of a tenth employee this year, two others having survived attempted suicides. 
The latest death came on the same day as Terry Gou, Chairman of Foxconn's parent Hon Hai Precision, opened the Shenzen production facility to the media for the first time. 
In the face of accusations that he ran a modern day sweatshop, he showed off employee recreation facilities. 
Gou, bowing as an expression of regret, promised to work to prevent such tragedies occurring again. 
Although not a household name, Foxconn is the largest producer of electronics components and badge engineered electronics products in the world, manufacturing products for companies like Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and Dell. 
”Apple is deeply committed to ensuring that conditions throughout our supply chain are safe and workers are treated with respect and dignity”, said Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesperson. 
Allen Pu of Fubon Securities said: "Hon Hai needs to resolve the issue because the situation is also negative for Apple and HP. 
Labor activists have criticised conditions at Foxconn's factories as "military-style", with workers working long shifts and not being able to speak to each other. 
However, Foxconn claims that the suicides were mostly the result of relationship problems unrelated to its own management style, and it argues that for a work force so large the number of suicides is small. 
Police have found the body of a man they had been hunting in Cumbria, United Kingdom for a series of shootings. 
Police later confirmed that twelve people had been killed with a further thirteen injured, three critically. 
Shots were fired in Whitehaven, Seascale and Egremont, with a total of thirty different crime scenes. 
The Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant was locked down for the first time in its history. 
The prime suspect was named as 52 year old local man Derrick Bird, a taxi driver. 
The first of Bird's victims was a fellow taxi driver shot in Whitehaven at about 10.30 local time, with the following victims being shot at random as Bird drove down the west coast. 
Originally driving a Citroën Picasso, he was later said to be on foot when he crashed his vehicle. 
Members of the public were advised by police to stay indoors, and for those who saw him not to approach him, but to call them. 
The manhunt covered the Boot or Scafell Pike area, and at 14:04 BST (13:04 UTC) the Deputy Chief Constable of Cumbria reported that a body believed to be Bird was found in a wood near Boot with a firearm, and that he had turned the weapon on himself. 
The affected area is popular with walkers and hikers, and currently, many schools across England are on half term, meaning the pupils have no classes. 
British news network BBC News spoke to several eye-witnesses in relation to the incidents, from each of the areas, including Peter Watson of Whitehaven. 
When I first got here it must have just happened. 
There was a man lying on the ground with police stood over him and a jacket on him, he reported. 
Home Secretary Theresa May is due to make a statement on the incident to the House of Commons tomorrow. 
Construction workers and next of kin of deceased workers filed a lawsuit in Tokyo, Japan Friday seeking damages of approximately 6.6 billion yen (about US$64 million) from the government and manufacturers related to illnesses stemming from exposure to asbestos. 
178 plaintiffs; including construction workers and family members filed the suit in Tokyo District Court against 46 building manufacturers and the Government of Japan. 
According to the Mainichi Daily News, the class action suit is the first that has been filed in Japan related to health damages caused by asbestos exposure at construction sites. 
The plaintiffs hail from the Japanese prefectures of Tokyo, Saitama and Chiba. 
The plaintiffs claim that the government and manufacturers knew of the dangers of asbestos inhalation but failed to take proper precautions, including ceasing to promote asbestos as a cheap fire retardant and banning production of the material. 
They state that after inhaling asbestos in the workplace, 172 people have developed lung cancer or mesothelioma, and that almost half of those afflicted are now dead. 
Plaintiffs argue that the government and health ministry did not act quickly enough after international organizations issued warnings in 1972 that asbestos could be a carcinogen. 
Plaintiffs also place blame with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry for sanctioning the use of asbestos under Japanese Industrial Standards, and with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport for approving the use of materials comprised of asbestos and other substances under Japan's Building Standards Law. 
”We will do our utmost until we win the suit”, said Kazuo Miyajima, 78, who heads the group of plaintiffs. 
Lawyers for the plaintiffs released a statement saying: "We seek complete relief for the victims by clarifying the liability of the state and the manufacturers." 
Approximately 40 construction workers from Kanagawa Prefecture plan to file a similar lawsuit in June in Yokohama District Court. 
After a 2005 revelation that residents who lived near a factory in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture developed diseases related to asbestos, the government implemented a law in 2006 which provides monetary assistance to asbestos victims and relatives of deceased family members. 
The plaintiffs argue that the amount of financial assistance given to families and victims of asbestos-related diseases is not sufficient. 
Asbestos has been used in Japan as a fire retardant, for sound absorption, and for insulation. 
It was mixed in concrete and water and sprayed on walls and ceilings, but the practice of spraying asbestos in this manner was banned in Japan in 1975. 
After a press conference in London from the Metropolitan Police and Transport for London, more details are emerging about the attacks in London on Thursday. 
Data from the Underground system's power and control systems have revealed that all three bombs went off within 50 seconds of each other, at 8.50am, with the managing director of Transport for London, Tim O'Toole saying the bombs went "bang bang bang, very close together". 
The first bomb to detonate was on the Liverpool Street train soon after it left for Aldgate on the Circle line, seconds before the others. 
The blast tripped out the power system, visible in the control room. 
The first call the police received that morning reported "a bang" at Aldgate East, coming within a minute of the blast. 
The Edgware Road train, leaving for Paddington and also on the Circle, exploded opposite a train coming from the other direction, making people think at first that it was a derailment. 
The first call to the Police spoke not of an explosion, but of a person falling under the wheels of the train. 
The confirmation of a bomb did not come until 9.17am, but by that time the emergency services were already on scene. 
Transport for London's new TrackerNet software is fully opertational on the Circle line, which allows for precise tracking of trains, but is not yet fully installed on the Piccadilly line. 
The first indication of the Piccadilly line bomb was when the tunnel telephone system wires were cut by the blast, an event logged by other software. 
The cutting of the lines then tripped out the track current. 
The tunnel itself suffered only slight damage and is safe, but the train - which was packed with commuters heading for Russell Square - is very badly damaged. 
London Underground declared a 'code Amber' within minutes, moving trains to platforms and opening all doors. 
A 'code Red' - full evacuation - was set at around 9.15am. 
O'Toole described the decision to evacuate as being "very grave, not taken lightly". 
When questioned as to whether everything possible had been done on the day to save lives, the managing director of Transport for London was "very proud" of the choices made that morning. 
As investigations continue, all bodies have been removed from the sub-surface Circle line trains, but the carriages themselves are still in situ while a painstaking forensic investigation takes place. 
Currently, work is on-going to retrieve bodies and forensic evidence from the carriage of the train in the deep tunnel of the Piccadilly line near King's Cross. 
Teams of rescue workers looking for human remains are working alongside forensics experts in a "meticulous" search to find evidence. 
Conditions are described as being very difficult, with high temperatures and lots of dust. 
Work was halted over Friday night when conditions became too bad, and resumed this morning. 
The exact number of bodies still in the wrecked carriage is unknown. 
Access from King's Cross is impossible, so workers are taking the longer route from Russell Square station to get to the front of the train. 
Police have revealed that the bombs were 'high explosives' - not homemade. 
However they are declining to be specific about their composition as the information could be useful when they interrogate suspects. 
Police will not confirm or deny if any parts of a timer have been found, but have said that "any device will now be in a million pieces". 
Police believe the use of timers more likely than suicide bombings as the blasts were so closely timed, but are not ruling out anything. 
An investigation by the BBC has revealed that millions of dollars in famine relief aid money, including the money raised from the charity supergroup Band Aid and the Live Aid concert held by Bob Geldof, was "siphoned off" by Ethiopian rebels to buy weapons. 
One rebel said that at least US$ 95 million (£63 million) from — Western governments and private charities — was diverted into rebel coffers. 
This was also noted in a declassified Central Intelligence Agency assessment of the famine situation titled Ethiopia: Political and Security Impact of the Drought, in which the report states, "Some funds that insurgent organizations are raising for relief operations, as a result of increased world publicity, are almost certainly being diverted for military purposes." 
During the 1984–1985 famine, Ethiopia was fighting Eritrean and Tigray rebels in those two northern provinces, although Eritrea has since gained its independence. 
Since the countryside was out of the government's control, aid was brought in from neighboring Sudan. 
Some aid came in the form of food, while other aid came as cash which would be used by the aid agencies to buy grain from Ethiopian farmers. 
Rebels would disguise themselves as traders and merchants to get their hands on the currency. 
I was given clothes to make me look like a Muslim merchant. 
This was a trick for the NGOs, said Gebremedhin Araya, a senior member of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). 
One such aid worker that brought the grain was Max Peberdy, who worked for the charity Christian Aid. 
Peberdy is seen in a photo with Araya buying grain. 
Araya said that only some of the sacks were filled with grain; the rest were filled with sand. 
The transaction was overseen by a member of the Relief Society of Tigray (REST), the humanitarian wing of the TPLF. 
The money was then given to TPLF leaders, including chairman Meles Zenawi, who has been Prime Minister of Ethiopia since 1991. 
Peberdy disputes the claims that he was duped, saying, "As far as we were concerned and as far as we were told by REST, the people we were dealing with were merchants." 
He added, "It's 25 years since this happened, and in the 25 years it's the first time anybody has claimed such a thing." 
However, an exiled TPLF commander who lives in the Netherlands, Aregawi Berhe, is backing Araya's story. 
He said the group got their hands on over US$100 million (£66 million) of which 95% went to buy weapons and build up a hardliner Marxist party inside the rebel movement. 
Berhe told the BBC that the group would put on a "drama" to get the money. 
In response to the allegations, the charity Christian Aid issued a statement saying, "There are allegations in the story which are against all of Christian Aid's principles and our initial investigations do not correspond to the BBC's version of events." 
Nick Guttmann, who is director of emergency relief operations for the group, says the "story has to be put into context". 
”We were working in a major conflict, there was a massive famine and people on all sides were suffering”, Guttmann said, adding, "Both the rebels and the government were using innocent civilians to further their own political ends." 
Bob Geldof, the Irish rock star who help organized Live Aid, said, "We are talking about a disgruntled, exiled general.” 
The essence of the report also is not just about Live Aid. 
It's that all monies going into Tigray — that would be Oxfam, Save the Children, UNICEF and Christian Aid — somehow, we were all duped and gulled. 
The 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference negotiations continued this week in Bonn, Germany. 
The 4,500 attendees include government delegates from 182 governments, representatives from business and industry, environmental organizations and research institutions. 
Luis Alfonso de Alba, Mexico's special representative for climate change, told Reuters, "Mexico does not want to raise false expectations but we certainly are ambitious". 
He criticised the outgoing head of the U.N.'s climate secretariat, Yvo de Boer, and the European Union's climate commissioner Connie Hedegaard for their scepticism. 
Negotiating under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change , the next negotiating session is scheduled to take place in August, followed by another, final one-week intersessional meeting, before Cancún. 
The talks were designed to discuss issues that were not resolved at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. 
The two working groups are the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-Term Cooperative Action and the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex . 
These groups were specifically designed to negotiate a long-term response to climate change. 
The AWG-LCA is the negotiating group tasked to deliver a new "COP16 negotiative text" ahead of the June negotiating session. 
The AWG-KP is to focus on emissions reduction commitments for the 37 industrialised countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol for the period beyond 2012. 
There are also two UNFCCC standing committees meetings, the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice and the Subsidiary Body for Implementation . 
The conference is officially referred to as the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 6th session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol. 
European Union (EU) Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel pledged €280 (US$418) million in aid to dairy farmers Monday, after weeks of protests. 
She said she would "empty her pockets", but that was as much as she could offer; "I don't have a special account in Switzerland or anywhere else," she commented at an EU farm conference in Luxembourg where farmers were holding their third protest in as many weeks. 
A recent demonstration in Belgium saw farmers dump three million litres (660,000 gallons) of milk on fields — and requests from 21 EU member states for emergency aid. 
This is in addition to the announcement in September that the EU would modify rules to allow temporary state aid payments; each farmer could receive a maximum of €15,000. 
Last November, EU agriculture ministers planned to abolish milk quotas completely by 2015. 
The quotas are aimed at supporting prices, as the demand for dairy products has plummeted throughout the economic crisis; in some cases, prices have halved since 2007. 
These measures seek to alleviate temporary problems, but the commission still intends to end the quota system for milk, and reduce market intervention which helps support prices. 
Michael Ryan, a messenger at the office of the prime minister, has been identified as the mole who leaked confidential papers to Telecom. 
The leaked papers were detailing the plan for the government to unbundle the local loop. 
It was to be released on Thursday with the 2006 budget, but since Telecom, a publicly traded company, found out they decided to release it early. 
Michael Ryan, May 2, was told to shred a document, but instead of doing that he took it and gave it to Telecom's Group Financial Controller Peter Garty, a close friend. 
He gave it to Peter Garty because he thought he would find it interesting. 
Michael Ryan told Peter Garty to not make a copy of it. 
Telecom shares fell from $5.65 to $4.65 following the disclosure, wiping about $2 billion off the value of the company. 
The States Service Commission has passed the case onto the police. 
His actions were described as "gross and disgraceful dishonesty" by Prime Minister Helen Clark. 
Authorities in western Kenya have arrested 19 suspects in connection with a spree of recent mob killings. 
Earlier this week 11 elderly people had been burned on suspicion of witchcraft. 
The 8 female and 3 male victims were aged 80 to 96 according to BBC News. 
Belief in witchcraft is widespread in the Kisii District of Nyanza Province and attacks against purported witches had happened before, but this week's attacks targeted an unusually large number of people. 
Police launched an investigation into the incident and have deployed additional personnel to guard the area to prevent revenge attacks. 
Approximately 300 young men were reportedly responsible for the attacks. 
According to deputy police spokesman Charles Owino, those who can be proven to have had direct involvement in the killings would be charged with murder. 
Fourteen bodies were found on Thursday by police in Baghdad, Iraq. 
According to the Iraq Interior Ministry, the bodies appeared to have been tortured. 
Each one had been blind-folded and had their hands tied behind their back. 
The men, all civilians, were stabbed repeatedly, had marks on their wrists which suggests their wrists were tied together, and all of the victims had gunshot wounds to their heads. 
Eleven of the men were found in the back of a truck. 
The other three were found near a road in Rustamiya on the southeastern outskirts of the capital. 
Police do not yet know the identities of the men. 
A report released tonight by the Health and Safety Executive has confirmed that there is a "strong possibility" that the cause of the recent foot-and-mouth outbreak is contamination, most probably by human movement, from a nearby research facility in Guildford, Surrey, UK. 
The labs in Pirbright, where both private firm Merial and the governmental Institute for Animal Health operate, have been subject to ongoing investigations since the discovery of a new foot-and-mouth outbreak on Friday. 
The strain of the disease had already been identified as an O1 BFS67-like virus, which was isolated in a 1967 outbreak and was being used at the labs for research and the production of vaccines. 
It is not yet known whether the virus escaped from the Merial or the IAH lab. 
Since foot-and-mouth was confirmed in cows at a Surrey farm, more than 200 cattle have been culled as a preventative measure. 
A protection zone has been set up around the affected areas and rules preventing the movement of livestock have been introduced throughout the country, with the aim of stopping further spread of the contagious disease. 
Restrictions on the import of English beef have already been imposed. 
The last outbreak of foot-and-mouth in the UK, in the spring and summer of 2001, resulted in total losses estimated at £8bn. 
Seven million animals were slaughtered, and tourism was also badly hit. 
This morning about 500 policemen occupied the Morro da Rocinha, a favela in Rio de Janeiro. 
The action is a part of a police operation against drug dealers. 
Police say they recovered 11 previously stolen motorcycles, a grenade, a fusil, a walkie-talkie and fireworks (the criminals usually use fireworks to warn fellows about the arrival of police). 
Three men suspected of drug dealing were arrested: Fernando Pereira Lima (aged 22) Alessandro Martins (aged 27) and a boy (aged 17 - Brazilian laws forbid the release of names of teenagers younger than 18 in reporting legal cases). 
The teenager allegedly shot the grenade against the policemen, but was himself hurt. 
He is stable after treatment at the Miguel Couto hospital. 
The drug dealers from Morro da Rocinha are in a war against drug dealers from the neighboring Vidigal favela. 
Local populations of both Morro da Rocinha and Vidigal are endangered by the criminals, and have demanded urgent actions by the authorities. 
The morning of Saturday the 1st was a tragic one for El Salvador, as the Santa Ana Volcano, the largest and most active volcano in the country began an eruptive phase. 
Santa Ana Volcano's view from Coatepeque Lake changed as a huge flow of "hot mud" flowed from the crater towards the lake. 
The road that was designed as an evacuation route from that sector of the volcano was blocked completely and the inhabitants of the area had to be evacuated by helicopters. 
Minutes after the flow of hot mud was visible from Lake Coatepeque, a huge cloud of ash appeared, which reached an altitude of 50,000 feet, then covering the northwestern part of the country which contains the largest concentration of coffee farms (main export). 
The local authorities expect that this layer of ash burns the coffee plants of the affected area, decreasing the coffee production of the region considerably. 
Along with the ash cloud, a large amount of hot rocks (some reaching three feet in diameter) flew on all directions, damaging roads, homes and vegetation. 
According to the people living in the surroundings of the volcano, the rocks were released due to the huge amount of pressure released when the ash cloud appeared. 
Authorities report the loss of two human lives due to this incident, the cause has not yet been revealed. 
To prevent the loss of more lives, the government decreed a red alert in a radius of four kilometres of the crater, but yet, some people resist the evacuation proposals due to fear of losing their belongings, as they have to leave their homes without any surveillance. 
In response to this, the army and the police agreed to patrol the areas evacuated in order to prevent robberies. 
It is expected that this incident is only the beginning of a large eruptive process, which may result in a catastrophe for El Salvador. 
The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) will meet in Canberra today for its first meeting of 2006. 
Members of COAG are the Prime Minister, State Premiers, Australian Capital and Northern Territory Chief Ministers, and the President of the Australian Local Government Association. 
On the agenda is a wide range of issues such as health, economic reform, regulation, and education. 
The state leaders (all of whom are members of the Australian Labor Party), met last night to develop a strategy for dealing with John Howard, Australia's Prime Minister. 
Yesterday in London, former UK Prime Minister Sir John Major gave a speech at the Institute of Directors outlining his opposition to plans for Scottish independence. 
This follows the publication earlier in the week of a white paper by the Scottish government outlining plans for what would happen if the country votes to leave the United Kingdom. 
Major said that there won't be a currency union between a newly independent Scotland and a post-split United Kingdom: "A currency union, which the SNP [Scottish National Party] assume is negotiable, would require the UK to underwrite Scottish debts. 
That cannot, will not, happen if Scotland leaves the Union. 
There can be no halfway house, no quasi-independence underpinned by UK institutions." 
Spain uses uncertainty over EU membership to deter Catalonia from even holding a referendum on independence. 
It is hardly likely she would happily wave in Scotland. 
Spain will not be alone in being wary of separatist tendencies." 
Major also said that Scottish nationalists engaged in anti-English sentiment. 
Anti-English sentiment from separatists irritates and enrages, as it is intended to do, but across the UK people know and value Scots as partners, work colleagues, friends and neighbours. 
A spokesperson for Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland and the leader of the Scottish National Party, responded to Major's remarks: Sir John Major is quite wrong to suggest that the rest of the UK should lay exclusive claim to all the assets of the UK, which the people of Scotland contribute to and of which Sterling is one. 
But he is also just about the very last person the No campaign should be calling on to make their case. 
He was the Tory prime minister who presided over his party's complete wipe-out in Scotland and the more he tries to lecture the people of Scotland, the better it will be for the Yes vote." 
A1 Team New Zealand has won the feature race at the A1 Grand Prix in Shanghai, China today, followed by A1 Team Great Britain and A1 Team Germany. 
The third place win for Germany has secured the 2006/2007 championship. 
In qualifying for the sprint race, Great Britain's driver Robbie Kerr managed to secure the pole position with the fastest lap time recorded this weekend. 
New Zealand's driver, Jonny Reid, started in second position, narrowly missing out on what would have been his third pole position of the season. 
Third and fourth place starters are the United States and Germany respectively. 
Great Britain managed to win the sprint race, thus securing a first place start in the feature race. 
During the entire sprint race, Great Britain were the leaders, with a "comfortable" lead, always maintaining their position in front of New Zealand. 
During the feature race Jonny Reid, driving New Zealand's Black Beauty car, passed Great Britain on lap number 16 of the 50-lap race. 
After five hours of meeting, the presidents Hugo Chávez from Venezuela and Alvaro Uribe from Colombia put a end to the diplomatic tension that had completed two months. 
The crisis started with the alleged irregular arrest (according to Venezuela) of the FARC guerrilla Rodrigo Granda by Colombian authorities. 
President Chavez said: "We have decided to turn the page so we can fix the things that were misadjusted, clarify the things that could be clouded and work together in the construction for the common people". 
The meeting was scheduled for early this month, however it was postponed due to a disease of the Colombian president. 
The encounter served both to finish the harshness between the two countries and to resume bilateral agreements and the activity in the border which were paralyzed as a result of the crisis. 
Uribe admitted that the Colombian armed conflict is a problem which must be solved by his country despite the disturbances caused by subversive groups in the neighboring countries to Colombia. 
As a result of the meeting, the presidents will organize a binational high level commission in the next weeks. 
The commission will evaluate the crisis's consequences, reinforce the integration between both countries and coordinate the future of the antiterrorist fight. 
The fight against terrorism will be done by security organisms of both countries by means of a rigorous legal adjustment in the actions which implies to cooperate so that the sovereignty is not affected and the sovereignty is respected, according to Uribe. 
A collision between Christian band MercyMe's tour bus and a car has killed two passengers in the car and the 18-year-old driver's unborn baby. 
The woman is in critical condition following the crash, which occurred in Fort Wayne, northeastern Indiana. 
The bus was headed to Six Flags St. Louis in Missouri for the band to play to a sold-out crowd. 
At 1:15 a.m. Saturday, according to witnesses, the bus was going through a green light when the car made a turn in front of it. 
No-one on the bus was injured, and the band rescheduled the show for September as a result of the incident. 
A photograph of the damaged bus was posted on the band's website, depicting moderate crumpling to the front area of the vehicle. 
Marxist intellectuals released a letter supporting both the arrested FARC leader Ricardo Gonzalez (also known as Rodrigo Granda) and the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. 
The FARC is accused of terrorism by the governments of the USA and Colombia. 
Worldwide, police agencies have an interest in FARC members because of their involvement in international drug trafficking. 
The FARC accuses Colombian authorities of capturing Granda inside Venezuelan territory. 
Venezuelan President Chavez claims Colombia invaded Venezuelan territory and possibly bribed Venezuelan officers. 
Colombia says the arrest occurred inside Colombian territory and that Granda was moved to Colombia by Venezuelans. 
Colombia admitted the payment of a reward for Granda, but rebutted accusations of bribery. 
Recently, the Colombian government released an official notice accusing Venezuela of accepting representatives of terrorist organizations in political events sponsored by official Venezuelan institutions. 
Open letter from international intellectuals, to the international public opinion 
The kidnapping of Rodrigo Granda, carried out in Venezuelan territory presumably by agents of the Colombian police, is an attempt to create difficulties between both countries in order to debilitate the Bolivarian movement. 
An additional effect is to reduce the international prestige of the conduct of President Hugo Chávez creating doubts about a possible Venezuelan implication in said kidnapping. 
All intended to cause a possible armed intervention of the United States as a result of the conflict. 
For the Chesapeake Bay, the largest estuary in the United States, a first-time-ever “water quality forecast” was issued Monday for the upcoming summer season by the Chesapeake Bay Program. 
The eastern mid-Atlantic region’s heavy spring rainfalls are predicted to increase nutrient levels in bay waters, leading to oxygen eating algae blooms and leaving deep water dead zones. 
Project leader William Dennison, of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Studies said, “The forecast indicates that recent weather conditions and heavy pollutant loads could lead to a bad summer for the Bay.” 
The prediction is for this to be the fourth-worst season for dissolved oxygen in two decades. 
The Chesapeake Bay Program launched the new forecast to build on a base of environmental data gathered over the last two decades as water quality concerns have grown. 
The forecast is meant to be a proactive tool that provides resource managers with information that can be used to guide policies for the bay’s protection and restoration. 
Cars, fertilizer, human and animal wastes, industrial and agricultural pollutants all play a part. 
"This means that we need to do a lot more to reduce phosphorus and nitrogen pollution from getting into the bay, said Beth McGee, of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. 
"The biggest source of pollution in the bay is agriculture, and we've got to find a way to provide farmers with more resources to manage the land better." 
Nutrient rich pollutants composed mainly of nitrogen and phosphorous come from far away places carried by rivers, and nearby the bay from farm and metropolitan runoff. 
They collect in the huge bay and meet tidal flows from the ocean. 
Algae feed off the nutrients, and they are either consumed by aquatic life or sink at the end of their life cycle. 
With such an abundant food source, algae blooms can cover large surfaces of water and choke off sunlight to underwater plants. 
Later when the plants die, the process of their decomposition on the bottom consumes oxygen to a state where the water becomes anoxic, and unable to support life. 
As notorious as weather forecasters are for often being wrong, it should come as no surprise if this first forecasting step by the federally funded program misses its mark. 
Forces such as heavy storms or hurricanes, which churn water, would have an effect. 
Excessive wind and unexpected precipitation, or nutrient level jumps, would also contribute. 
An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 Mw struck the Ryukyu Islands, off the coast of Japan on Friday morning at 5:31am (20:31 UTC). 
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said there was no "destructive threat" from the tsunami. 
At its center, the depth of the earthquake had been measured at ten kilometers (6.2 miles). 
At 5:57am local time (20:57 UTC), the Japan Meteorological Agency recorded a ten centimetre (four inch) tsunami Nanjō, Okinawa. 
Initially the agency had predicted that the depth of the tsunami would be three feet (one metre). 
There were no reports of damage, although, according to the Agency, "there may be slight sea level changes from now on." 
The islands were advised to evacuate from the seashore were Okinawa Islands, Amami Islands and Tokara Islands. 
Ivan Brackin, a resident of Yoron Island, described his experience of the earthquake. 
"I woke up to violent shudders that lasted about six seconds then a pause followed by a couple of sharp jumps", he stated. 
Jumpers are the most dangerous so that sent me under the desk. 
Jayant Patel, wanted for manslaughter, grievous bodily harm and fraud in Australia, was arrested by FBI agents in Oregon, United States and is scheduled to face an extradition hearing on April 10. 
According to an affidavit filed by US prosecutors, Patel, previously restricted from performing surgery in the US due to "professional misconduct", lied about his professional history in order to work at Bundaberg Base Hospital in Bundaberg, Queensland. 
Patel performed surgeries at Bundaberg that are alleged to have directly led to the deaths of several of his patients, including one procedure which he had previously been banned from performing in Oregon. 
If successfully extradited to Australia, Patel "will get a fair trial", according to the Federal Member for Hinkler, Paul Neville, whose electorate includes Bundaberg, although the extradition may take some time due to Patel's US citizenship. 
A Vietnamese coal transport ship sank in the South China Sea on Friday killing three people on board, reported the Xinhua News Agency. 
The ship sank from the Fangcheng Port in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. 
The Nanhaijiu 196 rescue vessel was dispatched about 8 pm local time, when authorities were notified that the ship may sink. 
There were winds up to 90 kilometers per hour when the ship sank during a gale. 
Saturday morning rescue operations were supplemented by a rescue helicopter. 
There were a total of seven crew members on board. 
Four are missing, while three bodies have been recovered by the South China Sea Rescue Bureau. 
25 people were killed today and 33 were injured when a large explosion ripped through a karaoke bar in Tianshifu, Liaoning Province, China. 
The state-run Xinhua news agency says the cause of the disaster is under investigation. 
Four people are reported to be in a serious condition. 
Originally, Xinhua reported only five fatalities, but as rescue workers continued to move away debris, the full extent of the death toll was discovered. 
Xinhua has also reported that several employees at the bar, as well as the wife of the owner, were being questioned. 
According to a philly.com article authored by The Associated Press, Xinhua failed to state whether this was as witnesses or as suspects in any potential criminal activity, but the Shanghai Daily said that Xinhua had reported the people had been detained as suspects. 
The owner himself, Mr. Qu, was killed in the blast. 
Investigators say they are currently unsure if the blast was purely accidental, or if foul play was involved, as all efforts were initially focused on attempting to locate survivors. 
The two-storey building, which also housed a bathhouse, was completely leveled by the blast. 
In addition, several cars were buried under the debris and windows in nearby buildings were shattered by the pressure wave. 
A power cut in the area was also caused by the blast due to damage to the local electricity network. 
77-year-old local resident Chen Xiaohong, who lives 50 metres from ground zero, described the explosion: "I was watching my grandson finishing his lessons. 
Suddenly, we heard a big bang, then the door burst open from effects of a powerful shock wave and the lights went out... 
Meng Xianling, who runs a seafood stall located down a narrow lane opposite the site of the accident building, commented that "I was afraid the parlor's boiler would explode. 
China has been the location of many disasters in both public and private places, such as fires and explosions. 
Earlier this year, an unsafe arrangement with a two-ton steel ladle resulted in the Qinghe Special Steel Corporation disaster, in which molten steel was accidentally poured into a room full of workers, killing 32. 
The majority of China's accidents stem from a combination of lax safety regulations and negligence, and accidents continue regularly despite promises by the government to prevent them. 
US Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has given federal prosecutors until next Friday to respond to the request of former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich and his brother Robert to delay their corruption trial. 
The trial is set to begin on June 3, and many of the charges they face are based on a federal honest-services law. 
The Blagojevich brothers challenge the constitutionality of this law and believe the trial should be delayed until the high court is expected to decide the issue next month. 
The request had already been denied by District Judge James Zagel and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. 
Stevens, who handles appeals from the Seventh Circuit, had three options: reject the request for a delay of trial, grant it, or allow the federal government to respond. 
We believe that means he sees this as not frivolous, and he’s going to decide it on the merits, said Michael Ettinger, Robert's attorney. 
Prosecutors added new charges, including bribery, against the brothers in case the Supreme Court finds the honest-services law unconstitutional. 
They believe the June 3 start date should not be held back. 
An airplane, a Warrior PA28 that went missing at 1700 GMT may have been found Saturday night, February 3rd as rescuers searching for the airplane have discovered wreckage about a mile from South Shore near Blackpool, England. 
The pilot of the air plane reported to Blackpool Tower that he was low on fuel before 5 pm Saturday evening and disappeared from radar screens shortly afterwards. 
There is no news about the two men who were on board the airplane. 
The weather conditions on parts of the coast are described as foggy. 
Three lifeboats, two coastguard teams and an RAF helicopter are searching for the airplane which was believed to have been traveling from Exeter to Blackpool, says Lancashire Police. 
Blogger George Vaccaro is a customer from the US who apparently purchased wireless network connection from Verizon, thinking that he was getting a good deal. 
Instead, he says he was charged about 71 dollars instead of 71 cents: 100 times more than what his bill should have been at the rate quoted. 
When he called the Verizon customer service, he said he also found out that several Verizon representatives think 0.002 cents is equal to 0.002 dollars. 
According to the phone conversation recording he posted to his blog, 
Vaccaro also posted on his blog the text of what he said was an e-mail reply from a Verizon Wireless customer service representative on December 8, stating: 
The United Nations (UN) suspended all of its operations in Gaza from yesterday, after the bombing of a convoy of UN aid trucks which killed one Palestinian driver, and wounded three others. 
Thursday was the second day of attacks on UN targets after three UN schools housing refugees were bombed on Tuesday, killing over 50 civilians. 
"UNRWA decided to suspend all its operations in the Gaza Strip because of the increasing hostile actions against its premises and personnel", Adnan Abu Hasna, a Gaza-based spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), said yesterday. 
Richard Miron, spokesman for the UN said that the Israeli military had been notified in advance of the coordinates of the relief trucks saying, "This underlines the fundamental insecurity inside Gaza at a time when we are trying to address the dire humanitarian needs of the population there." 
The bombing of the UN trucks was the last straw for the UN, already angered after Israeli tanks fired on a UN school housing refugees killing 50 including an entire family of seven young children. 
The UN said that they had given Israel the GPS coordinates of their schools, and demanded accountability for the attacks. 
More schools were attacked including the al-Fakhora School killing 40 people, many of them women and children. 
Hours before the attack on the al-Fakhora School was an attack on Asma Elementary School which killed three Palestinian cousins. 
The cousin's father said the bodies were so mangled he couldn't tell the bodies apart, "We came to the school when the Israelis warned us to leave," he said. 
A relative came and told me one of my sons was killed. 
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on yesterday that they were trying for four days to get their ambulances to a Gaza neighborhood before being allowed to by Israeli military forces. 
After getting there, they said, they found four starving children sitting next to the bodies of their dead mothers. 
"This is a shocking incident", said Pierre Wettach, ICRC chief for Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. 
The Israeli military must have been aware of the situation but did not assist the wounded. 
Neither did they make it possible for us or the Palestinian Red Crescent to assist the wounded. 
Israel granted a three-hour ceasefire yesterday that they gave for aid workers to enter areas that they had closed off. 
50 bodies were recovered during the ceasefire, raising the death toll to 763, including more than 200 children, since air raids first began on December 27. 
Eight Israeli soldiers and three civilians have died in the same period. 
Israeli forces also shot a Palestinian man in the West Bank during a protest against Israel's actions in Gaza. 
Yesterday, a Palestinian man was killed by Israeli forces after a confrontation in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Ma'ale Adumim near Jerusalem. 
Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted sixteen instances of sensitive information being leaked on social networking websites in the past eighteen months. 
Ten employees have been disciplined for misuse of the sites. 
The revelations follow a Freedom of Information request by Lewis PR and computer security company F-Secure. 
The MoD would not comment on what disciplinary action was taken, or whether the leaks involved operational information. 
The ministry's guidelines state that staff must obtain clearance to release any information that is related to sensitive, controversial or political matters, or military operations. 
"It's worrying that employees in sensitive positions have been sharing confidential information via Twitter and other means", said Mikko Hypponen, of F-Secure. 
According to Lewis PR, computers on the main MoD networks are blocked from visiting social networking sites. 
However there are a small number within the department which have unrestricted Internet access. 
Some personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq also have access through internet cafés on military bases. 
The ministry's "online engagement guidelines", released in August last year, recognise the importance of social media such as Facebook for personnel keeping in touch with friends and family. 
According to the document: "Service and MOD civilian personnel are encouraged to talk about what they do, but within certain limits to protect security, reputation and privacy." 
On August 11, United States Senator and 2008 presidential Republican candidate John McCain gave a speech regarding the crisis between Georgia and Russia. 
Following the speech, a regular Wikipedia editor noticed that his speech was very similar to an article on Wikipedia also regarding the crisis, in what could be considered plagiarism. 
Wikinews was able to talk to that editor about how he found out about the similarities and what he did in response. 
Wikinews also took a deeper look at the claim and investigated further. 
McCain gave his speech in Erie, Pennsylvania and was speaking to citizens, giving a warning to Russia stating, "Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin must understand the severe, long-term negative consequences that their government’s actions will have for Russia’s relationship with the U.S. and Europe." 
McCain continued his speech saying, "Georgia is an ancient country, at the crossroads of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and one of the world’s first nations to adopt Christianity as an official religion. 
After a brief period of independence following the Russian revolution, the Red Army forced Georgia to join the Soviet Union in 1922. 
As the Soviet Union crumbled at the end of the Cold War, Georgia regained its independence in 1991, but its early years were marked by instability, corruption, and economic crises." 
While reading the first few paragraphs, the Wikipedia editor Killing Vector, (who wishes to be called by his contributor name in fear of retribution for coming forward with the claim), noticed a striking similarity to McCain's speech and the Wikipedia article on the country of Georgia. 
Not only did he notice the similarities, but after reading through the article's edit history, 'Killing Vector' noticed that his speech might have been lifted from Wikipedia, with some of the material in McCain's speech dating prior to the start of the Georgian and Russian crisis. 
I began reading the text of McCain's address on the Georgia crisis, and as I was browsing it the irregularity jumped out almost immediately. 
The paragraphs which discussed the history of Georgia simply didn't fit with the rest of the speech; the rhetorical style was jarringly different. 
I figured, where's someone in a hurry going to get basic information on the Republic of Georgia?" 
I opened up Wikipedia, went to the article, picked a recent but not current revision more or less at random (July 24th), and hit gold on the first try; McCain's speech and the Wikipedia article had significant strings of words in common, emphasized the same events, made largely the same word choices," Vector said to Wikinews. 
Although other media outlets reported the alleged plagiarism, the two passages below were dated at least one week prior to the Georgian and Russian crisis. 
The first two paragraphs of McCain's speech appear to resemble the Wikipedia article in the history dated July 24, 2008. 
Two paragraphs, about an eighth of the full speech, contain material directly copied from Wikipedia or superficially modified from its text. 
Those two paragraphs constitute the entire factual background of the speech, though — the rest is reaction and proposed policy, added Vector. 
McCain's campaign denies they plagiarized Wikipedia, but also didn't state whether they used it as a source for his speech. 
There are only so many ways to state basic historical facts and dates and that any similarities to Wikipedia were only coincidental," said a spokesman for the McCain campaign, Brian Rogers to The Politico. 
Wikinews contacted McCain's campaign, but has yet to receive a response. 
Wikinews e-mailed Jay Walsh, the director of communications for the Wikimedia Foundation to see what they thought of the situation, and what if anything they planned to do about it. 
"We aren't particularly concerned with this", said Walsh who also added that "I'm only aware of this situation through media coverage I've seen, nor do we or I have any in-depth detail about the situation." 
I would say it's a good practice to attribute text or content whenever possible. 
Obviously when it's a matter of copyright then there are legal considerations, but the Foundation is not able to examine individual cases, added Walsh. 
Wikinews attempted to contact Mike Godwin, the legal counsel for the Foundation, but has yet to receive a response. 
Vector stands by his claim and also notes what he calls 'dishonesty' on the part of McCain's campaign. 
What concerns me more, as a voter, is the ethical issue. 
"Plagiarism comes from dishonesty and intellectual laziness on the part of an individual, but McCain's campaign's later denial adopts that individual's dishonesty", stated Vector. 
66 passengers and the crew of a New York to San Francisco UAL flight got an unwanted stop in the "Windy City," Chicago, on Tuesday, following a bomb scare. 
United Air Lines spokesman Jeff Green said a flight attendant was alerted by a passenger to another passenger's suspicious materials and wires. 
The crew decided to divert the flight to O’Hare, empty the plane, and allow the bomb squad to inspect for safety. 
They discovered vials of herbal liquids, some wires, and an MP3 player. 
The passenger and music player were reunited, everybody re-boarded the aircraft, and with three hours lost, the flight took off for San Francisco. 
Before a crowd of 575 on Saturday at Wembley Park in Box Hill, metropolitan Melbourne, Australia, W-League team Canberra United lost to the Melbourne Victory 0–3 in the team's first loss since January of last year. 
Two of the Victory's goals came in the first half, with Canadian import Jessica McDonald and English import Jessica Fishlock each scoring for the Victory. 
Enza Barilla scored the third unanswered goal for the Victory in the second half. 
Canberra went into the game with a depleted roster, with six players called away to participate in national team training, suspended or out because of injury, including team captain Ellie Brush, midfielder Sally Shipard, Michelle Heyman, goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold, striker Ashleigh Sykes, and winger Hayley Raso. 
Caitlin Munoz filled in as the team's captain in Brush's absence, while Sally Rojahn and Catherine Brown each had their first United start and Grace Gill earned her first start of the season. 
Victory coach Mike Mulvey is quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald following the game as saying, "It's a good win, there's no doubt about that, but it could have been a more emphatic victory. 
We put three in the back of the net, and it could easily have been double that." 
The win moved Melbourne up to second place on the ladder, and continued the team's dominance over Canberra who now have 1 win and 6 losses playing away in Victoria. 
United's loss was one of three upsets in the round, with the Sydney FC losing to the Perth Glory 1–3 and the Brisbane Roar FC W-League losing to the Western Sydney Wanderers FC 1–2. 
Later tonight, the team departs for Tokyo to compete in the International Women's Club Championship against some of the best women's club teams in the world including Japan's INAC Kobe Leonessa and NTV Beleza, and France's Olympique Lyonnais. 
Canberra's first game is against INAC Kobe Leonessa on Thursday. 
If they win the competition, the player bonuses would be greater than the one they received for winning last year's W-League grand final. 
A robotic system at Stanford Medical Center was used to perform a laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery successfully with a theoretically similar rate of complications to that seen in standard operations. 
However, as there were only 10 people in the experimental group (and another 10 in the control group), this is not a statistically significant sample. 
If this surgical procedure is as successful in large-scale studies, it may lead the way for the use of robotic surgery in even more delicate procedures, such as heart surgery. 
Note that this is not a fully automated system, as a human doctor controls the operation via remote control. 
There were concerns that doctors, in the future, might only be trained in the remote control procedure. 
Ronald G. Latimer, M.D., of Santa Barbara, CA, warned "The fact that surgeons may have to open the patient or might actually need to revert to standard laparoscopic techniques demands that this basic training be a requirement before a robot is purchased. 
We should not be seduced to buy this instrument to train surgeons if they are not able to do the primary operations themselves." 
A previous "new technology", the electrocardiogram (ECG), has lead to a lack of basic education on the older technology, the stethoscope. 
As a result, many heart conditions now go undiagnosed, especially in children and others who rarely undergo an ECG procedure. 
Today, it was announced that Syd Barrett, the founding member of British rock band Pink Floyd died from a complication with diabetes. 
According to a Pink Floyd spokeswoman, he died days earlier (July 7) but the announcement was withheld. 
There will be a private family funeral in the next few days," said his brother Alan Barrett. 
The band are naturally very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett’s death. 
Syd was the guiding light of the early band line-up and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire, noted a statement issued by Pink Floyd. 
During 1967-1968, Syd Barrett was considered to be the main member and songwriter of Pink Floyd. 
However, due to mental illness, he was forced to leave the band after recording only one album, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn. 
Pink Floyd recorded Wish You Were Here as a tribute following Barrett's leave. 
The album features Shine On You Crazy Diamond, with lyrics explicitly about Barrett's rise to fame and subsequent dissolution. 
An alleged Russian spy was arrested in Montreal, having threatened national security. 
The man is identified as a Russian spy and has been living under a false name. 
As he prepared to board a plane out of Canada, Canada Border Services agents took the man into custody at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Montreal on Tuesday. 
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg signed the document that authorized the man's arrest. 
This document is called the national security certificate and is rarely used. 
The certificate alerts Ottawa about possible threats to the country. 
The ministers of immigration and public safety are obliged to sign the national security certificate. 
The government's most important duty is to ensure the security of all Canadians. 
A security certificate has been issued ... against a foreign national. 
A foreign national alleging to be a Canadian citizen named Paul William Hampel was arrested in Montreal after a national security certificate under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act was issued against him." 
The man came to Canada several years ago with the name of Paul William Hampel, and is now reported to be false. 
Officials at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) are working on identifying the man who entered Canada years ago. 
More information will become available as the Federal Court process unfolds. 
Any speculation about the individual's other nationality is premature at this point," Barbara Campion, a spokesperson for CSIS. 
Ottawa believed the man had been "engaging in an act of espionage or an act of subversion," and "belonged to an organization that there are reasonable grounds to believe engages." 
"I don't think we're going to get the most intimate of details, no, not at all", he told CTV Montreal....We'll see a public version of the allegations that will be released by the federal court judge who is going to be responsible for reviewing the basis upon which cabinet will have declared this individual subject to a security certificate. 
"beyond that, though, we may see things settle more quietly between governments," said David Harris, former chief of strategic planning at CSIS. 
There are also influence operations where countries might try to influence their expatriates and émigré communities in Canada. 
"Beyond that, there is a real appetite building among many countries for technological secrets", he said. 
They can be of use to industries of the sponsoring nations and these things can have values in the billions for the economies of those countries undertaking these operations. 
Reports say the man's methods in Canada matched the techniques used by the Russian intelligence agency's Directorate S, which runs the Russian spy network. 
Twenty people since 1991 have been charged under the Security Certificate legislation in Canada. 
The court hearing for the man being held in Montreal will be on Wednesday. 
It is still unclear if the hearing will be in Ottawa, the nations capital, or in Montreal. 
The call-in quiz show is a staple of cheap programming throughout Europe. 
The format is simple: a question is displayed on screen, and callers phone in with their guesses – paying a premium rate to do so. 
The programs are often repetitive, the average question simple, the average prize small. 
Throwing the telephone down on the studio floor and stomping on it, she admonished her viewers, "I want the telephone to ring now. 
After presenting the broadcasts of this morning's call-in programs, including the same one she was supposedly fired from in January, Ms Lupșe spoke to Wikinews from her television studio in Budapest, Hungary to give her first full-length English interview and talk about her work and her version of events. 
We want to look like the celebrities that television launches." 
I wanted to get some attention and get people to know my face. 
I want this attention because I'm aware of the fact that it is not easy to enter this world! 
And I was doing all this in order to increase my chances to get my dream job in television." 
She describes a typical day: "One hour and a half before the show I'm in the make-up room. 
After I'm done with hair and make-up I go down to the studio for the before the show to talk to the producer. 
And then is the result that anyone gets to see." 
All of her banter on-air is improvised: "Definitely there is no script! Everything that you see comes out spontaneosly during the show." 
I enjoy it very much! 
If I'm tired at the end of the show it means I've done a good show. 
When I play a clip of one of her energetic show presentations – not the one she's become best known for – she elaborates on her exuberance. 
I'm always excited when I'm about to give big prizes! 
There is no show without winners! 
She went to the studio, prepared her hair and makeup, spoke to the producer, and went onscreen. 
The only thing out of the ordinary, she says, was the size of the prize: 1500 leu, about $US 450, or roughly a month's wage for a typical Romanian. 
She says she and her show weren't fired or fined. 
The first inkling she had, in fact, that there was something unusual about that day's broadcast was when, on January 9 2009, MTV Russia aired the clip of her shouting and stomping on the phone, mixed with some dramatic orchestral rock music. 
That same clip, uploaded onto video service YouTube, quickly garnered over one million views. 
And as for the charge most frequently leveled against her, that she's "crazy": "I think it is normal that people have prejudicies, everyone is free to express his opinion in the same way that I'm free to do my job the best that I can! 
I'm hurt if my family is unhappy with people's comments but I think I gain the wisdom to ignore the negative feedback! 
India have beaten England by two wickets in the sixth One-Day International of the series at The Oval, London, England. 
England suffered early setbacks when Alastair Cook was caught behind for a duck in the first over, followed by Matt Prior falling lbw to Ajit Agarkar soon afterwards. 
Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen shared a partnership of 59 runs before Bell was bowled by Piyush Chawla just short of 50 runs. 
Paul Collingwood made just one run before being run out to leave England on 83-4. 
Kevin Pietersen and ODI debutant Luke Wright both recorded fifties, with Wright sharing 106 runs with Owais Shah. 
Shah reached 107 not out, and Dimitri Mascarenhas finished England's innings by hitting five sixes off the last five balls. 
The final match will be played at Lord's, London on 8 September. 
London, England — This morning Australia's Minister for Sport, Kate Lundy, watched Elizabeth Kosmala and Natalie Smith qualifying for the finals in the women's R2-10m air pistol SH1 event. 
Lundy is expected to be in London for the entire Paralympics, and is scheduled to watch athletics, cycling, powerlifting, rowing, swimming, wheelchair rugby, basketball and tennis. 
Whilst here, she is to obtain feedback from the Australian Paralympic community regarding government support of sport for the disabled. 
Some of the United Kingdom's most influential British Muslims have written a letter to Prime Minister Tony Blair saying that there must be urgent changes to UK foreign policy. 
In the memo, they say current government policy musters fanaticism and puts ordinary people at risk in both the United Kingdom and abroad. 
They also urge the Prime Minister to extend his efforts in tackling terrorism and extremism. 
The letter has been signed by three Muslim Members of Parliament, three Muslim peers and thirty-eight Muslim groups including the Muslim Council of Britain, the Muslim Association of Britain, the British Muslim Forum and the Muslim Solidarity Committee. 
Sadiq Khan, one of the Members of Parliament to sign the letter, condemns the Government’s stance on the Middle East. 
This government has had some major foreign policy successes that have helped make the world a better place. 
But current policy on the Middle East is seen by almost everyone I speak to as unfair and unjust. 
Whether we like it or not such a sense of injustice plays into the hands of extremists. 
As moderates we will do all we can to fight extremism. 
We hope the government will join us in this, not just by changing the rules on hand luggage, but by showing itself as an advocate for justice in the world. 
In a response to the letter, a 10 Downing Street spokesman said: "We should always remember that the terrorism affecting the West today has blighted Muslim countries for several decades. 
It certainly pre-dated our decision to support democracy in Afghanistan and Iraq and of course the September 11 attacks. 
Our foreign policy is focused on supporting the people of those countries in their desire to live in a democracy just as we enjoy in the UK." 
Downing Street also said that Tony Blair "stands ready" to meet with Muslim representatives when he returns to the UK from his holiday in the Caribbean. 
The letter comes after police foiled an alleged attempt by terrorists to blow up several planes travelling mid-air from the United Kingdom to the United States of America. 
An accident involving two school buses, a tractor trailer and an sport utility vehicle has left at least two people dead and fifty more injured about 40 miles outside of St. Louis, Missouri according to reports. 
The school buses were carrying students from St. James High School and were en route to the Six Flags St. Louis amusement park, approximately 10 miles (16.1 kilometres) from the scene of the accident. 
In an interview Saturday, October 21 with Aljazeera.net, Alberto Fernandez, a senior diplomat with the State Department, made the following statement concerning the war in Iraq: "We tried to do our best, but I think there is much room for criticism, because, undoubtedly, there was arrogance and there was stupidity from the United States in Iraq," 
Fernandez later apologized, "Upon reading the transcript of my appearance on Al-Jazeera, I realized that I seriously misspoke by using the phrase 'there has been arrogance and stupidity' by the U.S. in Iraq." 
Wikileaks has obtained and released a list of all 3,863 websites that are being censored by Danish Internet Service Providers as of February 2008. 
The system is used to filter out child pornography, although Wikileaks points out it "can be used to censor anything" and claims "most sites on the list are still censored (i.e must be on the current list), even though many have clearly changed owners or were possibly even wrongly placed on the list." 
We discussed the unusual leak with them, and the results are published here. 
We asked if Wikileaks was worried about the criminal implications of linking to so much illegal content, but they were not. 
They said that it was "politically untenable" to prosecute them, pointing out that Wikileaks is hosted in many different countries across the globe. 
We asked them if they were "concerned about the possibility of censorship in the UK, Denmark, Finland etc.?" 
"No," Wikileaks told us "We welcome it." 
Wikinews wondered if this was because of the Streisand effect, but Wikileaks said it was "because it will demonstrate how censorship systems are abused." 
Wikinews asked Wikileaks why they didn't simply post a list of the sites which they felt were legal and add that all the others contained child porn, but Wikileaks felt "that would not be a fair representation of the material we obtained." 
After seeking clarification, Wikinews was told "the question is not what we need to be told. 
The question is what we need not to be told and who decides. 
Wikinews then asked why they didn't leave the full list available, but mark which sites they felt should not be censored. 
We have better things to do, was the response given. 
It is not so easy to set up merchant accounts." 
And what would due process be? 
Due process would involve sending a letter to the owner of the merchant account with the accusation and giving them a right to be heard and an appeal process. 
The banks are politically a lot more powerful than the internet industry so this hasn't happened." 
And should funds in these accounts be seized straight away, or simply frozen until a judge or similar clears their release? 
"If the accounts are in-jurisdiction, they should be frozen and released or not at the end of the process. 
There are plenty of existing mechanisms to do this for drug trafficking, for example." 
Wikileaks then added "As an analogy, one might argue that everyone should have a loaded gun in the house to protect themselves against home invasions. 
This seems perfectly reasonable; however experience has shown that once the gun is in the house, it will find other targets." 
A class action suit has been filed on Tuesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) against the telecom giant AT&T. 
The suit, filed in San Francisco, alleges that AT&T violated federal laws by collaborating with government to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens. 
The Bush Administration and NSA have come under fire over the issue. 
They defend the program by saying they are only listening in on suspected terrorists. 
The EFF claims that AT&;T turned over 2 databases consisting of their subscribers' communication and internet usage records. 
Attorney Kevin Bankston representing the EFF said the government could not conduct their surveillance without the help of companies like AT&T. 
He also said their goal is to tell AT&T that it is not in their fiscal best interests, along with not being legal, to cooperate with the President's wiretap program. 
According to the class action suit, AT&T granted "access to all or a substantial number of the communications transmitted through its key domestic telecommunications facilities, including direct access to streams of domestic, international and foreign telephone and Internet communications." 
The lawsuit is seeking damages of $22,000 for each AT&T customer in addition to punitive fines. 
AT&T is also facing scrutiny from the Federal Communications Commission and possibly fines for failing to properly certify that customer records were safeguarded. 
New reports have emerged detailing the extent of the efforts by the Iranian government to purge Western cultural influence in Iran that is deemed un-Islamic. 
Based on Iran's Islamic Sharia law, non-compliance results in legal punishment because the state sees itself responsible in executing punishment for Islamic theological sins. 
Newspaper headlines such as "Western hairstyles ... have been banned" re-iterated the legal status of Western hairstyles; barbers who offer to what officials consider un-Islamic hairdos, provide make-up services, and pluck eyebrows have been warned that they can face month-long suspension or revocation of their licenses. 
Barber clients who violate government policies will be subject to lashes, fines and imprisonment. 
Iranian male youth are not supposed to sport outlandish hairstyles or use gel to make their hair stand. 
The Supreme Cultural Revolution Council, created during the Islamic Cultural Revolution, indicated that it would filter immoral video and audio messages sent using cellular phones. 
According to Iranian television statement, "In order to prevent possible misuse of MMS, immoral actions and social problems, the Telecommunications Ministry will filter immoral MMS." 
No details of how immoral messages would be filtered such naming the type of software to be used were divulged. 
Following the Islamic Revolution, the Revolutionary Guards is reported to have cut women’s lips with razors because the women were wearing lipstick. 
Microsoft has launched its much-hyped Xbox 360 console into Japan, but unlike the European and American markets the Japanese are not rushing out to buy them. 
When launched in the American and European markets, stores sold out early. 
One store-owner says that fewer than 50 units were sold in the first 2 hours of its release. 
Many believe that in Japan it is difficult for any games console to be successful that isn't from a Japanese company, such as Sony or Nintendo. 
The first generation of Xbox consoles performed similarly possibly due to being released two years after the PlayStation 2. 
The large size of the console and the differing style of games was also said to have contributed. 
Members of Australia's Health Services Union (HSU) will go on strike in Victoria next week in a dispute over stalled wage and career structure negotiations. 
Over 5000 physiotherapists, speech pathologists and radiation therapists will walk off the job next week, effectively closing the state's 68 largest health services. 
The strike will force the closure of intensive care units and emergency departments across the state. 
National secretary of the HSU, Kathy Jackson said admissions would be crippled, while intensive care patients would have to be evacuated to New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia as hospitals will not be able to perform tests or administer treatment. 
When an ambulance shows up you can't admit a patient without an X-ray being available, you can't intubate them and you can't operate on them, she said. 
If something goes wrong in an ICU you need to be able to X-ray, use nuclear medicine or any diagnostic procedure, said Ms Jackson. 
Ms Jackson said the HSU offered arbitration last year, but the state government refused. 
They're not interested in settling disputes, they hope that we are just going to go away. 
We're not going away, we've gone back and balloted the whole public health workforce in Victoria, those ballots were successful, 97 percent approval rating, she said. 
The HSU is urging the government to commence serious negotiations to resolve the dispute before industrial action commenced. 
The government has offered the union a 3.25 per cent pay increase, in line with other public sector workers but the union has demanded more, but stopped short of specifying a figure. 
Victorian Premier John Brumby said the claim would be settled according to the government's wages policy. 
The Government is always willing and wanting to sit down and negotiate with the relevant organisations . 
we have a wages policy based around an increase of 3.25 per cent and, above that, productivity offset, he told parliament. 
The union claims it is also arguing against a lack of career structure, which has caused many professionals to leave the health service. 
Ms Jackson said wages and career structures in Victoria were behind other states. 
Victorian Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu said he was not in support of the proposed strike and called on the government to meet with unions. 
There could not be a more serious threat to our health system than has been announced today. 
We now have to do whatever is possible to stop this strike from proceeding, he said. 
The opposition leader will meet with the union at 11:30 AM today. 
Victorian Hospitals Industry Association industrial relations services manager Simon Chant said hospitals were looking at the possible impact and warned that patients may have to be evacuated interstate if the strike goes ahead. 
The Belgian parliament on Friday approved the new Van Rompuy I Government consisting of the same five political parties that formed the last ruling coalition, temporarily ending the country's political crisis. 
Lower house deputies approved the Motion of Confidence by a majority of 88 votes to 45, with no abstentions. 
Don't judge the government... by its intentions but by its results, but no results in the very short-term, judge us in 2011, Van Rompuy told the lawmakers. 
In his declaration, he urged the passage of bills to rejuvenate an ailing economy heading into deep recession and sought to resolve the 18 months political crisis after the country spent over nine months in caretaker rule. 
He also asked for full restoration of confidence amid the near-collapse of the country’s two largest banks. 
The previous government proposed such a plan (pumping 2 billion euros or $2.84 billion, into the economy next year, part of a 200 billion euro EU-wide stimulus package). 
It must be enacted as soon as possible, Van Rompuy said. 
It is clear that in the coming weeks and months the government will take new initiatives to cope with the challenges that the crisis poses for the economy and employment, he added. 
Van Rompuy, age 61, is a conservative Belgian Flemish politician and member of the CD&V (formerly called CVP) who succeeds Yves Leterme. 
On December 28, 2008, he was asked by King Albert II to form a new Government after he was reluctant to take up the role of Prime Minister after the Leterme I government had fallen on 22 December 2008 due to the bank bailout scandal. 
The Van Rompuy I Government became the new federal government of Belgium on December 30. 
Eighteen of the 22 ministers served in the same posts in Prime Minister Yves Leterme's government. 
Prime Minister Yves Leterme offered the resignation of his government on December 18 to King Albert after a crisis erupted surrounding the sale of troubled Fortis bank to BNP Paribas. 
Leterme, Justice Minister Jo Vandeurzen, and Didier Reynders were accused of violating the separation of powers and exerting improper influence by trying to influence the Court of Appeals; this accusation was made by the First Chairman of the Court of Cassation. 
Three days later the resignation was accepted by the king. 
Meanwhile, the Flemish opposition led by Flemish nationalist NVA party, Jan Jambon, challenged the legitimacy of Van Rompuy's government, calling it "a government which does not represent a majority of the Flemish people". 
Other opposition parties also questioned the created "Fortisgate" parliamentary commission of enquiry alleging it was a scheme to acquit Leterme. 
It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO. 
Belgium covers an area of 30,528 km2 (11,787 square miles) and has a population of about 10.5 million. 
Belgium shares borders with France (620 km), Germany (167 km), Luxembourg (148 km) and the Netherlands (450 km). 
Its total area, including surface water area, is 33,990 square kilometres; land area alone is 30,528 km2. 
Art thieves in Greece broke into the Athens National Gallery on Monday and stole three valuable works of art. 
Among them was a painting by famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, dated 1939, called Woman's Head which was a gift to the Greek people for their resistance to the Nazis during World War 2. 
The other two works were Mill by Piet Mondrian and a sketch of St. Diego de Alcala by Guglielmo Caccia. 
A fourth painting, Landscape, also by Piet Mondrian was dropped by the thieves when pursued by security. 
The police stated multiple alarms during the evening of the heist in other parts of the building had distracted the gallery guard. 
Investigating yet another alarm, he saw the shadow of a fleeing individual. 
Citizen's Protection Minister Christos Papoutsis apologized for the loss, citing that the security at the gallery was "non-existent". 
The value of the works stolen was not yet determined by gallery officials. 
The artwork in question was on display at the gallery as part of an exhibition called "Unknown Treasures", including works of Albrecht Durer and Rembrandt. 
A U.S. Army report finds stress is weighing heavily on Iraq War-era troops with 54 percent of soldiers rating their units' morale as low or very low. 
This is better than the comparable figure in a year-earlier Army survey. 
Reportedly, most bothersome to the soldiers was the length of their required stay in Iraq, which was at least 1 year. 
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said that the Army's 12-month requirement is linked to reorganization. 
I've tried to get the Army to look at the length of tours and I think at some point down the road they will, Rumsfeld said. 
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today at a news conference that the U.S. has declared a public health emergency in light of the swine flu outbreak. 
The total number of confirmed swine flu cases in the United States stands at 20. 
Secretary Napolitano said that the United States' declaration follows suit with the "standard operating procedure" of such an outbreak to make more government resources available to combat the disease. 
One direct result of the declaration is the government's mobilization of approximately 12 million doses of Tamiflu to locations where the states can quickly access their share of the medication if needed. 
Secretary Napolitano urged residents not to panic saying that the government is issuing a "declaration of emergency preparedness." 
Secretary Napolitano added, "Really that's what we're doing right now. 
We're preparing in an environment where we really don't know ultimately what the size of seriousness of this outbreak is going to be." 
John Brennan, a Homeland Security assistant, added that "at this point, a top priority is to ensure that communication is robust and that medical surveillance efforts are fully activated." 
This afternoon, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg reported that 8 students from the St. Francis Prepatory School in Queens, New York have contracted the swine flu. 
All in all, more than 100 students from that high school were absent last week with flu-like symptoms. 
Meanwhile, public health officials in Ohio today announced one confirmed case of swine flu in the state. 
Thus far, California has reported 7 confirmed cases of swine flu, while Kansas and Texas have each reported two confirmed cases. 
At the same news conference Dr. Richard Besser, the acting director from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said to expect additional cases of swine flu to be reported in the short term. 
Dr. Besser added that the U.S. could also start seeing cases of the disease where the effects are more dramatic: "We're going to see more severe disease in this country". 
So far, no one in the U.S. has died from swine flu. 
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard has conducted a missile test exercise, in which nine missiles of three different types were launched simultaneously. 
The exercise, known as Great Prophet III was conducted early this morning from an undisclosed location near to the Strait of Hormuz. 
One of the missiles launched was an upgraded version of the Shahab-3, capable of reaching Eastern European countries like Bulgaria and Greece as well and Middle Eastern countries such as Israel, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula. 
Eight shorter range Zelzal and Fateh missiles were also launched. 
The Iranians have been under international pressure to withraw from their plans of achieving nuclear proficiency, but have rejected putting a hold on their programme and have also been moving forward with their rocketry programme. 
The test is believed to have been a reaction to Israeli and American military exercises, which the Iranian government believed to be training for an attack on facilities related to the Iranian nuclear development programme. 
In addition to these tests, Iran's first indigenous satellite launch attempt, which will place the Omid spacecraft into low Earth orbit, is expected immanently. 
A successful satellite launch would demonstrate that Iran's missiles have global reach. 
The tests have been widely criticised by the international community. 
The British government stated that it "underlines the need for Iran to comply with its international obligations on the nuclear issue", and that the test was "unwelcome". 
The French ministry of defence suggested that "these missile tests can only reinforce the concerns of the international community", and the German government described the exercise as "regrettable". 
The United States government claims that the test was "evidence that the missile threat is not an imaginary one". 
American presidential candidate John McCain suggested that it justified US proposals to construct a missile defence system in Eastern Europe, whilst his opponent Barack Obama described Iran's missile programme as a "great threat". 
Russia, however called for diplomacy, stating that they believe Iran to be "ready for negotiations", and Israel's Prime Minister issued a statement saying that he had "no desire for conflict or hostilities with Iran". 
Bayern Munich beat Red Star Belgrade 3-2 on the last kick of the game on 17-year-old Toni Kroos' 1st professional goal. 
Toni Kroos played a key role as he also assisted on Miroslav Klose's 2nd equalizer only minutes earlier. 
Red Star Belgrade opened the scoring in the 16th minute while Miroslav Klose 1st equalizer 4 minutes later. 
Red Star Belgrade took the lead again when Michael Rensing couldn't handle a long distance shot. 
The eruption of volcano Tungurahua on August 16 destroyed several small villages in the Ecuadorian Andes. 
At least 6 people have been killed and about 4000 residents of the affected area have been evacuated. 
The 5,023 m high volcano spat lava, stones and ash for several hours on Wednesday night. 
A 10km high ash cloud spread over an area of 740 by 180 km. 
Towns like Ambato or Riobamba, 30 km away from the volcano have been covered with up to 5cm of ash. 
Pyroclastic flows descending on the northwestern slopes of the volcano left a path of destruction behind. 
At least seven small villages and hamlets have been completely destroyed. 
The Institute for Geophysics has lost an important part of its equipment installed on the slopes of Tungurahua, limiting their capability to monitor the volcanic activity. 
On Thursday, air traffic in the whole country was limited due to ash layers on several airports. 
On Thursday the provinces of Chimborazo, Tungurahua, Cotopaxi and Bolivar have been declared a disaster area. 
Losses in agriculture due to the ash cover are estimated at $150 Million. 
On Friday, volcanic activity decreased to a calm that remained into Saturday evening, but the Ecuadorian Institute for Geophysics warns that a further eruption may be imminent. 
In 1999, after a long period of rest, the volcano started an eruptive process that continues to this day. 
In May 2006 it increased dramatically culminating in violent eruptions on July 14 and August 16. 
After the first, overnight on Tuesday at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, it was reported in a press release by Marussia that she had lost her right eye, and was still in a "critical but stable" condition. 
On Friday, she underwent a second operation, according to Marussia, "a planned procedure that would depend upon the continued stability of Maria’s head injuries, and this morning the medical team were sufficiently happy with her progress to allow the operation to go ahead." 
Subsequent to the operation, her condition was upgraded to "serious but stable". 
Her sister, Isabel de Villota, has thanked both F1 fans and drivers for their response, saying "We remain positive and this is due, in no small part, to the overwhelming expression of love for Maria from every corner of the world." 
Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso was among those expressing his support, dedicating his pole postion in Saturday's qualifying to De Villota. 
Regarding the accident itself, F1 Race Director Charlie Whiting is of the opinion that it was a "one-in-five-million" fluke. 
Despite questions being raised, both about De Villota's experience and the positioning of the truck with which she collided, he has described it as "so unique that it was just incredible bad luck". 
The mayor of San Francisco, California, Gavin Newsom, has announced via Twitter that he will be running for the state's governor in the 2010 elections. 
He will be in the running to replace California's current governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. 
Need your help," said Newsom on his official Twitter profile. 
Newsom also posted a video on his campaign website which was launched earlier this morning. 
I hope that you will join our campaign that has set out to change California, because I know we can do better. 
We can't afford to keep returning to the same old, tired ideas and expect a different result, says Newsom in his campaign video. 
Newsom promises more green technology, local economic stimulus and universal healthcare. 
His video doesn't mention anything about same-sex marriage, but Newsom is an active opponent of Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriages. 
Newsom has been San Francisco's mayor since 2003 and was re-elected in 2007. 
Everton came from behind to thrash Fulham 4-1 on Friday at Goodison Park. 
Everton had a chance to jump into fifth place in the league ahead of Bolton, while Fulham could have jumped from fifteenth all the way to eleventh, boosting their chances of league survival. 
England international Andy Johnson was paired with 18 year old James Vaughan up front for Everton, while Chris Coleman's Fulham had a full North American strike force through American Bryan McBride and Canadian Thomasz Radzinski. 
The visitors started the game strongly with long range efforts from Rosenior and Smertin, but neither were able to bother Tim Howard in the Everton goal. 
Mikel Arteta was able to trouble Antti Niemi, however, in the Fulham goal, but the Finnish keeper did well to keep the ball out of the bottom corner. 
Carlos Bocanegra then opened Everton wide open as he stole away from the defenders and headed home Simon Davies' cross, giving Fulham the lead after 22 minutes. 
Everton answered back quickly through Lee Carsley after Joleon Lescott's ball found him in the box, and Carsley knocked home the equalizing goal. 
Everton put Fulham on the back foot after their goal, and should have taken the lead when a nice interchange of play between Vaughan and Johnson left Vaughaun all alone on net, but his shot was hit off the post, and bobbled safely to a Fulham defender. 
Everton were then awarded a free kick in the Fulham zone, and Mikel Arteta stepped up to take. 
His outswinging ball was glanced off the head of Alan Stubbs, and it somehow eluded Niemi, as the homeside took the lead. 
Vaughaun would hit the post again several minutes later, but he finally notched his name on the scoresheet just before the break. 
Arteta and Johnson made room on the left side, and Arteta's cross was finished well by the young Vaughan, giving Everton a demanding 3-1 lead. 
After the break, Fulham came out strongly, eager to get back into the match. 
McBride had two good chances from headers, but he was unable to find the net on either. 
Zat Knight then had a chance for Fulham, but the cottagers where again unable to get their attempts on target. 
Vuaghan was soon replaced by fellow youngster Victor Anichebe, and he made a nearly instant impact. 
Anichebee received a pass within the box, and he cooly side-footed the ball hard and low past Niemi, leaving the keeper no chance, and guaranteeing Everton the win on the afternoon. 
Substitute Helguson had two chances in quick succession for Fulham, but it wasn't to be their day, as the cottagers drop dangerously into relegation contention. 
Everton's next match in the league is in only 3 days time against Bolton, who are now in sixth place after the Toffee's win. 
Fulham on the other hand will be facing off with fellow relegation contenders Manchester City at Craven Cottage, and it is looking up to be a true relegation six-pointer. 
On Tuesday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced a weather emergency in New York City, New York. 
The announcement was issued as a preemptive measure in preparation for an expected 6-12 inches of snow Wednesday, although the Metropolitan Transportation Authority claims to be ready for 14 inches. 
Bloomberg explained the meaning of the preemptive announcement by stating: "We recognize that we did not do the job that New Yorkers rightly expect of us in the last storm. 
We intend to make sure that does not happen again." 
Despite declaring an emergency, the mayor said the city would not make the decision to close public schools until 5 AM. 
The city is looking for people to shovel snow off sidewalks and intersections. 
The New York City Housing Authority announced on their Twitter page, "Turn a snow day into a payday. 
The linked page offered $12 an hour to shovel snow for the city. 
West Ham United midfielder Kieron Dyer suffered a suspected broken leg in the Carling Cup tie against Bristol Rovers. 
Dyer, who joined from Newcastle United at the start of this season, was carried off on a stretcher in the first few minutes of the game. 
The 28 year old was injured in a tackle by Joe Jacobson and the game was delayed before he was taken to hospital. 
The Hammers won the match to reach the 3rd Round 2-1 but boss Alan Curbishley said: "It's immaterial. 
You put a strong side out and you wonder why sometimes. 
We are delighted we have got through but after 10 or 15 minutes the game was immaterial. 
Everyone in the dressing room is really down about it." 
The first case of Avian Flu in Iraq was announced today by the country's Health Minister, Abdel Mutalib Mohammed. 
The preliminary result was reportedly from a United States military laboratory in Cairo; the World Health Organisation are expected to seek confirmation of this from a UK laboratory. 
The victim was Shangen Abdul Qader, a 15-year-old girl from the northern Kurdish village of Raniya. 
The death of the girl's uncle is also believed to be under investigation due to him having symptoms that may indicate flu. 
The area of Iraq where the suspected deaths occurred borders Turkey where there have been 12 confirmed cases of which four resulted in death. 
Turkey's last reported victim, Fatma Ozcan, was also aged 15. 
On Friday morning, Finland scrambled an F-18 Hornet fighter jet to intercept a Russian Ilyushin Il-76 strategic airlifter, which had violated Finnish airspace. 
The aircraft ventured about 4.5 kilometers (3 miles) into Finland's airspace near Porvoo over a period of three minutes, according to Finland's defense ministry. 
Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen has stated that Finland would like an explanation from Russia regarding the reasons for its actions, but he has not made an official protest against Russia. 
These kinds of (violations) must not happen, that's our clear message here, Vanhanen said. 
And when they do happen, then they need to be sorted out between the countries in question. 
Vanhanen also stated that he felt it was important the incident was thoroughly investigated because of safety implications incurred if aircraft stray from their designated flight paths. 
Defense Minister Jyri Hakamies confirmed that there would be a diplomatic meeting as a result between Finnish and Russian officials in order to discuss ways of preventing similar violations in the future. 
Russia apologised to Finland last year following a large number of similar incidents over the space of two years, but only after Finland had protested. 
According to officials, such violations as this latest one were still to be expected, due to a combination of international airspace being limited to a narrow strip off the South coast of Finland, and a high level of Russian air force activity over the Gulf of Finland. 
Russia regularly uses the area to fly missions, mostly with strategic airlifters, between Kaliningrad, capital of Kaliningrad Oblast and located between Poland and Lithuania, and St Petersberg in Russia. 
Similar incidents have been recorded in other Baltic states, particularly in Finland's Southern neighbour, Estonia. 
The most serious such incident involved the October 2005 crash of a Russian jet fighter in Lithuania. 
In response to a plan by the English Defence League to hold a march next Saturday, the leader of Tameside Council, Kieran Quinn, has said the council will be requesting that the Home Office ban the EDL from marching through the town of Hyde, near the city of Manchester. 
Councillor Quinn described the EDL as a hate-filled group wishing to come to Hyde to try and incite hatred". 
The EDL march was started in response to an attack on February 4 against two 17-year-old males in Hyde, Daniel Stringer-Price and Kavan Brown. 
The teenagers claim they were attacked by a gang of Asian men, and the police are investigating it as being a racially-motivated crime. 
Daniel's mother, Cheryl Stringer, has said she does not want the EDL rally to be held: "The EDL have decided to do this and it's go nothing to do with us whatsoever. 
It's not going to change anything – it won't make anything better it will just cause more problems." 
Peter Fahy, the Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, said that the police were concerned "that there could be a threat to peace and order". 
Fahy went on: "The attack was an awful crime but I'm not sure we need outsiders coming in, and clearly the fear is that they are just exploiting the situation." 
In a document dated March 30, 2005 by a group calling itself "the 70 million people of Iran," a declaration was issued asking the current government of The Islamic Republic of Iran to "...peacefully surrender the power to its rightful owners..." by June 16 of this year. 
The group's relationship to political parties in Iran is not known. 
It threatens boycotts and blackouts throughout Iran on June 10 if there are no indications the regime intends to comply with its demands. 
Copies of the document have been furnished to the leaders of the EU, Russia, Japan and the United States. 
A separate document to the leaders of the G8 nations asks for their support, and promises armed resistance to the current government of Iran on June 18, 2005 if peaceful remonstrances fail to have their intended effect. 
The source for the translation and dissemination of the documents into English, French and German calls itself the Iran of Tomorrow Movement (IOTM), an exile group operating from Encino, California in the United States. 
The group claims there are "2,195 resistance cells" operating in Iran and abroad. 
The eruption has created a large hole in the glacier, as well as a fissure that is forming under the glacier, which is now around 2 kilometers (1 mi) long. 
People in the area have been evacuated because of massive flooding due to meltwater from the glacier. 
The first evacuations began at about 02.00 local time (03.00 UTC) today, because earthquakes in the area had pointed to an imminent eruption. 
Air traffic is prohibited in a large area around the eruption zone. 
Chemical Ali, as he was known, received a death sentence on January 17, 2010, for ordering the 1988 gas attack on the town of Halabja in northern Iraq; 5,000 people are thought to have died in the assault on the Kurdish area. 
Majid, 68, had also received the death sentence at earlier trials for his part in attacks on Kurds in 1988, for suppressing a revolt by Shia Muslims, and for killing Shia Muslims in Baghdad in 1999. 
He was regarded as one of the most brutal figures in Saddam Hussein's regime, ordering killings of opponents, as well as mass deportations. 
He was captured after the fall of Saddam in 2003. 
According to the government spokesman, "[t]he execution happened without any violations, shouting or cries of joy." 
The Iraqi state television, al-Iraqiya, broadcast images that it says are of the hanging. 
Today Sailors of HMCS York, Cadets of RCSCC 18 Vanguard, Navy League Cadets of NLCC Ark Royal and Air Cadets of 618 Queen City Squadron marched though Downtown Toronto with drums beating, colors flying, and rifles held proudly. 
All this was to mark the Battle of the Atlantic, which was a series of naval battles fought from 1939 to the end of the second world war. 
During the Battle, Canada lost about 2000 Sailors and 762 members of the Royal Canadian Air Force. 
The Parade started out at Nathan Phillips Square, it then marched a short ways to the Cenotaph at Old City hall, where a ceremony was held for the dead and wounded in the Battle of the Atlantic. 
The parade then began again with a snappy left turn and marched along Queen Street West. 
It then wheeled north along Yonge St. to the Naval Club on Hayden Avenue. 
Seen in the photograph below is Lieutenant (Navy) Armstrong, the Executive Officer of RCSCC 18 Vanguard, in the background, are Vanguard cadets. 
There where approximately 130 sailors, sea and air cadets in attendance. 
United Kingdom's most senior traffic police officer faces charges of speeding at 90 mph in a 60 mph speed limit zone (the equivalent of speeding at 144 km/h in a 96 km/h zone). 
The Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police, Meredydd Hughes was allegedly caught speeding on the A5 road near Chirk in north Wales. 
Hughes was caught by a camera that takes photographs of speeding cars. 
He is known as one of the main advocates for nationwide installation of such cameras. 
Hughes is set to appear at Wrexham Magistrates Court on November 21, 2007. 
He faces a £1000 fine and a driving ban if convicted. 
As the head of road policing within the Association of Chief Police Officers, Hughes can be considered the top traffic cop in the UK. 
According to an announcement made by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday, the inflation rate of the United Kingdom measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 3.5% in January 2010, an increase of 0.6% from December 2009. 
For the UK, this is the second largest month-on-month inflation rate increase on record. 
The inflation rate for the country has also now reached its highest level since November 2008. 
The causes of this inflation rise include a 70% rise in oil prices, and value added tax recently being increased to 17.5%. 
The headline inflation rate of the Retail Prices Index (RPI) also increased from 2.4% for the month of December 2009 to 3.7% for the month of January 2010. 
Meanwhile, the underlying rate of RPI increased from 3.8% to 4.6% over the same period. 
The British Government has an inflation target of 2%, which was surpassed by more than 1%. 
For this reason, Mervyn King, who is the Governor of the Bank of England has written a required explanatory letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling. 
In the letter, King wrote: "Although it is likely to remain high over the next few months, inflation is more likely than not to fall back to the target in the second half of this year." 
Alistair Darling then wrote a letter in response, which said that the future expectations of the inflation was "subject to some uncertainty" as countries around the world continue to recover from what he called the "deepest downturn in modern times". 
In an unannounced vote yesterday, the Philadelphia City Council in the United States voted 16-1 to endorse the eviction of, and end their lease held in perpetuity with, the local council of the Boy Scouts in Philadelphia. 
The Scouts must pay market rent or leave the building. 
The Cradle of Liberty Council has more than 60,000 members in Philadelphia and Delaware and Montgomery Counties. 
British television celebrity Jade Goody of Big Brother fame has been diagnosed with cervical cancer. 
Goody, 27, arrived in London Heathrow Airport on Tuesday night, having cut short her stay in the Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother, known as Bigg Boss. 
Goody was a controversial character in last year's Big Brother, sparking over 40,000 complaints to Ofcom, the British broadcasting regulator after she allegedly made racist and defamatory remarks to fellow housemate and Indian celebrity Shilpa Shetty. 
Goody has stated she agreed to take part on the Indian version of the show as an attempt to make up for her behaviour last year. 
Shetty is hosting the show, and has stated that her "prayers are with Jade." 
Goody has been accused of making the announcement as a publicity stunt, but her spokesman has dismissed this as "ridiculous". 
Goody has stated she "will worry for [her] boys if [she] get[s] unwell". 
She said that she entered the house, despite undergoing medical tests, because she "can't wait around for the doctors" and that bills need paying. 
Goody is said to have signed a contract worth £100,000 with Bigg Boss before her departure from the show. 
She is expected to undergo medical tests so doctors can see how far the cancer has spread. 
A multi-center US study of 748 patients, who were to undergo treatment for coronary artery disease, has found that prayer by Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and Buddhist groups had no measurable effects on the medical health of the study subjects. 
The prayers were conducted by established congregations and were held away from the hospitals. 
The study, published in the 16 July 2005 issue of The Lancet, found that the likelihood of an adverse cardiovascular event in hospital, re-admission or death within six months was unaffected by prayer. 
None of the patients were told that they were prayed for, and none of the prayer groups knew who they prayed for. 
The study also examined the effects of "music, imagery, and touch (MIT) therapy" before heart surgery. 
Practitioners qualified to Level 1 Healing Touch taught the patient relaxation techniques and played soothing music before applying 21 Healing Touch hand positions, over a 40 minute session. 
There was no significant change in the combined chance of an adverse cardiovascular event in hospital, re-admission or death within six months. 
However, while the set of patients was evenly split, only 7 patients who received MIT therapy died, and 20 patients who did not receive it died. 
The result is not highly significant due to the low overall number of people who died. 
A number of studies has recently examined the possible effects of prayer, with mixed results. 
While some religious groups have hailed studies which found positive results , skeptics have challenged the very notion of scientifically examining prayer , and have described past studies as flawed or even fraudulent. 
The mechanisms through which distant intercessory prayer might convey healing benefit are unknown, the authors of the study explain. 
One hypothesis they propose for such effects are "non-local features of consciousness based theoretically around observations in quantum physics." 
The United Nations brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah is largely holding as Israel has begun to withdraw its forces from Lebanon. 
UNSC Resolution 1701, which calls for a "full cessation of hostilities" in the Israeli-Lebanon war, was passed by the UN Security Council last Friday and was approved by Lebanon and Israel over the weekend. 
Lebanon's defence minister, Elias Murr, says that the 15,000 troops Lebanon has committed to the peacekeeping operation will be on the north side of the Litani River by the end of the week. 
As part of the truce agreement, they must cross the river and exercise control over what has been Hezbollah controlled territory in southern Lebanon. 
The head of the Israeli army says the IDF could complete its withdrawal from Lebanon in 7 to 10 days. 
The new international peace-keeping force may number as many as 15,000, significantly larger than the existing force of 2,000, known as UNIFIL, which is expected to take up border positions in the mean time. 
The UN hopes for an advance force of up to 3,500 within the next 10 to 14 days. 
France, who is expected to lead the international force, is seeking a clearer mandate from the UN on the rules of engagement. 
Over 1,200 people have lost their lives in the conflict. 
1,110, mostly civilians, have died in Lebanon and 157 Israelis, mostly military, were killed. 
Israel says it killed 530 Hezbollahh fighters while Hezbollah puts the toll at about 80. 
People studying the situation in Myanmar are claiming that an inadequate response of the government of Myanmar (formerly Burma) to scientists' warnings about the cyclone, coupled with large-scale destruction of protective mangroves along its coasts, aggravated the devastation wreaked by tropical Cyclone Nargis. 
The cyclone has killed an estimated 22,980 people so far, with millions rendered homeless by the disaster, which struck the Irrawaddy Delta region of Myanmar last week (3 May). 
Scientists at the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in New Delhi, theWorld Meteorological Organisation's specialist centre for Asia, say they issued the first of the cyclone bulletins to Myanmar as early as 26 April. 
Mrityunjay Mohapatra, director of IMD's cyclone-warning centre, told SciDev.Net that Myanmar was warned of the impending cyclone at least 48 hours in advance. 
But there was no acknowledgement from Myanmar's meteorological office, or any indication of a response. 
Mohapatra says IMD's first warning bulletin, issued on 1 May, indicated the land area likely to be hit by the cyclone. 
It warned that a cyclone with wind speeds of 180 kilometres per hour would cross the southwest coast of Myanmar sometime between 8pm and midnight on the night of the 2 May. 
IMD's bulletins contain information on the actual and predicted centre, intensity and movement of the cyclone, as well as sea conditions and maximum wind speeds around the cyclone centre. 
Uma Charan Mohanty, from the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre in Thailand, said that, according to the World Meteorological Organisation's data, Asian cyclones are fewer and less intense than hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean or typhoons in the Pacific Ocean region, but they cause more death and destruction. 
In 2005, 25 hurricanes in the Atlantic caused 10 deaths, but cyclone Sidr, which hit Bangladesh in 2007, left 3,500 dead. 
Mohanty says that the Atlantic coast has a good early-warning system and people have the means to drive to safer areas. 
In contrast, Asian coasts are densely populated, with many poor fishing and farming communities who cannot evacuate on their own, even if they have been warned. 
News agencies quote Maung Swe, Myanmar's minister for relief and resettlement, who told a press conference (6 May) that most deaths were caused by a 3.5-metre-high storm surge — a wall of water that develops when cyclonic winds churn up sea water. 
Mohanty says that 85 per cent of cyclone deaths are due to storm surges and that predictions of the size and location of such surges are critical in disaster forecasting. 
Asian coasts are also becoming increasingly vulnerable because of the loss of protective mangrove forests that serve as windbreaks and limit damage by storm and tidal surges. 
In a 2006 report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said that areas in Sri Lanka with mangrove forests suffered less damage in the 2004 Asian tsunami, compared with regions where forests had been destroyed. 
And in January 2008, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization warned that Asia is fast losing its coastal mangroves, with more than 1.9 million hectares being destroyed each year. 
The organisation's report reviewed the world's mangroves between 1980 and 2005. 
It found that the mangrove forests around Myanmar's Irrawady Delta had degraded because of "overexploitation" and the conversion of land for rice fields — promoted by the government as a way to ensure self-sufficiency in food production. 
Government officials in Myanmar have said that 22,464 people have been confirmed dead from Cyclone Nargis. 
Only once rescue workers reached the hardest hit areas of the storm did they begin to realize the extent of damage that had occurred. 
At least 10,000 people died in one town alone, Bogalay in the Pyapon District of the country. 
The United Nations has reported that one million people are homeless, or in need of help in some other way. 
Dutch financial institution ING Group reported today in its quarterly results an impairment charge of €194 million euros (approximately US$285.6 million). 
However, as a result of selling an equity stake in rival ABN AMRO, the net profit of €2.48 billion, was 18% higher than last year. 
The impairment charge is a result of risky investments, including RBMS (mortgage) investments backed by subprime loans and Alt-A loans, which are made to borrowers with a slightly better credit profile than those in the subprime category, as well as from collateral debt obligations (CDOs). 
Modern polar bears are genetically related to an extinct species of Irish brown bear, according to a study published Thursday in Current Biology. 
The two share a distinct genetic marker not present in other brown bears, strongly suggesting that all modern polar bears are descended from the same extinct species. 
The study found evidence of polar bear hybridization with a now-extinct population of brown bears that lived in Ireland and Britain during the last ice age. 
Brown bears are no longer found on the British Isles, and it had been thought that polar bears interbred more recently with brown bears living around Alaska. 
However, the samples used in the analysis came from the past 120,000 years and show that interbreeding of the two species occurred a great deal earlier. 
Climate change is thought to have presented opportunities for the two species to mate now and then in the past 100,000 years. 
The evidence comes from a DNA analysis of fossil bones collected from the teeth and bones of seventeen bears from eight Irish caves. 
Ten Irish brown bears from between 10,000 and 38,000 years ago carried a distinct sequence of mitochondrial DNA, originating from a specific female brown bear, and this DNA sequence has been passed down the female polar bear line and is found in all polar bears today. 
Fossils from the last species of ancient brown bears in Ireland, living from 3,000 to 5,000 years ago, have a different genetic fingerprint, matching neither that of polar bears nor of modern brown bears. 
A member of the international team conducting the study, Dr Ceiridwen Edwards from Oxford University, said: "Hybridisation between ancient Irish brown bears and polar bears has led to the complete replacement of the original polar bear mitochondria. 
This maternal lineage is now present in all modern polar bears." 
The authors of the paper conclude that their evidence shows that matrilineal history of brown and polar bears suggest that "a likely genetic exchange with extinct Irish brown bears forms the origin of the modern polar bear matriline." 
They suggest that hybridization may be more common than previously recognized and may be a way species deal with loss of their habitats when the environment is changing. 
In Wikinews' attempt to speak with as many candidates as possible during the 2008 Canadian federal election, Wikinews has talked via email with Jo-Anne Boulding. 
The riding's Conservative incumbent is Tony Clement, Minister of Health and Minister for FedNor. 
Other candidates in the riding are Liberal Jamie McGarvey, Green Glen Hodgson, and independent David Rowland. 
The following is an interview with Ms. Boulding, conducted via email, over a week ago. 
She did not respond to two of the main questions: “Previous to this campaign, have you been politically involved? How will you apply your previous work/volunteer/life experience to serving your constituents?” and “What would you say are the three hottest topics this election, in your riding? What would you and your party do to address these issues?” 
Being unanswered, these questions were edited out of the interview, which otherwise is published as received. 
Freelance journalist, Gabriel Pollard, spoke to Joe Stewart and David Farrar about the new anti-spam legislation in New Zealand that comes into effect today. 
Joe Stewart is the Unit Manager of the Department of Internal Affairs new Anti-Spam Compliance Unit, and David Farrar is Chair of InternetNZ’s Public Policy Committee, who also had significant input into the final bill. 
Keith Norris, CEO of the New Zealand Marketing Association, didn't respond to multiple requests for an interview. 
The anti-spam legislation, or the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, promotes spam education and awareness and will enable international agencies to work together to share information and will enable cross-border pursuit of serious law breakers. 
And it doesn't just cover e-mail spam, but all electronic messaging such as SMS/text messaging, etc. 
However, New Zealand isn't the most up-to-date country with implementing similar legislation, Farrar says, “We are in fact almost the last country in the OECD to have such legislation.” 
He urges Eastern Europe and China to take part in the fight against spam. 
Stewart said that the new law would only help combat a small amount of spam, as 99%-99.9% of all spam received originates from overseas. 
He says the legislation alone will not solve the problem. 
As well as it helping to fight New Zealand-sourced spam and preventing New Zealand from “becoming a haven for spammers”, it will promote good practices within the e-marketing community, Stewart said. 
The new Act will affect legitimate marketers in New Zealand by making sure they have expressed or inferred consent to continue sending marketing messages to people on their database. 
Inferred consent is where the marketers have the e-mail address and send messages to those on their database, but didn't get expressed consent to send messages. 
Stewart does issue a warning against using inferred consent saying, “They may have been sending these people messages for years, but this does not establish consent.” 
A surge in emails has also been felt with companies/marketers making sure they have consent to continue the e-mails and asking those to confirm they wish to continue their subscription. 
“However, many marketers are already fulfilling these requirements because they are standard good e-marketing practice,” Stewart said. 
Due to legislative requirements, as well as having consent, businesses will have to provide details about the company sending the item, and provide a free way to unsubscribe from future mailings. 
Those found breaking these requirements deliberately could find themselves facing a personal fine of up to NZ$200,000. 
Farrar said, “Experience from Australia shows most cases are dealt with by way of education.” 
Farrar also gives a final piece of advice to those annoyed with spam levels, “Never ever respond to a spam e-mail, and only give your real address out to people you trust.” 
In mainland China, the China Daily published an editorial under the headline, "March sets stage for secessionist scheming" in which it labeled the rally as "secessionist scheming" and a "misuse of people power". 
China Daily said of President Chen that, "his participation in the protest added to his record as a man of bad faith. 
Only one month ago, Chen solemnly pledged to develop cross-Straits relations during his meeting with PFP chairman James Soong. 
The Taipei Times quoted Lee, "The March 26 march ended perfectly, yet it wasn't just the close of a political carnival." 
Lee continued, "It was a new starting point for consolidating people's identification with Taiwan and declaring the Taiwanese people's strong will to defend their right of self-determination." 
That 1 million Taiwanese people came out was a display of the mainstream of Taiwanese public opinion, and officials should respond to that with practical actions and policies, Lee told a symposium. 
Otherwise the march will just have been emotional venting, which won't solve the current [cross-strait] problems. 
After being held for more than four years at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, German born Turkish citizen Murat Kurnaz was transferred to German custody by U.S. authorities on Thursday. 
Kurnaz was picked up in Pakistan in 2001 when riding a bus. 
He was first transferred to a prison camp in Afghanistan and then transferred to Guantanamo bay. 
He was designated an "enemy combatant" even after German law enforcement and US intelligence officials concluded that there was no information tying him to al-Qaeda or other terrorist activities. 
Kurnaz's lawyers have charged that Kurnaz was tortured while being held in Afghanistan and - to a lesser degree - while at Guantanamo Bay. 
Even on the flight back to Germany Kurnaz was shackled on hand and feet, tied to the ground and blindfolded. 
Pentagon spokesman Chito Peppler said that the conditions for the prisoner transfer of Kurnaz to Germany included guarantees that Kurnaz be treated humanely by German authorities and that Germany take steps to ensure Kurnaz would not pose any threat to the world. 
Late on Thursday the United Nations Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. 
Only the United States abstained because of the view that Hamas was committed to violence. 
Fighting has continued since the resolution, and yesterday Israel warned of increased military action. 
The death toll from the first 13 days of the Israeli offensive was 770 Palestinians and 14 Israelis. 
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has given an explanation for why the United States abstained and did not veto the resolution. 
...But after a great deal of consideration, we decided that this resolution, the text of which we support, the goals of which we support, and the objectives that we fully support, should indeed be allowed to go forward. 
I believe in doing so, the council has provided a roadmap for a sustainable, durable peace in Gaza. 
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki has commented that the resolution was still a disappointment. 
To tell you the truth, we have really expected that all countries would vote in favor. 
But we are really satisfied with the outcome so far. 
What really concerns us the most is the immediate applicability of the resolution on ground. 
We fear, and we have reasons to do so, that Israel will delay its acceptance and implementation of the cease-fire for few hours, if not few days. 
Israel continued to drop warning leaflets and send phone messages to Gaza residents, with one phone message on Saturday saying that the "third stage" of their operation will begin soon. 
United Nations aid agency UNRWA resumed aid shipments yesterday, after halting them on Thursday citing safety risks. 
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa and his teammate Michael Schumacher won the front row on the FIA Formula-1 2006 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix on the Suzuka International Racing Course. 
On the dying minutes of the qualification Massa suddenly overtook the seven times world champion thus winning the pole for the red team. 
Ralf Schumacher's Toyota amazed Japanese fans, showed third result, followed by the other Toyota of Jarno Trulli. 
Renault drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisicella classified after him. 
Not a bad result for another Japanese team - Honda drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello on the fourth line of the grid. 
Wikinews has learned that the Wikimedia Foundation has decided not to participate in a panel discussion that is to take place at Santa Clara University in California. 
The discussion, which is titled 'The World that Wikipedia Made,' was to be based on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and ethics involved in the editing of the website. 
It is the ninth such meeting in a series on technology, ethics, and law and is taking place today. 
In an e-mail to Wikinews, Miriam Schulman the communications director for the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University which is to host the discussion, states that Mike Godwin, legal counsel for the Foundation, will not be speaking during the discussion as was originally planned. 
According to Schulman, Godwin canceled his scheduled appearance just one week ago and has decided not to have anyone from the foundation replace him. 
Valleywag, a gossip website about technology, recently reported that Godwin was not attending due to a "groundswell of criticism of Wikipedia". 
I don't want to speak for Mr. Godwin or Wikimedia, but someone else made an incorrect assumption about this, so let me clarify that in our understanding, the problem was never with the composition of the panel. 
Mike Godwin, General Counsel of Wikimedia, was scheduled to participate in the panel, 'The World that Wikipedia Made,' on May 15. 
Last week, Mr. Godwin informed us that he would not participate, and subsequent discussions with Wikimedia Foundation indicated that they would not designate a replacement speaker, stated Schulman to Wikinews. 
This is our ninth such panel (in addition to the hundreds of events on other topics our centers run each year), and we feel confident in our ability to set a respectful tone for discourse on controversial topics, added Schulman. 
Schulman would not comment on the reason for the Foundation's decision. 
Wikinews also attempted to contact Godwin, but was directed to Jay Walsh who is the head of communications for the Foundation, but Wikinews has not received a response. 
The panel was to include Carl Hewitt an electrical and computer science engineer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Godwin discussing Wikipedia with Pedro Hernández-Ramos, associate director for the Center for Science, Technology, and Society moderating the discussion. 
The plan was to discuss Wikipedia, and what does and doesn't work for the encyclopedia. 
This panel will explore what works and what doesn't in the Wikipedia editing model from the angles of ethics, expertise, education, and the law, said a statement on the Center's website. 
Schulman states that the discussion, which is open to the public, is "still planned" for Thursday May 15 at 6:00 p.m. (pacific time) at the De Saisset Museum on the university's campus, but it is not yet known if anyone outside the Foundation will be replacing Godwin. 
The High Tech Law Institute along with the Ethics Center are sponsoring the discussion. 
These events are always open to the public, which means everyone is welcome. 
In this kind of setting, we invite anyone with an interest in the topic, stated Schulman to Wikinews. 
The Foundation is the parent organization of Wikipedia and other projects such as Wikinews and Wikimedia Commons, a Wiki dedicated to hosting images that can be used throughout the projects of the Foundation. 
Jurors in the Rod Blagojevich corruption trial began their fifth day of deliberations this morning, having sent no notes to the judge at all yesterday. 
Notes they sent out last week, however, suggest that the discussions could take much longer. 
The jury has sent two notes to US District Judge James B. Zagel since deliberations began last Wednesday. 
The first came on Thursday, when the jury requested a transcript of one of the prosecution's closing arguements. 
The second note came on Friday, when the foreman wrote "Is it permissible to obtain the transcript of the testimony? It would be helpful." 
Zagel interpreted the request as saying that the jury wanted transcripts of the testimony of every single witness in the trial. 
Zagel again declined the request because it was not practical to do so; about 30 witnesses testified in this case, and the transcripts have not yet been prepared. 
Zagel instead offered to consider requests for transcripts of testimony from "specific identified witnesses", but said that he would warn the jury that such requests could take some time to fulfill. 
Defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky objected to this plan, saying that "the government will have the benefit of presenting its case a whole second time." 
Zagel said in reply that he would still consider each of the jury's requests individually. 
Such a request, however, suggests that the jury intends to conduct a lengthy review of the case. 
The six male and six female jurors continued their deliberations on Monday without sending any further notes to the judge. 
The new book Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports, by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams of The San Francisco Chronicle, is being released today. 
The authors not only implicate professional baseball celebrity Barry Bonds in the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but also say Gary Sheffield received human growth hormone and testosterone from Greg Anderson, Bonds's personal trainer. 
The book goes on to claim that Jason Giambi also took performance-enhancing drugs from Anderson. 
Bonds continues to insist that he did not realize his trainer was giving him steriods. 
He claimed in his grand jury testimony that he thought he was receiving flaxseed oil and an arthritis salve. 
Sheffield's response to the claims was quite simple: when asked if the allegations made against him were true, his response was "Nope." 
Despite the book's accusations of Sheffield and Giambi, it centers around Bonds and the founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative or BALCO, Victor Conte Jr. 
Conte is currently serving four months in prison for distribution of steriods and money laundering. 
It appears that the steroid controversy concerning Bonds will only intensify as he continues to march on towards the career home runs record, one of baseball's most sacred records. 
A sixteen-year-old girl, Darlene Etienne, was pulled out from underneath the rubble of a collapsed school in Haiti yesterday, fifteen days after a magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck the country, devastating most buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince. 
Etienne had been studying at school in the capital when the tremors starｔed, collapsing the building. 
She had apparently survived by drinking water from a bathroom, and the Al Jazeera news agency reports rescuers had heard her mumbling something about having some Coca-Cola. 
When pulled from the rubble, she was reportedly dehydrated, but happy. 
Etienne was taken to a French-run field hospital, and later to a hospital ship moored off the Haitian coast for further treatment. 
She just said 'Thank you', she's very weak, which suggests that she's been there for 15 days, said the head of the rescue team that recovered the girl, Samuel Bernes, noting that she was located "in a pocket, surrounded by concrete". 
She couldn't really talk to us or say how long she'd been there but I think she'd been there since the earthquake. 
I don't think she could have survived even a few more hours, rescuer Claude Fuilla told the Associated Press. 
I don't know how she happened to resist that long, said another rescue worker, JP Malaganne, as quoted by the BBC. 
It all happened very quickly, but rescue teams managed to get her out and she was covered in layers of dust and concrete, said Jonah Hull, a correspondent for Al Jazeera, describing the rescue effort as being "a delicate process". 
Five days ago, the Haitian government officially ended its search for living people under the rubble; upwards of 130 people have been rescued from underneath the remains of collapsed buildings. 
The infected cow was found in the province of Alberta, where two previous cases of BSE have been reported in the past year. 
The cow itself was born in March of 1998, mere months after a ban placed by the CFIA to stop the use of any feed which might contain any "specified risk material"-- material that is known to carry the BSE agent. 
The CFIA is now in control of the carcass and makes clear that no part of the cow has entered the food supply. 
A team of experts from the United States have been sent to re-evaluate the situation and to make recommendations about reopening the U.S. border. 
The border was closed to beef exports after the first incident of BSE was reported in Canada. 
The closure continues to cause major problems for Canadian beef farmers who depended on the United States beef market. 
The Australian House of Representatives have considered the bill regarding whether the Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott, or the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) regulate the abortifacient mifepristone (RU486), and has passed the bill unamended. 
Earlier today, the Prime Minister John Howard (Australian Liberal Party, Bennelong) has spoken on the amendments earlier proposed by Jackie Kelly (Liberal, Lindsay) and Andrew Laming (Liberal, Bowman), speaking in favour of the Laming amendments and reiterating his support for Abbott, stating that he is the "best friend that Medicare ever had", Abbott's usual phrase he states in Question Time in support of the Government's handling of Medicare. 
Howard's counterpart, the Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley (Australian Labor Party, Brand), spoke in support of the bill in its unamended form, noting that it is "simply commonsense that the minister does not have the scientific capacity" to evaluate the drug, and reiterating that the bill is "not really about Tony Abbott". 
More controversially he however said that those with certain personal views such as Tony Abbott's conservative Catholic faith should not hold certain offices in Government, which drew criticism from the Government later in the debate noting that an earlier Labor Prime Minister of Australia John Curtin's pacificism was a strong wartime leader. 
Later, the Kelly amendments were put to the vote and were lost on the voices and in subsequent division with 49 agreeing to the amendments and 96 disagreeing. 
The vote on whether the bill should be read a second time 95 for to 50 against. 
In the consideration in detail stage, the Laming amendments were debated, but the vote on these amendments were lost with 56 supporting the amendments and 90 against them. 
The bill as unamended was agreed to and passed the third reading on the voices, without having to resort to a vote. 
Organizers of the upcoming London Live 8 concert have announced that legendary rock band Pink Floyd plans to perform on July 2. 
Guitarist David Gilmour, bassist Roger Waters, drummer Nick Mason, and keyboardist Richard Wright will play their first performance together since playing at Earls Court, London in 1981. 
The band will come together, along with other musical acts such as Coldplay, Elton John, and Paul McCartney for this event. 
Live 8 is a series of free concerts at each of the G8 nations organized by Bob Geldof. 
These concerts, set on the 20th anniversary of Geldof's Live Aid, have been planned to support the Make Poverty History campaign, which aims to reduce African poverty. 
This lineup of Pink Floyd has not played together for 24 years due to a conflict between David Gilmour and Roger Waters over leadership and creative influence of the band. 
However, it seems that they are willing to put their differences behind to support Live 8; "Like most people I want to do everything I can to persuade the G8 leaders to make huge commitments to the relief of poverty and increased aid to the third world," said David Gilmour and added, "Any squabbles Roger and the band have had in the past are so petty in this context, and if reforming for this concert will help focus attention then it's got to be worthwhile." 
A 1.5m tidal surge is expected tonight in the United Kingdom and could lead to flooding on the Kent coast, according to the UK Met Office. 
The surge is expected to cause "severe" flooding and the Thames Barrier was closed at 2000 UTC. 
The Environment Agency have said that there is "extreme danger to life and property" and have evacuated 200 people on the coast. 
1,300 properties are thought to be in the affected area. 
The Environment agency representative said that they would have extra staff available to inform the public of the risks but are also asking people to check that others are aware of the potential risks, especially to the elderly. 
The surge has been caused by the high wind speeds of over 80 miles per hour, and could be over hurricane force, high tides and low pressure over the North Sea. 
There are currently 42 flood warnings of various degrees, eight of which are rated severe. 
North Sea oil platforms are being evacuated in advance of the storm. 
BP is expecting to shut down the production on its North Sea oil platforms on Thursday. 
At the same time, Conoco Inc. has announced, that they will evacuate around 500 staff oil from platforms at the Ekofisk oil field. 
The METAR reports from Ekofisk Oil Platform are indicating continuously intensifying winds. 
At 11:50 UTC on Thursday, wind gusts of 57 knots were reported 
Earlier today, the Australian Institute of Sport and Swimming Australia cancelled a team meeting for the Australian Stingers and a Swimming Australia Grand Prix event scheduled for this weekend after two Olympic bound water polo players, Melissa Rippon and Nicola Zagame, were diagnosed with whooping cough. 
Both players are receiving treatment administered by the Australian Institute of Sport. 
In a statement issued by Water Polo Australia, they said "Water Polo Australia is taking this very seriously and will continue to work closely with AIS health professionals to provide the best care for those players diagnosed and to reduce any potential further risk". 
For Australia's Olympic bound swimmers, their coaches are expected to arrange alternative training ahead of their leaving for Europe. 
In a statement released by Olympic swimming head coach Leigh Nugent, he said, "Originally we'd planned to have this camp as an opportunity to come together for some further relay preparation and the chance for some of the athletes to race and time trial, a month or so out from the Games. 
From a relay perspective we are confident we're on track with our preparations and will fine-tune things when we get to Manchester in July." 
Rippon and Zagame are expected to be recovered next week and should be ready for London. 
Robin Cook, the former British foreign secretary and current Member of Parliament, has died of a suspected heart attack after collapsing on a walk with his wife on Ben Stack hill, Scotland. 
Cook, aged 59, was flown to a hospital in Inverness by a rescue service helicopter half an hour after collapsing. 
A spokesperson for NHS Highland said that Mr. Cook arrived at hospital 90 minutes after his collapse, and was reported dead five minutes later. 
A postmortem examination has concluded that he died from hypertensive heart disease. 
Mr. Cook was buried on August 12 at St Giles Cathedral in Edinburgh in a service attended by close family, friends and political figures from across the world. 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair however came under attack from Mr. Cooks friend and racing pundit John McCririck for his absence from the service. 
Robin Cook served as Foreign Secretary under New Labour and was a critic of the war in Iraq. 
He resigned as Leader of the House of Commons in 2003 in protest against Prime Minister Blair's foreign policies. 
The US Senate rejected Wednesday a bill amendment aimed at increasing the security of gun background checks, on what President Barack Obama described as "a shameful day for Washington." 
On April 10 Senator Pat Toomey, accompanying Senator Joe Manchin in announcing the amendment, said it aimed to make "it more difficult for criminals and mentally ill people to obtain guns". 
The amendment would expand checks to sales online and at gun shows. 
The vote followed weeks of campaigning by the President, who was supported by a speech by Michelle Obama describing his proposed measures as "common sense." 
The bill received only 54 of the required 60 votes to proceed, despite strong public support for tighter gun control in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting last year. 
Gun rights groups have campaigned strongly against the vote, claiming that the measures would violate constitutional rights, and targeting individual Senators with mocking material appearing online. 
Other proposed amendments to the bill which endeavoured to ban the sale of assault weapons like the one used in the Sandy Hook shooting and to place limits on the amount of ammunition which could be purchased in a single transaction also failed to garner sufficient votes. 
An onlooker in the gallery shouted "Shame on you" as the result of the vote was announced. 
The President spoke to the press and spectators shortly after the vote was announced, passionately assuring his audience that he would continue to pursue measures to reduce the incidence of gun violence in the United States. 
Robert Gibbs, the former press secretary for the U.S. White House, has been said to be in talks with Facebook about possible future employment as a manager for the communications aspect of the company. 
According to an anonymous source close to the company, Gibbs is being pressed to quickly accept the job, in which Mr. Gibbs may receive millions of dollars in both salary and initial stock options for a planned public offering of Facebook Inc. in 2012. 
Mr. Gibbs, who has worked for the Obama administration for two years, left in February 2011, and was reportedly "relaxing" and had denied rumors that he was planning to campaign for chairman of the Democratic National Committee if Tim Kaine were to leave the committee to run for a position in the senate. 
In recent months, Facebook has stepped up lobbying the US capital to communicate its public image to policy makers, and may use Gibbs for their public relations stratagem in the future. 
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced last Wednesday that it has agreed definitively to merge with Chicago-based Archipelago Exchange (ArcaEx) and form a new publicly traded, for-profit company known as NYSE Group. 
This announcement was followed two days later by NASDAQ®, which independently announced a definitive agreement to purchase Instinet Group. 
Archipelago and Instinet are innovative e-trading (electronic trading) companies, and formerly were the two largest American rivals to NYSE and NASDAQ, in recent years taking increasingly large portions of their market share. 
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulatory agencies still have to review and approve the transactions, particularly with respect to US securities law and antitrust law, in order to ensure that the marketplace remains lawful and competitive. 
Other pending issues for NASDAQ include obtaining the approval of Instinet shareholders, as well as customary closing conditions. 
NYSE must obtain the approval of its members and Archipelago shareholders. 
These changes, a reaction to increased e-trading competition and a changed regulatory environment, will result in NASDAQ and NYSE trading each other's shares and attempting to grab market share, which many hope will drive down transaction costs and ultimately benefit consumers. 
However, at least one commentator, Dan Ackman writing in Forbes, has noted that the trading commission at the NYSE currently averages less than a nickel (US$0.05) per share, and was less enthusiastic about potential efficiency gains from electronic trading at the exchange. 
The transactions are also intended to make the two leading American stock exchanges more globally competitive with such exchanges as the London Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the Australian Stock Exchange located in Sydney. 
The 6th Stage of 2008 Tour de Taiwan held its long-distance race through 9 townships including Banciao, Hsinchuang, Wugu, Bali, Tamshui, Jinshan, Sanjhih, Shihmen, and Wanli in Taipei County today. 
Even though this race is the second longest race in 2008 Tour de Taiwan, the weather challenged 89 cyclists due to an earlier rain in Taipei-Keelung metropolitan area. 
Even though some cyclists were unable to finish this race due to some crashes, but several participated cyclists still successfully finished this race steadily and safely. 
Finally, Kyle Gritters from Health Net Pro Cycling Team won the Champion of this stage. 
Shawn Milne and Peter McDonald still threatened the current sprint and overall leader John Murphy within a difference less than 10 seconds. 
At least one person has been killed and at least thirty were injured as the result of a fire in the city of Lagos in Nigeria after an explosion in a building with fireworks stored in it. 
As many as nine other buildings in the Lagos Island fire yesterday were also impacted by the flames, according to authorities. 
The fire was reportedly the cause of the explosion, although this is yet to be confirmed. 
Some local residents reportedly jumped out of the windows of buildings in fright in the large commercial area of Jankara. 
One man, Wasiu Olaleye, required treatment for a cut to his leg because "I had to jump from the first floor to save my life", he said. 
Some local businesses were open when the incident occurred, but yesterday was a public holiday in Nigeria. 
A school located in close proximity to the warehouse was significantly damaged in the incident. 
Numerous vehicles in the area were completely burnt out by the fire. 
The windows of several nearby buildings were also destroyed as the fire caused the windows of houses a few miles away to shake. 
Crowds of thousands of nearby people accumulated near the fire, with spectators and individuals intending to assist or gain information about relatives amongst them. 
Three fire service tanker vehicles attended the scene, but used up all their water supplies. 
Some people in the crowd attempted to assist fire crews with holding fire hoses and gathering water-filled containers. 
Some of these people were taken to hospital for treatment after experiencing injuries. 
Additional water arrived later, as the severity of the fire slowly decreased. 
The large crowds were part of the reason it took around an hour for fire service members to reach the scene of the fire. 
News agency Reuters was told by a government official that the possibility of further explosions from fireworks also interfered with the fire service's rescue operation. 
"It's very dangerous for the firemen to go in, because the government don't want any of these men to be injured", they said. 
Ibrahim Farinloye from the National Emergency Management Agency reported one fatality to Agence France-Presse (AFP), saying: "We pulled out a body from the building". 
Nicolas Adesile, of the Red Cross, told the same news agency that as many as thirty people have been treated thus far. 
In the United States, the state of Connecticut has repealed the death penalty, becoming the seventeenth state in the U.S. to do so. 
The state's governor Dannel Malloy signed the repeal into law on Wednesday and is to take effect immediately. 
"This afternoon I signed legislation that will, effective today, replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of release as the highest form of legal punishment in Connecticut." 
In future convictions, the death penalty will be replaced with life imprisonment with no possibility of parole. 
However, despite the state's decision, prisoners currently serving a death row sentence are still set to be executed as planned. 
Currently in Connecticut, eleven prisoners are serving a death row sentence, all of them men. 
The repeal bill was passed in the state's house of representatives with 86 supporting the measure and 63 opposing it. 
The senate had passed the measure just seven days before. 
Jodi Rell, then Connecticut's governor, blocked a prior attempt at repeal by state lawmakers in 2009. 
Only one person in Connecticut has been executed since 1976, when the U.S. government reinstated the death penalty after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld capital punishment. 
That execution of serial killer Michael Bruce Ross occurred in 2005 by lethal injection. 
"As our state moves beyond this divisive debate, I hope we can all redouble our efforts and common work to improve the fairness and integrity of our criminal justice system, and to minimize its fallibility," added Malloy. 
A suicide bomber has killed at least 24 people near the Pakistani army headquarters in Rawalpindi when he detonated explosives while riding on a motorbike outside a bank, several hundred metres away from army headquarters. 
Gunmen had kept up a 24-hour hostage-taking assault last month at those same headquarters. 
Many people, such as retired and serving military officials, civilians, had come to the bank to collect their salaries, were killed or wounded by the blast. 
Many hospitals declared emergency services and rushed to help the people out. 
Soon after the bomb blast, military personnel patrolled the road and diverted all the traffic in front of the bank and Shalimar hotel beside it. 
Most of the people who died or wounded in the blast were mainly military officials. 
The bomb blast destroyed many window panes in the building and in neighbouring buildings. 
Raja Sajid, who was an eyewitness to the incident, helped people into the ambulances. 
Television stations showed ambulances and police vehicles racing to the scene. 
"I helped the rescuers and put several of them in the ambulances." 
"An old man stained in blood was crying for help," he said. 
The blast comes as the United Nations announced it was withdrawing its international staff from northwestern Pakistan due to security concerns. 
Militants carried out several retaliatory attacks last month that killed hundreds of people. 
Nineteen people were killed and three are unaccounted for after an overloaded ferry boat sank in a river in a flooded region of Burma. 
Many young children, travelling to an inter-village football tournament in Michaungai, were killed when the boat sank. 
During the rescue efforts, bodies of children aged between five and fifteen were recovered from the water, along with the bodies of two teachers and two local villagers. 
Authorities are continuing to search for three people who are still missing after the disaster. 
There were 79 people aboard the boat when it sank in the Irrawaddy river, according to an unnamed official. 
A rescue worker suggested that there had been heavy rain around 10 a.m., when the ferry struck a strong wave and sank. 
"The boat flipped at a confluence of creeks—these are small, narrow creeks connecting villages," he said. 
Locals suggested that the boat, which was reportedly overloaded, flipped and lost balance, trapping young children underneath. 
The accident took place as strong winds and heavy rain battered the area, causing large waves and strong currents in waterways. 
Reports indicate that many residents of the vast region rely heavily on poorly-maintained river ferries for cheap transportation, since many areas are inaccessible by road. 
138,000 people were killed and thousands more were left homeless when when Cyclone Nargis devastated the region in May 2008. 
On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward's councillor and for mayor. 
This ward's candidates include Donald Blair, Diana Hall, Mohammed Mirza, Ron Moeser, Kevin Richardson, Richard Rieger, Richard Ross, and Kevin Wellington. 
For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006. 
Mehmet Ali Agca, jailed in 1981 for shooting and injuring former Pope John Paul II in Rome has been released from Turkish prison. 
A Turkish court had determined that he had already completed his sentence with time served. 
Agca shot the Pope as he rode around St Peter's Square in a open-topped car. 
Agca was a Turkish militant who was a member of the nationalist Grey Wolves; however, his motives for the shooting remain unclear. 
Agca was sentenced to life in prison in Italy, before being pardoned by former Pope John Paul II in 2000 and extradited to Turkey to serve jail time for the murder of Abdi Ipekci, a journalist. 
Turkish citizens were outraged that he served only four and a half years for murder. 
The former CEO of Tyco International, Dennis Kozlowski, as well as CFO Mark Swartz are convicted of taking more than $600 million from the company. 
Charges include grand larceny, securities fraud, conspiracy, and falsifying business records. 
The first trial ended in a mistrial after one juror received a threatening letter. 
Nancy Salomon says of the second trial that the "Defense was counting on the jury not reaching a verdict; they had used their challenges during the jury selection process to kick almost every potential juror who had a college degree, or had any business experience or Wall Street experience off the jury ... they were hoping that this case was just going to be too confusing for the jury." 
To combat the aggressive jury selection strategy undertaken by the defense, the prosecution "basically gave the jury several credit hours worth of an MBA", teaching them about following paper trails and detecting falsification of business records. 
It paid off during deliberation as the jury requested over 100 documents to review. 
The two former executives face a minimum of eight years in prison, up to a maximum of 25 years. 
In addition, Kozlowski is accused of evading $1 million in sales taxes on six paintings that he bought in 2001 in a separate New York State case, and Swartz faces tax evasion charges in New Hampshire. 
If convicted in these cases as well, they would face up to 30 years in prison. 
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government received a vote of confidence from the Italian Senate Thursday, after it earned the confidence of the House yesterday. 
The Senate's tally was 170 pros, 117 cons and no abstentions. 
Berlusconi declared these votes of confidence as demonstrating the strength and coherence of his coalition. 
He also declared that he wanted a change in the electoral law so that a bipartisan political system would arise, and that he wants to form a majority government after the next election. 
In a Tuesday media event, Verizon Wireless announced it had reached an agreement with Apple Inc. and would begin selling a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 beginning early February. 
The move means the end of rival company AT&T's status as the only official US carrier of the iPhone, a status it held since the first iPhone debuted in 2007. 
The press conference, held in New York City, was hosted by Verizon's president, Lowell McAdam, Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, and Verizon Wireless' chief executive officer, Dan Mead. 
Neither Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg nor Apple CEO Steve Jobs attended the conference. 
During the event, McAdam said, "If the press writes something long enough and hard enough, it eventually comes true." 
"We're bringing the fruit of our labor with a giant partner, and that's Apple." 
Such a partnership had been rumored for years, and the amount of speculation grew over the past few months. 
iPhone 4 pre-orders for current Verizon users begin February 3, and a public release is scheduled for February 10. 
The "Verizon iPhone," as it has been dubbed for months, has been altered from the original iPhone 4 so it can utilize Verizon's 3G CDMA (code division multiple access) network. 
This means, however, that Verizon iPhone users will not be able to use the company's 4G LTE (long term evolution) network, and will thus be unable to make calls and access the Internet at the same time. 
Cook told the audience that the LTE hardware was not ready yet, saying, "The first generation LTE chip sets force some design compromises, some of which we would not make." 
"Secondly—and most importantly—Verizon Wireless customers have told us they want the iPhone now." 
However, Verizon's iPhone 4 allows the user to create a personal Wi-Fi hotspot, which means up to five other wireless devices can connect to the Internet through the phone. 
Pricing was announced as US$199 for a 16 GB version and US$299 for a 32 GB version, both requiring two-year contracts—the same cost for an AT&T iPhone 4. 
However, Verizon said it would not mention the cost of data plans at this time, with Mead saying, "We talked about the device pricing, but we're not going to talk about the pricing for the network for that connectivity." 
Four members of a filmcrew have been arrested on suspicion of assault after squirting water at movie star Tom Cruise at the London premiere of the War of the Worlds on Sunday evening. 
The crew were freelancers filming a new comedy show for Channel 4. 
Channel 4 has no production facilities itself; all television programmes are commissioned from independent companies . 
Cruise had been on a walkabout meeting and greeting fans, and was being interviewed by the crew under the impression that it was a serious interview, when they used a fake microphone to squirt him in the face. 
He took hold of the culprit, grasping his wrist, asking him why he did it. 
"Why would you do that? What's so funny about that? It's ridiculous." 
"I'm here giving you an interview, answering your questions and you do something nasty." 
Security guards then took the filmcrew away, before they were arrested and bailed by the police. 
Scotland Yard have said, "We will see whether to pursue the charges, or see whether the victim wants to pursue it." 
Tom Cruise resumed meeting fans and signing autographs, spending an hour in Leicester Square. 
The Bulls rugby team has managed to reach the semi-finals of the Southern Hemisphere provincial rugby union competition, the Super 14. 
Despite entering the match with the burden of having to score 32 points and receiving a bonus point (by scoring four tries), the Bulls managed to overcome fellow South African team, the Stormers, at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday May 13, winning the match 43 points to 10 in the final round of the regular season. 
Entering the final round of the regular season, the Bulls and fellow South African Durban-based Sharks, as well as the Australian Canberra-based Brumbies were the only sides in contention for the fourth and last finals position. 
After the Brumbies, who unlike the Sharks were actually ahead on the number of points, were soundly defeated by the Canterbury-based Crusaders, 33 points to 3, the result meant that either the Sharks or Bulls could mathematically take fourth position on the ladder. 
The Sharks stormed to victory over Perth-based Western Force, winning 41 points to 25, meaning that the Bulls would have to score at least four tries to be ensured of a bonus point, to move ahead of the Sharks, who were now sitting in front of them on points difference. 
Despite the set back of both prop Danie Thiart and captain Victor Matfield to the sin-bin in the first half, the Pretoria-based Bulls entered halftime leading 26 points to 3. 
A try to the Stormers happened in the opening minute of the second half, though the Bulls held on to the victory. 
Bryan Habana scored the last try, which was subsequently converted and pushed the Bulls into fourth place on the table on points difference. 
The Bulls will now faced the Crusaders in New Zealand next week for a spot in the final, the other spot is to be contested also in New Zealand, between the Wellington-based Hurricanes and the New South Wales Waratahs. 
Martin Hyde is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Ottawa West-Nepean riding. 
Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. 
Note that he did not answer the question "Of the decisions made by Ontario's 38th Legislative Assembly, which was the most beneficial to your electoral district?" 
"To the province as a whole?" 
"Which was least beneficial, or even harmful, to this riding?" 
"To the province as a whole?" 
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. 
Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents. 
On January 8, 2008 in Stephenville, Texas, one of the larger UFO sightings in the United States occurred. 
A few days ago the UFO investigative organization Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) released a 77-page report on the sighting. 
MUFON is a UFO investigative organization in the United States. 
Founded in 1969, it now has 3,000 members and is headquartered in Fort Collins, Colorado. 
The MUFON report, entitled "Special Research Report Stephenville, Texas" was written by Glen Schulze and Ropert Powell. 
Shulze has radar experience from working at the White Sands Missile Range. 
Powell has a chemistry degree and has extensive experience with semiconductors from working for Advanced Micro Devices. 
The report is an analysis of radar records from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Weather Service, obtained through several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and comparing them to witness accounts. 
Shulze/Powell concluded that the radar data confirms the witness observations of an object, as well as the Air Force's statement that said ten aircraft were operating in the area. 
They say that it is too difficult to say what the witnesses saw, but that there was something there. 
Twice, they say, radar picked up an object travelling at nearly 2,000 mph, and at other times it showed a slow moving object. 
Much media attention has been focused on the report's observation that radar records show one of two objects moving directly toward the Prairie Chapel Ranch in Crawford. 
This is the home of United States President George W. Bush, which has been nicknamed the Western White House. 
They did not draw any conclusion as to why such movement was observed. 
The authors also concluded that military air activity was heavy at the time, but that the radar records show no overt action toward the unknown object. 
They express concern about the possibilty that this could have been a terrorist aircraft with no transponder. 
Shulze/Powell stated that they felt that they had been stonewalled in some of their FOIA requests by some government agencies. 
They encouraged the government to more readily provide more information about the incident. 
The Stephenville incident on January 8, saw dozens of witnesses reporting a large object in the evening sky that hovered above the community before it took off at high speed. 
Steve Allen, a pilot, observed the object from the ground and described it as being a half-mile with flashing strobe lights. 
He also said that it was pursued by two fighter jets, when it disappeared at a speed he estimated to be 3,000 mph. 
"I don't know if it was a biblical experience or somebody from a different universe or whatever but it was definitely not from around these parts," Allen said. 
Another witness was local law enforcement officer Leroy Gateman who reported it as a red glowing object suspended 3,000 feet in the air. 
"It was so fast I couldn't track it with my binoculars," said Gateman. 
Rick Sorrells says he saw the object while deer hunting in the woods. 
"You look at the trees, and it was right here," he told ABC News. 
He estimated it to be the length of "three or four football fields," though he could not be entirely sure due to his vantage point. 
Sorrells has later claimed that military helicopters have since overflown his property at low altitude and that he has been getting strange phone calls. 
He also claims that an unknown man came to his door, even once told him that,"Son we have the same caliber weapons you have, but we have more of them", after Sorrells grabbed his rifle, and, "You need to shut your mouth about what you saw." 
"I'm trying to decide whether or not to open the door," Sorrells said to the Empire-Tribune. 
"We're just standing there face to face looking at each other." 
"I'm thinking he's dressed for the elements and the dogs are raising such a ruckus he must know he's in danger of being caught." 
"That's when I realized he wanted me to see him." 
The man then turned away and walked into the woods. 
The United States Air Force initially said witnesses must have seen reflections coming from commercial airliners. 
However, they later clarified that ten F-16 Fighting Falcons had been on a night-time training mission in the area on January 8. 
"In the interest of public awareness, Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs realized an error was made regarding the reported training activity of military aircraft," said the statement. 
According to Air Force spokesperson Karl Lewis, the aircraft were from the 457th Fighter Squadron and the error in the initial report was due to an internal communications problem between offices at the base. 
Following on from January's strike, the UK's Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) yesterday took 24 hours strike action in a dispute over working conditions within call centres providing Jobcentre services for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). 
A press release sent Sunday night by Katrine Williams, the Chair of PCS Wales, states 70% of members who voted were in favour of the industrial action. 
PCS members "suffer oppressive working conditions that simply result in high levels of stress and sickness" according to the union, and points to the 2,779 staff who left Jobcentre Plus call centres since April last year – approximately 20% of the workforce in the 37 Jobcentre Plus offices handling calls from the public – as evidence of the challenging work environment. 
The union says management is "obsessed with hitting call centre targets at the expense of providing good quality services to the public". 
The DWP characterises the action differently, stating 75% of staff voted against the strike. 
According to the DWP staff work under reasonable terms, but "we have to ensure that our service is available when our customers, who include some of the most vulnerable people in the country, need us." 
To that end the DWP readily admits it uses performance measures to ensure high productivity and performance, their goal is to "deliver value for money for the taxpayer", and they do not have any plans to change the way they do business. 
A report in the Liverpool Daily Post cites more than 500 Merseyside staff on strike, and quotes PCS regional secretary Peter Middleman describing the culture in-place in Jobcentre Plus contact centres as "battery-farmed working practices". 
Similarly, the Lancashire Telegraph cites 120 staff on strike at the Cardwell Place call centre and the expectation that 2,500 across the North West of England were expected to take action; Middleman is quoted describing the call centres as "the modern day equivalents of dark, satanic mills where our members are over worked, overly monitored and forced to endure an obsession with arbitrary targets". 
The DWP reported the union informed them approximately 40% of the 9,000 staff in JSP contact centres would be taking action, which tallied with their own estimates. 
Face-to-face Jobcentre services were unaffected by yesterday's strike action; the union have announced that this will be followed with an indefinite ban on members working overtime. 
The remains of the last missing person following the bridge collapse in Minneapolis were recovered on Monday. 
The official death toll now stands at 13, following the collapse nearly three weeks ago. 
Jolstad, nicknamed "Jolly," was a member of the construction crew that was resurfacing the bridge. 
Jolstad's wife, Lisa Jolstad, was worried that the search for her husband's remains would drag on, leaving her without any closure. 
Sheriff Rich Stanek said, "There aren't a lot of smiles here tonight…" 
"We all have very heavy hearts." 
"It weighed on a lot of people, both personally and professionally." 
Governor Tim Pawlenty asked President Bush on Monday to declare the collapse a major disaster, allowing the state to be eligible for more federal money. 
President Bush is scheduled to be in Minneapolis today to get a briefing on the bridge. 
They said that they defend the investigation of corruption schemes, however they said that the Lula government is the victim of a destabilization campaign. 
They blame the President of the United States George W. Bush for the crisis. 
They say that the government of Lula is victim of a coup attempt by Bush supporters. 
Other parliamentarians, even some of the Workers' Party, didn't agree with the coup argument. 
Some senators said that only the Wokers' Party itself initiated the crisis. 
The NATO-led force in Afghanistan issued a statement on Friday saying that that two of its troops went missing on Wednesday while on a routine supply mission. 
The statement said a search operation is under way, but did not give many details. 
A NATO press officer said that "We continue exhaustive search and rescue operations to locate our missing service members." 
Local police said that the soldiers were likely swept away by a river in Badghis, a western province, while they were trying to get to an airdropped food parcel that had fallen into the river. 
Officials said it was not likely that they were taken captive. 
"The families of these service members have been notified about their loved ones' status and we will continue to keep them informed as information becomes available," a press officer said. 
The Dover, Pennsylvania school board became the first to mandate inclusion of Intelligent Design in a public school biology curriculum. 
For this year's November 8 election, Republicans fielded a pro-Intelligent Design slate of candidates including some returning candidates who had previously voted to include a statement about Intelligent Design in the biology curriculum. 
A mixed slate of Democrat and Republican candidates came forward as an alternative group of school board candidates, the Dover CARES coalition. 
They proposed to remove Intelligent Design from the biology curriculum but allow discussion of Intelligent Design in courses dealing with philosophy and comparative religion. 
All eight open school board seats were won by Dover CARES coalition candidates. 
Two candidates who had previously voted as school board members to include intelligent design in the public school science curriculum received the fewest votes in Tuesday's election. 
One of the newly elected board members is Bryan Rehm, a parent of a Dover school student. 
Rehm, along with ten other parents, initiated a law suit against the school board for its decision to insert Intelligent Design into the science curriculum. 
In October 2004, the Dover school board decided that Intelligent Design is a scientific theory that should be mentioned in biology classes that include discussion of biological evolution as part of the course content. 
The board mandated that a statement should be read in those classes stating "Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of life," and "The school leaves the discussion of the Origins of Life to individual students and their families." 
The school board's statement on Intelligent Design directs students to the book Of Pandas and People as a source of information "for students who might be interested in gaining an understanding of what Intelligent Design actually involves." 
This book is published by the Foundation for Thought and Ethics, a non-profit organization founded for the purpose of "promoting and publishing textbooks presenting a Christian perspective." 
Parents of some Dover public school students filed a lawsuit against the school board, charging that including the school board's statement on Intelligent Design was an attempt to introduce religion into the science curriculum. 
The book Of Pandas and People says, "Intelligent design means that various forms of life began abruptly through an intelligent agency." 
The original complaint in the law suit against the school board claimed that "Intelligent design is a non-scientific argument or assertion." 
The US District Court Judge John Jones, who heard the non-jury case, hopes to make his ruling by the end of the year. 
The evidence phase of the trial ended on November 4, 2005. 
A local Dover newspaper, the York Daily Record, editorialized that Dover voters should take trial testimony into account during the general election when they could cast votes for school board members along with other elective offices. 
Biology teachers in the Dover schools have refused to read the school board's statement on Intelligent Design to students because the Pennsylvania state code for education states that "The professional educator may not knowingly and intentionally misrepresent subject matter." 
In a letter to their administrator, the teachers stated their view that "Intelligent design is not science." 
School administrators have been reading the school board's Intelligent Design statement to students in Dover public schools. 
In a free trade zone in Antalya, Turkey, 80 women workers of FMC Novamed are in strike for almost a year now, since September 26th, 2006. 
They allege not only low wages but also severe abuses on FMC's part. 
Novamed, founded in 2001, is a factory managed by Turkish capitalists and located in the free trade zone in Antalya, Turkey. 
It is owned by Fresenius Medical Care (FMC), which is an international corporation with its headquarters in Germany. 
With factories in 12 countries and a total of 100,000 workers, FMC is a monopoly in the market of dialysis products. 
NASA has completed a major test of a 20-meter square solar sail, marking a "crucial milestone" in space propulsion technology. 
It is not the first to test solar sails, as the Japanese have deployed two solar sails in space. 
The Planetary Society is planning on launching a solar sail possibly by June 21. 
Shot into orbit by a converted intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the Cosmos 1 would be launched from a submerged Russian submarine from within the Barents Sea. 
The spacecraft, powered by the sail, will have no destination. 
The purpose is simply to test the propulsion system that uses the pressure from solar light particles to move the ship outward from a starting orbit around the earth at 500 miles. 
The propulsion technology is currently believed to be the most efficient available for interstellar space travel. 
Theoretically a craft propelled by the pressure of a constant light source, such as a purpose-built laser, could achieve speeds approaching the speed of light. 
This is due to the efficiencies of the spacecraft not having to carry its own fuel. 
Approaching the speed of light would, however, require a long period of constant acceleration. 
Such high speed will be impossible for the current test vehicles and any launched in the foreseeable future, as they rely on the light from the Sun, which rapidly becomes weaker with increasing distance. 
According to the National Geographic News, "NASA, the European Space Agency, Japan, and Russia all have developed solar sails, but none has yet tried to prove that the sails can propel a spacecraft under controlled flight." 
The Supreme Court of Japan ruled on Wednesday that a condition imposed by an Act for acquiring Japanese nationality is unconstitutional, and confirmed the nationality of the plaintiffs. 
Each of the ten plaintiffs is a child who was born to a Filipino mother and later acknowledged by a Japanese father. 
They filed claims for Japanese nationality between 2003 and 2005, but the government turned down because the parents were not legally married in each case. 
According to Japan's Act on nationality, a non-Japanese child (under 20) who was after its birth legitimated by marriage and acknowledgment can acquire Japanese nationality by filing notification, with some requirements which the plaintiffs had already fulfilled. 
The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the condition 'legitimated by marriage' results in unreasonable distinctions to violate Article 14 of the Constitution of Japan, which guarantees equality under the law. 
The Supreme Court left effective the rest of this provision and accepted the plaintiffs' claims for Japanese nationality. 
The judgment pointed out recent changes in people's notions in Japan as to family life or parent-child relationship, and also referred to two conventions which Japan has ratified. 
There are estimated to be tens of thousands of children in similar situations in Japan and a considerable number overseas. 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura on Wednesday made a comment about the judgment at a press conference. 
Machimura said, "This judgment, saying violation of Constitution, weighs so much." 
"As a government, we should take it gravely, and we want to examine its content in detail and consider how to react." 
He added, "I have an impression, just hearing of it, that it's a reasonable judgment." 
"Equality under the law is an important point of view." 
:(a) while it's within the scope of the Legislation of the Diet how conditions are set for acquiring / losing Japanese nationality (Article 10), a distinction without rational reasons brought by such a condition may be unconstitutional (Article 14: Paragraph 1). 
:(b) being legitimated by the parents' marriage or not is a thing the child can not change by its will or endeavor. 
:(c) the purpose of legislation of this provision is rational, because that is considered to demand the child's tight connection with Japan's society. 
:(d) after this provision was added in 1984, both notions and actual situations of people in Japan have been becoming of variety, as to family life or parent-child relationship. 
:(e) the child's tight connection with Japan's society can not be measured instantly by whether the parents have got legally married. 
:(g) this provision results in distinctions not only as to legitimacy but also as to two other factors: any non-Japanese child without legitimacy acknowledged before its birth by a Japanese father, and any child without legitimacy born to a Japanese mother, can acquire Japanese nationality provided by this Act. 
These distinctions have no rational relation with the purpose of legislation. 
:(h) another provision in this Act states a child in this situation may be naturalized with fewer conditions, but it doesn't justify the relation between the purpose and the distinctions, because naturalization is within discretion of the Minister of Justice. 
One judge in the majority, who supported the conclusion, shared a view with the five dissenting: the distinction as to legitimacy is caused by non-existence of due legislation. 
This judge concluded that the Judiciary can remedy the lack, because it doesn't betray the will of the Legislation of the Diet as to this Act. 
Two dissenting judges of the five concluded that these distinctions are unconstitutional, but correction of it depends, in principle, on legislative measures by the Diet. 
The other opinion of three dissenting judges is contrary to the major opinion. 
They argued, for example, :the distinction as to legitimacy is not unconstitutional and is within the range of choice of legislative measures. 
:even if it's unconstitutional, the plaintiffs' appeals are to be dismissed, following the viewpoint in the other dissenting opinion. 
:it's dubious whether or how people in Japan have been making changes as in (d). 
:it's rational to offer Japanese nationality in two other situations as in (g). 
:easy naturalization as in (h) to offer Japanese nationality is rational both as a measure and in practice. 
:foreign countries' movement as in (f) is not to be instantly reflected in judgment on constitutionality; they are different from Japan, with a large number of international marriages and expansion of regional unification like EU. 
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Saturday that the recent actions by Turkey to arrest and detain journalists in the country, as well as planned Internet restrictions, are "an area of concern" for her. 
Clinton is on a two-day visit to Turkey and made some of her comments during a news conference on the Turkish CNN channel during an event where she answered questions from Turkish citizens. 
Answering a question regarding the issue, she said that "I do not think it’s necessary or in Turkey's interests to be cracking down on journalists and bloggers and the Internet [...] it seems to me inconsistent with all the other advances that Turkey has made." 
In a press conference jointly held with Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's foreign minister, Clinton suggested that Turkey could serve as an example for Arab countries currently undergoing governmental changes. 
She said that "people in the Middle East and North Africa are seeking to draw lessons from Turkey's experience" and that "democratic development also depends on responsible leadership." 
According to Turkish media groups, upwards of 60 journalists are being held based on dubious evidence, though government officials say that only 26 are imprisoned, all on charges separate from their activities in the media. 
In some recent arrests, authorities have cited anti-terror laws as justification. 
Separately, the government plans next month to place filters on Internet traffic in the country, which could allow for monitoring of individual users. 
Such human rights concerns have long served as a stumbling block for Turkey's attempts to join the European Union. 
Interstate 80 is closed in Cedar County, Iowa, east of the Iowa City area, due to flooding from the Iowa River and Coralville Lake. 
The flooding that has devastated cities in eastern Iowa has travelled downstream and is now threatening Iowa City and Coralville, both of which have issued evacuations for low-lying areas. 
Flooding on the Cedar River earlier filled Waterloo, Cedar Falls, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with record-breaking water levels. 
Interstate 80 is closed between mile markers 266 and 267, with a 281-mile long detour to get around it: Eastbound through traffic must leave I-80 at Des Moines and travel north along Interstate 35 then east to Dubuque via U.S. Route 20, where it can move south along U.S. Route 61 to return to Interstate 80 at the Quad Cities, with westbound through traffic following the opposite route. 
Local traffic is being allowed, since this shuts off a 150-mile stretch of highway. 
Interstate 380 has also been closed, between mile markers 4 and 10, due to flooding from the Iowa River and Lake Coralville. 
This, combined with the flooding of the bridges across the Cedar River at Cedar Rapids, effectively cuts Cedar Rapids off from Iowa City; the only way between the two cities, normally 30 miles apart, is a 281-mile long detour that takes drivers through Des Moines. 
The Cedar River at Cedar Rapids crested today at a record-breaking 31.1 feet, nearly 20 feet above flood stage. 
The Iowa River is expected to crest at Iowa City at 33 feet, 11 feet over flood stage and 4.5 feet over the record, on the morning of June 17. 
Leonard Skinner, the namesake of rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, has died at the age of 77. 
Skinner was a gym teacher and basketball coach and taught members of the group. 
His death was announced by his son, also named Leonard Skinner, who also said that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. 
Skinner died at the St. Catherine Laboure Manor nursing home in Riverside at 02.30 a.m. 
His son said that he had a bowl of ice cream shortly after midnight. 
He had been at the home for about a year. 
The coach taught the members of the group in the 1960s and was reportedly hard on the students. 
He later said in a 2009 interview that "he was just following the rules". 
He disputed the rumours that he was extra tough on them or that he kicked them out of school. 
In later years he opened up his own bar and became friends with some members of the group and even introduced them at one of their concerts in Jacksonville. 
Researchers with the University of Calgary in Canada have found that prolactin, a hormone produced during pregnancy, may reverse the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS), according to a paper published this week in The Journal of Neuroscience. 
The study, led by Drs. Samuel Weiss and V. Wee Yong of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, compared virgin and pregnant mice with MS-like lesions introduced by lysolecithin, a chemical which destroys the myelin sheaths around neurons. 
They found the pregnant mice developed smaller lesions and fewer damaged neurons, and showed signs of repaired neurons. 
They also found the pregnant mice had higher levels of cells called oligodendrocytes, which create myelin and are able to repair some damaged neurons through remyelination. 
Because prolactin regulates the levels of precursors of oligodendrocytes, the scientists hypothesized that prolactin levels were responsible for the differences in damage. 
They also tested virgin mice given additional prolactin, and found results similar to pregnant mice. 
Previous studies have shown that other hormones could reduce myelin damage, but this is the first study to show a mechanism to reverse myelin damage, and establish an empirical connection between that mechanism and pregnancy. 
Dr. Weiss says, "It is thought that during pregnancy, women’s immune systems no longer destroyed the myelin." 
"However, no previous study has tested whether pregnancy actually results in the production of new myelin, which may lead to improvement of symptoms." 
"We're excited about this result because it suggests to us that prolactin has the potential to be used to enhance the production of new myelin." 
Dr. William McIlroy, national medical advisor for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, explains the significance of this study: "The results of this study should be well received by people living with MS today." 
"It represents a new insight of how we might be able to reverse some of the effects of the disease and improve the quality of life for those who live under its influence." 
Dr. Luanne Metz, director of the Calgary MS Clinic in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Calgary and Calgary Health Region, adds, "This discovery has the potential to take MS therapy a step further than current treatments that stabilize the disease in its early stages." 
"By promoting repair, which is the goal of prolactin therapy, we have hope of actually improving symptoms in people with MS." 
Further animal studies need to be done to examine the possibility of side effects, such as lactation in men and non-pregnant women, as well as increased inflammation which could worsen the MS. 
Researchers believe human trials may begin within a few years. 
Funding and support were provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Stem Cell Network. 
MS is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system where the body attacks the fatty myelin which helps nerves carry electrical signals, causing muscle weakness and spasming which may lead to disability. 
MS affects approximately one of every 1000 people in North America, northern Europe and Australasia. 
The microblogging service Twitter has changed its software support for censoring posts. 
With the new updates, Twitter can now withdraw individual posts and accounts in specific countries, as opposed to a global deletion. 
Twitter announced these changes in a blog post on Thursday, and released a clarification update on Friday. 
Twitter says it needed to make the changes to expand on an international level. 
It said in a blog post entitled Tweets still must flow, "we will enter countries that have different ideas about the contours of freedom of expression." 
"Some differ so much from our ideas that we will not be able to exist there." 
"Others are similar but, for historical or cultural reasons, restrict certain types of content, such as France or Germany, which ban pro-Nazi content." 
Twitter says it will use the new feature only "when required to do so in response to what we believe to be a valid and applicable legal request." 
The new tools will give Twitter the ability to withdraw posts and entire accounts in selected countries. 
Once the posts have been withdrawn, they are replaced with a message saying: "This Tweet/account has been withheld in: Country." 
The social network has been used in the past as an outlet for political expression. 
During the Arab Spring, protesters in various countries used Twitter to mobilize support and report information to the outside world. 
The organization Reporters without Borders sent an open letter to Twitter's chairman, Jack Dorsey, saying "We urge you to reverse this decision, which restricts freedom of expression and runs counter to the movements opposed to censorship that have been linked to the Arab Spring, in which Twitter served as a sounding board..." 
"Twitter is depriving cyberdissidents in repressive countries of a crucial tool for information and organization." 
A military weapons storage facility in al-Masalmyiah, just north of Aleppo, Syria has exploded, killing at least 15 Syrian soldiers and injuring at least 50 others. 
The explosion occurred on the grounds of a military academy's infantry school where weapons and ammunition are stored. 
The blast, which occurred at 4:30 a.m. EEST (UTC+3) is believed to have been caused by excessive summer temperatures, but other reports suggest that a gas leak may have sparked the blast. 
Firefighters report several deaths and injuries, but also said that the fires caused by the blast have been extinguished. 
Tens of thousands of Syrians took to the streets Friday in cities across the country protesting for freedom. 
Syria's official news agency (SANA) reported, "scattered groups of citizens came out to the streets in several areas of the provinces after Friday prayers and chanted slogans calling for freedom without the intervention of security forces." 
However, protests in Damascus reportedly turned violent as security forces were said to disperse the crowds with batons and tear gas to prevent protesters reaching the capital's main square. 
"I counted 15 mukhabarat [secret police] busloads," a source reported to Reuters news agency. 
"They went into the alleyways just north of the square chasing protesters and yelling 'you pimps, you infiltrators, you want freedom? we will give it to you'." 
Protests in Syria have intensified since mid-March after families of political prisoners held rallies in Damascus and people in Daraa protested against the arrests of more than a dozen children for anti-regime graffiti. 
The protests continued as Syria’s President, Bashar al-Assad failed to lift the emergency law the country has operated under since his Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party came to power in 1963. 
The Assad government has met protests with a mixture of minor concessions and force. 
After a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, "The Syrian government did not meet the legitimate demands of the Syrian people." 
"It is time for the Syrian government to stop its crack down on these people and begin to meet their aspirations." 
The delegation asked for a deadline for their demands to be met. 
Al Jazeera correspondent Rula Amin said, "It seems from the people in Daraa that the government is seriously trying to contain [the situation in] Daraa because that is where it all started." 
"If they manage to calm the situation in Daraa, the government believes it will be able to contain the situation throughout Syria." 
A three-year-old girl has been bitten by two dingoes while holidaying with her parents on Fraser Island, Queensland, Australia. 
The two animals responsible for the attack have since been captured and euthanised by wildlife rangers. 
The child was on the beach with her parents while they waited to be transported to the mainland on the Hook Point barge. 
Witnesses report that the child wandered into nearby sand dunes where she was repeatedly bitten on the legs by the wild dogs. 
Members of the Fraser Island Preservation group believe that the parents are to blame for the attack. 
Spokeswoman Bree Jashin has stated the attack was the result of inattentiveness. 
"The child was unsupervised and you have to ask how could a three-year-old get so close to the dingoes?" 
Experts such as Environmental Department manager Terry Harper say the attack is uncharacteristic for the dingoes on Fraser Island which is said to be one of the last remaining safe havens for purebred dingoes. 
"This is a very timely reminder for everybody about how important it is to stay very close to your children on Fraser Island," Harper stated. 
The child received medical attention at the site of the attack and was then transported to Gympie Hospital. 
A top US commander said yesterday that the United States is not planning a preemptive attack on Iran despite increasing rhetoric from Washington, D.C. 
The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also denied that an attack was imminent, stating that there is no Congressional authorization for military action against Iran. 
The denials came as The Observer ran a report saying that US personnel involved in interrogating insurgents in Iraq are under "huge" pressure to find evidence against Iran. 
It quoted Micah Brose, a privately contracted interrogator working for the US military there, as saying that information on Iran is "gold". 
"They push a lot for us to establish a link with Iran," Brose claimed in the interview, adding that "it feels a lot like, if you get something and Iran's not involved, it's a let down." 
He further claimed that people have said to him that "they're really pushing the Iran thing." 
Brose denied being asked to manufacture evidence, but stated that "if a detainee wants to tell me what I want to hear so he can get out of jail ... you know what I'm saying." 
The US has in the past been accused of using exaggerated and fabricated evidence to build its case against Iraq prior to the war. 
The article by the British based newspaper said most military intelligence officers refused to comment but that one said "The message is, 'Got to find a link with Iran, got to find a link with Iran." 
On Monday, Admiral William J. Fallon, the commanding officer of United States Central Command which is responsible for the Middle East, East Africa and Central Asia, speaking in Financial Times, said that a strike against Iran is "not in the offing." 
"None of this is helped by the continuing stories that just keep going around and around and around that any day now there will be another war which is just not where we want to go," Fallon continued. 
"Getting Iranian behavior to change and finding ways to get them to come to their senses and do that is the real objective." 
"Attacking them as a means to get to that spot strikes me as being not the first choice in my book." 
Despite saying this, he refused to rule out a strike against Iran in the future. 
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on ABC's This Week on Sunday, saying that a Senate resolution designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization does not authorize military action. 
"There is nothing in this particular resolution that would suggest that from our point of view." 
"And, clearly, the president has also made very clear that he's on a diplomatic path where Iran comes into focus," Rice said. 
"This resolution is saying that there needs to be strong measures taken against Iran, which we have definitely done," Rice continued. 
"And if the Iranians suspend their enrichment and reprocessing, I'm prepared to meet my counterpart anyplace, anytime, anywhere." 
"So the question isn't why will we not talk to Tehran." 
"The question is, why will Tehran not talk to us?" 
Senator Hillary Clinton, who is running for President, voted for the resolution. 
She has said that the resolution could not be used to justify war, but rather it seeks to escalate diplomatic efforts. 
"We wish to emphasize that no congressional authority exists for unilateral military action against Iran," she said in an open letter on November 1, 2007. 
Last week, former Foreign Minister of Germany, Joschka Fischer said that he was worried that the upcoming US Presidential election could heighten tensions between the US and Iran. 
He found particularly worrisome a statement by Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani in October that "If I am President of the United States, I guarantee you, we will never find out what they will do if they get nuclear weapons, because they are not going to get a nuclear weapon ... the military option is not off the table." 
The space shuttle Discovery is coming back to Earth after 11 days in orbit. 
The a scan of the Shuttle's heat shield (now routine since the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster) showed no cause for concern and Discovery was cleared for the voyage home. 
The mission's primary purposes were to deliver the Harmony module to the International Space Station and to help reposition and extend solar power arrays. 
The mission gained wide attention for including a space walk to repair damage in the solar power array. 
The space walk had not been planned until the mission was already underway when the damage was then detected. 
However, additional problems with a rotary joint were not repaired and if they are not repaired they could interfere with further station construction. 
The return will also bring back Clay Anderson who is being replaced on the International Space Station by Dan Tani. 
Discovery is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center at 1:02 PM EST (UTC-5) on November 7. 
On Friday morning, United States President George W. Bush defended interrogation tactics used by the CIA, stating that "This government does not torture people." 
Bush's comments were a response to an article in Thursday's New York Times describing a classified 2005 Justice Department legal opinion that endorsed the use of painful physical and psychological tactics against terror suspects. 
Bush also claimed that "the techniques that we used have been fully disclosed to appropriate members of the US Congress." 
According to anonymous sources cited in The New York Times article, the classified 2005 legal opinion contained "an expansive endorsement of the harshest interrogation techniques ever used by the Central Intelligence Agency," and explicitly authorized the use of tactics including head-slapping, frigid temperatures, and the simulated drowning technique known as waterboarding against terror suspects. 
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino confirmed the existence of the 2005 document but did not say whether techniques such as head slapping and waterboarding constitute "torture" under U.S. law. 
"I'm not going to get into specific tactics," Perino said. 
She added that disclosing specific interrogation methods could reduce the effectiveness of those methods by allowing terrorists to train to resist them. 
Democrats expressed frustration with the Bush administration's secrecy on the issue of interrogation tactics. 
"The administration can’t have it both ways," said Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. 
"They can’t say that Congress has been fully briefed while refusing to turn over key documents used to justify the legality of the program." 
Four journalists from The Sun newspaper and one police officer have been arrested today as part of Operation Elveden, the investigation into payments by journalists working at News International to police officers. 
The police officer has been identified as a 29-year-old officer in the Territorial Policing Command at the Metropolitan Police. 
The police have not identified the journalists, but the BBC suggest they are Fergus Shanahan, ex-deputy editor of The Sun; Graham Dudman, ex-managing editor; Mike Sullivan, crime editor; and Chris Pharo, head of news. 
The Metropolitan Police have said News Corporation disclosed information leading to the arrests. 
The offices of News International at Wapping have also been searched today as part of the investigation. 
Operation Elveden has now arrested a total of fourteen people: 12 journalists and two police officers. 
Marek is the editor of a regional weekly newspaper, the Wiesci Polickie (news from the town of Police). 
In February 2001, he published an article alleging that a local municipal employee, who privately ran an advertising agency, had a conflict of interest in which he profited from his position to obtain business for his agency. 
Upon appeal in November 2003, he had the three-month prison sentence suspended on the condition that he apologise to the libellee. 
Marek refused to apologise and applied for a presidential pardon in March 2004. 
On March 23, 2004, a court in Szczecin suspended the application of the sentence by six months due to problems with Marek's wife's pregnancy. 
Reporters sans frontières claims that Poland is the only European Union country in which prison sentences are imposed for "offences of opinion" and that this is the first such occurrence in the EU. 
On July 18, 2003, Dorota Nieznalska was sentenced to six months of community service for displaying a work of art that showed a penis on a cross. 
On January 5, 2005, Jerzy Urban was fined 20,000 złoty (about 5000 euros) for having insulted Pope John Paul II, who qualified for legal protection against insults due to his role as a visiting head of state. 
Polish websites are calling for appeals to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights protesting the prison sentence. 
Brampton, Ontario woman Wendy Grant, 41, is facing 234 charges of double-doctoring after obtaining prescriptions for 6000 pills. 
The Ontario Provincial Police also charged her with fraud charge after allegedly obtaining false prescriptions for a narcotic, that were fraudulently billed to the Ontario Drug Benefits Plan. 
From February to May, Grant obtained pills from 28 doctors and 22 pharmacies in Peel and Halton regions. 
The Workers' Compensation Board of Nova Scotia defines "double doctoring" "as a situation where a [person] seeks or obtains a prescription for a controlled drug or narcotic from more than one doctor to treat the same condition for the same period of time." 
A Kam Air plane from Afghanistan, traveling in China's Xinjiang region was not hijacked and did not receive a bomb threat, according to Afghan officials. 
Earlier the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported a plane to be hijacked. 
Later reports then stated the plane received a bomb threat and was diverted back to Afghanistan, landing in Kandahar. 
The early reports say the plane was diverted back to Afghanistan after being denied an emergency landing in Ürümqi. 
The plane was traveling to China and had been ordered to turn around after the proper paperwork was not in place. 
Upon its return, the plane landed in Kabul after it encountered high winds. 
It is not known how many people were on board the plane, but no injuries are reported. 
A NATO official denied there was an emergency landing due to a threat and says the Chinese media reports are untrue. 
The Xinjiang region was the scene of a violent uprising by its Uyghur population last month. 
Apple's new 3G iPhone was introduced to consumers in 21 nations on Friday, but its first sales day was marred by minimal supplies and sluggish phone activations. 
Systems which enable the iPhones for service had difficulty due to network failures and insufficient capacity to meet the demand for first-day sales, particularly in the United States at Apple and AT&T stores, and in Canada. 
Long lineups of customers were waiting at Australian stores for the first day of iPhone sales there, where the phone is supported by Telstra, Optus and Vodafone. 
Crowds also lined up in Japan where the iPhone was unavailable for sale until now. 
The iPhone was sold to Canadians for the first time through Rogers Wireless stores. 
Rogers has exclusive rights to the iPhone in Canada since it is the only national wireless carrier that supports the iPhone's transmission standards. 
Earlier complaints about high iPhone rates did not deter hundreds of would-be Canadian iPhone buyers who lined up hours before store opening times. 
They soon learned, however, that the new phones were in short supply, and like other countries experienced delays in activating the phones. 
A CBC News survey found that the most expensive basic iPhone service was in Italy for Vodafone customers at an equivalent US$2554 for a two-year contract. 
Canada's Rogers was the second most expensive at US$2176 for a three-year term. 
Swisscom customers in Switzerland will enjoy the lowest monthly service fees (US$34). 
In the southern city of Diwania, Iraqi troops battled members of the Shia minority's Mehdi Army, killing 40 gunmen and wounding another 40 civilians. 
Internal Iraqi forces had lost control of parts of Diwaniya city in Iraq's south after members of the Mehdi Army rejected a call to participate in peace negotiations. 
In response the Mehdi Army setup checkpoints in parts of the city, sparking the violence that saw the Iraqi government send in large numbers of reinforcements to re-take control of the city. 
In Baghdad a mid-morning blast injured about a dozen people, and killing at least eight police officers. 
The blast was aimed at the heavily securied Iraqi Interior Ministry, which has been the frequent target of attacks. 
This morning's violence contrasted statements by Maj Gen William Caldwell, who claimed "Insurgents and terrorists are hitting back in an attempt to offset the success of the Iraqi government and its security forces," the general went on to say that violence had fallen by half since July, but had increased suddenly in the last two days. 
Yesterday five US soldiers were killed in three separate bombing incidents, killing four and one respectively, the US military announced today. 
Sectarian violence has flared in Iraq since the US-led invasion, leading some to speculate that Iraq is now in the throwes of a civil war. 
Calls to partition the country are becoming louder, bringing into question the future of Iraq as a unified state. 
The assassination of the chief prosecutor in Saddam Hussein's trial for genocide highlights the deep divisions between Iraq's cultural factions, lending creedance to speculation that Iraq has a long way to go before the safety of civilians can be assured. 
Factions still loyal to the Hussein Regieme remain under cover, undermining the reported progress of western forces. 
On Wednesday March 8, North Korea launched two surface-to-air missiles, during military training exercises near the border with China, according to Kyodo News which cited two military sources. 
An "Asian security source" stated that the missiles may have been launched in the direction of China by mistake, and landed just inside the North Korean border. 
A "Western military source", however, claimed that they were launched to the east, in the direction of the Sea of Japan, but still says they landed in North Korean territory. 
North Korea surprised the world when it launched a ballistic missile over northern Japan in 1998. 
Since then, it has conducted many missile tests, including a dense battery of land-to-ship missile tests in 2003 when tensions rose over its possible possession of nuclear weapons. 
It is believed to be developing a ballistic missile that could reach Alaska, Hawaii, or even the continental United States. 
Puerto Rico is a semi-autonomous territory of the United States. 
The U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez of the District of Puerto Rico said that, because of the nature of the crimes he is charged with, the Governor himself will not be arrested immediately and will be given a chance to "give himself up to the police." 
Some of the other people charged, however, have already been arrested and await trial. 
The 13 defendants are charged with conspiracy, false statements, wire fraud, federal program fraud and tax crimes related to the financing for the Governor's 1999-2002 campaigns for Resident Commissioner, the sole representative of the island in the U.S. Congress, and for his subsequent 2004 gubernatorial run. 
This indictment comes after a two-year investigation by a Grand Jury of donations made to the Governor's past campaigns. 
The defendants face three to ten years in federal prison, as well as several $100,000 to $250,000 fines. 
Sharansky’s resignation as Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Jerusalem was accepted by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at Sunday’s cabinet meeting. 
"The only aim of the current government is the implementation of the disengagement plan, and therefore it is wrong, even immoral, for me to remain a part of this government." 
Sharansky said that although he was always against what he calls the "so-called disengagement plan," he decided to leave the government once the battle against the withdrawal was no longer able to be waged from within the government. 
"Our main battle now is public opinion, because the struggle in the government is finished," he said. 
Although he hopes to take the struggle to the people, the former minister hopes his move will pave the way for other politicians to follow their consciences. 
"I don’t know how effective my quitting will be," Sharansky said, "but I hope it will encourage other politicians and ministers to at least vote according to what they believe and what they think." 
The former prisoner of Zion (who served time in a Soviet prison for wanting to emigrate to Israel) says his main objection to the plan to withdraw from Gaza and northern Samaria is the fact that the withdrawal is not contingent on the creation of democracy within the Palestinian Authority. 
"I have promoted the spread of democracy as the only answer for thirty years." 
"And now, at the time when an American president declares these principles and promotes them, an Israeli PM comes along and does the exact opposite." 
Although he has in the past supported withdrawal from parts of the land of Israel, Sharansky says the current plan goes too far. 
"We cannot control another people and we will need serious compromise, but that compromise does not include giving another people the ability to destroy us…as if we run from Gaza, Gaza will not run after us." 
"I had many opportunities to present my point of view to the Prime Minister, both publicly and privately," Sharansky said. 
"I told him we will not have ten years – we will not even have ten days free from pressure, because we are legitimizing one-sided withdrawals from Jewish areas – each withdrawal will only invite more pressure." 
"We are speaking about three generations of Jews that were sent on the important mission by the Israeli government and made an empty desert into a blossoming garden." 
"Now we will just destroy all these beautiful communities, with their unique agriculture and incredible Judaism - for what?" Sharansky asks. 
Violent clashes have broken out between Palestinians and Israeli police near the al-Aqsa Mosque and Temple Mount in Jerusalem, from controversy over Israeli construction near the site, which is holy to both Muslims and Jews. 
The construction work reportedly is to repair a pedestrian bridge that leads to the Mugrabi Gate, the entrance to the mosque used by Palestinians, and runs over the Jewish Western Wall area of the complex. 
The earthen ramp bridge leads to a hilltop compound known as the Temple Mount to Jews and as the Noble Sanctuary to Muslims. 
The bridge collapsed in 2004 and was temporarily replaced with a wooden bridge which Israelis say is weakening and unsafe. 
Israel has controlled the contentious compound since the 1967 Mideast War, 
The construction involves excavation work and digging at the site, which Palestinian leaders contend is part of an attempt to dig under the mosque to find evidence of the Jewish Second Temple and/or to deliberately weaken the foundation of the mosque. 
Muslims dispute that the Temple was located at the site. 
Israeli forces locked down Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem in anticipation of backlashes from the construction. 
The Old Jerusalem city limits were blockaded, allowing only Palestinians over 45 years old from entering and only on foot. 
Opponents have declared the blockades and the construction work a deliberate act to prevent Muslims from accessing the holy site. 
The mass of protesters at the site have in turn blocked Jewish access to the Western Wall. 
Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas declared the construction and blockade as "hostile measures" against Muslims. 
Palestinian chief justice Tayssir al-Tamimi declared a "day of anger" and called on Palestinians to defend the mosque. 
Arab and Muslim countries including Jordan, Malaysia and Indonesia criticized Israel for the controversial work and urged it to halt construction. 
Israeli defense minister Amir Peretz also warned against starting construction. 
The leader of the Pakistan Muslim League urged Muslim countries to freeze diplomatic ties with Israel in protest of the work. 
Around 150 Muslims were inside the mosque for morning prayers when the construction and blockade began. 
An Israeli Muslim journalist reported that the worshippers were unable to leave and received loud messages from Israeli loudspeakers. 
Conventional Judaism believes it is also the historic site of the First and Second Temples, the holiest temple in Judaism, which is prophesised to be rebuilt ahead of the coming of the Messiah. 
No deaths have been reported in the clashes, which simmered by evening. 
Demonstrations also took place at mosques throughout the Muslim world, including Egypt and Jordan. 
The incident comes only a few days after rival Palestinian political factions, Hamas and Fatah, came to an agreement for a unity government aimed at restoring international support of Palestine and a return to Israeli negotiations. 
Barbaro, winner of the 2006 Kentucky Derby, was euthanized on the morning of January 29, according to co-owner Roy Jackson. 
Barbaro suffered a major injury to his right hind leg shortly after the start of the 2006 Preakness Stakes. 
According to Jackson, "We just reached a point where it was going to be difficult for him to go on without pain." 
"It was the right decision, it was the right thing to do." 
"We said all along if there was a situation where it would become more difficult for him then it would be time." 
Barbaro's right hind leg was shattered in the opening lengths of the Preakness race. 
Three bones in the leg were broken - the cannon bone, the sesamoid bone, and the pastern bone. 
Laminitis took hold in the left hind leg as a result of the extra weight borne on the leg by the horse. 
It appeared for a while that Barbaro would recover; however, earlier this month, the horse suffered two significant setbacks that greatly reduced his ultimate chances for survival. 
The three-year-old colt underwent emergency surgery on May 20 to fuse two joints in the damaged right leg. 
Further surgery was required on January 27 to insert two steel pins into one of the healed bones. 
The latest procedure was especially risky because it transferred more weight on to the leg, with the foot resting on the ground not bearing any weight. 
The right rear hoof was already deteriorating, having developed a painful abscess earlier in the week. 
The wreck of the plane ATR72 that fell into the sea near Sicily, Italy on August 6 has been recovered. 
One of the two black boxes that contained the communication recording, and the complete set of instruments and commands in the cockpit, was recovered. 
One of the three people who were still missing from the accident was found, while there is yet no sign of the other two persons. 
The identity of the recovered corpse is not yet known (and the identification is expected to be difficult). 
A survey published today by the Italian association Intesaconsumatori (Union of Consumers) said that 61% of Italians are afraid to fly, while 41% of population feels less safe about plane safety than they did one month earlier. 
According to the survey, 20% would be ready to get off the plane, or refuse to get in the plane, if they found that the airline is different from the one they were told when they bought the ticket. 
The German city of Munich has delayed the start of its planed migration to Linux till 2006. 
The migration was originally due to start this year, three years after the decision to migrate to Linux was made. 
Peter Hofmann, the project leader of the migration said the delay was because the "pilot was more important than we first thought and should last longer." 
Once the pilot is completed all the departments will eventually be migrated to Linux and OpenOffice.org. 
On May 28, 2003 Germany's third-largest city, voted to move to open source software. 
Munich made the decision to switch after Microsoft discontinued support for their current OS, Windows NT 4. 
While Suse was very involved in the early phases, Debian was ultimately selected to replace Windows on 14,000 desktops. 
The migration is estimated to cost between 30 and 34 million euros, once complete would affect approximately 16,000 users. 
The first department to migrate to Linux and OpenOffice.org will be the office of the Lord Mayor planed for the middle of 2006, though not all of the department's computers will be immediately migrated. 
Peter Hofmann said "Some departments will start with OpenOffice on Windows, others will start with OpenOffice on Linux". 
The President of the Hellenic Republic, Carolos Papoulias, attended the inauguration ceremony of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation in Alexandria, Egypt. 
The ceremony was blessed by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew. 
Also attending, in addition to the Greek President, were two ministers of the Greek government, a former Prime Minister of Greece, many Greek businessmen and the Orthodox bishops of Africa. 
The development of the Church of the Annunciation in Alexandria has been financed by the Onassis Foundation. 
Tomorrow, President Papoulias will meet unofficially in Cairo with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. 
The United Nations has confirmed that its convoy in Syria was bombed this afternoon while a human rights group reported a Syrian military attack on civilians at a nearby funeral in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province today. 
Just prior to the bombing of the UN convoy at around 1400 Eastern European Time (UTC+2), the Syrian military is said to have attacked a funeral procession and reportedly 20 people were killed in that incident. 
The attack on civilians by the Syrian military was reported by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. 
According to Martin Nesirky, who is the UN spokesperson for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, an IED bomb struck its four-vehicle convoy. 
UN personnel had to be left behind after the blast but no UN staff were injured. 
Later, the UN sent a patrol to pick up personnel left behind. 
A video uploaded to the video sharing website YouTube reportedly shows the UN convoy being targeted and bombed. 
About a dozen civilians can be seen surrounding the lead car of the convoy talking to UN observers. 
Several seconds later, a bomb explodes near what appears to be the lead car of the convoy severely damaging the front end of the vehicle and injuring several civilians. 
The lead car, still operating, begins to leave the area. 
According to reports, several civilians were injured and or killed in the attack. 
The UN has reportedly stated that none of their observers were injured. 
"We went to observe and after a while shooting occurred; We are safe with the Free Army and we are waiting for a [U.N.] group to pick us up," said UN observers to Reuters. 
According to reports, the UN is seeking "to remove the observers from the area." 
It is not yet known who was responsible for the attack on the UN convoy. 
Yesterday, Australia's Deputy Prime Minister, Mark Vaile, appeared before the Cole Inquiry into kickbacks paid to Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime. 
It is the first time in over a decade that a senior government official has been called to give evidence before a royal commission in Australia. 
The inquiry heard that Mr Vaile could not recall being told any specific details of the allegations made against the wheat exporter AWB before 2003, and despite his department receiving information about the allegations, it came as no surprise that he was not informed as he held no responsibility for the UN Oil-for-Food program. 
Mr Vaile has been Australia's trade minister since 2000 and the deputy prime minister since 2005. 
Mr Vaile told the commission that despite the cables received by his department in 2000 alleging that the AWB agreed to pay a kickback to Hussein's regime in Iraq, inflating wheat prices and paying money into another non-Iraqi account, he does not recollect being told specific details of the allegations. 
When asked by counsel assisting the commission John Agius about how such cables are dealt with, Mr Vaile told the commission that they are looked at by department officers who decide whether or not they need the minister's attention. 
Mr Vaile said that if a particular cable needed his attention it was generally put into a ministerial submission. 
He said that such submissions may require ministerial action, while others just contain information which he may need to make a note of. 
Once the submission has been read, the minister signs it and it goes into the system. 
Mr Vaile told the commission that on occasion he receives information from cables via briefings from his advisors and departmental officers. 
When questioned about a cable sent to the department of trade containing concerns raised by the UN about AWB's dealings in Iraq dated January 13, 2000, Mr Vaile said that he was briefed in a general sense on the issues raised. 
Despite the UN's concerns being stated in the cable, Mr Vaile said that he "can't recall being aware of the substance". 
Mr Vaile said he was under the belief that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Australia's UN mission were taking care of the UN's concerns. 
He said that he did not have responsibility over the issues being raised． 
"That's my recollection, and my recollection is that there were concerns that had been raised about an AWB contract, and that DFAT and the Mission in New York were dealing with it, bearing in mind that I was not - I didn't have direct ministerial responsibility for either the UN Mission in New York or the Oil-for-Food Program" he said. 
When asked if he would have expected to be briefed in detail on the issues in the cable, Mr Vaile said "Given the circumstances at the time, in terms of my direct ministerial responsibility and being new in the portfolio, probably not." 
Mr Vaile told the inquiry that he was surprised that he had not been briefed about a cable dated March 11, 2000 from Austrade to the department of trade. 
The summary of the document said "It may be necessary to advise the minister of the situation." 
The inquiry heard that in April, 2000 Mr Vaile was told by an advisor that the issue raised in January, 2000 had been resolved with the UN. 
When questioned by Mr Agius about why he did not follow up on the allegations made against AWB in 2000, Mr Vaile said he was too snowed under with work. 
"My best recollections are that I was pretty well snowed under in taking on the responsibilities of a new portfolio and the breadth of issues, having come from a much narrower base in the previous portfolio, and I recall early in 2000 being very, very focused on what to do next in the WTO process after the Seattle ministerial failed in the December of 1999," he told the inquiry. 
Mr Agius then questioned Mr Vaile about allegations made by US Wheat Associates in 2003 that AWB had been inflating wheat prices to Iraq. 
At the same time there were also allegations that money was being paid to Hussein's regime, that AWB was not being transparent in their dealings. 
At the time Mr Vaile defended AWB based upon information provided to him by his department. 
He claims that it was some time later that he learned the information he was given was provided to the department by AWB. 
Mr Vaile said that his department did not conduct an investigation into the allegations despite them being raised in 2000 and again in 2003 by separate parties. 
Mr Vaile also admits that at the time, he dismissed the allegations made by US Wheat Associates as he believed that they were putting pressure on the US administration with regards to WTO negotiations between Australia and the US. 
Mr Vaile told the inquiry that the first he became aware of possible corruption with connected with AWB was in April, 2004. 
The inquiry heard that Mr Vaile and Alexander Downer (Australia's foreign minister) had received a submission claiming that AWB had acted properly, but the company they paid to transport wheat in Iraq had been paying kickbacks to Hussein's regime. 
Mr Vaile said that at the time he saw no need to review procedures within his department for the distribution of information regarding AWB. 
According to Mr Vaile, the only time the department of trade investigated its files to locate information it had received on AWB's dealings in Iraq was around March 2004 to assist the UN's inquiry into the Oil-for-Food programme. 
Google Inc. may offer hosting services to Wikipedia, a free community-built encyclopedia, and other projects hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. 
Google's competitors, such as Clusty.com, MSN Search, and Yahoo, already offer searching of encyclopedias as a dedicated search category. 
Clusty.com offers the English Wikipedia, MSN Search links to Encarta, and Yahoo has access to the Columbia Encyclopedia. 
Wikipedia is often one of the top results of many searches. 
Anyone can distribute and even modify Wikipedia content in compliance with its license, called the GNU Free Documentation License. 
Besides attribution, the license requires that modifications are made available under the same conditions, a principle known as "copyleft" and most frequently applied to computer software such as the free operating system Linux. 
How would a tight Wikipedia integration into Google look? 
1. A Wikipedia-specific search category like Google's Newsgroups Index Google Groups that even is editable. 
You can subscribe to Google Groups and post a response to a message thread. 
2. A Wikipedia-specific search category that is non-editable and links to the original project like Google that uses the Open Content the Open Directory Project. 
Plymouth, Michigan, United States - This week, independent software developer Stardock released Galactic Civilizations II: Dark Avatar, an expansion to their PC turn-based strategy game Dread Lords. 
Industry websites IGN and GameSpy responded with Editors' Choice awards, while UGO gave it an A. 
The expansion had previously been named as one of GameSpy's Most Wanted Games of 2007. 
Reviewers cited the significant increase in customization options, better artificial intelligence, and an improvement in graphics quality as decisive factors. 
UGO's Adam Swiderski noted that "if creating a fleet of death-dealing starships sounds like fun to you (and it really should), this is your dream playground," while GameSpy's reviewer suggested that "after a week of playing Dark Avatar, you may forget Master of Orion altogether." 
Criticism mostly revolved around "uninspired" ground combat, a too-generic tech tree, and the continued lack of multiplayer support. 
The original game received some publicity for its lack of copy protection, but gained far more by the actions of a StarForce forum administrator, who made a post linking to an illegal BitTorrent download of the game. 
StarForce developer Protection Technology later claimed this to be a poorly-considered attempt to demonstrate the result of not using their software, which is designed to prevent software piracy. 
The result was a media backlash against the company, including satirical commentary by gaming webcomic/blog Penny Arcade describing the action as "extortion." 
Its writer, Jerry Holkins, asked that "publishers distance themselves from a company that has shown such contempt for their industry." 
The expansion is available as an online purchase in CD or digital download form through Stardock's gaming subsidiary, TotalGaming.net. 
A compilation of the original and expansion has also been released as Galactic Civilizations II: Gold Edition and is available in stores, say Stardock. 
Their retail game releases still contain no copy protection, but online activation is required to download updates. 
Two days of ministerial talks have ended without agreement and evidence of a possible deadlock between developing and developed countries. 
148 member countries are trying to reach a consensus on how to proceed with the Doha round of talks which are scheduled to be agreed in 2006. 
However, they are now behind the deadlines they set and the Geneva meeting saw no progress. 
Richer countries are being accused of demanding too many concessions in return for opening up trade and reducing subsidies while they say that the poorer countries are holding them to ransom by blocking progress. 
Victory Park, Woombye, Queensland — Conversions were a rarity on Saturday as Noosa defeated Nambour in a four try to two round 18 Sunshine Coast Rugby Union match in Woombye, Australia. 
Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota signed a bill into law on Thursday that requires the state to generate a significant amount of its energy needs from renewable sources. 
The amount of power generated by wind turbines in the state stands now at 895 megawatts. 
An additional 5,000 megawatts of energy from renewable sources will need to be added to Minnesota's electricity resources, which is roughly eight times more than the amount that currently comes from renewables. 
The bill signed by the Governor requires energy companies to provide 25 percent of power from renewable sources by 2025. 
Xcel Energy, which supplies approximately half of the electricity in the state, is required to provide 30 percent from renewable sources by 2020. 
Wikinews held an exclusive interview with American author and filmmaker Peter John Ross. 
The head of Sonnyboo Productions, an independent film studio based in Columbus, Ohio, he has made numerous short films as well as co-directed a feature, the World War II B-movie Horrors of War. 
He has also written a book on filmmaking, Tales from the Front Line of Indie Filmmaking. 
He says that it "combines helpful articles for beginning filmmakers with narrative tales based on my experiences raising money for features and the crazy personalities that invade the world of microbudget filmmaking." 
When asked why he makes movies, Ross replied, "There is no greater thrill than sitting in a room full of strangers watching the stories unfold with flickering pictures and sound." 
"I live for the moments when I can sit there and watch the movies with people I don't know and really feel how they react to what I wrote or directed or edited." 
The remaining three members of the Bali Nine have been sentenced to life in prison by a Denpasar court. 
Matthew Norman, 19, Si Yi Chen, 20, and Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, aged 27 were found guilty of exporting narcotics. 
The court found that the heroin they had been caught with was the same as that found strapped to the bodies of the four others arrested at Denpasar airport. 
The Australian Federal Police have been criticised for allowing the Bali Nine to travel to Indonesia, where it was known they could face the death penalty. 
All nine have now been found guilty and sentenced, with seven receiving life in prison, and the two ringleaders being sentenced to death yesterday. 
The first leg of the round of sixteen in the UEFA Cup occurred earlier today, with all eight games being played. 
Spain boasted the most teams in the competition with four (Espanyol, Celta de Vigo, Sevilla, and Osasuna), while England (Tottenham, Newcastle), Portugal (Braga, Benfica), Germany (Bayer Leverkusen, Werder Bremen) and France (Lens, PSG) each had two teams still in the Cup. 
Other represented countries were Israel (Maccabi Haifa), Scotland (Rangers), Ukraine (Shakhtar Donetsk), and Netherlands (AZ Alkmaar). 
Despite a drop in violence in the country over the past weekend, the French cabinet has agreed to ask the parliament for a three-month extension to emergency powers. 
Ministers agreed on the extension at a meeting chaired by President Jacques Chirac, and a bill on that effect will be presented on Tuesday to the National Assembly and on Wednesday to the Senate. 
The police reported 284 vehicles being torched in petrol bomb attacks on Sunday, the 18th consecutive night of the riots. 
The number is lower than the previous night, when 374 cars were destroyed, and considerably below previous week's peak of 1,400. 
Chirac, who has been criticized for keeping a low profile during the crisis, prepared to address the nation on Monday night in a television broadcast. 
Chirac was quoted by a government spokesman as saying that the emergency powers were "strictly temporary and will only be applied where they are strictly necessary." 
In spite of all departmental prefects being authorised to impose curfews, in practice only few have. 
The extension of powers has drawn some criticism from local mayors who have deemed it an overreaction and potentially inflammatory. 
The pressure group SOS Racisme said that events had shown that the prefects already had enough powers. 
Since the beginning of the unrest on October 27, more than 8,000 cars have been torched, more than 2,700 people arrested and dozens of buildings wrecked. 
According to José Manuel Durão Barroso, President of the European Commission, the European Union is prepared to release 50 million € in aid for damaged areas. 
69,000 fans packed Allianz Arena and saw Bayern Munich maintained their perfect record on Saturday with a 3-0 victory against Hannover. 
Once referee Thorsten Kinhöfer whistled for the opening kickoff, both teams played attacking style. 
Hannover answered a couple of headers from Martin Demichelis with Hanno Balitsch's drive. 
Bayern Munich took the lead in the 28th minute when Bastian Schweinsteiger fed Luca Toni a pass into the penalty box and scored against Hannover goalkeeper Robert Enke. 
Bayern Munich sealed the victory with 2 goals from Mark van Bommel and Hamit Altintop in the 2nd half. 
On Sunday, Wolfsburg is at home against Schalke and Eintracht Frankfurt is at home against Hansa Rostock . 
In a televised Pentagon press briefing Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld stood by a press release from the Pentagon on Monday that reported explosives and bombs crossed into Iraq from across the Iranian border. 
It is true that weapons, clearly, unambiguously from Iran have been found in Iraq, Rumsfeld said today. 
Evidence reportedly indicated the quality and sophistication of the weapons was such that they may have been manufactured in Iran, but Rumsfeld was unable or unwilling to describe the weapons further. 
Timing of the Pentagon release coincides with the controversy over Iran restarting its nuclear facilities. 
Rumsfeld, with the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, Richard Myers, said the jihadist effort in Iraq was aimed at inciting civil war, since they realize they cannot directly defeat the coalition. 
Speaking on the issue of border crossings of troops and munitions from Syria and Iran, Rumsfeld implied that those nations don't want progress in to be made in Iraq. 
The two cited progress by the Iraqi government in working toward the August 15 deadline for drafting a new constitution. 
In a nod to the possibility that the deadline will be missed, it was said that the constitution could be amended, and that voting on ratification would occur in October of this year, with a general election to follow in December. 
Myers referred to a shift in the Sunni participation in the process, saying, "All indications are that the Sunni leadership in Iraq has made a fundamental decision that they want to be part of the process." 
They reasserted previous President Bush statements that there is no clear time-table for an Iraqi withdrawal because it depends on the situation at the time. 
The drawdowns that will occur eventually will obviously be based on those conditions. 
Further questions by reporters intending to pin down a clear withdrawal time-line were rebuffed. 
Myers said, "You have economic progress that has to be made; you have political progress that has to be made." 
He added that "173,000 Iraqi security forces" are in place in the country, but along with work on the country's infrastructure, much remains to be done with the training and equipping of their security forces. 
These are figures from a nationwide telephone survey of 1200 individuals conducted by Zogby International from Friday, May 12 through Tuesday, May 16, 2006. 
The results have a margin of sampling error of +/- 2.9. 
The poll was commissioned by 911truth.org, a single issue website aimed at pinning the blame of 9/11 on the Bush administration. 
The results of this Zogby poll were released last Monday (22 May), but went largely unreported by the mass media, possibly due to bias within the source. 
Yesterday the Health Ministry claimed that China issued a national ban on smoking in all indoor public spaces. 
The ban is included in the government's 12th Five-Year Plan. 
Also banned is smoking in outdoor public areas where pedestrians pass. 
China, with a third of the world's smoking population at 300 million smokers, is the largest cigarette market in the world. 
Each week approximately 70 percent of non-smoking adults are exposed to second-hand smoke. 
According the the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, tobacco-related illnesses kill over one million people annually. 
The World Health Organisation says Chinese smoking-related deaths account for one fifth of deaths from smoking world-wide. 
The number of deaths are predicted to rise to 3.5 million deaths a year by 2030 if no steps are taken, states a report co-authored by Zhao Ping, deputy director general of the Chinese Cancer Foundation. 
Further, there is a spike of new smokers in China as increasingly women, young people and the poor become smokers. 
The posting of logos is being required to alert people not to smoke. 
Vending machines selling cigarettes in public places will be banned as will cigarette advertisements and sponsorships. 
The new regulations include educational measures to inform people about the dangers of tobacco. 
A car bomb exploded today at the gates of a U.S. military base, just outside the Afghan capital of Kabul. 
The incident occurred just outside an US installation dubbed "Camp Phoenix". 
This is mainly used by American troops which train Afghan security forces. 
Camp Phoenix is often attacked by insurgents, particularly suicide bombers. 
In mid-November, an attack in Camp Phoenix, injured 25 people, half of them American soldiers. 
The Taliban was the group that claimed responsibility for the attack. 
A spokesperson for the bombers, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed in a telephone interview that the bomber had allegedly "killed and wounded" ten American soldiers and demolished three military vehicles. 
Asked about that claim, an American military spokeswoman, Air Force Master Sgt. Sabrina D. Foster, said that a statement would be issued soon but that in the meantime she could confirm only eight United States personnel with minor wounds. 
According to Kabul police chief, Abdul Rahman, three of those injured were American interpreters. 
Sayed Abdul Ghafar, head of the criminal investigation, Kabul police, said the explosion demolished at least eleven civilian vehicles in the adjoining area. 
Eight were wounded, most of whom were day laborers who generally would be leaving the base after a day's work. 
All were reported to be stable by Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemary Bashary. 
"The target of the suicide attacker seemed to be foreign forces, but we couldn’t see any American vehicle damaged there because the road was blocked by American forces." 
"We don’t know exactly the casualties among the foreign forces," said Ghafar. 
"The American troops soon blocked the area, and barred access to the highway." 
"They won’t even let the Afghan National Police near it," said an Afghan policeman near the place where the attack occurred. 
It was the first suicide bombing in Kabul since January 18. 
In the previous attack, several bombs had been detonated by the attackers, who also fought with Afghan commandos. 
The situation was brought under control soon; however five people were killed. 
Earlier today, Afghan intelligence officials provided another statement about this attack; this statement is probably the one with most details. 
During a news conference, they showed a video which was about an Afghan man arrested for allegedly assisting in the attack. 
In the video, the man, named Kamaluddin, claimed that he received his orders from the Haqqani network. 
The latter is a militant organization based in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area. 
He calmly clarified that he had housed the seven attackers before the attack and had provided them with several weapons. 
JetBlue Airways launched service from Raleigh-Durham International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport on Thursday, July 20. 
The airline also announced daily service from Raleigh to Boston starting on October 18. 
JetBlue's service in Raleigh is comprised of four daily flights to New York, the airline's hub. 
The route is flown by EMBRAER 190 aircraft with a capacity of 100 passengers. 
The aircraft are equipped with DirecTV and XM Satellite Radio programming. 
On October 18, JetBlue's service from Raleigh to Boston will begin with one daily flight. 
Raleigh-Durham International Airport currently has 223 daily departures to 37 cities. 
Crude oil prices fell by $0.32, to $63.95 a barrel, after a report showed lower than expected losses in oil supplies due to Hurricane Katrina. 
According to a report published by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), crude oil stocks declined by 6.5 million, to 315 million barrels. 
The department also announced that 57% of the production capacity in the Gulf of Mexico is still down, versus 97% the day after the storm. 
The DOE said it expected that production would not return to normal until December. 
Yesterday, economists warned that one of the impacts of Katrina on the US economy would be a reduction in the number of jobs by up to 400,000. 
They also said the country's GDP, in the second half of 2005, could be 1% less than expected, due to the surge in oil prices. 
The Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Claude Mandil, announced a collective action by members of the 26 nation agency. 
An agreement was reached to supply an additional 60 million barrels to the market over the next 30 days. 
The biggest contribution of total response comes from North America (52%), then by Europe (30%), and finally the Pacific region (18%). 
The share of these increases is based upon of the consumption from each of the IEA member areas. 
In what might amount to one of the shocks of the tournament Trinidad and Tobago drew with Sweden 0-0 in the second Group B match, Saturday, despite having a defender sent off. 
Lars Largerback's Swedish side failed to break a high-energy team marshalled with great confidence from midfield by the Trinidadian captain Dwight Yorke. 
Some excellent defending from Carlos Edwards and the Caribbean back four managed to keep out its European rivals for a famous first ever point in the World Cup tournament for the small island country. 
Trinidad and Tobago started the game with a reserve goalkeeper after first choice Kelvin Jack was injured after warming up. 
But Shaka Hislop produced a string of outstanding saves, which included one 11 minutes from time when he stuck out a hand to stop Marcus Allback placing the ball over him. 
The sending off of Avery John, after getting booked for a second time for a lunge, this time on Christian Wilhelmsson on 46 minutes, did not stop the Soca Warriors. 
In reply Leo Benhakker changed to a more attacking 4-3-2 system and threw on an extra attacker. 
The West Indies team led by Yorke was competitive and hard in the tackle but Swedish pressure meant the team was in its own half of the pitch most of the game. 
The team had few chances on goal because its attacking plays were few; but one shot from substitute Cornell Glen clipped the crossbar to the glee of supporters. 
Sweden made many goalscoring chances but its strikers must feel unfortunate that none were converted. 
Rami Shaaban in the Sweden goal did not have a save to make. 
A statistic that says much for the dominance of the Swedish yellow jerseys is that Sweden had eight corner kicks to Trinidad and Tobago's one. 
The Norwegian government has in recent days taken several steps to prevent a possible bird flu epidemic from entering the country and further spreading within the nations border. 
The authority also asked the border customs to increase the inspections against possible illegal import of poultry. 
Import of poultry has also been stopped from parts of Russia and other countries. 
A police station of the Spanish Guardia Civil was attacked today Friday by a car bomb in the Basque city of Durango, injuring two policemen. 
It is believed to be the first serious attack of the separatist group ETA since it unilaterally ended a cease-fire in June. 
The blast caused serious damage to the police barracks in Durango, shattering windows and damaging police cars parked outside. 
Police sources believe the bomb, estimated to contain between 80 and 100 kilograms of explosives, was detonated remotely by one of the two attackers who fled in another vehicle. 
Another car exploded about one hour later in the town of Amorebieta, possibly the one used by the activists to flee. 
ETA detonated two small explosive devices on July 25 along the route that the Tour of France used when the race dipped into northern Spain for a few hours. 
ETA called the cease-fire in March 2006, but grew frustrated with a lack of government concessions in ensuing peace talks, and set off a huge bomb in a parking area at Madrid's airport on December 30, killing two people. 
It insisted then that the truce was still in effect, but finally declared it formally over in June, and Spanish security forces have been on alert ever since. 
As of January 9th, the agency's website is in compliance with the Brazilian government's program to use free software throughout the public sector. 
Free software is software which, once obtained, can be used, copied, studied, modified and redistributed. 
It is often made available online without charge or offline for the cost of distribution; free software is not limited to being given away, but can be "free as in free speech" and sold for profit. 
Some of the most well-known examples of free software are the Linux operating system, the Mozilla web browser and the OpenOffice office suite. 
The change has taken about a year and a half, since the first changes of some workstations and servers of Radiobrás. 
The switch to free software is being implemented by the National Institute of Technology of Information (ITI), inspired by similar decisions made in another countries. 
At 13.30 GMT, a magnitude 6.0 earthquake 800 km south of Tokyo according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. 
The quake affected Oita, Kochi and Miyazaki prefectures without any reports of injuries or severe damage. 
The epicenter was reported below the Pacific Ocean floor, however; no tsunami alert was issued. 
A previous earthquake in October of 2004 killed at least 40 people and injured 3,000 when a magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook the region of Niigata in northern Japan and in 1995 a magnitude 7.3 earthquake shook Kobe, Japan and killed at least 6,400 people. 
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that Honolulu's ban on aerial advertising is constitutional and rejected the arguments of a pro-life/anti-abortion group that contended that the ban restricts free speech. 
In a unanimous ruling, the court ruled that the city's ban on aerial advertising is not pre-empted by federal law and violates neither the free speech provisions of the First Amendment nor the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. 
The Center for Bioethical Reform (CBR) challenged Honolulu's ban, claiming that the ban infringes on their right to public advocacy. 
The group planned to fly a plane towing a 100-foot banner showing graphic images of aborted fetuses, and contended that authorization they sought and received from the Federal Aviation Administration authorized the group to fly in all fifty states and Puerto Rico. 
The CBR has driven vans with such images around Honolulu in the past few years. 
Judge David Ezra, U.S. District Judge for Hawaii, ruled in November 2004 that the ordinance was constitutional. 
The appeal was argued before the 9th Circuit in Honolulu in November 2005. 
Announcing their intent to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Gregg Cunningham, executive director of the CBR, said, "We never expected to get justice in the U.S. District Courts or in Honolulu." 
"Our goal has always been to get to the U.S. Supreme Court." 
"It's the only place we feel we'll get a fair hearing." 
"If the environmental groups and political leftists who are trying to suppress the truth about abortion think we're going to go away because we lost two cases that we fully expected to lose, they're in for a rude awakening," Cunningham said. 
Hawaii has had a statewide prohibition on billboards and similar forms of advertising since 1927, and is unique among U.S. states in this regard. 
In addition, since 1957, Honolulu has had a comprehensive law regulating the size and content of signs. 
Honolulu's ban on all aerial advertising was enacted in 1978. 
Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann praised the decision, saying, "This obviously has strong implications for our visitor industry to know that when people come here they're going to see things here that really make for an island paradise type of vacation." 
Mary Steiner, head of the Outdoor Circle, an environmental group that supports the ban, said, "We have never doubted for a moment the importance of the scenic environment that it is just as important as any of the rest of the environmental issues that are out there." 
"We're not going to stand by and let it be destroyed in any way, shape or form." 
Elections in Zimbabwe began with both the ruling and opposition parties predicting victory. 
Current president Robert Mugabe predicts a "mountainous victory" for his party, the Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF). 
The main opposition — Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) claims the election is being rigged, and despite being allowed to freely campaign, the government's intimidation of voters and moves to hurt opposition supporters will prevent the MDC win. 
The government recently withheld food aid from those supporting the MDC, according to a United Nations report. 
The UN further reports the government dismissed election officials and poll workers suspected of supporting MDC. 
Last week, a Catholic archbishop in Zimbabwe urged followers to start a non-violent, popular uprising against Mugabe, and rallies have been common in recent days. 
The previous elections, which the MDC almost won, were marred by violence and similar allegations of vote-rigging. 
More than 5.7 million Zimbabweans are registered to vote, and can cast their ballots at one of the more than 8,000 polling stations. 
At least fourteen people have died after eating toxic sardines in Madagascar. 
The deaths occurred in the town of Toliara, with another similar situation happening 130 km (80.8 mi) away in Sakaraha. 
The sardines the victims ate belong to the Clupeidae family. 
As well as the dead, around 120 people have been taken ill after eating the fish according to officials. 
Dr Hery Raharisaina, Madagascar's fishing and aquatic resources minister, offered condolence to the families of the victims on behalf of the government. 
He added in his statement that the government would pay for the medical bills for those who are still hospitalized from the toxic fish and would also supply 100 mattresses to the city of Toliara, as the region's hospital is overcrowded. 
Samples of the sardines have been sent to health officials at the Institut Pasteur de Madagascar in the capital city of Antananarivo. 
Incidents like this have happened before in which researchers have tracked the cause down to the fish eating poisonous seaweed. 
Madagascar has the third biggest coral system in the world. 
The website wikileaks.org has recently been brought back online following the lifting of a court injunction forcing the site to be taken down. 
As Wikleaks is a wiki and is therefore not run by anyone, Jonathon Winterview interviewed a spokesperson of Wikileaks, who answered all the below questions. 
Officials with the United States Department of Defense have stated that Israeli fighter planes struck at least one target inside Syria a week ago. 
On September 7, Syrian fighter planes fired upon Israeli jets that were allegedly "dropping ammunition" in the northeastern part of Syria. 
The actual target, or the extent of the damage has yet to be determined, but U.S. officials say a weapons storage facility was the likely target. 
The Israeli government believes that Iran is sending weapons through Syria to Lebanon to arm the militant group Hezbollah. 
Israel also thinks that those weapons are coming from North Korea. 
"They were engaged by the Syrians, they dropped their ordinance and scooted out of there." 
"The Israelis think North Korea is selling to Iran and Syria what little they have left," said an unnamed Defense Department official who also said that Israeli planes are taking photographs of possible targets and nuclear power facilities inside Syria. 
Syrian officials believe that the ammunition was dropped in order to make the Israeli planes go faster so that they may escape. 
"They were fleeing and in order to speed up the planes they dropped the munitions." 
"We are exerting efforts so that we don't fall into this trap," said Bashar Jaafari, Syria's Ambassador to the United Nations. 
Israel has not confirmed or denied the reports, simply stating "we cannot discuss military operations." 
Over 100 homes were damaged and at least 30 of them were destroyed. 
The explosion had an estimated blast radius of three miles. 
Describing exploding gas tanks that flew through the air, Carlos Hipolito, who fled the scene with approximately 60 relatives, described the incident to Milenio Television as a "catastrophe". 
Living ten blocks from where the explosion occurred, 58-year-old Jose Luis Chavez explained that he had heard a minimum of two loud explosions and witnessed flames rising over 10 meters (30 feet) into the air. 
Valentin Meneses, Puebla state interior secretary, stated: "They lost control because of the high pressure with which the fuel exits the pipeline." 
Pemex has explained that the theft of oil from the pipelines causes them to lose hundreds of millions of dollars every year. 
Juan José Suárez Coppel, the head of the company, stated that the pipeline section near to the location of the blast was tapped illegally on 60 occasions. 
He also reported that across Mexico, 550 cases of illegal tapping had occurred. 
Expressing his condolences to the families of those that had died because of this incident, Mexican president Felipe Calderon stated that the federal government is to launch an investigation to try to establish the identities of the offenders and apprehend them. 
The bodies of five women within the United Kingdom have been found in or around the county of Suffolk in the east of England. 
The latest victims were found on 12 December 2006 in a rural area a few hundred meters apart, and one body discovered within 40 minutes of the other. 
Detectives investigating the murders have confirmed that the last body discovered was that of 29 year old Annette Nicholls. 
Five women have been found dead within 10 days and authorities face an "unprecedented" murder investigation. 
A group of Melbourne scientists has released a study of the energy problems confronting Australia in the future. 
The study endorses the use of nuclear energy and attacks some of the data used by anti-nuclear campaigners. 
The scientists from the University of Melbourne say their research shows that the benefits of nuclear energy have been underestimated and concerns about nuclear waste overplayed. 
The six month study compared the environmental impact, health risks, economic effects and social implications of the use of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy, and nuclear power. 
According to the Melbourne University, the investigation will significantly impact the nuclear debate in Australia, with findings showing that hundreds of times more uranium could be available than was predicted in a widely quoted European study. 
Associate Professor Martin Sevior, of Melbourne University's school of physics, claims the recent study bolsters the case for Australia to invest more in nuclear energy. 
Sevior says his research into nuclear waste disposal should help dispel many environmentalists' fears. 
"One thing that's perhaps not always realised is that the amount of waste that comes out of a typical plant is around 30 tonnes a year," he said. 
"The amount of waste that comes out of a coal-fired power plant is around 1,000 tonnes a day." 
Prof Sevior says his study has exposed flaws in the European study into the limits of the uranium industry. 
"This previous research overestimated the energy costs and carbon emissions generated by the construction of nuclear power plants and for mining uranium," Prof Sevior said. 
The Australian Conservation Foundation's (ACF) nuclear campaigner, Dave Sweeney, says the study appears flawed and does not provide a sound argument for the use of nuclear energy. 
"It glances over some really key concerns of proliferation, key areas of reactor safety are not delved into too deeply and they have direct links to industry websites for further information," said Mr Sweeney. 
"I'm not sure it's altogether appropriate or altogether balanced to be referring people to the nuclear industry's own websites for further information on such matters as radioactive waste, nuclear weapons and nuclear reactor safety." 
The six-month study found Australia has more uranium than was previously thought. 
"We have enough uranium in Australia to power the country for thousands of years," said Prof Sevior. 
Friends of the Earth nuclear campaigner Dr Jim Green said nuclear power should never be considered as an energy source. 
He said greenhouse emissions saved by switching to nuclear power were only about 5 per cent of total emissions and could only be achieved if thousands of reactors were installed globally. 
Dr Green said an energy debate in Australia was necessary, but it had to go beyond just the nuclear alternative. 
Polling was active from 8:00AM to 5:00PM local time (0300 to 1200 UTC). 
High security arrangements were made; law enforcement officials were deployed at the polling stations. 
According to media reports, in some areas of province women were stopped from casting their vote. 
Missing elections material delayed the beginning of voting in some regions. 
33,000 polling staff had been appointed to over 5000 polling stations. 
According to Pakistani newspaper Dawn, sources in the provincial home department said overall voting turnout was 70% in Mastung, 65% in Nushki, 55% in Pishin, 50% in Jhal Magsi, 45% in Nasirabad, Kohlu and 35% in Barkhan. 
For example, turnout remained 15% in Gwadar and 10% in Panjgur. 
Unofficial election results for district council of Quetta District, containing the capital of Balochistan, are as follows: 
The leu, Romania's national currency, continues to appreciate against the euro and the US dollar after it reached high levels a few days ago. 
Yesterday, one euro could be bought for just 35,844 lei, down from 36,133 lei two days ago. 
These rates are also significantly stronger from the period in mid-2004 when the euro was worth more than 40,000 lei. 
Last week, the leu reached such a high rate against the euro that the National Bank of Romania had to intervene and restore the exchange rate back to around 37,000 lei per euro. 
The leu's growth also had an impact on global exchange rates, weakening the US dollar worldwide by 1%. 
The National Bank, however, is hesitant to intervene in the marketplace once again due to the positive effects of the leu's appreciation on importers, who can now get products for lower prices, and for consumers, who now have higher purchasing power for imported goods. 
Romanians are also pleased that their currency, which has faced long periods of fairly sharp depreciation in the 1990s due to high inflation, is finally picking up again and strengthening against other currencies. 
The leu's appreciation, however, isn't all positive, because it is putting a great deal of pressure on exporters. 
Other countries are finding Romanian exports more expensive, and therefore less competitive, due to the leu's appreciation, and this could widen the already large account deficit in the country. 
Analysts predict, however, that the leu's surge cannot be stopped and it will continue strengthening against the euro, reaching a rate of 34,000 lei for one euro in the next week. 
The current leu will be replaced in July 2005 with the New Leu (RON), with 10,000 old lei = 1 New Leu. 
The revaluation is expected to prepare Romania for adoption of the euro in 2012. 
Starting from next month, all Romanian prices must be shown in both the old currency and the new currency. 
The National Bank of Romania has said that it expects the exchange rate between the New Leu and the euro to hover at around 3.5 RON = 1 euro when the RON is introduced. 
A young woman was killed Friday night after an accident occurred on a gyrating ride at the Playland amusement park in Rye, New York in the United States. 
The woman, Gabriela Garin, was a worker at the amusement park, and had worked there for the past seven years. 
The accident occurred near the end of Garin's shift; as she was loading riders onto the ride. 
The ride's new operator, unaware of Garin's presence, started the ride while Garin was still on it. 
The new operator then noticed Garin, and shut the ride down in 20 seconds, but Garin had already been ejected from the ride and killed, according to a park spokesperson. 
The ride is an attraction that spins people around in two-seat cars, inside a darkened tent to flashing lights and music. 
This incident is not the first in the ride's history. 
In 2004, a seven-year-old from Connecticut managed to free herself from the ride's restraining bars, and climb onto the front edge of her seat. 
A safety precaution was put in place after this incident, however, the spokesperson acknowledged that it was not followed when Garin was killed. 
The company which owns the ride shut it down, along with two other rides it owns at the park. 
The park features more than 50 rides, a pool, and a beach. 
A bus accident near the Spanish coastal resort town of Benalmádena has killed nine passengers and injured 35, all of whom were Finnish, police said Saturday night. 
The bus collided with a sport utility vehicle on a highway along the Spanish coast, causing the bus to veer off the road and overturn. 
The driver of the SUV had survived, and is being detained on suspicion of drink driving, Spanish newspaper Sur claiming a breathalyser test revealed twice the legal blood alcohol limit. 
Police say the SUV driver was attempting to illegally pass another vehicle. 
"There were 44 people on the bus, and it seems they were all Finnish," said a spokesman for the Civil Guard. 
He also reported that six of the injured were in serious condition. 
A police spokeswoman added that the death toll could rise as rescue workers continue to search for victims. 
The tourists were being driven to Málaga Airport on a return trip to Finland when the crash occurred between Benalmadena and Torremolinos. 
The eastbound lanes of the AP-7 highway where the collision occurred have been closed, Spanish media reported. 
A field hospital was set up at the site of the accident, which provided emergency first aid to the victims. 
The injured tourists were then taken to five different hospitals in the Costa del Sol region. 
The 11 tourists who emerged from the accident unscathed were taken to a hotel. 
The bus accident is Spain's worst in more than seven years. 
Oil prices rose dramatically on Monday after a major Alaskan oil field shut down operations, halving the total output of oil from Alaska. 
Coming on top of the ongoing violence in the Middle East, the price of Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose by $1.23 to US$75.99 a barrel in early afternoon Asian trading at the New York Mercantile Exchange. 
The shutdown of the Prudhoe Bay oil field "caught traders by surprise", says Victor Shum, an energy analyst in Singapore. 
"The Middle East violence is a threat to the oil supply, but Alaska is a real disruption." 
The oil field began shutdown procedures on Sunday due to severe corrosion and a minor leakage from an oil transit line. 
The total shutdown process is expected to take a few more days. 
BP Exploration Alaska, Inc, the company running the field, has said that oil production will be reduced by 400,000 barrels per day, or nearly 8% of the total U.S. oil production. 
BP officials do not know how long the field will stay offline. 
On Sunday, a group of 80 people from Beijing and Shanghai landed at Heathrow to become the first Chinese to arrive in the United Kingdom on tourist visas. 
After protracted negotiations last year, the UK was granted "Approved Destination Status" (ADS) by the People's Republic of China in January 2005. 
The agreement will also allow travel companies to establish offices in China to promote tourism to the UK. 
Before the signing of the agreement, China allowed only students and people on business trips to visit the country. 
It is estimated that 135,000 people visited the UK last year — just 0.6% of China's external tourism market. 
The 80 tourists are expected to visit London, Oxfordshire, Stratford-upon-Avon and Scotland, where they will meet the First Minister, Jack McConnell, in Edinburgh Castle. 
The Duke of York is expected to greet the tourists at the Tower of London later today. 
Other destinations will include Liverpool (twinned with Shanghai) and Manchester's Old Trafford stadium, where the football team Manchester United play. 
They have a large following in China and are currently on a Far East tour. 
They are to play Beijing Hyundai in a friendly match tomorrow. 
The visit comes after the London attacks earlier this month provoked fears by the British tourist industry of a reduction in tourism to the UK. 
The UK tourist industry hopes that by 2020, Chinese tourism to the UK will bring £500 million pounds (about $878 million US dollars) annually to the UK economy. 
After every earthquake, flood, or other disaster, the call goes out for pledges to fund emergency relief. 
Then a second round of begging tries to convert those pledges into actual payments. 
In the meantime, some relief is delayed, and people die. 
Money that does eventually come may not be in proportion to the need. 
For example, relief funding for the 26 December 2004 tsunami generally came rapidly and exceeded the amount requested, but famine relief for 3.5 million Kenyans suffering drought is now 75% underfunded. 
The Fund is about half way to the goal of half a billion dollars in deposits, which could be spent for either natural or man-made disasters. 
"We meet to launch a fund that is proactive rather than reactive." 
"The CERF will provide a ready pool of resources that better empower the United Nations in funding immediate relief efforts in the aftermath of disasters", said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on March 9. 
Jan Egeland, the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator, will manage the Fund. 
"We are working on the two first allocations from the CERF...One is to the Horn of Africa and Kenya drought, the other one is to Cote d'Ivoire where humanitarian work and the civilian population is suffering so much, "he said. 
"Too often, aid resembles a lottery in which a few win but most lose based on considerations other than need." 
"We must move from lottery to predictability so all those who suffer receive aid." 
The biggest donations paid so far are $41 million from Sweden and $30 million from Norway. 
The largest pledges are $70 million from the United Kingdom and $24 million from the Netherlands. 
According to the USGS numerous earthquakes ranging from magnitudes 5.1 to 6.1 have been reported off the western coast of Japan, prompting tsunami warnings to be issued. 
The first quake, a 6.0 magnitude, was reported at 9:26 a.m. local time (00:26 UTC), 165 km (105 miles) north, north east of Ishigaki-jima, in the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. 
The second quake of 5.6 magnitude struck just five minutes after the first and a 6.1 magnitude quake struck just over an hour later, followed by a magnitude 5.9 about 15 minutes later. 
Japan's weather agency says the first and last quakes were actually 6.7 magnitude. 
Three smaller quakes ranging from 5.1 to 5.3 magnitudes shortly followed. 
The tsunami warnings were issued only after Japan's weather agency said that an 18-inch (46cm) wave could be a possibility. 
There are no reports of damage, injuries, deaths or tsunamis. 
Residents in the city of Port Harcourt said that Nigerian troops burnt down hundreds of slum dwellings, allegedly as reprisal after an Army sergeant was killed in Thursday's abduction of oil workers in the area. 
Residents told news agencies that troops poured petrol over slum houses located near a compound belonging to Saipem, a subsidiary of Italian oil company Eni, and set them alight. 
The fires have reportedly destroyed hundreds of homes and shops and hundreds of people are said to have fled from the area. 
On Friday, people returning to the area and onlookers were chased away by soldiers. 
Speaking to the Associated Press, Army Brigadier General Samuel Salihu denied that Nigerian troops were responsible for the arson. 
He said that militants active in the area had set the fires, wearing Army camouflage. 
On Thursday, oil workers were kidnapped from a bar near the slums by armed men who shot dead an Army soldier guarding the workers, and injured another soldier. 
Nigerian military sources said at least two foreign oil workers were missing, one of them, Italian. 
The Italian foreign ministry, though, said that three foreigners were missing. 
The oil-rich Niger Delta region has witnessed a spate of kidnappings recently. 
Nineteen people were held captive in eight separate abductions this month. 
All but three of them have been released since, some after the state government and the oil companies paid a ransom. 
The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a militant group which has taken hostages and attacked oil facilities, but says it does not kidnap for ransom, said in a statement that the state government has encouraged such abductions by paying ransoms. 
Last week, as part of a tougher line adopted by the Nigerian government, President Obasanjo sent in the Army, with orders to use "force for force" against militants in the region. 
Over 160 people were taken into custody in a two day crackdown, including over 100 from a nearby slum, but most have been released since then. 
The BBC's Alex Last reports that local leaders and oil companies are concerned that this new tough policy will increase tensions in the region. 
Currently, there are blackouts, heavy rain, and high winds in British Columbia. 
Buildings have already collapsed and trees have been knocked down. 
Five Vancouver rivers were in danger of flooding, which rain fell at 10 mm an hour for more than six hours at midday. 
The steel frame of a four-storey building under construction in Vancouver collapsed. 
Construction workers escaped injury, luckily they were on a coffee break at the time of the incident. 
The steel frame crushed cars in a parking lot and missed a truck driver. 
"We have some real fears here with electrical problems," said Captain Rob Jones Cook of the Vancouver Fire Department. 
"We also have hydro bus lines running down two sides of the building". 
The Vancouver Fire Department says they have no idea as to why the building collapsed. 
Winds are gusting at more than 100 kilometres an hour (62 mph) in some areas and rainfall amounts of 50 to 130 millimetres. 
According BC Hydro spokeswoman Elisha Moreno, the hardest-hit areas are Vancouver, Surrey, Langley, Abbotsford and Mission, B.C. 
"We're trying to be optimistic and hoping it's by end of day today, but there may very well be customers that are into the early-morning hours before restoration," Moreno said. 
Extensive ferry cancellations, road closures, and massive power outages are in effect until the storm ends. 
The RCMP have advised people to stay home and off the highway. 
The same heavy weather has also affected nearby Washington State, USA. 
Radonski promised a shift towards more of a business-friendly stance: "Those who want progress, jobs, well-managed companies, somewhere we can develop small and medium businesses…everyone who wants that kind of country, come and join my bus for progress". 
Brett McKenzie is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the London North Centre riding. 
Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. 
The Director of public prosecutions in England and Wales are going to seek a retrial for three men who are thought to have been involved in a plot to attempt to bomb transatlantic flights. 
Ibrahim Savant and Arafat Khan are both 28 years old. 
All of the men were recently found "not guilty" of attempting to bomb aircrafts. 
A spokesman for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, confirmed that he will be seeking a retrial. 
On Monday, a jury in Woolwich Crown Court in London, England failed to reach verdicts for the three men, based on charges of conspiracy to murder, which is why the Director of Public Prosecutions of England and Wales is seeking a retrial. 
Starmer said: "My task is to judge whether, taking into account all relevant considerations, the public interest is better served in this particular case by offering no evidence or by seeking a further retrial." 
"Having regard to the very serious nature of the charge and the very considerable public interest in having the allegation determined by a jury one way or the other, I have concluded that, in this exceptional case, it is in the public interest to seek a further retrial." 
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has been buried in the town of Janzur, west of the Libyan capital Tripoli. 
He was the only individual convicted in association with the Lockerbie bombing of 1988. 
The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York resulted in 270 fatalities, including all 259 of the airplane's occupants and eleven individuals on the ground. 
189 of those who died in the incident were US citizens. 
The death toll for this terrorist incident is larger than that for any other which has occurred in the United Kingdom thus far. 
Five years later, senior judges in Scotland were to review his case, but he dropped the appeal. 
Due to suffering from prostate cancer, he was granted a compassionate release from Scottish prison two days later. 
Current UK Prime Minister David Cameron commented on his belief that al-Megrahi "should never have been released from prison" and said his death was an occasion "to remember the 270 people who lost their lives in what was an appalling terrorist act". 
According to Alex Salmond, First Minister of Scotland, the investigation into the Lockerbie bombing is ongoing. 
Prosecutors, he said, had always thought there were others besides al-Megrahi involved in the attack. 
US citizen Susan Cohen, the mother of one of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing, thought of al-Megrahi as "a mass murderer" who "deserved to die", adding to CNN: "I feel no pity around him". 
"My daughter [Theodora], at age 20, died a brutal, horrible death." 
However, UK citizen Jim Swire, father of another victim of the bombing, believes al-Megrahi was not guilty. 
He described al-Megrahi's death as "a sad time", telling the BBC he was "satisfied for some years that this man was nothing to do with the murder of my daughter". 
According to a report released by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), a warrant has been issued by the South African National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which operates separately from the police, for the arrest of Jackie Selebi national commissioner of the South African police and president of Interpol. 
Recent media coverage of the murder of Brett Kebble have raised questions of the close friendship between Jackie Selebi and Glenn Agliotti. 
Agliotti was later arrested in connection with the murder of Brett Kebble. 
Agliotti is alleged to have strong links with organized crime and racketeering. 
New Delhi is experiencing the second day of a strike by traders protesting against the implementation of a Supreme Court order to seal commercial establishments violating zoning rules by operating in residential zones. 
The strike has affected a very large area in New Delhi including major markets in Rohini, Chandani Chowk, Karol Bagh and south extension of Delhi. 
A group of traders met the union urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy to air their grievances about the government's response towards the MCD's sealing drive. 
Traders also met Delhi Chief minister Sheila Dikshit to submit a memorandum calling for an end to the sealing drive. 
Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders, said, they will call off the strike on Wednesday night and they continue their agitation by hunger-strike and conferences against the sealing drive. 
Traders refused to move back from the agitation until November 1, when Municipal Corporation of Delhi is likely to resume its sealing drive. 
According to official sources, the union government is likely to file a review petition before the Supreme Court to temporarily suspend the drive and resolve this dispute as soon as possible. 
After seeing the law-and-order situation in Delhi, the Supreme Court's Monitoring committee recommended the Supreme Court not to resume the MCD's sealing drive on November 1. 
Hurricane Wilma strengthened on its path around Cuba, and is projected to travel onward and outward towards central and south Florida. 
Wilma ties the record for most tropical storms (named storms) in a season at 21, and the record for most hurricanes in a season at 12. 
As of 2 pm EDT Wednesday, 19 October (18:00 UTC), the center of Hurricane Wilma was located near 17°5′ N 83°5′ W or about 300 miles (480 km) southeast of Cozumel, Mexico. 
It is moving to the west-northwest at 7 mph (11 KM/HR)with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph (270 km/h), with higher gusts, making it a dangerous Category 5 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale, and has a minimum central pressure of 900 mbar (26.58 InHg). 
Rainfall accumulations are expected in amounts of 5 to 10 inches, with isolated areas of 25 inches over the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba. 
Rains of 4 to 6 inches can be expected in areas of Honduras and Nicaragua. 
At 5pm EDT the country of Mexico issued a Hurricane Watch for the Yucatan Peninsula from Punta Allen to Cabo Catoche. 
A hurricane warning remains in effect from San Felipe to Tulum on the Yucatan peninsula...including Cozumel and nearby islands. 
A tropical storm warning is in effect from south of Tulum to Chetumal Mexico. 
A hurricane watch remains in effect for the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula from south of Tulum to Punta Gruesa. 
A tropical storm warning is in effect for Belize from the border With Mexico southward to Belize City. 
A hurricane watch remains in effect in Cuba for the provinces of Matanzas westward through Pinar del Rio...and for the Isle of Youth. 
A tropical storm warning remains in effect for Honduras from the Honduras/Nicaragua border westward to Cabo Camaron. 
Residents of the Florida Keys and the peninsula should monitor the progress of the storm. 
Thirteen are believed dead, twelve in Haiti and one in Jamaica. 
Over 40 children have died in an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) in China, and the country's capital of Beijing reported its first death due to the disease on Wednesday. 
According to Xinhua News Agency, Beijing Health Bureau spokeswoman Deng Xiaohong said that the 13-month-old boy died Sunday while en route to the hospital. 
Health authorities state that 24,934 children in mainland China are afflicted with the disease, and 42 children have died from it. 
The cause of the disease has been identified as Enterovirus 71 (EV-71). 
Another child infected with the virus died Monday, but as he died in Hebei province his death was counted there. 
Xinhua News Agency also reported that a 21-month-old boy died Monday of the virus in Hubei province. 
After an order was given last week by the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China that all cases must be reported, the count of those infected has increased markedly. 
Eastern China saw a large number of cases in early March, but this information was not made public until late April. 
In March, Children under age six in eastern Anhui province began being admitted to hospitals with symptoms of the virus, and the outbreak spread quickly after that. 
The city of Fuyang in Anhui province was especially hard-hit by the outbreak. 
The majority of patients who were in critical condition have recovered, said a Health Ministry official in a statement on Monday. 
"What I know is the death rate has gone down drastically since early May." 
"There are very, very few cases with complications — 99 percent of these are mild cases", said World Health Organization (WHO) China representative Hans Troedsson in a statement on Wednesday. 
Incidents of the disease are expected to peak in June and July. 
Children with mild cases of the disease generally recover rapidly after manifesting a rash and a fever. 
Other symptoms include diarrhea, cold-like symptoms, and sores on the extremities and mouth. 
In severe cases, fluid may accumulate in the brain, and result in meningitis, encephalitis, pulmonary edema, paralysis and death. 
The EV-71 virus is spread through contact with fluid secreted from blisters, nose and throat mucus, feces and saliva. 
There is no specific treatment or vaccine for the virus. 
The disease is unrelated to foot-and-mouth disease, which affects livestock. 
United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt was visiting in the country, and said in a statement Monday in Shanghai that the U.S. is assisting China fight the outbreak. 
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, symptomatic treatment can be given to address possible fever and aches and pains. 
The CDC advises children and adults to practice proper hand washing technique, and to wash and disinfect contaminated items and surfaces using diluted solution of chlorine-containing bleach. 
China is also dealing with a magnitude-7.9 earthquake which hit the country Monday and has killed almost 15,000. 
The outbreak is a concern to the government, as the country prepares for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing this August. 
"We are confident the potential outbreak will not affect the Beijing Olympic Games," China's Health Ministry spokesman Mao Qunan stated. 
And at a joint press conference held by China's Ministry of Health and the WHO, he further noted that, "China is confident that it can control the spread of the disease with effective prevention methods." 
Venus Williams triumphed over Marion Bartoli of France 6-4, 6-1 yesterday to win the Women's Singles event at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships. 
For the first time, an American and Frenchwoman were matched up to compete for the British women's singles title. 
A Wimbledon champion in 2000, 2001 and 2005, Williams was not the favorite to win the title again this year. 
Currently ranked 23rd in the world, she entered the tournament in the shadow of her sister, Serena Williams. 
At the beginning of the tennis season, Serena stated her own determination to reclaim the No. 1 ranking. 
Serena showed better than Venus at the French Open by reaching the quarter finals, and won the Australian Open in January (Venus dropped out due to an injury). 
In spite of her initial strength, Serena's hopes to dominate the tournament were cut short when she lost to No. 1 seeded Justine Henin in the quarterfinals. 
Bartoli, the eighteenth seed for this year's championships, had never progressed past the fourth round of any Grand Slam event. 
However, she progressed to the final by defeating third seed Jelena Janković in the fourth round and Justine Henin in the semifinals in one of the major upsets of Wimbledon history. 
As Henin lost to Bartoli in the semifinals, Venus Williams was poised to become the lowest seeded player in recorded history to win the Wimbledon singles title. 
With powerhouse serves and an aggressive ground strokes battle, she did just that. 
Williams comfortably knocked out Bartoli in two straight sets, with match point accidentally striking Bartoli in the wrist. 
Venus was reunited with the Venus Rosewater Dish on Centre Court during the trophy ceremony. 
Another first, the All England Club is paying men's and women's singles champions equal prize money. 
Venus was paid $1.407 million, to which she replied "Thank you, All England Club - we're playing under equal terms." 
The men's final takes place later today with first seed and defending champion Roger Federer taking on second seed Rafael Nadal in a repeat of last year's final. 
A "highly pathogenic strain" of the H5N1 Avian Flu virus has been detected in a dead Australian black swan, floating in a pond located at the Dresden Zoo in Dresden, Germany. 
Conflicting reports say that the swan was found on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. 
The Friedrich Loeffler Institute which specializes in animal diseases confirmed the test results. 
"We can confirm that this is the highly pathogenic strain," said a spokesperson for the institute. 
Officials have blocked off an area of Dresden approximately 1.9 miles (3km) from the site where the swan was found and have posted observation areas at approximately 6.2 miles (10km) outside the area as a precaution. 
For the moment, all birds in the zoo have been confined to their cages and viewing of birds by the public is no longer permitted. 
The zoo still remains open for business and cleaning efforts have been intensified. 
Officials have also restricted cats and dogs from roaming areas nearby. 
There are at least 112 different species of birds, totaling 720, located at the zoo. 
In April, H5N1 was first discovered in Germany in a domestic fowl and in wild birds. 
The last case of H5N1 to turn up in Germany was on May 12, 2006. 
Finland's National Bureau of Investigation, a division of Finland's national police, has ten suspects currently, in its recent investigation into alleged dog fighting in the south of the country. 
All the suspects are male Finns residing in southern Finland. 
The new developments are the result of an investigation into four to six alleged dog fights. 
Dog fighting is a breach of animal cruelty laws in Finland, and the case will be considered for prosecution in October. 
They are being investigated under suspicion of breaching the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. 
At least thus far there has been no evidence of illegal gambling on the outcome of fights. 
There also does not seem to be any large-scale organisation behind the incidents or connections with organised crime groupings. 
"It would appear to be the pastime of a group of individuals." 
Despite this, the group is known to have links throughout Scandinavia, as well as possible links to Russia. 
He added that about a dozen pit bulls from America were involved in the incidents. 
Key evidence includes video footage and testimony from veterinary surgeons, who were present when police raided several locations suspected to be involved. 
"Statements by veterinary surgeons are a significant part of the investigation." 
"They play the same role here as forensic pathologists would in a normal violent crime investigation," Inspector Töyräs said. 
The investigation was begun as a result of an investigation into dog fighting in the United Kingdom by the state-run British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). 
A BBC journalist teamed up with a man with military experience to infiltrate a notorious dog fighting ring from Ulster, Ireland, known as The Farmer Boys. 
This uncovered links to a group involved in comparable activity in Finland. 
The documentary, which is part of the Panorama series, was broadcast in Finland yesterday by YLE. 
The BBC had contacted Finland regarding it's discoveries in April. 
The BBC itself had begun it's investigation after Gerard Cavlan, a football player from Northern Ireland, was convicted on charges related to dog fighting. 
Privacy laws in Finland required the faces of those believed to be involved to be pixelated during the Finnish version of the broadcast, although this was not mirrored in the UK screening - which, in an unprecedented move, coincided exactly with the showing in Finland. 
The show was widely discussed on the internet, with large volumes of material requiring deleted by site administrators as breaching Finnish privacy legislation. 
The investigation is the only one ever conducted into dog fighting in Finland. 
Töyräs explained the problem to journalists: "We have only had vague unconnected hints of this sort of activity in the past, and on the basis of these it was not possible to mount an earlier investigation." 
The sole United States manufacturer of a key component of lethal injections announced Friday that it will cease production of the drug, contributing to shortages and delaying executions. 
Sodium thiopental, the first of a three drug cocktail used in 34 states to render the prisoner to be executed unconscious, was manufactured in Italy until Italian authorities stated that they would only license the manufacture if it was used for medical purposes and not, crucially, for executions. 
In a statement, the company, Hospira, said that they have never condoned the use of their drug, marketed as 'Pentothal', in executions, and that they could not "prevent the drug from being diverted to departments of corrections for use in capital punishment procedures". 
The move means that the United States is without a viable supplier for sodium thiopental. 
Although many European countries manufacture the drug, which is primarily used in Europe as an anæsthetic, no manufacturer has been found that is willing to supply it for use in conjunction with the death penalty, the abolition of which has been lobbied by the EU since 2008. 
The shortage means that executions in California and Oklahoma have been delayed, with Texas' last remaining stocks of the drug due to expire in March, weeks before two scheduled executions. 
These delays are likely to be prolonged as the legal process of drawing up new drugs to be used for injections is lengthy. 
Pentobarbital, an alternative which is used at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland, is used for lethal injections in Oregon, and has started to be used by Oklahoma. 
Hospira's decision caused mixed reactions throughout the medical community, with the American Society of Anesthesiologists stating Monday that sodium thiopental is an "important and medically necessary anesthetic agent" that is a "first-line anesthetic in many cases", citing geriatric and cardiovascular conditions, among others. 
It said that, although they disagree with the death penalty, "we also do not condone using the issue as the basis to place undue burdens on the distribution of this critical drug to the United States." 
"It is an unfortunate irony that many more lives will be lost or put in jeopardy as a result of not having the drug available for its legitimate medical use." 
Brazilian federal police arrested Jesse James Hollywood, aged 25, in Saquarema city, Rio de Janeiro, on March 8. 
James had been sought by the FBI for more than four years. 
According to the police, he was living in Saquarema with a woman who is pregnant. 
The two countries do not have a formal extradition treaty. 
On Friday, James appeared in a Santa Barbara, California court for arraignment on charges of kidnapping and murdering a 15-year-old boy. 
James will plead not guilty, according to his attorney, James E. Blatt. 
Blatt also criticized the portrait prosecutors had painted of his client. 
"Have you ever seen a 20 year-old mastermind? He was not the shooter," said Blat. 
Blatt requested that the trial be continued on April 4. 
The Wikimedia Foundation, the mother organization of the popular Wikipedia encyclopedia, and Answers.com, a search engine company, announced a new partnership. 
This partnership will lead to the development of a special edition of Answers.com's 1-Click Answers tool, called 1-Click Answers, Wikipedia Edition. 
The advertising revenues from this software will be split with the Wikimedia Foundation. 
It will be linked from the English Wikipedia Tools page for a 60 day trial beginning in 2006. 
Jimmy Wales, president of the Wikimedia Foundation, said he was pleased to partner with Answers.com, encouraging software that improves access to Wikipedia. 
Bob Rosenschein, Answers.com's founder and CEO, told the media that Wikipedia is "the most dynamic of over 120 content sources found in Answers.com". 
One of the potential problems with encouraging software-based and third party uses of Wikipedia's content is that it could divert people from the site, one user remarked. 
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus has blocked voting on legislation that would allow employers to rehire foreign seasonal workers. 
This year, the U.S. government will only issue 33,000 visas for winter workers and 33,000 for summer workers. 
This comes as a stark comparison to 2007, when 120,000 foreign workers entered the U.S. with H-2B visas. 
Currently, the reduction in visas is having profounds effects on both Mexico and U.S. 
In Tlapacoyan, a Mexican town which in the last 30 years has exported a large seasonal workforce, using H-2B visas, to work in U.S. circuses and carnivals, the effects are already a stark reality. 
The local economy has been paralyzed, and unemployment has reached dramatic highs. 
The lack of money being pumped into the local economy has caused many businesses to close, and the construction of the town's new church has come to a screeching halt. 
Additionally, residents like Pablo Juarez Mendoza, who last year made $450 working in Texan livestock shows, are having difficulties finding local work. 
Those that do, are only making an average of $50 per week. 
U.S. businesses are getting ready to face their own set of economical obstacles caused by the lack of cheap labor. 
Many employers are finding creative ways to cut costs, including scaling back operations. 
In Cape Cod, for example, the local chamber of commerce reports that town employers will only receive 15 of the 5,000 visas requested. 
In response, local Cape Cod business owner, Williman Zammer, has called the situation "a major crisis," and states that what the Hispanic Caucus is doing is "ruthless." 
Opponents of the change state that recent legislation blocking is part of the Caucus' efforts to push for comprehensive immigration reform, not seen in the U.S. since the early 1980s. 
Hispanic Caucus Chairman, Rep. Joe Baca, D-California, hopes that policymakers will place attention not only on helping small businesses, but also on what to do with 12 million illegal immigrants currently residing in the U.S., and improving border security. 
The issue of immigration has become a polarizing subject in the U.S., and one that has been an intrinsic part of the fabric that makes up the American society. 
Since 2006, the U.S. accepts more legal immigrants as permanent residents than any other country in the world. 
That same year, a NBC/Wall Street Journal poll revealed that the U.S. public was equally divided on the whether immigration helps or hurts the country. 
Forty-four percent said it helped, forty-five percent said it hurt. 
However, a recent Pew Research Center study suggests that the issue will remain at the forefront of the American political agenda for many years to come. 
The study revealed that by 2050, one in five Americans will be foreign-born, and the overall U.S. population will double to 438 million. 
The U.S Latino population will account for 30% of the population, while Asians will account for 9%. 
Thus, what we see unfolding is a U.S. where minorities will become the majority, and drastic cultural and societal changes seem almost certain. 
The study seems to also hint that this growth is in many ways connected to legislation passed by Congress in 1965, that abolished a quota system that had nearly ended immigration from non-European countries since the 1920s, and consequently caused an immigration surge. 
The United Nations and French peacekeeping forces say they will not leave the Ivory Coast despite orders from incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo to leave the country. 
Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that the UN in the Ivory Coast will "fulfill its mandate and will continue to monitor and document any human rights violations, incitement to hatred and violence, or attacks on U.N. peacekeepers." 
He also called the orders for all peacekeeping troops to leave the nation irrelevant and without effect, adding that the UN does not believe Gbagbo is the legal president. 
"The president-elect is Ouattara and he hasn't asked us to leave," added the UN. 
Cuban Taekwondo athlete Ángel Matos was banned for life yesterday after an assault on Swedish referee Chakir Chelbat during the 2008 Beijing Olympic games. 
Matos was competing in the bronze medal match against Arman Chilmanov of Kazakhstan when he sustained an injury. 
As he lay on the mat with medical attendants, Matos was disqualified for exceeding the one minute injury time limit. 
When Chilmanov was declared the winner of the bout, Matos delivered a kick to the face of Chelbat. 
Touch judges rushed in to try to control the situation. 
Matos pushed one of them and then spat on the floor. 
Both Matos and his coach Leudis Gonzalez were banned for life from all official Taekwondo events for their behavior in the incident. 
The World Taekwondo Federation released a statement referring to the incident as a "strong violation of the spirit of Taekwondo and the Olympic Games". 
They also called for all records of Matos to be removed from the Olympic records. 
Later coach Leudis Gonzalez claimed the Kazaks offered him money to lose the bout. 
WTF secretary general Yang Jin-suk said "due process must be followed before officially banning the two." 
Matos won the gold medal in Sydney in 2000; he finished in 11th place in Athens four years later. 
The Canterbury Bulldogs, a team in Australia's National Rugby League, has entered into an agreement with New South Wales police to provide extra police at all games in NSW. 
The agreement follows a spate of violent incidents at Bulldogs matches this year. 
In March, there were fights during and after a game between the Bulldogs and Wests Tigers at Telstra Stadium, the Bulldogs home ground. 
This led police to step up their presence at Bulldogs matches for the rest of the season. 
A month later, a group of Bulldogs supporters abused four South Sydney cheerleaders at another home match. 
According to NSW Police, a meeting was held between the police executive and Bulldogs CEO, Malcolm Noad where it was decided that the club will pay for additional police at all Bulldogs games across NSW. 
The additional police will include specialist police (including riot police) to provide security for spectators. 
Only police that are working outside their normal rostered hours will be paid for by the club. 
The police Commander of the North West Sydney region, Assistant Commissioner said he was pleased that the club was working with the police proactively. 
"It is pleasing to see the club taking a proactive stance to ensure the games proceed with a strong police presence to provide increased safety" he said. 
Assistant Commissioner Clifford warned that police would not be specifically targeting Bulldogs supporters, but anyone who is causing trouble at games. 
"It is hoped this initiative will stamp out violence at future Bulldogs matches." 
"Police will be targeting anyone doing the wrong thing, regardless of which team they support."he said. 
Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher and his teammate Felipe Massa won the front row on the FIA Formula-1 United States Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. 
Rubens Barrichello, Honda driver, wedged between the Renault cars on the starting grid and oust Fernando Alonso to the fifth place. 
A very successful qualification for the only American driver Scott Speed, showed thirteenth result and for both MF1-Toyota team drivers, Christijan Albers and Tiago Monteiro, right after Speed. 
The United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) stated that the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as swine flu, has become the dominant flu strain in the world. 
In a briefing with reporters Thursday, WHO Special Pandemic Influenza Advisor Keiji Fukuda said the virus has been particularly active in the Northern Hemisphere in recent months. 
He added that he expects the trend to continue through the winter months, with more severe cases and even deaths. 
Fukuda said the vaccine currently in use in some 20 countries around the world remains effective and safe, and that no rare or dangerous side effects have been reported. 
"East Asia is one of the parts of the world where seasonal influenza viruses have remained in reasonably high circulation." 
"But even in that part of the world, the pandemic virus is becoming dominant," Fukuda commented. 
He noted that it was difficult to predict the activity of the virus. 
The H1N1 virus differs from the normal seasonal flu in that it has persisted during the summer months and affected relatively healthy people under the age of 65. 
The WHO says most people recover without hospitalization, although Fuduka pointed out that people with severe health complications and pregnant women were most at risk. 
The World Health Organization has declared the swine flu outbreak a pandemic. 
As of October 25, 2009, the WHO says there have been more than 440,000 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza and more than 5,700 deaths reported to the UN agency. 
In the United Kingdom, the music video for this Christmas' remake of the charity single Do They Know It's Christmas? was launched simultaneously today (Thursday) on several UK and Irish television channels including BBC One, BBC Two, RTE 1, ITV1, Channel 4, and Sky One. 
The song was originally recorded in 1984 by several of the biggest artists of the time including Bono, Bob Geldof, Paul McCartney and George Michael. 
This year, in celebration of 20 years since the first single, the song has been remade by over 50 of today's best selling artists, including Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, Robbie Williams, Bono, Justin Hawkins of The Darkness and Dido. 
The song, which is in aid of charity, is already tipped to be the Christmas No. 1 in the UK and Ireland. 
The song will also be launched as a charity mobile phone ringtone to raise funds for Sudan's troubled Darfur region. 
Mycokemusic.com said it was going to put the track on its website from Thursday with all profits to be donated to charity. 
The single will be available to buy in shops from the 29 November. 
The Ministry of Defence has confirmed that a British soldier has been killed in southern Afghanistan during a joint operation with Canadian-led NATO troops. 
It is with regret that we can confirm that a member of the UK Armed Forces has been killed in action this afternoon during ongoing operations against insurgent positions in Helmand Province, Southern Afghanistan, said an MOD statement. 
According to a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, a NATO peacekeeping organisation, troops came under fire after a successful operation. 
The soldier’s details have not been released as next of kin have not yet been told. 
In the past two months, ten British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. 
The Sunday Telegraph today quoted commandos as saying British troops in Afghanistan are on "the brink of exhaustion". 
Pakistani armed forces say they have captured the town of Kotkai on Saturday, the hometown of Taliban Chief Hakimullah Mehsud and one of his top officers, Qari Hussain. 
This comes after a week-long battle was launched on Monday, in part of an operation to curb the influence of the Taliban in South Waziristan. 
The operation began the previous Saturday when Pakistani forces approached from three separate areas of South Waziristan. 
Pakistan plans to trap Taliban within the area while approaching the towns of Makeen and Ladha, both of which are major Taliban strongholds. 
Major General Athar Abbas, the chief spokesman for the military, said at a news briefing that "we have complete control of Kotkai, a stronghold of the terrorists, where most of the houses had been converted into strong bunkers." 
So far, Pakistani officials have reported that 163 militants have been killed, while the military sustained 23 casualties. 
The entire area has been closed off, but there have been recent acts of violence which have officials worried. 
In recent weeks, Pakistan has seen attacks on police centers, military headquarters and a UN building. 
There have also been five attacks on an Islamic university in Islamabad, the capital. 
It has been reported that over 21,000 civilian families, an estimated 153,000 individuals, have fled South Waziristan, and have taken refuge in the North-West Frontier Province. 
At least one fisherman has died and 134 others were rescued on Lake Erie off the shores of Ohio after an eight mile wide piece of ice broke off the frozen lake's ice shelf and began to drift. 
The United States Coast Guard says the unidentified man who died fell into the water while trying to find a way off the ice. 
Rescuers were able to get him out of the water, but he died while being flown to a nearby hospital for treatment. 
The Coast Guard also said that the fishermen were warned that the ice could break, but many didn't believe there was any danger. 
Before heading onto the already broken ice, they made a makeshift bridge from wooden pallets to get to and from the shore, but the ice shifted and the bridge was destroyed. 
It left all 135 people stranded more than 1,000 yards from the shoreline. 
The ice in most parts of the lake can be up to two feet thick, but on Saturday temperatures rose above freezing, with winds of over 35 miles per hour. 
The combination of both high winds and temperatures, broke the thick ice into dozens of large pieces. 
Ottawa County sheriff Bob Bratton called those who avoided the warnings "idiotic". 
"I don't know how else to put it," stated Bratton. 
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in the U.S., but the smallest by volume, and the tenth largest fresh water lake in the world. 
Several helicopters were called in from Detroit, Michigan and Traverse City. 
The body’s immune system is less effective at quashing disease than it could be - but if it were better the immune system might do more harm than good, according to new research by Michael Deem and colleagues of Rice University in Houston. 
The immune system has apparently evolved to be mildly inefficient so that it achieves a balance between quick response to disease and decreased probability of autoimmune disease, a condition in which the immune system attacks healthy tissue. 
The authors drew their conclusions from a model of the dynamics of antibody evolution. 
Their simulations show that while there are mechanisms that would allow the immune system to develop antibodies that respond faster and more strongly against invading pathogens, those mechanisms would also create antibodies that are likely to attack the body’s own healthy cells. 
The model also bolsters controversial suggestions that chronic infections could lead the immune system awry, ultimately resulting in rheumatoid arthritis or other autoimmune ailments. 
The study will be detailed in a forthcoming issue of the journal Physical Review Letters. 
The process of reconciliation and unifying the Democratic party started at the ballroom of the Mayflower hotel in Washington, DC with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and his wife both individually issuing a check amounting to $2,300 to the Hillary Clinton for President committee. 
New York Senator and former First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton introduced to her fund contributors Illinois Senator Barack Obama as the first step of unifying the two sides who quite recently bitterly fought over winning the Democratic party's nomination. 
Hillary Clinton appealed to her supporters to help Barack Obama and pledged that she will personally help in defeating the presidential plans of Republican presumptive Presidential candidate, Arizona senator John McCain. 
Mrs. Clinton asked for nothing in exchange for her support of Obama, but Obama instead countered with a gesture of contributing to Mrs. Clinton campaign that is now burdened by debt. 
Obama signaled his own contributors to help Clinton pay off the debt incurred by her campaign. 
The United Kingdom's flag carrier airline, British Airways (BA) has warned the markets that it will post a full year loss of up to £150 million. 
The former state airline, privatised in 1987, saw its shares fall 8.5% on the back of an announcement that "further economic weakness in January and the outlook for February and March combined with the fall in sterling are impacting our outlook for the year", according to The Daily Telegraph. 
Quarterly revenues are still anticipated to grow by 4%, but a full-year loss is now expected. 
Costs have risen in recent months, whilst the historic lows of sterling have hit the bottom line. 
First and Business Class traffic has fallen as the global credit crisis has hit premium and business travel. 
Fuel costs have fallen, but previous hedging has negated this benefit. 
The airline has been considering a merger with Spanish flag carrier Iberia, but The Guardian, relaying Reuters, reports that Iberia now has a larger market capitalisation than BA, changing the field of play. 
The airline sector in general is facing trouble, with American and United posting fourth quarter losses and the Franco-Dutch Air France-KLM issuing a profits warning. 
According to an original Reuters report, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is moving his Bolivarian Revolution forward by nationalizing more private companies and clamping down against his opponents. 
Some oil service companies were nationalized earlier this month along with other sectors like banking, cement and steel. 
Cited by Reuters, Chavez said on Saturday "We are proceeding and will continue to proceed with nationalizations of strategic sectors." 
According to The Financial Post, expropriation of oil service companies follows their dispute with Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the State-owned oil company. 
Past election victories since 1997 have strengthened Chavez's control and popularity (with more than 60% approval rating). 
He won a February referendum amending the constitution and letting him stay in power until he is not re-elected. 
Chavez, cited by Reuters, told party activists in April "I've said it before and I repeat, we must keep up the offensive, bulldozing the counter-revolution." 
But the financial crisis, especially the low oil prices for the last months, has crippled his social revolution. 
During the last years, Chavez relied on high oil prices to push his social agenda. 
With the shortening of cash, Chavez cannot use oil revenues anymore to finance his budget. 
This wave of expropriation and the conflicts with oil service companies seems to reflect a desperate move to tackle the crisis, despite Chavez's words that the country is "well-equipped to weather the global recession." 
A boxer is missing in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, after it chased off a bear to protect three children. 
According to Bill Rusko, the father of two of the children, the bear crossed Route 30 in Ligonier Township and moved towards the three kids as they played badminton. 
The year-old dog, Major, then ran around the bear to distract it and bit it in the face. 
As the bear ran back into the woods, the dog chased it. 
It remains missing; however, neighbors say they saw it in the area. 
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced that leaders of APEC nations have agreed on "aspirational goals" on climate change. 
The agreement, which Prime Minister Howard calls the Sydney declaration focuses on reducing energy intensity (the amount of energy used to produce a dollar of gross domestic product), reforestation and technology sharing. 
Despite Australia, the United States and China being non-signatories to the United Nations' Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gas reductions which is set to expire in 2012, the APEC accord calls for "We call for a post-2012 international climate change arrangement ... that strengthens, broadens and deepens the current arrangement and leads to reduced global emissions of greenhouse gases," according to the draft declaration. 
The declaration as agreed upon will be released on Sunday. 
The draft agreement recognised that action was required to "slow, stop and reverse" greenhouse gas emissions; that nations should vow to reduce energy intensity by 25 percent by 2030; that forest cover in the region should be increased by 50 million acres by 2020; and that APEC nations will work with other nations to find a solution to climate change. 
The declaration is non-binding and is simply a statement of goals to which the nations will try to achieve. 
Host nation Australia has been criticised by China, Indonesia, Japan and Malaysia for putting climate change on the agenda at the APEC summit, saying they would prefer dialogue on climate change to occur under a United Nationa framework. 
Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said "the APEC meeting does not replace the appropriate forum to deal with climate change." 
Mr Wiraydua said that despite Indonesia not being entirely satisfied with the declaration they would "live with it". 
Environmental group Greenpeace has rejected the APEC statement because it doesn't set firm targets and includes the use of nuclear energy as a replacement for fossil fuels. 
Baitullah Mehsud, amīr (leader) of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is dead, said two Taliban leaders in a phone call to the BBC. 
Mehsud was reportedly killed on August 5, 2009, during a U.S. drone attack on South Waziristan; however, Hakimullah Mehsud, who was recently chosen as Baitullah's successor, and Wali-ur-Rehman told the BBC that Mehsud had died on Sunday, August 23, 2009 of injuries sustained on August 5. 
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik delayed giving official confirmation and asked for patience and an announcement by ISPR or other agencies. 
Major General Athar Abbas, ISPR spokesman, and Robert Gibbs of the White House had said that his death could not be confirmed although U.S. National Security Adviser James L. Jones had claimed that there was "pretty conclusive" evidence that proved Baitullah Mehsud had been killed and that he was 90% sure of it. 
Pakistan blamed him for numerous attacks including the assassination in 2007 of Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and wife of President Asif Ali Zardari, according to Bloomberg News. 
The U.S. offered a US$5 million bounty for his capture. 
According to the BBC, Pakistan had been unable to provide tangible evidence of his death because of the "remote and hostile terrain" of South Waziristan. 
A court in Salé sentenced fourteen members of Fath Al Andalous (Conquest of Andalusia) to jail yesterday for planning attacks against targets in Morocco. 
The radical group reportedly associates itself with expulsion of Muslims from the Andalusia region of Spain during the fifteenth century. 
According to state agency Maghreb Arab Press (MAP), the court sentenced leader Rachid Zerbani to fifteen years in prison and fined him 500,000 dirhams (€44,175), and the remaining thirteen to four to ten years for "setting up a criminal gang to plot and carry out terror acts aimed at disturbing public order through intimidation and violence, financing terrorism, manufacturing and possessing explosives, undermining the sacred values, and holding unauthorized public meetings." 
The group, which according to MAP had links with similar organisations in Algeria, Mauritania, France, Spain, and countries in the Middle East, had plotted to attack tourist locations in Agadir as well as a military barracks in Laayoune, the principal city in the Western Sahara region. 
According to the police, the members had obtained electronics and chemicals used in bombs. 
Since the 2003 Casablanca bombings, in which 45 people died, the country has broken up over sixty similar groups, with more than 2,000 tried and jailed. 
The Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due to meet the French President Nicholas Sarkozy later today. 
Lula da Silva is due to meet with Sarkozy in French Guiana. 
The two are expected discuss issues such as greater cooperation between the two countries and the coordination of work on areas around Brazil and French Guiana. 
In addition, subjects such as biofuels, nuclear science and defence are expected to be discussed in the meeting. 
After the meeting, at the headquarters of the local Lula and Sarkozy will present the design for a road bridge that is planned to be built over the river Oiapoque, linking the Brazil to French Guiana. 
Initial forecasts are suggesting that the bridge, will be about 400 meters long, and will cost approximately US$38.6 million. 
The cost of the project is planned to be divided equally between Brazil and France. 
This was made clear in an agreement between the two nations that was signed in July 2005. 
The agreement was approved by the Brazilian government in November 2007 and was approved by the French Parliament in March 2007. 
Glen Stollery is a New Zealand website developer who created the site ScienTOMogy.info in mid 2005. 
The site, which is a parody of Tom Cruise and his involvement with the Church of Scientology, became the centre of controversy when it was served with a number of cease and desist orders initiated by the Church. 
On March 19, 2006, Glen issued a media release stating that his web hosting provider, YouTube, had removed videos of Tom Cruise which formed part of the site. 
The release suggested that YouTube had taken this action under external pressure from Cruise or Viacom. 
Responding to a query by Wikinews reporters, YouTube stated "We have not received a DMCA notification letter from Viacom." 
The Church of Scientology was offered the opportunity to respond to the claims made by Stollery during the interview. 
This exclusive interview deals with these issues and others relating to the website. 
It was conducted with Glen via email between March 21 and April 3, 2006. 
According to al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden will release yet another video which is said to contain a will and testament from one of the September 11, 2001 hijackers, Abu Musab Waleed al-Shehri. 
The second tape was reportedly recorded from the same spot as the video that was released last week. 
"Coming soon, God willing, from the testaments of the martyrs of the New York and Washington attacks: The testament of the martyr Abu Musab Waleed al-Shehri, presented by Sheik Osama bin Laden, God preserve him," said a banner that was posted by As-Sahab on an extremist website which is frequented by al-Qaeda and other extremists. 
According to the United States based terrorist monitoring group, IntelCenter, the video will be released within the next 24 hours, but it is not known if bin Laden will actually appear in the video, or if an audio recording of his voice will just be present. 
Some reports suggest that the video will feature new images of bin Laden. 
Bin Laden appeared for the first time in a video since 2004 when he released a video on September 7, 2007. 
Nuclearelectrica considers the security of the plant, as well as of its employees and the environment, to be of utmost importance. 
In the future, the nuclear plant is expected to produce a significant amount of the electrical energy of southeastern Europe. 
CANDU reactors, which are designed in Canada, are one of the most advantageous forms of nuclear reactors due to their fuel efficiency and low amount of down-time. 
There were 8 games played in the National Hockey League on February 14, 2008, including the #2 Dallas Stars taking on the Phoenix Coyotes, and the Minnesota Wild and Vancouver Canucks fighting for playoff contention in the Northwest division. 
About 100 people protested the detention and treatment of 13 men accused of terrorism offences and held at the Barwon maximum security prison, in the state of Victoria, Australia. 
The protestors bussed and drove 56km from Melbourne out to the Barwon maximum security prison to voice their disapproval of the treatment of the 13 men accused of terror offences who are currently being held in the Acacia Unit of the prison. 
Some of the accused have been held in solitary confinement for 6 months up to and during their trial. 
The group Civil Rights Defence organised the event with family members of the accused and news reporters as a peaceful protest. 
A small group of about 15 police officers awaited the arrival of the group. 
The police said that their main concern was the health and safety of everyone as the protest was being held next to a busy road. 
Officers only approached when the Country Fire Authority was summoned by a passerby to put out an open camp fire, as there was fire restriction in effect in the area. 
The fire fighters were met with laughter and sarcastic applause. 
In a statement read at the protest, one of the accused and his wife (Eman Abdou and Shane Kent) said they were upset at the Australian media for participating in lying to the Australian public and the government for the way they have treated the accused. 
"I believe the conditions out at the Barwon Prison Acacua Unit are oppressive and inhumane." 
"Furthermore I am upset at the Australian media for participating in lying to the Australian public." 
"These men have a right to a fair trial, and everyone is innocent until proven guilty," the statement read. 
The statement also went on say that the limited legal visits were often shortened and that the best treated accused are in solitary confinement for 18 hours a day while some are in solitary confinement consistently. 
Omar Mehri, the brother of one of the accused spoke at the day's event and talked about verbal harassment and hate mail he and his family have received. 
He also talked of his brother being amazed to see grass after 5 months. 
Speakers at the event said the current laws used to prosecute murderers and other criminals should be used to prosecute terrorist suspects and had the same sentiments as Eman Abdou and Shane Kent. 
They said the laws were unjust and the treatment of the accused was cruel and unusual, constituting torture under the terms of the UN charter. 
Omar Merhi, brother of one of the detained said in a statement "My brother and the other arrested men are confused and want to know why they are in Australia's highest security unit for simply practising their religion." 
A televised debate between Australia's candidates for Prime Minister in the upcoming election has been rescheduled and shortened — to avoid a clash with popular cookery show MasterChef. 
The pre-election debate traditionally lasts 90 minutes and occurs at 1930 on the first Sunday of the campaign. 
With the grand finale of the cooking competition already scheduled for that time, and expected to attract around four million viewers, the decision has been made to move the debate forward to 1830 and shorten it to 60 minutes. 
When asked about MasterChef, Prime Minister Julia Gillard replied: "I can understand the fascination with cooking and eating, so I know many Australians will watch that show. " 
"But I think Australians still pay some regard to the debate and the election campaign." 
The debate between Gillard and her Liberal/National Coalition primary opponent Tony Abbott has already been the subject of controversy. 
Former PM Kevin Rudd had committed to holding three debates before the election. 
Australian Greens leader Bob Brown had also wished to be part of the debate, but joked that he probably had more chance of appearing on MasterChef. 
According to the first exit polls published by TNS OBOP and PBS for TVP1 Polish public television station, the Law and Justice (PiS) party has won today's parliamentary election in Poland with a 27,6% result. 
Runners up were Citizens Platform (PO) with 24,1% and Alliance of the Democratic Left (SLD) with 11,3%. 
PO and PiS, both of which will form the future government, will have 304 places in the new Sejm, which is 3 less than is required for making changes to the Polish constitution, which both parties support. 
Insulin production has been discovered in the brain and linked to Alzheimer's disease, potentially changing how the illness is viewed and treated. 
While insulin resistance, a characteristic of diabetes, is linked with neurodegeneration, the new finding provides a strong connection between diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. 
"What we found is that insulin is not just produced in the pancreas, but also in the brain," says study senior author Suzanne de la Monte of Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University Medical School. 
"And we discovered that insulin and its growth factors, which are necessary for the survival of brain cells, contribute to the progression of Alzheimer's." 
The finding was made by studying a genetic abnormality in rats that blocks insulin signaling in the brain. 
Additionally, they determined that a drop in insulin production in the brain contributes to brain cell degeneration, a symptom of Alzheimer's. 
These abnormalities do not correspond to type 1 or type 2 diabetes, but reflect a different and more complex disease process that originates in the CNS (central nervous system), the researchers report. 
Analysis of postmortem brain tissue also revealed that the proteins aren't produced at normal levels in human Alzheimer's sufferers. 
Insulin and IGF I were significantly reduced in the frontal cortex, hippocampus and hypothalamus—all areas affected by Alzheimer's—while not in the cerebellum, which is generally not affected by Alzheimer's. 
The study "opens the way for targeted treatment to the brain and changes the way we view Alzheimer's disease," says de la Monte. 
The research is reported in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 
Dozens of people have been killed as a result of flooding in Plateau State, located in the central part of Nigeria. 
The flooding occurred as the result of a large amount of rainfall close to Jos, a city in the north of the state, causing overflow of a dam. 
The Red Cross has reported the recovery of 35 corpses, while BBC News Online has placed the death toll at a minimum of 39. 
A spokesperson for the Red Cross said approximately two hundred houses had been sunk or wrecked. 
A significant number of the affected houses had been built of mud. 
Manasie Phampe, leader of the Red Cross of the state, explained: "Rainwater and water from the Lamingo dam which overflowed swept across several neighbourhoods in the city". 
The death toll is anticipated to increase by authorities, with 35 reported missing. 
"We are still searching for more bodies as many people have been declared missing," Phampe added. 
At least 57 people are now known to have died when a boat designed similar to a traditional dhow capsized one mile of the coast of Bahrain in the Persian Gulf. 
Seventeen were Indian and a further 13 of the dead are British; people of another six nationalities are also known to have died. 
The passengers were mostly foreigners from the Nass-Murray and Roberts construction company, and were enjoying an evening dinner cruise in celebration of their completion of part of the Bahrain World Trade Centre towers. 
Most who died were dining on the lower deck, and were trapped below. 
Over 130 people were onboard the boat at the time, although some say the boat was only licensed to carry 120. 
The boat capsized in calm seas soon after it left, trapping many below. 
Helicopters from the US Navy searched for 13 missing persons until Friday morning, when the search was called off. 
The dhow had been modified to have an extra, higher deck making the vessel less stable. 
The exact cause is unknown - suggestions from eyewitnesses include the boat suddenly turning left, being hit by a wave, and many of the passengers moving to one side of the boat together. 
The Bahrain Interior Ministry is to investigate the accident and establish if the boat was seaworthy. 
Professor Paul Mirecki, the chairman of the Religious Studies Department at the University of Kansas, was hospitalized after being assaulted by two unidentified men who made references to the class he had planned to teach in the spring. 
The course, entitled "Special Topics in Religion: Intelligent Design, Creationism and other Religious Mythologies" was intended to support evolution, and explore creationism as a mythology. 
Professor Mirecki had left his home and was driving to breakfast when he noticed the men tailgating him in a pickup truck. 
He said, "I just pulled over hoping they would pass, and then they pulled up real close behind." 
"They got out, and I made the mistake of getting out." 
John Calvert, managing director of the Intelligent Design Network, had previously objected to Professor Mirecki's focus on creationism as mythology, and claimed that the religious studies professor was "labeling anybody who proposes [intelligent design] to be simply a religious nut". 
Paul Mirecki had already decided to cancel the course after he caused controversy by using the slang term "fundies" to refer to Christian Fundamentalists in an email to a student organization, the Society for Open Minded Atheists and Agnostics. 
Professor Mirecki has apologized for using the term, which is viewed as a slur by some conservatives. 
The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle building in Seattle, Washington was the site of a shooting on at around 4 pm on July 28. 
A gunman who walked into the building shot one person dead and wounded five others. 
According to witnesses the man walked up to the building and shot a woman in the leg. 
He entered the building to go onto the roof and fire one shot before walking back inside and firing several more shots. 
After a few minutes the gunman surrendered to police through 911. 
According to Amy Wasser-Simpson, the federation's vice president, the man shouted, "I'm a Muslim American; I'm angry at Israel," before shooting. 
An employee who wished not to be identified spoke of the shots fired, "It went 'Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!' and then we heard a woman scream." 
"One of the receptionists told me that he shot her and then demanded that she call 911." 
"I saw one friend –– she had been shot twice in the stomach and was bleeding," 
All of the victims were women between 19 and 43. 
They have sustained wounds to the knee, groin, abdomen and arm. 
Three of the five have been taken to the operating room, said Pamela Steele, spokeswoman for the Harbourview Medical Center. 
The FBI will be working with local authorities on the case. 
It was surrounded by a fence, it has bullet proof windows and all visitors must be buzzed in by reception. 
38 people were killed on Saturday when a US Chinook helicopter crashed west of Kabul, Afghanistan, with the Taliban claiming responsibility for the crash. 
Thirty Americans were killed in the crash, including at least seventeen members of SEAL Team 6, Air Force members, the helicopter's crew, a dog handler and a civilian interpreter, while eight members of the Afghan Army were also on board and died. 
According to witnesses, members of the Taliban and officials from the US and Afghanistan, the Chinook was deliberately targeted, apparently by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG). 
While no American officials have spoken on the record about the cause of the crash, anonymous sources have said that the helicopter was shot down, an assertion that corresponds with reports from local officials and witness, who said that the helicopter crashed after a rocket struck it. 
The Taliban said that they had brought the aircraft down while it was involved in an operation targeting a house where insurgents were meeting. 
While Taliban forces do not have a history of shooting down aircraft, they claim to have modified their RPGs for improved accuracy, but there is no proof of this. 
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, warned against leaping to conclusions, however, saying that "[i]nformation is still coming in about this incident." 
" I think it's important that we allow investigators to do their work before jumping to too many conclusions." 
President Barack Obama issued a statement after the incident, saying that "[t]heir deaths are a reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices made by the men and women of our military and their families, including all who have served in Afghanistan." 
Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have unveiled a new roadmap for the Northern Ireland devolution process. 
The roadmap sets a target date for a new Northern Ireland Executive to be set up. 
The roadmap, known as the Saint Andrews Agreement, came after three days of intense talks in St. Andrews, Scotland. 
The agreement gives dates for the steps to devolution culminating on March 26, 2007 when the Executive is to be fully up and running. 
The first deadline is on November 10, 2006 during which time both parties must accept the agreement and for the first time in the history of the party, the Democratic Unionist Party will cast a vote for their rivals, Sinn Fein. 
The second deadline is on November 27, 2006 in which the Northern Ireland Assembly, would gather to elect the first minister and deputy first minister of the Executive. 
The first minister is speculated by many to be Ian Paisley, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party. 
The deputy first minister is speculated to be Martin McGuinness, the deputy leader of Sinn Fein. 
One of the key issues is Sinn Fein's recognition of the Police Service of Northern Island, which replaced the controverisal Royal Ulster Constabulary. 
In a reassurance to unionists, the governments said they will not transfer duties over to the executive till 2008. 
Sinn Fein demanded an immediate transfer of power, possibly to a Sinn Fein minister. 
"You can't have a democratic society unless the police are given full support," Blair said. 
After the election of ministers, three steps will take place. 
The Democratic Unionists will be given time to observe Sinn Fein and see if they are accepting policing. 
Also, in January, the Independent Monitoring Commission will give another report on the status of the Provisional Irish Republican Army revocation of violence. 
Finally in March, an electoral endorsement of the Saint Andrews Agreement will take place be it either through election or referendum. 
Most of the participants at the summit favored a referendum, except for Ian Paisley, according to an anoynoums source who wished not be identified as he no authorization to release details publicly. 
The last two final steps take place in March 2007. 
On March 14, the nomination of the Executive will take place. 
Finally, if all goes well, the Northern Ireland Executive power-sharing government and full devolved Northern Ireland Assembly would be revived and take power on March 26, 2007. 
However, if the parties fail to set up the Executive or fail to agree "at any stage", the Assembly will be dissolved and direct rule from London will continue with input from the Republic of Ireland. 
Tony Blair said the essential parts of the agreement are that all parties accept policing and the courts and have a clear agreement on power-sharing. 
"So those are the two essential parts of it," Mr Blair said. 
Ian Paisley, the notorious hardliner evangelist who has made his political career out of saying no to comprehensive reforms, eschewed his trademark fire-brand rhetoric offered a welcome and said that the province is "at a crossroads." 
Paisley said of Ulster, "a place where there is a road to democracy and where there is a road to anarchy." 
Further adding, "I trust that we will see in the coming days the vast majority of people taking the road to democracy." 
Blair also added, "We've been through different parts of this process many times over the past few years but I think this is a sound basis to proceed." 
He also said on the possible election of Paisley and McGuinness to their minister positions, "I do not think anybody will find it easy to sit in an executive with people who they are deeply opposed to, or indeed hostile to." 
Referring to Sinn Fein, Paisley stated "We will meet the requirements. " 
"But the IRA-Sinn Fein has got to meet those requirements." 
"And when they do, we will really be on the way to peace in Northern Ireland." 
Paisley left St. Andrews quickly after attending the press conference in order to be with his family for his fiftieth wedding anniversary. 
Sinn Fein leader, Gerry Adams offered a guarded welcome of the plans and stated "requires thoughtful consideration and consultation." 
However, he stated the restoration of power-sharing was an "an enormous prize. " 
"Common sense, political realism and the interests of all sections of our people demand that we achieve this." 
Sir Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party said that the agreement was "Belfast for slower learners." 
He added "Sinn Fein will sign up to the PSNI being the only force of law and order and Ian Paisley, or a colleague, will share the joint office of first and deputy first minister with Martin McGuinness in a mandatory coalition." 
Leader of the more moderate nationalist Social Democratic and Labour Party, Mark Durkan stated that welcome progress had been made in devolution and that his party would continue working towards this. 
The leader of the cross-community non-sectarian Alliance Party of Northern Ireland, David Ford said of the summit that the outcome of the summit was a mix of "of challenges and opportunities". 
He added, "Despite all that remains to be done, there is now at least a sense of hope for a shared future." 
Direct rule from London has been in place since the Assembly and Executive dissolved in 2002 over allegations of IRA spying ring. 
On the last sitting day of the year in Federal Parliament, the Opposition opened with three successive motions to attempt to bring the Government to account over the major issues that the Government has faced over the last fortnight. 
The motions to suspend standing orders was first put by Wayne Swan (the shadow Treasurer) dealt with the Treasurer Peter Costello, calling on him to release documents and information regarding Robert Gerard; the following two put by Kevin Rudd (the shadow Foreign Minister) and (the member for Corio) dealt with the Government's involvement in the Australian Wheat Board inadvertently paying money to a front business of Saddam Hussein. 
The Government with their House majority moved that these speakers and their necessary seconders be no longer heard (the 'gag'), and voted down the motions. 
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has asked countries neighbouring Turkey, specifically mentioning Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, and Syria, to be cautious and take measures to prevent the avian flu, H5N1, from spreading. 
The UN also warned that civilians in these countries should be given more information about the disease. 
Two people have died in Turkey so far, possibly a third, and more hospitalized, after contracting the flu virus. 
All 15 confirmed cases in Turkey had close contact with birds. 
As of now, the H5N1 virus strain does not pass easily to humans and does not spread at all between humans. 
Going into the third scheduled day of competition at the IPC Alpine World Championships in La Molina, Spain yesterday, the United States para-alpine team has delivered with a gold medal won by Laurie Stephens in the women's sitting downhill, a silver medal won by men's sit skier Stephen Lawler in the downhill, and bronze medal won by Laurie Stephens in the women's sitting Super-G. 
The United States finished two days of competition fifth overall in the medal count, tied with Russia. 
Other Team USA performances in the downhill included a fourth place finish by visually impaired woman skier Danelle Umstead and guide Robert Umstead, a fifth place finish by Christopher Devlin-Young in the men's sitting group, an eighth place finish by Ralph Green in the men's standing group, an eighth place finish by women's standing skier Allison Jones, a ninth place finish by visually impaired Mark Bathum and guide Sean Ramsden, a tenth place finish by Tyler Walker in the men's sitting, and a thirteenth place finish by Heath Calhoun in the men's sitting. 
In the Super-G event on Thursday, Jones finished fourth in the women's standing group, Devlin-Young finished fifth, Stephani Victor finished fourth in the women's sitting group, Umstead and Umstead finished fifth in their group, Bathum and Ramsden finished seventh in their group, Walker finished twelfth in his group, Green finished sixteenth in the men's standing, Jonathan Lujan finished nineteenth in the men's standing, Stephen Lawler finished twentieth in the men's sitting, Heath Calhoun finished twenty-third in men's sitting, and Andrew Earl Kurka finished twenty-fifth in the men's sitting group. 
A few members of Team USA had difficulties, and were not able to start or finish their races. 
In the downhill and Super-G event, 2010 Winter Paralympics medalist Alana Nichols did not start. 
LW12-2 women's sit-skier Victor also did not start in the downhill event. 
Visually-impaired B3 classified skier Bathum chatted with his guide, Sean Ramsden, immediately following both his races. 
While he was unhappy with his downhill run, Bathum was happy with and had fun during his seventh place run in the Super-G event where he finished with a factored time of 1:13.51, only 3.02 seconds slower than the winning time set by Spanish skier Jon Santacana. 
United States skiers were scheduled to compete yesterday in the Slalom discipline but the competition was cancelled due to high winds. 
Several members of Team USA had a pizza party after the slalom cancellation. 
Friday's scheduled event had been rescheduled as a result of predicted snow and high winds during the day. 
No snow arrived until late in the afternoon, where there was limited accumulation. 
Some of the younger members of Team USA took advantage of the night off on Thursday to go bowling before a busy training day Friday. 
In other United States Paralympic news, Sir Philip Craven, the President of the International Paralympic Committee, told a Wikinews reporter the country will have live television coverage of the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 
When a member of Team USA competing in La Molina was asked if they heard confirmation of this, they were unable to confirm. 
They did highlight the lack of United States media coverage was frustrating for fans wanting to follow the Games in London. 
According to the skier, many people he knew could only follow the Games by searching for video on sites like YouTube. 
Fud Leclerc, who represented Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest four times, has died at the age of 86. 
Leclerc had the distinct honour of being the first person to score nul points at the 1962 contest. 
The singer performed at the first contest in 1956 and appeared again two years later and achieved his best result with his performance of Ma petite chatte. 
After appearing for the third time at the 1960 contest he made his final appearance at the 1962 contest. 
At the 1962 contest Leclerc became the first person in Eurovision history to fail to score any points, also known as Nul Points. 
During his career he also worked as a pianist and a songwriter. 
After his final Eurovision appearance he left the music industry and became a building contractor. 
In 2005 he made an appearance on a special programme to commemorate Eurovision. 
Plastic surgeon to the stars Dr. Frank Ryan has died in a car accident at age 50. 
It is reported that the Jeep Ryan was driving crashed over the side of the Pacific Coast Highway and landed on rocks. 
Lifeguards were first on the scene and unsuccessfully tried to rescue Ryan. 
It is thought that no other vehicle was involved in the incident. 
Dr. Ryan, a celebrity in his own right, performed plastic surgery on several stars including Janice Dickinson, Gene Simmons, Shauna Sand and Adrianne Curry. 
He appeared on several television shows and became one of the first people to perform plastic surgery on television in 1995. 
A representative for Janice Dickinson released a statement about the death of Ryan. 
She said "Janice is deeply, deeply anguished! She is stunned and wants the world to know what a genius Dr. Ryan was." 
Ryan was traveling with his pet dog at the time of the crash; the dog was found seriously injured in the ocean and was transported to a local veterinarian. 
The CIA has been secretly authorized by a classified directive, signed by US President Bush, to send suspects overseas as part of a "rendition" process. 
The program has been used to manage the large case load which has accumulated since the September 11, 2001 attacks, leaving US officials free to concentrate on the "high value" suspects who are kept under US control at secret locations throughout the world. 
Today, US officials were reluctant to defend this policy for any specific cases, but White House spokesman Dan Bartlett presented a generic defense of US anti-terrorism policies on Sunday talk shows in the United States. 
A former government official claimed that the program was "fully authorized" and that the CIA was "not doing anything illegal" in an interview with The New York Times, and said that the leadership of the House and Senate intelligence committees was able to find out about the program, or had been informed of its existence. 
Allowing the CIA to have so much power in deciding who can stay in the country and who is shipped off to other countries is controversial, because in the past, the White House, State Department, or Justice Department would have been involved in approving individual cases of sending prisoners to other countries. 
While refusing to admit that the rendition policy even exists, the Bush administration claimed that they do not hand over people to be tortured in other countries, to get around US laws which prohibit such practices. 
However, the New York Times interviewed a number of current and former officials who believed that the policy was designed to allow the government to plausibly deny that torture was being tolerated. 
The case of Australian Mamdouh Habib attracted widespread attention in that country, after he was released in January after 40 months, without any charges being pressed. 
Australian officials were aware that he had been transferred by the United States to Egypt for six months. 
During this time, Habib claims he was subjected to various methods of torture, including electric shock and being held under water. 
The United States denies that Habib was tortured with their knowledge, although US officials were not present during his overseas captivity and could not guarantee that he had not been tortured. 
Egypt has not confirmed that Habib was ever in the country. 
A similar case involving Syrian born Canadian Maher Arar, deported to Syria in October, 2002, subsequently held and allegedly tortured for 374 days, led to Canada issuing a travel advisory strongly cautioning Canadians born in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya and Sudan against travel to the United States for any reason. 
A subsequent internal RCMP investigation found several instances of impropriety in the Arar case, including the provision of sensitive information on Arar to US officials, and that a liaison officer may have known of the deportation plan but did not contact his supervisors. 
Mr. Arar's attempt to sue American Attorney-General John Ashcroft over the incident in January 2004 was dismissed when the US government invoked the rarely used "state secrets privilege", claiming that to go forward in open court would jeopardize intelligence, foreign policy, and national security interests. 
Legal analysts point out that information obtained through the use of torture is useless in court proceedings, but US officials insist that the information obtained from such interrogations is still useful for their purposes, and that "it has resulted in the capture of terrorists." 
Eleven protesters, including five members of Congress, were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly. 
"The Sudanese government has shown total disregard for the wishes of the global, civilized community." 
" I have no optimism as to the actions of the Sudanese government," Lantos said. 
Democratic House members James McGovern and John Olver of Massachusetts, Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas, and Jim Moran of Virginia were among the others arrested and released after paying $50 fines after being arrested in front of the Sudanese embassy. 
Olver said, "We must hold the Sudanese government accountable for the attacks they have supported on their own citizens in Darfur." 
Meanwhile, President Bush met with Darfur advocates this Friday in support of rallies all over the US this weekend against the ongoing genocide in western Sudan. 
There will be rallies across our country to send a message to the Sudanese government that the genocide must stop. 
"I want the Sudanese government to understand the United States of America is serious about solving this problem," Bush said. 
Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois and 2008 US presidential candidate has swept all three of today's Democratic contests, two caucuses in Nebraska and Washington and the primary in Louisiana. 
Obama also won the tiny United States territory of the United States Virgin Islands. 
Obama won nearly 30% more over opponent Hillary Clinton in the Nebraska caucuses. 
Obama also had a major lead over Clinton in the Washington caucuses by a 2-1 margin. 
Commentators have noted that Obama seems to perform well in caucus states. 
Louisiana's Democratic primary was also won by Obama in a large margin, winning nearly 53% of the vote over Clinton's 39%. 
The state, which is still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina three years later could play a large role in the election this year. 
Despite these wins it is still a close race between the two Democratic candidates, with Obama showing a lead in pledged delegates, and Hillary Clinton showing a narrow lead when super delegates are taken into account. 
Each candidate needs to win the support of 2,025 delegates to secure the nomination. 
After the voting and caucusing ended yesterday both candidates gave a speech at the Democratic Party's Jefferson and Jackson Dinner in Virginia- Clinton giving her standard stump speech and refusing to talk about what had happened during the day; Obama repeating many of the things he had said earlier in his "Yes We Can" speech, this time with detailed policy proposals as well as "hope-mongering". 
The two candidates were in Maine today doing last minute campaigning before tomorrow's Democratic caucuses there and are also preparing for the "Potomac primary" which will involve the nation's capital of Washington, D.C. and the bordering states of Maryland and Virginia to be held on February 12. 
A family of six were injured at Flat Rock Bridge Family Resort and campground in Lebanon, Maine after a severe thunderstorm caused trees to topple, with one landing on a tent. 
A 10-year-old girl was critically injured after a tree fell on the tent she was sleeping in. 
Witnesses say the girl was pinned under the tree for at least 10 minutes before they were able to remove it. 
Witnesses also say the day was beautiful and sunny, but at around 6:00 p.m. (EDT) a storm rolled in, darkening the sky, followed by heavy winds and rain. 
Witnesses describe a "funnel-like wind" which lifted items off the ground and threw them around. 
The strong winds then brought down trees and limbs, with one landing on the family's campsite and tent. 
"The female patient was loaded into Lebanon Ambulance One and transported to Frisbie Hospital in Rochester to be stabilized and then was transferred to the trauma center at Maine Medical Center." 
"Her injuries were considered critical and life threatening when she left the scene," said Jason Cole, the assistant rescue chief for the area. 
The victims names have not been released and the girl's current condition is not yet known. 
Rescuers responding to the scene noticed several other trees and limbs scattered around other campsites and searched all 350 sites, but no other injuries were reported. 
Other campers say they had several close calls with tree limbs and debris. 
At least 12 trees were reported to have toppled during the storm. 
The family's car was also destroyed when a tree limb landed on it. 
The National Weather Service in Maine says it will investigate whether or not the storm produced a tornado. 
Citizens in the Australian city of Bathurst in Central-Western New South Wales have turned out in the hundreds on top of Mount Panorama to observe tonight's lunar eclipse. 
Those who turned out for the spectacle were treated to live music and purple flags with lighting to take on a mystic theme. 
Mount Panorama provided perfect conditions for the show, with minimal light and clear skies. 
Just before 7 p.m. AEST the eclipse began to be visible with the Earth beginning to shadow the Moon, by 8:37 p.m. AEST the top of Mount Panorama was bathed in an eerie red glow as the moon glowed deep red. 
Michael Stanton, a local astronomy fan told Wikinews "this is just great, we have music and this visual delight to see". 
The UK Government has stated that children in Britain will no longer be required to take compulsory, externally marked tests at the age of fourteen. 
The change takes effect immediately, meaning that children who were due to take the test this year no longer have to do so. 
Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls yesterday announced his plans to radically change the UK testing system yesterday, in parliament. 
Currently, almost ten million tests are sat each year by British pupils. 
This change is expected to cut the number of tests taken in half, according to The Guardian. 
The tests for seven and eleven year olds are not being abolished. 
A review group is being set up, however, to research the effect of these tests on eleven-year-olds. 
Instead of league tables showing test results, the government will produce report cards for secondary schools. 
According to Ed Balls, the results from GCSEs will be adequate to judge the performance of schools by their test results. 
The decision to abolish the tests for fourteen year olds came as a result of a situation earlier this year, when there were long delays with the delivery of test results to students of this age. 
According to Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the government is admitting that the previous test system failed by making this move. 
"For too long English, mathematics and science teachers in secondary schools have found themselves skewing everything to enable their pupils to jump through a series of unnecessary hoops," she claimed, while Chris Keates, general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said that "the sound of a deep collective sigh of relief will emanate from secondary schools across the country." 
Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Children Michael Gove stated that his party have "argued for fewer national tests and more rigor and we want to work constructively to improve the assessment and qualifications regime." 
David Laws, Shadow Secretary of State for Children for the Liberal Democrats, said that "the Sats tests taken by 14-year-olds are not only a waste of time but have been highly unreliable over the last few years." 
The Italian football team Inter Milan have cancelled their tour of England, where they were to play the English teams Crystal Palace, Leicester City, Portsmouth, and Norwich City. 
The four matches were due to take place between 25 July and 31 July. 
The cancellation of the tour has come days after a failed bomb attack on London. 
Only one match — the game against Crystal Palace — was to have been played in London. 
Inter Milan confirmed in a statement that the attacks on London compelled the club to cancel their tour of England, saying that: "Football takes a step back because of increasing serious events which touch the sensitivity of everyone." 
"For this reason, and given the situation, the club has decided to cancel the team's tour of England." 
Premier Jean Charest, 48, won a close race for his seat in Sherbrooke, despite having already been declared defeated by a PQ candidate. 
Quebec's chief electoral officer telephoned the premier to relay the news that he had retained his seat. 
CBC's French language network Télévision de Radio-Canada indicated the initial results were erroneous. 
The ADQ have won well over the seats needed for them to have official party status. 
In the 2003 Quebec election they won a total of 4 seats, and would have needed 8 more seats to obtain party status. 
In the 2003 election, the ADQ garnered 21% of the vote. 
If the results of the 2007 election holds, with 31% of the vote for the ADQ, it would represent a significant gain for the party. 
The Liberal campaign, under Charest's leadership, stumbled in the latter stages of the campaign when Charest allotted a $700 million windfall, in the form of a transfer from the federal Conservative government, to tax cuts for Quebecers. 
The move to apply the money so quickly to tax cuts during the campaign, resonated with some as a cynical move to buy votes, and may have harmed the Liberal chances. 
This is the first minority government in Quebec in more than 100 years since the year 1878. 
Compared to the 2003 election, voter turnout is up by approximately 3%, according to Elections Quebec. 
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At 8:50 AM local time (15:50 UTC) a man attempting to enter the United States at the Tijuana – San Diego section of the US – Mexican border, tried to escape U.S. customs officers, after he could not provide official documentation. 
According to Lieutenant Kevin Rooney of the San Diego police department, "the agent referred the driver to a secondary inspection and he [the driver] quickly accelerated away." 
The acceleration caused him to crash into a pickup truck. 
It is thought he was trying to force the other vehicle out of the way. 
When customs officers surrounded the vehicle, the driver went into reverse, which led to two officers opening fire on the vehicle. 
The man was shot only once and the wound was not life threatening. 
Police officials believe the driver tried to flee because the vehicle was reported to have been stolen from Colorado. 
NASA's Cassini orbiter has sent back remarkable images from Saturn, revealing that the planet's famous rings are far more bumpy than expected. 
Astronomers previously thought that the rings were almost completely flat, with changes in height of only a few metres. 
However analysis of the new images show ridges up to 4 kilometres tall, similar in height to the Rocky Mountains or the Alps. 
The images were taken around the planet's equinox on August 11, when the Sun was directly over Saturn's equator and caught the rings edge on. 
But whilst equinoxes occur twice a year on Earth, Saturn takes around 29.7 Earth years to orbit the Sun so the events are much rarer. 
With the light from the Sun reaching Saturn's rings at such a low angle, scientists were able to measure the shadows cast by bumps on the rings and discover their surprising height. 
As Cassini project scientist Bob Pappalardo put it: "It's like putting on 3-D glasses and seeing the third dimension for the first time." 
"This is among the most important events Cassini has shown us." 
Some of the ring features are known to be caused by Saturn's moons, but others are harder to explain. 
"To understand what we are seeing will take more time, but the images and data will help develop a more complete understanding of how old the rings might be and how they are evolving," said Linda Spilker, Cassini deputy project scientist. 
Cassini was launched in 1997, and entered orbit around Saturn in 2004. 
It is part of the Cassini-Huygens joint mission between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. 
Ballots are being counted in Sri Lanka, after a presidential election was held there, the first after the Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated during a 25-year-long civil war. 
The incumbent president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is expected to be in a close race against former army chief, General Sarath Fonseka; both candidates say they expect to win. 
There are twenty other candidates on the ballot, but none of them are expected to win. 
Polls closed at 16.00 local time, or 10.30 GMT on Tuesday. 
There were claims of voter intimidation and sporadic acts of violence, and the BBC reports that there were some small bomb blasts. 
The independent operating organisation Centre for Monitoring Election Violence said it had confirmed close to a hundred violent incidents during the day, adding that it believes the number could rise to 150. 
Polls were reportedly busy, with stations in the capital of Colombo being filled with lines of people half an hour before polls officially opened at 07.00 (01.30 UTC). 
"I have been voting at this booth for over 20 years but never saw a crowd like this," said businessman Mohamed Sallel, who had voted in the Borella district of the capital, as quoted by The Telegraph. 
Another voter, Doctor Nimalka Perera, gave an account of the crowds: "When I first came here, the queue was too long so I went back and came two hours later on my way to the hospital and found the line even longer." 
President Rajapakse, after voting in his home constituency, addressed reporters. 
"We must be ready to face the challenges of reaching new heights after this vote," he said. 
Fonseka, however, wasn't able to cast a ballot, apparently because his name didn't appear on the 2008 electroral register used for the elections. 
"My name is not on the 2008 register and therefore I cannot vote at this election." 
"The government is trying to use this to mislead the public at the last minute," Fonseka stated, saying that he had filled out his voter registration forms. 
Foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama, as well as other politicians from the ruling party, suggested that Fonseka might be disqualified from the elections. 
"We are seeking a court order on the suitability of this candidate because he is not eligible to be declared as a candidate," Bogollagama said, adding that the government wanted a ruling from the courts. 
Independent elections commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, however, remarked: "Not having one's name on the electoral list is not a disqualification." 
The country's electoral rules state that if neither candidate is able to obtain half of the ballots cast in the first count, then voters' second preferences are to be used to determine the winner. 
Political observers commented that election was too close to call between the two. 
Susan G. Komen for the Cure has stopped funding breast cancer screening and educational programming on breast health run by fellow US-charity Planned Parenthood and its affiliates. 
The Komen institute cites an ongoing investigation, while Planned Parenthood blame political pressures. 
Planned Parenthood received nearly 700,000 from the Komen Foundation last year alone. 
In the last five years, the funding from the foundation has granted 170,000 women breast exams. 
Leslie Aun, a spokesperson for the Komen Foundation, said the organization adopted a new rule that does not allow grants or funding to be awarded to organizations that are under legal investigation. 
Komen's policy disqualified Planned Parenthood due to a pending investigation on how Planned Parenthood spends and reports its money that is being conducted by Representative Cliff Stearns. 
Stearns is investigating whether taxes are used to fund abortions through Planned Parenthood in his role as chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, which is under the umbrella of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 
"While it is regrettable when changes in priorities and policies affect any of our grantees, such as a longstanding partner like Planned Parenthood, we must continue to evolve to best meet the needs of the women we serve and most fully advance our mission," Aun said. 
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood, said, "While this is deeply disturbing and disappointing, we want to assure women who rely on Planned Parenthood for breast care that we're still here for them, and we always will be. " 
The new fund we're launching to support these services will ensure that the Komen Foundation's decision doesn't jeopardize women's health." 
Global warming campaigner and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore says it is time for humanity to stop "waging war" on planet Earth. 
Gore spoke today in Oslo after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. 
He urged the two largest carbon-emitting countries - the United States and China - to make what he called the "boldest moves" to fight global warming. 
The United States has not ratified the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 international pact that requires reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. 
China was not required to reduce emissions under the deal. 
They also refused today to approve a new treaty designed to cut emissions by 25 percent to 40 percent by 2020. 
Gore said he would go to the U.N. climate meeting in Bali later this week to urge world leaders to meet as often as every three months to enact a global cap on greenhouse gas emissions by 2010. 
Gore shared the 2007 Nobel prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, represented at today's ceremony by Rajendra Pachauri. 
Pachauri stressed the link between the fight against climate change and peace. 
He warned that severe climate change will trigger what he called "dramatic population migration," as well as war over water and other resources. 
He also warned that up to 250 million people in Africa could face what he called "increased water stress because of climate change." 
India's first lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-1 (meaning 'moon craft' in Sanskrit), reached its destined lunar orbit on Wednesday. 
It is now in a circular orbit 102 kilometres from the Moon. 
It will stay in this orbit for two years and conduct various experiments to gain a better understanding of the Moon. 
According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) officials, the Moon Impact Probe (MIP), with an Indian flag painted on it, will be dropped late tonight. 
The MIP has a mass of 29 kg and it will take 20 minutes to reach the moon's surface. 
Two explosions were heard in the city of La Paz, Bolivia on Tuesday night, March 22 and in the early morning Wednesday, March 23. 
The first occurred at the Linares Motel, at 21:50 (01:50 UTC), and left two people dead and four injured. 
The second explosion occurred at 01:45 (05:45 UTC) at the Hotel Riosinhio II, less than a block from the La Paz bus terminal, injuring two people. 
Hours later, two suspects in the crime were arrested by the police in the city of El Alto. 
They were American Claudio Lestat, approximately 30 years old (25 according to some sources) and his partner, Uruguayan Alda Ribeiros, of 35 years (40 according to other sources). 
Dynamite was used in both explosions, according to government attorney Jorge Gutiérrez. 
President Evo Morales indicated that the promoters of the incidents were "industrialists" and "oligarchists" who, "using external agents", claimed to halt the reforms that have been happening in Bolivia. 
He also suggested that the United States could be behind the incidents: "Is there an effort against terrorism from the government of the United States, or did they send North Americans to commit terrorism in Bolivia?" Despite the accusations, the United States embassy in La Paz announced its cooperation. 
However, authorities have not ruled out religious motives, because Lestat is a self-proclaimed "minister of pagan rites". 
Police also announced that the Chilean consulate in the Bolivian capital was also a target, to be attacked on Saturday the 25th. 
The United States House of Representatives on June 29 passed a $1.17 billion funding bill for Amtrak in fiscal year 2006, an amount that is still short of the $2 billion Amtrak was originally seeking. 
The funding was approved in an amendment to a more general transportation and treasury appropriations bill. 
The House also removed the requirement in the bill that would mandate Amtrak to end passenger train service on currently unprofitable routes. 
The funding has yet to be approved by the Senate. 
The People's Republic of China (PRC) in recent years has begun an effort to reform its judicial system and make trials more fair and accountable, according to its state-run People's Daily. 
Those efforts came to a head today with the official May 1 start of jury duty by more than 27,000 newly qualified jurors. 
According to People's Daily, "It is the first time in Chinese history that the people's juries are appointed in a uniformed way by the people's congresses at all levels." 
Two jurors and a judge will be sitting on each three-person panel, and decide both criminal and civil cases. 
The juries will be available when requested by litigants and also in cases "with considerable social repercussions", which appears to mean major cases. 
The jurors are not chosen for each trial but will serve a five-year term in the jury pool working on different cases from time to time. 
Jurors have been provided for in the Chinese Constitution since 1954, but their role in the system was not well-defined by law until now. 
The changes to the jury system are part of a long-term planned reform of China's judicial system that was announced in 1999 by China's top judge, Xiao Yang. 
In addition to jury reforms, the plan addressed trial procedures and court structure and supervision. 
The goal was to "perfect the socialist judicial system with Chinese characteristics...in accordance with the Constitution and laws, and [without] judicial independence and supremacy, which exist in many Western countries," according to Xiao Yang as reported by the People's Daily in 1999. 
"Court reform represents a major part of China's reform of the judicial system and political restructuring." 
The essence of judicial reform is judicial fairness, which is crucial to the country's rule of law," Xiao Yang said back then. 
In August 2004, the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee approved a "resolution on improving the people's jury system", which took effect today. 
The system specifies that either by recommendation of local work units or by self-application, potential jurors can take qualifying examinations and be presented to standing committees of the NPC for appointment as jurors. 
The first batch of 1,342 jurors were tested in Beijing under the new law on April 23, 2005. 
Those who were certified to begin service on May 1 are said to "participate in all hearing activities of people's courts according to the law, enjoying the same rights as do the judges except that for a presiding judge after their assumption of the post," according to the People's Daily. 
This is an important move to upgrade and strengthen the system of people's jurors, Xiao Long of Beijing People's Court said to China Daily on April 24. 
The implementation of the NPC's decision will add more transparency and justness to the country's judicial system, he added. 
China has one of the world's largest prison systems with over 1 million prisoners, similar to Russia. 
It has received criticism over the years from the U.S. State Department and others for its arbitrariness and its treatment of political prisoners. 
The United States, however, is the world's largest jailer, with a staggering 2 million prison inmates, out of 9 million total around the entire globe. 
The newly formed Icelandic coalition interim government will take office today, according to a coalition leader. 
On January 27, it was announced that the nation's coalition government had collapsed and dissolved following a banking financial crisis. 
In October of 2008, Iceland's banking sector collapsed and was largely nationalised. 
Iceland's interest rate is now 18%, with GDP expected to fall 9.6% this year. 
Just before the announcement of the government taking office, nearly 1,500 people were protesting outside the parliament building over the collapsed government and the recent financial crisis, but protesters seemed happy about the change. 
Therefore "today is a celebration," said protest organizer Hordur Torfason to the crowd who were cheering about hearing the news. 
The new minority coalition will consist of Jóhanna's Social Democratic Alliance and the Left-Green Movement with backing from the Progressive Party. 
He criticizes her appointment because he believes she will not help the economic crisis, resulting in more government spending. 
The quick appointment of the new government also means an early election, which is scheduled to take place on April 25. 
According to a press release today from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, there are seven films in contention for the "Academy Award for Makeup". 
Ten minutes of each film will be screened for the Academy's Makeup Award Nominating Committee on Saturday, January 20, 2006. 
The committee will decide which of the three films should receive nominations. 
This list will then be voted on by the entire Academy. 
The 79th Academy Awards will honor the outstanding film achievements of 2006. 
The ceremony is scheduled for Sunday, February 25, 2007, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. 
Abdullah Gül, current deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Turkey, has been named as the new presidential candidate by his party, the Justice and Development Party (AKP). 
In Turkey, the parliament votes to elect the new President of Turkey. 
The AKP has 353 of the 550 seats in Grand National Assembly of Turkey. 
While Gül may not get elected in the first or second round, when a two-thirds majority is needed, their votes are enough to elect the new president at the third or fourth rounds of the election process, when a simple majority is needed. 
The main opposition party, the Republican People's Party (CHP), hinted that it may nominate its own candidate to challenge Gül. 
A British church group has defended a city mosque accused of "extremism", following an investigation by Channel 4 television. 
The Saltley Gate Peace Group, an interfaith organisation based in Birmingham, has expressed "its undiminished support" for the Green Lane Masjid, featured in Channel 4's investigative Dispatches programme shown on Monday 15 January. 
While filming Undercover Mosque, a secret Dispatches reporter attended lectures at mosques run by key organisations whose public faces are presented as "moderate and mainstream" - but is believed to discover "preachers condemning the idea of integration into British society". 
The apparent influence of "Saudi Arabian Islam", sometimes known as Wahabism or Salafism, is also scrutinised in the film. 
Programme makers claim the documentary, filmed and written by journalist Bobby Pathak, reveals "a number of mosques run by high profile national organisations that claim to be dedicated to moderation and dialogue with other faiths" but are in fact spreading "a message of religious bigotry and extremism". 
One of the Islamic organisations allegedly secretly filmed is Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith, a registered British charity which runs more than 40 mosques and branches in the UK with its headquarters at Green Lane Mosque in the Small Heath area of the city. 
It is deeply alarming that a few sentences have been taken out of context in order to create the impression that our institution is a hotbed of fanaticism they could have approached us directly - we operate an open door policy in our mosques. 
The mosque explained, "We would like to make it clear that Markazi Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadith cannot be regarded as endorsing every word uttered by every speaker we invite to our various mosques.」 
Islam commands us to respond in kind to those who desire peaceful co-existence. 
"If anyone contradicts this teaching then we would repudiate their views without hesitation." 
A similar opinion was echoed in a statement from the Saltley Gate Peace Group. 
The community action project, based at the Saltley Methodist Church, feared the community around the mosque would be ostracized as a result of the investigation. 
"We cannot speak for the views of specific individuals featured in the film but are completely in support of the good nature of the mosque's diverse, multiracial and peaceful worshippers and administration." 
"It is our hope that more resources will be spent on preventing true radical groups from brainwashing young Muslims and less time spent on demonising the general Muslim population for the actions of a select few," they added. 
The religious authority has sent a letter to producer of the programme, Andrew Smith, highlighting their concerns. 
Israel's Central Election Committee voted yesterday to disqualify two Arab political parties from running in the country's general elections scheduled for February 10th. 
Tibi condemned the ruling saying, "It was a political trial led by a group of fascists and racists who are willing to see the Knesset without Arabs and want to see the country without Arabs." 
Arabs constitute one fifth of the population in Israel but only have twelve of 120 parliamentary seats. 
Other parties associated with the Arab-Israeli minority, such as Hadash, are not affected by the committee's decision. 
Israel's High Court of Justice reversed a similar attempt to ban Balad in 2003, and has until Friday to rule on yesterday's votes. 
Wildfires in California continued to spread on Tuesday, having burned more than 140,000 acres of land throughout the state and caused an estimated US$13 million worth of damage. 
The blaze started burning last Wednesday north of Los Angeles. 
Emergency crews said they were hopeful that they would be able to control the fire. 
Currently, twenty-two percent of the blaze is contained, rising from only five percent as little as a day ago. 
Changing weather conditions also helped firefighting efforts, as temperature in the area fell to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, down from over a hundred degrees on Monday. 
"I'm feeling a lot more optimistic today than I did yesterday." 
"The crews are doing fabulous work out there on the ground, but the bottom line is that they're fighting for every foot," Dietrich said on Tuesday. 
In a statement, Californian governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said that "[his administration] is working around the clock to ensure that our brave men and women working on the fires front lines have the resources needed to respond and beat back these fires as quickly as possible." 
"We have the toughest and best-trained firefighters in the world fighting to protect public safety and property." 
"I am confident in the state's response as these fires continue to burn throughout California," he said. 
Two firefighters were killed in the blaze on Sunday, after fires burnt their vehicle on front lines. 
Over 10,000 residents have evacuated areas threatened by the flames. 
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley beat back a Republican primary challenge from Roy Moore, the former judge who tried to put up a Ten Commandments monument in his courthouse. 
In the weeks leading to Alabama's gubernatorial primaries, polls showed Riley had pulled ahead of Moore, the former state chief justice who became a hero to the religious right in 2003 when he was ousted over his refusal to remove a 5,300-pound Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building. 
Moore conceded in his hometown of Gadsden, telling supporters, "God's will has been done." 
Gale force winds ripped through Sydney and the South Coast of New South Wales late on Saturday night, causing widespread damage and extensive power outages, with up to 30,000 homes going without electricity at one point. 
The strong winds caused trees to be uprooted, in one instance crashing down upon an unsuspecting motorist, killing a man in his 60's and severely injuring his wife. 
The State Emergency Service (SES) has responded to over 800 calls for help to repair damage caused by the storms, however the storms have subsided somewhat and flood warnings around Bega and Moruya have been withdrawn. 
The Los Angeles City Attorney's Office said yesterday that pop music super-star Britney Spears was facing charges for a hit and run offence and driving without a valid drivers' license. 
Charges were filed following an accident in which police allege Spears smashed her car into another vehicle in a parking area in August of 2007. 
She could face a maximum of six months in jail and US$2,000 in fines if convicted. 
A group of paparazzi recorded a video Britney steering her car into another vehicle on August 6 as she tried to pull into a parking spot in a Studio City lot. 
Kim Robard-Rifkin was the owner of the other car and she filed a police report three days after the accident. 
The 59-year-old nurse found out that it was Spears who ran into her car after watching a video on a celebrity website. 
Robard-Rifkin said, "I simply want my car fixed, the same as I would fix somebody's car if I had done that." 
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is deploying its new Homeland Security Information Network - Secret (HSIN-Secret) in all 50 state Emergency Operations Centers as well as 18 additional state and local law enforcement sites. 
The secret network is a component of the HSIN, which is the primary conduit for DHS to share information on terrorist threats, suspicious activity and incident management with state, local, tribal and private-sector officials. 
Development on this $350 million system by Northrop Grumman Corporation was begun in March of 2004 with basic operation achieved in just 4 months. 
"The Homeland is more secure when each hometown is more secure," said Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge in DHS's February 24, 2004 press release that launched the program. 
Future program expansion will include the county level, communication at the classified SECRET level, and the involvement of the private sector. 
With the "Secret" component in place, classified information can now be disseminated to authorized individuals at all levels of government and business throughout the country almost instantly. 
HSIN lets most government agencies as well as many private companies doing business with the government share information on the whereabouts and suspicious activities of anyone that comes to their attention. 
Internal policies and the judgement of the system's users provide privacy and civil rights protections, while who can access the system is determined by DHS. 
The great-granddaughter of former South Africa President Nelson Mandela has died in a car crash following a concert to open the World Cup. 
The Nelson Mandela Foundation released a statement which said that thirteen-year-old Zenani Mandela, who celebrated her birthday on June 9, died in a single vehicle accident and that no one else was injured. 
The statement continued: "The family has asked for privacy as they mourn this tragedy." 
The driver of the vehicle of which Zenani Mandela was a passenger has been arrested and charged with drunk driving. 
He may also face culpable homicide charges, according to police. 
South Africa has a poor road safety record and ranks ninth in the world for traffic fatalities. 
Traffic safety is feared to be a threat of injury to supporters to the World Cup. 
The Singapore Navy on Thursday warned of a possible pirate threat to ships passing through the Strait of Malacca after receiving a correspondence from an unnamed terrorist organization. 
According to the Navy, the intent of the terrorists was to "achieve widespread publicity and showcase that they remain a viable group." 
While the threat received covered only oil tankers, other large cargo ships were also at risk of attack, naval officials went on to say. 
To reduce possible risks, the Navy urged ships to strengthen onboard security, including adding additional lights and lookouts. 
They also recommended that ships maintain a higher speed and report any unusual incidents to the proper authorities. 
The advisory said that past attacks in the Strait had been carried out by small vessels such as motorboats or fishing boats with armed crews. 
Commercial vessels were also warned to avoid known fishing areas accordingly. 
The Singapore Navy said that it had contacted other countries in the area to warn them of the threat. 
Both Indonesia and Malaysia have also announced plans to increase patrols in order to provide additional security. 
The Strait of Malacca is a major conduit for oil shipments. 
With around a third of global oil shipments passing through, it is the main route for travelling from the Middle East to Asia. 
Any attack on vessels within the Strait would likely have a major ripple effect on global trade. 
Pakistan's military has said that its soldiers killed twelve militants in recent operations targeting Taliban insurgents in South Waziristan. 
The military said security forces battled militants on Friday as they fought for control of Makeen, an area considered the main base of the Pakistani Taliban. 
The military statement also says troops battled to tighten their control over Sararogha, which is another Taliban stronghold. 
The accounts of the Pakistan army's offensive in the tribal region near the Afghan border are difficult to verify, as journalists and aid workers are not allowed into the battle zone. 
Pakistan launched an offensive against the Taliban last month in South Waziristan, an area that is believed to be a stronghold for rebels, and where the government does not have much influence. 
According to the Pakistani army, hundreds of militants were killed since the operation was launched, but the Taliban denies the claims. 
A year since taking up residence at No. 10 Downing street, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Labour Party is already in trouble after losing a local election, finishing fifth after previously win-less political parties and popularity rating at an all time low. 
Health Minister Ben Bradshaw described the party's loss to the British National Party and to the Greens as a, "terrible loss" and blamed the economic conditions such as rising food and fuel costs as factors that dampens the Labour Party's appeal with the public. 
Conservative Party leader David Cameron countered Bradshaw's opinion by saying, Mr. Brown was to blame for the economic distress. 
Cameron cited the Prime Minister's ten years of handling the economy as minister prior to assuming office when Tony Blair stepped down last year. 
The by-elections in Henley were won by Tory John Howell with a majority of over 10,000 votes, defeating by a large margin the Liberal Democrats who were presumed to have a close edge of beating both Conservatives and Labour. 
Labour threw in their support with Richard McKenzie who only garnered 3% of the votes behind the BNP and Greens. 
Henley called for an election when its representative Boris Johnson was elected Lord Mayor of the City of London. 
The Australian Labor Party has appointed SLW Group to run it's advertisement campaign for the 2007 Australian Legislative Election. 
SLW Group was successul in gaining the $10 million account it was revealed today. 
The team dubbed "07" will be lead by senior executives, Luke Dunkerley and Neil Lawrence. 
ALP campaign director Tim Gartell said that Lawrence had a wealth of experience with political campaigns, being part of the adveritsement team responsible for the election of a Victorian Labor government in the 1980s. 
He also added that Lawrence had worked on the campaign for election of Australian Republican Movement representatives to the Australian Constitutional Convention in 1998. 
Present polling data from Newspoll suggests that the ALP is beginning to regain support in the electorate, narrowly polling a higher percentage of primary support since late October, 2005, ending almost 10 months of being behind John Howard's coalition government in polling. 
A passenger train carrying at least 250 people, many of whom were children, derailed in Serbia-Montenegro and drove into a ravine Tuesday afternoon. 
Close to 200 have been injured and the death toll has risen to 44. 
Most of the passengers were schoolchildren returning from a ski trip. 
"The accident occurred because of a failure of the train's braking system," said Interior Minister Jusuf Kalomperovic. 
At about 4 p.m. the four-car train derailed near Bioče, a small village nearly 15 kilometers northeast of Podgorica as it was emerging from a tunnel above the Moraca River. 
"The train simply went wild, out of control," said one injured passenger. 
"I was fine because I was in a back compartment, those in the front got the worst of it." 
"It was horrible, I saw many dead and wounded around me," said another passenger from Hungary, Karman Chofu. 
"I had fallen asleep when a loud noise woke me," said Stanislava Bukovic, 60, another injured passenger. 
Miodrag Djurovic, the head of the main Podgorica hospital, stated that another five passengers had died overnight. 
Djurovic also said at least 198 people, 90 of them children, have been treated at the hospital. 
"The children's hospital admitted 90 children, 34 of them are still there, six have undergone surgery," Djurovic said. 
Earlier Deputy Prime Minister Miroslav Ivanisevic told the media that the death toll stood at 30 and the amount injured at 135, but said those figures could rise as rescuers continue to reach victims. 
Ivanisevic described the wreck "as the worst rail accident in the history of Montenegro," Ivanisevic also said. 
President Filip Vujanovic and Prime Minister, Milo Djukanovic also rushed to the site. 
"A terrible tragedy happened at Bioče and everything is being done to reduce the number of casualties as much as possible," Vujanovic told reporters. 
Because of the accident, Montenegro's transport minister, Andrija Lompar, and National Railways chief Ranko Medenica resigned. 
The driver of the train has been arrested because of suspicion of negligence. 
The train was heading from the northeastern town of Bijelo Polje to the Montenegrin coastal city of Bar. 
The international community has condemned the Fijian president's decision to abrogate the constitution. 
President Ratu Josefa Iloilo abrogated the country's constitution earlier today in response to a Court of Appeal decision declaring the removal of Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase and the appointment of military strongman Voreqe Bainimarama as interim Prime Minister unlawful. 
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd condemned the move, saying that it would take Fiji backwards. 
He called for the government to obey the court of appeal's ruling and hold elections promptly. 
"This is the right course for Fiji and the only way forward for the people of Fiji," he said. 
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said that the abrogation of the constitution "will merely compound the problems faced by ordinary Fijians". 
"The President's decision, no doubt prompted by the Commodore, to override the constitution, sack the judges, and depend upon the military to keep an unlawful regime in power, will compound the already serious economic difficulties confronted by Fiji," McCully said. 
In a televised address this morning, President Iloilo abrogated the constitution, revoked all judicial appointments, and appointed himself as head of state. 
He said he would appoint a new interim government in the coming days to implement the reforms of the People's Charter for Change, Peace and Progress and pave the way for "true democratic and parliamentary elections" to be held by September 2014. 
Fiji's government was overthrown by a military coup in 2006. 
A letter that had been written in 1988 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 Iranian Revolution and is Iran's former Supreme Leader has been made public by Iran's former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and states that Iran needed to acquire nuclear weapons in an attempt to win the war with Iraq. 
The letter was reportadly sent to "political leaders" while the Iran-Iraq war was taking place. 
BBC News says the letter states what would be needed if Iran was willing to continue any battle with the country of Iraq. 
Khomeini says that "more aircraft, helicopters, men and weapons" would be needed to continue the fight and that "within five years, need laser-guided and atomic weapons in order to win the war" with Iraq. 
BBC News also say that Khomeini states Iran's economy "was operating at a level below zero." 
He also said that people who were needed to volunteer for battle were "in short supply." 
The letter also states that Khomeini was "forced" into a cease-fire of the Iran-Iraq war, which he says is "like drinking poison." 
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld faces a federal lawsuit brought today by the American Civil Liberties Union and Human Rights First, filed in his home state of Illinois. 
The suit charges that he bears direct responsibility for the torture and abuse of detainees in U.S. military custody. 
The lawsuit was filed in federal court on behalf of eight men who were subject to torture and abuse at the hands of U.S. forces under Secretary Rumsfeld's command. 
The parties seek a court order declaring that Secretary Rumsfeld's actions are in violation of the U.S. Constitution, federal statutes and international law. 
The American Physical Society has awarded its 2010 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics to six scientists for their contributions to theories on the origin of mass, including the key concepts of the Higgs boson and Higgs mechanism. 
The full citation stated the prize was awarded "For elucidation of the properties of spontaneous symmetry breaking in four-dimensional relativistic gauge theory and of the mechanism for the consistent generation of vector boson masses." 
The J. J. Sakurai Prize will be presented at the APS 2010 meeting in Washington, DC at a special Ceremonial session in February 2010. 
The Higgs mechanism is a key element of the electroweak theory that forms part of the Standard Model of particle physics, and of many models that go beyond it. 
The papers that introduce this mechanism were published in the journal Physical Review Letters in 1964 and were each recognized as milestone papers by PRL's 50th anniversary celebration. 
The Large Hadron Collider at CERN and the Tevatron in the United States are searching for a particle, the Higgs boson, that will constitute evidence for this theory. 
Because of its importance this particle is often referred to as the "God Particle". 
The LHC, a vast scientific experiment to smash together sub-atomic particles, recently moved a step closer to its goal. 
On Friday physicists announced they had sent protons all the way round the 27 km ring beneath the France–Switzerland border, and on Monday announced the first successful collisions. 
This follows a major setback which shut down the collider for 14 months. 
The Houston Astros have fired manager Phil Garner and general manager Tim Purpura less than two years after leading the team to its first World Series appearance (2005). 
Bench coach Cecil Cooper was appointed interim manager and team president Tal Smith will serve as interim general manager. 
"I felt this was the time for a change," owner Drayton McLane said. 
Garner took over the Astros in the middle of the 2004 season after Jimy Williams was fired. 
The Astros went 48-26 in the second half and won 36 of their last 46 games to win the NL wild card, then defeated Atlanta in the first round of the playoffs before losing to St. Louis in Game 7 of the NL Championship Series. 
He has a 985-1,054 career record as a major league manager, including 277-252 with the Astros. 
Purpura joined the organization in 1994 and directed player development and the Astros' six minor league affiliates before taking over from Gerry Hunsicker as GM before the 2005 season. 
The Astros are currently in fifth place in the National League Central with a record of 58-73. 
The New Zealand government has now introduced graphic health warnings on cigarette packs. 
The new warnings, which replace the text warnings, will show images of gangrenous toes, rotting gums and teeth and diseased lungs and will also include the quit smoking Quitline number. 
The new warnings will cover 30% of the front side and 90% of the back. 
The new warnings will come into effect January 2007 but the manufacturers will not have to produce the new warnings until February 27, 2008 and retailers have till August 2008 to clear all their old stock. 
Damien O'Conner, associate minister of health and ex-smoker, said: "Pictures were more effective than written warnings." 
Actually seeing what it does to you is probably more acute than just reading the words on a cigarette packet. 
The approach is designed to shock people into realising smoking kills and causes serious illness. 
"Using powerful imagery to remind people of the real and horrific effects of smoking will act to deter smokers and discourage New Zealand's young from starting the habit in the first place." 
Other countries which also show graphic warnings include Australia and Canada; they say that the warnings are effective. 
Chris Laurenson, Health Ministry team leader national drug policy, said that international evidence was strong. 
"That was confirmed by research in New Zealand which supported the effectiveness of pictorial labelling." 
Altogether there will be fourteen images, of which seven will be released first, with rest following. 
Mr O'Connor said: "The images were horrific; but they are what happen to people who smoke in this country." 
However, according to Mr O'Conner, one company had used removable sticker that were later removed due to consultation. 
The industries will not be reimbursed for any cost that may occur. 
"They understand what it might mean if they don't and I'm confident that they will," Mr O'Connor said. 
"They have already been implemented in other countries and the NZ tobacco industry has the technology to print the new packets within weeks," Becky Freeman, the Action on Smoking and Health director said. 
World Heath Organization rules make New Zealand obliged to increase the warning sizes on packets. 
Scientists studying data from the Chandra X-ray telescope have found strong evidence for the missing half of ordinary matter in the universe. 
Two immense intergalactic clouds confirm the existence of a cosmic web of hot gas, predicted by computer simulations, containing baryons, the material making up visible objects in the Universe. 
"An inventory of all the baryons in stars and gas inside and outside of galaxies accounts for just over half the baryons that existed shortly after the Big Bang," Fabrizio Nicastro of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. 
"Now we have found the likely hiding place of the missing baryons." 
Nicastro is lead author of a paper in the February 3, 2005 issue of Nature describing the recent research. 
Various measurements give a good estimate of the mass-density of baryons - the neutrons and protons that make up the nuclei of atoms and ions - in the Universe 10 billion years ago. 
However, sometime during the last 10 billion years a large fraction of the baryons, commonly referred to as "ordinary matter" to distinguish them from dark matter and dark energy, have gone missing. 
Using the computer predictions, Nicastro and colleagues searched specifically for the diffuse system of gas clouds galaxies and galaxy clusters form within. 
Evidence of the clouds had been previously detected around our own galaxy and in the Local Group, but the temperature range (a few hundred thousand to a million degrees Celsius) and low density have prevented detection outside the immediate neighborhood of galaxies and the reliable estimation of baryon density for the entire universe. 
The clouds were detected using Chandra observations when the galaxy Mkn 421 brightened in X-ray emissions. 
The X-ray spectral data showed two hot gas clouds, 150 million and 370 million light years distant, absorbing the X-rays from Mkn 421. 
The data shows the presence of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and neon present in the clouds. 
Combined with other data the research team determined the thickness and mass of the clouds. 
Assuming that the size and distribution of the clouds are representative, Nicastro and colleagues made the first reliable estimate of average density of baryons in such clouds throughout the Universe, finding it consistent with the mass density of the missing baryons. 
Mkn 421 was observed three times with Chandra's Low-Energy Transmission Grating (LETG), twice in conjunction with the High Resolution Camera (May 2000 and July 2003) and once with the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (October 2002). 
The distance to Mkn 421 is 400 million light years. 
With the United States Australian rules football National Championship this weekend, Wikinews interviewed United States Australian Football League (USFooty) president Rich Mann, and Media Relations representative Kevin Smith. 
The USAFL Nationals will feature teams from the United States and Canada. 
This means that an American team can have no more than nine players who aren't Americans and a Canadian team no more than nine non-Canadians. 
Australian rules football is played on a field 170 metres by 160 metres. 
According to USFooty, the tournament will attract over 1000 players. 
The tournament will have four divisions for men and one for woman. 
Pirates have seized control of the Sirius Star, a Saudi-owned oil tanker off the coast of Kenya and are steering her towards Somalia, reports the US Navy. 
The ship was captured roughly 830 kilometers south-east of Mombasa and is reportedly heading towards the Somali port of Eyl. 
The oil tanker was carrying over 2 million barrels of oil at the time of her capture, and was on her way to the United States via Cape Town. 
Reuters claimed that news of the attack raised crude oil prices around the world. 
Vela International Marine, the ship's owner, has said the Sirius Star is fully loaded. 
The US Navy reports that all 25 crew from the United Kingdom, Croatia, the Philippines, Poland, and Saudi Arabia are 'safe'. 
The area off the East coast of Africa has seen a significant amount of piracy. 
In 2007, one-third of the world's piracy incidents occurred in this region. 
Hijacking off the coast of Somalia has become increasingly common over the last decade. 
Over the last year multiple countries have expressed concern or committed their navies to dealing with Somali pirates. 
Most recently, South Korea has announced intentions to send one of its destroyers after five South Koreans were kidnapped in a Japanese cargo ship hijacking. 
The Sirius Star is the largest ship captured by pirates in the area to date. 
This also sets a record for the farthest from the shore that pirates have struck. 
Yesterday, the Milwaukee County district attorney charged Cory J. Feerick, a 33-year-old from Brookfield, Wisconsin, with five misdemeanor counts of stealing US$35,000 worth of flush valves from fast food restaurants and university toilets and urinals. 
If convicted, Feerick could spend to 9 to 45 months in jail, and pay between US$10,000 and US$50,000 in fines. 
Initially arrested in late January following a local news television story on the thefts, he stands accused of stealing parts worth between US$300 and US$600 each from locations that included Milwaukee Area Technical College, Waukesha County Technical College, ITT Technical Institute, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Marquette University, the Pick 'n Save on Capitol Drive in Brookfield, and the Arby’s also located on Capitol Drive in Brookfield. 
Feerick was dubbed the "Backpack Bathroom Bandit" by the media because video showed him committing the thefts while wearing a backpack. 
The thefts reportedly took place in September and October of last year, with several area police departments involved in investigating them. 
The New York Yankees rebounded from a tough loss on Saturday to win Sunday's game 9-4 against the Cleveland Indians thanks to some timely hitting. 
Randy Johnson (9-6) allowed three runs on nine hits, six of which were leadoff hits. 
His performance bested Tribe starter Jake Westbrook (6-11), who pitched well to start the game but then surrendered two runs in the 4th inning and three in the 5th as the Yankees' hitters constructed a lead. 
Recently acquired reliever Wayne Franklin threatened to lose the lead in the 7th inning, but was saved by Tanyon Sturtze, who came on to get the final out of the inning. 
Gary Sheffield then responded in the bottom of the inning with a three-run homer hit deep into the right-center field bleachers, stretching the Yankee lead to 9-4. 
Mariano Rivera closed out the game with a two-inning appearance, recording his 20th save. 
He enters the All-Star break preparing for Tuesday's game, along with Sheffield and Alex Rodriguez. 
The Yankees currently trail the AL East leader Boston Red Sox by 2.5 games, but face tough road series against the BoSox, Rangers, and Angels when play resumes on Thursday. 
California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his support for Arizona Senator John McCain's presidential bid Thursday morning. 
Schwarzenegger called McCain "a great American hero and an extraordinary leader" and praised him for his ability to cross party lines. 
"I think Senator McCain has proven over and over again that he is reaching across the aisle to get things done," Schwarzenegger said. 
Also present was former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who recently dropped out of the race and pledged to support McCain. 
"This is a man who is moving us into our future," Giuliani said. 
"He understands how to do it and also understands how to keep us safe in a time of peril." 
Schwarzenegger said he also admires Giuliani and only decided to endorse McCain after Giuliani had dropped out. 
"Both of them are friends of mine and this is why I really didn't want to endorse anybody," Schwarzenegger said. 
McCain used this as an opportunity to discuss his views on greenhouse gas emissions and environmental technology, which have come under criticism from others in the Republican Party. 
"We don't have to have increased costs to Americans," McCain said. 
"In fact, with the development of green technologies, we can have reduced costs to the American consumer with the development of new technologies." 
California is one of the 24 states whose primary will be held on February 5, also known as Super Tuesday. 
Nearly 15% of the delegates needed to receive the Republican nomination will come from California. 
Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were also campaigning in the state on Thursday. 
Marcus du Sautoy is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. 
He is not only a researcher; he had great success with the popular book The Music of the Primes. 
His last book Finding Moonshine will be published in English in February 2008. 
It has already been published in Italian with the title Il disordine perfetto ("The perfect disorder"). 
In September 2007 he was in Levico Terme (Trento, Italy) for a conference. 
One year on from the Indian Ocean tsunami, the world's grief and compassion returned to the tsunami-battered coastlines of the Indian Ocean, where at least 216 000 people lost their lives. 
Under a clear sky and before a gentle sea, the world commemorated those lost their lives, in one of the worst natural disasters that the modern world has experienced. 
Since the Indian Ocean tsunami, patchy progress has been made on the return to a normal life for those who lived through the experience. 
Efforts to implement a warning system similar to that coordinated by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii have past a number of significant milestones. 
Tourist resorts in many places have been rebuilt, and many visiting them at this time do so as a form of remembrance. 
Yet still there remain those who may never recover from the tragic events of one year ago. 
Some $13 billion was pledged to relief and recovery efforts, of which 75 percent has already been secured. 
Alan Mercer is running for the Ontario Libertarian Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Scarborough—Rouge River riding. 
Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. 
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. 
Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents. 
A businessman currently representing his place of employment in Thailand has left the following eyewitness account for Wikinews: 
:"How safe are the streets of Bangkok?" 
" As a somewhat nervous US citizen holed up in a hotel room in this massive South Asian metropolis, I decided to venture forth and see for myself." 
"For courage as much as anything, I walked with my close friend and business partner, who like me, hails from San Diego, California." 
:"I left my suite at the Royal River Hotel and walked down Soi Charansandwong, the narrow street that leads from the hotel to the busy road that crosses the city and shortly thereafter, the Chao Phraya River, known as the 'River of Kings." 
:"Thailand does, indeed, love their kings, or particularly, their current King." 
"Evidence of this is clear:" 
"at least a third of the people walking on the streets wear the 'King Shirt,' a bright yellow shirt that bears the crest of the King." 
:"Even newsreaders on the local television news can sometimes be seen wearing the yellow shirt as a showing of support for the King." 
:"Leaving the alleyway, we walked to the busy Thonburi district." 
"Immediately, I could see a group of soldiers, some standing, others sitting, along a sidewalk on the main street." 
"They had set up a check point, but I saw but one vehicle stopped, a beat up truck that appeared to have come in from the countryside, loaded with fruit." 
:"We passed all the various businesses along the street as we walked, all open and apparently unaffected by the Coup." 
:"Walking slowly down to where the soldiers were and smiling at them as we walked, we approached the man who appeared to be the commanding officer." 
"He smiled back and asked us where we were from." 
"He was a bit business like at first, but this was a man who had a job to do, of course." 
"It appears that the military, for the most part, is present as a show of support and to act if any anti-Coup action should take place." 
:"My friend noticed that the soldiers appeared to be uncomfortable in their uniforms, not the most comfortable clothing to wear in the hot and humid world that is Bangkok." 
:"Each soldier, unable to wear a yellow shirt and stay in uniform, instead bore a yellow ribbon of support for the King, usually tied to his rifle." 
:"Walking back to a small stand, we purchased twenty bottles of cold drinks and returned to the soldiers and handed them to the officer in charge." 
"He smiled and accepted the offering and handed them out to his men." 
:"As we continued to walk down the sidewalk, three women came out of their shop, one wearing a yellow king shirt, and they thanked us for the gesture." 
:"The streets of Bangkok, otherwise, appeared completely normal in all respects." 
"Street vendors hawked various items of food, car shops were installing high tech stereo systems and dogs, here and there, sat quietly in whatever shady spot they could find." 
:"We crossed the street and walked down an alleyway to the nearest Temple." 
"Walking on the cool, green grounds of the Temple complex, the Coup felt like it was a million miles distant." 
"Bowing and placing our palms together, we greeted a monk on the grounds who was trimming a hedge." 
"Despite the Coup, Bangkok seemingly remains peaceful in all respects." 
"We could smell the delightful scent of freshly cut grass." 
:"Earlier, I asked the doorman at the Royal River Hotel what he thought about the Coup." 
"'We needed it', he smiled," 
'things were too corrupt.' 
"It should all be over in three days or so." 
"But, certainly, I felt no danger on the street from the army or from anyone I encountered." 
"Returning to Soi Charansandwong, I approached an ATM and withdrew a couple of hundred dollars worth of Baht, the currency of Thailand, with my US bank issued card." 
:"Money in hand, I entered a tailor shop and sat down with the shop manager, who was from India, and ordered a new suit to be made." 
"As he measured me, I asked if business had been slowed due to the Coup." 
I sold a suit today to another American, as a matter of fact.' 
"He promised me that my suit, which included two pairs of pants and two custom made dress shirts, would be ready early the next morning." 
:"We left the alleyway and once again walked down the busy road." 
"The commanding officer gave us a very big smile this time as we passed him and several of the soldiers gave smaller, shy smiles as we passed." 
"Encouraged, we once again popped into a small shop and bought additional soft drinks to hand out." 
Actress Hunter Tylo is reported to have rejoined the cast of The Bold and the Beautiful, in the latest chapter of a rocky relationship between Tylo and the casting office. 
The news was first broken by entertainment magazine Soap Opera Weekly. 
Tylo played the role of Dr. Taylor Hamilton Forrester from 1990 until 2002, when she was killed off by villainess Sheila Carter, played by Kimberlin Brown. 
Taylor's love affair with Ridge Forrester (played by Ronn Moss), and the ensuing triangle with Brooke Logan (played by Katherine Kelly Lang), helped the then-fledgling soap move higher in the ratings in the early to mid-1990s. 
According to Soap Opera Weekly, history has been rewritten so that Taylor, in reality, did not die from her gunshot wounds back in October 2002. 
Her return is tied in with a 1994 storyline in which Taylor was held captive by Moroccan prince Omar (played by Indian actor Kabir Bedi). 
Both Tylo and Bedi are first seen on Monday, May 2. 
The magazine states that she has been on the set of the soap opera at CBS Television City since March 11. 
For a while, she didn't even tell her husband, former Guiding Light actor Michael Tylo, where she was really going. 
She told him that she was just going on "a lot of auditions," and that if she told sooner than she did, the news might slip out accidentally. 
Her husband currently teaches a class at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and she couldn't afford any accidental hints that his students could have picked up on. 
This is not the first time Tylo has rejoined the series. 
She left in highly publicized disputes most recently in 2000 and 2001, due to a lack of story for her character. 
Her most publicized departure, however, was in 1996; 
Tylo was scheduled to join the cast of Melrose Place and was fired when Melroses producer Aaron Spelling found out she was pregnant. 
She took him to court and won after nearly a year of messy legal battles. 
All three times she was allowed to return to the show more or less without comment. 
With more than 300 million viewers in nearly 100 countries, The Bold and the Beautiful is claimed to be the most-watched television series in the world. 
The US House of Reprensentatives is seeking to lift a nine year old ban on export sales of the F-22A Raptor stealth fighter. 
US lawmakers approved an amendment that would allow Lockheed Martin, the aircraft's primary manufacturer, to sell the aircraft overseas to foreign nations. 
Every defence bill since 1997 contained language that prohibited the sale of the multi-role aircraft to foreign nations, due to concerns that the advanced technology in the plane may reach the wrong hands. 
Japan and South Korea, both strong allies of the United States are considered to be likely customers, if the ban is lifted. 
The amendment was introduced by Rep. Kay Granger, (R-Texas), whose constituency, the Fort Worth district is home to a major Lockheed Martin facility. 
The lifting of the ban comes at a time when continued US orders will no longer be guaranteed and that the aircraft's continued production is important for Lockheed Martin Aeronautics' business. 
On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. 
New Democratic Party candidate Katy Austin is standing for election in the riding of Simcoe—Grey. 
Born in St. Catherines and raised in Barrie, Austin has a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education from the University of Windsor. 
Teaching in various Ontario schools, she has been active in the Simcoe NDP riding association since 1975. 
Austin rode her bike, solo, from Victoria, British Columbia to Elmvale, Ontario (a total of 4 500 km) in 40 days during the summer of 1996, camping along the way. 
Wikinews contacted Katy Austin, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. 
Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. 
All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted. 
The riding is currently held by Helena Guergis (Conservative), the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Sport. 
Also challenging Guergis are Peter Ellis (Green), Andrea Matrosovs (Liberal), Caley McKibbin (Libertarian), and Peter Vander Zaag (Christian Heritage). 
For more information, visit the campaign's official website, listed below. 
In an escalating controversy that has contributed to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's political problems and created a national uproar in Italy, Italian prosecutors began their own independent probe on Wednesday of the death of Nicola Calipari. 
The premier has put his government's prestige on the line with assurances to the nation that full light would be shed on the shooting. 
Calipari, one of the top intelligence agents in Italy, had negotiated a settlement with hostage takers in Baghdad and was rescuing journalist Giuliana Sgrena from them when American soldiers fired on the car they were in. 
Calipari became a national hero for Italians after he bravely threw his own body across hers as the firing continued, killing him and seriously injuring Sgrena with a few bullets in her back. 
Meanwhile, Americans released a document, now described as incomplete, which says the U.S. Army, in a joint inquiry with Italian officials, cleared its own soldiers of any responsibility in the tragic events of March 4. 
South African Vipers completed a hat-trick to win their third consecutive Singapore Cricket Club International Rugby Sevens. 
Unbeaten throughout the two day tournament the South African team beat Fijian team Davetalevu by a margin of 24 points without allowing the Fijian team to score throughout the 20 minute final. 
In a replay of last years final, where the Vipers won 10-5, the mostly expatriate crowd rallied behind the Fijian team in an effort to create an upset against the Vipers who are the domestic development team of South African Sevens. 
It was tough and tight start with both teams putting heavy tackles and showing strong defence until the sixth minute when the SA Vipers finally managed a fast run down the left wing to score a converted try. 
From that point is looked ominous for Davetalevu as the Vipers began to find openings in nearly every move and only passionate defence keeping the Vipers at bay from further scoring, finishing the first half 5-0. 
Only two minutes into the second half the Vipers breached Davetalevu's defence and scored a relatively easy try yet failing to convert. 
A few minutes later Vipers crossed again and then scored a further try down the favoured left wing to bring the margin to 24-0 which would be the final score. 
The talent and form of the South Africans clearly showed as they have been touring for the past months. 
In the minor finals the Casuarina Cougars easily won the Bowl competition with a 17-0 defeat of Australian team East Arnhem Rugby. 
The Plate final saw a strong performance from Borneo Eagles to beat New Zealand team Oriental Rongotai by 31 to 5. 
Leading 12-5 at half-time the Eagles never seemed troubled during the final. 
The weekend was an emotional event for the Brunei Flying Kukris who recently returned from a tour of Afghanistan where they tragically lost two of their regiment. 
Serving out of Borneo the squad gathered before the commencement of their quarter-final to pay respect both to their own squadron but also in tribute to Remembrance Day which coincided with the weekend tournament. 
A minute of silence in respect to fallen soldiers was observed. 
Despite mixed results for the tournament the Kukris managed to qualify for the Jug Final. 
Kukris scored a try after full-time yet failing to convert a relatively simple kick that would have won the game for them. 
Final score was 21-20 with Singapore Barbarians taking the honours. 
Featuring teams from thirteen nations from as far as Kenya, South Africa and Scotland the tournament has grown from success to success over the past years and now features on the calendar of major sporting events in Singapore. 
The tournament began in 1947 as an invitational event for Singapore and Malaysian teams and since grown into national and club teams from around the world are invited. 
It is hoped that the SCC 7s will soon feature on the International Rugby Boards 7s circuit according to club officials. 
The competition also included the return of the SCC Schools and Colleges tournament as well as the qualifying round for the International Rugby Board's Womens Rugby World Cup. 
The Namibian government has refused to remove value added tax (VAT) on the price of milk. 
The Namibian Dairy producers organization requested the Namibian directorate of local income in May 2006 to follow the example of South Africa and declare fresh milk as a basic need upon which no taxation is applicable. 
Calle Schlettwein, permanent Secretary of the Namibia Ministry of Finance said the decision not to discard VAT on milk is because of two reasons: "This industry is already receiving advantages because of Article 26 of the African Customs Union (SACU)," he said. 
Namibia is a country that spend more than what it can collect through tax. 
The price of fresh milk is to climb by 50c in the beginning of April 2007 following increases in production costs to producers. 
The dairy industry has warned of a collapse of the industry and a dependence on foreign imports if prices are not increased to match rising production costs. 
Two people were killed in a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Turkey shortly before midnight local time on Thursday. 
Officials said two people were killed; 
one was thought to have suffered a heart attack and the other died after jumping from a window in panic. 
Emergency services dispatched search and rescue crews and gave out blankets, food and water. 
Officials said a wastewater dam had not been damaged by the earthquake, and it posed "no risk." 
The earthquake was felt as far away as the Aegean province of İzmir, the northwestern provinces of Bursa and İstanbul, and even the city of Edirne, not far from the Bulgarian and Greek and borders, because the depth was very shallow. 
More than 18,000 people died following two earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 7.0 in northwestern Turkey in 1999. 
Reports say that the host of the United States television game show Jeopardy!, Alex Trebek, 67 is being hospitalized after suffering from a minor heart attack. 
"Alex Trebek, host of 'Jeopardy!,' has had a minor heart attack." 
"He is resting comfortably in a Los Angeles, California hospital, and he will be back in the studio for the next scheduled tapings in January," said a spokesman for the show in a statement posted on the show's website. 
Trebek is expected to remain in the hospital for at least two days for observation and continued tests. 
A 35-year old woman, Venus Critchfield of Philipippi, West Virginia, United States was convicted of child abuse and sentenced to two to six years in prison. 
Critchfield was accused of beating her stepchildren with boards, and using hooks and ropes to secure them and force them to stand for long periods of time. 
Critchfield also forced the children to continuously eat food and drink, and then eat their own vomit. 
Her stepson, now aged 17, described the abuse in court. 
Circuit Judge Alan D. Moats called this the worst case he has seen in 30 years. 
"You are the antithesis of everything that is a mother." 
The abuse involved all six of Critchfield's children, however only some were willing to testify against her. 
Critchfield pleaded guilty and was convicted of two counts of child abuse, with injury. 
The charges pertained to abuse committed from January 2001 until January 2002. 
State welfare services had removed the children, now 11-16 years old, from the Critchfields' care in previous cases. 
Jenning Brian Critchfield, the father, is currently serving a 3-15 year sentence for abuse. 
Mosaic Fashions, a UK clothing firm, is set to make history as it becomes the first foreign company to list on the Iceland Stock Exchange (ISE). 
Mosaic, which owns the clothing brands Oasis, Karen Millen, Coast and Whistles, operates 600 stores and is majority owned by retail investment group Baugur. 
Mosaic employs approximately 5,400 staff throughout the UK and Ireland. 
The exchange was founded in 1985 and has since grown to encompass 34 firms with a combined value of over US$21bn (€16.3bn; GBP11.1bn). 
Reports suggest the World Health Organisation's declaring a swine flu pandemic was an error driven by drug companies, and lead to unjustified fear. 
A year after the swine flu pandemic was declared, stocks are left unused and governments try to abandon contracts, pharmaceutical companies have profited at least £4.6billion from the sale of vaccines alone. 
Reports by the British Medical Journal (BMJ), the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) and the Council of Europe claim that The World Health Organisation reaction to H1N1 was influenced by pharmaceutical companies and that key scientists behind advice had financial ties with firms Roche and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). 
These conflicts of interest have never been publicly disclosed by WHO, an apparent violation of its own rules. 
The World Health Organisation issued H1N1 guidelines in 2004, recommending countries to stockpile millions of doses of antiviral medication. 
The advice prompted many countries around the world into buying up large stocks of Tamiflu, made by Roche, and Relenza manufactured by GSK. 
A joint investigation with the BMJ and the BIJ, found that scientists involved in developing the WHO 2004 guidance had previously been paid by Roche or GSK for lecturing and consultancy work as well as being involved in research for the companies. 
"The WHO's credibility has been badly damaged," BMJ editor Fiona Godlee said in an editorial. 
A report by the health committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a 47-member human rights watchdog, found that the WHO's reaction was influenced by drug companies that make H1N1 antiviral drugs and vaccines. 
It criticised WHO lack of transparency around the handling of the swine flu pandemic and says the public health guidelines by WHO, EU agencies and national governments led to a "waste of large sums of public money and unjustified scares and fears about the health risks faced by the European public." 
A spokesman for WHO said the drug industry did not influence its decisions on swine flu. 
Margaret Chan, the organisation's director, had dismissed inquiries into its handling of the A/H1N1 pandemic as "conspiracy theories" earlier this year, 
she had said: "WHO anticipated close scrutiny of its decisions, but we did not anticipate that we would be accused, by some European politicians, of having declared a fake pandemic on the advice of experts with ties to the pharmaceutical industry and something personal to gain from increased industry profits." 
Yesterday, a 16-member "emergency committee" consisting of advisors from the World Health Organisation said that the H1N1 pandemic is not yet over. 
The WHO has refused to identify committee members, arguing that they must be shielded from industry pressure, so possible conflicts of interest with drug companies are unknown. 
The BMJ report also reveals that at least one expert on the "emergency committee" received payment during 2009 from GSK. 
In related news, Reuters reported, Pfizer Inc, the world's biggest drugmaker, is selling its swine vaccine business to Chinese Harbin Pharmaceutical Group for $50 million. 
Lordi, described as "cartoon metalheads" wearing latex monster masks, beat runner-up Russian "heart throb" Dima Bilan to win this year's 51st Eurovision song contest held in Athens, Greece. 
In a spectacular show, hosted by Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas, Lordi amassed 292 points after a public vote - 44 ahead of Russia. 
Greece's singer Anna Vissi, who was one of the favourites to win, came 9th, followed by Ireland's Brian Kennedy. 
From the start of the song contest as well as during the televoting, the Greek organisers presented viewers choreographies and dances inspired by Greek culture and music, both ancient and modern. 
In addition, the world famous Greek singer Nana Moushouri was presented by the hosts and gave the sign for the start of televoting. 
Wielding spark-spewing instruments, the "Monster-themed" rock band beat 23 other competitors, scoring 292 points from telephone voters in 38 countries with its song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" in a performance that both shocked and amused viewers. 
A spokesperson for Lordi said: "We won the contest, looking like this,"he said. 
"It just goes to show that Europe is not such a bad place." 
The Finnish band thanked viewers for voting for their song, which featured the lead singer hoisting a double-headed-axe microphone stand above his head. 
The win has been dubbed as a "radical departure" from the catchy pop tunes, folk songs and emotional ballads normally associated with Eurovision. 
Complete with distorted guitars, a catchy chorus and "mock-demonic imagery," Lordi is reminiscent of 1970s American band Kiss - an inspiration acknowledged by lead singer Mr Lordi. 
"What this has shown is that there are different styles of music than just pop and rock," Mr Lordi told news media after the surprise victory. 
Mr. Lordi, whose real name is Tomi Putaansuu, hails from Lapland and says his band's masked personas are just characters. 
"The guys behind the masks are not interesting - underneath, there's just a boring, normal guy who walks the dogs, goes to the supermarket, watches DVDs and eats candies." 
But the characters "live on stage and they live in a fantasy world", he said. 
"This element of mystery is one of the cornerstones of Lordi." 
The band has upset many Finns with their outrageous behaviour. 
"This is a victory for rock music... and also a victory for open-mindedness," Mr Lordi said. 
"For the millionth time, we're not Satanists or devil worshippers." 
"The masks are like our calling card and we'll never perform without them." 
"It would be like Santa Claus handing a child his gifts at Christmas time and then pulling off his beard…" 
The 51st annual Eurovision was broadcast live across Europe, watched by an estimated 100 million viewers. 
Regarded by many as the "contest good taste forgot," Eurovision is adored by fans of kitsch and camp everywhere. 
Lordi join the likes of Abba, Bucks Fizz, Dana and Celine Dion on the elite list of Eurovision winners. 
Because of Lordi's first place finish, next year the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest will take place, for the first time, in Helsinki, Finland. 
Zimbabwe's 4.5 million students will not receive what was once the golden standard of education in Africa—or any education at all this school year. 
Political violence during the country's recent presidential elections hit schools hard with strikes, murder and violence against teachers, and looting. 
Some schools were turned into places of torture after teachers were driven out. 
The country's educators were targeted by Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF party, for alleged support of the opposition. 
Now the country faces a second crisis due to economic troubles and an inflation rate of two trillion percent. 
The few teachers still around have seen their salaries made worthless and are unable to acquire teaching supplies. 
"We don't even have chalk, or red pens, never mind books," says Amos Musoni, one of the few teachers still working. 
Schools like the one where Musoni works have given up educating and simply entertain the children before sending them off for lack of equipment. 
The universities have been unable to open without funds, water, or electricity, like many public schools. 
College students, unable to register, are left waiting for more information. 
Pass rates in the nation went from 72 to eleven percent, with many schools not seeing even one pass. 
Schools in the countries have not been able to prepare students for tests without timetables or even the results from last year. 
In New York, speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative, British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke with "brutal honesty" about the UNFCCC's Kyoto protocol and global warming. 
Blair, a longtime supporter of the Kyoto treaty, recognized that countries will not accept the limits imposed on Kyoto: 
"No country is going to cut its growth." 
Of India and China, "They're not going to start negotiating another treaty like Kyoto." 
India and China are classified as developing countries in the Kyoto protocol, so they can get money and technology but are not restricted by its limits. 
In a ceremony attended by several European political leaders and 5,000 VIP guests, Airbus unveiled plans for the A380, a twin-deck aircraft that can carry up to 840 people in all-economy class (550 for a Boeing 747), or 555 people in typical three mixed classes layout. 
The new aircraft will take the world's-largest title away from rival Boeing's 747. 
Boeing's upcoming new design, the 7e7, does not attempt to compete directly with the A380 but instead is aimed at a more efficient and comfortable flight at 200-250 seats. 
Airbus chief executive Noel Forgeard stated that he expected sales of the aircraft to exceed the 250 required for the project to break even. 
To date, 149 confirmed orders for the aircraft have been received. 
The company is currently in talks with China regarding possible sales there. 
The first test flight of the aircraft may take place as early as March, and the first commercial flight is expected to take off in mid-2006 from Singapore's Changi Airport. 
British and American airline Virgin Atlantic has purchased six of these aeroplanes and intend to fit them with gyms and bars as well as seats. 
Steven Lacey, 56, from Brooten, Minnesota, was killed in a one-vehicle rollover late Sunday night, July 16, 2006. 
The Pope County Sheriff’s Office said that at approximately 11 p.m. his vehicle went off the road and rolled over on 110th Avenue, near Brooten, Minnesota, in Pope County, Minnesota's Bangor Township, about 15 miles SE from Glenwood, MN, about 55 miles WNW from St. Cloud, MN, or about 100 miles NW from the Twin Cities. 
The victim was reportedly killed on impact when his 1995 Chevy pickup rolled over after leaving the road. 
The Pope County Sheriff's department reports that Lacey was not wearing his seatbelt at the time of the accident. 
A red tide continues along South Padre Island and into Mexico, according to officials with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. 
Effects include stinging eyes, respiratory difficulties, and dead marine life. 
Red tide is caused by a higher than normal concentration of Karenia brevis, a naturally-occurring single-celled marine organism. 
Natural factors can intersect to produce ideal conditions, allowing this algae to increase in number dramatically. 
The algae produces a neurotoxin that can disable nerves in both humans and fish. 
Fish often die because of the high concentrations of the toxin in the waters. 
Humans can be affected by breathing affected water taken into the air by wind and waves. 
Also, South Padre officials are investigating a paralyzed cat and deceased coyote who may have consumed fish killed by the red tide. 
This bloom has lingered almost three weeks, and affects waters parallel to South Padre Island for about 25 miles, and may extend as far as 10 miles along Mexico beaches. 
South Africa has won the first One-Day International of the series against Zimbabwe by five wickets at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. 
Vernon Philander took two wickets in two balls and some poor running decisions led to five run outs in the whole innings. 
Elton Chigumbura and Gary Brent fought back for Zimbabwe with a partnership of 115 runs, with Chigumbura being run out for 59 runs and Brent finishing on 59 not out. 
The pair recovered Zimbabwe's innings which finished at 206 all out after fifty overs. 
South Africa suffered an early blow when opening batsman Loots Bosman was dismissed in the first over, but captain Graeme Smith and ODI debutant Gulam Bodi added 72 runs together, followed by a partnership of 74 runs from Bodi and A B de Villiers. 
Smith (50 runs), Bodi (51) and de Villiers (63) all made half centuries, and South Africa comfortably reached the target with nineteen balls remaining. 
The second ODI will be held at Harare Sports Club, Harare on August 25, with the final ODI the day afterwards. 
The tour comes two weeks before the start of the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship, which will be held in South Africa. 
Treasury documents released today under the Freedom of Information (FOI) act reveal that Australians could face up to an A$863 rise in household costs per annum if the government proceeds with its plans to put a tax on carbon emissions. 
The documents reveal an a annual price rise of $218.40 for electricity, $114.40 for gas, $187.20 for petrol and $88.40 for food for the average household. 
The treasury modelling was based on a $30 carbon tax, but also estimated other prices such as a $40 tax which predicted a rise of over $1,100 to the average household's annual budget. 
However, they do not take into account the compensation deals and offsets promised by the government if a price is put on carbon. 
After viewing the treasury modelling, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Climate Change Minister Greg Combet released a joint statement saying without the finalization of compensation packages it is too early to predict price rises. 
"No final decisions on the starting price or assistance have been taken and therefore it is far too early to speculate on any potential price impacts," the statement said. 
"Until the final design and modelling have been settled, anyone who uses these figures to scare families about prices is engaging in a dishonest, misleading scare campaign." 
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said the figures demonstrated the toll a carbon tax would have on Australian families. 
"This just demonstrates that the Government has known all along that its carbon tax won't clean up the environment but it will clean out your wallet," he said. 
"That's right and this is $863 a year in extra burden that the Australian people shouldn't have to pay." 
"This is an $863 a year hit on families' cost of living." 
"They don't need a bad situation made much, much worse by Julia Gillard's carbon tax." 
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has also officially opposed the adoption of a carbon tax. 
A resolution was passed by all 30 members at their general meeting to reject the Federal government's plan. 
On the eve of December 7, 2007 Dr. Reginald Humayun, a Christian doctor working for Pennell Memorial Christian Hospital in Bannu, Pakistan, was kidnapped along with his driver while returning from a trip to Dera Ismail Khan. 
The doctor, a medical superintendent at that hospital, was also the General Secretary of the Church of Pakistan. 
The All Pakistan Minority Alliance, the Church of Pakistan and the Christian community as a whole have appealed to the Government to expedite efforts for the doctor's safe recovery. 
Dar Ali Khatak, leading the investigation by the Bannu Police has expressed deep concerns and vows to find the hostages though until now no progress has been seen. 
With the recent state of politics in Pakistan, it is becoming increasingly difficult for those who are providing humanitarian services. 
Financial analysts say Google is planning an e-wallet service that could eventually compete with eBay's payment service PayPal. 
The rumor is a first sign of Google's expected expansion of revenue sources to capitalize on its advertising customer base and search-engine traffic. 
What form that expansion will take has been a hotly debated subject for the company whose stock valuation momentarily made it the world's biggest media company on June 7, 2005. 
Even Microsoft has been mentioned as a possible future competitor. 
Ebay's stock valuation dipped more than 2% on the news. 
But one business analyst saw potential benefit for Paypal , depending on exactly how the "Google Wallet" takes shape. 
The uncertainty underlined the lack of substantive information behind the rumor. 
According to the New York Times, the CEO of a major online merchant, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was approached by Google to take part in this service. 
Having announced that Barry Prime would take over the newly created post of National Performance Director for swimming, Swim Ireland has revealed that the British coach has changed his mind about taking up the post. 
Speaking from his home Mr. Prime told journalists "It is with regret that I had to inform the Swim Ireland Board of my decision not to take up the position of National Performance Director." 
Barry Prime had agreed earlier this month to take over the post, but has changed his mind because he does not wish to move to Ireland from his current home in Australia. 
He said, "I have realized that I do not wish to leave Australia and for that reason, and that reason alone, I will not take up the post." 
The loss of Mr. Prime, a seasoned professional coach at the Australian Institute of Sport, is a major blow to Swim Ireland which has struggled in recent years to adapt to changes in international swimming. 
Academy Award-winning film director Paul Haggis declared to Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis that he had decided to leave the Church of Scientology after being a member for 35 years. 
His letter to Davis was posted Saturday on the blog of former high-ranking Scientology official Marty Rathbun. 
Haggis received Academy Awards for writing and producing the 2004 film Crash, which he also directed. 
Rathbun confirmed the authenticity of the letter by Haggis, and The Hollywood Reporter also confirmed it with a friend of the director. 
At his blog, Rathbun has been critical of Scientology's current leader David Miscavige. 
In the June article "Former Scientology executives say leader David Miscavige abused staff", Wikinews reported on criticism by Rathbun and other high-ranking officials that was published in a series of investigative articles in the St. Petersburg Times. 
In his letter to Davis, Haggis wrote that he read the series in the St. Petersburg Times, where these former Scientology officials accused David Miscavige of physically abusing Scientologists. 
He criticized the manner in which the Church of Scientology attempted to smear the former officials after they spoke out against the organization. 
Well-known celebrity Scientologists include actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta. 
Haggis had not been known to be a vocal public supporter of Scientology prior to his declaration to Davis that he was leaving the organization. 
He expressed his disappointment to Davis, son of actress Anne Archer, that the San Diego, California branch of the Church of Scientology supported Proposition 8. 
Proposition 8 removed the rights of same-sex couples to marry in California. 
The San Diego Church of Scientology was listed along with other groups on a Proposition 8 supporters website, but it was later removed. 
Haggis said that Davis initially told him he would do something about the San Diego Church of Scientology's support for Proposition 8, but in the end Davis did not take action about this. 
Haggis called the inaction by Davis with regard to the San Diego Church of Scientology's stance on homosexuality "cowardly". 
Actress Deborah Rennard, wife of Haggis, was introduced to Scientology by her parents. 
According to Haggis, the Scientology practice of "disconnection" was imposed on Rennard and her husband, and they were ordered to disconnect from her parents because Rennard's parents had violated a rule of the organization. 
Due to having undergone a personal experience with regard to Scientology's practice of disconnection, Haggis was surprised to hear Davis deny the policy existed in an interview with CNN journalist John Roberts. 
He concluded his letter to Davis by noting that his Scientologist friends might disassociate from him due to his words, writing, "...I am fully aware that some of my friends may choose to no longer associate with me, or in some cases work with me." 
I will always take their calls, as I always took yours. 
However, I have finally come to the conclusion that I can no longer be a part of this group. 
Frankly, I had to look no further than your refusal to denounce the church's anti-gay stance, and the indefensible actions, and inactions, of those who condone this behavior within the organization. 
I am only ashamed that I waited this many months to act. 
"I hereby resign my membership in the Church of Scientology." 
Roger Friedman of The Hollywood Reporter described the film director's decision to leave the Church of Scientology as "a stunning move". 
Friedman wrote that "Haggis has taken an enormous step here, and one that should resonate among all celebrity Scientologists." 
Writing for Movieline, Kyle Buchanan characterized the letter by Haggis as "a candid, confrontational letter to Scientology top brass", and said "It's a must-read." 
Radar Online observed "In a shock heard-round-the-Scientology world, Paul Haggis has very publicly quit the organization." 
Foster Kamer wrote for Gawker that the letter by Haggis was "incredibly damning" to Scientology, and Adam McDowell of National Post called it "a scathing letter about church policy". 
Vicki Hyman of The Star-Ledger called Haggis "the most famous name (if not face) to renounce the Church of Scientology", and Xan Brooks wrote in The Guardian that "the Church of Scientology lost one of its most high-profile members". 
According to The Guardian, the Church of Scientology has not yet responded publicly to the statements made by Haggis in his letter to Davis. 
Haggis has multiple credits in film, including work as writer-director for Crash, and writer for Million Dollar Baby (directed by Clint Eastwood), Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, and Letters From Iwo Jima. 
Both Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Crash (2005) won Academy Awards for Best Picture, making Haggis the first film writer since 1950 to pen movies which won Best Picture Oscars in consecutive years. 
He is highly-regarded for his work as a humanitarian and for his civil liberties work, and his letter includes a list of awards he has received related to his dedication to civil rights. 
He is currently working on the film The Next Three Days, which includes actors Liam Neeson, Russell Crowe, and former Scientologist Jason Beghe. 
Beghe previously went public with his own criticism after leaving the Church of Scientology, and described how members must pay large amounts of money to advance in Scientology levels. 
According to Russian officials, an Aeroflot-Nord, Flight 821, a Boeing 737-500 crashed near the city of Perm at 3:15 a.m. local time with 88 people aboard, all feared to have been killed. 
There were six crew and 82 passengers from 21 different nations including seven children and one baby on board the plane. 
Reuters quotes the Ekho Moskvy (Echo of Moscow) radio station in Russia that all on board were dead. 
The plane took off at 1:12 a.m. local time and was traveling from Moscow to Perm when officials at the Bolshoye Savino Airport lost contact with the aircraft at about 1,800 meters in altitude. 
The plane crashed just outside the airport, while on final approach to land. 
One report says it crashed into a ravine while another states it crashed into a swampy area. 
Wreckage is reported to cover nearly 3 sq mi (4 km2). 
The wreckage burst into flames and one Russian report says the pilots tried to avoid hitting residential homes that were near the scene. 
The plane's wreckage was found a short time after the crash. 
Part of the main Trans-Siberian Railway line was damaged as a result of the crash and has been closed. 
"It came down within the city limits (in Perm) in a patch of waste ground." 
"Initial reports are of no casualties on the ground," said the Emergencies Ministries who also said that there was "no damage or deaths on the ground." 
Witnesses in apartments near the crash describe it as sounding like a "war [had] started", followed by a "huge flames." 
One witness reports that the plane was at a 30 to 40 degree angle when it smashed into the terrain. 
The aircraft, registered as number VP-BKO, was sixteen years old, originally operated by Xiamen Airlines. 
Officials are currently investigating the cause of the crash, but Sky News in Australia reports that there is no indication that terrorism was involved. 
TIME reports that officials have located the plane's two black boxes and are analyzing the information. 
This is said to be Russia's worst commercial air disaster since August 2006 when 170 people died after a Tupolev Tu-154 passenger jet, flight 612, owned by St. Petersburg-based Pulkovo Airlines, crashed in the Ukraine. 
An investigation concluded that it had been hit by lightning. 
China looks to launch it's second manned space mission in October, two years after it's first flight, a newspaper reported Friday. 
The government planned to launch a two-man crew into orbit in September or October on a five to six day flight. 
The Shenzhou VI capsule will "preferably be launched in early October," said Sun Weigang the director of the Space Department of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, said in the report in the China Daily newspaper. 
Chinese officials say to they plan to land an unmanned probe on the moon by 2010 and operate a space station. 
Iraqi Brigadier General Qassim Atta al-Mussawi reported that Operation Law and Order (Arabic: Fardh Al-Qanoon) has been successful in curbing violence in the capital. 
Coalition forces have swept through various Baghdad neighborhoods in the past few months. 
Atta, a spokesperson for the operation cited comparative statistics for the four-week periods of mid-January to mid-February versus mid-February to mid-March: * Civilian killing: 1440 to 265 * Roadside bombings: 163 to 102 * Carbombs: 56 to 36 * Mortar attacks: 204 to 109 * Assassination incidents: 519 to 22 * Kidnappings: 98 to 10 
It is not clear what these numbers are based on, and independent estimates of the death toll are much higher. 
According to data compiled by Iraq Body Count (IBC), a volunteer project that maintains a database of civilian deaths in Iraq from media reports, at least 393 people died in and around Baghdad between February 15 and March 11. 
The New York Times estimates 450 Iraqi civilian deaths in and around the capital in the period, using initial reports provided by hospitals and the Iraqi Interior ministry. 
The Associated Press reports that deaths from bombings have dropped by a third (528 to 370) after the start of the operations. 
It also reports that the number of bodies found in Baghdad, believed to be victims of sectarian death squads, has dropped from more than 200 a week to about 80 a week. 
At a separate news-conference, US military spokesperson Major General William Caldwell said the security plan is showing signs of progress. 
"The murders and executions have come down by over 50 percent," Caldwell said. 
All this comes as the United States Congress is debating resolutions on re-deploying troops from Iraq. 
The troop surge has also been in recent debate on whether or not it is the right move as of now. 
Meanwhile the United Kingdom announced that it would start withdrawing soon. 
Nearly 300 people turned out at a protest meeting held in Vladivostok, Russia on January 21st. 
Relatives and friends of the victims and survivors of the recent fire, as well as ordinary citizens were there and full of anger. 
They had come to protest against the authorities, whom they say mishandled the rescue operation in the terrible fire and have withheld the truth about the real number of dead. 
The slogans at the protest read, "Who will tell us the truth?", "We want to know the truth!", "Our lives cost nothing!", "Authorities should respond!", and "Firemen are those who should be set on fire!" 
The Chief of Vladivostok City Police Department colonel Nikolay Panchenko commented: "The meeting participants are sure, that the authorities hide a true number of the dead and refer to the web-site fire.zloe.net." 
The web-site "Truth about the fire in Vladivostok" has been created to spread information about the fire. 
Panchenko said "We verified the published messages, but none of them was confirmed." 
"One of them has already denied everything he wrote, another is still hiding out". 
Today, a news agency in Vladivostok, which maintains another web-site where information about the fire is collected, reports they received an official order from the government services. 
Additional private information about people who post comments on news.vl.ru has been requested. 
Some human rights experts warn that the witnesses may be persecuted in a situation where the authorities want to hide the truth, and thus to escape responsibility. 
The Republican National Committee has elected African-American Michael S. Steele as its chairman. 
Steele, 50, a former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, won after the sixth round of voting against Katon Dawson of South Carolina. 
Steele's candidacy was controversial as he was seen as being on the left of his party's base and had been a member of the Republican Leadership Council, an anti-social-conservatism movement. 
He had denied being a moderate, telling CNN: "I'm proud to say I'm a conservative, have been, always will be." 
In addition to the election of Barack Obama of the opposing Democrats in the presidential election of 2008, the Democrats gained eight seats in the Senate and 21 seats in the House. 
He told the media that the Republicans have an image problem, being thought of as a party that is "insensitive, a party that is unconcerned about minorities, a party that is unconcerned about the lives and the expectations and dreams of average Americans." 
According to the BBC, the Republicans are aware of not being able to reach the country's non-white population, a job made tougher by the Democrats having a very visible mixed-race leader in the White House. 
When campaigning for the United States Senate in 2006, Steele had been a vocal critic of then-President George W. Bush. 
In an off-the-record press lunch, which within 24 hours had his name attached to it, he had loudly criticized Bush's handling of the Iraq War and the Hurricane Katrina rescue effort. 
He told reporters that standing as a Republican at that time was like being branded, saying "I've got an R here, a scarlet letter." 
The Republican National Committee develops and promotes the Republican Party's political platform and coordinates fundraising and election strategy. 
Steele spent more than $200,000 on his Convention election campaign. 
Rescue crews have called an end to the search for eight mountaineers who went missing on the French side of Mont Blanc after an avalanche that occurred on at 0100 GMT August 24. 
Five of the missing are said to be Austrian and three were from Switzerland. 
"Thanks to technology, we know for certain there are people buried under the snow, but it's impossible to be sure exactly how many." 
Rescuers feared that there would be more avalanches and decided to end the search for survivors in the late afternoon today. 
The avalanche started at an elevation of 3,600 meters and went down the mountainside for nearly 100 meters, leaving a trail 50 meters wide. 
Rescuers used helicopters and dogs to search for survivors for a day, but failed to find any. 
There have been many accidents in the Alps this summer. 
about one hundred climbers have perished since June 1 in France, Italy and Switzerland altogether, of whom about twenty have died on Mont Blanc. 
Security in Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, was tightened after the attacks on London Thursday when 49 people were killed. 
Denmark supported the U.S.-led war on Iraq and fears of an attack are rising. 
"It's not a question of if we'll be attacked, but when" said security specialist Mikkel Vedby at the University in Copenhagen. 
"This is how the world has become in the 21st century." 
"There are people out there that want to harm us." 
"They are at war with us and it seems we're in war with them." 
"We might be safe tomorrow or the next ten years." 
He later added that Denmark needed to get ready to face a major terrorist attack. 
The group that has claimed responsibility for the attacks on London, the "Secret Organisation Group of Al-Qaeda of Jihad Organisation", issued a statement yesterday where attacks on countries that supported the "crusades" against Iraq and Afghanistan are threatened. 
A suicide car bomber partly demolished an Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) building in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. 
The bomb blast rocked I-11 and its neighboring sectors, injuring seventeen people. 
The number of dead is not certain, with numbers ranging from none to eight. 
"Everybody started running away from where the sound came," said eyewitness Amanat Khan while describing the event. 
"I saw black smoke rising and the sound of a building crashing down". 
Police quickly closed off the area and declared an emergency in all hospitals. 
Those injured were taken to the nearby PIMS and Holy Family hospitals. 
The suicide bomber had convinced guards he was making a delivery of candy before taking his life and destroying much of the building. 
The attack was only six miles from the Pakistani Parliament, where intelligence and military chiefs were briefing lawmakers on the campaign against terrorism. 
Investigators suspect the involvement of a Bajaur-based militant group, Jaish-e-Islami Pakistan (JIP), whose commander was recently injured after an attack on its headquarters. 
The suicide bomber had entered the office and placed a bag of 'sweets' on a desk, with a note threatening continued attacks if Pakistan continued to aid the US. 
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and President Asif Ali Zardari both strongly condemned the suicide attack. 
More than 300 "citizen reporters" hailing from countries as far apart as Chile and Norway are coming together at the OhmyNews International Citizen Reporters' Forum from June 23 to June 26, 2005 in Seoul. 
OhmyNews is one of the most popular South Korean news websites, and it has played an important role in the election of reformist President Roh Moo-hyun. 
Unlike traditional news sources, OhmyNews allows any individual with an Internet connection to contribute stories. 
A professional staff of journalists vets incoming submissions and decides which stories are to be published. 
The project is sponsoring the forum in order to promote its English edition, officially launched in May 2004. 
Citizen reporters writing in English exchange ideas and stories, and try to understand the inner workings of the Korean edition. 
The conference is sponsored by Korean corporations such as Samsung, SK Corporation, LG, Yuhan-Kimberly, and Asiana Airlines. 
Almost exactly one year ago, on March 7, Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 crashed during landing at Adisucipto International Airport, near Yogyakarta, after a scheduled domestic Indonesian passenger flight. 
21 people - 16 Indonesians and five Australians - were killed when the Boeing 737-400 overshot the runway, crossed a road, struck an embankment and burst into flames in a rice paddy. 
Overall, the plane had traveled 252m beyond the extreme end of the runway. 
The final report, released in October, blamed pilot error for the disaster. 
The report stated that the aircraft had approached at a speed far exceeding that at which the wing flaps could properly operate, and attempted to execute a landing at 408 kph (254 mph), which is 160 kph (100 mph) above the safe speed. 
It also found that captain Marwoto Komar had ignored fifteen activations of the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) informing Mr Komar that the aircraft was flying at a speed beyond that at which it could safely land, but he failed to abort. 
It also commented that he missed one further opportunity for emergency evasive action when the airliner struck the runway and bounced into the air, at which point co-pilot Gagam Rochmana requested a 'go-around' procedure be initiated, but was also ignored. 
It further criticised Mr Komar for singing during final approach, a direct violation of the Garuda Basic Operations Manual, which calls for activation of the Sterile Cockpit Rule at 10,000 feet and below. 
Mr Rochmana was also criticised for his failure to take control away from Mr Komar when it became apparent that the aircraft was being operated in an unsafe manner. 
However, the report did note that Garuda Indonesia had failed to give him any simulator training replicating a situation whereby the co-pilot would take over control duties from the pilot in charge due to unsafe handling of the plane. 
in fact, training was found to be inadequate for both members of the cockpit crew. 
Further criticisms were also leveled at airport and governmental authorities for failures in their respective roles to provide safety features and to enforce regulations. 
However, the Indonesian authorities have recently generated intense controversy by deciding to prosecute Mr Komar for his role in the disaster. 
The move has been pushed for by some, but met with opposition by others. 
Alexander Downer, Australian foreign minister at the time of the crash, immediately said "...I am very glad that they have reached a point now where they have charged the captain of the aircraft." 
The unusually high number of Australians amongst the 140 passengers on board was attributable to a visit by Mr Downer. 
One of those was Morgan Mellish of the Australian Financial Review, who died in the crash. 
His sister, Caroline Mellish, had specifically called for prosecution to be avoided, saying "I think having 21 deaths on your conscience is probably enough." 
"I don't think prosecuting the man is going to make any difference." 
There were fierce calls for prosecution of both pilots immediately after the report's release, with Downer himself pressuring the Indonesian authorities, citing the "very credible report" and saying "I've asked our ambassador today (October 24) to make it absolutely clear to the Indonesians that we want people prosecuted for this accident." 
"I want to see people who have negligently allowed Australians … to be killed." 
Australian Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd also made clear a desire for prosecutions, saying he had telephoned secretary-general of Indonesia's foreign affairs department and former ambassador to Australia Imron Cotan, telling him that he wanted those responsible "prosecuted to the absolute full". 
"This is a serious matter," he said. 
National Transport Safety Committee chairman Tatang Kurniadi said at the time that no information from the report could be used in any criminal or civil liability investigations. 
"I would like to go back to the objective of this", he said. 
"If any institution wants to ... follow up that accident, that's their own decision." 
"The report contained the results from the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, but according to international regulations on aviation these black boxes are not allowed to be used for... liability purposes." 
"We will not give police or any institution (information) other than for safety purposes only." 
"it's in international regulations and we want to follow those regulations." 
He also confirmed that investigators cannot speak to the police, with the only permitted testimony under the legislation being to testify at a court hearing, and pointed out that the document does not actually appoint any blame. 
The international legislation he was referring to is probably the Convention on International Civil Aviation, which stipulates that accident reports and related material, specifically transcripts of interviews, communications with crew and cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder (collectively known as black boxes) readouts, must not be used for any purpose other than determining the cause of an accident or incident. 
The only possible exception to this is where potential benefit would outweigh the "adverse domestic and international impact" on the investigation in question or any other either in progress or in the future. 
This legislation is in place to provide protection to witnesses on the basis that without it they may be less likely to cooperate with investigational procedures. 
Aridono Sukman, the police member in charge of the criminal investigation, said that the contents of the black box were vital evidence. 
Officials commented that some relatives had expressed their frustration over the legal challenges involved in the prosecution effort. 
Early in February Mr Komar was arrested; 
he has subsequently been charged with manslaughter charges which carry a maximum sentence of five years' imprisonment. 
The London-based International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA) issued a press release condemning this move, saying that further investigations are needed into the crash, and that criminal proceedings could prevent an accurate version of events from ever being known. 
Specifically, the release said that "IFALPA believes that the circumstances of the accident as set forth in the final report of the Indonesian investigation authority leaves many serious questions concerning the crew actions prior to the accident." 
"Central to these concerns are the underlying reasons for the reported behavior of Captain Marwoto Komar." 
"Experienced pilots have considerable difficulty in attempting to explain what is reported in the context of normal airline operations." 
"The Federation believes that the explanations proffered by the report do not square with the collective experience of our members." 
The release went on to state the opinion that prosecution may bring total foreclosure to the case and could only be counterproductive. 
It also said "He remains a professional who was involved in an unfortunate tragedy." 
One possible explanation had previously been suggested by the head of the Garuda pilots association, Stephanus Geraldus. 
He said that marital problems between Mr Komar and his wife Norma Andriani were "common knowledge" and was backed up by an industry analyst and pilot who said he believed the couple had been arguing late into the night, and expressed concern that the report had not addressed psychological issues. 
Mr Geraldus also said sleep deprivation could have contributed, with the flight crew reporting for duty at 4:30 am and the flight departing an hour and a half later. 
The report had hinted at problems, saying "The pilot was probably emotionally aroused because his conscious awareness moved from the relaxed mode "singing"to the heightened stressfulness of the desire to reach the runway by making an excessively steep and fast, unstabilised approach," 
It is also known that Mr Komar had been under police surveillance, during which time he was receiving psychological treatment. 
The Indonesian Pilot's Association has also said that the criminal prosecution should be avoided, arguing that the only people who can judge whether mistakes were made in aviation are those professionally involved and not the police. 
There were protests in Jakarta demanding his release and dozens of pilots across the nation also campaigned. 
Meanwhile, two survivors, Adrianus Meliala and Retno Gunowati, went to the House of Representatives (DPR) to challenge those opposed to legal processes against the pilot. 
Mr Komar was released on police bail on February 15, and is currently awaiting trial. 
He was forced to resign late in February with being fired his only alternative, and his licence has been suspended. 
He is believed to be the only man ever prosecuted in Indonesian history over an airliner crash. 
Eva Avila, 19, of Gatineau, Quebec was crowned this years winner of Canadian Idol. 
Craig Sharpe, 16, of Upper Island Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador was the runner up. 
The show was aired in the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and lasted two hours. 
Former Canadian Idol winner Melissa O'Neil sang her new hit single Speechless. 
O'Neil was presented with a multi-platinum record for her single Alive by Craig Sharpe earlier in the show. 
Eva Avila also gave her a muti-platinum record for her self-titled album Melissa O'Neil. 
Nelly Furtado sang her new hit single Maneater from her new album Loose. 
The African Children's Choir also sang on stage with this years Top 10. 
Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams and St. John's MP Loyola Hearn were in the audience to lend their support for Craig. 
Avila won by approximately 131,000 votes, a margin of just over three per cent of the four million votes cast in the final. 
"I'm just one tiny person on this planet but thanks to you guys, I'm feeling like I'm sitting on top of the world," Avila said Sunday. 
Avila sang what will be the first single of her upcoming album: Meant to Fly, co-written by Chantal Kreviazuk and her husband Raine Maida. 
Sony BMG Music Canada is the record label that will be releasing her single on September 26. 
Her new recording was on the radio airwaves at 12 am. today. 
"The fact that all Canada is voting and the votes were so close …" 
"I mean, I'm sad that I lost, but we are different and she's just amazing," Craig Sharpe said. 
Canadian Idol host Ben Mulroney announced Sunday that Cyndi Lauper has agreed to produce one track for Avila's future album. 
Country singer Martina McBride has invited Avila to join her on her Canadian tour in summer 2007. 
Singer Andy Williams has died at 84 years old on Tuesday. 
Williams had a variety show on television called "The Andy Williams Show" from 1962 to 1967 and 1969 to 1971. 
His songs included Moon River, Can't Take My Eyes off You, and Christmas song It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. 
40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan said Williams' voice was "a national treasure". 
Williams was born Howard Andrew Williams on December 3, 1927 in Wall Lake, Iowa. 
His older brothers Robert, Donald, and Richard and he formed the Williams Brothers, a singing quartet. 
He married Claudine Longet in 1961 and they divorced in 1975. 
Four young girls were killed and six more people injured when a brick wall collapsed on top of them in Zambia. 
The victims had been trying to reach a free mosquito net handout when a stampede erupted, causing the collapse. 
The accident occurred in the town of Mpika, where the Ministry of Health was conducting the handout as part of an anti-malaria initiative. 
As people flocked to the community hall where the event was taking place, people outside the premises began climbing the walls in an effort to get in, initiating the collapse. 
The four girls died on the spot in the incident, which occurred at around 17:30 local time. 
Six others were taken to the local Mpika District Hospital, where they were treated for their injuries, which are believed to be non life-threatening. 
A ban on smoking in enclosed public places in England is in effect as of 0600 BST today, bringing the country into line with similar laws already introduced in other parts of the United Kingdom. 
The aims of the ban are to reduce the risks associated with passive smoking and to reduce the number of smokers overall. 
The government estimates that 600,000 of the 10 million smokers in Britain will give up as a result. 
Health Secretary Alan Johnson welcomes the ban, saying that "A smoke-free country will improve the health of thousands of people, reduce the temptation to smoke, and encourage smokers to quit." 
The ban is not being welcomed by all citizens, however. 
Activist group Freedom To Choose is challenging the law at the High Court saying it is in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. 
The business community is expressing concerns about the impact on pubs and similar establishments. 
Research by Nielsen estimates that the sale of beer in England and Wales could fall by 200 million pints yearly. 
However, a survey by the Campaign for Real Ale suggests 840,000 people who do not regularly go to the pub would do so following the introduction of the ban and that England's 6.2 million regular drinkers would be more likely to visit pubs and bars. 
Smoking kills 100,000 people in Britain each year through cancer, lung conditions, and heart problems. 
Approximately 1,000 people a day in England are admitted to hospital with an illness related to smoking, costing the National Health Service an estimated £1.5 billion. 
Ringo Starr, who is a member of The Beatles, was given his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Monday. 
The event, which was also celebrating fifty years since the pavement was founded, took place during the night for the first time. 
Starr was the 2401st individual to have a star awarded on the walk. 
The event also took place outside of the Capitol Records Building. 
Starr said outside of the event: "This is the start of the next 50 years of stars." 
According to Reuters," fellow Beatles bandmate Sir Paul McCartney was unable to attend the ceremony due to the fact that he was in England at the time", Starr said. 
Less than twelve months before Ringo was given his star on the Walk of Fame, Paul McCartney assisted in revealing a star for another former Beatles member, the late George Harrison. 
The late John Lennon was also given a star on the pavement, which means that Paul McCartney is now the only member of the Beatles who has not yet been awarded a star. 
McCartney "[w]as selected and approved [for a star] many years ago." 
"We are just waiting for his people to give us a date on when he would like to do it," according to a Hollywood Chamber of Commerce source. 
The event was also partly to promote "Y Not", the drummer's recently released album. 
"I don't know about you, but where I live." 
He referred to the other members of the Beatles as his "brothers". 
He also said about them: "They looked out for me, and I looked out for them." 
The first large-scale trial of a vaccine for HIV has been launched in South Africa. 
About 3,000 HIV-negative people will be administered the test vaccine MRKAd5 HIV-1 created by the pharmaceutical company Merck. 
The study will examine if the vaccine prevents infection or lowers HIV levels in those who do get infected. 
A parallel study will also be conducted in the United States and South America, to compare the vaccine's effectiveness on various strains of HIV. 
The vaccine's functioning in a heterosexual population and its effectiveness among women will also be studied. 
Preliminary trials for the vaccine have been conducted in the Americas and Australia as well as in Africa. 
AIDS is estimated to have killed 25 million people worldwide since 1981, and between 33 and 46 million more are estimated to be infected with HIV, more than half of them in Sub-Saharan Africa. 
Between three and six million people are thought to have been infected in 2005. 
The trial, named the Phambili ("Going forward") Trial, is being conducted by the International HIV Trials Network and the South African AIDS Vaccine Initiative (SAAVI). 
The vaccine has been developed from an adenovirus, a type of virus that causes the common cold. 
The virus has been genetically engineered to prevent it from causing the flu or from passing on from person to person. 
Instead, three genes of the HIV virus have been introduced into the adenovirus. 
When the vaccine containing these genes is injected into the body, it is hoped that the body's immune system will learn to recognise and kill cells that contain the vaccine, thereby also developing an immune response against the HIV virus, which also contains these three genes. 
The three genes, called gag, pol and env contain information needed to make the structural proteins for the capsid, the "shell" of the HIV viron. 
The vaccine does not contain the remaining six HIV genes that cause HIV to infect cells, replicate and cause disease. 
"The vaccine does not contain any live HIV and therefore cannot cause any infection", SAAVI said in a press release, adding that the vaccine was found to be safe and produced an immune response against HIV in earlier trials. 
SAAVI has expressed its commitment to the "highest level of preventive care" for those who take part in the trial, promising "extensive, state-of-the-art" counselling as well as some forms of medical care and for those taking part, through the duration of the trial. 
The trial starts a week after a different trial, involving a microbicide gel called Ushercell was stopped after more women who used the gel were found to be infected compared to those who were given a dummy gel as placebo. 
Eleven previous trials of the gel had not shown any problems. 
The trial is expected to cost $35 million and SAAVI will be supported by Eskom and the South African government. 
A United Nations court today convicted a woman, a former minister in the Rwandan government, for her role in the 1994 genocide in the ethnic war between the Tutsi and the Hutu peoples. 
Gilad Shalit, 20, is believed to be alive, and Hamas has released an audio tape in which Shalit says he needs to be hospitalized and that he regrets that Israel has not met the demands of the kidnappers. 
"I have been in prison for an entire year and my health is deteriorating." 
"I regret the lack of interest of the Israeli government and military in my case and their failure to meet the demands." 
"Just as I have parents, a mother and father, thousands of Palestinian detainees have mothers and fathers whose sons must be returned to them." 
"I have a great hope from my government that it show more interest in me and meet the demands of the Mujahideen (kidnappers)," said Shalit on the audio tape. 
Noam Shalit, Gilad's father says that he is "almost sure" that the voice on the tape is that of his son, but also states that "we cannot know when it was recorded." 
"I imagine that it's the same as the letter they dictated to him and doesn't reflect his real state." 
"We want somebody independent to see him, to examine him and the conditions under which he is held, his medical condition of course and his mental (condition)." 
Israeli officials believe that the kidnappers told Shalit what to say during the audio recording and that the Israeli government will not cooperate with the group. 
"How cruel can Hamas be? " 
"We will not cooperate with Hamas." 
"We will not compromise with Hamas," said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. 
Hamas states that Israel had every chance to swap prisoners to release Shalit, but that Israel has to act. 
"We have been flexible in every possible way when it came to a swap deal, but the Israeli side was too weak to make a decision." 
"The ball is now in the Israeli court," said Osama al-Muzaini, a senior official for Hamas. 
Shalit was kidnapped exactly one year ago today on June 25, 2006. 
He was kidnapped in Gaza City which sparked a month long war between Lebanon and Israel. 
Poland came from behind with two set-piece goals to beat Costa Rica in Group A, Tuesday. 
The result of the match gave Poland three points but they did not qualify for the next round of the Fifa World Cup as Ecuador had six and Germany nine. 
Costa Rica left the 2006 World Cup without a victory in three games. 
Though the pace of the game was rather slow in the heat the outcome did seem to matter to the two teams who both wanted a World Cup win. 
During a Palestinian rally in Qalqilyah in the West Bank against Israeli attacks on Gaza, Mufid Saleh Walweel, 22, was shot and killed Sunday by Israeli forces, according to Palestinian medical officials. 
Meanwhile protests around the world took place in response to Israel's latest attacks and ground assault on Gaza. 
On Friday in Chicago, 4,000 people marched from Tribune Plaza to the Israeli Consulate demanding an end to the occupation of Palestine, and to the raids on Gaza. 
Another 40,000 people gathered in Morocco to protest what they saw as the complicity of the Arab regimes in the attack. 
On Saturday, thousands of protesters in Indonesia asked the Indonesian government to send troops to Gaza to fight against the Israelis who they called a "terrorist" force. 
On the same day in Toronto, Canada, 1,000 people gathered in the business district to protest Israeli actions. 
In addition 10,000 people marched past United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown's residence in London, hurling hundreds of shoes at his home. 
Louis Michel, the European Union's humanitarian aid commissioner said in a statement on Sunday that "blocking access to people who are suffering and dying is also a breach of humanitarian law." 
The statement promised 3 million euros of emergency EU aid to the people of Gaza. 
Al Jazeera says that 507 Palestinians have been killed and 2,700 wounded since Israeli bombardments on the Gaza Strip began in late December. 
Four Israelis were killed in that same time by Hamas rockets fired out of Gaza. 
As much as 200 mm (8") of rain have been recorded in portions of British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada since Monday. 
The heavy and sustained precipitation across the lower mainland regions have caused mudslides and flooding, with roads and highways being closed and families evacuated. 
In Port Coquitlam, a retaining wall burst, throwing concrete and rubble tens of metres and covering an arterial road with mud to a depth of two metres. 
Further inland and north, where colder temperatures have prevailed, the precipitation has been falling as freezing rain and sleet, or heavy snowfalls. 
Terrace, BC, was isolated as highways north and south of the city were closed due to a heavy glaze of ice. 
The Trans-Canada Highway and most other roads through the mountains were closed due to heavy and sudden snow accumulations which created severe avalanche hazards. 
"The avalanche danger is at high or extreme in all of our six forecast areas," according to John Kelly at the Canadian Avalanche Centre in Revelstoke. 
"If the rain continues at the same magnitude and according to the forecast, then some of the rivers could reach flood stage either later [Tuesday] or Wednesday morning," said Allan Chapman, a hydrologist with the River Forecast Centre in Victoria. 
The source of the wet weather is a large system reaching the coast from the Pacific Ocean tropics, a type of system nicknamed by meteorologists a "Tropical Punch". 
A similar system caused severe flooding and precipitation in 2003. 
Environment Canada expects the system, which lies southwest of Vancouver Island, to continue to develop "waves" of weather which will strike the mainland and head inland over the next several days to a week, possibly dropping 50-100 mm (2"-4") of additional rain per day at least until the end of the weekend. 
Two Long Island, New York teenagers, aged 15 and 17, have been charged for their alleged involvement in a suspected plot to attack their school next April, on the ninth anniversary of the Columbine High School shooting massacre. 
The plot was uncovered when the 15-year-old suspect lost his journal at the McDonalds restaurant where he worked. 
The journal was found by a fellow classmate of the teenagers' school, who quickly turned it over to school officials. 
The journal is alleged to have outlined the teenagers' plan to attack the school with guns and home-made bombs. 
The 15-year-old suspect's home and computers were searched and evidence was collected, which revealed that he allegedly tried to purchase black powder explosives and machine guns over the Internet. 
A video was also found in which the same teenager allegedly names some students and staff he would like to attack at the school. 
The 17-year-old was allegedly planning to aid in the attack on the school. 
The two teens were arrested and held in Long Island jail on misdemeanor conspiracy, which is punishable by up to one year in prison. 
The 15-year-old will appear in juvenile court on Friday and the 17-year-old suspect is expected to plead not guilty at a hearing. 
Paul Gray, American musician and bassist of the heavy metal band Slipknot, has been found dead in his hotel room in Iowa. 
His body was found at around 10:50 Monday morning by a hotel employee. 
Police investigating the death said that no foul play was suspected. 
Chris Diebel, the spokesman for the hotel where Gray was found, released a statement. 
He said "Gray checked into the extended-stay hotel on Saturday and was scheduled to check out today". 
He added that Gray had "stayed at the hotel before and was remembered as being a quiet and respectful guest." 
They released, in 1996, their first album, which sold over a million copies worldwide. 
The group has received seven Grammy award nominations and won one in 2006 for "Best Metal Performance" with "Before I Forget". 
Slipknot became very popular and famous for its artistic live performances and the iconic masks that all band members wore in public. 
Gray was known by his fans by either his band number #2 or his nickname "The Pig". 
Along with drummers Joey Jordison and Shawn Crahan, Gray was one of only three original members of Slipknot that still remained in the band. 
Fellow musicians paid tribute to Gray, with many of them releasing statements after his death. 
J.R. Siems, from the band Sound Proof Coalition, said: "everybody seemed to think he was in good health again, so it came as a big shock that this had to happen." 
"He had the biggest heart of anyone I knew and would give anyone the shirt off his back." 
After two weeks of illness, Juan Bustos, the president of the Chamber of Deputies of Chile, died at 10:46 local time (14:46 UTC) yesterday. 
The death took place at a Clínica Alemana in Santiago. 
At the time of his death, Bustos was with his wife and five of his seven children, who were deeply upset by the death. 
The other two children are expected to arrive from Europe soon to attend the funeral. 
Juan Bustos will be given a state fueral due to the position he occupied. 
In addition, the flags at many government buildings are being flown at half mast to mark the death. 
The body has been moved to the former National Congress building so that the body can be guarded until the state funeral, which takes place at 11:00 local time tomorrow. 
After the state funeral, a private funeral for the family will take place. 
Cambridge University have defeated Oxford University by 1¼ lengths to win the 153rd Boat Race. 
The Light Blues won with a time of 17 minutes and 49 seconds to record their first win in three years. 
Oxford finished with a time of 18 minutes and 2 seconds. 
Oxford won the toss and chose to row on the Surrey side of the river, with Cambridge rowing on the Middlesex side. 
Oxford had the stronger start and were ahead for much of the first half of the race. 
They had a slight advantage over Cambridge at Hammersmith Bridge, where they would be favoured by racing the inside of the upcoming bend. 
However Cambridge never lost touch and pulled ahead at Chiswick steps, maintaining their lead for the remainder of the race. 
Before the race, Cambridge were strong favourites, being 9lb heavier per man on average. 
The Cambridge crew had 5 returning blues compared to Oxford's one. 
Furthermore the international achievement of Cambridge's rowers far exceeded that of Oxford: the World Champion stern pair of Germans Thorsten Engelmann (the heaviest ever oarsman at 110.8kg) and Sebastian Schulte, Olympic Gold medallist Kieran West MBE and GB medal winner Tom James. 
The heavily fancied Cambridge crew did not win by the margin expected by many, thanks in part to a strong row from Oxford, and the sagging stern containing the heaviest Cambridge oarsmen. 
Also of note, only a week before, Cambridge were victorious at the prestigious Head of the River Race (raced on the same course, but from Mortlake to Putney). 
However the race was abandoned due to weather conditions with only 29 out of 420 crews finishing. 
The race, first held in 1829, is currently held on a 6,779 m (4 miles and 374 yards) stretch of the River Thames in London from Putney to Mortlake. 
Overall, Cambridge lead Oxford by 79 wins to 73 with one dead heat. 
In the earlier race for reserve crews, Goldie (Cambridge) beat Isis (Oxford). 
Racing for the women's and lightweight crews took place at Henley on April 1st, where Cambridge won the Women's Boat Race and Oxford won the reserve women's, lightweight women's, lightweight men's and reserve lightweight men's races. 
Four F3 Tornado fighter jets were launched by the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force to intercept Russian military planes. 
The eight Russian jets were flying in airspace patrolled by Nato, officials from the UK claimed. 
The long-range bombers were initially followed by Norwegian F16 jets, after Russia's recent decision to reinstate Cold War-style long-range patrols. 
14 strategic bombers were flying on long-range patrol, according to Russia's Defence Ministry. 
They also confirmed that none had approached a foreign state and had been shadowed by aircraft from Nato countries. 
The Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom released a statement that the Russian Tupolev Tu-95 Bear aircraft, flying in four loosed pairs, were tracked by Norwegian aircraft before entering Nato airspace on Thursday morning. 
The UK currently holds responsibility for the Nato airspace, and launched four F3 Tornados from RAF Leeming in North Yorkshire, UK, to identify the bombers. 
The bombers eventually left the Nato zone, under tracking by UK aircraft and RAF radar in Northumberland. 
An MoD spokesman confirmed that Russia was entitled to its long-range patrols, adding 'The motivation behind any Russian military activity is a matter for the Russian government.' 
Lt Col John Inge Oegland, spokesman for the Norwegian armed forces, said there had been several similar incidents in recent months, but that the Russian flights were not causing alarm in Norway. 
Relations between Britain and Russia have worsened recently, particularly after Russia's refusal to allow the extradition of a former KGB bodyguard suspected of murdering emigre Alexander Litvinenko in London last year. 
Relations with Russia would "continue as normal outside the unresolved extradition request", a UK Foreign Office spokesman said. 
The main library in Bristol, United Kingdom has been closed until further notice as a result of a fire which struck the building yesterday morning. 
Bristol City Council has reported that it is possible the library will reopen on Tuesday, although it did say that it was likely the building would remain closed on that day. 
The head of Library services at Bristol City Council commented on the incident. 
She said "we [the Library service] apologise to our customers for this inconvenience but it is not possible to open the library as there remains problem's with power to parts of the building and there is a need to give contractors clear access to clean smoke damage in some public areas." 
"We will review the situation again on Monday morning and issue further updates when further information is available." 
Industry Canada announced today that the government, through the Privy Council Office, has effectively overturned a decision by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regarding the status of Globalive Wireless Management Corporation, which was set to launch in November under the WIND Mobile brand. 
In a release issued this morning, Tony Clement, Minister of Industry is quoted as saying "Globalive is a Canadian company, and meets Canadian ownership and control requirements under the Telecommunications Act," differing with the CRTC's decision, where they ruled that control-in-fact of Globalive was with Cairo-based Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., the corporation holding much of Globalive's equity and debt. 
A decision had been rendered under Canadian Ownership and Control regulations by Industry Canada at the time of the Advanced Wireless Spectrum (AWS) auction held in 2007-2008, at which time they had ruled that Globalive did meet the tests of ownership and control under the same regulation, as referenced by the Order-in-Council included with the government's announcement this morning. 
With the decision by the government, Globalive is now permitted to launch their wireless service, which is expected to occur in the Calgary and Toronto markets in time for the busy holiday shopping season. 
"This holiday season we will start to provide Canadians with the competitive choice that they want and deserve," said Anthony Lacavera, Chairman and CEO of Globalive Communications Corporation, in a release sent out today. 
Not everyone was quite as enthusiastic however, with Michael Hennessey, Senior VP of Regulatory and Government Affairs for TELUS Communications quoted as saying "If Wind is Canadian then so was King Tut," in a comment posted to Twitter, according to the CBC. 
TELUS had led the charge in requesting the CRTC review the ownership structure of Globalive/WIND, and had received support from Shaw Communications, along with new entrant Public Mobile, all of whom were reported to have signed an open letter to Industry Minister Clement published in Parliament Hill newspaper The Hill Times upon the announcement that he would be reviewing said decision by the CRTC. 
There is no word yet on whether TELUS or other carriers will attempt to appeal the ruling. 
The northern port of Thessaloniki, Greece's second biggest city, will host the Inter-Balkan co-operation Summit, on the 3rd and 4th of May 2006. 
The countries of southeast Europe who are part of the Inter-Balkan Cooperation; Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Serbia-Montenegro, Romania, Albania, Croatia, Bosnia and FYROM will be represented by their leaders, Prime ministers and Ministers of foreign affairs. 
The Inter-Balkan Cooperation Summit will focus on all the developments, both economic and political, in the area of southeast Europe, with the main topic being the situation in Kosovo. 
On the sidelines of the Inter-Balkan Cooperation Summit, which will take place at the Hyatt Regency Hotel of Thessaloniki, Greek Premier Kostas Caramanlis will meet with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in order to discuss bilateral issues, including the Cyprus problem. 
For the safety of the leaders as well as for the convenience of city's traffic during possible demonstrations, a security plan has been prepared according to local police. 
Three years ago, Thessaloniki was the host city of the 2003 European Union Summit. 
Corus, the fifth largest steelmaker in the world, is set to cut 2000 jobs in both the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. 
123 jobs are reported to be going in the Netherlands with the remainder from the United Kingdom. 
Corus have blamed the move on the "further deterioration" of the demand for steel in both the United States and Europe. 
Corus Chief Executive Kirby Adams stated, "Any recovery in Europe appears to be some time off". 
He added that Corus have to achieve "long-term sustainable competitiveness in a global and over-supplied steel market". 
In January of this year Corus cut approximately 3,500 staff worldwide; 2,500 of them in Britain. 
Peter Hogg, a commercial director at Corus, reported that the company was surprised at the extent of the global recession. 
He added that it is clear a full recovery is years away. 
Scunthorpe will lose 500 members of staff, with 379 going at Stocksbridge and 377 at Rotherham. 
Corus will also reduce operations at Hartlepool, Skinningrove and their Teesside Beam Mill, in Cleveland, where an additional 2,000 already face redundancy. 
A total of 11 plants in the United Kingdom are affected. 
Elliot Morley, Labour Member of Parliament for Scunthorpe, told the BBC that he was disappointed with the job cuts and said he had previously told Corus that they should be a last resort. 
He added that this was a "sad day" for Scunthorpe. 
The Community union general secretary Michael Leahy said that it was "devastating news" and spoke of his concerns for the integrity of the British steel industry. 
The company was bought in 1999 by Tata Steel, part of India's Tata Group. 
The traditions of Bonfire Night peculiar to the Sussex area were once again observed in Lewes on November 4. 
Consistent with the town traditions in the East Sussex county of England, effigies of various figures were carried through the town, and later burnt. 
The effigies this year included George Bush, Condoleezza Rice (as Wonder Woman) and Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. 
As per tradition and local fame, effigies were carried through the town and burned on huge fires. 
These include The Pope, Guy Fawkes and other unpopular figures. 
One of this year's unfortunate guest appearances was also rendered as a hugely grotesque likeness of the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. 
The unflattering effigy clutched a tattered U.S. flag in one hand, and a miniature Tony Blair in the other. 
Smaller scale effigies, and so called 'enemies of bonfire', were also represented. 
This year's enemies included British Transport Police, whose attitude and handling of Bonfire night is an issue of local contention. 
Transport police were quietly represented by a pig head wearing a police helmet. 
Six arrests occurred in respect of criminal damage and public order offences, but the event was less rowdy than in previous years and eras in the history of the Bonfire. 
Superintendent Cliff Parrot of the Sussex Police said, "The event passed safely and was a resounding success with fewer arrests than last year, People were well behaved and acted responsibly, which in turn allowed everyone else to enjoy the celebrations." 
The steep streets of the small town, located one hour south of London, were filled during the chilly winter evening with crowds carrying burning torches, with police, and with alcohol consumption accompanied by loud deafening bangs. 
In addition to effigies, flaming crosses were carried in recognition of the town's 17 Protestant Martyrs. 
These preceded elaborate costumed parades where participants dressed as Vikings, Antique firemen, Mongol warriors, and Zulus (including for the first time at Lewes, a female chieftain). 
The pirates towed a cannon which they fired and shocked the crowds. 
The traditional striped jerseys worn by various Bonfire Society members were also in evidence. 
A plane carrying sixteen people has vanished over Papua, Indonesia. 
The Twin Otter propeller-driven aircraft has a crew of three and thirteen passengers, two of whom are babies. 
The plane, which belonged to Merpati Nusantara Airlines, was travelling from Sentani Airport, Jayapura, Papua to Oksibil, a town near the Papua New Guinean border. 
The journey normally takes fifty minutes and only three hours and thirty minutes worth of fuel was on board. 
Both transportation authorities and the military have launched bids to locate the missing plane, with at least two aircraft taking off to search for the aircraft. 
However, poor weather conditions have forced these aircraft to return to land. 
The plane was over a mountainous area covered with dense forest when air traffic control lost contact. 
"We're focusing our search on the border between [the] Keerom and Pegunungan Bintang districts... it's a mountainous, jungly region," said air force commander Suwandi Miharja, who is in charge of the search. 
Aircraft lost in this region have sometimes never been located after suspected crashes. 
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced the release of all journalists detained in the country's jails in an address to a gathering of journalists in the capital of Khartoum, on Saturday. 
"I declare amnesty for all the journalists detained by the security authorities and their release," said Al-Bashir. 
This came in the same month as the release of Abu Zar Al-Amin, deputy editor-in-chief of pro-opposition paper Ra'y Al-Sha'b. 
Al-Almin had served a prison term of nearly two years after he violating press restrictions and reporting on alleged co-operation between Sudan and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. 
The release and amnesty follows a series of fresh violations of 'press freedoms', which resulted in the suspension of independent newspapers such as Al-Jaridah and Al-Ahdath on August 20 and 21. 
According to Mozdalifa Mohamed Osman, Al-Ahdath's newsroom chief, the suspension caused financial losses of US$10,000. 
No reasons were given for the suspension of the newspapers. 
However, the editor-in-chief of AlJaridah, Saad Al-Din Ibrahim revealed that his paper was suspended because it did not allow the security services to interfere in its editorial and recruitment policies; sources believe the Al-Ahdath suspension was due to the publication of information on a planned meeting between President Al-Bashir and the leader of armed opposition group Sudan People's Liberation Movement (northern sector) Malik Aggar. 
According to press-freedom watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Sudanese government aggressively attacks journalists through "contrived legal proceedings, politicized criminal charges, and confiscations". 
Press freedoms may deteriorate with the National Congress Party contemplating further restrictions, including the possibility of pre-publication censorship. 
Today the 60th anniversary of Victory Day was commemorated in Russia, and other successor states of the Soviet Union. 
The leaders of more than 50 countries and heads of several international organisations attended the parade. 
George W. Bush watched the parade with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 
More than 4,000 World War II veterans and 7,000 military personnel were involved in the parade. 
The culmination was the flight of 12 planes (made up of SU-25s and MIG-29s), which emitted white, blue and red smoke to paint a Russian flag in the air. 
Mass celebrations are planned to be held at Poklonnaya Gora, Moscow's primary WW2 memorial. 
Several new monuments were opened today, such as the 8-meter statue of Charles de Gaulle by Zurab Tsereteli and the monument to soldiers from Allied countries. 
The 60th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day was commemorated across Europe yesterday. 
Faithless, an electronica band from the United Kingdom, have made the announcement that they are to separate at the end of their current tour. 
Their current tour is expected to conclude at the O2 Academy, Brixton on April 8, 2011. 
It consisted of three members, known as Maxi Jazz, Sister Bliss and Rollo Armstrong. 
Insomnia, God Is a DJ and We Come 1 are amongst the most famous muscial works that have been released from Faithless. 
Human rights group Amnesty International has released satellite images showing how the Zimbabwean community of Porta Farm, which once housed some 10,000 people, has been completely destroyed. 
Taken in 2002 and 2006, the photos starkly contrast the previous built-up area with the empty scrubland that remains. 
According to Amnesty International, residents of Porta Farm were given less than 24 hours notice to leave their homes. 
Human rights monitors reported that several people died in the chaotic environment of the ensuing demolitions and forced evictions. 
Zimbabwe's forced evictions programme (called Operation Murambatsvina) has been widely condemned both within Zimbabwe and beyond. 
A 2005 report on Operation Murambatsvina by United Nations Special Envoy Anna Tibaijuka estimated that it has cost 700,000 people their homes or livelihoods. 
She was present at Porta Farm during the second day of its demolition, and was shocked by the brutality of the evictions. 
Residents of Porta Farm had fought eviction in the past, winning judgements from the High Court of Zimbabwe that they should not be evicted unless the government provided suitable alternative accommodation. 
However the High Court dismissed a contempt of court action that attempted to stop the 2005 evictions, giving no reason. 
The Zimbabwean government (led by President Robert Mugabe) says that the programme is in the public interest and was not against the law. 
The Telecommunications Commission of the Solomon Islands (TCSI) have issued a fine to a Papua New Guinea (PNG) mobile phone provider, for failing to meet the deadlines set out in the terms of its license. 
bemobile, the second mobile network service provider in the Solomon Islands, was supposed to have covered 50% of the Solomons by September 2010 and 75% by February 1st 2011. 
The National Statistics Office and the TCSI investigated claims by bemobile that it had covered 64% of the Islands, but found the claims were incorrect. 
As a result, the TCSI have now issued a fine of to the company for breaking its operating license. 
This is the second time bemobile failed to meet its contractual obligations, and the Telecommunications Commissioner, Nicholas Williams, made it clear that they had fallen short of the target, despite being given time to sort the issue out. 
Williams said, "TCSI has found that bemobile has failed to meet its third coverage threshold of 75% of the population that commenced on 1 February 2011, as well as during the 14-day rectification period that was provided for under the licence." 
Commissioner Williams also stated he could have raised the fine to US$2.5M, but he hoped that bemobile would use the extra money to meet its September deadline. 
In a statement to the Commission, bemobile admitted it had not built any new transmitter masts since the latter part of 2010. 
The TADA court in Mumbai held four accused guilty of assisting Tiger Memon in smuggling arms and RDX that were used in the serial blasts. 
Muzamil Umar Kadri, Khalil Ahmed Sayyed Nazir and Gulam Hafeez Shaikh were convicted of helping land RDX on the Shekhadi coast in February 1993, and also for tranporting weapons and possessing illegal arms. 
Tulsiram Dhondu Surve, watchman of high security Wangani microwave tower in Raigad district, was found guilty of allowing Tiger's men to use government property for the purpose of loading arms into vehicles which then transported them to Mumbai. 
CBI investigations also revealed that Surve had concealed 59 bags of explosives in his field, before handing them over to the bombers. 
The watchman was convicted under Section 202 of the Indian Penal Code for "not informing authorities of the smuggling of arms and explosives despite having knowledge of the activities." 
Judge Kode, however, acquitted Anant Bhoir, who had allowed his dumper to be used for disposing of RDX in the Nagla Bunder Creek. 
The court said that Bhoir had not been aware that the sacks contained explosive material. 
The court also ruled that Bhoir and his co-accused's confessions were inadmissible since they "appear to have been taken under duress." 
Wikinews held an exclusive interview with James Burns, one of the candidates for the Libertarian Party nomination for the 2008 U.S. presidential election. 
Burns, the former chairman of the Nevada Libertarian Party, was asked if he thinks he has a good shot at winning the Libertarian nomination and ultimately the presidency. 
He replied, "My chances of winning are not all in my hands." 
"I shall do my best, but it comes down to what others will do." 
When asked about America's shrinking middle class he said, "The economic policies of the US government are the cause our troubles." 
"When I am President, the only economic policy I shall pursue is to be frugal with the funds of the United States." 
Burns believes that the President "is not 'the leader of the free world,' rather....a person who attempts to protect our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." 
Five Chinese nationals, identified as Lu Mingcheng (52), Wan Huilan (42), Chan Kwok Kwong (52), Ngan Chiu Kuen (42) and Ieong Chi Kai (52), were sentenced to death by firing squad for trafficking nearly eight tons of marijuana by sea. 
The People's Court of the northern Quang Ninh Province made the sentence after a four-day trial, and confiscated 19,600 jeans used for smuggling, HK$1.5 million (278,262 Yuan, US$10,485) in assets. 
The group were hired in April 2008 by individuals known by A Giai and A Tran to transfer the marijuana from Pakistan to Canada and were caught on May 12, 2008. 
The seizure is one of the largest in Vietnam's history, a country with strict drug laws. 
At Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, students are finding that popular MP3 players, such as Apple's iPod, are very convenient devices for listening to music at the gym, while traveling on foot, and in the car. 
In a recent ad-hoc survey conducted by Wikinews contributor Darren Mar, 150 students were randomly pulled aside in the hallways of the university, and asked if they own an MP3 player. 
94 of the 150 students (62.66%) did in fact own MP3 devices, most of who were found to be carrying it on them when questioned. 
There was one simple follow up question for those who had a player: "If it were possible to have complete and safe control of the device on the steering wheel of a car, would you rather listen to your device, or the radio?" 
There were three answers possible, yes, no or both. 
Of the 94, 78 (82.98%) said yes, eleven (11.70%) said no, and five (5.32%) said both. 
The reasons for those who would listen to their device were commercial free music, personalized choice of music, and complete control of what you are listening to. 
This study was motivated by the new design of 2006+ model cars. 
Many are being built with auxiliary jacks for the stock radio, allowing the driver to easily connect any audio playing device to the car's sound system with a simple 3.5mm plug. 
What's more, cars in the upper price echelon are being built with (1) a custom made area in the dash for MP3 players (iPod's being the most popular), and (2) implementing audio device control right onto the steering wheel. 
A good example of this is the Ford Fusion or the 2007 Lexus IS250: "The centre console input port allows an iPod, MP3 or Windows Media Audio player to be plugged into the IS audio system." 
Seniors who haven't been credited with passing the California High School Exit Exam won't be getting diplomas when graduation ceremonies are held next month because the First District Appellate Court won't hear the court case about the test until July 25. 
The attorney for the students suing to block use of the test says he still expects to prevail. 
"This case is far from over," said Arturo Gonzalez, the lead attorney in Valenzuela vs. O'Connell, in which Liliana Valenzuela, a Richmond High School student, and others sued to block the state's use of the test as a graduation requirement, "We think there is a strong chance that students in the Class of 2006 will receive their diplomas, even if it is after commencement ceremonies." 
"They have to stay in school and pass their classes." 
On May 12, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman agreed with Gonzalez' argument that the state's use of the test as a graduation requirement was unconstitutional because poor and minority students don't have access to equal educational resources, and therefore don't have equal protection under the law. 
He issued an injunction against the use of the test. 
That injunction seemed to pave the way for those of the 47,000 seniors statewide who haven't yet passed the test, but have completed all other requirements, to receive diplomas with their classmates at upcoming graduation events. 
But State Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell quickly filed an appeal of Freedman's ruling and asked the State Supreme Court to issue a stay of Freedman's injunction. 
Earlier this week, the Court granted O'Connell's request for a stay, allowing schools to deny diplomas to students who haven't passed the test. 
The Court also ordered the Appellate court to hear O'Connell's appeal of Freedman's ruling against the test. 
On Thursday, Gonzalez petitioned the Appellate Court to expedite their hearing of the case to as soon as next week, but today the court denied Gonzalez' request and scheduled the case for a hearing on July 25. 
In an email to the James Logan Courier, Gonzalez said he thinks his case is strong enough to withstand the appeal. 
"We intend to vigorously defend Judge Freedman's ruling," he said, "The record strongly supports his decision." 
"If the court of appeals upholds Judge Freedman's ruling, students in the Class of 2006 may still receive their high school diplomas," he said. 
About 70 seniors at James Logan High School in Union City, Ca., mostly minorities and those who are learning English, still need to pass the test. 
O'Connell, an avid defender of the test, which is required by a law he wrote and championed when he was in the state legislature, said this week that he would make sure school districts knew that they had to require the test be passed in order to hand out diplomas to students. 
"I will communicate with districts today to ensure they are aware that the exit exam is a graduation requirement" he said, "Students who have worked hard to pass this exam will be given a diploma that signifies their mastery of essential skills in reading and math." 
Police are still looking for the suspect that killed Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams, 24, in a drive by shooting January 1. 
Williams was killed by a single gunshot wound to the neck. 
Police say there was a disagreement at a nightclub birthday party for Kenyon Martin, a forward with the Denver Nuggets National Basketball Association team, and Williams and his two friends left. 
His two friends, a man and a woman, were hit along with him. 
Police said earlier they where looking for a Tahoe or Suburban with dark-tinted windows. 
"We'll have a memorial service on Wednesday with our players and coaches and Darrent's family," Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said at a press conference on Tuesday. 
"I don't think he had a guy that wasn't his friend," added Shanahan. 
The entire Denver Broncos will attend the funeral service for Williams on Saturday in his hometown of Fort Worth, Texas, according to Shanahan. 
The "NBA 2K8 Asia Championship" Taiwan Qualifier, organized by NBA Asia Corp. and sponsored by Microsoft Taiwan, was held on December 22 & 23. 
According to the organizer, Taiwan was chosen as the first on-site stage tournament because of some of the market share factor on the gaming industry and the gaming population. 
In Taiwan's qualifier, the organizer successively invited models from Catwalk Production House and two Taiwanese bands (Yummy, 2moro) for friendship matches with the public. 
With the entertainers' participation, it attracted media and press in the entertainment industry. 
On the other hand, to conjunct with sports and gaming, the organizer set the experience area with not only the Xbox 360 gaming console but also a shooting machine. 
In this 2-day qualifier, due to some issues on the arrangement of the schedule, some registered gamers offered to quit the championship, but it didn't take effect on the results of the single day champion, the 2-day champion, and overall champion. 
Finally, Yu-cheng Lin won the overall champion to participate in the Grand Final of the championship in South Korea on January 12, 2008. 
According to the organizer, the Hong Kong qualifier will start on January 5 & 6, 2008 at Plaza Hollywood in Diamond Hill, Hong Kong. 
Fifty people are feared to have drowned after a boat capsized in the Bagmati, an Indian river, on Tuesday, according to the government. 
75 people, mainly women and children, were aboard the vessel when it flipped over during a storm. 
They had been returning from a fair that marked the end of the Durga Puja, an annual Hindu festival that celebrates the worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. 
Fifteen people were able to swim to safety, but it is unlikely the other passengers of the boat were able to survive, according to a report. 
An official from the district where the accident occurred said that "we have recovered 11 bodies so far and search is on for 40 other missing people." 
A search operation was launched by the Indian National Disaster Response Force, but efforts were hampered by nightfall. 
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has hiked the repo rate by 0.25 percent to 7.25 percent, keeping the reverse repo rate unchanged at 6%. 
The Bank rate and the cash reserve ratio are left unchanged at 6% and 5% respectively. 
In its mid-year review of monetary and regulatory policy, the Reserve Bank has forecast an annual GDP growth of 8.0%, as against the 7.5-8.0% forecast earlier in its annual policy statement and first quarter review. 
The Reserve Bank indicated that inflation will be contained between 5.0-5.5%, during the year 2006-07. 
The Reserve Bank estimated real GDP growth in the first quarter of 2006-07 at 8.9%, up from 8.5% last year. 
Norm Coleman filed an appeal with the Minnesota Supreme Court challenging opponent Al Franken's court victory last week which gave Franken a 312-vote lead in the disputed 2008 Minnesota United States Senate election, reports the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. 
The basis for Coleman's appeal has yet to be given and will be included in a legal brief to be filed by the Coleman campaign later this week. 
Jim Langdon, lawyer for the Coleman campaign, said that the oral arguments in the court could begin in anywhere from "two weeks to two months", adding more time to a process which has continued since a razor-thin difference between the two candidates' vote totals triggered an automatic recount in November 2008. 
The Supreme Court is not required to hear oral arguments and it is possible they could refuse to hear the case. 
A spokesperson for the Franken campaign says that Coleman is up to the "same old, same old." 
"Sometimes you come up on the short end of a close and bitter election." 
"But at some point, you have to accept the reality for what it is," said Marc Elias, one of Franken's lawyers. 
The Coleman campaign argues that 4,400 ballots from Coleman-leaning districts have improperly not been counted, while some undetermined number of ballots (perhaps contributing up to 100 of Franken's 312-vote margin) were accidentally double-counted. 
Coleman also argues that 132 ballots from the Dinkytown neighborhood of Minneapolis should not have been counted, since the envelope containing them was lost or stolen after the machine count and before the recount. 
The Franken campaign, meanwhile, supports the previous three-judge panel (from a Democrat, a Republican, and an Independent) unanimous ruling giving Franken victory. 
The Franken campaign, anticipating a final victory and certification by the Minnesota Secretary of State, has begun hiring a staff for Franken's senatorial office. 
Franken's spokespeople say he is going to start by hiring Alana Peterson, a former state director for Representative Jim Oberstar, as state director. 
On Friday, the sheriff of Pickens County, South Carolina Rick Clark refused to lower the flag to honor Nelson Mandela after US President Barack Obama made an executive order that all US flags to be flown at half mast in honor of Mandela until sunset today. 
On Friday, Clark posted to Facebook to explain his decision saying, "I usually don't post political items, but today is different." 
"I received this notification today, 'As a mark of respect for the memory of Nelson Mandela, the President orders that the flag of the United States be flown at half-staff effective immediately until sunset, December 9, 2013' ". 
He went on to say in the same post, "Nelson Mandela did great things for his country and was a brave man but he was not an AMERICAN!!! The flag should be lowered at our Embassy in S. Africa, but not here." 
Our flag is at half staff today for a Deputy in the low country who died going to help his fellow Deputy. 
"I have ordered that the flag here at my office back up after tomorrow's mourning of Pearl Harbor Day!" 
According to Fox News, the US President cannot require US flag lowering at the local level. 
According to CNN in an article published yesterday, presidents generally restrict requests for lowering the flag to major national figures, US governors, and foreign dignitaries. 
Presidents of the United States have previously ordered the flag lowered in honor of non-Americans including Pope John Paul II who died in 2005, King Hussein of Jordan who died in 1999, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who died in 1995, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat who died in 1981, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill who died in 1965, and United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold who died in 1961. 
While President Obama expressed condolences regarding the death of Margaret Thatcher upon her death earlier this year, he did not issue an executive order that flags be lowered in her honour. 
An annual survey done by the New Zealand Consumers' Institute has shown that there has been a dramatic decline in satisfaction with the respondents' Internet service providers (ISP). 
Of the over 10,000 Internet users who participated in the survey, only 66% said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with their current ISP. 
This is compared to the 2005 survey which was at 82%. 
The reason, according to the Consumers' Institute, is because of national ISP, Xtra dragging down the ratings. 
Only 55% of Xtra's customers said they were satisfied or very satisfied with Xtra, it was 78% last year. 
Nick Brown, spokesman, said: "Xtra will be working to improve its ranking." 
The best ISP, as voted by the survey respondents, was Inspire, the third consecutive time they have won. 
97% of Inspire's users said that its performance was either good or very good. 
David Russel, chief executive of the Consumers' Institute, said: "The wonderful world of cyberspace has a long way to go in New Zealand in terms of providing customer satisfaction." 
Providers must sharpen up on their advertising and improve the performance of their service desks. 
"Broadband speed and the price people are paying are the biggest bones of contention." 
Mr. Russell added: "Support, both online and offline is a key factor in satisfaction with your ISP." 
Speaker of the U.S. House John Boehner announced yesterday that he would agree to a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. 
In an effort to end the impasse between the House and Senate, Boehner told Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid that he would schedule a House vote on the Senate version of the bill that would extend the tax cut, which was due to expire at the end of the year. 
Speaker Boehner announced the agreement in a brief statement: "Senator Reid and I have reached an agreement that will ensure taxes do not increase for working families on January 1". 
Boehner informed other congressmen of the deal in a conference call yesterday evening. 
The House may pass the bill via unanimous consent today, which would not require the presence of all members. 
Boehner and Reid also agreed to a bipartisan negotiation committee to sort out differences and extend the tax cut for an entire year, a goal recently sought by Republicans in the House. 
The extension of the payroll tax cut, which would prevent approximately 160 million Americans from seeing a tax increase in 2012, had already been passed by the Senate last weekend. 
Earlier yesterday, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell joined several other Republican Senators in encouraging the House to pass the extension. 
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid said that once the House acts, he "will be happy to restart the negotiating process to forge a yearlong extension." 
At a news conference, Speaker Boehner issued a statement: "We have fought the good fight." 
"Why not do the right thing for the American people even though it's not exactly what we want." 
President Obama also responded to the development in a statement: "This is good news, just in time for the holidays." 
This is the right thing to do to strengthen our families, grow our economy, and create new jobs. 
"This is real money that will make a real difference in people's lives." 
The tax cut extension impasse began when the House effectively rejected the Senate-approved version of the bill on Tuesday after being faced with opposition from House Republicans, specifically those associated with the Tea Party movement, who advocated for spending cuts and the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline. 
An ongoing struggle in Kazakhstan between the authorities and a local Hindu village has turned serious. 
Forum 18 has been documenting the alleged human rights abuse regarding the Hare Krishna village for some time, but as of 21st November events took a drastic turn. 
The following was seen and written by Ninel Fokina, president of the Almaty Helsinki Committee, and Andrei Grishin, official member of the International Bureau of Human Rights and Law Observance: 
On November 21, 2006 at 1 pm the information was received that according to the court decision to evict the members of the religion organization International Society for Krishna Consciousness from the occupied land near Sri Vrindavan Dham farm, and the demolition of 13 country houses will begin immediately. 
Heavy equipment was brought to the suburban community: trucks, demolition machines, three busses with riot policemen, a bus with demolition squad and the local authorities including the Hakim. 
Electricity was disconnected in the morning of the same day. 
She had a conversation with B. Baikadamov, the only person she could reach at that time, who promised to communicate to the Committee of Religious Affairs at the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Court Administration Committee which includes the department of court decision execution. 
At 3 pm representatives of human rights organizations: Ninel Fokina, Andrei Grishin, and Maxim Varfolomeev, press-secretary of the Society for Krishna Consciousness, plus, a journalist and representative of Astana TV channel left for the village which is located 40 km from Almaty. 
All the roads to village were closed and patrolled by police. 
The human rights representatives and the journalist took detour through the fields. 
It was snowing, but they were able to reach the border of the village because of the four-wheel-drive jeep they were traveling in. 
The jeep was not allowed to drive into the village. 
When Grishin and the jeep driver tried to pass by walk they were stopped and threatened to be put in handcuffs. 
Lieutenant colonel, who came with another patrol car, explained that they are not allowed to the village for their own safety. 
He said that at that time the electric line was being dismounted in the area. 
The driver of the jeep had his wife and two months old daughter in the village. 
He was begging to let him go through, but his request was denied. 
He was told that safety is guaranteed to his family. 
They approached it from the other detour road, and leaving the car on the sidewalk, one by one they entered the village. 
As they approached the village they met two small groups of young people who were not drunk but unnaturally exited. 
They held hammers, big dumb-bells, metal crow-bars and sticks. 
Two of them politely greeted the group, and one said gaily, "Your houses are finished." 
Four big busses with toned windows and two cars of ambulance were parked at the entrance of the village in the grove. 
30-40 policemen stood by the houses, and 20-30 people in civil clothes including the leaders of the district with the Hakim, the head of local executive authority stood on the street, watching the demolition. 
Residents’ household stuff such as mattresses, blankets, utensils cookware, and furniture were laying outside on the lawns by their houses. 
People in construction outfits (labor people) got inside the houses and started crushing windows and doors, destroying walls. 
The bulldozer was demolishing the buildings and the big stone fencing with cast iron openwork lattice which separated the houses from the driving area. 
A small group of inhabitants (20-30 people, mostly women) did not offer physical resistance. 
One of the women felt dizzy, fell down and was picked up by the ambulance. 
Police was bringing down those few (basically women) who tried to interfere with the destruction of their property. 
Two men tried to prevent the entrance of destroyers into a house, but were brought down by 15 policemen who twisted their hands and took them away to the police car. 
During all these events none of the representatives from the Office of Public Prosecutor were present at the place of the event, even though both Krishna people and legal service people demanded meeting with representatives of the Office of Public Prosecutor who are obligated to be present during this type of actions. 
The Hakim of the Yetisu district who was personally responsible for this action noticed A. Grishin photographing the destruction of the houses using a digital camera and commanded the policemen to detain him. 
A. Grishin is an officer of the Human Rights Bureau and a journalist. 
To avoid confiscation of the camera A. Grishin tried to escape. 
He ran away by 200 meters and was caught by the police. 
Police officers confiscated his digital camera and took away his journalist certificate. 
Then he was let free, but police refused to return the camera, saying that they would give it to the Hakim. 
The camera was indeed found in the car of the Hakim, but the flash card and the batteries were confiscated. 
When Grishin approached the Hakim to find out for what reason his camera and his journalist ID were confiscated, the Hakim told in front of the witnesses, “If I see you here again, I will personally crash Your eyes, even though I am the Hakim.” 
No one of the policemen, who took part in the camera and ID confiscation, wanted to reveal their names. 
The envoy of human rights E. Baikadamov, who was also contacted, said that the president of the Court Administration Committee Z. Makashev confirmed that he would contact immediately the provincial department and would give the appropriate instructions. 
All the attempts of the representatives of the human rights organizations to find the people in charge of the operation and give them any information were unsuccessful. 
All the present officials refused to speak and declared that they were not responsible for the action. 
The OSCE representatives in Almaty Eugenia Benigni and Lisa Zhumakhmetova did not make it to the village. 
When the darkness fell, at around 6 pm, everything was finished: 13 houses destroyed, people thrown to the snowbound street, the village left without electricity, without heat and water. 
The condition of the witnesses can be described as shock. 
The condition of the people who were thrown from their destroyed houses to the dirt and snow cannot be described. 
When all the 13 buildings were destroyed as was planned ... while the adjacent houses of other people who do not belong to the Society for Krishna Consciousness were left untouched even though their title deeds have the same status ... the bailiffs decided to give an interview to the TV channel “to avoid one-sided opinion.” 
However no one of them introduced himself. 
The only thing they could say, “we are executing the court decision.” 
Neither the Hakim, nor the police chiefs, nor the bailiffs would listen to the arguments that the governmental commission established to solve the issue around the Society for Krishna Consciousness has not yet come to final decision. 
Notice: the notifications of eviction and demolition of the 13 houses owned by members of the cottage cooperative, who are the members of the religious organization Society for Krishna Consciousness, were delivered to the watchman of Sri Vrindavan Dham in the evening of November 20. 
The date of execution and the period for evacuating the buildings were not stated. 
It should be noted that the acting Kazakh law does not stipulate such a kind of eviction as the demolition of houses, and the eviction should be accompanied by the inventory of property removed from the evacuated building, while the storage of this property should be provided is necessary. 
The fourteenth Quiksilver Ceremonial Punta de Lobos Big Wave Invitational surf championship took place on Saturday in the Chilean city of Pichilemu, often called the "Capital of the Surf." 
In this year's competition, 24 surfers from countries such as South Africa, Peru, Chile, the United States, and Argentina participated in the championship, including Pichileminians Ramón Navarro and Cristian Merelló, and Hawaiian Köhl Christensen. 
Australia's Governor-General, Quentin Bryce, has cut Singapore and the UK from her official winter trip, keeping only France on her schedule, due to expectations that Prime Minister Julia Gillard will arrive at Government House in the coming days to request the Governor-General to call an election. 
There has been much speculation as to when Gillard was to request that the election be called by the Governor-General, with 21st and 28th of August being most likely. 
This would be the first time since 1987 that an election was held during the winter. 
As a result, Ms Bryce will head to Fromelles in France to represent Australia in a dedication ceremony and then return home, bringing her ten day trip down to five days. 
In a speech today in Adelaide, South Australia Gillard suggested that she wanted to achieve a mandate by the people through the usual means of the Governor-General. 
"I will ask the Australian people for their trust to move forward," Gillard said in the same speech. 
According to current Nielsen and Galaxy polls, on a two-party preferred basis, Julia Gillard leads her rival, opposition leader Tony Abbott, 52-48 percent. 
APEC Australia 2007 has officially closed in Sydney, with Australian Prime Minister John Howard delivering APEC's final declaration. 
The final leader's declaration said that APEC member economies will support the Doha trade talks and that the leaders examined a series of measures to deal with terrorism, pandemics, contaminated food, energy security and natural disasters. 
Mr Howard said that the APEC members had decided to make "An urgent request to all countries involved in the Doha process to renew their efforts to achieve an outcome, emphasizing that agriculture and industrial products are the two priority areas". 
The leaders wish for Doha to enter its final phase this year. 
Talks have been stalled due to disagreements between the European Union and United States over subsidies and tariffs for the agricultural sector. 
A plan by the United States to establish an APEC free trade zone received a mixed reception with some members believing that such a move would weaken the group's commitment to the Doha round. 
They did agree that if the WTO's Doha talks were not completed by the end of the year, the APEC zone would be examined. 
Speaking to CNBC, the head of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy said that negotiations taking place in Geneva were making progress. 
"There is a strong sense that it is a make-or-break moment." 
It may take a few weeks, but my sense is that there is a lot of focus and energy," Mr Lamy said. 
In the area of health, the final declaration also promised to share influenza samples and provide equitable access to vaccines. 
Security related issues were a commitment to rooting out terrorism and a recognition of the danger proliferation of weapons of mass destruction poses to the region. 
Despite interest from India and Pakistan in joining the group, it was announced that additional members will be considered in 2010. 
The final declaration also reaffirmed the Sydney Declaration on climate change, which had been agreed upon on Saturday. 
A suicide bomber killed at least one person and injured five at a police checkpoint in southern Russia on Friday, national news agencies reported. 
The explosion occurred in Nazran, the main city in the region of Ingushetia. 
Spokesman Kaloi Akhiltov said to the Associated Press news agency that a van packed with explosive material drove into the traffic checkpoint. 
According to government-controlled RIA news agency, the single casualty from the blast was a civilian. 
The attack has been blamed by regional authorities on Islamist separatist rebels. 
The Caucasus region of Russia has seen an increase in attacks recently, following a few years of relative calm after two wars with separatists in the neigbouring region of Chechnya. 
NASA has held a memorial ceremony to mark the fifth anniversary of the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. 
All seven astronauts were killed when their spacecraft broke up on re-entry over Texas on February 1, 2003, 16 minutes prior to scheduled landing time at Florida. 
Columbia had been damaged by a chunk of loose foam during takeoff 16 days earlier. 
NASA officials, astronauts, schoolchildren and family members attended the ceremony, which was held just miles from Columbias intended landing site. 
Approximately 200 people attended the event, held at the Kennedy Space Center's Space Mirror Memorial to all 24 astronauts killed in space disasters. 
Each was presented with a rose, which was placed in front of a granite memorial bearing the names of the 24. 
Evelyn Husband-Thompson, widow of commander Rick, who has remarried just three weeks ago, said "This morning, I couldn't stop thinking about Rick and Willie and Kalpana and Dave and Mike and Laurel and Ilan." 
All of our families went through so much that day. 
"We so miss them, and we will never forget them." 
44 teenagers from Israel were amongst those present, there in respect to astronaut Ilan Ramon. 
G. Madhavan Nair represented India at the memorial, remembering Indian astronaut Kalpana Chawla. 
Former shuttle commander Bill Readdy commented that, despite a large number of memorials, including one on Mars, "... much more importantly than any physical monument, they're memorialized right here in our hearts," Going on to name them individually, then saying "We'll always miss your easy laughter and your smiling faces." 
God willing, five years from now, they'll have even more to be proud of us about as we take even longer strides ... back to the moon and onward toward Mars. 
NASA boss Michael Griffin was amongst several people who commented on the dangerous nature of spaceflight. 
He proceeded to read a letter from United States President George W. Bush praising the astronauts, which was then presented to Husband-Thompson. 
"Space exploration is a dream deeply rooted in humanity, and the seven brave astronauts of Columbia sacrificed their lives so the rest of mankind could realize that dream," said Bush's letter. 
"They assumed great risk so they could understand what lies beyond the heavens." 
"We are grateful for their service and they will be always be cherished." 
Griffin also noted the importance of learning from mistakes, adding "Americans don't quit and we won't quit." 
"We'll never quit," and that "not quitting has high costs." 
The 41st anniversary of the Apollo 1 fire was on Sunday, and Monday saw the 22nd anniversary of the Challenger disaster. 
"The Stockholm district court has today found guilty the four individuals that were charged with accessory to breaching copyright laws." 
"The court has sentenced each of them to one year in prison," said a statement released by the court. 
Despite the ruling, TPB says it will not be shut down and file sharing operations will not be affected. 
"Stay calm -- Nothing will happen to TPB, us personally or file sharing whatsoever." 
"This is just a theater for the media," said a spokesman for TPB. 
The spokesman also added that TPB "cannot and will not" pay the damages. 
The trial lasted two weeks, and ended on March 2. 
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Bros. and Columbia Pictures among others. 
Investigators say at least 33 specific films and songs posted on TPB were tracked by authorities. 
Microsoft has reported a profit increase of 60%, attributed to the widespread success of its new operating system, Windows 7, the fastest-selling operating system ever. 
Net profit for the last three months of last year is $6.66bn, compared to $4.18bn for the last three months of 2008. 
Microsoft also reported revenue of $19.2bn, a record that exceeds analyst's forecasts by a large margin. 
The software giant released Windows 7 in October 2009, and, since then, profits from Microsoft's client division, who makes Windows 7, has surged to 70%. 
"Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company", said Peter Klein, CFO of Microsoft. 
Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft, Kevin Turner, attributed the growth to the consumer and business-sector reception of the new operating system, which, after its October 22 launch, had 234% more sales than Vista did when it was released. 
38 people were said to have died in a suicide bombing during a political rally in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. 
The attack occurred in the town of Timergarah in north east Pakistan. 
The incident occurred during a political rally by the leading local party. 
The attacker detonated a bomb, thereby blowing himself in Timargarah, 80 km (50 miles) northeast of the provincial capital, Peshawar, the principal town in the Lower Dir district. 
Pakistani security forces led a major operation against the Taliban in this region. 
According to residents, the bomb exploded near the stage built for the organized celebrations. 
"We have received 38 dead bodies," Doctor Wakeel Ahmed, head of the principal hospital in the town told AFP (Agence France-Presse) news agency. 
Mumtaz Zareen, Timargarah police chief, told AFP news agency that the attack was a suicide bombing; according to him, "the man came on foot and detonated himself." 
The Awami National Party (ANP), the predominant political party in North West Frontier Province had organized the celebrations because of their decision to rename the province to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. 
"Our party had arranged a thanksgiving day to celebrate the changing of the name after 200 years of colonial legacy," he said to a private news agency. 
According to Haji Mohammad Adeel of ANP, the Talibans had "lost the battle" and were executing such "cowardly" attacks "out of desperation." 
This attack was followed by a triple attack in Peshawar by suspected Islamist insurgents. 
On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. 
Libertarian Party candidate Kevin Stricker is standing for election in the riding of Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar. 
Born in Saskatoon, he graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 2003, with a B.Sc. with Great Distinction in Computer Science; he received a University Medal in Science. 
Having worked for several area businesses, this is his first political run. 
A longtime member of Fair Vote Canada, he currently serves on the Libertarian Party's ethics committee. 
Wikinews contacted Kevin, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. 
Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. 
All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted. 
The riding includes southwest Saskatoon and area, including rural areas Biggar, Rosetown and Delisle. 
First elected in 2000, Conservative MP Carol Skelton announced she would not be seeking re-election, and was shuffled out of her Minister of National Revenue and Minister of Western Economic Diversification cabinet posts. 
Winning the Conservative nomination in the riding is acclaimed Mayor of Waldheim Kelly Block, who is joined by Stricker, Amber Jones (Green), Roy Bluehorn (Liberal), Nettie Wiebe (NDP), Marcel Leon Bourassa (Christian Heritage), and independent Rick Barsky. 
For more information, visit the campaign's official website, listed below. 
Protesters gathered in Amsterdam, Maastricht, and several other cities in The Netherlands to protest a visit by the United States President, George W. Bush. 
As many as 2,000 people gathered in Amsterdam's Museum Square, voicing their discontent with the war in Iraq. 
Many protesters consider Bush personally responsible for the torture in Abu Ghraib prison and human rights violations in Guantanamo Bay. 
British mercenary Simon Mann was released from a jail in Equatorial Guinea after being pardoned for attempting to overthrow the government. 
Mann, along with several dozen other suspected plotters, was arrested five years ago on charges of trying to start a coup to overthrow president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. 
Their plans were foiled, however, and Mann was arrested after arriving in Zimbabwe to purchase firearms and grenades. 
The conspirators had planned to install exiled opposition leader Severo Moto as president and to gain control over the country's vast oil supplies. 
The government said that the decision was made on compassionate grounds, seeing as Mann, aged 57, was reportedly not in good health. 
It stated that Mann had "shown sufficient and credible signs of repentance and a desire to take his place in society." 
Amnesty was also given to four other co-conspirators, among them Nick Du Toit, from South Africa. 
Mann was arrested along with 63 others in 2004 when his plane landed in Zimbabwe allegedly to collect arms bought from the country's state arms manufacturer. 
After admitting to price fixing on cargo services between Japan and the United States, Japan Airlines (JAL) has been fined US$110 million by the United States Department of Justice. 
Prosecutors allege JAL earned $2 billion illegally between 2000 and 2006, although it is possible the scheme was operating as early as 1995. 
British Airways, Korean Air and Qantas all previously admitted being involved and paid fines. 
The cartel, which created artificially high prices by eliminating competition between its members, was exposed by whistleblower Lufthansa, who alerted authorities in exchange for immunity to prosecution. 
JAL is the biggest carrier in Japan and the biggest carrier of cargo between Japan and the US. 
Japan will not take any further action against the carrier. 
The investigation was performed by two US groups, the FBI and the Department of Justice. 
Witnesses heard gunshots in a Wal-Mart parking lot in Cedar Park, Texas, near Highway 183, on Sunday morning. 
Four, including the gunman who had facial wounds unrelated to the shooting, are being treated for injuries after the incident. 
Cedar Park Police Captain Mike Harmon said authorities arrived at the parking lot around 4:30 AM local time. 
There they arrested Onwukaife, who has been charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. 
The Cedar Park Wal-Mart was closed down briefly on Sunday morning; however, no staff or customers were injured. 
Police have released the names of the victims, eighteen-year-old Cody McGrath, nineteen-year-old Shayne Davis, nineteen-year-old Zacharia Gietl and 22-year-old Leland McGlocklin. 
As-of Monday, Gietl has been released from hospital whilst the others remain in critical, but stable, condition. 
Police informed media the incident occurred follwing a dispute which began at a nearby party where alcohol was being served. 
After moving the fight to the parking lot, Onwukaife is alleged to have shot the four victims. 
Onwukaife was expected to be released on Monday, after which he would immediately be jailed. 
Police advised media the investigation is on-going and more charges may still be filed. 
Specifically, Police are trying to determine if any other participants in the fight were armed. 
The murder rate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico has become the highest in the world. 
There were an average of seven killings every day for the past twelve months in the city, which is currently in the midst of a clash between two powerful drug cartels. 
The majority of the 1,986 murders this year remain unsolved, and most involve drug gang members who have come from elsewhere to fight for control of the drug smuggling route into neighbouring El Paso, Texas, as well as the lucrative local trade in drugs. 
There is a jump of 815 murders from last year. 
107 women, 85 children, and 49 police officers are among the dead and many people have met particularly violent ends. 
One man was tethered between two trucks and ripped apart; others have been decapitated or dismembered. 
The violence results from a turf war between rivals Juarez cartel and Sinaloa cartel, the latter being run by the most wanted man in the country, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. 
In late 2006 authorities launched a crackdown on Mexican drugs cartels, with Ciudad Juarez receiving 45,000 troops during that time. 
However, this has failed to prevent the gangs battling to control the cocaine-smuggling trade run from the city. 
This year Israel turns sixty and it has embarked upon a campaign to celebrate its birthday. 
Along with technology writers for Slate, PC Magazine, USA Today, BusinessWeek, Aviation Weekly, Wikinews was invited by the America-Israel Friendship League and the Israeli Foreign Ministry to review Israel’s technology sector. 
It's part of an effort to 're-brand the country' to show America that there is more to Israel than the Palestinian conflict. 
On this trip we saw the people who gave us the Pentium processor and Instant Messaging. 
The schedule was hectic: 12-14 hours a day were spent doing everything from trips to the Weizmann Institute to dinner with Yossi Vardi. 
On Thursday, the fifth day of the junket, David Saranga of the foreign ministry was able to arrange an exclusive interview for David Shankbone with the President of Israel, Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shimon Peres. 
For over an hour they spoke about Iranian politics, whether Israel is in danger of being side-lined in Middle Eastern importance because of Arab oil wealth, and his thoughts against those who say Israeli culture is in a state of decay. 
Shimon Peres spent his early days on kibbutz, a bygone socialist era of Israel. 
In 1953, at the age of 29, Peres became the youngest ever Director General of the Ministry of Defense. 
Forty years later it was Peres who secretly gave the green light for dialogue with Yassir Arafat, of the verboten Palestine Liberation Organization. 
It was still official Israeli policy to not speak with the PLO. 
Peres shares a Nobel Peace Prize with Yitzak Rabin and Arafat for orchestrating what eventually became the Oslo Accords. 
The "roadmap" that came out of Oslo remains the official Israeli (and American) policy for peace in the Palestinian conflict. 
Although the majority of Israeli people supported the plans, land for peace was met with a small but fiery resistance in Israel. 
For negotiating with Arafat, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shouted at Peres, "You are worse than Chamberlain!" a reference to Hitler's British appeaser. 
It was during this time of heated exchanges in the 1990s that Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated by Yigal Amir, a Jew who thought it against Halakhic law to give up land given by God (Hashem). 
Peres is the elder statesman of Israeli politics, but he remembers that he has not always been as popular as he is today. 
"Popularity is like perfume: nice to smell, dangerous to drink," said Peres. 
The search for popularity, he goes on to say, will kill a person who has an idea against the status quo. 
Below is David Shankbone's interview with Shimon Peres, the President of Israel. 
OpenOffice.org today released version 2.0 of their free software office suite. 
This release marks over three years of continuous development and boasts many features over version 1.0 which was released in May 2002. 
The latest release may be downloaded from the OpenOffice.org web site free of charge. 
The suite is intended to be a replacement for Microsoft's popular office suite, containing near-identical functionality without the price tag. 
Site administrators from OpenOffice.org say the suite has been downloaded an average of over 400,000 times per week from the official site alone. 
When taking into account that the suite is freely redistributable, and that it is distributed with many versions of GNU/Linux, the total number of copies in distribution is larger still. 
One of the reasons for its significant popularity is the inclusion of several features not found in competing office suites, including in-built export to the PDF format and compatibility with Windows, Linux and Mac OS X operating systems. 
Distributed under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License, the OpenOffice.org office suite can be run, studied, modified, and redistributed by anybody that receives a copy. 
This means that any person, group, or company can publish an alternative version - which makes problems such as vendor lock-in impossible. 
It also guarantees that the development will roughly follow with the wants of the userbase - instead of just the business model of one company. 
A lot of work has gone into making this release more visually compatible with the look of Microsoft Office on computers running Windows XP, however, some users were not happy with the effects these changes had on the look of OpenOffice.org when using a dark theme (colour settings). 
An angry Judge Rodney S. Melville threatened to issue a bench warrant for the arrest of world famous pop singer Michael Jackson if he failed to appear at the Santa Barbara County Superior Court in California Thursday Jan. 10, 2005. 
Jackson is under indictment there on seven counts of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under 14, and two counts of administering an intoxicating agent. 
Jackson, held briefly under the threat of jail by authorities on Nov. 20, 2003 when charges brought against him were formalized, gained his freedom later that day by posting a $3 million bail. 
Judge Melville, apparently frustrated with Jackson who had in two earlier instances caused delays in his court room, issued the warrant just 5 minutes after noting the singer’s conspicuous absence at the scheduled 8:30 a.m. proceedings. 
Jackson's defense lawyer, Tom Mersereau Jr., advised the judge that Jackson awoke earlier that morning with severe back pain and was under treatment at an area hospital at the time. 
The judge moved to give the celebrity one hour to appear or face arrest for contempt of court. 
As word of the warrant threat traveled to the large news presence gathered outside, a media countdown began. 
During the countdown, live televised reports recounted how Jackson had arrived for court 20 minutes late on his own arraignment for these charges, only to be met by a stern lecture from Judge Melville for that transgression. 
There was also another occasion where Jackson, while recovering from flu symptoms, delayed the trial's jury selection for a week until he was well enough to return. 
The glaringly clear message sent by the judge was: bad back or not, Jackson was to appear in court! And fast! Only the televised scene of Jackson's expectant defense lawyer Mersereau with his assistant Susan Yu, both busy on cells phones while tensely waiting curbside beside the court house for the Jackson motorcade, seemed to undermine a feeling that Jackson would make it in time to avoid having his bail revoked. 
As the deadline came and passed without Jackson’s arrival, live reports were busy with speculation on the superstar persona of Michael Jackson then taking on newer aspects of super-bizarre. 
But Jackson’s flair for tardiness showed itself with an arrival that was a mere 3 minutes after the judge was being forced to make good on his threat. 
Dressed in a blue blazer over a light weight undershirt, the star's recent departure from the hospital was evident by the pajama bottom pants and open-heeled bedroom slippers he wore into the court room. 
Jackson had the assistance of his father and a body guard at each side to keep him steady as he gingerly walked into the Santa Maria court house. 
He listed slightly to the right and kept a fixed, distant face that was surrounded by uncombed strands of his long hair. 
The summons issued by the judge forced Jackson from his hospital bed to show the world he was not above the law. 
In private chambers, Judge Melville met with both the prosecution lawyer, Tom Sneddon, and Jackson’s defense lawyer to verify the defendant’s claims of back pain. 
After re-taking the bench in the court room, the judge announced to the jury they would proceed with the docket as planned. 
Mr. Jackson narrowly escaped prison, and the trial would continue where it left off on the previous day with direct testimony from the now 15 year old boy who accuses him. 
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a visit to Hamilton yesterday to watch the 2007 annual Tim Hortons Brier at the Copps Coliseum. 
Harper, who is currently writing a book about the history of Hockey, admitted he's a curling fan. 
He started to be a fan of curling in Winnipeg, Manitoba 10 years ago and said his father used to play it. 
"I've never curled but my father did when I was very young," he said. 
About the last decade or so I've made an effort to get to the Brier when I could. 
"I've obviously got a soft spot for Kevin Martin and Alberta because he's had such a great career," said Harper. 
"But what's so great about the Brier is whoever wins is not like your normal pro athlete." 
She wore a large crown and was draped in gold. 
She got to meet the PM and was quoted saying: "Not a lot of people get to meet a prime minister." 
Authorities have said that 48 whales near Christchurch, New Zealand were beached yesterday. 
Fifteen of them died, although the other 33 were re-floated out to sea, according to a conservation official. 
The pilot whales beached themselves at Port Levy on South Island, but dozens of volunteers helped to try and get them back out to the open water out of the inlet, which is muddy and shallow. 
An alarm was called out at about 06.30 local time. 
This is the third mass stranding on the country's coast this summer; 125 pilot whales died in the two other beachings earlier, and another 43 were re-floated out to the ocean. 
"It's a very, very shallow bay in Port Levy, very muddy, so whether they were chasing food and got caught in the shallows, we don't know," remarked department community relations manager Grant Campbell to the Associated Press. 
"We thought everything was OK, we checked them in the boat and then we woke up this morning and saw a whole lot on the beach here." 
Campbell also commented that the whales were up to five metres (seventeen feet) long, and some of the calves were between a metre and a metre and a half (three to five feet) long. 
"We really just stood with them and as the tide came in and started floating, we were just able to push them out and away they went," said a local, Ted Haowden, as quoted by United Press International. 
Locals are expected to bury the dead whales this afternoon. 
According to Campbell, autopsies will be performed on two of the fifteen dead whales. 
Whales are frequently stranded on the beaches of New Zealand each summer, as they travel en route from Antarctica to breeding grounds. 
A 55-year-old unidentified male died Saturday after his silver Peugeot motor vehicle collided with a red and white articulated truck and tanker on the A15 road. 
According to the Humberside Police, the road traffic accident happened on the A15 near the small village of Hibaldstow, North Lincolnshire at approximately 0739 UTC on Saturday. 
Although the sole occupant of the Peugeot was fatally injured, the occupant of the lorry was uninjured. 
A spokesperson stated: "Officers would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the collision or the vehicles prior to the collision." 
An investigation has begun to try to establish whether the icy and snowy weather conditions were a factor in this collision. 
The police have commented that it is too early to know whether the weather conditions were a factor in this crash. 
Shinzo Abe took 66% of the vote in today's Liberal Democratic Party election for a leader to replace Junichiro Koizumi, whose term as party chief expired. 
The party, with a solid majority in the House of Representatives, is expected to elect Abe to be the next Prime Minister. 
Abe is a third-generation politician related to two former Prime Ministers. 
The election comes on the day before his 52nd birthday. 
He is expected to become the nation's first Prime Minister born after World War II. 
"The LDP has helped make Japan a democracy that has contributed to the world," Abe said after the vote. 
"I will demonstrate my leadership to preserve the flame of ideals, and put reforms forward as the first party leader from the postwar generation." 
A rather unimpressive Dublin side narrowly beat an even less impressive Westmeath side last night in front of a capacity (10,000) crowd at Dublin's Parnell Park to bag two points in the Allianz NFL Division 1A match. 
The first half included a succession of poor wides by Dublin's forwards, but Westmeath failed to capitalise on the mistakes of their opponents, finishing the half with just three points. 
The second half was a slightly better contest with a sudden burst of energy by the Westmeath forwards producing several points to bring the game back to level pegging at 0-8 to 0-8. 
However with several chances squandered and consistently poor passing, Westmeath fell two points behind in the final few minutes of the game. 
The European Union (EU) competitions commission has announced its decision to fine the Microsoft Corporation €899 million (US$1.35 billion), approximately 1/10th of the company's gross yearly earnings, for failing to comply with the 2004 antitrust order. 
It is the highest ever fine charged by the EU (also being the largest fine of its kind ever imposed upon a company), and the first time that the EU has fined a company because of non-compliance with an antitrust decision. 
The first decision in this antitrust case was given in 2004 citing that Microsoft withheld needed interoperability information from rival software companies which prevented them from making software compatible with Windows. 
Microsoft agreed to this, providing the information for royalty fees of 6.5% of the licensee's revenues for the product on grounds of innovation (specifically, 3.87% for the patent license and of 2.98% for the information license). 
The EU found these royalty fees unreasonable and Microsoft was ordered to lower them. 
Microsoft complied with this, adjusting the royalty rates to 1.2% (changing the rates for the licenses to 0.7% and 0.5%, respectively) in the European Union, while keeping the rate the same for the rest of the world. 
The EU still saw this as an unreasonable rate, and Microsoft, two month after lowering the rates, reduced the rates yet again to a flat rate of €10000 or a royalty of 0.4% applicable worldwide. 
Microsoft's royalty rates, which were deemed unreasonable for the period of 15 months between June 21, 2006 and October 21, 2007 are the cause for the fine. 
So far, the EU has fined Microsoft €1.68 billion in 3 separate fines in this case. 
This fine will go towards the European Union annual budget. 
The European Anti-trust commissioner Neelie Kroes stated that the fine was "reasonable and proportionate", as the figure could have gone up as high as €1.5 billion, the maximum that the EU commission can impose. 
She also said that it should act as "a signal to the outside world, and especially Microsoft, that they should stick to the rules" and that "Talk is cheap." 
Although she also expressed hope that "today's decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft's record of non-compliance with the Commission". 
There is no certainty whether Microsoft will appeal this decision, a Microsoft Spokesperson has stated that Microsoft will review this latest fine, citing that "The commission announced in October 2007 that Microsoft was in full compliance with the 2004 decision, so these fines are about the past issues that have been resolved." 
Microsoft's General Counsel Brad Smith commented "It's clearly very important to us as a company that we comply with our obligations under European law." 
"We'll study this decision carefully, and if there are additional steps that we need to take in order to comply with it, we will take them." 
Microsoft had appealed to fines by the EU before, but all the charges were defeated. 
If Microsoft does not appeal the decision, the company will have 3 month (starting February 27th) to pay the fine in full. 
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer stated that the company had news that the fine was pending. 
"We didn't know it was this week, but we knew it was coming at some point." 
This may not be the end of Microsoft's troubles with the European Union yet, as the commission is currently investigating two other complaints about the company's anti-competition practices. 
The decisions came after Microsoft announced they were disclosing 30,000 pages of previously secret software code last Thursday (February 21st). 
The EU competition commissioner's commented that this move "does not necessarily equal a change in business practice." 
Microsoft was set to launch three new products: Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 at its "Heroes Happen Here" event today. 
Microsoft shares slipped 12 cents to $28.26 on NASDAQ after news of the fine. 
The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum exhibit, Prix de West, opened yesterday and will exhibit 313 paintings and sculptures by contemporary western artists from Oklahoma. 
All exhibit pieces will remain on display until September 10 and will be available for sale at a fixed-price this weekend. 
The total value of the works on display is approximately $4.1 million. 
Today, during the exhibition's banquet, the museum is to present Bob Kuhn with their lifetime achievement award. 
Over 50 pieces of his work is being featured in a special exhibit at the museum. 
For more information, visit the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum website. 
In an industrial relations conference in Melbourne this week, Minister Kevin Andrews has released that the government's new industrial relations (IR) legislation is likely to be introduced sometime next week in the Australian lower house. 
The Senate employment committee will hold an inquiry into the legislation. 
According to Mr Andrews this inquiry will probably run for a week in the non-sitting period of parliament. 
He said the legislation would then be debated in the Senate in the last sitting weeks of the year. 
The new workplace reforms have evoked widespread controversy from both sides of the political spectrum. 
The Australian Council of Trade Unions launched TV advertisements to counter the government's new legislation. 
The 100 million dollar 'Work Choices' advertisements by the Australian Government has been criticised as a political use of taxpayers dollars. 
Prime Minister John Howard has contended that the new reforms are necessary to keep our economy competitive and update outdated laws. 
The opposition says a new class of working poor will be created in Australia under the planned IR changes. 
One proposed change will deny Centrelink welfare payments to anyone who refuses a job, no matter what the conditions. 
"For an individual the best form of welfare they can have is to have a job". 
"What we will end up with is people being forced onto inferior wages, inferior conditions and the great risk is that we end up with a working poor just as you find in the United States," 
Michael Raper, spokesperson for the National Welfare Rights Network says it is a severe penalty. 
"We've been trying to draw attention to the fact that any unemployed person will have to accept whatever conditions they're offered because if you reject a job offer you will lose Centrelink payments for eight weeks," he said. 
The University of Sydney has released a report card on the changes available. 
On Saturday, the French Constitutional Council announced its approval for a proposed law that would make it illegal for anybody other than professional journalists to videotape acts of violence. 
The law is, as the Associated Press dubs it, a "clumsy effort" to curb the urban youth activity known as happy slapping in which an act of violence, such as kicking a helpless victim, is filmed by the attacker's friends for entertainment purposes. 
The new law was tucked inside a much larger anti-crime bill put before the Council, and has been chastised for being "deliberately" vague and allowing the prosecution of non-guilty parties who simply videotape events of police brutality, urban riots or other violence. 
Under the new legislation, written by Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy, convicted "citizen journalists" could face up to five years in prison. 
Media freedom group Reporters Without Borders has called the act "dangerous", and warned that it can be used to target "regular citizens" who film acts of violence. 
The group has also attacked proposed French legislation that would designate certain media outlets as "government-approved sources of information", citing the dangers of censorship. 
The U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed on Wednsday the nomination of Dr. Michael Griffin to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), making him the 11th administrator of the US-based space agency. 
He takes office at a time when NASA is busy with preparations for the return to flight of the space shuttle Discovery, expected sometime during the launch window of May 15 through June 3, 2005. 
The presidential nominee Griffin was the head of the Applied Physics Laboratory's Space Department at Johns Hopkins University, a position he held almost a year. 
Prior to that, he was a chief engineer at NASA before coming over from service as Deputy for Technology at the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. 
Griffin was critical at times of U.S. priorities in space exploration by questioning its continued commitment to the International Space Station. 
Griffin, in testimony before the House Science Committee in 2004, outlined more ambitious plans for human exploration and settlement of the solar system in which he believes the United States should play a key role. 
In a statement during his April 12, 2005, confirmation hearing before the Senate Commerce Committee, Griffin said, "In the twenty-first century and beyond, for America to continue to be preeminent among nations, it is necessary for us also to be the preeminent spacefaring nation," with a spirit of discovery similar to the exploration of the New World by Columbus with the support of the Spanish crown. 
Griffin, 55, notably holds seven academic degrees from various institutions, including a bachelor's degree in physics; master's degrees in aerospace science, electrical engineering, applied physics, civil engineering and business administration; and a PhD in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Maryland. 
Lake effect snow has come early to parts of Western New York prompting a State of Emergency and a flood watch to be issued, especially in Buffalo, New York and its suburbs where nearly 2 feet of snow fell during the afternoon and last night. 
Snow started to fall at around 12:00 pm EST on Thursday, October 12, heavy at times, and accompanied by thunder and lightning. 
A driving ban has been issued for Tonawanda, New York, Buffalo and Amherst where at least "80% of roads in Amherst are impassible." 
The New York State Throughway, or interstate 90 is closed from nearly Rochester, New York to Dunkirk, New York which is nearly 110 miles long. 
Motorists at the Williamsville, New York toll barrier are being turned around. 
A driving ban remains in effect while a state of emergency exists. 
Water will be shut off in 24 hours due to the lack of electricity to water pumps in the area and in a press conference, Mayor of Buffalo, Byron Brown issued a "boil water advisory." 
Brown also said that "70,000 of the 75,000 residents and businesses in Amherst are still without power." 
Residents are asked to bottle water and prepare for the outage. 
It is not known when water will be turned back on. 
At least 3 people have been killed due to the storm. 
Two of those people were killed in a two-car accident in Lancaster, New York, and the other person was in Niagara County and died after being hit by a vehicle. 
One person was crushed and killed by a falling tree in Amherst, while in the process of removing snow from his property. 
Hundreds of trees have snapped in half as the snow began to fall around the city. 
Many trees, which still have their leaves, have broken into pieces as the heavy, wet snow began to pile up, as much as an inch an hour. 
Early on Thursday, the airport had received nearly 9 inches (23cm) of snow and climbing. 
The storm has caused many delays and cancellations in flights leaving from or going to Buffalo. 
Nearly 400,000 people in Buffalo and surrounding suburbs are still without power and forecasters at the NOAA are warning people "not to go outside in an area where heavy snow has fallen unless absolutely necessary." 
Power may not be restored to the affected areas until Sunday and possibly next week in some areas. 
Damage to trees is extensive with nearly every tree destroyed on Granger Place in Buffalo. 
"This was extremely heavy snow and most of the trees still have most of their leaves ... we can't do a complete damage assessment until the snow stops falling," said spokesman for Niagara Mohawk, Western New York's area power company, Steve Brady. 
"At 8 pm [on Thursday], utility companies were reporting over 50,000 customers without power." 
"The reason for the widespread power outages has been the combination of very heavy water laden snow accumulating on the trees that still have most of their leaves." 
"Tree's limbs break under the weight of the snow and bring down power lines as they fall," said a statement on NOAA's website. 
Many business and nearly every school in Western New York are still closed due to the weather and the snow is forecasted to move south again over the Buffalo Metropolitan area, but snow amounts are not expected to be significant. 
Wind is expected to be strong and gusty which could bring down tree limbs which are broken but still attached to the tree. 
Some areas could see an additional 6 inches of snow by Saturday morning. 
Iranian authorities have released five British yachtsmen who were detained last week in the Persian Gulf. 
A statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that, after investigation, it reached the conclusion that their illegal entry was a mistake. 
Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the release, and said the yachtsmen are being towed to international waters, and were expected to head to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 
Iranian naval forces detained the Britons on the 25th of November as they sailed from Bahrain to Dubai for a race. 
The chair of Sail Bahrain, Andrew Pindar, which owns the yacht, said the vessel "may have strayed inadvertently" into Iranian waters due to a problem with its propeller. 
State radio quoted a statement by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as saying that "after getting necessary guarantees, Iran released the five." 
"We reached the conclusion that they entered Iran’s territorial waters by mistake." 
The news comes hours after British Foreign Secretary David Miliband spoke to his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki by phone and pressed him for clear information on the incident. 
He said the incident has "nothing to do" with politics or Iran's nuclear program. 
The first thing to catch my eye when I approached what used to be a Texeco gas station, was a guy up in a man-lift beside the pump price sign. 
Seeing heavy equipment being used to change what I thought were the gas prices, I thought, "Gawds, these prices are getting out of hand!" 
After stopping in later and talking with the owner, I was impressed by how elated he was on the subject of bank processing fees. 
The man-lift I saw earlier is absent from the photograph I took. 
They had used the lift to change the pump price sign from Texaco to Shell. 
A 21-year-old Swedish man killed himself and broadcast it over the internet via his webcam feed Monday, after posting to a message board that he had swallowed some painkillers and was going to hang himself. 
At 11:51 a.m. Central European Summer Time (0951 UTC), Marcus Jannes, a student from Järna, Stockholm, posted to the Mental Health Problems forum of Sweden's Flashback message boards using the newly-registered username "LurifaxFlux", stating that he was going to hang himself, adding that he had already swallowed 100mg of dexofen and 1500mg of paracetamol. 
He said that he had set up a webcam to record the event, and would post details later of a FTP server for people to watch. 
Some offered messages of hope, such as, "How bad can it be? When everything is at its worst, it can only get better", and "Think of poor people, mutilated people, people who are lame or blind." 
"They can not change their lives! But you still have the ability to alter yours!" 
Others tried to keep him online by talking to him empathetically: "Is there anything that can make you change your mind?", "Tell me about yourself." 
However, other users posted messages saying they didn't believe him, wishing him luck with his attempt, and calling him an attention whore and a troll. 
They also goaded him by saying, "you won't dare, you are too cowardly", and offering advice on the best way to hang himself: "I recommend ... you do it from a height that you can jump off so you are guaranteed to break your neck." 
In a later post, Jannes said that he had been feeling suicidal for about six months, but was too scared to actually attempt anything until he tried to strangle himself with his own hands. 
In response to questions, he stated that he was using a network cable to strangle himself because he didn't have any rope, but he was worried that the cable would not be strong enough to take his weight. 
He also told them that he had Asperger syndrome and High-functioning autism, and was emotionally vulnerable and lacked normal social skills. 
He admitted to feeling lonely, and alluded to experiencing problems at school, but admitted that he had a good upbringing and had a rather good life. 
At around the same time, he also updated his Facebook status to say life was "just too difficult", and that he was going to kill himself. 
Scotland defeated Romania 42-0 in Pool C of the 2007 Rugby World Cup at Murrayfield, Edinburgh. 
Chris Paterson opened the scoring for Scotland in the second minute when he scored and converted a try. 
Romania, who rarely looked like scoring, missed a chance to score a few minutes later when Ionut Dimofte missed a penalty. 
Allister Hogg and Rory Lamont added a try each during the first half to extend Scotland's lead to 21-0 at the interval. 
In the second half Scotland continued to dominate and Allister Hogg scored two more tries to complete his hat-trick. 
Rory Lamont scored his second try towards the end of the match, and Scotland comfortably won without conceding a point. 
Scotland have won both games played and are second in Pool C with ten points, behind New Zealand on points difference. 
Romania have lost both their games and are fourth in the group with one point, behind Italy with four and Portugal with none. 
On July 18, 2005 CN Rail notified the CAW that they intend to cancel the CN-CAW previously Negotiated Health & Safety Plan. 
The CAW will be going to arbitration this fall to address the issue. 
The CAW has asked that employees notify their Health and Safety Rep about any safety concerns at the work place. 
CN Rail used to have part-time positions filled as well, but at this time there are no part-time employees to cover work if a full-time employee is absent. 
Overtime is necessary to keep the trains running on time. 
CN Rail expects the trains to go out on time, and in a safe condition, but staff is overworked, because there are not enough of them. 
In fact, one worker noticed that most of the rail cars that contained 40 foot overseas containers did not have their loading guides in place. 
Trains are not allowed to go out without these guides placed into the cars (the guides stop the loads from swaying from side to side in the cars), important for safety with double stacked containers, but it seems that in this case the lack of employees forced the train to leave without them. 
New Zealand Members of Parliament will receive thousands more after getting pay increases today. 
The pay rises for backbench MPs are between 3.8% and 4.1% which will mean a backbench MP will now earn around NZ$122,500. 
The pay rises are to counter inflation next year of about 2.5% which will result in MPs receiving more money. 
Other MPs with senior positions will get rises of between 4% and 8.1%. 
This year the Prime Minister's increase will be worth just over $14,000 - paying her $6,942 a week. 
Helen Clark, PM of New Zealand, received a 9.4 per cent rise last year, increasing her salary by nearly $30,000 to $347,000. 
The latest increase will see her salary rise to about $361,000. 
National's multimillionaire John Key has already secured a significant pay rise this week with his election to the leader's job and is on $216,000. 
The pay rise will be backdated to July 1, The New Zealand Herald reported today. 
Mr Key told The New Zealand Herald that he would donate a significant amount of his pay check to charitable organisations, as he has done since he first became an MP. 
Last year backbenchers got a 4.1% increase in their pay. 
Judges are also going to expect a pay rise next year of about 5%. 
Shin Corporation, the multi-billion baht telecom and IT giant, has lost its defamation suit against Supinya Klangnarong for her comments in an interview with the Thai Post in July 2003. 
In her interview Supinya, secretary general of the Campaign for Popular Media, had stated that Shin corporation gained revenue following the election of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the company's founder. 
As a result the corporation sued her and five of the Thai Post's executives for defamation. 
The court's finding that Supinya has a right to express her opinion, and that it did not defame Shin Corp. followed a number of attempts by the company to settle out of court or otherwise avoid a judgement. 
This judgement comes at an inopportune moment for the Prime Minister: his family's recent tax-free sale of their stake in Shin has acted as a catalyst for the protests calling for Thaksin to resign. 
The Australian government and the New South Wales State goverernment are going to fund the Forbes Global CEO Conference, to be held at the Sydney Opera House next week. 
The State government has said that the contract prevents it from revealing how much taxpayers money will be spent. 
A spokesman for the Deputy Premier, John Watkins, said that they could not divulge the costs "under the contract arrangements". 
A government source suggested to the Sydney Morning Herald that the state and federal governments are spending up to $1million each. 
The State government has been criticised for providing free police protection at the conference. 
Security will require 200 police a day, at an estimated cost of more than $500,000. 
According to the government, the large police presence is required because ASIO has assessed the event as "medium risk". 
A number of Global justice and peace groups have pledged to protest at the conference. 
The number of protestors is currerntly projected to be around 2,000. 
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced that 150 SAS personnel will be serving in Afghanistan within two months, and a further 200 troops will follow them by early next year. 
According to Mr Howard the decision is the result of a request from the United States and others. 
Opposition leader Kim Beazley has said that Labor supported the plan. 
Mr Beazley has been critical of the government in recent weeks because of its military focus on Iraq rather than Afghanistan, which he says is the source of the terrorist threat. 
Beazley offered that it has been "obvious for some time that the job was only partially completed when the commitment was made earlier." 
The commitment comes amid a resurgence of the Taliban and an increase in insurgency activities in Afghanistan. 
"The progress that has been made in the establishment of a legitimate government in Afghanistan has come under increasing attack and pressure from the Taliban - and some elements of al-Qaeda," Mr Howard said. 
The additional troop commitment has been welcomed by the Afghani government. 
Lutfullah Mashal, Afghanistan's Interior Ministry spokesman, said that assistance with security or reconstruction and development is always welcome, however he expressed disappointment that the deployment would only be for 12 months. 
Mr Howard has said that he does not like to make open ended commitments, and also stated that extra security would be needed for the APEC summit in 2007. 
"At the time of the APEC meeting and in the months leading up to it, the need in this country is for a heightened elite security capacity," he said. 
ABC News has obtained and released a transcript of a taped message from Osama Bin Laden. 
Osama bin Laden's first video in almost three years has surfaced but has mixed reviews in the Arab world. 
Al Qaeda supporters are enthused by the video coinciding with the 6th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, but other parts of the Muslim world seemed worried that the video may spawn new attacks creating more instability in the region than there already is. 
Jeb Bush, the former governor of Florida, announced his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate hopeful Mitt Romney yesterday. 
This follows Romney's win in the Illinois primary on Tuesday, where he beat Rick Santorum by 12 percentage points. 
In a statement, Bush argued that "now is the time for Republicans to unite behind Governor Romney and take our message of fiscal conservatism and job creation to all voters this fall". 
He also stated that he believed Romney to be "a leader who understands the economy, recognises more government regulation is not the answer, believes in entrepreneurial capitalism and works to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to succeed". 
Romney welcomed the endorsement and stated that it was a "key moment" in his campaign for the presidential candidacy: "Jeb Bush is synonymous with good government and with conservative policies that yield results." 
"He has long demonstrated an outstanding ability to bring people together." 
"I therefore take tremendous pride in having earned his endorsement." 
Fundraising figures have been released for February: Romney raised 12.5 million during the month, and spent $12.3 million on advertising. 
The next primary will take place in Louisiana on Saturday, followed by primaries on April 3 in Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia. 
In Wisconsin, Romney is reported to be spending $2 million on television adverts compared to Santorum's $50,000. 
New Jersey is considering a state-wide ban on Brazilian waxes, the removal of hair from the bikini area. 
Although genital waxing has never really been allowed in the state, the New Jersey Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling plans to propose a ban with more specific legal wording, in response to two women who reported being injured during a wax. 
The board will consider the proposal at their next meeting on April 14. 
If the measure passes, New Jersey may become the only US state to ban the practice outright. 
Although millions of Americans engage in bikini waxes, which generally cost between $50 and $60 per session, the practice comes with risks. 
Skin care experts say the hot wax can irritate delicate skin in the bikini area, and result in infections, ingrown hairs and rashes. 
Waxing on the face, neck, abdomen, legs and arms would continue to be permitted in the state under the proposed ban. 
Although New Jersey statutes have always banned bikini waxing, the laws were unclear and seldom enforced. 
As a result, many salons from around the state have offered bikini waxing for years. 
Many salon owners spoke out against the proposed ban, which they said would severely damage their business. 
"I really don't know if the state can stop it at this point," said Valentia Chistova, owner of the Monmouth County salon Brazil. 
"I know a lot of women who are really hooked." 
The Israeli ministry of tourism is reconsidering cutting ties with Christian televangelist Pat Robertson over the construction of a Christian heritage, pilgrimage and tourism site near the Sea of Galilee. 
The Christian Heritage Center which would stretch over 125 acres is placed where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus taught and lived in the Galilee region. 
Robertson was one of the people at the heart of the project which was supported by many other evangelicals who worked to raise $50 million (USD). 
Israeli tourism minister, Avraham Hirchson, and Robertson were just about to sign an agreement that the Israeli government would set aside land and infrastructure for the site, when Robertson made comments on his daily show, The 700 Club, claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stroke was "Divine retribution" for withdrawing from the Gaza Strip. 
Robertson said, "'This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, 'No, this is mine.'" 
Many evangelicals considered the withdrawal as retreating from biblical prophecy of Jewish sovereignty over the Holy Land. 
Robertson's comments earned him a harsh backlash from many different groups, including the White House and former Presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts. 
A spokesperson for Robertson said the comments were taken out of context. 
On Wednesday, Robertson sent a letter addressed to Sharon's son Omri apologizing for his comments. 
In the letter, Robertson said Sharon is "kind, gracious, and gentle man" who was "carrying an almost insurmountable burden of making decisions for his nation." 
The letter further added, "My concern for the future safety of your nation led me to make remarks which I can now view in retrospect as inappropriate and insensitive in light of a national grief." 
Robertson wrote, "I ask your forgiveness and the forgiveness of the people of Israel." 
According to the Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Israel accepts the apology. 
However, despite the apology by Robertson, it was doubtful that he would be brought back into the plan. 
Hirchson said on Wednesday that "Robertson's help was no longer welcome." 
Ironically, Robertson helped make television ministries what they are today, and the Heritiage Center would contain studios and satellite uplinks for live broadcasts. 
The groundbreaking for the project is slated to begin later in the year. 
A leaked draft of a report on instances of state repression during Mexico's "dirty war" has been called into question by top officials. 
Report author, Ignacio Carrillo, assigned to the task by President Fox, commented by saying, "He will have to render his report." 
"It will be placed in an open, public place," and "that will be there for history, but legally it's over." 
This being a reference to the fact that the Supreme Court has ruled that it is too late to prosecute possible offenders. 
Carrillo claims, however, that his report is similar to the recently leaked draft. 
He said, "It's not going to totally contradict the draft." 
The draft was published by a Mexican magazine, claiming that the public has a right to know. 
The basis for the report is recently declassified military documents from the years 1964 – 1982. 
Carrillo also claims that his work was hindered by resistance from the courts, bad resources, and people involved being unwilling to cooperate. 
The Dirty War refers to the use of state terrorism in Latin America in a period from the 1960s to the 1980s, usually targeted at groups opposed to the government (usually leftist groups). 
Much controversy exists in the region about what is to be done with alleged offenders in the Dirty War. 
Thai low-cost air carrier One-Two-Go Airlines has announced that it will be grounding all 16 of its aircraft immediately until September 15. 
The news comes as legal action against the airline and associated companies begins over the September crash of Flight 269, which killed 90 people, mostly foreigners. 
Udom Tantiprasongchai, founder of the airline, has said conditions were hard for airlines with fuel prices having doubled within a year. 
He says 70% of operating costs are taken up with fuel, and the airline has already raised fuel surcharges again by 100 baht to 850 baht per leg. 
"In this kind of environment, anyone can go (bankrupt) anytime," said Urdom, who declined to comment on the impact the present financial situation has had on his airline, saying only that they "are financially sustainable." 
He also said that the airline could return to service with ease if prices dropped, noting that, "if the situation improved with fuel prices being lowered and the profitability outlook was better, we could be airborne again." 
The airline began operations in 2003; it is a subsidiary of Orient Thai Airlines. 
Orient Thai, which will continue to operate as normal, recently opened Thailand's first freight-only airline, Orient Thai Cargo, with a pair of Boeing 747-200Fs bought from Japan Airlines. 
Urdon said that a major part of the problem is that eight of the company's aircraft are MD-11s, which consume large volumes of fuel. 
He also said that a collapse of a damage limitation scheme with rivals Nok Airlines and Thai AirAsia had affected his decision. 
The news comes as the first families of victims of Flight OG269 launch legal action against the airline, as well as parent airline Orient Thai and lessor Grandmax Group. 
Already confirmed to be involved in the action are Richard and Margaret Collins as well as Steve and Jean Jones, parents of Alex Collins, 22, and Bethan Jones, also 22, an unmarried Welsh couple who, a few days into a round-the-world trip, were among the 123 passengers on board. 
Alex was reported missing but quickly confirmed to have died, while Bethan died ten days after the accident with her family at her bedside, bringing the final death toll to 90. 
"We believe the air crash was completely avoidable and those responsible should be held to account." 
"While we accept that nothing can bring Alex and Bethan and the other people who lost their lives back, we are keen to make sure we prevent this from happening again," said the families in a joint statement. 
"We will be forcing One-Two-Go Airlines to prove in court that they are not a low cost, low safety airline," said James Healy-Pratt, head of aviation at Stewarts Law in London. 
He also said that the action will be brought before courts in the United States. 
Finnish symphonic power metal band, Nightwish, has announced details about their latest studio album, which will be the first to feature new Swedish lead vocalist Anette Olzon, who recently replaced Tarja Turunen. 
Among the details released is the name of the new album, which until now had been unrevealed. 
Nightwish have also released a full track listing for the album and revealed that as well as Eva, which has already been released, the song Amaranth will be released as a single. 
The album will debut in the band's native Finland on September 26 from record labels Spinefarm Records and distributed by Universal Music Group. 
It will be released in the US and the rest of Europe two days later, with the US label being Roadrunner Records and the European label being Nuclear Blast Records. 
Nuclear Blast will release Amaranth on August 24 and Spinefarm/Universal will release it on August 22. 
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) at least two earthquakes with a magnitude 7.2 and 5.1 have rocked the island of Vanuatu. 
The first 7.2 quake was recorded at 4:08 a.m., Thursday morning local time (UTC+11), 55 kilometers (35 miles) east, southeast of Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu with a depth of 144.8 km (90.0 miles). 
The second 5.1 quake was recorded at 47 km (29 miles) east, northeast of Santo (Luganville), Vanuatu with a depth of 149.3 km (92.8 miles) and it struck nearly one hour later at 5:07 a.m. 
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a tsunami bulletin for the first quake saying that "based on all available data a destructive Pacific-wide tsunami not expected," but that small waves could be expected locally near the quake's epicenter. 
So far there are no reports of injuries, deaths or damage, but the USGS reports that damage could be "moderate to heavy." 
"No reports of damage or casualties have been received at this time; however, this earthquake may have caused damage due to its location and size," said a statement by the USGS on its website. 
Dove soaps continues their North American "Campaign for Real Beauty" advertising with a television commercial that explores the alterations that can be done on models. 
From there, she is primped and plucked by hair and makeup artists, then tweaked on a Photoshop-like program. 
The photo-manipulation is then posted on a billboard for the fictional "Easel Foundation Makeup" brand. 
Two young, teenage girls walk past, glancing at the board. 
"No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted" ends the ad in text, "Every girl deserves to feel beautiful just the way she is." 
Dove runs the Dove Self-Esteem Fund as a part of their Campaign for Real Beauty. 
In the marketing campaign, Dove uses "real" women, instead of professional models, in an attempt to instill self-esteem in their customers. 
This continuing promotion, launched in 2004, was on the forefront of a current trend in Western culture to abandon the overly idealised images the media portrays of women. 
Recently some fashion capitals have mandated minimum body mass indexes for runway models. 
The top rated comedy in the United States and Canada is Ugly Betty, a series that stars an average girl coping at a fashion magazine. 
The series is based on Betty la Fea, an extremely popular Colombian telenovela, which has been reproduced internationally. 
Only two percent of women surveyed worldwide consider themselves beautiful, according to ABC Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts, whose program debuted the commercial this morning at 8:07 am EST. 
The ad is currently playing on the Campaign for Real Beauty's homepage. 
Australian officials have impounded 27 Indonesian boats and 240 crew off the country's north coast, in what it says is the biggest operation against illegal fishing so far. 
Fisheries Minister, Ian Macdonald, told the nation's ABC Radio that a number of boats caught fishing for shark fin and reef fish had been taken to Gove and Darwin. 
The nine-day joint navy, customs and army "Operation Clearwater" was continuing, and had taken months to plan. 
"I think all of the illegal vessels up there, because of their inter-vessel communication will now be aware that there is a major sting on by the Australian authorities and those that haven't been arrested, I think will be hightailing it back to Indonesian ports as we speak," said Senator MacDonald. 
Intelligence indicated what he called "organised transnational criminal activity", including some Asian connections beyond the Indonesian village ports where the vessels originated, but the activity was apparently limited to illegal fishing, and did not include smuggling. 
"We are talking about large-scale commercial operations rather than simply subsistence fishing," Macdonald said in a statement, indicating that fifteen of the boats were large vessels with ice for storage. 
Two boats each had one tonne of fish, and shark fin. 
Fishing by some Indonesian peoples has occurred legitimately in the area between the two nations for hundreds of years before European colonization. 
A 1906 Australian claim on as much as 80% of the waters has since been softened by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two governments, recognizing some traditional fishing rights. 
However analysts say the Australian government strategy is flawed, since it is based on the fishing technology employed, rather than catch numbers. 
At time of writing, it has not been ascertained whether the currently detained vessels were fishing in such "traditional" waters or not, or whether they were operated by crews who would have traditional fishing rights, if they had been in compliance with the MOU. 
Senator MacDonald told the ABC Radio programme AM that he expected in the case of those thought to have been fishing in Australian waters illegally, the captain and perhaps the senior fishing master would be charged, with other crew being immediately repatriated to Indonesia. 
As for the boats, "We're required by international law to offer them to bond them back to the owners, but as the crew are immediately repatriated the ability of the owners to get them back to Indonesia ... is fairly limited," the Senator explained. 
"I would expect that most of these boats apprehended in operation Clearwater will actually be forfeited to the crown and will be destroyed." 
The fishermen were expected to appear in court next week, reported Reuters news agency. 
An Indonesian fisherman was last week fined $A130,000, setting a new record, after his boat was caught off with over 100kg of dried reef fish, 300kg of fish on ice and 10kg of dried shark fin. 
The Northern Territory Fisheries Minister, Kon Vatskalis, on ABC Radio asked the Federal Government to commit the same level of resources permanently. 
"Provide the extra funding, provide the extra resources to the Navy and the Customs and then they will be able to stop the illegal boats, not only when they run an operation but every day, every week, every month," Mr Vatskalis told the ABC. 
An earthquake of magnitude 7.0 on the Richter scale has been reported as having struck the Pacific island of New Britain, the second island in the Papua and New Guinea group. 
The quake, which struck at 22:01 UTC yesterday evening, hit at a depth of approximately 54 kilometers (34 mi) according to the United States Geological Survey. 
According to a member of staff at the Port Moresby Geophysical Observatory, minor effects of the quake were felt there, more than South West of the epicenter. 
First reports from the area indicate that the Western parts of New Britain have no power or telecommunications. 
A report posted in the local language, Tok Pisin by Radio Australia's language service, gives the general location of the quake as Southeast of Madang, and there are no initial reports of any tsunami warnings, and no reports of damage or casualties at press time. 
A state of emergency was declared in Bahrain on Tuesday by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa as protests in the country escalated further, leaving at least two dead. 
The declaration was announced on state television, and "authorized the commander of Bahrain's defense forces to take all necessary measures to protect the safety of the country and its citizens." 
Further protests took place Tuesday in both the capitol of Manama and the nearby city of Sitra. 
Two people were reported to have died, one of whom was part of the Bahraini security force. 
These deaths come in addition to seven people killed since the protests began in February. 
Protesters have reportedly blocked all roads into the main financial center in the capitol, and number in the tens of thousands in Manama alone. 
Marches took place near the Saudi Arabian embassy, with protesters wearing masks as a defense against tear gas. 
According to a doctor near the fighting, there are "many, many casualties …" 
"People are coming in with bullet wounds and injuries caused by rubber bullets …" 
"We received one major case—a man whose skull had been split open by something." 
One protester said that security personnel "started attacking the villages and the towns." 
"If there is anybody in the road they will shoot them." 
"If there is nobody in the road they will enter the houses." 
The declaration comes one day after other Middle Eastern countries sent troops into Bahrain at the request of the Bahraini government. 
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, Shinzo Abe, has advised against using the Winny peer-to-peer software due to concerns over its interaction with viruses. 
One virus, Antinny (or Kintama (testicle)-virus) is believed responsible for uploading documents to the filesharing network without first obtaining user permission. 
This is believed to be the cause of virus-induced leaks from the police and Defense Agency. 
The Chief Cabinet Secretary stated in a press interview, "Unless each one bewares and takes counter measures, information leaks cannot be prevented." 
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Wednesday that an outbreak of viral hemorrhagic fever, caused by Marburg virus, in Angola has claimed the lives of 311 Angolans. 
The great majority of cases have originated in Uige Province. 
WHO estimates that 75% of the cases have occurred in children under the age of 5 years old. 
From the WHO: :'Marburg virus disease has no vaccine or curative treatment, and can be rapidly fatal.' 
In the present outbreak, most deaths have occurred between 3 to 7 days following the onset of symptoms.' 
Past outbreaks indicate that close contact with bodily fluids of infected people, as may occur in health care settings or during burial practices, increases the risk of infection.' 
This is the largest recorded outbreak of Marburg viral hemorrhagic fever in history. 
The risk to international travelers is low, according to the WHO, because the disease requires close personal contact to be transmitted. 
San Fernando, Chile — Ten students from the Liceo María Luisa Bombal of Rancagua, O'Higgins Region were detained by the local police yesterday. 
Following their release, the students told the media they were required to remove their clothes at the police station. 
The students, seven men and three women, took control of the building of the school early yesterday morning in response to the long delay in re-construction of the liceo, following the earthquake of 2010. 
At around 08:00 local time (1200 UTC), Leonardo Fuentes, general secretary of the Municipal Educational Corporation of Rancagua, authorized the police to clear out the students. 
Student leader Jennifer Olivares told Diario VI Región the police "stripped off [their] clothes" upon their arrival at the police station, Comisaría de Rancagua, something which Lieutenant Colonel of Carabineros Iván Guajardo did not deny. 
However, police stated the students will be charged by the public prosecutor with robbing food from the school. 
Ignacio Muñoz, former leader of the occupation of the Liceo María Luisa Bombal, told El Rancahuaso "the Mayor [Eduardo Soto] promised to begin the reconstruction works last summer, and it's August already and they don't even begin to take the debris outside". 
Education Regional Secretary (Seremi de Educación) Pedro Larraín said the government "does not share" such actions, "because they harm education". 
The Region of Libertador General Bernardo O'Higgins was one of the first in 2012 to resuscitate the previous year's student protests, more specifically at the Liceo Industrial de San Fernando, which was taken control by the students in late July, and which as of yesterday was still taken. 
The students of the Liceo Industrial were particularly affected, after the president of the school's centro de alumnos Guillermo Horta Farías was stabbed outside the educational establishment on July 31; his fellow schoolmates subsequently organized a march in his honour in Rancagua, on August 8. 
As of August 11, eight high schools have been taken control of by students, in response to the government's failure to satisfy the secondary and university students' requests. 
Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky has been sacked by President Alexander Lukashenko after a cabinet reshuffle following last week's disputed Presidential election. 
His successor is Mikhail Myasnikovich, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus back in the 1990s. 
Sidorsky was the Prime Minister of Belarus since July of 2003 when he was appointed by President Lukashenko. 
He is Belarus' longest serving Prime Minister, having served over seven years. 
Before that he was Deputy Prime Minister from 2001 to 2002. 
This comes a week after the Presidential election which saw the re-election of the incumbent Alexander Lukashenko who has ruled Belarus since the establishment of the office in 1994. 
Following the elections, an estimated 600 people were detained by the government, including 11 Russian nationals. 
Australian Prime Minister John Howard will visit Banda Aceh this afternoon. 
He will visit the hospital which reopened recently with the help of Australian and German military doctors, and also take a helicopter tour of tsunami-ravaged coastal areas. 
He will also hold talks with senior Indonesian ministers who are overseeing relief efforts. 
Australia has committed AUD$1 Billion in aid over five years to the tsunami recovery, it's largest ever foreign aid program. 
Exactly one year since the popular Suprnova BitTorrent link site went offline, its founder, Andrej Preston (known as "Sloncek" to the Internet community), has spoken out about what happened on his website. 
After twelve months of speculation amongst former users and many sites popping up to try and take its place, Preston says "it is time for everybody to know the truth and that it is time for me to stop pretending like nothing ever happened". 
According to Preston his nightmare began in November, 2004 when he received a phonecall from his ISP stating that Preston's servers had just been raided. 
Preston claims that at this time he had no communication from the police. 
After reading about himself in various Slovenian newspapers in early December, Preston decided to take his suprnova.org site offline. 
At the same time another project Preston was involved in eXeem was touted as being the biggest thing to happen to file sharing. 
Preston claims that a month or so after his site went offline his home was raided by the police at 6:30 in the morning. 
Preston was then called into the local police unit another month later for a hearing. 
Preston, on the advice of his lawyer decided he would not answer anything during the interview with the police. 
At the conclusion of the interview Preston was told that the matter would be handed over to the prosecutor. 
Preston recalls that on October 18, 2005 he received a notice to go to the post office and pick up another letter which he must sign for. 
Upon receiving the notice Preston says that he "became completely depressed and sad". 
Preston however was greeted with good news at the post office when he opened the letter and discovered that his matter had been dropped. 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Damascus-based chief Khaled Meshaal ofHamas arrived in Mecca, Saudi Arabia for negotiations in an attempt to end the fighting between Hamas and Fatah in the Gaza strip. 
Ever since the Hamas movement, which refuses to recognize Israel and stop attacks on Israel, won elections for the Palestinian parliament last year, there have been repeated clashes between the two groups. 
The result has been over 80 deaths. 
Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah called the talks in order to stop the violence and help both sides to come to an agreement and establish some sort of unity government. 
Hamas and Fatah officials said they hoped the leaders would come together for a meeting with King Abdullah later on Tuesday night. 
The leaders are expected to take a pilgrimage to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest site, before opening talks, which are expected to continue on Wednesday. 
The United States and the European Union have labelled Hamas a terrorist organization and have blocked financial aid until the movement recognizes Israel and agrees to uphold previous agreements with Israel signed by the Palestinian Authority. 
Senior Abbas aide, Azzam al-Ahmad, said the talks would aim to persuade Hamas to accept the program of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which would involve an implicit Hamas recognition of Israel that could end the aid blockade. 
If indeed such a government can be formed it will allow the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that were stopped in 2003. 
Previous attempts to negotiate an agreement between the two Palestinian groups have ended in cease- fire that have lasted only a short time. 
Rick DiPietro stopped 35 of 36 shots as the New York Islanders defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-1 Thursday night, snapping a three game losing streak and DiPietro's career high 31st win of the season. 
It was a frustrating game for the Penguins, as they were unable to convert 0 of 6 power play attempts. 
Colby Armstrong scored the game's first goal, assisted by Gary Roberts and Sergei Gonchar, to give the Penguins the early lead. 
After Armstrong scored, the Islanders' defense tightened, and would not give up another goal. 
Trent Hunter scored a goal on an Islanders power play 2:37 into the 2nd period, assisted by Miroslav Satan and Chris Campoli. 
Less than three minutes later, Jason Blake would notch his 36th of the year, beating Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. 
Blake's goal was assisted by Ryan Smith and Tom Poti. 
New York would seal the deal at 1:42 in the 3rd period when Viktor Kozlov scored his 22nd goal of the season, with Alexei Yashin and Miroslav Satan assisting on the play. 
SpaceX Corporation launched its Falcon I rocket today from Kwajalein Atoll. 
Liftoff occurred at 6:00 PM PDT, following two previous launch aborts this week. 
The first stage was completely successful, although there appeared to be some problems with the second stage. 
The sub-orbital flight reached an altitude of 300 km, and is on a traectory for re-entry. 
It was intended to go into orbit, but contact was lost before this could be accomplished 
This is the second launch for the low-cost SpaceX rocket, and the first successful launch for the company. 
The previous launch had a successful lift-off, but failed 35 seconds into the flight and crashed near to the launch pad due to a fuel leak in the engine. 
At some time before 11 AM, local time, a fire started in Bar Apache on the popular Phi Phi Island in Thailand. 
By eleven it had spread to neighbouring shops and restaurants along the main road. 
Since there is no fire brigade on Phi Phi, locals and tourists formed a bucket chain to help put out the fire. 
An eye witness, Simon Vestling, says there were over 300 people helping out with putting out the fire and tearing down buildings. 
To stop the fire from spreading to other nearby buildings, which are closely grouped together, they were forced to pull some of them down using nothing but man power. 
This managed to stop the fire from spreading to the rest of the island, but 10 buildings were still burnt down, mostly small shops and bars. 
Boats were brought over from local Krabi Island in case an evacuation was needed, but that was not the case. 
The cost of the damage is estimated to be Bt2million. 
Two Swedes sustained minor injuries from the smoke, but were treated with oxygen at a nearby dive center. 
The debate over whether Australians should be required to have a national identity card has been reignited following an announcement by Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock yesterday that a study will be conducted. 
The concept is not new, being first floated by Bob Hawke in 1986. 
The idea was abandoned after being defeated in the Australian Senate and due to strong criticism. 
The government cites terrorism and fraud protection as needs for a universal national identity system. 
The opposition remains neutral on the proposal, saying only that cost and privacy would be major issues. 
Defence Minister Robert Hill is cautious of such a plan, saying "I don't believe governments are entitled to any more information about you than is absolutely necessary". 
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which represents big business in Australia has voiced its opposition to the plan claiming the system could cost $750 per person to introduce, most of which would be borne by big business. 
Wikinews has learned that the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) website has been hacked and is suffering from an apparent Distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS). 
As of this report, the main IRIB website could be reached. 
Just after 6:00 p.m. (EDT) the site came back online with only a few connection issues. 
On further investigation, it was discovered that an individual or group claims responsibility for attacking the website on an Iranian internet forum. 
As part of the attack, at least one section of the IRIB website, an apparent user space, was replaced with what appears to be videos and images of protests within Iran. 
The page also contains the statement "hacked by the Iranian people." 
It was also discovered that citizens have set up internet channels on IRC in an attempt to disseminate proxy servers and addresses to bypass the blocking of the internet by the Iranian government. 
The Iranian government has blocked access to the Internet, or access to websites, in nearly all of Iran. 
A partial list of blocked websites includes Facebook, BBC, and several Iranian based websites. 
"We launched an operation to neutralise heavy weapons Gbagbo's special forces have been using against the civilian population for the last three months." 
"We destroyed them in four locations", said spokesman Hamadoun Toure in an email. 
In concert with the UN, France has deployed an additional 350 peacekeepers to compliment its 7,500 troops already in the country. 
It was also reported that the French were in control of the airport in Abidjan. 
The recent violence in Ivory Coast stems from Gbagbo's refusal to accept his loss in the recent presidential elections. 
He has stated that he will not transfer power to his successor Alassane Ouattara, the declared winner. 
Gbagbo's spokesman, Abdon George Bayeto, told the BBC the elections were rigged as an "international plot against the incumbent" and was going to continue fighting forces loyal to Ouattara. 
Lieutenant Jean-Marc Tago of the Ivory Coast army announced the return of General Phillippe Mangou. 
Although it has been reported that the general's family was being held hostage by Gbagbo forces, Tago claims this is untrue, saying, "The general is with us, and has always been with us." 
"Our plan is to defend the institutions of the republic against all its enemies, against the rebels, against the mercenaries, against the [United Nations] and all those who are attacking the institutions of the republic commanded by President Laurent Gbagbo." 
British foreign secretary William Hague said in a statement, "We call for an end to the violence, for defeated former president Gbagbo to step down, for all human rights abuses to be investigated, and for the International Criminal Court to investigate the crimes which appear to have taken place." 
The crisis has created a humanitarian problem as one million of Abidjan's four million people has been displaced. 
State officials in Queensland, Australia, have begun working on a draft protocol to use security cameras to record conversations in taxis. 
The new draft proposes to change a current policy which allows for cameras in taxis which do not record sound for privacy reasons, in the hope that audio recordings will make some investigations easier. 
The paper, which says audio recordings would "provide greater certainty with regard to investigations, particularly in situation of conflicting statements," is currently at the Transport and Main Roads department. 
The proposal also suggests extending the time taxi companies can keep recordings downloaded from security cameras from the current 30–35 days. 
The chairman of one taxi company said the proposed measure would increase the safety of his drivers. 
"In 2006 the government introduced the security cameras and most cabs now have GPS units," he said. 
"What we've got now is an improvement over having nothing at all and as a result there has been a fair improvement in the reduction of assaults on taxi drivers." 
Queensland Taxi Advisers Incorporated, a union of taxi operators, said they supported the introduction of audio recording because it would create "greater transparency and certainty in investigations where there were conflicting statements from drivers and passengers." 
To address privacy concerns, the paper proposes to add stickers to the entry points at the taxis. 
Scott Emerson, a spokesperson for the Liberal National Party of Queensland, objected to the measure on privacy grounds. 
"We need to know how these recordings are going to be used," he said. 
Michael Cope, the president of the Queensland Council of Civil Liberties said he opposed the measure because the recordings might be used by taxi companies in civil cases concerning driver complaints. 
"We're swapping from saying it's about safety to saying it's about setting fare disputes," he said. 
"We don't think that justifies collecting ... intensely personal information that audio recordings collect." 
Queensland's privacy commissioner Linda Matthews reacted said the recordings would be used for genuine law enforcement purposes. 
Annastacia Palaszczuk, Queensland's Transport Minister, said the ideas within the proposal would be heavily considered before being implemented. 
She said: "If people think it's a good idea then we go to full consultation." 
"I would be meeting with the privacy commissioner, I'd be meeting with the taxi industry, I'd be consulting with members of the public in a much more formal way." 
The animated series Family Guy returned to the FOX television network with a new episode Sunday for the first time since it was taken off the schedule three years ago. 
Although the show kept most of its audience that lead-in The Simpsons gave, FOX was still fourth out of five major broadcast networks in the half-hour, losing most notably to ABC's hit Desperate Housewives (UPN, the other major American broadcast network, does not air original programming on Sundays). 
However, the season premiere of Family Guy and the series debut of American Dad (which helped usher in what the network termed "The New FOX Sunday") helped bring FOX to the #2 spot out of five networks in the crucial 18 to 49 demographic, one of the most important to advertisers in the key May sweeps period. 
"Sweeps" occurs four times a year and helps networks and independent affiliates determine how much a fixed amount of time for commercial advertisement will cost (the higher the ratings, the more revenue for the networks selling the time to advertisers). 
On the whole, Family Guy averaged a 6.3 rating in the overnights as posted by Zap2It. 
While the overnight ratings are fairly accurate, the numbers are preliminary and are subject to minor change. 
One ratings point is equal to 1,096,000 households, as there are now 109,600,000 households in the United States with at least one television. 
This translates into a little more than 6.9 million households whose sets were tuned into Family Guy, as recorded by the sample of "Nielsen families," who record their viewing habits and contribute to the ratings process the US uses. 
The use of the word "share" in the article means that it is the rough percentage of viewers with their sets on at that hour tuning into a certain program. 
For example, nine percent of viewers in the United States with their televisions on at 9 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time were tuned to Family Guy. 
This only added up to a 9 household share for the hour, compared to an 11 share for Law & Order: Criminal Intent on NBC, a 14 share for a CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame movie of the week (traditionally only aired during the key sweeps periods), and a 23 share for the aforementioned Desperate Housewives. 
Averaged with the performance of American Dad, a cartoon produced by Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, FOX earned a mere 5.8 rating/9 share for the hour. 
The episode revolved around a big scheme Peter Griffin, the main character of the series, conjured. 
To give his wife Lois (who no longer finds him sexually attractive) a second honeymoon in order to "spice up" their love life, he pretends to be actor Mel Gibson so they can stay in a new luxury hotel for free. 
Peter stumbles upon a sequel to the film The Passion of the Christ, and vows to keep the movie from ever seeing the light of day. 
To get the movie back, Gibson kidnaps Lois and keeps her captive on top of Mount Rushmore, which leads to a scene in which the three battle on top of the monument, in a homage to the film North by Northwest. 
The London bomb suspect, Hussain Osman, also known as Hamdi Issac, has arrived in London and been arrested following his extradition from Italy. 
Allegedly involved in the second set of attacks on London in July, which targeted the city's public transport infrastructure, Osman was arrested in Rome by Italian police on July 29, just one week after the failed attacks. 
On September 13, a final appeal against extradition was rejected by an Italian court despite his lawyer's protests that he could not get a fair trial in the UK. 
Osman is accused of planting the failed bomb at Shepherd's Bush Underground station. 
His flight subsequent to the attack proved futile as phone records led police to Rome, and a raid on his brother's apartment, where he was captured. 
Pending his extradition, he was held at Rebibbia jail, Rome, a high-security facility on the outskirts of the city. 
He left the jail late on Thursday and the Ethiopian-born terror suspect flew out of Italy at 12pm local time, accompanied by officers from the Metropolitan police. 
Flying on a chartered private jet, Osman and his escort landed at RAF Northolt, where Osman was charged on arrival. 
He is expected to be put on trial at the Old Bailey in London, alongside the other suspects involved in the failed attacks. 
Bob Woolmer, Pakistan's cricket coach died at a university hospital in Kingston, Jamaica earlier today. 
Woolmer was found unconscious in his room at the Pegasus Hotel at 10:45 Sunday morning, only hours after Pakistan's Cricket World Cup exit at the hands of Ireland. 
After being found by hotel workers in his room, he was rushed to the emergency department at the University Hospital in Kingston, but doctors where not able to save him. 
Team spokesman Parvez Mir reported that when he was found "He had blood on him and there was vomit on the walls." 
Mir also told media that Woolmer suffered from a medical condition, but that it was too early to decide whether or not it had anything to do with his death. 
Woolmer played 19 Tests for England and was the coach for Warwickshire and South Africa before becoming coach for Pakistan in 2004. 
He was to remain coach until after the 2007 World Cup, and was tipped to replace Duncan Fletcher as the coach of England after his contract with the PCB expired. 
Croatia's ruling Democratic Union (HDZ) party expelled the former prime minister Ivo Sanader following his political comeback Sunday. 
The decision was made after a day-long intra-party meeting led by the party's president and current prime minister Jadranka Kosor, who accused him of trying to split the party and thus make a crisis in the government majority. 
Of twenty two members of the party presidency, 16 voted for expulsion, three were against (Luka Bebić, Mario Zubović and Damir Polančec) and two abstained (Bianca Matković and Petar Selem). 
Mr. Sanader declared he would be returning to a more active role in politics, stating that his decision to withdraw was a mistake, and that the HDZ is a "winning party and not a party that wins 12% of the vote", a remark made in connection with the first round of the presidential election held one week before, in which HDZ's candidate didn't score well. 
He was supported by a dozen HDZ MPs, including the president of the parliament, Bebić. 
Several of those MPs later disclaimed any association with Sanader and claimed they were misled. 
Sanader quit from his PM position in July last year, vowing to quit politics for good, also. 
He held the post since the 2003 parliamentary elections, and it was during his government that Croatia entered NATO. 
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced today that the HSK Kormoran has been located approximately 112 nautical miles off Steep Point Western Australia. 
Sonar imagery of the Kormoran shows the site consists of two main pieces at a depth of 2560 metres. 
A debris field 4 nautical miles south of the wreck believed to be the site of the battle. 
The Kormoran (HSK 8) was a German auxiliary cruiser of Kriegsmarine during World War II. 
On November 19, 1941, the Kormoran encountered the HMAS Sydney. 
The resulting battle saw the Sydney sunk with the loss of all 645 hands, the Kormoran was scuttled by the crew with the loss of 60, 320 survivors including three Chinese prisoners of war were rescued. 
The loss of the Sydney has been the subject of much controversy, speculation and conspiracy theory. 
There have been many searches for the two vessels, this latest search is by the "Finding Sydney Foundation". 
"Finding the Kormoran is one big step forward," said Prime Minister Rudd. 
"This is an important part in resolving a 65 year old puzzle." 
Warren Snowdon Minister for Defense Science and Personnel said that the Federal Republic of Germany has been advised of the discovery and that the site is to be protected. 
Finding Sydney Foundation Chairman Ted Graham says the search area for the Sydney can now be narrowed down to 300 nautical miles. 
"This gives us a cornerstone if you like, to start the search for the Sydney from," said Graham. 
"So if we hadn't found Kormoron it would have made it much more difficult" 
Friday marks the 50th anniversary of a mining disaster which occured in Lanarkshire, Scotland on September 18, 2009, killing 47 miners. 
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond MSP unveiled a bronze statue and a memorial garden in Moodiesburn on Sunday in front of a crowd of approximately 600. 
At roughly 0700 BST on September 18, 1959, 47 men who were working in Auchengeich Collery in North Lanarkshire, Scotland were overcome by smoke as they were walking down to start work. 
They were subsequently killed after being trapped by a fire in the mine which prevented them from escaping. 
At the time, a decision had been made to flood the pit after attempts to rescue the men failed. 
It transpired that the fire was caused by an electrical fault 1,000 ft below the surface. 
First Minister Salmond unveiled a memorial garden and a bronze statue which had been placed to mark the 50th anniversary of the incident. 
A religious service was carried out from Bishop Joseph Devine. 
Tom Clarke, MP for Chryston and Bellshill, also attended the event. 
Memorial committee chairman Daniel Taylor read out the names of the late 47 people while another person was playing bagpipes in the background. 
When the service came to a close, First Minister Salmond commented on the tragedy, saying "The tragedy at Auchengeich Colliery left barely a town, village or mining family in North Lanarkshire unaffected." 
"Fifty years on, the memories of the fateful day which claimed the lives of so many husbands, fathers, brothers and sons endure and I am honoured to pay tribute to them." 
"Scotland is fortunate enough to have been blessed with rich natural resources, from the abundant coal seams of the central belt to the oil and gas reserves off our shores and the emerging renewable energy sources we are just beginning to feel the benefits of." 
"But we should never forget the human cost which has come with that." 
"Just as the Piper Alpha tragedy more than two decades ago underlined the hazards of North Sea exploration, the Auchengeich disaster showed all too starkly the dangers and risks which miners all over Scotland took for granted as part of their job every time they descended the pits." 
"The excellent work of the people of North Lanarkshire and Auchengeich Miners' Welfare has provided this new memorial garden and magnificent bronze sculpture." 
"Together, they are a truly fitting tribute to those 47 brave men who died in Auchengeich half a century ago." 
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope made news this week when it was announced that the space observatory had, for the first time, captured enough light to detect molecules in the atmospheres of planets outside the solar system. 
The planets are too far away to be observed directly with current technology, but by measuring the spectra of each planet when visible with its star, and again when the planet was hidden behind its star, the teams were able to determine the measurements of the planets spectra. 
In a paper published in the February 22 issue of Nature, Dr. Jeremy Richardson of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center presented measurements of HD 209458 b, a hot, Jupiter-like planet located 153 light-years from Earth, in the constellation Pegasus. 
Richardson's team found a peak in the infrared spectra and was able to determine that the atmosphere of HD 209458 b likely consisted of clouds of silicate dust. 
Dr. Mark Swain of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory led another study of HD 209458 b, and found similar results. 
Another team, led by Dr. Carl Grillmair of Spitzer Science Center at Caltech, performed a similar study of HD 189733b, 63 light-years away, in the constellation Vulpecula. 
Dr. Grillmair discusses the results: “It was believed to be fairly straightforward that these planets would have a lot of water in them, for one thing, very hot water." 
"These planets, these hot Jupiters very, very close in to their parent stars are 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit or so, so it's not a pleasant place to live." 
"And what we found instead and what the other group found for this completely different planet around another star, is that the spectrum is essentially flat." 
"It really doesn't show any of the features we would have expected from water." 
"The theorists' heads were spinning when they saw the data," adds Dr. Richardson. 
"It is virtually impossible for water, in the form of vapor, to be absent from the planet, so it must be hidden, probably by the dusty cloud layer we detected in our spectrum." 
Dr. Grillmair: "The observations are showing us that things are not the way we expected them." 
"And so there'll be a big push to get a lot more data while Spitzer is still alive." 
"I think this will ultimately be one of the most important legacies of the Spitzer Space Telescope, unanticipated as it was before launch." 
"I think it will become extremely important in the future." 
The telescope was launched in August of 2003 with a maximum expected life cycle of 5 years. 
"With these new observations, we are refining the tools that we will one day need to find life elsewhere if it exists," said Swain. 
Dr. Swain's and Dr. Grillmair's studies are pending publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters. 
The South Carolina Democratic Party denied Stephen Colbert a place on the primary ballot Thursday. 
“The council really agonized over this because they really like him, they love his show, and everyone thinks it’s wonderful that he cares about us,” said Carol Fowler, the chairwoman of the state’s Democratic Party. 
According to their statement, Colbert did not meet two basic requirements: that he be a viable national candidate; and that he actively campaign for the state’s primary. 
"It's a distraction," said Waring Howe Jr., one of the executive council member who voted against Colbert, "and takes away from the seriousness of our primary here and takes attention from the serious candidates: Clinton, Edwards, Barack Obama and the rest." 
Colbert's Thursday night program centered around his campaign in South Carolina until a Democratic official called mid-show with the news of the council's rejection. 
Colbert had originally announced his intention to run as both a Republican and Democrat, but only filed for the Democratic. 
The Republican primary ballot application cost was $35,000, versus $2,500 for the Democratic application. 
The government passed a law on Friday ratifying Romania's accession treaty to the European Union, after the Treaty was signed in a ceremony in Luxembourg in April 25, which was attended by the heads of state of all 25 current EU member states. 
The government pointed out that, aside from ratification by Romania and Bulgaria, the two states which signed the accession treaty in April 25, the treaty must also be ratified by the 25 current member states who also signed the treaty in Luxembourg. 
The law passed by the Romanian government on Friday has been forwarded to the Parliament to be debated. 
It must be approved in a joint session of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with at least a two-thirds majority. 
Once the accession treaty is ratified by all 25 member states of the European Union, Romania and Bulgaria will become full members in January 1, 2007. 
On the 3rd day of the 2007 World Deaf Swimming Championships, the Men 1500m Freestyle, Women 800m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke, 200m Freestyle, 4x100m Medley Relay Groups finales took place during the afternoon and evening. 
Belarus deaf swimmer Natalia Deeva not only broke old "women 50m breaststroke record" established by her teammate Aksana Petrushenka on June 19, 2006 with 35.28 seconds at 50m Breaststroke heat session within 34.97 seconds, but also broke her record again at final session within 34.91 seconds. 
Besides of individual record, Natalia Deeva and Aksana Petrushenka also participated Women 4x100m Medley Relay Group Final, not only won the 1st place, but also broke former record established by Russian National Team on January 10, 2005 with 4 minute and 39.63 seconds at that group final within 4 minute and 38 seconds. 
With the three-times new world records written, that's exactly a "New Record Day" for Belarus. 
Even though heats and finales were still in process, but due to a torrential rain in Taiwan, the Award Ceremony of 3rd Matchday has been postponed to next matchday. 
Earlier today, the government of Chad set free three French journalists and four Spanish flight attendants, who had been held since October 25. 
Chadian authorities had been investigating the role of the seven and 14 other suspects with regard to an attempt to fly 103 African children to Europe for placement with host families. 
The release of the seven came as French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Chad to hold talks on the case with Chadian officials. 
The lawyer for the seven, Jean-Bernard Padare, told Reuters that the seven were free to collect their belongings from the courthouse. 
A French charity, Zoe's Ark, had arranged for the 103 children to be flown out of Chad in an attempt to rescue them from the humanitarian crisis created as a result of the neighbouring Darfur conflict. 
However, Chadian officials have since described the operation as "kidnapping" and "extortion", while the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees revealed that many of the children involved were not orphans. 
According to Radio France, Eric Breteau, the founder of Zoe's Ark charity, spoke at a pretrial hearing in N'Djamena, Chad and stated that the seven released Europeans had not been involved with the charity's plans. 
Ten other Europeans are still being held in Chad and are facing child abduction and fraud charges. 
The August Bank Holiday weekend, as usual, played host to many festivals and musical events around the UK, not least the Camel Rock Festival held at Porthcressa on the Isles of Scilly. 
Local bands included those formed at the Five Islands' School, the members of the Steamband under the temporary name Senile Shambles and the rhythm and blues band, Roadrunner. 
The event, deemed 'unique' in the local press, raises money for local musical projects on the islands. 
It's future is, as always, in doubt due to the amount of work for organisers and volunteers, especially for the clean-up operation. 
Organiser Paul Lewis hopes that the event will return next year as long as there are still volunteers. 
In response to the United States Department of State issuing its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, China has issued a contradictory report highlighting human rights abuses in the US, The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2004. 
For the past six years, the People's Republic of China has issued an annual statement on human rights in the US in response to the annual report on China. 
"Only the Chinese people themselves have the right to comment on the human rights situation in their own country," said Liu Jianchao, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry. 
The US State Department, beginning in 1977, issues annual country reviews of its perceptions of the rights records of individual nations, based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 
The current report for 2004, released on February 28, 2005, contains candid assessments and detailed criticism of the human rights records of 192 countries, including China. 
Amnesty International, the international 'watch-dog organization' for human rights, has however criticized this paper as being biased, because it is made by a government which itself is violating human rights on many sectors. 
Amnesty International's 2004 annual report on US human rights in 2003 agrees with many of these claims. 
Amnesty is also worried about: severe violations committed by the United States' army outside the countries' borders; the situation of the prisoners in Guantanamo Bay; United States' general misbehaviour against international peace; ill-treatment of US immigrants; ill-treatment and excessive use of force by the US law enforcement officials; the US citizens losing civil rights and liberties after the 9/11 attacks; and continued use of death penalty by the state, which is in direct breach with the 3rd article of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights (the right to life). 
Comment by Peter Edidin of The New York Times, characterized the Chinese report as "a frank indictment [that] draws a picture of America that approaches caricature. 
But that doesn't mean it won't buttress the negative image of the United States held by its critics around the world." 
This ongoing dispute does not capture the entire relationship of US and China on civil rights. 
Even as both sides trade accusations, the US on March 18, 2005, declined to table a resolution at the UN criticizing China, citing the ongoing improvements that are being made in that country. 
This is the second time in three years that the US has not submitted such a resolution, which in fact has never passed the UN when it was submitted before. 
Adam is a robot developed by Welsh Aberystwyth University researchers which combines artificial intelligence (AI), robotics and automation to independently conduct and analyse biological laboratory research. 
"What's new and exciting about Adam is [it is] the first time we've managed to show that a computer can not only think up new scientific ideas, but experimentally test them and decide whether they're true," said Ross King, a computer science professor and lead researcher at Aberystwyth University, "Adam makes up its own mind what to do. 
He says that for other lab experiments the hardware is already in place, the only step needed is to change the software. 
The artificial intelligence alone spans three computers which holds the databases and analytical software to enable Adam to think. 
For the yeast experiment, Adam was loaded with databases which hold known information relating to yeasts and organisms. 
Adam compared all fields in the database to find the areas of missing information from which he devised 20 hypotheses. 
Adam's AI is connected to robotic arms, sensors, incubators and cameras which enable Adam to start over 1,000 individual experiments every day and follow their progress over a week. 
A part of the process is that Adam's AI can cycle and analyze the results of the experiments as well doing routine repetitious lab work. 
Following Adam's testing, King's team manually tested three of Adam's hypotheses and found that the robot's conclusions were correct, and each was a breakthrough to the scientific community. 
William Melek, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Ontario's University of Waterloo, has noted that to set up the AI needed for subsequent experiments involving new biological variables and criteria, the human expertise would be time consuming to customize it. 
The usefulness would be limited therefore to the allotment of human input needed to set up Adam. 
David Waltz of Columbia University and Bruce Buchanan of the University of Pittsburgh say that "For the foreseeable future, the prospect of using automated systems as assistants holds vast promise as these assistants are becoming not only faster but much broader in their capabilities -- more knowledgeable, more creative, and more self-reflective," 
They note the potential of such lab assistants which may more efficiently process the research data. 
It was reported that Adam cost about $1million in production costs and this was weighed against the costs of hiring lab techs. 
King said, We made many mistakes and learned from Adam. 
Eve is the second AI computer under development by Professor King's research team. 
Eve's artificial intelligence will be enhanced to analyze compounds needed for medicinal drugs which may treat killer diseases such as malaria. 
The national football team of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been banned by FIFA, the sport's international governing body. 
The ban comes after the Bosnian Football Federation (NSBIH) rejected a demand from FIFA to change its three-man presidency to a single president. 
The change was rejected on Wednesday during an NSBIH meeting, causing FIFA and European football governing body UEFA to make the decision to suspend the federation. 
FIFA and UEFA said in a statement that "[t]he NSBIH representative and club teams are no longer entitled to take part in international competitions as of 1 April 2011 and until the aforementioned problem is solved. 
This also means that, as of 1 April 2011, no NSIBH official or representative may participate in any international match or event." 
The Bosnia and Herzegovina national team's manager, Safet Susic, spoke out against FIFA's ruling, blaming politics for the demand not being met. 
He said "[t]here is absolutely no chance that the NSBIH might find a way out of the present deadlock and get the job done. 
These people are incapable of running the NSBIH properly, although this situation is partly a result of political orders because Bosnia is an ethnically divided country where a dysfunctional system has now caught up with football. 
Denying the players a chance to perform on the big stage through no fault of their own is like sending innocent people to prison." 
Bosnia and Herzegovina are currently competing in the qualifying stage of the 2012 European championship. 
Bosnia are only five points behind group leaders France, and hold a game in hand over both Belarus and Albania. 
Unless FIFA's ruling is reversed, it seems unlikely that Bosnia's next game against Romania on June 3 will take place. 
As part of peace talks between and the , Israel released on Tuesday early in the morning 26 Palestinian prisoners imprisoned before the 1994 for murder or attempted murder of Israelis. 
As a prerequisite for the peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians led by the US, Israel committed in July to free 104 prisoners imprisoned before the Oslo accords. 
In this wave, the third out of four, Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners out of 'Ofer' prison in Israel. 
The prisoners, who had been in Israeli prison for 19–28 years, were released to the , to the , and to Jerusalem where enthusiastic crowds waited for them. 
The prisoners released to the West Bank in were welcomed by the president of the Palestinian National Authority, , at the presidential residence, and put flowers on Palestinian leader 's tomb. 
Abbas, speaking before thousands of people gathered for the prisoners' release, said, "We will not sign a final peace deal with Israel before all the prisoners are released". 
Israel confirmed the release on Saturday, but delayed it until Tuesday for an Israeli court appeal by victims' families to prevent it. 
The appeal filed by the 'Almagor' organization representing the Israeli victims' families was not accepted. 
Addressing the issue, the Israeli Prime Minister, , said at the meeting of his party, "Leadership is judged by the ability to implement decisions, difficult as they may be. 
Wildlife scientists confirmed on Thursday that a bird long thought extinct, the Ivory-billed woodpecker, has been found in Arkansas. 
The remarkable birds have a 30-inch wingspan and stand nearly 20 inches high. 
The birds inhabited a wide swath of American bottomlands and mountain pine forests until the latter part of the 1800s. 
They require a large feeding ground, and it is thought the expansion of towns and cities closed off their domain. 
Ornithologists say each mating pair of Ivory-billed woodpeckers needs three square miles of forest to survive. 
There were thought to be only 22 of them left in 1938. 
There have been several independent sightings of the bird in Arkansas over the last year, and even a videotape. 
In an effort to support the birds, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, The Nature Conservancy, and other groups have joined to form the Big Woods Conservation Partnership to conserve 200,000 acres of forest habitat and rivers in the area during the next 10 years. 
John Fitzpatrick, director of the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology told the Associated Press, "the bird captured on video is clearly an ivory-billed woodpecker. 
Amazingly, America may have another chance to protect the future of this spectacular bird and the awesome forests in which it lives." 
The story premiered Thursday in the online version of Science magazine. 
Spanish police believe they are close to capturing Aribert Heim, the 91-year-old known as "Dr. Death". 
Dr. Heim, described by The Times as "the most wanted Nazi still believed to be alive", is thought to be living in the town of Palafrugell in the Costa Brava area of Spain. 
Heim worked as a doctor in a number of Nazi Germany concentration camps (Mauthausen, Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald) carrying out a series of experiments on the camp's Jewish inmates. 
His experiments reportedly included operating on a patient without anaesthetic to see how much pain a human being could endure, and injecting petrol into the bloodstream, then timing how long it took for the victim to die. 
Hundreds of people are believed to have died as a result of these experiments. 
The Times reports that Heim led a normal civilian life after the end of the Second World War, but fled Germany in 1962, when the authorities were about to issue a warrant for his arrest. 
Nazi hunters, including researchers from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, have been looking for him ever since. 
The center's founder, Simon Wiesenthal, was himself active in pursuing Heim prior to his death last month. 
German police received a tip six weeks ago by an Israeli citizen who met a man in Ibiza with characteristics similar to Heim. 
Other evidence pointing the trail to Palafrugell involve banking transfers and tax filings. 
Customers of Vodafone 3G in New Zealand are now able to watch live video news bulletins on their mobiles. 
This service, offered in corporation with the Prime channel, part of the Sky News network, replaces a service just offering news clips. 
To access the live bulletin, a 3G handset is required and the phone needs to be in a 3G coverage area. 
At 5:30PM the Sky News streamed channel will automatically broadcast Prime's 'First at 5.30' show until 6PM. 
To watch the 'live!' mobile tv channels, customers must either pay a flat fee of $2.99 a week for unlimited access, or pay 99 cents for a one-off session lasting fifteen minutes. 
After 1,581 consecutive days (just shy of 4 years and 4 months), David Witthoft of Connecticut has stopped wearing his #4 Brett Favre jersey. 
The Ridgefield, Connecticut boy, 12, wore the No. 4 jersey every day after receiving it as a gift for Christmas in 2003. 
David's father, Chuck, said Monday that his son's last day wearing the jersey was April 23--his 12th birthday. 
Witthoft conceded his son was starting to become more concerned about his appearance after the jersey barely came down to his belt line. 
In 2007, Witthoft said he "would keep wearing it as long as [he] could get it over [his] head." 
His mother, Carolyn, had washed the jersey every other day and mended it when needed. 
Witthoft first gained national attention three years ago and attended his first Green Bay Packers game in December 2007 (a 34-13 Packers victory over the Detroit Lions). 
He's also planning to attend the September 8 game when the Packers retire Favre's No. 4 against the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football. 
Witthoft has considered sending the jersey to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. 
Charles Graner guilty of abusing prisoners at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison. 
Graner, 36, was described as the ringleader during his four-day trial before a military jury. 
He pleaded innocent to the five charges brought against him, but the ten person jury took five hours to find him guilty. 
During the trial, video and photographs taken inside the prison in November 2003 were presented to the court. 
The photographs were made public in early 2004 bringing the world's attention to the abuses going on in the prison. 
It is alleged that senior US defence officials knew of the abuse, including the Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld. 
Garner's defense maintained that he was acting under orders to 'soften up' detainees before interrogation. 
Local authorities in Chicago, Illinois, United States have asked that the FBI help in the murder and kidnap investigation of the relatives of singer and Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson. 
On Friday, Hudson's Mother Darnell Donerson, 57 and brother, Jason, 29, were shot and killed in the Southern Chicago home in what authorities are calling a domestic dispute. 
A cousin had found the bodies at around 2:44 p.m. (CDT) and called 9-1-1. 
Hudson's nephew, 7-year-old Julian King, was kidnapped from the scene and has not been seen since. 
An AMBER Alert was issued and police are looking for a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban or a teal-green Chrysler Concorde. 
King's mother, Julia Hudson, who was previously reported missing, is pleading for whoever has her son, to release him. 
"I don't care who you are, just let the baby go. 
I don't know what else to do but pray," said Hudson during a press conference on Saturday. 
The FBI was called in because authorities suspected King might have been taken over state lines. 
Police have detained and questioned several people, and some reports say that includes William Balfour, who police previous thought to have kidnapped King. 
Reports say he is Julia's ex-boyfriend, having since been separated. 
Police deny that he is a suspect in either the murders or kidnapping and will not confirm or deny if he is or was in custody. 
So far no charges have been filed against anyone for the crimes. 
The Argentinian federal judge Olga Arrabal ordered closure of public rebroadcasting station in Mendoza Province at request of Vila-Manzano Group, a monopolistic media conglomerate. 
The judge ordered the cessation of broadcasts by the local relay transmitter of Canal 7 television station in Mendoza's capital. 
The country's Media Secretary, Public Broadcasting System and Channel 7 will appeal the resolution of the Second Federal Court of Mendoza. 
"We are going to do everything necessary to defend the right to the information", said Rosario Lufrano, the executive director of Canal 7. 
In addition, she added that they would go to Mendoza all the times that be necessary, since they had done it with San Rafael, to achieve that all the citizens have free and free access to the unique national channel that has Argentina. 
In 2007, Channel 7 had installed new relay in the cities of Mar del Plata, Bariloche, Neuquén, Santa Rosa, Comodoro Rivadavia, San Rafael and Mendoza. 
Nevertheless, in San Rafael and Mendoza they had problems, due to the judicial presentations made by Vila-Manzano Group's companies. 
A Commission of Neighbors called for a day of mobilization for the next January 30 in the downtown of Mendoza, to repudiate the measure adopted by the judge. 
Seven people are dead after a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Western soldiers in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan on Tuesday. 
Security officials say the bomber drove his vehicle into the convoy on the Jalalabad road, which is notorious for being the scene of frequent attacks by the Taleban. 
"I saw wounded people and dead people everywhere," a shopkeeper named Sawad told the Reuters news agency. 
"I helped some people to ambulances, their clothes were covered in blood stains." 
Two Afghan staff from the United Nations are feared to be among the casualties from the attack. 
"I am shocked and greatly saddened to have learned that two of my staff members were among those killed in today's suicide bombing," said Kai Eide, the special representative for the UN. 
The violence comes before Thursday's presidential election, which militants have promised to disrupt. 
Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai has said the attacks wouldn't deter citizens from voting, who would cast their ballots "despite the efforts of the enemies and will show their opposition to their barbaric acts." 
American Major League Baseball relief pitcher Joba Chamberlain of the New York Yankees returned a call to his sister after an 8-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox Sunday night. 
After speaking with his sister who was in Lincoln, Nebraska, he was in tears and being consoled by manager Joe Girardi. 
Joba's father, Harlan Chamberlain, 55, collapsed at his home in Lincoln, and is currently at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center. 
Although the exact nature of his collapse is unknown, Harlan, a full-blooded Winnebago Native American, has struggled with post-polio syndrome since childhood. 
He has been known to be in declining health in recent years. 
Still, Harlan was in attendance at Yankee Stadium during the team's Opening Day series this year. 
He also drove down to Kansas City, only three hours away from Lincoln, when the Yankees visited the Kansas City Royals. 
He made the same trips last year when Joba made his much-anticipated Major League debut. 
Joba has been granted leave from the team to be with his father, and will not be with the Yankees at least during their two-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. 
Senior officials from nearly 50 countries and international organizations have gathered in Annapolis, Maryland near Washington, D.C. for a conference aimed at launching final-status peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. 
The meeting, the product of months of Middle East diplomacy by the Bush administration, is intended to reopen peace talks between the two sides for the first time in seven years. 
The conference, hosted by the United States Department of State, has been dubbed the Annapolis Conference. 
"Our purpose here in Annapolis is not to conclude an agreement. 
Rather, it is to launch negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians," said President George W. Bush at the first formal session of the conference. 
"The time is right, the cause is just, and with hard effort, I know they can succeed." 
Bush said that direct negotiations for a Palestinian state will begin December 12. 
"Such a state will provide Palestinians with the chance to lead lives of freedom, purpose and dignity," Bush said. 
He hopes a solution be found before he leaves office. 
As the summit got underway, thousands of people demonstrated in Gaza City. 
"Let them go to a thousand conferences, we say in the name of the Palestinian people that we did not authorise anyone to sign any agreement that harms our rights," said Mahmoud al-Zahar, a co-founder of Hamas. 
Mahmoud Abbas has no right to make concessions to the Israelis he said. 
"Abbas is a traitor" and "Death to Israel, death to America," the crowd chanted. 
The Prime Minster of Israel, Ehud Olmert said: "This time it's different because we are going to have lots of participants in what I hope will launch a serious process of negotiations between us and the Palestinians." 
Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority said: "We have a great deal of hope that this conference will produce... expanded negotiations over all permanent-status issues that would lead to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian people." 
Observers have noted that the summit has attracted the participation of Saudi Arabia and Syria—two Arab states that do not recognize Israel—and say that this is critical to chances for success. 
The conference began informally last night with a dinner hosted by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. 
"We've come together this week because we share a common goal: two democratic states—Israel and Palestine—living side by side in peace and security," Bush said in an address to the participants. 
Achieving this goal requires the commitment of the international community, including the United States," he continued. 
Indonesia has been angered by a decision of the European Union to leave all 51 of the nation's air carriers on the list of air carriers banned in the EU. 
State-owned flag carrier Garuda Indonesia had hoped to begin flights to Europe imminently and has ordered ten new jetliners to serve routes there and to the United States. 
Transport ministry spokesperson Bambang Ervan said "This seems like an unfair punishment for Indonesia. 
The EU is not a sovereign country and is not a member of the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organisation). 
But we do respect the EU and its decision, and demand the same from the EU." 
The ban was imposed after a string of accidents, of which the three most important were Adam Air Flight 574, a 102-fatality accident in which a Boeing 737-43Q plunged into the ocean after pilots distracted by instrument failure failed to maintain control, Adam Air Flight 172, in which another B737 snapped in half after a hard landing and Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, in which a third B737 attempted landing at extreme speed and overshot the runway, killing 21. 
Adam Air had also almost suffered a B737 crash the previous year, 2006, after a similar navigational instrument failure to that on Flight 574 caused the airliner to become lost for several hours, eventually performing an emergency landing hundreds of kilometres from its intended destination. 
Indonesia grounded the carrier in March after another accident in which a B737 overshot a runway. 
The carrier is also in severe financial difficulties and may soon be permanently shut down. 
Meanwhile, the pilot of Garuda 200 has been charged over the accident, sparking intense controversy. 
The EU reviewed the ban this week, but ruled that those responsible "have still to demonstrate that they have completed the corrective actions" needed to lift the ban. 
It is a blow to Indonesia, who had promised "fast-track" help to Garuda, Mandala Airlines, Premiair and Airfast to raise their safety to levels acceptable to the EU. 
Bai Yun, a Giant Panda, has given birth Friday at the San Diego Zoo, after two and a half hours in labor. 
After birth, the cub was immediately taken into the arms of its mother. 
Bai Yun has had three other cubs, Hua Mei, 1999, Mei Sheng, 2003, and Su Lin, 2005. 
The newborn cub's gender is not yet known - zookeepers want to avoid going close to the cub for a few days, and are watching on a closed-circuit camera. 
While Bai Yun has been relatively fertile in captivity, other animals have had difficulty mating. 
Since these pandas possess extremely low hormonal desires for sex, scientists in China have recently developed a method involving "panda porn" to induce the animals into mating. 
Bai Yun, however, seems to be getting along just fine, producing her previous two cubs with a male panda named Gao Gao. 
Dr. Ron Swaisgood, who helped deliver the newest cub, has said that “Gao Gao is a very proficient mater.” 
United States (U.S.) Senator Joe Lieberman is scheduled to speak at the Republican party convention, according to a member of the McCain campaign who wishes to remain anonymous. 
Lieberman, who was the Democratic vice presidential candidate in the 2000 presidential election, has been one of Republican party candidate, John McCain's, staunchest supporters. 
The official who informed the press of this announcement stated that Lieberman is slated to speak on the second day, a Monday, of the convention. 
There has been a lot of speculation in the past months that Lieberman would speak at the convention. 
In a interview with David Brody of CBN, Lieberman stated in response to the question about the possibility of him being at the convention that, "well, it's not clear yet but you might just see me there." 
Lieberman is currently in Georgia, with Senator Lindsey Graham; he responded when asked if he would be speaking at the convention that "it's quite possible, but I'll let them announce it." 
Lieberman has been recently considered a possible candidate for the Republican vice presidential seat. 
The convention will be held in St. Paul, Minnesota from September 1 through the 4th. 
He is currently a Independent Senator in Connecticut, who caucuses with the Democratic party. 
Lieberman was the Democratic vice presidential candidate back in 2000, when he ran with Al Gore. 
The European Court of Human Rights has awarded €2500 to Abu Qatada, an Islamic militant and cleric, in a lawsuit he filed against the United Kingdom which detained him without trial in 2002. 
Qatada, who is facing extradition to Jordan to serve a life sentence for terrorism charges, and 10 others were detained under Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001. 
This act allowed foreign nationals suspected of terrorism to be detained, before being repealed in 2004 due to its discriminatory nature. 
The ECHR's ruling determined the decision to detain Qatada under this law breached the 'right to liberty and security' secured in the European Convention of Human Rights. 
The British government claimed they believed the people detained were "a threat to our national security." 
Some British politicians also objected to paying compensation to people believed to be terrorists. 
Matthew Elliot, a lobbyist for the Taxpayers' Alliance, argued: "This man hates everything Britain stands for, so it is disgusting that ordinary taxpayers are now forced to pay him thousands of pounds." 
Chris Grayling, the shadow home secretary commented: "This decision will horrify most reasonable people in the UK … it makes a mockery of the concept of human rights if we can't protect ourselves against people who are out to destroy our society." 
Torture proliferates American headlines today: whether its use is defensible in certain contexts and the morality of the practice. 
Wikinews reporter David Shankbone was curious about torture in American popular culture. 
This is the first of a two part series examining the BDSM business. 
This interview focuses on the owners of a dungeon, what they charge, what the clients are like and how they handle their needs. 
When Shankbone rings the bell of "HC & Co." he has no idea what to expect. 
A BDSM (Bondage Discipline Sadism Masochism) dungeon is a legal enterprise in New York City, and there are more than a few businesses that cater to a clientèle that wants an enema, a spanking, to be dressed like a baby or to wear women's clothing. 
Shankbone went to find out what these businesses are like, who runs them, who works at them, and who frequents them. 
He spent three hours one night in what is considered one of the more upscale establishments in Manhattan, Rebecca's Hidden Chamber, where according to The Village Voice, "you can take your girlfriend or wife, and have them treated with respect—unless they hope to be treated with something other than respect!" 
When Shankbone arrived on the sixth floor of a midtown office building, the elevator opened up to a hallway where a smiling Rebecca greeted him. 
She is a beautiful forty-ish Long Island mother of three who is dressed in smart black pants and a black turtleneck that reaches up to her blond-streaked hair pulled back in a bushy ponytail. 
"Are you David Shankbone? We're so excited to meet you!" she says, and leads him down the hall to a living room area with a sofa, a television playing an action-thriller, an open supply cabinet stocked with enema kits, and her husband Bill sitting at the computer trying to find where the re-release of Blade Runner is playing at the local theater. 
Perhaps the most poignant moment came at the end of the night when Shankbone was waiting to be escorted out (to avoid running into a client). 
Rebecca came into the room and sat on the sofa. 
"You know, a lot of people out there would like to see me burn for what I do," she says. 
Rebecca is a woman who has faced challenges in her life, and dealt with them the best she could given her circumstances. 
She sees herself as providing a service to people who have needs, no matter how debauched the outside world deems them. 
They sat talking mutual challenges they have faced and politics (she's supporting Hillary); Rebecca reflected upon the irony that many of the people who supported the torture at Abu Ghraib would want her closed down. 
It was in this conversation that Shankbone saw that humanity can be found anywhere, including in places that appear on the surface to cater to the inhumanity some people in our society feel towards themselves, or others. 
"The best way to describe it," says Bill, "is if you had a kink, and you had a wife and you had two kids, and every time you had sex with your wife it just didn't hit the nail on the head. 
What would you do about it? 
How would you handle it? 
You might go through life feeling unfulfilled. 
Or you might say, 'No, my kink is I really need to dress in women's clothing.' 
We're not the evil devil out here, plucking people off the street, keeping them chained up for days on end." 
Below is David Shankbone's interview with Bill & Rebecca, owners of Rebecca's Hidden Chamber, a BDSM dungeon. 
The militant Islamist group Taliban attacked a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan last night. 
Seven people, including a U.S. citizen and a journalist from the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet were killed. 
Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre is staying at the hotel, but was unharmed. 
The terrorists attacked the five-star Serena hotel with AK-47 assault rifles, suicide vests, and grenades. 
The likely target was Mr. Gahr Støre and a Norwegian delegation, who evacuated into the cellar. 
U.S. military forced rushed to the scene, and managed to kill at least one of the attackers. 
Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid claimed responsibility shortly after the attack. 
White House press secretary Dana Perino described the attackers as “deliberate, patient people who will murder innocents”, and said that the attack “underscores the reason we have to stay on the offense against the extremists in places like Kabul but also in other places around the world.” 
The US Army Corps of Engineers decision to place restrictions on issuance of nationwide pollution permits has been upheld by a federal court. 
In National Association of Home Builders v. Army Corps of Engineers, the District Court for the District of Columbia found that the Corps of Engineers had not acted in an "arbitrary" or "capricious" manner in changing the terms and conditions for issuance of a national pollution permit, including reducing the size of area into which pollutants may be discharged from 10 acres to 1 acre, raising the threshold for requiring additional permits from 1 acre to 1/10 acre, 
A nationwide permit allows an organization to engage in certain industrial activities on a national basis (such as mining and construction), reducing the amount of paperwork and filings needed for otherwise minor environmental impacts, as opposed to an ordinary permit for a specific location which will engage in activities which generate water pollution. 
Due to concerns over the amount of discharge taking place in waterways, the Corps of Engineers began in the 1980s to reduce the authority granted by nationwide permits and to bar use of the permits in certain ecologically sensitive areas. 
Some industry groups, including the plaintiff in the above case, The National Association of Home Builders, sued the Corps of Engineers in 2000 over the change in an attempt to block its implementation. 
Environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, were given permission to intervene in the case in support of the actions of the Corps. 
Environmental groups were pleased with the decision, but are concerned over other actions of the Bush Administration, such as the attempts to weaken provisions of the 2002 Clean Water Act to allow additional dumping of construction and mining waste into waterways as fill material. 
The Iraqi government has demanded the immediate withdrawal of Turkish troops, saying the five-day incursion is threatening their otherwise friendly relations. 
Iraq's council of ministers says the Turkish military is violating Iraqi sovereignty by conducting the incursion into Kurdish areas of northern Iraq. 
Ali al-Dabbagh, the spokesman for the Iraqi government, says the government rejects the unilateral Turkish incursion because it is a threat to their good neighborly relations. 
The Turkish military crossed into Iraq to chase out Kurdish rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party. 
The rebels want autonomy for Kurds in Turkey and have used bases inside Iraq to launch attacks on Turkish forces. 
Al-Dabbagh acknowledged the threat posed to Turkey by the rebels and said the government stands ready for dialogue. 
About 20 percent of Turkish citizens are Kurds and in the southeast, bordering Iraq, they make up the majority. 
But Kurds in Turkey say their culture and language are oppressed. 
Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, president of the Iraqi Parliament, says they have asked Turkey to resolve the situation peacefully. 
He says the Turks should hold a referendum in south Turkey to give the Kurds the rights they want. 
Iraq's Shiite parliament ministers issued a statement rejecting the Turkish military operation and supporting calls for their immediate withdrawal. 
Elsewhere, a suicide bomber detonated in a bus near the northern city of Mosul, killing at least nine and wounding several others. 
Meanwhile, millions of Shiites in Iraq gathered in the southern Iraqi city of Karbala for Arbaeen, a major Shiite commemoration. 
Iraqi TV showed huge crowds of Shiites walking in procession, beating drums, and whipping and hitting themselves in ritual prostration. 
More than 60 Shiite pilgrims were killed while making their way to Karbala this week, most of them from a Sunday suicide bombing. 
On Monday, Google published on their blog that they are testing a new product named Google Base, in which users will be able to upload their own articles to a database. 
This allegedly will complement the current services offered by Google. 
Examples of contributions may include recipes, scientific findings, and other pieces of information one may wish to share. 
Several news agencies are reporting that Google Base will be used for classified ads. 
According to the Google Base website, which was made inaccessible to the public after a few hours, both were examples of entries you could post. 
Google Base is expected to be a major competitor of craigslist, which is partly owned by eBay. 
A massive earthquake, registering 7.0 on the moment magnitude scale, struck Haiti yesterday, destroying many buildings, disrupting communications, and burying an unknown number of people underneath rubble. 
Thousands of people are feared to have been killed by the tremors, which were felt as far away as Venezuela. 
Witnesses say bodies were lining the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, after the quake struck on Tuesday afternoon, sending a cloud of dust from falling buildings into the sky. 
The quake was centered about sixteen kilometers from the capital, and struck at a depth of just ten kilometers, exacerbating the damage. 
At least 27 aftershocks were also recorded, the strongest of which came in at 5.5 and 5.9 magnitude. 
A tsunami alert was initially issued following the tremor, but it was retracted shortly afterwards. 
Buildings across the capital have collapsed, including the presidential palace and the headquarters of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Haiti. 
However, the president, René Préval, and his wife reportedly survived the collapse of the building. 
The country's envoy to the United States believed damage costs could reach billions of dollars. 
UN peacekeeping chief Alain Le Roy said many people were in the UN building when it went down and they remain unaccounted for. 
A Brazilian military official later said four Brazilian soldiers who were part of the UN mission were killed. 
The Notre Dame of the Assumption Cathedral in Port-au-Prince was also destroyed, killing Joseph Serge Miot, the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince. 
In a statement released yesterday, the UN remarked that "[f]or the moment, a large number of personnel remain unaccounted for." 
India's has labelled honour killings a "slur on the nation," and warned the death penalty will await those found guilty of the crime. 
An independent study says each year an estimated 900 people are murdered in India for bringing dishonour to their families, usually by falling in love and marrying outside their caste or within their sub-caste. 
Honour killings, accepted as a cultural tradition in some parts of India, are normally punished with life imprisonment. 
But Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra have now called for a tougher stance, directing courts throughout India to use capital punishment in their sentencing. 
"It is time to stamp out these barbaric, feudal practices which are a slur on the nation. 
This is necessary as a deterrent for such outrageous, uncivilised behaviour. 
All persons who are planning to perpetrate honour killings should know that gallows await them," Justice Katju said. 
The crack-down came yesterday, as the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal to lessen the life imprisonment of Bhagwan Dass. 
The man strangled his married daughter to death with wire after discovering she was in an incestuous affair. 
The Supreme Court also condemned the traditional village councils who endorse these honour killings and order them to be carried out. 
A last minute deal reached Saturday dictates that about 1,000 Israeli settler greenhouses located in the Gaza strip will not be dismantled after Monday's pullout. 
Instead, they will remain standing and be placed in Palestinian control. 
The deal allows one of the Gaza strip's largest employers to remain intact. 
Greenhouses in the region currently employ more than 4,000 people. 
Mr. Wolfenson will purchase the greenhouses using funds amounting to US$14 million. 
He will proceed to turn the properties over to Palestine. 
Daniel Ayalon, Israeli ambassador to the United States, spoke optimistically of the greenhouse agreement. 
Said Mr. Ayalon, "As we leave Gaza, and some parts of the West Bank, we are not leaving scorched earth. 
On the contrary, we are leaving behind means for them to take over and immediately better their situation." 
In Gaza, the median age is 15 and about 80% of the population live in poverty. 
Iraq has defeated Australia 3-1 in their 2007 AFC Asian Cup Group A match at the Rajamangala Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand. 
Iraq took the lead after twenty-three minutes when midfielder Nashat Akram scored. 
He curled in a free kick from around thirty yards out, and Salih al Sadwn rushed towards Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. 
Al Sadwn's presence sufficiently distracted Schwarzer, who dived the wrong way. 
Two minutes after the break, Australia equalised through striker Mark Viduka. 
The Australian captain managed to head a curling cross by midfielder Brett Emerton back across Iraqi Noor Hassan's goal and into the top corner. 
However, Iraq scored twice to win the match, the former through a defensive error by Australia. 
Hawar Mulla Mohammed was played through with a lovely ball from a teammate, who had attracted the Australian central defence out-of-position. 
Mohammed slotted the ball home from 15 yards to re-take the lead. 
Iraq sealed the three Group A points when Karrar Jassim Mohammed scored in the eighty-sixth minute. 
He managed to get on the end of a deflected shot and calmly tap the ball into an empty net, after goalkeeper Schwarzer had dived to defend the initial shot. 
The win puts Iraq on equal-top of the group with hosts Thailand. 
If Iraq defeats or draws with Oman in their final Group A encounter, they will progress through to the quarter-final stage. 
Australia must defeat Thailand to remain any chance of progressing through to the next stage. 
In the event that Australia win (ie. are on four points) and Iraq win or draw (ie. are on seven or five points), Australia will progress through to the next stage on head-to-head rather than Thailand despite having a possibly-worse goal difference. 
Goal difference (goals for minus goals against) is only used to separate two teams if they drew in their head-to-head match in the group stage. 
If Iraq lose to Oman and Australia win, all four teams will end up on four points. 
It is unclear how the head-to-head rule will be applied by the AFC in this situation, and it is probable that goal difference will be used. 
In Group B, Japan defeated United Arab Emirates 3-1 at the My Dinh National Stadium, Hanoi, Vietnam. 
Defending champions Japan took the lead when Naohiro Takahara scored after twenty-two minutes. 
Takahara doubled their advantage five minutes later when he sent a lovely volley into the right-hand side of the net after twenty-seven minutes, leaving Emirates goalkeeper Majed Maqdemi stranded. 
Shunsuke Nakamura made it 3-0 before half time when he converted a penalty kick awarded to Japan on forty-two minutes. 
The Emirates scored a goal after sixty-six minutes through Saeed Alkas, but no comeback eventuated and the final score was 3-1 top Japan. 
It leaves Japan equal on top of the Group B table with Vietnam on two points, with the teams locked on four points each. 
The winner of the match will take top spot in the group. 
In the event that the Japan-Vietnam match is drawn, both teams have a goal difference of +2. 
However, Japan have scored one more goal than Vietnam, and will take top spot in the group on that basis. 
Qatar, the other team in Group B, must win against UAE and hope for a winner in the Japan-Vietnam match to progress, or else defeat the Emirates by three goals or more. 
Qatar drew both matches with Japan and Vietnam, meaning it will come down to goal difference if two sides are equal on four points. 
Ferrari's second driver, Rubens Barrichello, announced today that he will depart from Ferrari at the end of the season. 
Barrichello was with the team since 2000, won nine Grand Prix, helping win five constructor titles. 
Ferrari announced Felipe Massa, currently driving for Sauber, as Michael Schumacher's teammate for next season. 
"I am aware of the responsibility it places on me and I cannot wait to be part of a team like Ferrari, alongside the best driver in the world, Michael Schumacher," said Massa. 
Massa was Ferrari's test driver in 2003 season: "Now, I am in my third season as a Sauber driver and I can also count on a year's experience as a Ferrari test driver, an experience which helped me to grow a great deal." 
Kenneth Thomson, Canada's richest man and the 9th wealthiest person in the world according to Forbes's 2005 ranking, died Monday morning at his office in Toronto. 
The cause of death is reported to be a heart attack. 
He was the former Thomson Corp. chairman and the company's controlling shareholder. 
He made most of his money by making his father's trans-Atlantic newspaper (The Globe and Mail) into one of the world's leading resources for electronic information and data. 
Mr. Thomson is survived by his wife, Marilyn; three sons, David, who succeeded him as chairman of Thomson in 2002, Peter and Taylor; and a sister, Audrey Campbell. 
A memorial service will be held on a date that has yet to be announced. 
Documents leaked on Wikileaks and seen by Wikinews have revealed that Cuba signed a confidential deal with Venezuela to ensure that Cuba gets access to a high speed internet connection by 2010. 
The document stated, in Spanish, that the countries aim to "build and operate a line of fiber optic cables between Venezuela and Cuba." 
Julian Assange, an investigative editor on Wikileaks, claimed that the information in the documents "adds weight to Cuban statements that the United States economic embargo of the island has forced it to rely on slow and expensive satellite links for Internet connectivity." 
The document then says that cable will "extend between two terminals located at the coast of both countries." 
Information week has reported that the cable is expected to cost several million US dollars. 
They base this on a fact that a cable between Cuba and Florida, which is a much shorter distance than between Cuba and Venezuela, would cost half a million dollars. 
The US government has prevented the building of the Florida cable. 
"Normal" in the 2007 Ironman Triathlon World Championship was only the fact the sun rose in the east, as shortly past the swim start the day brought forth a hot and cloudless Hawaiian sky; injuries and illnesses to many; DNFs for two years worth of defending champions; and a first-time winner. 
Australian Chris McCormack, placing 2nd in 2006, passed Aussie Craig Alexander in the marathon and further scorched the Queen Kaahumanu Kaʻahumanu Highway with a 2:42:02 run to claim the world title in 8:15:34. 
In even more excitement, rookie (her first Ironman length race was seven weeks ago in Korea) Chrissie Wellington, from Great Britain, claimed the women's title finished in 9:08:45. 
The 6:45 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time start to the 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile time-trial, and a 26.2 mile marathon saw a cascade of unfortunates to favorites. 
Defending 2006 champions Normann Stadler and Michellie Jones and 2005 champion Faris Al-Sultan were struck down with stomach ailments; six-time winner and 2005 champion Natascha Badmann totaled her bike after crashing into road cone; and Luke Bell was sidelined with a leg injury. 
But a sense of "normal" returned later in the day as the temperature and winds rose and as many of the 1,788 starters completed before the October 14, 2007 12:00am deadline. 
The Iraq Inquiry in London has revealed that United Kingdom justice secretary Jack Straw ignored the advice of Sir Michael Wood, the Foreign Office's most senior legal adviser until his resignation in 2006, that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was illegal under international law. 
This is the first time that Wood has publicly expressed an opinion on the war. 
Wood advised Straw, then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, that invading Iraq without the backing of the United Nations Security Council in the form of a specific mandate—which the resolution the government used to support the war lacked—would "amount to the crime of aggression", to which Straw responded that he was being "dogmatic and international law was pretty vague". 
Wood disputes this, saying, "Obviously there are some areas of international law that can be quite uncertain. 
This, however, turned exclusively on the interpretation of a specific text and it is one on which I think that international law was pretty clear." 
He says that it was unprecedented for the government to ignore his advice, and told the inquiry that he "considered that the use of force against Iraq in March 2003 was contrary to international law," since the Security Council had not met to approve the use of force, nor to agree that Iraq was committing a "material breach" of existing disarmament resolutions. 
He believed that regime change was the reason for the British interest in the nation, and that it was not a valid reason for war. 
He told the inquiry, "I made it clear that, in my view, the draft that they were working toward did not authorize the use of force without a further decision of the Security Council". 
Recently declassified letters prove that Wood raised these concerns directly with Jack Straw. 
In one of these letters, dated January 24, 2003, Wood said that the "UK cannot lawfully use force in Iraq in ensuring compliance" with UN resolutions (including resolution 1441, which gave Saddam Hussein a "final opportunity" to comply with the UN's mandates on weapons of mass destruction by November 2002). 
In his reply, Straw "noted", but "did not accept" Wood's advice. 
Straw said he was "as committed as anyone to international law and its obligations". 
In this case, the issue is an arguable one, capable of honestly and reasonably held differences of view." 
He said he wanted a new UN resolution "for political reasons", but said that there was a "strong case" that existing resolutions would "provide a sufficient basis in international law to justify military action". 
Instead of following Wood's advice, government ministers used the advice of Lord Goldsmith, who was then the Attorney General for England and Wales. 
Goldsmith—who is scheduled to appear before the Inquiry this Wednesday—advised Straw that a second UN resolution would not be required to invade, based on a series of UN resolutions reaching back to the end of the Gulf War, despite having told the prime minister—only then days before—to wait for another UN resolution, the passing of which they had pushed other Security Council members for in the weeks running up to the invasion. 
Wood makes it clear, however, that the final decision regarding the legality of war lay with the Attorney General, rather than with himself. 
The inquiry, chaired by Sir John Chilcot, was told that there were concerns about how the decision was made among the Foreign Office's senior legal advisors. 
Elizabeth Wilmshurst, then Deputy Legal Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, resigned in protest only days before the invasion. 
She criticised the decision-making process for its lack of transparency, and called it "lamentable". 
She also called the fact that Goldsmith gave his opinion only days before the invasion "extraordinary". 
Wood said that Straw had "often been advised things were unlawful and gone ahead anyway and won in the courts" when he was home secretary. 
Last week, Straw—when questioned by the inquiry—called the decision to support the war a "profoundly difficult political and moral dilemma", and said it was the "most difficult" decision of his entire career. 
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey called Wood's statement "the final nail in the coffin of the case for a legal war." 
He asks if the advice reached then prime minister Tony Blair or Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, "And if not, why not?" 
Wood's statement is expected to cause problems for Tony Blair when he appears before the inquiry on Friday. 
The war has provoked protests, and much outrage among politicians who believe that Blair was wrong to support then United States President George W. Bush by sending 45,000 British soldiers—179 of whom died in combat—to fight in Iraq. 
The Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair, is due to appear before the inquiry on Friday, and Gordon Brown, the current prime minister, is scheduled before the general election (which is expected to occur in May). 
Brown said yesterday that he "think[s] the mistake in the war was not to do the reconstruction and plan it in the way that was necessary so that Iraq could recover quickly after Saddam Hussein fell," and is expected to come under fire from the inquiry, which he himself set up, for his role in the war. 
]After holding an emergency meeting, the World Health Organisation (WHO) officially declared a worldwide swine flu pandemic on Thursday. 
The agency increased its pandemic alert level to the sixth level, its highest. 
"On the basis of available evidence, and these expert assessments of the evidence, the scientific criteria for an influenza pandemic have been met. 
I have therefore decided to raise the level of influenza pandemic alert from phase 5 to phase 6," said the the WHO's director Margaret Chan in a press conference earlier today. 
According to Reuters, Chan earlier sent out a letter to WHO staff saying, "With today's announcement, WHO moves from an emergency to a longer-term response. 
Based on past experience, this pandemic will be with us for some months, if not years, to come." 
Chan, however, stressed the move does not indicate that the influenza has become more deadly or severe. 
"Moving to pandemic phase six does not imply we will see increases in deaths or serious cases," she said. 
The WHO says that many of the severe cases of the virus are reported in people with prior chronic illnesses. 
Of those infected, the WHO says the majority are aged from 30 to 50 years old. 
Currently, the WHO's official tally says there were almost thirty thousand confirmed cases of the H1N1 virus so far, with about 141 fatalities from the disease. 
Numerous smuggled artifacts were found at an Austrian tour guide's home. 
Five Italians were arrested and twenty-eight others are now being investigated. 
The Austrian, known as "Mozart" in the art trafficking world, received a citation for his involvement. 
Police claim that some 600 artifacts, which had been illegally excavated, were found. 
Most ranged from 8th century BCE to the 5th century CE. 
Many of the items were gold and silver, along with ceramics. 
One item, a cup, has been valued at several thousand Euros. 
The artifacts were plundered from an archaeological site near Rome by "Mozart" using his tour guide credentials. 
Italian authorities expect that the plundered artifacts will finally be displayed in Italian museums. 
A compound in the common daisy-like plant feverfew kills human leukemia stem cells and could form the basis for newer, more effective drugs for the disease. 
American researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York say that it could take months to develop a useable drug from the compound, parthenolide. 
However, they are working to do so with chemists at the University of Kentucky who have identified a water-soluble molecule with the same properties. 
The US National Cancer Institute has also accepted the work into its rapid access program, which aims to speed experimental drugs into human clinical trials. 
"This research is a very important step in setting the stage for future development of a new therapy for leukemia," says Rochester researcher Craig Jordan. 
"We have proof that we can kill leukemia stem cells with this type of agent, and that is good news." 
Parthenolide appears to target the roots of myeloid leukemia, stem cells, while current treatments including the relatively new drug Gleevec don't. 
So, "You're pulling the weed without getting to the root," says Jordan. 
Used for centuries to fight fevers, inflammation and arthritis, feverfew earned interest from the Rochester researchers after other scientists showed that it could prevent skin cancer in animal models. 
So the researchers investigated how a concentrated form of the plant component parthenolide would affect leukemia cells and normal cells. 
Comparing the impact of parthenolide to the common chemotherapy drug cytarabine, they found that parthenolide selectively killed leukemia cells while sparing normal cells better. 
While the findings suggest that parthenolide is a good starting point for new drugs, people with leukemia aren't being encouraged to take high doses of feverfew as they could not take enough of the remedy to halt the disease. 
On Monday, Russian troops advanced roughly 25 miles into Georgia. 
The Interior Ministry of Georgia said that Russian units had moved from the self-declared republic of Abkhazia, to the town of Senaki, within Georgian territory. 
The Russian Defence department has stated that the push into Georgian territory was necessary because of the continued attacks by the Georgian troops in South Ossetia. 
A spokesman from the Georgian Interior ministry said that Russian units had also taken control of the town of Zugdidi. 
Dmitry Medvedev, the President of Russia, stated that "the enforced detention of Russian citizens in Georgia is an unacceptable situation and in complete violation of international law," according to a press release published by the Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
On August 11th, the Russian Defence Ministry announced that troops are leaving the military base in Senaki, and preparing to head back to Abkhazia. 
Georgian sources confirmed the announcement, stating that the base had been destroyed. 
According to Russian officials, Russia has no intention of occupying territory beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia. 
Both the town of Senaki and Zugdidi lie in Georgia proper, outside the "security zone" around the region of Abkhazia. 
The border has been maintained by Russian forces since the 1990s. 
There has been increasing pressure by foreign powers for a ceasefire in the South Ossetian conflict. 
Mikhail Saakashvili, the President of Georgia signed a European Union supported ceasefire, but it was not accepted by Russia. 
According to Reuters, Georgian troops did not observe the cease fire, since six helicopters bombed Tskhinvali on August 11. 
The crisis broke out after days of fighting between Georgian forces and Ossetian separatist units. 
On August 7, Georgian troops launched an offensive against Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia region. 
The next day Russian forces entered the territory of Georgia and bombed several targets in the country. 
On August 10th, Russian Black Sea Fleet began a naval blockade of Georgian port of Poti and landed several thousand Russian troops in Abkhazia in western Georgia. 
Ukraine threatened to bar Russian warships dispatched to the Abkhazian coast from returning to their Ukrainian base of Sevastopol if they engage in any military action. 
Robert Mugabe, president of the Republic of Zimbabwe bitterly slated opposition and the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe's former colonial ruler, in a speech he made earlier today. 
This is his first speech after the recent disputed elections in which Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won the parliamentary voting. 
However announcement of an overall victory for the MDC has come to a standstill as results from 23 out of the 210 constituencies are still being recounted. 
Mr. Mugabe asked his 15,000 strong audience to "maintain utmost vigilance in the face of vicious British machinations and the machinations of our other detractors, who are allies of Britain" while speaking at the Gwanzura Stadium in Zimbabwe's capital city of Harare. 
The audience wore shirts adorned with Mugabe portraits and waved banners reading "Defending our land from imperialists" and "Zimbabwe has no place for sell-outs" in support of Zanu-PF policies. 
"Down with the British" was chanted, Mr. Mugabe saying the British are "like thieves fronting their lackeys among us, which they pay to confuse our people". 
"We, not the British, established democracy based on one person, one vote - democracy which rejected racial or gender discrimination and upheld human rights and religious freedom," he said in response to the international criticism he has lately received, especially from Gordon Brown. 
The speech was made in a celebration of 28 years since the day of Zimbabwean independence, which Mr. Mugabe called the day on which his nation "finally shook off the chains of British racist settler colonialism". 
With fifty days left to until the start of the 2012 Summer Paralympics, the Australian Paralympic Committee earlier today announced the 35-member final swimming Paralympic squad bound for the London Games. 
New South Wales swimmers are well represented with Michael Anderson of Repton, Tim Antalfy of Georges Hall, Michael Auprince of Peakhurst, Blake Cochrane of Scarborough, Taylor Corry of Anna Bay, Maddison Elliott of Gillieston Heights, Jacqueline Freney of Skinners Head, Amanda Fowler of Blaxland, Mitchell Kilduff of Carlton, Kara Leo of Penrith, Matthew Levy of Northbridge, Andrew Pasterfield of Castle Hill, Katrina Porter of Newtown, Aaron Rhind of Yass, Sarah Rose of Pymble, Sean Russo of Revesby, Teigan Van Roosmalen of Bateau Bay, Reagan Wickens of Grays Point and Annabelle Williams of Cheltenham being named. 
Five Queensland swimmers have earned spots to London, including Kayla Clarke of Silkstone, Daniel Fox of Cleveland, Brenden Hall of Petrie, Grant Patterson of Cairns and Rick Pendleton of Sippy Downs. 
Only four Victorians booked a trip to London, including Matthew Haanappel of Croydon Hills, Tanya Huebner of Hampton, Ahmed Kelly of North Melbourne and Prue Watt of Hawthorn East. 
South Australia qualified three swimmers, including Matthew Cowdrey of Seaton, Jay Dohnt of Ferrydon Park and Esther Overton of Enfield. 
Western Australia and the Australian Capital Territory are each sending two swimmers, with Katherine Downie of Quinns Rocks and Jeremy McClure of Mount Pleasant representing Western Australia and Ellie Cole of Bruce and Richard Eliason of Flynn representing the Australian Capital Territory. 
Tasmania and the Northern Territory did not qualify any swimmers. 
The team will travel to London for a training camp on August 10 ahead of the August 29 start of the Games. 
Ten suspected terrorists were arrested in three different parts of Britain. 
In the Croydon section of south London three men were arrested. 
In Wolverhampton four were arrested in a series of dawn raids at three addresses and three in Derby, Scotland Yard said. 
The anonymous individual responsible for suggesting, 14 hours before police discovered the body, that WWE wrestler Chris Benoit's wife was dead is saying his/her comment was a "terrible coincidence." 
In a post made at 12:26 AM EDT Friday morning to the talk page of a Wikinews article headlined as the "Death of Nancy Benoit rumour posted on Wikipedia hours prior to body being found", the user admitted to writing that Nancy Benoit was dead at the Wikipedia article page for Benoit came from information that was garnered from "rumors and speculation online." 
The IP Address of the individual making the apology was identical to that of the one who posted the Nancy Benoit rumor, a strong confirmation of the admission's authenticity. 
The lengthy apology was not signed, with the individual claiming, "I am just an everyday individual who posted a wrongful remark at the time that received so much attention because it turned out to actually happen." 
Wikinews originally broke the story about the suspicious edit after receiving a tip from Wikipedia administrators. 
The fact the edit originated from a computer in Stamford, Connecticut (the site of WWE headquarters) appears to be another coincidence. 
The anonymous editor left a lengthy apology to the Wikimedia community, explaining, "I hope this puts an end to this speculation that someone knew about the tragedy before it was discovered." 
Wikinews is continuing to follow the story, but the anonymous user has declined an interview. 
Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich’s office announced layoffs of up to 450 state employees and the closure of 25 historic sites and state parks. 
Fourteen state historic sites are scheduled to be closed October 1. 
A spokesperson for the governor stated that the office had no choice but to make the budget cuts because of a faltering economy and an unbalanced state budget. 
Included in the cuts were the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR), which operates the state parks, the Department of Children and Family Services (IDCFS), slated to have 179 employees cut, the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (IHPA) and the Department of Human Services, which is expected to lose 79 positions. 
The IHPA, which operates the state historic sites slated for closure will cut some 38 positions. 
The closures and job cuts will save the state money over the next fiscal year. 
Cuts in the IDNR will save an estimated US$19.5 million and cuts at the IDCFS will save around US$2 million. 
The closures are considered indefinite but will last at least through the end of the fiscal year, July 1, 2009. 
Each site will have one employee on site for security and maintenance. 
Once entrances to state parks are barred on November 1, the public will no longer be allowed to enter the sites. 
Any member of the public entering the closed state parks after November 1 could be arrested and charged with trespassing. 
Two museums in San Diego, California have been bequested an art collection worth more than 40 million. 
The art collection was donated by Dr. Vance E. Kondon and Elisabeth Giesberger to both the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and the San Diego Museum of Art. 
Kondon, a former board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art, died in 1997 and Giesberger died in 2011. 
Kondon was a notable art collector in San Diego, and collected for over 30 years. 
Roxana Velásquez, SDMA executive director, described their bequeathed collection's "rarity" and said the pieces would add "depth" to the two existing museum collections. 
The collection will be separated between the two museums due to the art movements represented within it. 
The Museum of Contemporary Art will receive 30 contemporary works by artists such as Franz Kline, Christo, and Craig Kauffman. 
The Museum of Art was bequeathed 48 German Expressionist paintings, drawings and prints. 
This collection includes artworks by Otto Dix, Gustav Klimt, and Egon Schiele. 
Microsoft Corporation announced plans to launch a new security product later this year, named Windows OneCare. 
Product features are to include anti-virus software capabilities, a new firewall and PC tune ups. 
The PC tune ups include utilities for improved backup and restore capabilities, and easy access to Windows PC maintenance tools for file repair and hard drive clean up. 
An early beta version of product, not including the anti-spyware capability, has already been released to Microsoft employees. 
Microsoft plans to make Windows OneCare available to customers for a yearly subscription fee. 
Recently, Microsoft bought Giant software, makers of antivirus and spyware prevention software. 
The American Red Cross is not lending its usual assistance in New Orleans, because the Louisiana National Guard acted first. 
After Saturday September 3, it was agreed with state officials the Red Cross was not needed because the large-scale evacuation of the city was under way. 
On September 1, the Red Cross offered to Louisiana state officials to enter New Orleans, who rejected the offer due to logistical difficulties. 
Making the offer the next day to Col. Jay Mayeaux, the deputy director of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, the Red Cross was asked to wait 24 hours while preparations were made. 
By the next day, Saturday September 3rd, the National Guard had arrived in the city, felt they had adequate supplies and did not need the Red Cross. 
Super Typhoon Saomai made landfall in the eastern province Zhejiang in China around 5:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. 
By Friday evening Saomai had left a path of destruction in Zhejiang and neighboring province Fujian. 
Over 100 people have been reported dead with even more missing. 
An estimated 3.5 million people were affected by the storm, some 1.6 million of whom were evacuated. 
Reports from the civil affairs bureau tell of large-scale material destruction. 
In Zhejiang, 18,000 houses were destroyed and in Fujian, 32,000. 
Phone and power lines were knocked down and outages were wide-spread. 
With wind speeds of 216 km/h (135 mph) at the time of landfall it is the strongest typhoon to hit China since August 1, 1956, when a storm with wind speeds of 244 km/h killed 4,900 people. 
Emergency plans have been implemented and supplies are being sent in from other provinces. 
The central government has allocated 166 million yuan to assist the affected region. 
At least 28 people drowned and were confirmed dead, 46 were rescued, while 34 others remain missing on Sunday, after an overcrowded passenger motorboat capsized off waters in Ballesteros, a town of 17,000 people, the Cagayan police reported. 
M/B Mae Jan', a wooden-hulled ferry, was carrying 102 passengers, after an eight-hour voyage from Calayan Island in the Luzon Strait for Appari when it capsized less than 300 meters (984 feet) from its destination, at 8:30 p.m. 
Divers from the combined teams of the Philippine Navy and Coast Guard helped in the rescue operations. 
11 of the fatalities, including the vessel owner, Arellano, and her daughter were identified. 
The police said "there was a possibility that the boat was overloaded," saying that "there was also livestock on board." 
Due to "trauma," the ferry's captain refused to talk to police. 
Meanwhile, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) formed a Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) to investigate the sea tragedy. 
It ordered the "immediate dispatch of SAR-003 and MCS-3005 vessels and the PCG Islander for aerial surveillance." 
PCG noted the possible overloading of the vessel since the boat's franchise authorized it to carry only 40 passengers and 10 crew members. 
In November, a cargo vessel sank in rough seas north of Cagayan, and passing vessels rescued 16 of 20 passengers. 
Weeks earlier, separate storms sank two passenger vessels in the central Philippines, drowning more than 50 people. 
Prior to the ferry sinking, the Philippine weather bureau had issued Gale warnings to coastal towns, of approaching tropical storm "Ulysses" (international codename: Dolphin) from the Pacific with winds of up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) per hour, centered off southeastern Catanduanes, eastern Philippines. 
During a press conference yesterday, United States military and intelligence officials presented material they say link weapons used by Iraq fighters to Iran. 
Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters in Madrid on Friday that the there was "pretty good" evidence that Iranians are supplying either weapons or technology to Iraqi militants. 
No recording devices of any kind were allowed during the press conference. 
Reacting to the U.S. claims, Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a television interview that the allegations were "excuses to prolong the stay" of the U.S. military in Iraq, and that the U.S. was pointing fingers at others in an effort to "hide its defeats and failures"; however in an interview with Diane Sawyer on February 12th, Ahmadinejad refused to address accusations that his country was supplying weapons to insurgents in Iraq. 
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hossein termed the accusations baseless propaganda and said that the U.S. had a long history of "fabricating evidence". 
American officials displayed weaponry including Explosively Formed Penetrators (EFPs) and thermal detectors used for remotely exploding bombs. 
Some of the weapons parts bear the markings that the officials associated with Iranian manufacture. 
The officials claimed that such sophisticated weaponry could not have been assembled by the Shia militia and said that it must have been supplied from neighbouring Iran. 
The U.S. view is that only a state arms company would have the ability to manufacture weapons of this kind and the officials maintained that the weapons were smuggled in to Iraq by the Qods Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and have estimated that such an operation was known to the Iranian government and encouraged by it, but did not present any evidence to support the claims. 
The U.S. evidence is being met with close scrutiny, after the experience of pre-Iraq war U.S. intelligence estimates of Saddam Hussein's weapons capability and links with Al-Qaeda, which were found to be inaccurate. 
When asked why this information was being released at this specific moment, even though the information had accumulated since 2004, the officials explained that they saw a near doubling of EFP attacks in 2006. 
The U.S. claims that the such weapons have killed at least 170 troops and a much higher number of Iraqi civilians. 
Secretary Gates said that the EFPs did not form a large proportion of roadside bombs but that they were "extremely lethal". 
Improvised explosive devices have been a big killer of both Iraqi civilians and Allied forces in Iraq. 
Tens of thousands of civilians and over 3000 Allied troops have died in the nearly four-year-old Iraq war. 
The exchanges come during a period of heightened tension between Iran and the U. S. over Iran's nuclear programme. 
The U.S. deployed a second aircraft carrier strike force in the Persian Gulf last month. 
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa won the pole on the FIA Formula-1 2007 Malaysian Grand Prix on Sepang International Circuit. 
McLaren-Mercedes driver Fernando Alonso stayed in the lead for the most part of the third qualifying session, but was closely pursued by his rivals from Ferrari and by his teammate Lewis Hamilton who, after the fantastic debut in the previous race, surely has ambitions for the World Champion title. 
A new interesting feature of the F1 cars was presented by Bridgestone, the tyre supplier. 
All tyres of softer compound will be marked by a white stria along the tyre groove starting from this race onwards. 
As intended, this will help audience to distinguish the tyres, it will be more helpful than the previous white heavy dot on the outer side of the tyre. 
The two Australian mine-workers, who were trapped for 14 days underground in a collapsed mine, have signed a media deal reportedly worth AUD$2 million for their story of survival. 
Local media reports that the lucrative deal, announced by the Nine Network, is believed to be the "highest ever paid to secure news talent". 
A planned TV special will be the outcome of a deal secured by Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (PBL), which owns the Nine Network. 
Miners Todd Russell and Brant Webb were entombed nearly a kilometre underground following a cave-in on April 25 at the Beaconsfield Gold Mine in Tasmania. 
A third miner, Larry Knight, was killed in the rock-fall. 
The two survivors trapped in a wire cage, survived by drinking water seeping through rocks until rescuers managed to dig a small tunnel to deliver fresh food and water. 
Their tale has captured the attention of the nation, with media corporations fighting for exclusive rights to the miners' story. 
The Nine Network's chief executive Eddie McGuire said under the PBL deal, Woman's Day, the Australian Women's Weekly and the Bulletin magazines would also have access to the men. 
The Nine Network has announced it would broadcast a two-hour special with entitled "The Great Escape." 
Another deal is expected to be brokered with U.S. media. 
Mr McGuire said the deal would not restrict the pair from selling their story to CNN, the US Today Show and Good Morning America, who have all reportedly made contact with Mr Russell and Mr Webb this week. 
Under the PBL deal, Woman's Day, the Australian Women's Weekly and the Bulletin magazines would also have access to the men, Mr McGuire said. 
Nine says it also wants the footage and photographs taken by the miners during their ordeal. 
The footage remains in the hands of the mining company. 
The men, who were rescued on May 9, have not spoken publicly about the time they spent trapped underground. 
Norton Fredrick, the Sri Lankan cricketer who played for the national All Ceylon team during the 1960s, has died at the age of 73. 
He died in his home town of Wattala after suffering from a terminal illness. 
He played for the Bloomfield Cricket and Athletic Club as well as nationally for the All Ceylon team, before Sri Lanka had test status. 
During his national career he played against nations such as Pakistan, Australia, and India. 
A skilled fast bowler he spoke about his first match saying “It was a very memorable baptism for me. 
The match was played at the Colombo Oval – Sara Stadium. 
I still remember the three victims – R. Ramesh, V. V. Kumara and G. Thomas. 
During an unofficial test match against India in 1965 he set up a four-wicket win after taking seven wickets. 
This was the first time that the All Ceylon team had won against India. 
His national career was ended in 1968 after family commitments forced him to end his career. 
Another son served as an army officer and died during the Sri Lankan civil war. 
Fredrick's death comes in the same month as Gamini Goonasena, another former Sri Lankan cricketer who died at the age of 80. 
Twelve foreign sailors were released by Nigerian gunmen today, after an incident on Friday when their ship was attacked. 
The sailors had been captured in the Niger Delta from their vessel, the BBC Polonia, apparently by one of the numerous armed militant groups in the area, although no one has yet claimed responsibility. 
One such group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, said that it was "not involved in this attack but we are aware of the group that carried out the abduction." 
The sailors were of multiple nationalities, including seven Russians, two Germans, two Ukrainians, and one Lithuanian. 
In addition, one Latvian sailor had been a member of the crew of the ship, but was not taken hostage after he was injured in the incident. 
A spokesperson for the Nigerian Navy, David Nabaida, said that the navy have gone to meet the fishing trawler the men were released onto. 
"I don't know who is behind [the attack], but I think it's one of the factions of the ex-militants," he said. 
Kidnappings such as this are common in the Niger Delta area, with most being for ransom. 
The region is the site of the largest oil-producing industries on the continent, and has a high rate of crime. 
In a reprise of the dour Presbyterian Minister character the Reverend I.M. Jolly, created by the late comedian Rikki Fulton, Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond, took part in the BBC's annual charity appeal for Children in Need. 
Last year the BBC's appeal raised approximately £37 million, and by 11pm last night the total raised had exceeded £10 million. 
The BBC hopes to break last year's telethon total and final figures will not be available for some time. 
The three minute skit was part of BBC Scotland's presentation of the charity appeal and was met with laughter from the Glasgow studio audience when the pre-recorded message was broadcast. 
The I.M. Jolly character was well-known in Scotland from having a spot on the Hogmanay (New Year's eve) schedule; in keeping with Fulton's terminally depressed character Salmond opened with the catchprase, "Hullo. 
The sketch gave Salmond an opportunity to be self-deprecating as well as poke fun at his predecessor in the office of First Minister, Jack McConnell, "I would like to pay tribute to the previous incumbent of the first ministership, the Right Reverend Jack McConnell. 
And I would also like to thank him for the present of fish he left me in Bute House ...under the floorboards." 
As a further jab at McDonald he joked that he and his wife "had a great time too, replacing all the light bulbs he had taken with him." 
In reference to the fortunes of his party, the SNP, Salmond described by-election campaigns in Glasgow East and Glenrothes as "evangelical crusades" which, "had gone down well in Glasgow East - but "slightly less well in Glenrothes". 
Closing the "Last Call" segment he appealed for donations, "Please dig deep - it's for the weans." 
The U.S. military reports 75 militants dead in an offensive launched Sunday in western Iraq. 
The offensive was begun with U.S. air support in a desert area north of the Euphrates River in the province of Anbar. 
A report by a Chicago Tribune journalist embedded with U.S. forces said the offensive "was seeking to uproot a persistent insurgency in an area that American intelligence indicated has become a haven for foreign fighters flowing in from Syria." 
More than 1,000 U.S. and coalition troops supported by fighter jets and helicopter gunships attacked villages in and around Al Qaim, near the Syrian border. 
A statement by the US military said the operation was expected to last several days, and was targeting a smuggling route and hideouts for foreign rebels. 
The American Forces Press Service reports: "Coalition forces also destroyed car bombs, bomb-making material and two buildings that contained large weapons caches to include hand- and rocket-propelled grenades." 
The New York Times reports an estimate of insurgent casualties at over 100. 
Col. Bob Chase, the chief of operations for the Second Marine Division, has said there were "a handful" of marine casualties. 
The source also reports Chase saying, "The objective is to totally disrupt the safe havens and rat lines that have allowed them to bring those materials across the border. 
This had been a very secure area for the insurgents." 
In a statement made from an Islamist website that could not be confirmed, the Al-Qaeda militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi reportedly said, "The adorers of the cross claim to have killed 75 Muslims at Al-Qaim. 
Once more, they are lying, because lying is their religion," according to Forbes. 
In a land of four million people where roughly one fourth of the population faces danger of hunger, opposition party supporters are receiving a harsh message from government run emergency food stations in the run up to Thursday's election: Vote for Mugabe, or starve. 
As two British newspapers reported four days before general elections, Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe is using food as a political weapon in a country dominated by scarcity. 
The government food distribution agency is the only source for something to eat for vast numbers of Zimbabweans today. 
Determined to destroy opposition parties, Mugabe and his supporters seek to prevent anyone who supports the opposition from receiving rations. 
Pakistani officials have stated that three US drone strikes have killed fifteen people in the country Saturday. 
The attacks occurred to the north of Miranshah town in the North Waziristan region. 
Security officials in the town informed AFP that in the first strike, US drones fired four missiles on a car, killing seven suspected militants. 
A nearby "militant compound" was also destroyed by the missiles. 
"Three militants were killed in the car while four were killed in the house," the official said. 
The second attack occurred within minutes of the first, and four militants, who were carrying on rescue work were killed by the two missiles that had been fired. 
Intelligence officials believe that the militants were associated with Hafiz Gul Bahadur. 
"We are trying to establish identity of the militants but most of them are believed to be fighters of Hafiz Gul Bahadur," an official told the media. 
However, the death toll and the identity of those killed was not officially confirmed. 
A local official stated that they had heard reports stating "that four foreigners were also killed in these fresh attacks". 
However, he added that their identity is "still not known" and mentioned that they "are collecting more information." 
Workers at British industrial plants are staging mass walkouts this morning. 
The workers are taking unofficial action in support of a three day strike at Lindsey Oil Refinery in Lincolnshire, England. 
Staff have walked out at sites in Scotland, Wales and Teesside in north eastern England. 
The original strike was called over the awarding of a contract by refinery owners Total to an Italian company. 
This brought 300 Italian and Portuguese workers on to the site. 
The latest reports say workers at the UK's main oil refinery at Grangemouth in Scotland have come out in sympathy, as have workers at the former ICI plant on Teesside in England and at the nearby Corus steel plant. 
Workers have walked out at a power station in Aberthaw in south Wales and at plants at Fidler's Ferry in Cheshire, at Lackenby in Teesside and at the gas terminals near Peterhead in Scotland and Milford Haven in Wales. 
A protest outside the Lindsey refinery has now dispersed but local union leaders say it will resume on Monday. 
Secondary industrial action has been illegal in the United Kingdom since the 1980s. 
However, the penalties apply only to unions organising secondary strikes, not to workers acting individually. 
Wikipedia hit the half-million mark Friday as the English-language encyclopedia passed the 500 thousand article mark, according to a press prelease by the Wikimedia Foundation (The Wikimedia Foundation also runs Wikinews). 
The article that put the site over the top was Involuntary settlements in the Soviet Union. 
The total of 500 thousand articles exceeds any other encyclopedia, according to the press release. 
With an average of 2,500 characters per article, Wikipedia contains 1.25 gigabytes of raw text, which if printed on double-sided letter-size paper would form a stack about 66 feet or more than six stories tall. 
Other recent additions to its English-language edition include hundreds of full-length songs, almost a gigabyte of new images, and subject-specific portals. 
In response to recent accusations that United States government employees have engaged in Wikipedia vandalism and other forms of perceived negative editing of articles, Wikipedia editors have set up a webpage listing all Wikipedia edits made through IP addresses that are allocated to the United States House of Representatives and other United States government agencies. 
The House IP address was briefly banned from editing Wikipedia articles in the wake of the initial controversy, but the ban was lifted on January 30 after Wikipedia administrators decided that there have been a number of valuable contributions made through the House and Senate IP addresses in addition to the controversial edits. 
On January 31 and February 1, however, the U.S. House of Representatives' common IP address, 143.231.249.141, were banned again for three hours due to vandalism. 
Because the IP address is shared by House staff members, it is uncertain whether or not the same person(s) responsible for the previous vandalism are also responsible for the latest. 
After the block from Wikipedia expired, the House of Representatives user continued to edit the article on Chris Shays. 
Chris Shays had co-sponsored a bill with Marty Meehan, whose staffers had previously been found to have been negatively editing Wikipedia entries, The American Civil Liberties Union said of the bill "key elements of Shays-Meehan violate the First Amendment right to free speech because the legislation contains provisions that would violate the constitutionally-protected right of the people to express their opinions about issues through broadcast advertising if they mention the name of a candidate." 
All mentions of the bill were removed from the article. 
Also removed was a paragraph about Chris Shays raising $70,000 with House Speaker Dennis Hastert at a country club event. 
Again, the IP address was blocked for an eight-hour period. 
Wikipedia edits in Congress are not coming from the House of Representatives alone. 
An edit from the Senate in July removed references to a plagiarism scandal with Senator Joe Biden, who has informally said he may seek a Democratic nomination for president in 2008. 
As of February 4, 2006, the edit has not been fixed by Wikipedia users. 
Redwood City, California - The jury in the Scott Peterson trial suggest that Peterson receive the death penalty. 
Peterson was found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife Laci and their unborn child. 
The official sentence will be announced on February 25th, 2005. 
The Central Tibetan Administration, headed by the Dalai Lama, says that at least 80 people have been killed in protests by supporters of Tibet against Chinese rule, despite China's claim that only ten people are dead. 
"As the Tibet uprising continues, reliable sources have confirmed that at least 80 people were killed on 14th March 2008 in Lhasa," the website Tibet.net reported. 
They also said that many dead bodies have been stashed in front of a Public Security Department office in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital where most of the unrest occurred. 
The report from Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, was much different. 
"In Friday's riot, at least ten civilians died, mostly from burns caused by the roving mobs and some others were injured," Xinhua said, citing the Tibetan Regional Government's report. 
Additionally, they reported that police in Lhasa had saved 580 people, including an entire school, from the violent array of sabotage. 
Tenzin Gyatso, the Dalai Lama, condemned China's reaction to the protests, calling it a "cultural genocide". 
At a press conference in Dharamsala, seat of the Tibetan government in exile, he said, "They simply rely on using force in order to simulate peace, a peace brought by force using a rule of terror." 
He also called for an international organization to investigate the situation in Tibet. 
China has declared a "People's War" against the protesters, vowing to "expose" the Dalai Lama. 
"We must wage a people's war to beat splittism and expose and condemn the malicious acts of these hostile forces and expose the hideous face of the Dalai Lama group to the light of day," officials were quoted as saying. 
China also prevented access to video website YouTube after many international videos of the protests were posted on the website. 
YouTube is normally easily accessible in China, which blocks other pornographic or subversive sites with its 'Great Firewall'. 
Both rebel groups and government troops are accused of rape, with march organisers hoping to draw international attention to rape as a weapon in war. 
Eastern Congo is worse affected, and aid groups have suggested the actual figure may be higher as victims are unlikely to come forward. 
The UN states mass rapes have occurred in the area for at least 15 years. 
Some rape victims left hospital to participate in the march. 
The third "World March of Women" followed several days of talks aimed at changing the social acceptance of violence, especially against women, in the Congo. 
Peace and development were also on the agenda for women from nations including Togo, South Africa, Pakistan, and Brazil. 
The British government have vowed to ban payment fees and other hidden and excessive credit card charges. 
They hope to do so by the end of 2012, following a consultation in the new year. 
Hidden fees are often not shown until the end of an ordering process on the web which prevents consumers from making an informed choice and comparing the actual prices of different products and services according to the Office of Fair Trading. 
Plans are also underway to bring in Europe-wide regulation of credit card fees in 2014. 
Mark Hoban, a Treasury Minister, said consumers "have a right to understand the charges they may incur up front and not be hit through a hidden last-minute payment surcharge." 
He said the plans announced today will increase "transparency" for consumers, and that consumers currently "feel ripped off". 
The Office of Fair Trading have listed some examples of particularly high charges: with EasyJet charging £8, Ryanair £6, and thetrainline.com £3.50 extra to pay for tickets with credit cards. 
The consumer group Which? claimed that these surcharges were increasing the cost of air travel by £265,000 a day (or about £97 million per year). 
The OFT stated that the figure was £300m a year. 
A Wikinews reporter contacted Which? about this disparity but they had not responded at the time of publication. 
Former Roman Catholic priest Bartley Sorensen of the US state of Pennsylvania was yesterday sentenced to eight years and one month in federal prison after pleading guilty to child pornography charges in May 2012. 
Sorenson, now aged 63, was discovered to be downloading child pornography by an employee of his parish at the St. John Fisher Church in Churchill, Allegheny County in December 2011. 
The employee had been tutored on how to distinguish predators. 
Police investigating the case found some 5,000 child pornography images in Sorenson's church office. 
Following Sorenson's release, he will also be supervised for five years. 
Sorenson has also been ordered to pay a fine of $25,000. 
He claimed that he wanted to be caught and left the image on his computer screen in order to be found out and required to go to counselling, but was unaware that it was illegal. 
The Netherlands lost to the Russia national football team in a quarter-final match of UEFA Euro 2008. 
Roman Pavlyuchenko opened the scoring in main play, a goal that was matched by Ruud van Nistelrooy after only 30 minutes. 
Then it was a hardy play-off for both teams, especially the Dutch, but Torbinsky and Arshavin scored goals, effectively put an end to the match. 
Now it will be the first major semi final for Russia since the break up of the USSR. 
The Cassini–Huygens spacecraft has discovered "organic material" and water spewing from a geyser on one of Saturn's moons, Enceladus. 
According to NASA, the discovery was made when Cassini flew by the moon on March 12. 
"A completely unexpected surprise is that the chemistry of Enceladus, what's coming out from inside, resembles that of a comet. 
To have primordial material coming out from inside a Saturn moon raises many questions on the formation of the Saturn system," said Hunter Waite, principal investigator for the Cassini Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer at the Southwest Research Institute located in San Antonio, Texas. 
The Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer saw a much higher density of volatile gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as organic materials, some 20 times denser than expected. 
This dramatic increase in density was evident as the spacecraft flew over the area of the plumes. 
New high-resolution heat maps of the south pole by Cassini's Composite Infrared Spectrometer show that the so-called tiger stripes, giant fissures that are the source of the geysers, are warm along almost their entire lengths, and reveal other warm fissures nearby. 
These more precise new measurements reveal temperatures of at least minus 93 degrees Celsius (minus 135 Fahrenheit.) 
That is 17 degrees Celsius (63 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than previously seen and 93 degrees Celsius (200 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than other regions of the moon. 
The warmest regions along the tiger stripes correspond to two of the jet locations seen in Cassini images. 
"Enceladus has got warmth, water and organic chemicals, some of the essential building blocks needed for life. 
We have quite a recipe for life on our hands, but we have yet to find the final ingredient, liquid water, but Enceladus is only whetting our appetites for more," said Dennis Matson, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 
At closest approach, Cassini was only 30 miles from Enceladus. 
When it flew through the plumes it was 120 miles from the moon's surface. 
India have beaten England by nine runs in the second One-Day International of the series at the County Ground, Bristol, England. 
India, having won the toss and elected to bat first, raced to 113 runs after the first twenty overs. 
Sourav Ganguly was caught off the bowling of Andrew Flintoff, who finished the innings as the top performing England bowler, taking 5-56. 
Sachin Tendulkar fell just short of a century, being caught behind on 99 runs. 
Tendulkar was surprised at the decision, and television replays were inconclusive as to whether the ball had hit his glove or not. 
Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid added 63 runs before Singh was dismissed for 49. 
Dravid finished on 92 not out, helping India to an imposing total of 329-7 after fifty overs. 
In reply England started quickly, recording 75 runs off the first ten overs. 
However Munaf Patel took two wickets in two balls to dismiss both the England opening batsmen. 
The England wickets fell regularly after that, with Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood bowled by Piyush Chalwa for 25 and 27 runs respectively. 
Andrew Flintoff was dismissed for just nine runs, and despite 64 runs from Ian Bell, England needed 90 runs from the last eight overs with just three wickets remaining. 
Dimitri Mascarenhas hit 52 runs, including five sixes, and Stuart Broad hit 20 runs off the final over, but it came too late and England fell ten runs short of the 330 run target. 
The third match will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham, on August 27. 
Anna Nicole Smith, who was born as Vickie Lynn Hogan, was found unconscious in the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida in her 6th floor hotel room. 
One of her attorneys has confirmed that she was pronounced dead at a hospital less than an hour later. 
Paramedics are reported to have performed CPR on the actress and had to have breathing equipment inserted into her chest after a nurse found her passed out in her hotel room and witnesses say that Smith was receiving CPR while the ambulance took her to the hospital around 2:00 p.m. [EST]. 
Smith's bodyguard is reported to have given Smith "cardiopulmonary resuscitation" before paramedics arrived. 
This is just tragic and that's all you can say right now and I don't know anything further," said one of Anna Nicole's lawyers, Ron Rale. 
Smith was taken by ambulance to Memorial Regional Hospital and "checked in Monday [to the hotel] at 8 p.m. as a guest. 
She was due to check out tomorrow," said cafe spokeswoman, Danielle Giordaano. 
"Our rescue crews got there, and they were escorted to a bedroom, where they found a female alone in her room and unresponsive. 
We then began our normal protocol for dealing with a non-breathing individual. 
According to Broward County Medical Examiner's Office investigator, Edwina Johnson, an autopsy will be performed on Smith on Friday and that her death is currently being investigated. 
Authorities are not yet treating her death as a crime. 
One of Smith's attorneys, Howard K. Stern, is reported to have been staying with Smith in her room, but authorities have yet to locate Mr. Stern. 
I don't know where he's at right now," said Charlie Tiger the chief of the Seminole Police Department also adding that Smith's 5 month old baby was not with them. 
Smith was a spokeswoman for the company TRIMSPA when she passed, and TrimSpa has removed all content from their site for now, shutting it down and posting only a message in response to her death. 
"Today, Anna Nicole Smith’s grief stricken and tumultuous personal life came to an end. 
Anna came to our Company as a customer, but she departs it as a friend. 
While life for Anna Nicole was not easy these past few months, she held dear her husband, Howard K. Stern, her daughter, Dannielynn Hope, her most cherished friends, beloved dogs, and finally, her work with TRIMSPA. 
Anna knew both the joy of giving life, and the heartache of losing a child. 
We pray that she is granted the peace that eluded her more recent days on earth, and that she find comfort in the presence of her son, Daniel," said the statement on TRIMSPA's website posted by Alex Goen, CEO and Founder of TRIMSPA. 
Smith was rushed to the hospital in November of 2006 after she was suffering from symptoms of pneumonia. 
Smith's son, Daniel Smith, died on September 10, 2006 shortly after Anna gave birth to a baby girl 5 months ago. 
Smith was shopping for a new boat in Florida and reports say she felt ill and had a fever for at least a day. 
A full crowd showed up at the Guiseppe Meazza in Italy today to watch AC Milan take on Scottish side Celtic. 
The first leg of the matches ended in a goalless draw, as both teams were spirited in defense. 
Kaka and Inzaghi played as frontmen for AC, while Vennegoor of Hesselink and Jiri Jarosik were the strike pair for Celtic. 
Milan had the first chance of the game early when Kaka found room and flashed a shot towards the bottom corner, but keeper Artur Boruc got down well to make the stop. 
Celtic then had a valid penalty claim after only 6 minutes when Jarosik's volley looked to be blocked by the hand of Maldini, but referee Konrad Plautz waved away the appeals. 
Celtic's defense continued to play well, and they limited Milan's chances to long ranged shots. 
Lee Naylor then performed defensive heroics for Celtic as he took the ball away from the open Inzaghi, who was waiting to tap the ball in at the back post. 
Kaka had two more shots from range at the net, but neither were on target. 
Naylor again saved Celtic by clearing the ball off the line from a Kaka attempt. 
Over an hour had passed when Gordon Strachan sent Thomas Graveson on for Celtic in place of Jarosik, and the Dane almost scored right away. 
He struck a fine shot at the net, but Massimo Oddo did well to block the attempt. 
Milan counter attacked quickly, and Kaka saw his attempt also blocked by a defender. 
McManus and Naylor were forced to clear headers off the line from Ambrosini and Inzaghi, both occurring after corners. 
Maldini then had a header at the Celtic net, but Boruc was again in the right place to make the stop. 
Celtic had another claim for a penalty when Nakamura was brought down in the area, but the Austrian referee again waved away all appeals. 
Boruc was again forced into action from a Seedorf free kick, which he was able to deflect out with a hand. 
Kaka then shot towards the goal, but the crossbar saved Celtic from going a goal down. 
As 90 minutes approached, Celtic had two well positioned free-kicks, but could take advantage of neither, and the game entered extra time. 
It took Milan little time to go ahead in the extra period, and the scorer would be no other than the Brazilian Kaka. 
The youthful striker put on a burst of speed to beat out the tired Celtic defenders and blasted the ball through Borucs legs to give the homeside the lead. 
The game continued however, as the Champions League works on full extra time, and Celtic still had 27 minutes to equalize. 
It was Milan who pushed however, and Andrea Pirlo twice forced Boruc to make saves. 
Then Kaka, in search of a brace, sent a volley over the net after being left alone during a corner kick. 
Gravesen's long effort for Celtic was easy pickings for Dida, and Craig Beattie headed a good chance over the bar. 
Celtic vainly tried to tie the game, bringing on Kenny Miller, but AC finished the game comfortably, and advanced to the next round of the tournament. 
Residents of Santa Clara County, California expressed their opposition at a public hearing Thursday January 31 to a local detainment provision of the Secure Communities program of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 
Secure Communities includes a provision that ICE can ask state and local detention facilities to hold anyone arrested who might be in the US without adequate documentation until ICE has time to review their case. 
The comments came in a public hearing of a policy working group of the Public Safety and Justice Committee, convened to discuss a November 7 recommendation by District Attorney Jeff Rosen to honor ICE detainer requests for serious and violent offenders. 
Since October 18, 2011, Santa Clara County has refused ICE requests to detain individuals who would otherwise be released. 
Another opportunity for public comment on this occurred this Thursday, at the monthly meeting of the Public Safety and Justice Committee of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. 
Supporters of DA Rosen's proposal had earlier asked their people to email the supervisors and attend this meeting and the Board of Supervisors' Meeting next Tuesday, February 12. 
The January 31 hearing began with comments by approximately 25 of the audience of roughly 35–40, all of which opposed the DA's proposal. 
They said public safety was enhanced under the current policy because many in the immigrant community have less reason to fear that they or people they care about would be deported if the police were called. 
Sheriff Laurie Smith then described an individual who is now in prison with a rape conviction for an event that would have been prevented if the detention request from ICE had been honored. 
Several in the audience replied by asking how many other criminals would go free because people refused to report or testify as a result of increased fear of deportation. 
Comments supporting the current policy have been made by people who did not attend. 
The San Jose Mercury News for January 31 includes an op ed by Supervisor Dave Cortese, acting Public Defender Molly O'Neal, and Director of the Domestic Violence Advocacy Consortium Cynthia Hunter. 
They wrote, "There is nothing more valuable to public safety than community trust in local law enforcement because it establishes residents' willingness to report crimes and cooperate with police. 
But that trust will break down immeasurably in immigrant communities if residents face the debilitating fear of deportation. 
This is especially true in Santa Clara County, where two-thirds of residents live in immigrant households." 
Since the January 31 hearing, support for the position of the Sheriff and the DA has begun to materialize with at least one conservative group asking their followers to email the supervisors and attend public meetings such as the one this Thursday and the Board of Supervisors' meeting next Tuesday, February 12. 
The policy adopted October 18, 2011 stated Santa Clara County would honor ICE detention requests "for individuals who have been convicted of a serious or violent felony," provided ICE agreed in writing to reimburse the county for the additional expense. 
DA Rosen's November 7 presentation claimed honoring ICE holds would "produce an undetermined amount of cost savings by reducing probation costs", as individuals otherwise on probation would be transferred to federal detention. 
Reports from Colorado and Los Angeles have claimed that ICE holds averaged over 20 days. 
ICE claims an official limit of at most two days. 
Los Angeles is currently being sued over questionable detentions of a number of individuals including a British filmmaker named Duncan Roy, who was held for 89 days. 
If Los Angeles loses, it appears local taxpayers may be liable. 
After DA Rosen's presentation on November 7, the Santa Clara County Public Safety and Justice Committee referred this issue to its policy review working group, which held various private meetings, failed to reach a consensus, and then organized the public meeting of January 31. 
The next official action on this issue is currently scheduled for the March 7 meeting of the Public Safety and Justice Committee. 
United States soldier Bradley Manning, accused of leaking US state secrets to WikiLeaks and detained under restrictive conditions at the Marine base at Quantico, Virginia since July 2010, was ordered Wednesday to sleep stripped of all clothing. 
According to his attorney, this condition was imposed because Manning made a "sarcastic quip" about the harsh conditions of his confinement. 
For most of the eight months he has been held there, Manning has been required to sleep only in his boxer shorts because he has been under "prevention of injury watch," according to First Lieutenant Brian Villiard, a spokesman for the Quantico facility. 
David Coombs, Manning's legal representative for the upcoming court marshal, said that on Wednesday Manning complained of his clothing restrictions and joked that if he wanted to, he might be able to harm himself "with the elastic waistband of his underwear or with his flip-flops." 
On Wednesday night, the brig commander determined that Manning must give up his boxer shorts also. 
Villiard said, "The intention is to ensure the safety and security of the detainee and make sure he is able to stand trial." 
Villiard, citing privacy rules designed to protect the detainees, did not explain how Manning could harm himself if allowed to wear his underwear. 
Coombs said Manning was not put under a suicide watch because that would have required the decision of a mental health professional. 
As a result of the tightening of Manning's conditions, he will be required for the indefinite future to sleep naked in his cell, and endure, according to Coombs, the "humiliation of standing naked at attention for the morning roll call". 
In a statement, Senator John Kerry suggested recent publicity will cast light on Manning's situation and the balance between humane treatment and suicide prevention: "I think that a lot of people are now reviewing this very, very closely, people have weighed in, myself included, I think that analyses are being made. 
And I'm convinced that there will be real scrutiny with respect to that issue." 
On November 13, Torontoians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward's councillor and for mayor. 
This ward's candidates include Francis Ahinful, Ted Berger, Anthony Caputo, Suzan Hall (incumbent), Andre Lucas, Rosemarie Mulhall, Brian Prevost, and Sonali Verma. 
For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006. 
The Pakistani army says that at least 150 to 200 Taliban militants, along with 50 Pakistani troops have been killed in recent battles between al-Qaeda, Taliban fighters and Pakistani troops along the border region of Pakistan and Afghanistan in an area known as North Waziristan. 
At least 20 other troops were injured and at least 15 are reported to be missing. 
"We have told them to surrender and give up their weapons," said Major General of the Pakistani army, Waheed Arshad. 
Militants say that they are going to attempt to overthrow the government and take the newly elected Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf out of power. 
The battles began on Saturday October 6 in the town of Mir Ali and have lasted three days so far. 
Army officials say that they will "continue punitive action until complete peace is restored." 
The battles were triggered after several Pakistani officials were targeted and peace talks with officials in Islamabad failed to go forward. 
In September, Osama bin Laden issued a new audio tape in which he told militants to resist Pakistani troops and rebel against the army. 
He also asked militants to seek revenge for the assault on the Red Mosque when almost 100 were killed by militants and troops. 
Samer al-Issawi, a Palestinian prisoner who went on a hunger strike in an Israeli prison as a protest against his imprisonment, was released on Monday to his home in . 
Issawi returned Monday to his home in the Issawiyeh neighborhood in East Jerusalem after his release from the Shatta prison in northern Israel. 
Hundreds of people came to welcome him home and celebrate his release, despite an Israeli order given to his family not to have a public party for his arrival. 
After his release, Issawi said during a TV interview, "It is our obligation as freedom fighters to free all the Palestinian political prisoners!". 
Issawi was arrested in 2002 in , during the by the Israeli army for shooting at Israeli vehicles and reportedly also charged with making pipe bombs. 
He was sentenced to more than 25 years in prison. 
In 2011, during a prisoner exchange deal Israel made with Hamas, Issawi was released along with over a thousand other Palestinian prisoners. 
He was released under restrictive conditions and forbidden to go outside of Jerusalem, his residence. 
However, after only nine months from his release date he was arrested again for breaking the conditions. 
He was required to serve the rest of the 2002 sentence and stay in prison till 2029. 
As a protest against the punishment, Issawi began a publicized hunger strike. 
For more than 260 days he was fed water, vitamins, and additional materials only by infusion. 
According to the Los Angeles Times, Israel decided to start a negotiation lest Issawi's death in the Israeli prison cause violence from the Palestinians in the . 
In the end, Issawi agreed to stay in the Israeli prison for an additional eight months to serve the administrative arrest he was under and in exchange he stopped his hunger strike. 
Kevin Rudd has been elected as leader of the Labor party by the party's caucus. 
His running-mate Julia Gillard was elected unopposed to the deputy leadership. 
The vote was called on Friday after Kevin Rudd challenged former leader Kim Beazley for the leadership. 
Rudd becomes the party's third leader since the 2004 election, where the Howard government won a fourth consecutive term in government. 
Long-serving deputy leader Jenny Macklin did not contest the deputy leadership following the defeat of Mr Beazley. 
Mrs Macklin has been deputy leader under three leaders since 2001. 
The party will elect its shadow ministry in a separate ballot on Thursday. 
Premier of Queensland Peter Beattie has said that the leadership change "will herald in a new period of stability for the party." 
"It's important that if you have good policy and good government, it's important you also have stability in leadership," said Beattie. 
"I'd urge everyone to get behind Kevin - having a Queenslander as the alternative prime minister is good for the state and good for Australia." 
Labor MP Dick Adams said even though he voted for Beazley to remain as leader, he supports the party's new leadership. 
"There'll be a lot more harmony and a lot more opportunity of ideas," he said. 
"I think the new ideas need to flow and I think if it's opened up, as some people have said, they want those ideas to come forward, but I think we'll have some interesting policy direction to take to the people." 
Sharan Burrow, the president of the ACTU - the peak union body in Australia said Mr Rudd will be a strong leader. 
"I have no doubt that Kevin Rudd will say that these laws have to go, that they will be replaced by a policy that reinstates rights," Ms Burrow has told Sky News. 
Government MP, Christopher Pyne said that the new leadership was a poor choice for the party. 
"The combination of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard will have all the hallmarks of the mongoose and the cobra. 
It shows Labor is obsessed about leadership rather than policy and strategy," Mr Pyne said. 
In a poll released by Newspoll today, a Rudd-Gillard leadership team had 48 percent support of the public, compared to the outgoing Beazley-Macklin team's 27 percent. 
Two games of round 16 of the Gippsland Football League split the round over the weekend. 
On Saturday, Sale defeated Moe by 75 points, while on Sunday, Warragul lost to Drouin. 
The split round will be completed next weekend with Leongatha traveling to Maffra and Morwell travelling to Wonthaggi. 
The preliminary ladder has, in order, Maffra on top followed by Traralgon, Morwell, Drouin and Leongatha in the the top five. 
Moe and Sale need to win both of their remaining games and have other results go their way to make the finals. 
The Gippsland Football League, officially the Gippsland League, is the only major Australian rules football competition in the rural region east from Melbourne to the New South Wales border, according to the Victorian Country Football League. 
At 10:30pm on November 23, 2008, near the airport in McGregor, Texas, Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) tested their new Falcon 9 rocket at full thrust for nearly 3 minutes (160 seconds). 
The engineers then shut down two of the nine engines — in order to limit potential damage to the launch pad — and continued the test for 18 more seconds before finally shutting the rocket down. 
"We ran the engines just like they would run during flight, but instead of being up in the air, they were held down. 
They weren’t moving," said Lauren Dreyer, SpaceX's manager for business development. 
This was the Falcon 9's first major test firing, and it marks a milestone for the company in its plans to capture a section of the commercial launch market. 
The test reportedly shook the windows of houses 5 miles away, causing agitation among residents who felt that they had not received adequate warning. 
"I appreciate the fact that the company notified [the City of] McGregor, but did they not think the test would affect the surrounding communities?" asked commenter Lorena Resident on the website for the Waco Tribune-Herald. 
The Falcon 9 rocket, and its smaller sibling the Falcon 1, are the first rockets capable of entering Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to have their design be privately funded in its entirety. 
According to SpaceX the Falcon 9 can generate 4 times the maximum thrust of a Boeing 747 while firing in a vacuum, and will eventually be able to perform interplanetary missions in addition to its initial role as an orbital launch vehicle. 
SpaceX is also designing a crew and cargo capsule for the Falcon 9, which it has named the "Dragon". 
SpaceX is a contender for future commercial contracts from various government run space agencies, with NASA expressing particular interest. 
NASA will be retiring their fleet of Columbia Class Space Shuttles in 2010, but will not have the Shuttles' replacements (the Ares I and Ares V rockets) ready until at least 2014. 
NASA hopes to fill some of this gap using commercial launches from companies such as SpaceX. 
SpaceX has already reached an agreement with NASA to conduct three test flights of the Dragon capsule in conjunction with the Falcon 9. 
Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX, said, "The full mission-length test firing clears the highest hurdle for the Falcon 9 first stage before launch. 
In the next few months, we will have the first Falcon 9 flight vehicle on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, preparing for lift-off in 2009." 
Team New Zealand have defeated Swiss syndicate Alinghi in the second race of the 32nd America's Cup Challenge on Sunday, making the overall score equal with one win for each team. 
Team New Zealand, racing with NZL-92, crossed the start line three seconds ahead of Alinghi's yacht, SUI-100. 
But Alinghi led the race at the first mark by 13 seconds, though near the ending of the race, Team New Zealand managed to overtake Alinghi to lead the final leg of the race by 28 seconds. 
Former Alinghi and Team New Zealand skipper, Russell Coutts said that the latest win for Team New Zealand will act as a big boost for them. 
Ray Davis, Team New Zealand after-guard, said, "It’s been huge for the team to get a win on the board in the America’s Cup. 
It has been a long time coming for Emirates Team New Zealand." 
Dan Cowie, Team New Zealand trimmer, said, "As we said yesterday there are two very even boats out there. 
The next race is scheduled for tomorrow, Monday being a race-off day. 
The last time Alinghi and Team New Zealand fought for the America's Cup was when Team New Zealand was defending the trophy in Auckland, New Zealand. 
The past three consecutive America's Cup challenges have been all whitewash victories, and five of the last six challenges have also been whitewashes. 
After its first appearance in the 3rd Division, Pavlos Melas Soccer Club finished in the 14th position and was relegated, despite its 2-1 victory over Doxa Dramas Football Club, with 36 points in 32 games. 
The team from Salonika, Greece will be a serious contender for the championship in the 4th Division. 
Former Olympiacos SFC player Alekos Tatsis, almost Anderlecht, Belgium's starlet, was released free by OSFC. 
Pavlos Melas was planning to sign him, but after the relegation, Tatsis probably won't join the "Greens". 
An Airbus A320 airliner owned by Air New Zealand crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near Perpignan, killing at least two of a crew of seven, French officials reported on Thursday. 
The aircraft crashed at about 5 p.m. local time (1600 UTC) during a test flight. 
The twin-engine jet airliner had just undergone maintenance at Perpignan in preparation for its return to Air New Zealand by German airline XL Airways, which had been operating it on lease. 
The seven on board included two XL Airways crew, Civil Aviation Authority inspector Jeremy Cook of Wellington, and four Air New Zealand personnel. 
Air New Zealand has identified involved personnel as Captain Brian Horrell and Murray White of Auckland, and Michael Gyles and Noel Marsh of Christchurch. 
No additional passengers were on board for the flight, which was part of a maintenance test procedure. 
Though rescue efforts persisted into the night, there is no hope of the remaining five crew members being found alive, according to French officials. 
The pilots may have attempted an emergency landing on water. 
French, German, and New Zealand aviation authorities and investigators have been dispatched to the site to investigate the incident. 
Manufacturer Airbus, based in Toulouse, will aid the investigation, Airbus spokespersons stated. 
A Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson stated that the incident does not cast any doubt on the airworthiness of the A320 design, a popular aircraft which has been involved in only ten fatal accidents since its introduction in 1987. 
A Japanese official has stated that Japan is opposed to re-entering into six-party talks between the United States, China, Russia, South Korea, and North Korea in regards to the N. Korean nuclear weapons program stating that N. Korea must "compromise." 
"It's fine if North Korea can bring some contribution to peace, but simply starting talks is not meaningful," said the chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's policy research council in Japan, Shoichi Nakagawa. 
"The situation has changed since the last six-party talks in September last year. 
North Korea has conducted missile test launches and undertaken a nuclear test. 
North Korea successfully tested a nuclear missile on October 9, 2006. 
We believe it is necessary for North Korea to show concrete actions toward the abandonment of all nuclear weapons and existing nuclear programs," said Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan. 
Six-party talks are said to resume on December 18, 2006. 
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced a five year plan costing AU$1.8 billion to address issues with the country's mental health system. 
The plan follows a commitment made at the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in February. 
The federal government will improve access to clinical and health services, increase the number of mental health professionals in Australia, create mental health work teams consisting of GPs, psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health nurses, provide respite services for people suffering mental illness and their carers, and introduce new programs for community awareness. 
Mr Howard said the plan addresses issues which fall into its area of responsibility. 
He hopes that the states and territories will complement the federal government's package by investing in supported accommodation, hospital and emergency services, crisis care services and the provision of mental health care in gaols. 
Under the federal government's plan, psychologists will play a greater role in the mental health system. 
From November, Patients will be able to claim a rebate from Medicare (Australia's universal healthcare scheme) for the services of psychologists if they have been referred by a GP or psychiatrist. 
At present patients pay around $100 for a standard 30 minute consultation. 
Mr Howard claims that there is an issue for mental health professionals in treating patients with a substance abuse problem and mental illness. 
To address this the government will provide extra funding for drug and alcohol rehabilitation services. 
The government will increase the mental health workforce by funding an additional 400 mental health nursing and 200 clinical psychology places. 
The government has promised increase funding for telephone counselling and suicide prevention services, living skills programs and additional support for those with a mental illness who are having difficulty finding or keeping work. 
The government will also provide 900 personal helpers and mentors, increase funding for living skills programs and provide additional employment assistance to those who have difficulty finding or retaining employment due to their illness. 
The Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, despatched an additional 1,000 troops to the south of the country to help deal with the widespread violence. 
This brings the total number of security forces operating in the three troubled provinces to approximately 30,000. 
Mr. Shinawatra's recent visit to the region was followed by further shootings. 
In Narathiwat Province a 40 year old village worker was shot while helping a neighbour repair a fence. 
Friday saw the shooting of an assistant village head in Yala Province, and an elderly couple were shot in Pattani Province whilst returning from a local market. 
The insurgency and campaign for an independent Muslim state in the southern provinces has resulted in an exodus from the area. 
Estimates put the number of Thai Buddhists who have fled the area at 34,000. 
There are also some reports that Muslim inhabitants of the area have been seeking refuge in Malaysia. 
The state of emergency imposed last month has had a mixed reception. 
Largely favoured by Buddhists in the provinces, this grants additional powers to the Prime Minister and follows on from martial law having been in place since January 2004. 
Despite these security measures, over 1,000 people have died in the insurgency. 
An aide to ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said that a deal designed to end the country's political crisis has failed, after interim leader Roberto Micheletti announced the formation of a new cabinet. 
Micheletti said late on Thursday that he is installing a national unity government without the participation of Zelaya, who has declined to name any cabinet members. 
The two signed an agreement last week to resolve the four-month political standoff. 
Zelaya warned on Thursday the accord was at risk of collapsing unless the Honduran Congress held a vote to restore him to power immediately to serve out his term that ends in January. 
Congress must vote on Zelaya's restitution, but has not yet done so. 
The recently signed pact does not stipulate a deadline for the Congressional vote. 
The United States, a major broker in the mediation efforts, said this week the next step in the political crisis is up to Honduras. 
The governments of several countries have threatened not to recognize the presidential elections if Zelaya is not first returned to power. 
Zelaya was ousted in a military-backed coup in June, but returned to Honduras in September, where he has taken refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. 
Thousands of Greeks gathered last night in Syntagma square in front of the parliament building in Athens to protest over the political response to the fires. 
An estimated 8,000 people attended, after a call for a silent protest had been distributed through e-mail, text messages and eventually the media. 
Although general elections are taking place in two and a half weeks time, the protest was meant to be apolitical. 
Some protesters taunted riot police, who responded with stun grenades. 
Wikipedia, one of the top ten websites on the internet, will soon be receiving a face lift. 
The first part of the change is a new skin called Vector. 
This skin, currently used on Wikinews, will be enabled for Wikipedia on April 5th and provide a more updated look and feel. 
The second part will change the toolbar when editing, and is intended to ease common tasks. 
Both changes are important to encourage new people to edit and update content. 
The improvements have been tested by more than 500,000 beta-testers. 
The wiki code will also be altered; editors will be able to change tables data and other elements with what is intended as an easier form, in addition to editing an article while watching it. 
On the other hand, the staff of Wikimedia requested more editors to add and update articles in their wikis. 
Wikipedia is a website maintained by users in unprecedented numbers. 
Maintenance and updating processes are dependent on just one percent of their users. 
Based on some statements, fewer than a thousand users do the maintenance and updating work. 
According to family, former United States senator for Texas and former Treasury Secretary, Lloyd Bentsen has died at the age of 85 in his home located in Houston, Texas. 
Bentsen is most famous for his words during a Vice Presidential debate on October 5, 1988. 
Indiana Senator Dan Quayle, the Republican candidate for Vice President, compared his congressional experience to that of former President John F. Kennedy when he sought the presidency. 
The sharp rebuke, however, didn't save Bentsen, as George H.W. Bush and Quayle defeated Michael Dukakis and Bentsen in the 1988 elections. 
In 1998, Bentsen suffered a small stroke, which he said was caused by a 3-month long trip to 15 different nations. 
Bentsen was born on February 11, 1921 and represented the state of Texas for 28 years. 
The French government confirmed on Wednesday that it has expelled illegal Afghan immigrants in its first joint deportation flight with the UK, in a move criticised by the opposition and human rights groups. 
The deportation was widely anticipated, but the French government had refused to confirm that it would be expelling Afghan illegal immigrants until Wednesday. 
Immigration Minister Eric Besson told Europe One radio that three Afghan men had been put on a plane that had been chartered by the British government. 
The plane was also carrying illegal Afghan immigrants living in Britain. 
Besson said a fourth Afghan had been slated to be expelled as well, but was held back at the last minute. 
He said those expelled had lost their appeals against deportation, including one before the European Court of Human Rights. 
He said that he will not rule out future deportation flights with Britain. 
The expulsions have sparked widespread outcry on the part of human rights groups and opposition politicians, including Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoe. 
The French rights group France Terre d'Asile has gathered thousands of signatures in a petition against deportation. 
Marie-Helene Senay, communications director for France Terre d'Asile, said she opposed the deporting of Afghans back to their country, which has been torn by conflict, even if they do not meet asylum requirements in France. 
The French government, however, has argued that it is only trying to crack down on human smuggling rings and that illegal immigrants are given every legal recourse to remain in France. 
Immigration Minister Besson defended the decision, saying that "if France never sends people back, it becomes the target for people traffickers." 
He added that the three men put on the flight were from the Afghan capital of Kabul, "where there is no risk for them", and would be given monetary assistance to help them settle back into Afghanistan. 
The three 100 foot reinforced concrete sugar storage silos around which the investigation into the 2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion is centred have been demolished. 
The February industrial disaster killed 13 people when the Imperial Sugar refinery at Port Wentworth, United States exploded. 
The initial investigation concluded the disaster to have been a dust explosion that ignited under the silos, but investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) have been hampered as OSHA declared them to be unsafe after the accident. 
A 7,000lb wrecking ball has now been brought in and demolished the structures, which were 18 inches thick. 
This will allow access for investigators, and make way for replacement silos and a new sugar packaging building, which are scheduled to be in place by Summer 2009. 
The refinery hopes to restart sugar processing by the end of the year. 
Imperial vice president Brian Harrison, who is overseeing reconstruction at the site, said of the move "Several people have indicated to me it's a passage from the old to the new and a significant sign of the progress we're making to rebuild." 
2.8 million pounds of fire-hardened sugar were still present in one silo, and 500,000 pounds in another. 
Imperial brought in a crane with a bucket to retrieve this and intends to recycle it for ethanol production. 
Four workers are still hospitalised after the explosion, three in critical condition. 
The disaster is also blamed for a $15.5 million loss Imperial posted in this year's first quarter. 
The United Kingdom House of Commons voted 272–285 last night against proposed possible military action against Syria following claims the Assad regime used chemical weapons against civilians. 
The government motion was defeated by opposition from the Labour Party, as well as rebel MPs from both the Conservative and Liberal Democratic parties. 
David Cameron argued the recent events in Syria were a "humanitarian catastrophe, and if there are no consequences for it, there is nothing to stop Assad and other dictators from using these weapons again and again". 
The motion rejected by the Commons said the House "agrees that a strong humanitarian response is required from the international community and that this may, if necessary, require military action", and such action would be "legal, proportionate and focused on saving lives by preventing and deterring further use of Syria's chemical weapons". 
Thirty Conservative MPs and nine Liberal Democrats voted against their party against military intervention. 
Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, said the proposal to go to war was an "ill-thought through action", it lacked international support, and Cameron had acted in a "cavalier and reckless" manner. 
Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic leader Nick Clegg said the sole intention of the government's motion was to "relieve humanitarian suffering by deterring and disrupting the further use of chemical weapons". 
"President Obama's intentions are highly limited and so are ours." 
The former foreign secretary and Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind said during the debate: "The Assad regime in Damascus are watching very carefully as to whether they will get away with what they have done." 
Opposition came also from Britain's smaller parties: Caroline Lucas from the Green Party said the actions "cannot be justified", and expressed concern that the United Kingdom would be "flouting international law" by going into Syria. 
Respect MP George Galloway argued there was "no compelling evidence" of Syrian government involvement in the chemical weapons attack. 
Labour proposed an opposing motion that called for the government to present "compelling" evidence before action, which was rejected as well as the government's motion. 
The defeat of the government motion for military intervention has surprised some. 
Shadow Defence Secretary Jim Murphy said "Parliament is entirely unpredictable sometimes and I don't think many people saw this coming." 
Philip Hammond, the Defence Secretary, confirmed that following the vote, the country would not participate in any action in Syria, but he noted he expected the United States to carry on without the UK, anticipating "the US and other countries will continue to look at responses to the chemical attack." 
"They will be disappointed that Britain will not be involved." 
"I don't expect that the lack of British participation will stop any action." 
Hammond noted the rejection of military intervention would strain the "special relationship" between Britain and the United States. 
The former leader of the British Army, General Lord Dannatt, said the vote in the Commons was a "victory for common sense". 
The United States has said they will still seek military action against the Syrian regime. 
US defense secretary Chuck Hagel said the US would seek to build an "international coalition". 
Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White House, reacted to the British vote by saying: "The US will continue to consult with the UK Government — one of our closest allies and friends." 
Hayden said that President Obama "will be guided by what is in the best interests of the United States", and that Obama "believes that there are core interests at stake for the United States... countries who violate international norms regarding chemical weapons need to be held accountable". 
Representative Eliot Engel, a Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the White House had told them "beyond a doubt [...] chemical weapons were used, and used intentionally by the Assad regime", and that there is evidence from intercepted communications of involvement by "high-level Syrian officials". 
The Parliamentary vote on intervention in Syria is on the front pages of many of the national newspapers in Britain, with The Times claiming Cameron was "humiliated" by the vote. 
It was an unusual ending to Thursday's game at U.S. Cellular Field between the Chicago White Sox and the Cleveland Indians. 
With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth inning, Cleveland pitcher Roberto Hernández hit batter A.J. Pierzynski with the bases loaded, walking in the winning run. 
Grady Sizemore got things started for the Indians by hitting a solo home run in the first, but the Sox would tie it up in the second on a Paul Konerko RBI groundout. 
Another Indian homer came from the bat of Jason Michaels, but the Sox again tie it up in the fourth with Tadahito Iguchi hitting an RBI sacrifice fly. 
Chicago took their first lead of the game in the seventh with a Scott Podsednik RBI, but Jason Michaels would tie it up again in the eighth. 
In the bottom of the ninth inning, an inside pitch hit batter A.J. Pierzynski, walking in the winning run and ending the game. 
Chicago starter Mark Buehrle left the game in the second inning suffering from bruising on his forearm after being hit just below the elbow of his pitching arm. 
He has been diagnosed with having a contusion on his left forearm, and his status will be day-to-day. 
Matt Thornton is credited a blown save for giving up Chicago's one run lead in the eighth. 
Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers pitched the first six innings, giving up just a hit and two runs. 
The White Sox, now 1-2, are staying in town to play the visiting Minnesota Twins while Cleveland, now 2-1, will go home to face off against the Seattle Mariners. 
The government of China has claimed that the Dalai Lama is cooperating with Islamic extremists as part of a plot to bring the country into crises before the Olympic Games, which are due to be half in Beijing this Summer. 
The official newspaper of the government of China claimed that "the Dalai Lama is scheming to take the Beijing Olympics hostage to force the Chinese government to make concessions to Tibet independence." 
This move comes after Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, vowed to step down from his position if things "get out of control" in Tibet, where violent demonstrations against China have killed anywhere from 13 to 100 people. 
The protests, which began in Lhasa, have since spread to neighboring provinces. 
"Earlier today, the whole town was teeming with police and soldiers," he said. 
"People are anticipating that something big is going to happen." 
Elsewhere in Sichuan, thousands of Tibetans turned out in the streets of Seda, according to the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy. 
The international community has repeatedly urged China to use restraint in dealing with protesters, and to start talks with the Dalai Lama. 
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday, "We have really urged the Chinese over several years to find a way to talk with the Dalai Lama, who is a figure of authority, who is not a separatist, and to find a way to engage him and bring his moral weight to a more sustainable and better solution of the Tibet issue." 
Djibouti and Eritrea have spoken to the United Nations security council on Thursday to discuss a border dispute. 
Djibouti has said that unless the UN intervenes there will be war. 
The dispute dates back to June when violence erupted between the nations in the border region of Doumeira. 
The unmarked border remains disputed, and the nations have built up troops on each side of the border, keeping the situation tense. 
Djibouti's ambassador to the UN, Roble Olhaye, has accused Eritrea of avoiding mediation on the problem. 
Djibouti's President Omah Guelleh told the UN security council "Continued inaction in whatever form not only will encourage but will benefit Eritrea's attitude." 
"This would only give my country one option, the option of war." 
The Eritrean ambassador to the UN, Araya Desta, claimed to have peaceful intentions and that his nation had no wishes to take new territory. 
He claimed his country desired "the cultivation of good neighbourly relations with Djibouti," and said that "Contrary to the claims made, Eritrea has not taken any land that belongs to Djibouti and it does not have any territorial ambitions." 
Desta accused Ethiopia of worsening the situation by preparing military forces to help Djibouti. 
"Ethiopia has built from the Djiboutian side a network of winding roads up the mount and deployed offensive long-range artillery and heavy equipment directed at Eritrea," he said. 
Olhaye dismissed the idea of Ethiopia's involvement with the claim "Whatever the Eritrean ambassador has said is hogwash." 
The UN security council has urged both nations to show restraint; it was the UN who called on the nations to agree to a ceasefire in June. 
Veteran striker Pat "Bam Bam" Healy put an end to the undefeated streak of Lyle "Fancy Pants" Beerbohm in a close main event fight that went to the judges' decision at the Strikeforce Challengers 14 event at Cedar Park Center in Cedar Park, Texas on Friday night. 
Veteran fighter Carlo "Neo" Prater also prevailed in his Strikeforce debut against Bryan Travers. 
Ryan Couture, son of MMA legend Randy Couture, remained undefeated in his second-ever bout. 
Lyle Beerbohm came into the main event bout with an undefeated 15-0-0 record, in addition to his 8-0-0 amateur record. 
"This is going to be a fun, tough, hard fight that I expect will go everywhere," stated Beerbohm in a pre-fight media workout on Wednesday. 
"My time has come and I am really looking forward to the fight." 
Beerbohm also stated he wanted to eventually fight for a Strikeforce Lightweight title, but recognized that he first needed to move past his veteran opponent, Pat Healey, who came into the fight with a record of 25-17-0, who was making his return to action since his loss to Josh Thompson via submission in 2010. 
The bout was very close, going the distance through all three rounds. 
While Beerbohm pushed a lot of the action, especially with grappling on the ground, Healey was able to land more effective strikes and weathered persistent take-down attempts from Beerbohm. 
The action was back-and-forth, neither fighter never able to clearly dominate the other. 
The last few minutes of the fight proved to be the best for Healey, who wore down Beerbohm's strength and left him gasping for air, allowing Healey to attempt more submissions on the ground. 
The three judges scored the bout 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28 to give Healey the unanimous decision win. 
After the match, Beerbohm was upbeat, but felt he had won the bout. 
"I thought going into the third we'd each won a round, but I definitely thought I won that last round." 
"But that's what happens when you let it go to the hands of the judges." 
Healey complimented his opponent, "Beerbohm fought a good fight but I think I outworked and outhustled him." 
Healey also welcomed the idea of a rematch, stating, "He talked a lot of trash, but if he wants a rematch, I'll give him one anytime." 
Asked who he wanted to face next, Healey stated he wanted to fight the winner of the Billy "Cyborg" Evangelista and Jorge "Gamebred" Masvidal on March 5, noting that both fighters had previously defeated his brother, Pat Healey. 
The co-main event for the show featured Carlo "Neo" Prater, a veteran fighter with a 25-10-1 record making his Strikeforce debut against the 14-3-0 Bryan Travers. 
The bout was over in just 38 seconds as Prater used his superior reach to jab Travers several times before using a trip to take Travers to the ground and submitting him with an Anaconda Choke. 
Prater showed a lot of emotion in his post-fight interview. 
"My record shows I'm not a perfect fighter, but when you're down you get up," Prater said. 
"This was a good win, I'll get better off this fight, but I'll be right back in the gym soon." 
Ryan Couture, the son of MMA legend Randy "the Nature" Couture, pushed his fight record to 2-0-0 with a victory over 2-0-0 opponent Lee Higgins. 
Most of the first round featured very little action until Higgins attempted to take down Couture, and found himself fighting off Guillotine Choke and a D'Arce Choke in the last minute of the round. 
Couture dominated nearly all of the second round with superior stand-up striking and ground control. 
Higgins fared little better in the third, as Couture was able to put Higgins against the cage and stop Higgins' take-down attempts, and then eventually control Higgins on the ground before submitting him with a Rear Naked Choke with 20 seconds left in the bout. 
The main card was broadcast in the United States on premium broadcast network Showtime. 
The Showtime Strikeforce Challengers series highlights mixed martial arts fights between up-and-coming fighters as well as veteran fighters who are looking to move up towards the larger Strikeforce events. 
Mauritanians voted in favour of a new Constitution by an overwhelming majority in a referendum held on June 26, according to results announced by Interior Ministry officials today. 
The new Constitution sets limits on the number of presidential terms a leader can serve, in contrast to several sub-Saharan countries, where several leaders have amended their Constitutions to retain power. 
The Interior Minister, Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine said that over 96 percent votes cast were in favour of the new Constitution. 
The turnout was over 76 percent of the close to One million registered voters, who constitute about a third of the country's population. 
The referendum will now lead to municipal and legislative elections to be held in November, followed by elections to the parliamentary upper house and the President's post in 2007. 
The new Constitution provides for a presidential form of government, with the President commanding significant powers, including the appointment of the prime minister. 
The Parliament though, can vote for no confidence in the government or censure it. 
The Constitution disallows members of the present junta from running for the President's post and requires future leaders to swear on the Qur'an that they will not amend the Constitution to stay in power. 
International observers from the African Union and the Arab League said that the referendum appeared to have gone smoothly, but have yet to make their final reports. 
President Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, who also voted in the referendum said, "This is a great day and a rebirth for Mauritania ..." 
"I am sure that all Mauritanians feel the same way and that for this reason the Constitution will receive massive support." 
The Constitution has the backing of most civic and political groups, though two small parties called for a boycott of the referendum, saying the proposed Constitution ignores slavery, which is officially banned but still persists according to activists; and issues of "cohabitation between the different national communities" (such as Blacks and Arabs). 
An Australian man arrested last December near the Cambodian border in Vietnam, Trinh Huu, has been sentenced to death by a Vietnamese People's Court for smuggling 2kg of heroin. 
Amnesty International has urged the Australian Federal Government to do everything it can to help the man. 
The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs has said that Trinh was receiving consular assistance, but that it was too early to negotiate for clemency as his case is still subject to appeal. 
The government has reiterated its long standing opposition to the death penalty. 
According to reports, multiple Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip have injured three children, including one infant. 
According to a reporter for Al Jazeera, at least six locations were attacked by the strikes; meanwhile, Palestinian sources told the BBC that there were a total of at least thirteen strikes. 
A correspondent for the BBC reported that the attacks were the most serious in the area in over a year. 
Israel's military commented that it was targeting weapon storage areas in the centre of the Gaza Strip, and that their move was a reaction to rockets fired from Gaza. 
"Israel will not tolerate terroristic activity inside Gaza that threatens Israeli citizens," read a statement by the armed forces. 
According to Palestinian news agencies, Israeli aircraft threw leaflets around areas of Gaza yesterday, cautioning people that there would be retaliation for clashes near Khan Yunis last week, which killed two Israeli troops. 
Hamas officials and witnesses reported that farms, a milk factory, small areas belonging to the Hamas military, and metal workshop facilities were targeted. 
MSNBC translator Jacob Keryakes has stated that the claim of responsibility for the London bombings of July 7, supposedly made by a militant Islamist group, contains an error in one of the Quranic verses that it cites, suggesting that the claim may be phony. 
The claim of responsibility by The Secret Organization of al-Qaida in Europe for the London attacks has also been questioned on the grounds that the rhetoric is not consistent with militant Islamic ideology. 
The statement asked "the Nation of Islam and the Nation of Arabism to rejoice" about the attacks. 
According to the Associated Press, Islamic expert Mishari al-Thaidi wrote in an essay published Saturday in the London-based Arabic Asharq Al Awsat newspaper: "What strikes attention here is addressing the Arab nation." 
The National Socialist Movement is, according to its website, the largest and most active Nazi party in the United States. 
Accordingly, it refers to itself as 'America's Nazi Party' and aims to instigate major change in the US. 
Wikinews was able to conduct an interview with the head of the party, Commander Jeff Schoep. 
Fresh back from a march in Missouri, Commander Schoep told Wikinews his views on Barack Obama, the economy and much more. 
U.S. media giant Time Warner plans to increase the international reach of its HBO television empire with an expansion of television offerings in Asia. 
The channels will be available via both wired cable services and by satellite, which is more popular in Asia than it is in the United States. 
"Cable operators throughout Asia are preparing to dramatically expand channel capacity on many of their systems through digital technology," Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia said in a World Screen News report. 
He said HBO plans to be one of the first programmers to take advantage of increased channel capacity. 
The first new channel HBO plans to launch in Asia is HBO Signature, which is targeted to women. 
It is planned to debut in Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Macau and Sri Lanka by the end of the year. 
According to reports, HBO already has struck deals for carriage in all of those countries except Macau. 
In addition to programming HBO Signature to women, the company said it plans on two other genre-based channels, but did not disclose what niches they would market toward. 
A clue could be to look to the U.S. where HBO's niche channels include HBO Family for children-friendly programming and the self-explanatory HBO Comedy channel. 
Like the parent HBO Asia channel, along with limited original programming, the new genre channels are expected to offer top Hollywood fare dubbed into local languages. 
This is the largest expansion of HBO Asia, which has been operating in Asia since 1992 and serves 25 countries, since the launch of Cinemax Asia in 1996. 
British Airways (BA) and the Spanish airline Iberia have signed a merger deal, which will create one of the largest air carrier groups in the world. 
The two announced the merger yesterday, and said that the deal, which has been expected for a long time, is to be implemented by the end of 2010. 
The move will make a group with a market value of US$8 billion. 
Under the plan, both companies keep their own brands and operations, but will be owned by International Airlines Group, a new holding company. 
It will be listed in London, but taxed in Spain. 
The airlines believe the merger will save $530 million annually. 
In February, BA reported a loss of $102.4 million for the final three quarters of 2009, whilst Iberia posted an operating loss of $629 million. 
Meanwhile, investors in BA will receive an IAG share for every BA share they own, and stockholders in Iberia 1.0205 shares for each share in the Spanish airline; thus, BA shareholders will take 55% of IAG. 
"The merged company will provide customers with a larger combined network," commented BA chief executive Willie Walsh. 
"It will also have greater potential for further growth by optimising the dual hubs of London and Madrid and providing continued investment in new products and services." 
Meanwhile, Iberia chief executive Antonio Vázquez remarked: "This is an important step in creating one of the world's leading global airlines that will be better equipped to compete with other major airlines and participate in future industry consolidation." 
Independent aviation specialist James Halstead said he believed the merger was necessary for BA to remain competitive amongst other European air carriers. 
"BA's unique position at Heathrow could help it survive for a short while, but in the long run it needs more than just Heathrow." 
"The main point of the Iberia deal is to be able to cut costs and put the combined company in the position that Air France-KLM and Lufthansa are already in," he said, quoted by The Independent. 
Artistic gymnastics events at the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games concluded yesterday with two gold medal wins for China and gold medals for the Netherlands and the United States. 
China's Feng Zhe won gold in the men's parallel bars, just narrowly beating out the German gymnast Marcel Nguyen by 0.166 points. 
China also claimed a gold with Deng Linlin scoring a 15.600 in the women's beam. 
The balance beam proved treacherous for some: Gabrielle Douglas, considered a favourite for the event, came seventh after a dramatic fall. 
The United States did manage to get a bronze on the beam thanks to Alexandra Raisman who pulled off a routine that received enormous applause. 
She initially got less points than Romania's Catalina Ponor, but took the bronze after an appeal. 
The men's horizontal bar event was a volley of high-scoring, high-difficulty routines. 
Danell Leyva from the United States started with a strong 15.833 point routine. 
China's Zhang Chenglong then grabbed the lead by earning 16.266 points. 
The German gymnast Fabian Hambuchen raised the bar even further with a 16.400 routine. 
The Dutch gymnast Epke Zonderland performed a near-flawless and immensely difficult routine that earned 16.533 points, earning him both a gold medal and a standing ovation from the audience in the North Greenwich Arena. 
Zonderland's performance makes him the first Dutch gymnast to win gold at the Olympics since the win for the Dutch women's team at the Amsterdam Games in 1928. 
Hambuchen got a silver medal and the Chinese gymnast Zou Kai took bronze. 
In the women's floor event, the eighteen-year-old United States gymnast Alexandra Raisman secured a second gold after her success in the women's team event last week. 
As in the beam event, she narrowly beat out Catalina Ponor from Romania with a score of 15.600 to 15.200. 
Aliya Mustafina from Russia took home bronze for her 14.900 point routine. 
According to three news wires, the fourth London bombing suspect — just named as Hussain Osman — has been arrested by Italian police in Rome. 
The arrest has been confirmed by the Italian Minister of the Interior. 
Hussein is a UK citizen who was born in Somalia, and later moved to Britain and naturalized. 
It comes as two bombing suspects were arrested today in West London, and one in Birmingham on 27 July. 
Swindon, England, has an unusual new twin town: Walt Disney World in Florida. 
The Wiltshire town beat 24 others in a competition to become the first ever to be twinned with the famous resort. 
Rebecca Warren, a local building society worker, created a poem and video praising Swindon which won over the judges. 
Among other features she highlighted the town's well-known Magic Roundabout, a complicated junction composed of five interlinked mini-roundabouts, comparing it to Disney World's teacup rides. 
A sign marking the twinning is planned for the roundabout. 
Ms. Warren will travel to Florida with her eleven-year-old nephew and five-year-old niece to unveil a similar sign at the resort. 
A celebration will be held in Swindon in January, and it will also be the focus of an exhibit at Walt Disney World's Epcot park. 
"Britain clearly has a love for Walt Disney World and long-standing affinity with the parks and their magic, which is probably why the number and quality of entries received was so high," said Disney's Hugh Wood. 
Other towns shortlisted in the competition included Aberdeen, Blackpool, Milton Keynes, and Cambridge. 
The jury in the Isiah Thomas sexual harassment trial revealed a guilty verdict Tuesday, ruling that the current New York Knicks coach subjected former Madison Square Garden executive Anucha Browne Sanders to unwanted sexual advances and verbal insults. 
In a minor victory for Thomas, the ruling also said that Thomas will not have to pay punitive damages. 
However, Thomas' employer, Madison Square Garden, was also found guilty of harassment and will have to pay millions dollars worth of punitive damages to Browne Sanders. 
The ugly three-week trial originated with a US$10 million lawsuit filed by Browne Sanders, the former senior vice president of marketing and business operations for the Knicks. 
She was fired by the team in December of 2006, and following her dismissal she filed the explosive lawsuit alleging that Madison Square Garden fostered an environment of sexism and inequality, personified by the conduct of Isiah Thomas. 
She stated that Thomas repeatedly called her a "bitch" and a "ho", and pressured her to kiss him and said that he loved her. 
She also stated that the firing was the result of her filing a complaint about Thomas. 
Madison Square Garden, and the coach known for his charismatic and emotional demeanor, denied the charges. 
After the guilty verdict was read, a relieved Browne Sanders hugged her family and friends who were present at the trial. 
Thomas met with his lawyers, and while leaving the courthouse stated, "I'm innocent, very innocent, and I did not do the things she has accused me in this courtroom of doing." 
"I'm extremely disappointed that the jury did not see the facts in this case." 
"I will appeal this, and I remain confident in the man that I am and what I stand for and the family that I have." 
Madison Square Garden is also expected to appeal the decision. 
Young people are gathering in Kigali for the first Global Youth Conference on Genocide Prevention. 
Approximately 100 students from Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo will share ideas about the past and present in Rwanda as well as the future for the Great Lakes region. 
The conference comes at a crucial time, with Rwanda facing the Gacaca process, the regional implications of that process, and the spotlight on Africa to an unprecedented level. 
Hu Jintao, the President of the People's Republic of China had lunch today with the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, at the Granja do Torto, the President's country residence in the Brazilian Federal District. 
Lunch was a traditional Brazilian barbecue with different kinds of meat. 
Some Brazilian ministers were present at the event: Antonio Palocci (Economy), Eduardo Campos (Science and Technology), Roberto Rodrigues (Agriculture), Luiz Fernando Furlan (Development), Celso Amorim (Exterior Relations), Dilma Rousseff (Mines and Energy). 
Also present were Roger Agnelli (Vale do Rio Doce company president) and Eduardo Dutra (Petrobras, government oil company, president). 
This meeting is part of a new political economy agreement between Brazil and China where Brazil has recognized mainland China's market economy status, and China has promised to buy more Brazilian products. 
Manchester United defeated AS Roma 1-0 in Group F of the UEFA Champions League 2007-08 at Old Trafford, Manchester, England. 
Wayne Rooney scored the only goal of the match, his first goal of the season for Manchester United, in the 70th minute. 
Manchester United currently lead Group F with two wins from two matches. 
AS Roma are second on goal difference ahead of Sporting CP, who defeated FC Dynamo Kyiv 2-1. 
President Bush is lobbying the U.S. House of Representatives to pass the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which is scheduled for a vote Wednesday night. 
Similar to the existing North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, CAFTA would create a free trade zone putting an end to most trade barriers between the United States and six additional countries, including Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic. 
Many Republicans who represent agricultural Corn Belt or industrial Rust Belt and southern textile states in Congress also have stated opposition to the bill. 
But with a Republican majority in the House large enough to ensure passage of CAFTA, party leaders are trying to shore up enough votes to ensure CAFTA's passage. 
This has prompted last minute action by the President to lobby individual members of the House, reminding them that Central American countries have committed troops and other resources to fight the U.S. War on Terror. 
Other Republican leaders have been using the party's traditional pro-business message and linking it to homeland security issues. 
"Trade creates jobs and lifts people out of poverty and there's nothing like a stable society to fight terrorism and strengthen democracy, freedom and rule of law," Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House, reportedly said at a news conference Tuesday. 
CAFTA is "a bad deal for Central Americans and also for Latinos in this community... (with CAFTA) the exploitation of workers will continue in Central America," Democrat Representative Hilda Solis of Los Angeles said. 
Her views are common among Democrats, who are overwhelmingly against the treaty. 
According to opponents of CAFTA, the current trend of American jobs being sent to foreign countries, particularly in the information technology sector, would greatly expand under the treaty. 
"This will be a vote in the middle of the night." 
"They'll keep the vote open for several hours, in violation of the rules." 
"If it passes, it will be by fewer than five votes," predicted Rep. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat from Ohio, according to a Washington Post report. 
Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed yesterday to a runoff vote with former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah on November 7, after much international pressure, following a report on voting irregularities. 
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that the United Nations has requested that the Independent Election Commission (IEC) replace 200 of its officials in order to avoid a repeat incident. 
President Karzai said it was "time to move forward to stability and national unity". 
The New Zealand Police have issued a warning to state broadcaster TVNZ (Television New Zealand) for not telling them that they knew where a rapist on the run from police was. 
However, he did turn himself in after giving the interview. 
John Clarke, the convicted rapist, was on the run from police after leaving his home while he was on home detention on Monday, and two probation officers were also present. 
One News, owned by TVNZ, were interviewing John Clarke yesterday, meanwhile a lot of time and effort from police was going into trying to hunt him down. 
After they have finished the interview, Mr Clarke handed himself in to the Greymouth police, which One News also recorded. 
"He wandered in off the street with a TV film crew," said Greymouth Sergeant David Cross. 
A spokeswoman for TVNZ, Megan Williams said that they would only agree to the interview with Mr Clarke if he handed himself into police after they had finished. 
She said that if he had not handed himself in, they would then have gone to the police. 
The police say that they would have expected TVNZ to have called them "...to say 'look Gary, perhaps if you pull back some of your resources at 5 o'clock, this guy's going to give himself up'," said Sergeant Cross. 
Sergeant Alison Eleam, Christchurch's central area commander, says that she is not impressed with the way TVNZ acted. 
TVNZ say that they are now happy to talk to the police. 
In November, 2006, Mr Clarke was released from prison and placed into home detention for kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old girl in 1997. 
Ben Marlin, bassist for American brutal death metal band Disgorge, died Wednesday after a lengthy battle with cancer. 
San Diego-based Disgorge announced his death in the following statement: 
"We are regretful to say that after nearly a year and a half of battling cancer, our brother and bass player Ben Marlin has passed away just about the stroke of 5 a.m. this January 2nd, 2008." 
"We are going to miss him so much and may he live on in all our hearts forever." 
"Ben, thank you for all your years of friendship and brutality." 
Upon hearing of Marlin's death Ruud Lemmen of Neurotic Records released the following statement: 
"It is with great regret that I've just learned about Ben losing his battle with cancer." 
"Ben was a great friend, and the time he spent in Europe with Disgorge (especially the nights off at my own home) have been nothing but great." 
"Ben was a good guy, a funny fellow and I will never forget him." 
"For one, I can't even imagine how thrilled I was when he took off his own personal, extremely limited Cranial Impalement (early band demo) long-sleeve and threw it my way, saying, 'Hey bro, it's yours.'" 
"This is just one of many perfect examples that showed what kind of humble person Ben was." 
"My condolences go out to friends, family and band members." 
London, England— Australia lost Sunday night to Canada 50–57 in the women's wheelchair basketball at the Olympic Park in London. 
Poor shooting doomed the Australian Gliders' hopes of a third victory in a row at the Basketball Arena; they only managed to make only 23 out of 68 shots at the basket, a miserable 34%. 
The Gliders were down by eight points at quarter time; but, fought their way back into the game, tying at 40-all at one point in the third quarter. 
Both Amber Merritt and Cobi Crispin ran up large numbers of personal fouls: four for Meritt and five for Crispin, hampering Australia's game style. 
Nonetheless, the pair still contributed to the team's scoreline, with Crispin scoring 12 points with 15 rebounds, and Merritt scoring 16 points with six rebounds. 
Shelley Chaplin scored eight points with five rebounds and seven assists. 
The other players in the Gliders Sarah Vinci, Bridie Kean, Amanda Carter, Tina McKenzie, Leanne del Toso, Clare Nott, Kylie Gauci, Sarah Stewart and Katie Hill. 
This was the Australian's third game in the Group A round-robin. 
Over the prior two days they had defeated Brazil 52-50 and Great Britain 51-24. 
The five teams in each of two groups play each other once. 
The top four teams in each group then go on into the quarter-finals. 
Uruguay have qualified for the 2010 World Cup following a 1:1 draw with Costa Rica; Uruguay won on a 2:1 aggregate when they won 1:0 on Saturday. 
With the win all 32 teams have qualified for the 2010 games. 
On the same day Algeria, Greece, Slovenia, Portugal and France also qualified for the tournament. 
Sebastian Abreu scored for Uruguay first when he headed in a goal. 
Walter Centeno scored for Costa Rica but a draw failed to seal a win for Costa Rica and lost the game and the chance to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. 
The game continued despite it being stopped after five minutes media started scuffling with the Costa Rica substitutes. 
With Uruguay's qualification they join other South American teams Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile. 
Two-time former winners Uruguay missed the 2006 World Cup after losing in a qualifier to Australia, who have also qualified for next year's tournament. 
Next year's World Cup will see the return of several teams to the tournament. 
The host South Africa are making their first appearance since 2002 along with Denmark, Nigeria, Cameroon and Slovenia. 
Chile last appeared in 1998, Greece in 1994 and Algeria in 1986. 
New Zealand and Honduras have also qualified, their last appearance was in 1982 and North Korea have not competed in the World Cup since 1966. 
Serbia has previously qualified as Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro, while Slovakia previously played as Czechoslovakia. 
The tournament is due to start in South Africa on the June 11, 2010 and last for one month. 
A camera set up in the jungles of Malaysian Borneo in Sabah by the World Wide Fund for Nature or WWF, has captured, for the first time, a Borneo Rhino on videotape. 
"This astonishing footage captures one of the world's most elusive creatures." 
"Tremendous progress has been made in recent years to secure the rhino's habitat but so much more needs to be done considering this species may very well disappear in the next 10 years," said President and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund in a press release, Carter Roberts. 
"In the video, the rhino comes out of the jungle brush and then proceeds to sniff the camera and equipment surrounding it." 
"The video also shows the rhino getting a bite to eat." 
It is estimated that there are only 25 to 50 of the rhinos alive on the planet, and they can only be found in the jungles of Sabah, or better known as the "Heart of Borneo." 
For the past 20 years, the rhino has not been reported anywhere else in Sabah and researchers say that it is likely "extinct" in the rest of Malaysia. 
Researchers say that poaching to use the rhino's horn in medicine and encroachment into their habitats are causing them to decline. 
Researchers also say that because the rhino is so isolated from the rest of Malaysia, that they are rarely able to breed together. 
"The rhino is very sensitive to the presence of human beings." 
"Till now, we can still see the rhino, but if we cannot develop any kind of protection method, I think the rhinos will survive less than 10 years," said a project manager for the WWF for elephants and rhinos in the Borneo region, Raymond Alfred. 
In 2006, the first ever still image was captured of the rhino. 
Just hours after firing two contract employees and disciplining a third for inappropriately examining the passport file of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Sen. Hillary Clinton that her passport file was also breached in 2007. 
Sen. John McCain, the Republican candidate for president, also had his file breached — this time by one of the same individuals who had examined Obama's records. 
Both Clinton and McCain were informed that their files were improperly accessed, according to their Senate offices, after Rice called to apologize to Barack Obama for the incident hours before. 
"I told him I was sorry and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if anyone had looked at my passport file and that, therefore, I will stay on top of this," Rice said. 
"We are going to do an investigation through the inspector general." 
"None of us want us to have a situation where any American's passport file is accessed in an unauthorized way." 
According to Assistant Secretary of State, Sean McCormack, at least one breach occurred during a training session, with a contract employee brought in to deal with a large backlog of passport applications. 
"We do feel that the system worked, but the system isn't perfect," McCormack said. 
Obama's response to the incident was "One of the things that the American people count on in their interactions with any level of government is that if they have to disclose personal information, then it is going to stay personal and stay private." 
He also told reporters he expects a full and thorough congressional investigation. 
McCain, who was in France after recently traveling to Iraq responded to the incident stating, "The United States of America values everyone's privacy and corrective action should be taken." 
In testimony given before a U.S. military hearing, criminal investigator Benjamin Bierce narrated his account of how an incident involving five soldiers involved the serial rape of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl prior to shooting her. 
The hearing will determine whether four current U.S. soldiers have to face a court martial hearing; an additional former soldier allegedly involved in the incident, Steven D. Green, was recently discharged from the military and has pleaded not guilty to rape and murder charges in federal court in Kentucky. 
According to Bierce, a U.S. Special Agent investigating the incident, the brutal attack which saw Abeer Qassim al-Janabi slain and her parents and younger sister murdered was premeditated. 
Citing a sworn statement from Army Specialist James Barker, the five accused were said to have plotted the rape whilst drinking whisky and playing cards. 
According to Agent Bierce, Spc. Barker said that Pte. Spielman grabbed the girl while Pte. Green seized her father and they then took them into the house and Sgt. Cortez and Spc. Barker followed them inside. 
Pte. Green supposedly led the father, mother and younger sister into the bedroom and closed the door, while the teenage girl remained in the living room with the other Americans, Spc. Barker's statement said. 
Cortez then allegedly pushed the girl to the floor, pulled up her dress and tore off her underwear while she was struggling, Bierce said, again citing Spc. Barker's statement. 
Cortez appeared to then rape Abeer and afterward, Spc. Barker tried to rape the girl, the statement said. 
Then Pte. Green came out of the bedroom with an AK-47 rifle and announced: "They're all dead." 
Cortez held Abeer down while Pte. Green raped the girl; according to Spc. Barker's statement. 
Pte. Green then picked up the AK-47 and shot Abeer once, waited, and then shot her a few more times, the U.S. official, Agent Bierce, said, quoting from Spc. Barker's statement. 
Spc. Barker said that he then poured kerosene lamp fuel on the girl's body but Barker did not say who set it on fire. 
Gary Griesmyer, another Special Agent, quoted Sgt. Cortez as telling him that the teenage girl was crying and talking in Arabic and that Spc. Barker told her to "shut up." 
Private Justin Watt testified that Pte. Howard told him before the incident that Pte. Green, Sgt. Cortez and Spc. Barker were planning to rape a girl, and Pte. Howard was going to be the lookout. 
Watt testified that he heard Mr. Green say, "I want to kill and hurt a lot of Iraqis." 
Green has been discharged from the military and has pleaded not guilty in a federal court in Kentucky where he will stand trial; he will not be facing a court martial regardless of what occurrs in the Baghdad hearing. 
"If you have the power to make something right, you should do it." 
"But if something went down -- something terrible like that -- then it's my obligation to come forward," Watt said. 
Watt also said life for some of the soldiers in the B Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, was horrible while they were manning a military post in nearby Yusufiyah. 
Some lived in a "dilapidated, abandoned water treatment facility" he said. 
Pfc. Watt, who is identified as the whistle-blowing soldier who disclosed the attack during a counseling session, also said; "I feared for my safety at the TCP (traffic control point)." 
"It's like this, I find out that guys in my squad, guys I trusted with my life, are allegedly responsible for one of the most brutal rapes/murders I've ever seen." 
Pfc. Justin Cross testified that deadly attacks by insurgents sapped morale and raised combat stress in the U.S. Army unit that included the soldiers accused of raping and murdering Abeer. 
He said that the "mentally draining" living conditions of the combat unit was a factor. 
"You feel like every step you might get blown up." 
"You just hit a point where you're like, 'If I die today, I die.'" 
An article 32 hearing, like this, seeks to determine if a soldiers should face court martial. 
Its similar to that of a preliminary hearing or a grand jury proceeding in civilian law. 
Two men were arrested today by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) at a Caledonia rally at about 12:00 p.m. ET after entering the disputed land in Caledonia, Ontario waving Canadian flags. 
One was Gary McHale, a Richmond Hill, Ontario man who entered the occupied land in Caledonia, Ontario to organize a rally against the ongoing aboriginal occupation. 
Vandermaas was forced to the ground by police officers, who ripped the flag out of his hand when he crossed the police line. 
According to news reports, McHale intended to put the Canadian flag across the street from DCE (Douglas Creek Estates) where the aboriginal occupation has been ongoing for 10 months. 
Back in late October the aboriginals had already put up their flags across from the DCE property and the OPP made no attempt to stop them. 
However, on Dec. 2 residents of Caledonia attempted to put up Canadian flags with Yellow ribbons in various areas in Caledonia. 
When they tried to put up a Canadian Flag across from DCE property the OPP sent in 100 officers to stop them. 
Mr. McHale called for people to gather on Dec. 16 to try to put up Canadian Flags across from DCE property on the same hydro poles that Natives already had put up their flags. 
Mr. McHale stated, "I have asked 2 dozen OPP officers why it is legal to have a Native Flag up along the highway but illegal for a Canadian Flag to be up and I have never received an answer." 
"The OPP set up a line just about a hundred yards away from that site and several people were able to cross that line." 
"They got through a farmer's field on far left side of where I'm standing here," said CTV reporter Joel Bowey. 
"We're hearing that Mr. McHale got in the middle of the street and put a flag down there, and that's when he and the other man from London, Ont. were arrested." 
"So far all we know is that those two men have been arrested and there are no other arrests at this point." 
The OPP said the men were arrested for "breaking the peace" and noted that it is not a criminal offence. 
Police had warned them about crossing into the disputed land before. 
"I've now said that Mr. McHale's plans were counterproductive and potentially dangerous to what we've been trying to do there, and that is to reach a peaceful settlement," said David Ramsay, Ontario's minister of aboriginal affairs. 
"I've twice now offered Mr. McHale the opportunity to protest at Queen's Park [the site of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario building]." 
"In fact, I said I would sponsor his rally and set up a platform and a microphone, a PA system for him." 
Mayor Marie Trainer of Haldimand County, were Caledonia is located, said: "The next meeting or two will be wasted on frivolous stuff again instead of getting down to business." 
Trainer also says that he should not be entering the town and did not specify what side she is on or if she is not taking any side. 
This was not the first time Gary McHale entered the disputed land. 
On October 15, 2006, McHale with approximately 2000 (as reported by local newspapers) participants rallied in Caledonia, but the OPP blocked the entrance to the occupied site. 
"Our fight is not with the natives, we're just trying to be equal in a democratic Canada," said Christine McHale, wife of Gary McHale. 
"When a native commits a serious crime or any crime, they stand by and watch the crime take place and will not do anything to stop the crime." 
"When a resident does the simplest thing, even putting up a Canadian flag or drinking a coffee in a lawn chair across some magic line, they will send in scores of officers to arrest the person," said Gary McHale. 
"We have to take a stand and say to police forces that there is one set of laws for all citizens." 
"Police have one set of policies for natives and another set of policies for non-natives," he said before the rally. 
"It's against our Charter of Rights, that clearly says there's not to be any discriminations based on their religion, beliefs, race or their skin colour." 
McHale has been long critical of the Ontario Provincial Police over the land claim saying that they treat aboriginals differently. 
McHale and his wife operate a website called Caledonia Wake Up Call.com, were they detail what they describe as police bias. 
France have defeated New Zealand 18-20 in the quarter-final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales. 
New Zealand led 13-3 at half time, after Dan Carter kicked two penalties and Luke McAlister scored a try. 
France missed chances to score with Lionel Beauxis and Jean-Baptiste Élissalde both missing penalties and Damien Traille missing a drop goal attempt. 
Lionel Beauxis scored France's first points with a penalty just before half time. 
However, New Zealand centre Luke McAlister was harshly sin-binned early in the second half for illegally blocking a French player and preventing a try scoring opportunity. 
France took advantage of having the extra man, and levelled to 13-13 by the time the 10 minute suspension had elapsed with Lionel Beauxis adding a penalty and Thierry Dusautoir scoring a try. 
The teams slogged it out for 15 minutes, but New Zealand could not make a breakthrough. 
Luke McAlister missed a last minute drop goal attempt as France held on to win. 
Some New Zealand fans blamed the loss on English referee Wayne Barnes due to alleged bias towards the French team. 
Controversial decisions included Luke McAlister's sin binning and an apparent forward pass that led to France's second try, allowing them to take the lead. 
However, most neutrals also noted an apparent forward pass in the build up to an earlier New Zealand try and consider Barnes to have done a reasonable job in such a high profile game. 
France advance to the semi-final stage of the tournament and will play England, who defeated Australia 12-10 earlier today, in a repeat of the 2003 semi-final. 
Raymond Lee Oyler of California, United States has been convicted of the murders of five US Forest Service firefighters killed while attempting to control a wildfire he had lit. 
Oyler, 38, set the Esperanza Fire out of anger his dog had been impounded, according to prosecutors. 
The October 2006 blaze destroyed 34 houses and 20 outbuildings, scorching over 17,400 hectares. 
Prosecutors also alleged Oyler started the fire at night specifically to leave firefighters "on their own" without aerial support. 
He was identified as the arsonist behind the fire after a security camera saw his car several times and samples taken from the scene matched those found in his girlfriend's house. 
Oyler, an unemployed car mechanic, was also identified by the owner of a local petrol station as having stood in a car park and watched the fire's spread. 
The five firefighters that were killed died when their truck was overrun by the flames. 
Oyler was convicted of murdering them on Friday March 6 after a six-week trial in Riverside California. 
The twelve-member jury took nearly a week of deliberation before returning the guilty verdict, and will meet to hear arguments regarding Oyler's sentence on Tuesday. 
His defense had admitted Oyler likely started several fires in the Riverside County area, but denied he had started the one that killed the firefighters. 
California-based Autodesk Inc. announced yesterday that they plan to acquire Toronto-based Alias for $182 million in cash. 
The acquisition is expected to be completed within six months. 
"Alias' technology spans several of our most important markets and augments the synergy between our design and media business," said Carl Bass, COO of Autodesk. 
Autodesk is the creator of one of the top computer aided design programs; AutoCAD, which is used by many engineers and architects for design activities including drafting. 
They are the 5th largest PC software company in the world. 
Alias produces 3D graphics software used in the creation of special effects, video games, industrial, and automotive design. 
They were founded in 1983 under the name Alias Research. 
They merged with Wavefront Technologies under SGI in 1995 and changed its name to Alias in July 2003. 
In June, 2004 they were spun off from Silicon Graphics Inc. and acquired by Accel-KKR and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. 
In the 2005 fiscal year they earned $83 million in revenue. 
Alias customers include DreamWorks SKG, Pixar, Nintendo, Industrial Light & Magic, General Motors, and BMW. 
According to Alias, their software has been used in nearly every film nominated for an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award in the Best Visual Effects and Best Animated Feature Films categories. 
25 New Zealand police officers have left today, July 11, for three months in East Timor. 
The police force will assist the 160 New Zealand Defence Force armed personnel that are already in East Timor as well as other country's personnel. 
Grant O'Fee, contingent commander, said "attempts will be made to establish good relations with village chiefs." 
The police teams will try to prosecute those who are responsible for arson and assault following the recent violence in East Timor. 
The recent two weeks of violence has died down since the former Prime Minister (PM) of East Timor resigned giving his post to the former foreign and defence minister, Jose Ramos Horta. 
This appointment has been congratulated by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Kofi Annan. 
Horta said the main priority for his government will be "restoring security and moving 150,000 people in refugee camps back home." 
The Canadian House of Commons will re-open the debate on same-sex marriage next Wednesday, December 6th, when it debates a resolution to reconsider the Civil Marriage Act that was passed by the previous Liberal-led parliament in 2005. 
In the intervening election, the victorious Conservatives promised that if they were elected parliament would hold a free vote on whether to amend or repeal the Act. 
Several surveys have suggested that MPs in the minority parliament will overwhelmingly reaffirm support for same-sex marriage once a vote has held. 
The pro-same sex marriage group Canadians for Equal Marriage estimates that the motion will be defeated by at least 35 votes. 
This has prompted supporters of same-sex marriage to urge that a vote be held as soon as possible while opponents of gay marriage have been urging the government to delay the vote until the next election, expected early in 2007, in hopes of the election of a Conservative majority that would repeal the act. 
A number of Conservative MPs and strategists have supported an early vote, however, in the belief that the same-sex issue would hurt the Tories in an election campaign by emphasizing a social conservative agenda that is unpopular in urban areas and Quebec. 
Andrew Burris, from Curtis, Ohio, and member of Carpenters Local 1138, died in Toledo, Ohio when the construction platform he was on fell around 9:15 a.m. EST. 
The platform was attached to the northbound side of the Veterans' Glass City Skyway, a new bridge on Interstate 280. 
The platform was clamped to the side of the bridge, and broke off. 
Burris fell about 95 feet to the ground, where he landed on the east side of the roadway. 
Authorities from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration do not know why the platform broke free from the bridge. 
The Toledo Police department does not suspect foul play, and considers the death to be accidental. 
The $220 million bridge is scheduled for opening in June, 2007, and is the largest construction project in the history of Ohio. 
"On behalf of Director Beasley and the Ohio Department of Transportation, we extend our deepest sympathy to the family of Andrew Burris," said ODOT District 2 director, Dave Dysard. 
"We also extend our condolences to his relatives, friends and his fellow workers who have made us proud through their commitment and dedication to their work." 
"Andrew was a part of the team that took the pylon to the top back in 2005." 
"For four-and-a-half years, he was an integral part of the team that worked to complete this vital link for our community." 
On Presidents' Day in 2004, five workers were killed and four were injured when a crane collapsed. 
Mr. Burris was from a line of carpenters, and kept a scrapbook of the project. 
His mother, Ruth, was quoted as saying "I think he felt closer to heaven there." 
The British Parliament approved the first stage of the new Crossrail underground railroad through London as a £15 billion construction project earlier this month. 
Crossrail is the first major new train line to be built in London in decades. 
The rail line being implemented as a hybrid bill in Parliament. 
After a second reading in Parliament, it was voted upon and decided that the government will commit to the project so that the line will be built. 
The next issue before Parliament of to ensure that the implementation of the bill so it is consistent with private interests of neighborhoods to be affected by Crossrail. 
This is when residents can petition Parliament to change the way the line is constructed. 
As a result of construction of the Crossrail line, hundreds of homes will have new tunnels excavated beneath them. 
On contacting Crossrail, they have indicated approximately £50 will be offered to each landowner to buy all the land rights-of-way to build the train tunnel more than 9 meters below the residential buildings. 
The average value for properties in the affected areas is £350,000. 
Under UK compulsory purchase laws to be used in this bill, the residents are entitled to the difference in the value of the whole property with and without a tunnel under it. 
If the offer given by Crossrail is not accepted by any of the residents, the residents can take the case to the Land Tribunal, where the fair value will be established. 
Crossrail does not indicate that it will attempt to assign a fair value in the original offer and instead is only going to offer around £50 per property in the hope that not many people take the matter to the Land Tribunal. 
A Florida man was killed and another man hospitalized after their boat sank off Cape May, New Jersey, US. 
The Sea Wolf sent a distress signal via emergency satellite beacon at about 1:35 AM on Thursday, seven miles off Cape May. 
A member of the State Police informed the Coast Guard who sent out an MH-65 rescue helicopter and two rescue launches. 
The helicopter managed to save Steve Hopkins of the District of Columbia but was unable to do the same for Gregory Arlotta of Florida. 
The 62 year old disappeared among the debris in eight-foot waves. 
Arlotta had recently bought the vessel in New York; its previous owner was in his seventies and had decided to sell the ship. 
The Sea Wolf had been operating for a couple of decades prior to the sinking, and was described by one local as unfit for the voyage it was undertaking to New Orleans. 
A 1963 Gilligan, it was designed for use within ten miles of shore for fishing. 
Mark Webber set up a third place for Red Bull, while his team-mate Sebastian Vettel was out of the race due to problems with the car's suspension. 
Nico Rosberg drove his Williams up to fourth place, while the second McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen came fifth. 
Championship leader Jenson Button gained two points for Brawn by finishing 7th and is now 18.5 points ahead of Webber, who has moved into second place ahead of Vettel. 
He split the two Toyota cars of Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli, who completed the top eight. 
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that decides on the laws of the game, has decided to discontinue all experiments involving technology, and for the first time has also decided on the exact size of a soccer field. 
Instead of pursuing the idea of using cameras or microchips in the ball to see if it has crossed the goal-line, the International Board wants to see if the introduction of two extra assistant referees can improve the quality of referee's decisions. 
FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke declared: "We have decided to freeze for the time being the goal-line technology and all technology experiments." 
"We will look on these two additional referees and we avoid considering any goal-line technology during this time." 
FIFA President Sepp Blatter said the move was necessary to maintain the universal spirit of the game: "We have 260 million people directly involved in the game." 
"If we maintain the laws of the game ... it's so easy to understand ..." 
"We have to live with errors, football has to keep its human face." 
"We have to maintain the laws of the game in their simplicity." 
"Do you want technical devices to take decisions? That's why, after three years of tests with no conclusions, I am in favour of putting the whole thing on ice," Blatter explained. 
UEFA president Michel Platini agreed: "Football should stay human, but two more officials can help, especially around the goal." 
Platini made the suggestion to freeze all investigations into technology and to try two additional assistants behind each goal. 
Blatter said the system using the microchip "was very complicated, needing electrified lines on the field of play and other devices including antennae and when we tested it in Tokyo last year there was one mistake during the seven matches we used as an experiment at the Club World Championship." 
With regards to the system using cameras, he pointed to "problems with players obscuring the views of the cameras, or of flares or weather conditions." 
The system of the extra referees will be tested at an upcoming FIFA or UEFA tournament, and a final ruling is expected at next year's meeting, according to FIFA's Jerome Valcke. 
Hawk-Eye, the company that was working on the goal-line technology that is already being used for line calls in tennis, reacted with disappointment: "I'm livid, it is completely out of the blue..." 
"A year ago they met and gave us four criteria to meet and we have met all of them, yet they have kicked it out now..." 
"We have invested an awful lot of money and now we have no return on that investment," director Paul Hawkins said. 
He said he was encouraged to continue research on the project only 10 days ago at a private showing for IFAB members at Reading's Madejski Stadium. 
While the Welsh FA were also against the idea, the English Football Association supported the use of technology and was hoping to start using it by next season. 
The FA clubs and referees supported the use of Hawk-Eye technology, said Mike Foster, general secretary of the English Premier League. 
A spokesperson of the Premier League said that "A lot of time, money and effort has gone into developing a system that meets all the criteria laid down last year." 
The Scottish and Northern Irish FA also voted in favour of the goal-line technology. 
FA chief executive Brian Barwick expressed his disappointment at the annual meeting of the IFAB in Gleneagles, Scotland: "We were in favour of goal-line technology but there will be no more experiments and it will not be back on the agenda next year, or in the foreseeable future." 
FIFA President Blatter denied ulterior motives for the decision: "There has been no change of heart." 
"I have defended goal-line technology but it has become clear that such systems are too complicated and very costly." 
"Nor would they necessarily add anything positive to the game and could harm the authority of the referee." 
Johnnie Cochran, U.S. lawyer famous for getting O.J. Simpson acquitted of murder charges in the 1990s, died Tuesday afternoon in his home in Los Angeles, California. 
He had been suffering from complications of an inoperable brain tumor. 
"The family of Attorney Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. and members of The Cochran Firm are deeply saddened by the passing," his family said in a statement to the press. 
"The world has lost not only a legendary attorney, but an outstanding humanitarian." 
Gidget, the chihuahua featured in the Taco Bell adverts in the United States has died from a stroke. 
The dog died at the age of 15 on Tuesday night. 
Sue Chipperton, the owner and trainer of Gidget commented saying, "She made so many people happy." 
The dog was featured in the 1990s adverts that ran from 1997 to 2000. 
Gidget was portrayed as a male dog and is remembered for the dubbed saying "Yo quiero Taco Bell" which is Spanish for "I want Taco Bell." 
The advert was meant to be shown only once but was turned into a campaign. 
Gidget was also featured in Legally Blonde 2 and adverts for the board game Trivial Pursuit. 
Israeli soldiers are in the process of removing Jewish protesters from synagogues in Neve Dekalim and Kfar Darom in the Gaza Strip as part of an operation to force the evacuation of settlements. 
The settlement of Neve Dekalim was founded in 1983 and was home to 500 Orthodox Jewish families. 
It also was occupied earlier before back in the 1940s, settled by a couple Jewish families who were able to hold off the Eygptian army. 
Around 1,500 protesters inside the synagogue refused to leave despite warnings from the soldiers. 
Many protesters have been retaliating to the soldiers' commands, and have even started shoving and punching a few guards. 
The protesters have linked their arms in a chain to attempt to prevent themselves being removed. 
The protesters are mostly not Gaza settlers, but are extremist youths from the West Bank and Israel. 
After several hours of unsuccessful negotiations unarmed security forces entered the complex to begin removing people to buses waiting outside. 
Those who did not go as instructed were usually escorted by two or three guards each to the buses. 
Meanwhile, all male protesters have been removed from the building while the female protesters are still inside the synagogue. 
In another Gaza town, Kfar Darom, protesters are also making their last stand in a synagogue, and thousands of troops have surrounded the buildings. 
There, soldiers entered the synagogue as well and are dragging protesters out of the building. 
They were, however, hampered by protesters on the roof, who, among other things, threw caustic soda at the soldiers. 
Consequently, the rooftop was taken by security forces as well. 
Seventy seven people have been injured, two moderately on the roof of the synagogue. 
Researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital have created laboratory-grown rat kidneys that function when transplanted into rats according to a study published online yesterday in the medical journal Nature Medicine. 
The kidneys were capable of urine production and excretion without blood clots in both the laboratory and inside living rats. 
The researchers were able to create the functional kidneys by using a donor kidney and using a detergent to remove the rats' kidney cells, then used new cells to cause the kidney to grow around the remaining "scaffolding," the natural protein-based structure of the kidney that remained after washing the kidney. 
These kidneys would also be of the patient's tissue avoiding issues of organ rejection and would increase the pool of kidneys available for human transplant. 
The researchers incubated the kidneys in a specialized oven for 12 days to mimic the insides of a rat. 
The researchers reported that these kidneys produced urine at 23% of the normal levels of properly working kidneys. 
The lead researcher of the study published in Nature Medicine, Dr. Harald C. Ott, says this partial functionality is enough, saying, "If you're on haemodialysis then kidney function of 10% to 15% would already make you independent of hemodialysis." 
"It's not that we have to go all the way." 
The techniques developed by Ott and the team of researchers still have to be further researched before it can be applied for use in humans. 
When it comes time for use in humans, Ott says that pigs' kidneys would be used as the templates for making human-usable kidneys. 
Ott said, "You'd take a kidney matrix off the shelf." 
"Then in an ideal world, you'd take cells from that patient and create a kidney on demand." 
Roughly 100,000 patients in the United States need an immediate kidney transplant, with 500,000 more on dialysis. 
In one of the most contentious Democratic primary races of the season, Iraqi war veteran Tammy Duckworth garnered 44% of the vote in the 6th Illinois congressional district, beating out Christine Cegalis (40%) and Lindy Scott (16%). 
Duckworth's victory earns her a spot in the race against Republican state Senator Peter Roskam, who won the Republican nomination to replace retiring Congressman Henry Hyde. 
Cegalis ran for the seat in 2004, garnering 44% of the vote, the best achieved by a Democrat against Hyde. 
Working off of momentum gathered in that race, she continued to increase her grassroots organization and her Internet campaigning to gain support from Democrats across the nation. 
Cegalis, a software engineer, was running unopposed for the nomination until Duckworth joined the race in December. 
Supported by the Democratic establishment, Duckworth quickly out-fundraised her opponents, receiving support from prominent Democrats such as John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Rahm Emmanual, and Barack Obama. 
The race became strongly contested between self-proclaimed progressive activists supporting Cegalis and Democrats who preferred to work with the party candidate. 
Duckworth, who lost her legs in Iraq in 2004, received a strong showing of support from outside the district, including large fundraisers in New York and Chicago. 
Scott, a former pastor of an evangelical church in Des Plains, attempted to paint the race in religious terms. 
His campaign was run on the principle that he could win votes through his moderate, religious views, which he said would attract Republican voters in the district. 
Wikinews reporter David Shankbone is currently, courtesy of the Israeli government and friends, visiting Israel. 
This is a first-hand account of his experiences and may — as a result — not fully comply with Wikinews' neutrality policy. 
Please note this is a journalism experiment for Wikinews and put constructive criticism on the collaboration page. 
Dr. Yossi Vardi is known as Israel's 'Father of the Entrepreneur', and he has many children in the form of technology companies he has helped to incubate in Tel Aviv's booming Internet sector. 
At the offices of Superna, one such company, he introduced a whirlwind of presentations from his baby incubators to a group of journalists. 
What stuck most in my head was when Vardi said, "What is important is not the technology, but the talent." 
Perhaps because he repeated this after each young Internet entrepreneur showed us his or her latest creation under Vardi's tutelage. 
I had a sense of déjà vu from this mantra. 
A casual reader of the newspapers during the Dot.com boom will remember a glut of stories that could be called "The Rise of the Failure"; people whose technology companies had collapsed were suddenly hot commodities to start up new companies. 
This seemingly paradoxical thinking was talked about as new back then; but even Thomas Edison—the Father of Invention—is oft-quoted for saying, "I have not failed." 
"I have just found ten thousand ways that won't work." 
Vardi's focus on encouraging his brood of talent regardless of the practicalities stuck out to me because of a recent pair of "dueling studies" The New York Times has printed. 
These are the sort of studies that confuse parents on how to raise their kids. 
The first, by Carol Dweck at Stanford University, came to the conclusion that children who are not praised for their efforts, regardless of the outcome's success, rarely attempt more challenging and complex pursuits. 
According to Dweck's study, when a child knows that they will receive praise for being right instead of for tackling difficult problems, even if they fail, they will simply elect to take on easy tasks in which they are assured of finding the solution. 
Only one month earlier the Times produced another story for parents to agonize over, this time based on a study from the Brookings Institution, entitled "Are Kids Getting Too Much Praise?" 
Unlike Dweck's clinical study, Brookings drew conclusions from statistical data that could be influenced by a variety of factors (since there was no clinical control). 
The study found American kids are far more confident that they have done well than their Korean counterparts, even when the inverse is true. 
The Times adds in the words of a Harvard faculty psychologist who intoned, "Self-esteem is based on real accomplishments." 
"It's all about letting kids shine in a realistic way." 
But this is not the first time the self-esteem generation's proponents have been criticized. 
Vardi clearly would find himself encouraged by Dweck's study, though, based upon how often he seemed to ask us to keep our eyes on the people more than the products. 
That's not to say he has not found his latest ICQ, though only time—and consumers—will tell. 
For a Web 2.User like myself, I was most fascinated by Fixya, a site that, like Wikipedia, exists on the free work of people with knowledge. 
Fixya is a tech support site where people who are having problems with equipment ask a question and it is answered by registered "experts." 
These experts are the equivalent of Wikipedia's editors: they are self-ordained purveyors of solutions. 
But instead of solving a mystery of knowledge a reader has in their head, these experts solve a problem related to something you have bought and do not understand. 
From baby cribs to cellular phones, over 500,000 products are "supported" on Fixya's website. 
The Fixya business model relies upon the good will of its experts to want to help other people through the ever-expanding world of consumer appliances. 
But it is different from Wikipedia in two important ways. 
The altruistic exchange of information is somewhat dampened by the knowledge that somebody, somewhere, is profiting from whatever you give. 
Second, with Wikipedia it is very easy for a person to type in a few sentences about a subject on an article about the Toshiba Satellite laptop, but to answer technical problems a person is experiencing seems like a different realm. 
"People really want to help other people," said the presenter, who marveled at the community that has already developed on Fixya. 
"Another difference from Wikipedia is that we have a premium content version of the site." 
Their premium site is where they envision making their money. 
Customers with a problem will assign a dollar amount based upon how badly they need an answer to a question, and the expert-editors of Fixya will share in the payment for the resolved issue. 
Whereas Wikipedia editors are judged by how they are perceived in the Wiki community, the amount of barnstars they receive and by the value of their contributions, Fixya's customers rate its experts based upon the usefulness of their advice. 
The site is currently working on offering extended warranties with some manufacturers, although it was not clear how that would work on a site that functioned on the work of any expert. 
Another collaborative effort product presented to us was YouFig, which is software designed to allow a group of people to collaborate on work product. 
This is not a new idea, although may web-based products have generally fallen flat. 
The idea is that people who are working on a multi-media project can combine efforts to create a final product. 
They envision their initial market to be academia, but one could see the product stretching to fields such as law, where large litigation projects with high-level of collaboration on both document creation and media presentation; in business, where software aimed at product development has generally not lived up to its promises; and in the science and engineering fields, where multi-media collaboration is quickly becoming not only the norm, but a necessity. 
For the popular consumer market, Superna, whose offices hosted our meeting, demonstrated their cost-saving vision for the Smart Home (SH). 
Current SH systems require a large, expensive server in order to coordinate all the electronic appliances in today's air-conditioned, lit and entertainment-saturated house. 
Such coordinating servers can cost upwards of US$5,000, whereas Superna's software can turn a US$1,000 hand-held tablet PC into household remote control. 
There were a few start-ups where Vardi's fatherly mentoring seemed more at play than long-term practical business modeling. 
In the hot market of WiFi products, WeFi is software that will allow groups of users, such as friends, share knowledge about the location of free Internet WiFi access, and also provide codes and keys for certain hot spots, with access provided only to the trusted users within a group. 
The mock-up that was shown to us had a Google Maps-esque city block that had green points to the known hot spots that are available either for free (such as those owned by good Samaritans who do not secure their WiFi access) or for pay, with access information provided for that location. 
I saw two long-term problems: first, WiMAX, which is able to provide Internet access to people for miles within its range. 
There is already discussion all over the Internet as to whether this technology will eventually make WiFi obsolete, negating the need to find "hot spots" for a group of friends. 
The second problem is if good Samaritans are more easily located, instead of just happened-upon, how many will keep their WiFi access free? 
It has already become more difficult to find people willing to contribute to free Internet. 
Even in Tel Aviv, and elsewhere, I have come across several secure wireless users who named their network "Fuck Off" in an in-your-face message to freeloaders. 
Another child of Vardi's that the Brookings Institution might say was over-praised for self-esteem but lacking real accomplishment is AtlasCT, although reportedly Nokia offered to pay US$8.1 million for the software, which they turned down. 
Although one can see an e-classroom in architecture employing such software to allow students to take a walking tour through Rome, its desirability may be limited. 
Whether Vardi is a smart parent for his encouragement, or in fact propping up laggards, is something only time will tell him as he attempts to bring these products of his children to market. 
The look of awe that came across each company's representative whenever he entered the room provided the answer to the question of Who's your daddy? 
MIT has announced that Elwood "Woody" Norris, inventor of potentially revolutionary technologies of Hypersonic Sound beams and AirScooter flying vehicles, will receive this year's Lemelson-MIT prize for invention this Friday, April 22. 
The prize comes with an award of US$500,000, making it the largest single award for invention given in the United States. 
Nearly 330,000 people in San Diego County, California located in the United States are being ordered to evacuate after massive wildfires started to spread and grow. 
As a result, U.S. President George W. Bush has declared a state of emergency in California clearing the way for federal aid assistance. 
"All of us across this nation are concerned for the families who have lost their homes and the many families who have been evacuated from their homes." 
"We send the help of the federal government," said Bush in a statement to the press. 
Almost 1,500 houses have been burned to ashes and fires continue to threaten nearly 60,000 more. 
Firefighters now fear that the fires could merge into one giant blaze if the Santa Ana Winds continue sending close to if not over 500,000 people running for safety. 
One person has died as a result of the fires with 42 injured. 
16 of those are reported to be firefighters who were battling the blazes. 
"It will not end ... until it reaches the ocean or the winds turn around," said San Diego County Fire Battalion Chief, Bruce Cartelli. 
At least 13 wildfires have burned more than 356,000 acres (142,400 hectares) in areas stretching from San Diego, near the border with Mexico, to Malibu, near Los Angeles. 
Air Station Miramar for the U.S. Air Force is also being evacuated with the base's planes and other military equipment being transported away from the raging fires to Arizona and places far north of the fires in California. 
At least six people died in a raid lead by Iraqi forces assisted by US troops near the Iraqi city of Fallujah Wednesday. 
US Army spokesman Major Rob Philips says the troops went into an al-Qaeda hideout. 
Insurgents shot at the troops and they returned fire, killing six. 
Philips says the forces were searching for a top al-Qaeda official. 
Reports from Fallujah police say seven people died and the raid was illegal and troops targeted civilians. 
They say there is high tension in Iraq's Anbar province over the government's military actions. 
The raids comes after US president Barack Obama withdrew combat forces from Iraq, leaving 50,000 behind to aid Iraqis, two weeks ago. 
India's nominee for the post of Secretary-General of the United Nations, Shashi Tharoor has revealed a four-point plan to tackle the problems the international body is facing. 
He said that the biggest hurdle faced by the UN is that it has to deal with a large number of issues at the same time. 
The United Nations with its "impressive achievements" and "haunting failures" has changed but needs to change further, he said in an article in Newsweek International. 
Tharoor's proposal is concentrated on four areas- making democracy a priority; bolstering the ranks (of the United Nations); prioritising and streamlining; and healing wounds. 
He talked about the crisis in the Middle East, and the nuclear standoff between the U.N and countries like North Korea and Iran, referring to them as "obvious and trying". 
He also pointed out "problems without passports" such as climate change, narcotics smuggling and human rights violations. 
Tharoor, a leading candidate to succeed Kofi Annan, said that strengthening the capacities of both the UN and its member-states was the best way to deal with these problems. 
Tharoor stated that further efforts were needed to promote democracy and good governance the world over. 
"We now have a Democracy Fund to help us do that, financed not just by the rich West but by countries like India," he said. 
He also pointed out that the UN should try and stand up more for human rights by making sure the Human Rights Council did its job more effectively than the "over-politicised" Human Rights Commission it replaced. 
He said the UN should support the efforts bodies like NATO and the EU were making in their peacekeeping. 
Tharoor also spoke about the conflict in Iraq, saying "And where the task, like enforcing peace in Iraq, is clearly beyond us (the UN), we should let wars be fought by warriors, not peacekeepers," 
In reference to "healing wounds", he pointed out the danger of the Cold War divisions being replaced by a North-South divide at the UN. 
"The new secretary-general must urgently combat this." 
"I would focus on building issue-based coalitions to deal with specific practical problems (things like management inefficiencies, procurement policies, information technology, outsourcing) that have little to do with ideological politics," he said. 
Tharoor is currently the UN's Under Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information. 
He and South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon are considered frontrunners in the race to succeed Annan, whose term ends at the end of the year. 
Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister Surakiart Sathirathai and former UN disarmament chief Jayantha Dhanapala from Sri Lanka are also official candidates for the top UN job. 
An analysis of melatonin studies has upheld the controversial supplement's effectiveness as a sleep aid. 
The analysis, which included 17 peer-reviewed scientific papers, was aimed at determining whether supplements of the hormone can improve sleep among insomniacs, older adults and others. 
"A meta-analysis essentially tells 'yes' or 'no'—that a treatment does or does not have a significant effect," says Richard Wurtman of MIT, the study's principal investigator. 
"When a meta-analysis says 'yes,' there should no longer be any controversy about whether the treatment works." 
Previous studies by Wurtman and colleagues showed that small doses of melatonin, about 0.3 milligrams, are necessary for restful effects. 
The researchers found, however, that commercially available melatonin pills can contain 10 times the effective amount. 
At that dose, says Wurtman, the hormone's effects end after a few days because melatonin receptors in the brain become unresponsive when exposed to too much of the hormone. 
Such inadvertent overdosing, say the researchers, has contributed to controversy over melatonin's efficacy. 
But the new meta-analysis shows that melatonin does indeed have positive effects on sleep—even though some of the analyzed studies also involved high doses of the hormone. 
The research is reported in the journal Sleep Medicine Reviews. 
India won the first match of the 2011 Cricket World Cup against Bangladesh by 87 runs on February 19. 
The Group B match was played at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur, Bangladesh. 
In the Indian innings, Virender Sehwag scored the highest total, 175 runs off 140 balls, his highest one-day international score and Virat Kolhi played his debut World Cup match and scored a century, while remaining unbeaten on 100. 
The first referral of the World Cup came after the 4th ball of the 2nd innings was bowled. 
India's Shanthakumaran Sreesanth had bowled a yorker and the umpire declared it not out. 
Dhoni referred it to the TV umpire and a replay showed it might have missed the leg stump, so the original decision was upheld. 
The match marked the debut of the controversial umpire referral system in World Cup cricket. 
German police are embarrassed after a 27-year-old man, whom they had just booked for burglary, walked out of the police station and stole an unmarked police vehicle. 
"It's not just unusual, it's embarrassing," said a spokesman for police in the town of Eschwege. 
It is thought that the man stole the key from an officer at the station. 
When he was booked and released, he was observed by officers getting into the unmarked police car. 
Three vehicles (including the stolen police car) were damaged during the pursuit. 
The stolen vehicle was recovered upon arrest of its unlawful driver. 
The FBI has confirmed that the chunky substance discovered in the Moore-Hill dormitory at the University of Texas on Thursday is not the poison ricin. 
Ricin is one of the most deadly poisons in the world and can exist in the form of a pellet, mist, or powder. 
Some symptoms of exposure can include vomiting and dehydration, sweating, nausea, fever, cough and difficulty of breathing. 
An earlier report by the Associated Press had said tests had found the substance might be ricin. 
Such tests are designed to error on the side of caution, thus ensuring that possible poisoning victims receive treatment in time. 
Last year there were similar false positive reports of ricin in London, which were further publicized by Vice President Cheney and Secretary of State Colin L. Powell. 
The Speaker of the Bundestag, Wolfgang Thierse, welcomed the decision and urged the parties to conduct fair campaigns. 
Chancellor Schröder also paid his respect to Köhler, calling his decision confident and again expressed that he intents to resume the good way on which Germany is heading under his leadership. 
The Chair of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU) and her party's candidate for chancellor, Angela Merkel, welcomed the call for early elections and wants to get Germany on the right track if her party gets to power in September. 
The dissolving is the result of a long political muddle that began on May 22th when Schröder's Social Democrats (SPD) lost the most populous state of Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, to the CDU, the biggest opposition party. 
Minutes after the early projections were in, SPD chair Franz Müntefering announced that his party would seek re-election in fall of 2005. 
However, the Basic Law of Germany does not permit the self-dissolving of the Bundestag. 
The only way to achieve early elections is when the chancellor loses a motion of confidence. 
All major parties, including the opposition, support the call for early election. 
Polls also indicate that 75% of the population support going to the ballots in September. 
However, some MP's, most notably Werner Schulz of SPD's coalition partner, The Greens, say that the procedure was unconstitutional because the loss of confidence was orchestrated. 
They announced that they will sue against the dissolving before the Constitutional Court of Germany. 
Germany has been struggling with high unemployment for several years and the reforms Schröder introduced were criticized as being neo-liberalistic by unions and also by members of his own party. 
Current polls see the CDU at 44%, while the SPD can only expect 27%. 
The liberal FDP, CDU's possible coalition partner, can expect 7%, The Greens 8% and the Party of the Left (formerly PDS) 11%. 
The governing SPD-Green coalition is faced with an overwhelming opposition majority in the Bundesrat, the upper chamber, that is able to block most bills. 
Schröder claims that the CDU is engaging in a policy of blockade rendering him unable to make laws and implement policy changes while Angela Merkel, says that Schröder's government is simply incapable to take action. 
The Albuquerque Academy eighth grade basketball team used tough defense to close out the 2005-2006 season with a win, 46-30 over Los Lunas. 
The Chargers spread things evenly in the first quarter; five players scored for the team in the period. 
Both forward Jon Cabarrus and guard Dylan Gordon followed their own shots and scored on putbacks. 
Forwards Xavier Moya and Chris Thompson provided tough inside defense on one possession. 
While Los Lunas managed several rebounds, they were unable to get any baskets over the outstretched arms of Moya and Thompson. 
Cabarrus scored on another putback for his fourth points of the game late in the quarter, helping Academy to a twelve to eight lead at the end of the first. 
The second period was a low scoring one for both teams. 
The Chargers scored just nine points, but also held Los Lunas to only three. 
Both offenses were struggling when guard Andrew Matthew stole the ball and made a pass to Gordan, who threw another pass to fellow guard Jordan Fleisher, who took the ball and scored on a layup. 
With a minute in the half, reserve Matt Brown took a pass and drove the length of the court for a layup. 
Academy ended the second half with a twenty-one to eleven lead. 
Academy again spread the ball around in the second half, with eight Charger players scoring. 
Leading the way in the second half was Patrick Zacharias, who scored seven points in the half. 
Gordon connected with Thompson on a play that gave Thompson a layup. 
Gordon stole the ball away from Los Lunas and made a pass to Thompson while sandwiched between two Los Lunas defenders. 
Thompson received the pass under the basket and scored on a layup. 
Los Lunas came back with a three pointer by #24 and some layups by other players. 
The quarter ended with Academy still holding the lead, 33-22. 
AA was again playing tough defense midway through the fourth quarter until #32 hit a three pointer, sparking a small Los Lunas rally, but it was not enough to overcome the offense and defense of the Chargers. 
Zacharias scored on a tip in of a Gordon shot that hung on the rim and fell out. 
Zacharias was also fouled on the shot and made the free throw to complete the three point play. 
Team manager Lincoln Stanfield also saw action in the game, and even scored his first points of the season at the end of the fourth quarter. 
With less than fifteen seconds left, Stanfield received a pass underneath the basket. 
His shot didn't fall, but he was fouled with seven seconds left. 
Stanfield's first free throw bounced up after hitting the rim but didn't fall through. 
His second shot bounced high in the air two times before falling through the hoop. 
Stanfield threw his arms up in celebration over his made shot, putting an end to Academy's 14-1 season. 
Arung Samudera, the Indonesian naval tall ship that was recently grounded off Queensland, Australia, has been salvaged from the beach at Inskip Point and is currently being towed to Brisbane for repairs. 
The 35m vessel has been stranded since last Thursday, when she was grounded whilst on her way to the APEC meeting in Sydney. 
The ship is expected to berth in Brisbane near the naval barracks at approximately 11 a.m. (AEST). 
The tri-masted sailing training vessel, built in New Zealand, is believed to be seaworthy, but has serious damage to her keel and rudder. 
After the completion of repairs, the ship is expected to continue to Sydney, although it will not reach it in time for the APEC meeting. 
The ship's 18-man crew are said to be "very happy" with developments. 
According to the Australian Navy's Commander Forbes Peters, Indonesian officials are as pleased as the ships crew, with Peters saying "The naval attache and the first secretary to the ambassador are on site here and they cuddled Lieutenant Commander Larry Cook." 
"They are over the moon and I'm sure the commanding officer is as well, even though he's currently at sea on his ship." 
Palestinian gunmen have reportedly kidnapped two foreign journalists working for Fox News, a news company owned by parent-company News Corp. 
A Palestinian witness who worked with the journalists, said that American reporter Steve Centanni, and Olaf Wiig, a cameraman from New Zealand were taken against their will. 
New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman Helen Tunnah said that the ministry had not received any information on the kidnapping. 
Fox News said that they did not know who captured the journalists but said that "We can confirm that two of our people were taken against their will in Gaza," and that "negotiations were under way to secure their release." 
The incident began when two vehicles blocked the transmission truck, labelled 'TV', and their bodyguard was forced to the ground at gunpoint by a masked man. 
Hamas, the Islamic militant group that heads Gaza's government, did not claim responsibility, and condemned the kidnapping. 
Fox News Vice President John Moody said in an internal message to Fox News personnel that "The rumors are true: two of our employees have been abducted in Gaza." 
"Do not comment officially and of course, not on the air, about it." 
Parties to a lawsuit against Amazon.com agreed September 25 to a proposed settlement resolving claims that Amazon unlawfully deleted content from users' Kindle reading devices. 
Justin Gawronski, a Michigan high school senior, and Antoine Bruguier, a California engineer, had sued on July 30, after Amazon deleted George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four from their Kindles. 
Gawronski also said his digital notes lost value because they were no longer associated with the relevant text. 
The plaintiffs argued that Amazon had breached its terms of service and violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Washington Consumer Protection Act. 
Amazon had first claimed it was forced to delete the books when it learned it did not have the right to sell them. 
However, it apologized on July 23 and on September 7 offered affected customers either US$30 or a copy of the deleted book. 
The proposed settlement includes a commitment that Amazon will only delete e-books remotely under four circumstances: the user consents, the user fails to pay or gets a refund, the government mandates it, or the deletion is necessary to "protect" the consumer, device, or network. 
Amazon would also pay KamberEdelson, the plaintiffs' firm, US$150,000 in legal fees, with the proviso that it go to charity. 
Michael Aschenbrener, an attorney at KamberEdelson, described the agreement as a "great settlement" that "provides protection for Kindle users and provides confidence to them that the books, newspapers and magazines they purchase will not be subject to remote deletion by Amazon." 
"It sends a message to digital media purveyors of all kinds that sellers really need to respect users' rights to that content." 
Hassan Rowhani, head of the Supreme National Security Council for Iran, announced Monday that the country would temporarily suspend conversion of uranium as of November 22. 
"Iran is planning to suspend uranium conversion activities from November 22," Rowhani said during a news conference. 
Uranium is a chemical element which can be used in nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants. 
The process of conversion modifies the uranium oxides into uranium hexafluoride. 
The purpose of such a conversion process is usually an intermediate step in the production of nuclear fuel. 
Uranium hexafluoride cannot itself be used in a nuclear weapon, but can be enriched into weapons-grade uranium, or it can be converted into plutonium in a nuclear reactor. 
Iran has claimed to be using its nuclear program for only peaceful nuclear energy, rather than for nuclear weapons, but there are concerns in the European Union and the USA as to whether they are being truthful. 
Software giant Microsoft has been attempting to purchase Internet giant Yahoo! in hopes of leveraging the internet presence of Yahoo! in Microsoft's battle with Google. 
The original offer for Yahoo! was $44 billion; however since this offer Microsoft has seen a revenue drop this last quarter which could greatly affect the software giant's ability to up the price again in hopes Yahoo! would accept. 
This includes a 24% drop in revenue from the Windows Operating System alone. 
Stock prices of both Microsoft and Yahoo! have decreased during the merger discussions. 
Microsoft's next move is unknown but there has been talk of potentially going directly to the Yahoo! shareholders with a buyout plan. 
It is too early to tell how this will end, but Microsoft has made it known that it will try all available routes; up to and including a hostile takeover. 
Recent comments from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and CFO Chris Liddell have mentioned that not acquiring Yahoo! is also an option. 
Whatever Microsoft's plan is, the longer this takes, the more competitor Google will likely use this to their advantage is obtaining both clients and employees, says Juan Carlos Perez of IDG. 
The state broadcaster of New Zealand, Television New Zealand (TVNZ), has announced its plans to fire at least 160 people because they have falling revenue, mainly from their NZ$9.3 million advertising loss. 
A memorandum, or "memo", was circulating the 1,100 employer, TVNZ yesterday from CEO, Rick Ellis, which stated that their "guesstimate" of job losses was around 130-160. 
50 of the job losses will be from the news and current affairs department, where a total of 350 people currently work. 
The numbers are not set in stone, according to a spokesperson for TVNZ. 
The lay-offs have been expected since late last year where he announced it to a parliamentary select committee. 
The union which represents some of the staff working at TVNZ, Engineering Printing and Manufacturing Union, said that some of the staff are asking themselves how TVNZ will be able to start and manage the new digital 24 hour news channel with fewer staff. 
In two weeks time, staff will be asked what they think of the proposed changes, which also includes a top level management restructuring. 
Steve Mahery, broadcasting minister, said, "The restructuring of TVNZ is an operational issue, and I expect they'll meet their charter requirements." 
"How they structure the company to achieve this is entirely up to them." 
It is reported that Margaret Beckett, UK Foreign Secretary, is considering becoming the first UK Government Minister to admit to a link between the invasion of Iraq and the threat of terrorism in UK. 
This follows a leak last week of Cabinet papers that demand "a significant reduction in the number and intensity of the regional conflicts that fuel terror activity". 
Prime Minister Tony Blair has always claimed that the war in Iraq has not fuelled terrorism in UK; that there was terrorism long before the invasion. 
This despite the posthumous video recording of one of the 7/7 bombers, Shehzad Tanweer who said his actions were provoked by British foreign policy and that attacks would continue until British soldiers were withdrawn from Iraq and Afghanistan. 
Beckett is considering admitting the link between Iraq and terrorism in UK when discussing the problem of Muslim youth becoming influenced by international terrorists. 
She has already disagreed openly with Prime Minister Blair recently by demanding that there be public debate into the need for the replacement of the Trident missile system and the Royal Navy's Vanguard class submarines, by apologising for the Iraq invasion and by not disagreeing with General Sir Richard Dannatt, who said that British troops in Iraq were provoking trouble. 
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a magnitude 4.2 earthquake with a depth of just under two miles, has struck California approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers) northeast of Wrightwood. 
The USGS states that there could be some damage, but that it would likely be "very light," but so far the San Bernardino County Fire Department says that no damage has been reported. 
There are no reports of any injuries, but witnesses say that they were awoken from their sleep as far away as Los Angeles. 
Some 500,000 people gathered today in Rome to march silently, demanding the liberation of Giuliana Sgrena, a reporter who was kidnapped on February 4 in Iraq. 
Politicians, associations and citizens took part in the gathering, set up by the Communist newspaper Il Manifesto, Sgrena's employer. 
According to demonstrators there were 500,000 people, while the Police estimates a turnout of 200,000. 
"The march is a way to say, loud and clear, that we want Giuliana Sgrena to be freed... to say no to terrorism and violence", Piero Fassino, leader of the Democratici di Sinistra (Democrats of the Left) party, said. 
Giuliana Sgrena was kidnapped near Baghdad's University on February 4 while she was covering Iraqi elections for Il Manifesto. 
On February 15 Associated Press Television received a video showing Sgrena demanding help from Italian politicians and people, and asking for Italian troop's withdrawal from Iraq. 
British Prime Minister Tony Blair could face a House of Commons inquiry into claims that chief police officers were pressured to support a political agenda during Wednesday's vote to extend detention without charge. 
Chief police officers were asked to lobby MPs wavering over the introduction of a controversial new law allowing police to detain a terror suspect for 90 days without charge. 
Although the proposal was rejected by the House of Commons, the lobbying has provoked criticism from senior members of the opposition Conservative Party, who are pushing for an inquiry into the behaviour of government ministers towards the police and for 'embroiling them in politics'. 
Former Tory cabinet minister Peter Lilley said: "Every chief constable knows their job is up for re-selection in the next year or so." 
Home Office minister Hazel Blears denied the claims: "It is entirely proper that the police were there to make their case and for Parliament to consider it." 
"Certainly, as a Member of Parliament I would want to have the benefit of the best professional advice I could get before reaching my decision." 
Asteroid 2004 XP14, a half-mile wide chunk of hard rock travelling at 40 000 miles an hour, will miss the Earth by a few hundred thousand miles, Monday. 
Dr David Asher from the Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland said if the rock, discovered in 2004, were to hit the Earth the result would be devastating. 
"It would probably be big enough to wipe out a small country," he said. 
Amateur astronomers with 6-inch telescopes would be able to follow the speeding space debris in Europe and North America at its closest approach to the planet at 0425 UTC. 
At this time it would be at a safe distance of 268,624 miles from Earth - closer to the Earth than the Moon would be at its farthest extent in its orbit. 
2004 XP14 is named as a Potentially Hazardous Asteroid (PHA), along with 782 known others by Astronomers at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory at Harvard. 
Zipping about in the solar system no PHAs have yet been found on direct collision course with the Earth. 
Still, "For something of this size to come this close is unusual," said Don Yeomans, the head of NASA's Near Earth Object Program. 
An expert at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California said it was the closest approach by such a massive object for over 80 years - since 1925. 
Before 2004 XP14's exact orbital path around the sun was known with more precision, there were concerns it would hit the Earth. 
In the near future Jon Giorgini said such cosmic uncertainty would be much less and the public less alarmed. 
"In the next 20 to 30 years, we'll have a complete catalog of hazardous objects," Giorgini said. 
Edward Lu and Stanley Love, of Johnson Space Centre, Houston, also have allayed fears about a collision. 
In a 2005 article in Nature they theorised a "gravity tractor" could move any known threat within a year. 
After an investigation of allegations that Islam's holy book the Qu'ran was mishandled in front of inmates at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the Bush administration has acknowledged the credibility of some of these reports. 
According to Robert Burns of the Associated Press, U.S. military officials acknowledged that, "a Muslim holy book was splashed with urine," and "a detainee's Quran was deliberately kicked and another's was stepped on." 
The US government first denied a specific report that the Qu'ran had been flushed down a toilet at the prison facility, but on Friday agreed that similar allegations were indeed true. 
On May 16, Newsweek magazine apologized to the victims of deadly riots that ensued due to a Newsweek article stating that U.S. officials defiled the Qur'an. 
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan criticized Newsweek's initial response to the incident, saying it was "puzzling." 
Later that day, Newsweek retracted the story, which the White House said was a "good first step". 
On May 20, the International Red Cross (IRC) revealed in a rare public announcement that it had documented and reported to the United States credible information concerning desecration of the Qur'an by Guantanamo Bay personnel. 
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman, acknowledged that allegations were made on "rare occasions" but were uncorroborated. 
Simon Schorno, a Red Cross spokesman, disputed the Pentagon's denial saying, "All information we received were corroborated allegations." 
Scott McClellan explained in a press conference that the White House is not trying to tell Newsweek what to print. 
McClellan said, "Look, this report caused serious damage to the image of the United States abroad." 
"We appreciate the step that they took by retracting the story." 
"Now we would encourage them to move forward and do all that they can to help repair the damage that has been done by this report." 
"But, no, you're absolutely right, it's not my position to get into telling people what they can and cannot report." 
On May 25, Amnesty International called for the shutdown on Guantanamo Bay due to numerous human rights violations, saying "The 'war on terror' appeared more effective in eroding international human rights principles than in countering international 'terrorism'." 
Amnesty International's view was shared by both the International Red Cross (IRC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). 
The IRC has said it reported to the U.S. government detainee's reports of desecration of the Qur'an. 
In the foreword of the report, written by Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan, Guantanamo was compared to a Soviet-era gulag in that it is "entrenching the practice of arbitrary and indefinite detention in violation of international law". 
White House spokesman Scott McClellan responded saying the report's allegations were "ridiculous and unsupported by the facts." 
"The United States is leading the way when it comes to protecting human rights and promoting human dignity." 
"We have liberated 50 million people in Iraq and Afghanistan." 
"We have worked to advance freedom and democracy in the world so that people are governed under a rule of law and that there are... protections in place for minority rights, that women's rights are advanced so that women can fully participate in societies where now they cannot", as well as supporting the fight against AIDS in Africa. 
About the allegations of abuse at Guantanamo, which McClellan has previously called isolated incidents, he said, "We hold people accountable when there is abuse." 
"We take steps to prevent it from happening again, and we do so in a very public way for the world to see that we lead by example, and that we do have values that we hold very dearly and believe in." 
On May 31, U.S. President George W. Bush dismissed the human rights report as "absurd" for its harsh criticism of U.S. treatment of terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, saying the allegations were made by prisoners "who hate America." 
"The United States is a country that promotes freedom around the world," Bush said of the Amnesty International report. 
William F. Schulz, executive director of Amnesty International USA, defended the report, saying, "What is 'absurd' is President Bush's attempt to deny the deliberate policies of his administration." 
Irene Khan also responded saying, "The administration's response has been that our report is absurd, that our allegations have no basis, and our answer is very simple: if that is so, open up these detention centres, allow us and others to visit them." 
And, on Friday, the U.S. military released the results of their investigation and confirmed that in 5 separate incidents, American guards at the Guantánamo Bay prison "mishandled" the Islamic holy book. 
However, they stress that guards were usually "respectful" of the Qur'an. 
One incident involved splashing a Koran with urine by urinating near an air vent while others involved kicking, stepping on and writing in Qur'ans. 
Brigadier-General Jay Hood, the commander of the jail, looked into the allegations, published and then retracted by Newsweek, that American personnel flushed a Qur'an down a toilet. 
He said that the inquiry did not find any evidence supporting this particular allegation. 
"The inquiry found no credible evidence that a member of the Joint Task Force at Guantanamo Bay ever flushed a Qur'an down a toilet." 
A 'terrorist attack' took place yesterday in the form of reportedly at least four explosions at the Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India. 
Four other explosions took place in the vicinity, including one near an eighty-foot tall statue of Buddha and three at Tergar Monastery. 
Early reports claim little damage was done to the temple. 
Police commented that Sundays are quiet days at the temple, or more could have been injured. 
One suspect has been arrested based on closed circuit television that recorded two men placing bombs at the temple. 
Mahabodhi Temple is considered one of the holiest sites in Buddhism and in India. 
Totaling twelve acres, it is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site. 
The temple is located next to the Bodhi tree, where Buddhists believe that Buddha achieved enlightenment. 
The bombs were described as "low-intensity but not crude," according to police. 
The bombs used comprised of a small container with gas, a detonator, and an analog clock. 
The bombs were timed to explode at 5:45 AM local time, when Buddhists start praying in the morning. 
The bombs actually went off starting at 5:25 AM and ending at 5:58 AM local time. 
Early reports state that while the temple suffered little damage, the staircase near the Bodhi tree suffered damage and windows were broken. 
200 monks live at the monastery, where daily classes take place during the times when the explosions happened. 
However, no classes were being held the morning of the attack. 
The Ministry of Home Affairs has declared the explosions an act of terrorism. 
In October members of the Indian Mujahideen claimed to have visited Mahabodhi Temple to plan a terrorist attack. 
That led to the arrests of four suspects involved in the Indian Mujahideen, who were believed to have been involved in the 2012 Pune bombings. 
The four suspects named other members of the terrorist group and claimed that they planned to attack Mahabodhi Temple. 
The police in Delhi claim to have told the police in Bihar about the potential of a terrorist attack. 
Political conflict has risen in the wake of the attacks between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Indian National Congress. 
BJP is accusing the United Progressive Alliance, which is under the umbrella of the Indian National Congress, of ignoring the Indian Mujahideen's threats about attacking the temple. 
The Ministry also believes that it could be tied to conflicts in Myanmar between Buddhists and Muslims, despite the rarity of violence against Buddhists in India. 
Additional security has been placed at Buddhist temples and Tibetan communities in India after the explosions. 
One suspect, Vinod Mistri, was arrested on Monday morning in Patna. 
Two dog attacks in a week puts Spotsylvania County authorities in the spotlight to take action on pet owners for their dog's behavior. 
In unrelated incidences, an elderly woman was killed and another woman was bitten. 
An 82 year old woman was walking her Shih Tzu breed of dog in her front yard last week when she came under attack by three Pit Bulls. 
She died being transported to the hospital after police responded and shot two of the attacking dogs. 
More recently, a 31 year old woman was bitten on her hand during a fight that ensued between two Pit Bulls in her back yard. 
Public outcry over the death of the elderly woman stirred procecutors to charge the dogs' owner, Deeana Large, with involuntary manslaughter. 
This is a first for the Commonwealth of Virginia where charges that carry a maximum penalty of 10 years are leveled in a case involving a pet's owner. 
In order to gain an indictment, prosecuters will have to prove the dogs' owner was criminally negligent. 
In the biting incident, the attacking dog's owner faces a misdemeanor charge of letting the dog run at large. 
Deeana Large, who initially said she owned only 1 of the 3 dogs involved in the mauling case, has not yet been formally charged and awaits indictment. 
Investigators in the case say there were earlier reports of her dogs allegedly killing a German Shepard and a kittten in her neighborhood. 
Complaints by neighbors spurred an animal control officer to be looking for the dogs at the time the woman was killed. 
On September 26, United States Representative Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) introduced a bill to prohibit federal grants to Columbia University in response to Columbia's decision to allow Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on campus. 
The bill arrived at the House of Representatives within two days after the speaking engagement. 
A portion of the bill requests a denial of funds to the University, "for permitting State terrorist access to campus." 
Iran's parliament, in September this year, labelled the U.S. forces as terrorists. 
Hunter, who is seeking the Republican Presidential nomination, argued in favor of the bill last week. 
"If the left-wing leaders of academia will not support our troops, they, in the very least, should not support our adversaries," he said. 
"By hosting President Ahmadinejad, Columbia University openly insulted the thousands of servicemen and women serving in Iraq, most of whom are direct targets of the munitions that he is sending across the Iraq-Iran border." 
Prior to Ahmedinejad's speech, U.S. President George W. Bush expressed a different view, saying that Columbia's invitation "really speaks to the freedoms of the country." 
"I'm not so sure I'd offer the same invitation, but nevertheless, it speaks volumes about the greatness, really, of America." 
"We're confident enough to let a person express his views," he said. 
University of Oregon football's star running back, LeGarrette Blount, was suspended for the remainder of the season – and thereby the remainder of his college football career – after punching an opposing player after the opening game. 
The University of Oregon Ducks opened their 2009 season with a 19–8 loss to rival Boise State Broncos. 
The high-profile game was nationally televised on the ESPN network. 
The volatile Blount, coming off a 1,000+ yard season in which he broke a school record for rushing touchdowns, had struggled in several 2008 games, including the encounter with the Broncos. 
The Broncos, however, won 19–8 in their home field; and Blount and Oregon's offense failed to achieve a single first down for the game's first 37 minutes. 
A few seconds after the end of the game, Boise State defensive end Byron Hout taunted Blount and pushed him on the shoulder pad. 
But Blount responded with a swift punch to the jaw, knocking Hout to the ground. 
Blount then pushed teammate Garrett Embry, who was attempting to restrain him. 
Boise State replayed the punch on their large screen in the end-zone multiple times, before Blount had returned to the locker room. 
As he was escorted to the locker room, Blount confronted jeering Boise State fans. 
Two police officers and Oregon assistant coach Scott Frost restrained Blount and escorted him into the locker room. 
Blount apologized after the incident, saying: "I just apologize to everybody that was watching this — ESPN, national TV — I just apologize to all of our fans, all the Boise fans." 
"I lost my head, and I shouldn't have taken it that far." 
Coach Chip Kelly suspended Blount for the remainder of the 2009 season. 
Blount was not dismissed from the team, however, and will be permitted to attend practice and retain his scholarship. 
The incident was seen an important test for a leadership team in its first year. 
According to Oregon Athletic Director Mike Bellotti, the fact that the incident occurred after the game's conclusion made it the team's responsibility, rather than a Pac-10 issue. 
Kelly, Bellotti, and University of Oregon President Lariviere had each just entered the first year of his position. 
Pac-10 Commissioner Larry Scott, also in his first year, was in attendance at the game. 
He consulted with Oregon officials in advance of Blount's suspension, and afterward, the Pac-10 expressed complete support for the suspension, while declining to comment on the Broncos, who are not part of the Pac-10. 
As a result of his negative rushing total (-5 yards) in the one game he played in the 2009 season prior to the suspension, combined with 1,002 yards in 2008, Blount holds the unusual distinction of having a 1,000-yard season with the Ducks, but less than 1,000 yards over his entire NCAA career. 
On June 5, gunmen, who had posed as police officers, raided a bus station in central Baghdad and captured 50 people. 
Attackers raided bus stations and seized travellers and local vendors. 
This happened a day after 21 people were dragged off buses and killed in Diyala province. 
Of the 50 people, there are two Syrians and one is an Interior Ministry official. 
The gunmen rounded up people from the area including people from the many travel agencies that populate the area. 
The people were then herded into cars and taken away. 
"They took all the workers from the company and nearby shops," says Haidar Mohammed Eleibi, who works for the Swan Transportation Co. in the Salihiya business district. 
Most of the buses at the station were headed to Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. 
NB this subject is also covered in Gmail 1st Birthday; Storage capacity increased to 2GB 
On the first anniversary of Gmail's release, Google has announced that it will increase the amount of storage available for the users of the web-based email service from 1 GB to over 2 GB. 
According to a page at the Gmail Help Center, while not all accounts currently have the formatting features added, "over the next several weeks, we are introducing rich formatting to all of our users." 
The increase in storage is announced on the main Gmail page with a JavaScript counter that increases the quoted available storage in relation to the current date. 
For example, on April 1 at 5 a.m. UTC the site announced 1025 MB available, 30 hours later — 2050 MB, and a week later it should announce a total of 2075 MB. 
Unless Google adjusts the code behind the counter, the text will read "Over 2075" after April 9. 
Code analysis performed by Wikinews writer Pingswept, and while believed to be correct, is original reporting and has not been verified by any external source. 
As many as six hundred villagers from the island of Taiwan are missing after torrential rains from Typhoon Morakot caused mudslides, according to state media. 
Taiwanese authorities said that approximately a hundred people were rescued after a portion of a mountain started to slump and flooded the village of Shiao Lin in the south of the country. 
"The mudslide covered a large part of the village, including a primary school and many homes." 
"A part of the mountain above us just fell on the village," said a rescued villager, Lin Chen-chung. 
Several Villages Taitung County also suffered severe flooding caused by the rains. 
A five-story hotel building along the river in Taitung has collapsed due to the raging flood. 
In some areas of the country, the storm dumped as much as two metres of water. 
Morakot has resulted in the deaths of at least fourteen people in Taiwan and a further 22 deaths in the Philippines. 
According to Iranian state run media, current Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has won re-election by a margin of 2 to 1. 
According to the reports, the country's interior minister says Ahmadinejad won with 66% of the votes counted so far in the nation's election on Friday. 
One of Ahmadinejad opponents Mir Hossein Mousavi, had earlier declared himself "definitely" the winner and said he may dispute the results. 
At present, there are unconfirmed reports that Mir Hossein Mousavi may have been detained by "members of the intelligence community". 
In addition, there are unconfirmed reports that Mousavi's Tehran campaign headquarters was surrounded by the intelligence service as well. 
Mousavi's supporters have taken to the streets of Tehran to protest the election results. 
An Amtrak train collided with a parked Norfolk Southern freight train in Chicago on Friday. 
30 people were injured, five of them Amtrak personnel who were most seriously injured. 
Amtrak train 371, the Pere Marquette, started in Grand Rapids, Michigan and carried 193 people on board including six crew members. 
The train was in south Chicago heading towards its destination of Chicago Union Station when the crash occurred around 17:30 UTC. 
No injuries were reported among the crew of the Norfolk Southern freight train. 
Amtrak's locomotive, a GE Genesis, was derailed by the force of the impact, although the rest of the passenger train remained on the tracks. 
All Amtrak trains between Chicago and Michigan are currently cancelled while workers remove the locomotive from the scene and perform any needed repairs. 
A National Transportation Safety Board "Go Team" led by Ted Turpin was dispatched to the scene to conduct a federal investigation into the crash. 
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Daylight Saving Time will end on November 4, 2007 at 2:00 a.m. local time for most of the United States and Canada. 
This change is different from previous years due to a U.S. mandated daylight saving time change, which was caused by the Energy Policy Act of 2005. 
The next change to regular Daylight Saving Time will be in 2038. 
The number of laboratory-confirmed cases of H1N1 swine flu virus in Fiji rose to 97 on Thursday. 
A further 16 cases were confirmed by the laboratory at Mataika House, one day after it had confirmed 8 cases to bring the total to 81. 
Both sets of cases were confirmed from batches of 24 samples sent for testing. 
The 8 cases confirmed on Wednesday were all men, 7 from Suva and 1 from Nadi. 
All 16 of the cases confirmed on Thursday were from Suva, 8 men and 8 women. 
The spokesman for the Fiji Health Ministry, Iliesa Tora, reiterated the Fijian government's advice to the public, stating that as yet there have been no H1N1 cases in Fiji that have incurred serious complications. 
2008 COMPUTEX, famed as the 2nd-largest ICT trade show in the world, started today at the Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei International Convention Center, and TWTC Nangang with 1725 companies' participation including top 5 nations - Hong Kong, South Korea, China, France, and Japan. 
With the newly-launched TWTC Nangang, the COMPUTEX set its record with its exhibition scale expanding by 53% and the number of participating manufacturers increasing by 29%. 
This year of COMPUTEX has some special features including "Design and Innovation Award of COMPUTEX", set to discover innovative designs world-wide, "Environment-related topics", highly respected by environmentalists and industrial businesspeople with many ICT products related to energy-efficiency and green technology showcased at "Mega Trends Pavilion". 
With another concurrent trade show - "2008 WiMAX Expo Taipei", located at Taipei Show Hall 2, Taipei Computer Association, one of the show organizers, will mainly promote the "WING"-conceptual products like WiMAX, ICT crossovers, Notebooks, and Green IT products this year. 
In addition, DRAMeXchange Compuforum, e21Forum, Taiwan Design Forum, and Next Generation Network Forum will be held in conjunction with the COMPUTEX to attract international businesspeople from vast industries. 
At least two people have died at a Cypriot army aircraft crash in the village of Kolossi this morning, west of the island's southern coastal town of Limassol. 
Kolossi is a community of some 2,000 Britons, Germans and Cypriots. 
Director of the President's Press Office Marios Karoyan told CNA that the aircraft was a PC - 9 (Pilatus). 
It is one of the two training military aircraft of the National Guard (Cyprus Army) and according to the first reports two people have died, believed to be the two pilots. 
Defence Minister Kyriakos Mavronicolas and National Guard Commander Lieutenant-General Athanasios Nikolodemos have rushed to the area. 
Steve Wright, yesterday convicted of the murder of five women in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, has today been sentenced at Ipswich Crown Court to life imprisonment. 
The bodies of the five women who worked as sex workers in Ipswich were found around the town in December 2006. 
The judge, Mr Justice Gross said that a "substantial degree of pre-meditation and planning" was involved meaning the requirments for a whole life sentence for Wright was met. 
"It is right you should spend your whole life in prison." 
Speaking after the sentencing, Deputy Chief Constable of Suffolk Police, Jacqui Cheer said, "At the start of the inquiry we could not have asked for anything more." 
"It is a tribute to all the people who have been involved - not only police officers but their support teams and all the members of the public who phoned-in offering information." 
A recent scientific review, involving more than 300,000 people across several previous studies, has revealed that inadequate social networking and frequent isolation can have negative effects on a person's health equal to that caused by smoking and alcohol abuse. 
It was found that those who experience sufficient social interactions were 50 per cent more likely to be alive when re-examined eight years later than those who were more socially isolated. 
The scientists on the project ranked having low-quality relationships with friends and family as equivalent to frequent substance abuse (that is to say, 15 cigarettes a day or heavy alcohol consumption) but worse for a person's health than not participating in exercise and being obese. 
Timothy Smith, project leader from Brigham Young University (BYU), in Utah, claims that "the importance of having a network of friends and good family relationships is comparable to quitting smoking and exceeds many risk factors of mortality such as obesity, physical inactivity." 
Related studies have shown that quality relationships stimulate mental and physical health. 
Smith went onto suggest that General Practitioners should also examine a patient's social network to promote good health. 
"Physicians, health professionals, educators and the public media take risk factors such as smoking, diet and exercise seriously." 
"The data presented here make a compelling case for social relationship factors to be added to that list," he continued. 
An 18-year-old UK student suspected of throwing a fire extinguisher from the roof of the headquarters of the Conservative Party ('Tories'), 30 Millbank, London, was arrested on Monday. 
He was today released on bail after a court appearance. 
Edward Woollard, who is studying A-levels in Philosophy, Politics, and Classics, at Brockenhurst College in the New Forest, attended last Wednesday's student protests in London, before following a crowd of around 200 students into the Tory HQ and making it to the building's roof, whilst the rest of the building was vandalised. 
Watched by thousands of students gathered outside, a fire extinguisher was thrown from the roof, giving glancing blows to two police officers on the ground 70 feet (21 metres) below. 
Over sixty arrests have been made in conjunction with the protest. 
The sixth-form student, who was wanted on suspicion of attempted murder earlier this week, handed himself in at his local police station and was taken to Belgravia police station for questioning. 
Today, he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court charged with violent disorder, speaking only to confirm his name age and address. 
His lawyer, Matthew Foot, sought adjournment to examine video evidence, and the trial was adjourned until 24 November. 
Until then, Woollard has been granted bail, on condition that he remains at his current address, and does not enter the City of Westminster. 
India's 2011 census reports that its population has increased by 181 million in the span of one decade, a figure 17.6 percent greater than 2001. 
The census results, publicised today, show the population of India now stands at 1.21 billion. 
C. Chandramauli, the commissioner of the census, said India's population represents "over 17 percent of the world population, [while] India is 2.4 percent of the world’s surface area." 
According to BBC News Online, the current population of the country is in excess of the populations of Pakistan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Brazil and the United States put together. 
While India's population has increased by more than 17 percent since the 2001 census, this growth rate is the lowest since India achieved independence in 1947. 
Between 1991 and 2011, the population growth rate has steadily decreased. 
Approximately 25 percent of Indians over the age of seven were found to be illiterate in the 2011 census, a decrease of 10 percent from the census held ten years ago. 
The increase in literate females is greater than that of males, the new census reports. 
The findings have suggested a preference of male over female children. 
For every one thousand boys below the age of seven, there were 914 girls, a decrease from the 2001 census, which reported 927 female for every one thousand male children. 
"This is the lowest ever in the demographic history of the country," he said, and noted "[t]he last census in 2001 had warned us about this, the tendency has worsened." 
This pattern continues although the Indian government has prohibited hospitals from disclosing the gender of an unborn child. 
According to The Washington Post, parents in much of India abort female fetuses and young female children for financial reasons. 
Incidents like this occur more frequently in the better educated and the richer Indian states, including Punjab and Gujarat. 
Pillai, the home secretary, has claimed that "[w]hatever policy measures we have been following in the last 40 years will need a complete review now." 
There are now 940 female adults for every one thousand men, in contrast to 2001, when there were 933 women per thousand males. 
However, in the capital, Delhi, only 866 females were counted for every one thousand males. 
Throughout the states of India, the population growth rate varies significantly. 
This results in an inequality in the allocation of funds and is a problem, experts say. 
According to Management Institute of Population and Development consultant Devendra Kothari: "Our federal government sends funds to the states according to their population." 
"This means that the states that have worked harder to reduce their population growth get less money from New Delhi". 
Kothari continued: "The states with lesser population send fewer members to the Indian parliament." 
Over the course of the approaching year, concluding census figures will be publicised, according to officials. 
300 millimeters (11.8 inches) of rain fell in six hours resulting in flash flooding on the New South Wales mid-north coast in Australia trapping thousands. 
"We're looking at a flood that is around the one in one hundred year flood level," said Phil Campbell, State Emergency Service spokesperson. 
Ambulance crews spent the night rescuing stranded residents caught off guard by the sudden deluge. 
As many as 2,700 residents had been trapped by the floodwaters. 
420 people sought refuge in evacuation centres over night, of these all but 70 have returned home. 
The Red Cross flood evacuation centre in Urunga was left without power but still harbours 300 who sought refuge there. 
Inland floodwaters trapped more than 1,000 residents in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales over night. 
"It does seem likely that we'll need to make a natural disaster emergency declaration and that's something which obviously then brings some resources in." 
"The most immediate challenge of course is for the 3,000 or so people who are still isolated and over 300 who are in evacuation centres at the moment." 
Residents are being urged not to travel through the flooded areas. 
Floodwaters are starting to recede, however the Bureau of Meteorology does not see an end to the heavy rains. 
A Russian Proton-M/Briz-M carrier rocket launched this morning at 00:18 UTC, carrying the Ekspress AM-33 (also known as Express AM-33) communication satellite. 
Launch, from area 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan took place on schedule, and the satellite was successfully placed into an intermediate transfer orbit. 
Operations to place the satellite into its final Geosynchronous orbit, through further burns of the Briz-M upper stage, should have been completed, however no official announcement has yet been made. 
This is the third orbital launch of 2008, and the first to be conducted by Russia. 
The satellite will provide C, L and Ku-band communication services. 
It has a mass of 2600kg, and an expected orbital lifetime of 12 years. 
It was constructed by NPO PM and Thales Alenia Space, and will be operated by the Russian Space Communication Company, and RKA. 
It will be placed in a geosynchronous orbit, about 36,000 kilometres above the Earth, at a longitude of 95.5°E. 
It will replace the AM-11 satellite, which malfunctioned in 2006. 
Microsoft released today the final version of its new service, MSN Search. 
The new features that are available include tabs that allow consumers to target searches to the Web, news, images, music, desktop or Microsoft Encarta. 
Journalist, counselor, painter, and US 2012 Presidential candidate Joe Schriner of Cleveland, Ohio took some time to discuss his campaign with Wikinews in an interview. 
Schriner previously ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, but failed to gain much traction in the races. 
He announced his candidacy for the 2012 race immediately following the 2008 election. 
Schriner refers to himself as the "Average Joe" candidate, and advocates a pro-life and pro-environmentalist platform. 
He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, and has published public policy papers exploring solutions to American issues. 
Wikinews reporter William Saturn‎ talks with Schriner and discusses his campaign. 
The People's Republic of China called on Syrian government forces and opposition in the Syrian uprising, such as the Free Syrian Army, to end the violence. 
Previously, China has opposed two attempts at United Nations Security Council resolutions to control the violence in Syria and to ask for President Bashar al-Assad to resign. 
While the Arab League, the European Union, Turkey, and the United States all have pursued sanctions against the regime in Syria, China so far has been against the removal of the Syrian regime and has rejected sanctions. 
The former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan has been newly appointed as a Joint Special Envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League, which has been endorsed by the Chinese statement. 
"The fact that aid is prevented and access is refused to United Nations officials constitutes another crime," the minister said. 
The Red Cross had been denied access to the city of Homs. 
China has usually hesitated to support international intervention in national situations, as when a United Nations resolution was invoked to support the bombing of Libya by NATO forces last year. 
Yesterday, Republican Fred Thompson confirmed his campaign for the United States presidential election, 2008. 
The much expected announcement comes on the tail of criticism about his lobbying past and that he has waited too long to declare his intentions. 
He is expected to file papers next Thursday to make his candidacy official. 
Thompson much expected declarations comes after months of "testing the waters." 
Already appearing in the top tier of GOP candidates, Thompson's announcement comes after staff changes and lack luster fundraising. 
According to an advisor, Thompson will make the announcement on Leno opting not to appear at the Republican debate on September 5. 
David Cameron, the leader of the Conservative Party and UK leader of the opposition today made a speech to the conference of the Scottish Conservative Party. 
In the speech he addressed the issue of Scottish independence. 
"I want to be Prime Minister of the United Kingdom - all of it, including Scotland." 
"I absolutely believe we are stronger together, and weaker apart, and I will do anything and everything to keep our two countries as one," he said. 
"Whether we like it or not, the ugly stain of separatism is seeping through the Union flag," said Cameron, stating his opinion on the movements for Scottish independence. 
"The simple truth is that the Union between England and Scotland is under attack as never before." 
"To play games by calling for a referendum right at the moment when people would take any opportunity to give the most unpopular Government in living memory a good kicking, isn’t clever... isn’t good politics …isn’t defending the Union." 
"The Union is in danger for other reasons too," he claimed. 
"The number of people who think themselves British – ahead of Scottish or English - is in decline." 
"Britishness is a matter of instinct, not calculation, and the sooner we have a Government that is willing to stand up for, and take pride in, that instinct then the sooner we can fight the forces of separation," continued Cameron, speaking to his supporters. 
Cameron also addressed Scottish First Minister and leader of the Scottish National Party: 
I know you think a Conservative government at Westminster will ignore what Scotland wants and needs, and that you will use such claims to promote your separatist agenda. 
And to the people of Scotland, I make this guarantee. 
Whatever the outcome in Scotland of the next General Election, a Conservative Government will govern the whole of the United Kingdom, including Scotland, with respect. 
A father and son from Romania have been found guilty of a string of prostitution-related offences in the United Kingdom. 
For four years, Marius "Mario" Nejloveanu and father Bogdan trafficked women into and around the UK, forcing their victims into prostitution. 
Nejloveanu, 23, was also convicted of a series of rapes and headed the business with guidance from his 51-year-old father. 
Five women were lured from Romania, the youngest in her teens, the oldest 27, with promises of work and romance with Marius. 
Originally founding a brothel in their hometown of Birmingham, the pair met resistance from local rival pimps and relocated the women to Manchester. 
There, they worked six or seven days each week, sleeping in brothels and having sex with eight-to-ten men each night against their will. 
Typical fees from customers were around £40 but some may have paid as low as £10. 
Around half of each fee went to the Nejloveanus and half to the brothel. 
Police launched raids, rescuing the women after receiving a tip-off. 
Bogdan was accused by Rachel Smyth, prosecuting, of giving advice and assistance to Marius; Smyth opened the trial last year telling Manchester Crown Court "[h]aving heard the evidence you [the jury] may conclude that the son, Marius, learnt this trade from his father and that this was a family business." 
The woman were "threatened, beaten and degraded" and faced "extreme sexual violence and humiliation," the court heard. 
Bogdan was convicted of seven offences - three counts of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation, three counts of trafficking into the UK for sexual exploitation and controlling prostitution for gain. 
Marius was found guilty of five counts of trafficking women into the UK for sexual exploitation, one count of conspiracy to traffic a woman into the UK for sexual exploitation, two counts of trafficking women within the UK for sexual exploitation, one count of trafficking a woman out of the UK for sexual exploitation, four counts of rape, five counts of assault, two counts of causing a woman to engage in sexual activity without consent, five counts of controlling prostitution for gain, and one count of witness intimidation to total 27 offences. 
The duo join two others who admitted lesser roles in the scheme. 
Costel Maruntelu, 24, was previously jailed for five years and six months for sex trafficking crimes. 
Juanita "Toni" Huntingdon, 41, helped set up the Birmingham brothel and acted as a receptionist at both sites and entered guilty pleas to five counts of controlling prostitution for gain. 
New Zealand Māori leaders have said that they will try to get a Maori temporary tattoo kit from the Los Angeles store Halloween Town withdrawn from sale, as they find it insulting to the Māori culture. 
The Halloween Town, a store that specializes in Halloween costumes and accessories, is selling the tattoo kit for NZ$16. 
The store's website features a photograph of a full facial Tā moko (Māori tattoo) instead of their usual caricatures. 
Aroha Mead, Victoria University of Wellington Māori business lecturer said that the Tā moko is not frightening, "And he doesn't look scary to me – he looks quite handsome,", but added "There didn't appear to be much that Māori could do." 
"No-one likes to see their culture being denigrated but we are aware that the moko is in the public domain." 
Rotorua acedmic Ngahihi o te ra Bidois, who has a full facial moko, has asked the Halloween Town store to remove the tattoo kits. 
"It is insulting ... what they are doing is not portraying Māori correctly," Bidois said. 
A full-face moko is traditionally restricted to male Māori and is used to represent mana (prestige). 
A series of explosions have hit an Albanian arms depot near Tirana, leaving at least 155 people injured. 
Juela Mecani, spokesperson for Albamian PM Sali Berisha, said to Reuters "We do not know the exact number (of casualties) but we fear the worst for the three teams, each of 21 people, working there at the time." 
The three teams referred to were dismantling obsolete munitions stored there, as part of a programme to remove Stalinist era arms and modernize the military in order to qualify for an invitation to join NATO next month. 
Injured people have been rushed to hospitals amid ongoing explosions, which Interior Ministry spokesman Avni Neza says have prevented helicopters landing in the area. 
The wounded are suffering from burns, concussion, broken limbs and shrapnel injuries. 
Meanwhile, Neza says police and army units are attempting to reach the area in armored cars. 
Albanian health minister Nard Ndoka said that the 155 known to be hospitalized so far had to make their way to nearby villages as the ongoing explosions had also prevented road ambulances reaching the scene. 
Tirana Airport spokesman Arlinda Causholli said glass windows and doors at the airport, a few kilometers from the site, were shattered by the initial series of explosions. 
"We evacuated passengers from the affected area and suspended flights for around 30 minutes," he said. 
"Terrified people are leaving the area on foot along the highway, women and children…" 
"Cars with broken windows have been abandoned on the highway." 
Local media reports Tirana residents rushing to donate blood to help with the emergency. 
Explosions were felt in Tirana and in Durres, 20km (12 miles) from the base. 
In the nearby village of Gerdec, some residents fled to the hills, while others sought shelter in concrete bunkers built by late Stalinist leader Enver Hoxha. 
The initial blast was heard 150km away in Macedonia and Serbia 
Statoil ASA (Statoil), a Norwegian state-owned oil company, entered into an agreement Friday to purchase all outstanding common shares of the privately held Canadian firm, North American Oil Sands Corporation (NAOSC). 
The deal is reported to be worth CAD2.2 billion in an all-cash transaction. 
It manages 1,110 square kilometres of oil sands leases located in northern Alberta. 
It is estimated that the NOASC oil sands hold approximately 2.2 billion barrels of oil reserves. 
The company is planning to develop an extraction project and an upgrading facility. 
When the project is completed, NAOSC expects it to produce over 200,000 barrels of bitumen per day. 
The upgrading facility would then process the bitumen into synthetic crude oil. 
The NAOSC board of directors has approved the bid from Statoil unanimously, and has recommended that its shareholders accept the offer. 
Paramount announced Friday that it had entered into a lock-up agreement with Statoil, which calls for Paramount to sell its 30.9% interest in NAOSC to Statoil ASA for a cash deal worth approximately $682 million. 
"We are impressed by the performance and competence held by the employees in NAOSC,” said Helge Lund, chief executive of Statoil. 
“Combined with Statoil’s experience and commitment to prudent operations, we are well-positioned to develop the resources in a sustainable manner, creating value for Statoil and its shareholders." 
Statoil suggests that the development plans for the NAOSC oil sands includes an application of Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) technology, which, according to the company, leaves a smaller environmental footprint than strip mining. 
Statoil admits, however, that heavy oil production, such as is required in the oil sands, is "energy intensive and challenging in an environmental perspective." 
The company said it intends to capture the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its oil sands production and store it underground. 
Under new environmental regulations announced Thursday by Canadian Environment Minister John Baird, companies that can't meet new intensity targets for CO2 emission reductions will be able to purchase offset credits or contribute to a technology fund, at an initial cost of $15 per tonne of emissions. 
New plants would have three years before they were obligated to begin reducing their emissions. 
However, Julia Langer, director of the World Wildlife Fund's global threats program, told the Globe and Mail that the initial exemptions for new plants and the technology fund contributions would undermine the government's new environmental plan. 
"This is a regulatory plan that is geared to business as usual for the tar sands sector," said Langer. 
The Statoil-NAOSC transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter of 2007. 
A civilian helicopter chartered by NATO has crashed while taking off from Kandahar International Airport in Afghanistan, killing sixteen. 
The helicopter had been chartered from the Russian company Vertical-T and all the victims were civilians. 
A NATO statement said that there was no obvious cause for the accident but hostile fire had been ruled out. 
The airport serves as NATO's operating base for southern Afghanistan. 
The crash comes just days after another civilian helicopter chartered for military activities crashed near Sangin Airbase in Helmand. 
The Mil Mi-26 is believed to have been shot down; six Ukrainian civilians onboard and one Afghan girl on the ground were killed in the crash on Tuesday. 
The helicopter had been taking supplies to a British military base. 
Roads in Afghanistan are often difficult to traverse, so militaries often contract aircraft, especially from Russia, to transport troops and cargo between bases. 
Fiji’s fourth coup in 20 years rose today as troops disarmed Fiji's only armed police unit. 
This is the first step in the long expected military coup. 
Fiji's president dissolved parliament on Tuesday and sanctioned the military to remove embattled Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase, said New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark 
Qarase, who is in his residence in Suva, said the military was staging a coup and he would not resign but would have to be forcibly removed from office. 
"I am the democratically elected prime minister of the people of Fiji." 
"I have been advised this morning that the president of Fiji has acted outside his constitutional powers and supported the removal of the democratic prime minister by the military," Clark said in a statement to the New Zealand parliament. 
Acting Police Commissioner Moses Driver denied that any take over had occurred. 
He said soldiers arrived to inspect police weapons, and were waiting for approval for that inspection. 
Troops later surrounding the Nasova Police Academy in Suva demanding the handover of weapons, and occupied the main police station in Suva. 
No shots were fired when the police were locked out. 
At a news conference inside the main Suva barracks, Commander Frank Bainimarama said that police weapons were confiscated so that "dissidents" did not use them against the military. 
There are also reports that military checkpoints are been set up around the capital. 
There are approximately four roadblocks with 20 soliders at each. 
Troops tried to arrest the Prime Minister of Fiji, Laisenia Qarase, in the afternoon by setting up a roadblock between Suva and the province where Mr Qarase was attending a meeting, but he escaped in a helicopter, and has since been in hiding. 
The Prime Minister and his cabinet are understood to be in safe, secure places, and some of them separated for extra security. 
The army kept up the pressure on Mr Qarase when he was later summoned to President Ratu Josefa Iloilo's residence. 
Mr Qarase drove to the estate, but was told by soldiers at a roadblock outside that he would have to walk the rest of the way. 
A witness inside the grounds said the prime minister, whose bodyguards were also disarmed by the military, refused and returned to his office. 
Mr Qarase will make another attempt to meet President Iloilo on Tuesday morning. 
Military chief Commander Frank Bainimarama had repeatedly threatened to remove Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase's government unless it drops several pieces of legislation, including a bill that would grant amnesty to those involved in a coup in 2000. 
Commander Bainimarama has laid allegations on PM Qarase of stalling his pledge of ditching of the controversial legislation. 
He had earlier imposed a deadline of noon (0000GMT) on Friday, December 1 but that deadline was extended to today as there was the annual rugby game between the police and the military. 
Commander Bainimarama is both an avid rugby fan and active church goer. 
"I maintain my demands and the deadline still stands and I will make a commitment to my stand after the rugby match," he said. 
Mr Qarase told Fiji radio on Monday morning that he remained in control and has called an emergency cabinet meeting for Tuesday. 
Fiji's Great Council of Chiefs called for calm on Monday and for the military to return to negotiations with the government. 
Local radio reported seven government vehicles used by ministers and parliament's Speaker had been confiscated by the military since Monday night. 
Including New Zealand which has banned Commander Bainimarama from entering New Zealand except if he is attending political crises talks. 
Helen Clark described the situation as "...it's a very disturbing situation." 
Some of Commander Bainimarama's close family live in New Zealand. 
Conditions on the street of Fiji are said to be mixed, with some apprehension. 
The United Nations might discontinue use of Fijian soldiers in peacekeeping operations of which is a large source of Fiji's income. 
The International Community have said they will discontinue aid to Fiji which is worth millions annually. 
The City of Brampton in Ontario, Canada, and Marikina in the Philippines have recently been "twinned". 
Both cities are roughly the same size, both have female mayors, both are near urban destinations (one of Toronto, the other Manila) and feel they can benefit economically with each other. 
Mayor Susan Fennell of Brampton commented "This twinning agreement between Brampton and Marikina City will not only provide new and exciting economic possibilities, but it is an excellent chance to recognize and celebrate the Filipino community in Brampton." 
"As one of Canada's most diverse cities, Brampton is home to more than 8,000 Filipino residents with a distinct culture, and I am pleased to be able to celebrate that culture with this agreement." 
A Spanish court is considering opening a criminal investigation into whether six former George W. Bush administration officials gave legal cover for torture at Guantanamo Bay. 
The prosecutor's office must issue a recommendation on the merits of the case and on whether the high court has jurisdiction to pursue it. 
A response is expected by next month, and an official close to the case said it was "highly probable" it would go forward and lead to arrest warrants. 
Spanish law allows the courts to pursue cases of torture and war crimes beyond Spanish borders. 
But American legal experts said the warrants, if issued, would be a largely symbolic gesture and that the officials would likely not be arrested if they did not leave the United States. 
The officials are accused of providing the framework of policies and legal opinions that justified torture at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp and afforded no protection under the Geneva Convention to Al-Qaeda suspects. 
"The charges as related to make make no sense," said Douglas J. Feith, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, who is one of the six accused former officials. 
"They criticize me for promoting a controversial position that I never advocated." 
The other officials are former Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff David Addington, Pentagon attorney William Haynes, and Justice Department officials John Yoo and Jay Bybee. 
Defenders of the officials said their legal analyses, which were conducted immediately following the September 11 attacks, are now being unfairly second-guessed. 
A Spanish human rights group called the Association for Dignity of Inmates filed the criminal complaint. 
The Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Senator Ian Campbell, has praised supermarket shoppers and operators for cutting three billion plastic bags from circulation during the past two years. 
He said a report compiled by the Australian National Retailers Association, representing major supermarkets, showed that by the end of last year supermarkets had reduced their annual use of lightweight, single-use bags by 45 per cent compared with 2002. 
"This is an enormous achievement by shoppers and supermarket management and a clear demonstration of a behavioural change by thousands of Australians," Senator Campbell said. 
"The goal must be to stop plastic bags getting into the litter stream and spoiling Australia’s environment." 
The Senator says the result came from entirely voluntary action – "no regulations, no levies or additional costs to shoppers." 
"I am delighted that the major supermarkets are committed to achieving the 50 per cent goal by the end of this year." 
"I also share their view that development of a viable degradable bag to replace existing lightweight plastic ones is a key to achieving further significant reductions." 
Plastics have been widely used in Australia in the past few decades but environmentalists say plastic bags have had a devastating impact on the nation's natural environment. 
According to Clean Up Australia plastic bags can take between 20 and 1000 years to break down. 
Despite their recyclable nature, an estimated 6.67 billion or 36,700 tonnes of plastic bags are disposed of in landfill sites throughout Australia each year. 
Many thousands of marine mammals and seabirds die every year around the world as a result of plastic litter. 
A 2004 NSW Parliamentary paper reported that plastic bags are of "significant concern in the marine and aquatic environment, as aquatic life can be threatened through entanglement, suffocation and ingestion." 
The then Federal Environment Minister was reported as saying: "All environmental ministers believe that all plastic bags should be phased out within five years." 
"If this voluntary campaign isn’t working then of course we have to consider what to do (next)…." 
Defense minister Søren Gade was there, having secretly flown into Iraq for the event. 
During the ceremony, there was a rocket attack, causing everyone to hit the deck. 
The 460 members of the army has already been reduced to 50 soldiers. 
Denmark's contribution to the Multinational force in Iraq will now consist of a small air force unit of four helicopters and 55 airmen that will work with the British. 
On July 20, Denmark said that it had airlifted translators and other Iraqi employees with their families. 
In total it was about 200 people that by cooperating with MNF may be in danger of reprisals from insurgents. 
"Out of concern for the interpreters and their families' security as well as the security of the Danish base in Iraq, the Defence Ministry has chosen to inform the public after the interpreters and others had left Iraq," the Danish Defence Ministry said in a statement. 
"They had been working for us for about four years, and those who felt their security in Iraq was threatened have been granted visas to go to Denmark" where they can apply for asylum, the Danish ambassador to Iraq, Bo Eric Weber told Reuters. 
Denmark announced in February that it would withdraw by August of this year. 
On Friday, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) expanded its long-standing definition of rape to include men, and the rape of any gender by lack of consent — as opposed to physical coercion. 
The revised definition should ensure all rapes are recorded in crime statistics. 
Valerie Jarrett, a White House adviser, said it was a "very, very important step." 
The new definition defines rape as: "The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." 
Describing the changes to crime reporting as "long overdue", United States Attorney General Eric Holder said the revised definition of rape will, "help ensure justice for those whose lives have been devastated by sexual violence and reflect the Department of Justice's commitment to standing with rape victims". 
The prior definition of rape — "the carnal knowledge of a female, forcibly and against her will" — was set by the FBI in 1927. 
In contrast, the revised definition drops the requirement that there be physical resistance, thus including crimes where the victim is unable to give consent because they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or due to their age. 
The changes are primarily a revision to the Uniform Crime Reports system (UCR), and are not expected to impact prior cases or current prosecutions. 
Introducing no changes to current State or Federal law, the FBI expects the revised definition of rape will see victim numbers "more accurately reflected in national crime statistics". 
Close to the revised rape definition is a 2010 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which included male rape and non-consensual sex; their figures indicate that, at some point in their lives, about 20% of women and 1.5% of men in the United States have been raped. 
Writing for Significance magazine, Stephanie Kovalchik says this report shows the US "is experiencing an epidemic of sexual violence." 
Comparing with other CDC reports, she highlights "that [the] number of American women who have been raped is greater than the number who are current smokers." 
Vice President Joe Biden, with a history of advocating improved rape legislation, described the changes as "a victory for women and men across the country whose suffering has gone unaccounted for over 80 years." 
Whilst still in the Senate, Biden led efforts to implement legislative change — including authoring the Violence Against Women Act. 
The Philippine economy grew by 5.9%, annual rate, during the second quarter of 2012 which is less than the first quarter's figure of more than 6% annual rate, as reported by The Associated Press. 
According to Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, strong domestic demand from the services sector and spending from money remitted by expatriate Filipinos helped boost the nation's economy despite the ongoing global economic crisis. 
In spite of this growth, numerous risks still lurk around the corner, said Balisacan. 
He said that changes in China and the El Niño remain as the biggest challenges to the economy. 
Balsican also noted that poor infrastructure may also have a negative impact although spending on infrastructure, which may cost nearly $200 million in investment, may contribute to growth. 
The Philippines central bank has cut key interest rates three times already this year in order to continue this economic expansion. 
Analysts, such as economist Eugene Leow of Singapore-based DBS bank, agree that, "There is definitely room to further cut rates if needed," in order to promote further growth. 
Update November 21, 2005: All of the 14 miners missing were confirmed dead on Monday, the official Xinhua News Agency said. 
Seven miners have been killed and seven more are missing after a coal mine flooded in north China's Hebei province. 
The Xinhua news agency reports the latest coal mine disaster occurred around 5:00 a.m. on Saturday in Xingtai City. 
A reason for the accident has not yet been given. 
Owners of the coal mine have been detained by local police and the investigation into the cause of the flooding is underway. 
State media reports say the disaster occurred at a pit in Xingtai City, but gave few other details. 
China's mines, many of them illegal, are considered the world's most dangerous. 
More than 6,000 miners died in accidents in China last year, according to previously released government figures. 
Other independent estimates put the real figure at around 20,000. 
Saturday's accident follows a gas explosion at a coal mine in south-western China's Guizhou province on Friday killing at least ten people. 
Xinhua reports that rescue work is underway, according to the local work safety supervision bureau. 
A spokesman said Yuanda Coal Mine, a collectively-owned mine in Neiqiu county of Xingtai, was flooded and all the 14 miners working down the pit were trapped. 
This is the second fatal mine accident in the area in two weeks. 
Cave-ins at three plaster mines on November 6 caused 33 deaths and left at least four missing. 
The unemployment rate in the Eurozone, or the sixteen countries in which the euro is used, reached ten percent last December, for the first time since the euro was introduced in 1999. 
A ten-percent jobless rate was initially recorded in November, although that was later revised down to 9.9%. 
According to Eurostat, 15.8 million people now are without jobs in the Eurozone. 
For all 27 countries in the European Union, 23 million people collectively are unemployed. 
Eurostat reports that 87,000 jobs were lost throughout the eurozone in December, the smallest loss since May. 
Latvia had the highest jobless rate for the EU, at 22.8%, whilst Spain has the highest for the eurozone, at 19.5%. 
The two countries with the lowest unemployment rates were the Netherlands and Austria, with jobless figures of 4% and 5.4%, respectively. 
An analyst for IHS Global Insight, Howard Archer, commented on the figures. 
"Although the rise in eurozone unemployment has slowed in recent months, it still seems poised to trend higher during much, if not all, of 2010," he noted. 
St. Petersburg, Florida police were taped on video handcuffing a five-year-old kindergarten student who had earlier torn papers off a bulletin board and punched an assistant principal. 
The camera happened to be filming on March 14 as part of a classroom self-improvement exercise at Fairmount Park Elementary. 
Video of the event has been released by a lawyer for the child's mother. 
The little girl had already calmed down from her tantrum by the time of arrival of the police, but they cuffed her anyway. 
Police had been called when a phone call to mother Inga Akins, had led teachers to believe that it would take an hour for Ms Akins to arrive and take the girl away. 
The video reportedly shows three officers pin the passive girl's arms behind her back and put on handcuffs, as she screams, "No!" 
Attorney for the mother, John Trevena, called the incident "incomprehensible". 
He provided the tape to the media this week, after obtaining it from police. 
"The image itself will be seared into people's minds when you have three police officers bending a child over a table and forcibly handcuffing her," said Mr Trevena. 
Police planned to investigate the incident and make public the findings in around two weeks. 
Western Australian district court judge Shauna Deane has found that a Muslim woman must remove her burqa in order to testify with regard to an Islamic school's alleged receiving of state and federal government funding in a fraudulent manner. 
The woman, identified only as 'Tasneem', was deemed unable to wear her traditional coverings despite feeling uncomfortable removing them in public. 
Judge Shauna Deane found that it would not be suitable for 'Tasneem' to offer evidence with her face covered, stating that the need to maintain a fair trial is consistent with allowing the jury to view and interpret cues from the face of a witness. 
The judge went on to say that her findings should not set a precedent for future cases and that any future rulings regarding the facial and head coverings should be based on the independent findings of the judge hearing the case. 
Leader of the Japanese opposition Democratic Party of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama, won a majority of votes in the House of Representatives of Japan in the Japanese general election on Sunday. 
He will be named the 93rd Prime Minister of Japan. 
Hatoyama ran against now former Prime Minister of Japan and Liberal Democratic Party leader Taro Aso. 
The results of the election were announced today, less that two and a half hours after polling stations closed, and end 54 years of nearly unbroken rule by the LDP. 
It has been estimated that roughly 30% of LDP supporters voted for the victorious DPJ, mainly due to the current economic climate. 
The Liberal Democratic Party was left with just 57 of 480 total seats. 
Outgoing Prime Minister Taro Aso has promised to resign as party leader, saying, "I believe this is the judgement of the public and we have to accept that and reflect on what we did." 
"The people have shown their disappointment with the party and I have to accept that as my destiny." 
Aso also said that he will stay on as leader until a new one is chosen. 
The Democratic Party has already informally allocated a number of cabinet positions and has set to work drafting improvements to the existing stimulus package. 
The newly elected party also pledges to focus spending on households, especially rural families and those with children. 
Tokyo economist Koichi Haji predicts that the hope instilled in the Japanese people by the election result will stimulate the economy, causing stock prices to rise. 
However, questions have been raised about the Democratic Party's stability, due to the wide spectrum of views and ideologies the party encompasses. 
Seminars and forums always played key roles to forecast the future of ICT industry worldwide after the COMPUTEX became more and more critical for businesspeople. 
Not only e21FORUM, the DRAMeXchange Compuforum was progressively respected by DRAM industry since 2006. 
Since the mobile devices have become popular in the presence, the supply of DRAM modules is still inadequate to meet the demand. 
"The abandonment of 12-inch fabs and the suspension of 8-inch fabs are considered critical issues in this incident." 
"If the Mainland China wants to enlarge its market stably, the supply chain and costs of material should be cautioned." 
Mass storage devices with high capacity often linked with enterprises. 
With innovations of information technology, capacity of USB flash drives and mobile drives are larger and larger. 
"Capacity, costs of production, prices, and efficiency on writing and reading are critical factors to determine an user on choosing SSDs, hard disks, or flash drives." 
"The market shares on storage will transform from enterprises to digital storage with a significant grown-up of Internet users within four years." 
The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed in a news release, March 21, 2007, that two Royal Navy crew members had been killed in an accident aboard nuclear submarine HMS Tireless earlier in the day. 
The next of kin for both men have been informed. 
Another submariner had been injured and was airlifted to a United States military hospital for treatment. 
The accident occurred at 4:20 a.m., March 21, on board HMS Tireless, a Trafalgar class submarine, during a joint US-UK exercise in the Arctic. 
The MoD suggested that the accident involved a piece of air-purification equipment in the forward section of the submarine. 
The submarine was not in danger and its nuclear reactor was unaffected. 
HMS Tireless is a hunter-killer submarine and does not carry nuclear missiles. 
HMS Tireless was submerged under the ice cap at the time of the incident. 
The crew brought the submarine to surface quickly through the ice. 
The Tireless was fitted, in 2001, with an update to the piece of air-purification machinery thought to have failed. 
As a precaution, the MoD is restricting its use on other boats until safety checks have been carried out. 
"I very much regret that this incident has occurred and my thoughts go out to the family and friends of the men who have lost their lives," said Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent, Commander-in-Chief Fleet. 
He added, "I also wish to pay tribute to the crew of HMS Tireless that this incident has been dealt with and contained so professionally." 
It was not stated what the official cause of death was. 
The website wikileaks.org has recently been brought back online following the lifting of a court injunction forcing the site to be taken down. 
A representative of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which supported Wikileaks, has told Wikinews their opinion of the court injunction. 
They have claimed that the lifting of the injunction was a "victory for the first amendment." 
The representative stated that the ACLU hopes this injunction acts as an example to other judges who take part in similar cases. 
This opinion was shown when the representative said that the lifting of the injunction will "hopefully help show other courts that injunctions against speech, including speech on the Internet, are not appropriate." 
The permanent injunction was granted in the California Northern District Court in San Francisco, California to Bank Julius Baer, a Swiss bank, which has caused the domain to be taken off line in the U.S.. 
Wikileaks previously published several documents obtained from a whistleblower of the Swiss Bank, "purportedly showing offshore tax evasion and money laundering by extremely wealthy and in some cases, politically sensitive, clients from the United States, Europe, China and Peru." 
"Blocking access to the entire site in response to a few documents posted there completely disregards the public's right to know," said Ann Brick a lawyer for the ACLU, in a statement made before the injunction was lifted. 
At least 18 other organizations have signed documents in defense of Wikileaks. 
Those documents have been forged into a joint amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief; which will be submitted to the court and used as defense evidence in a hearing scheduled for Friday February 29. 
On Tuesday the 31st of January, Dr Don Brash, the leader of the New Zealand National Party gave his third state of the nation speech to the Orewa Rotary Club where he focussed on the economy. 
Brash said business confidence in New Zealand is at its lowest level in 30 years and almost every day there is another company closing its doors or sharply reducing its staff. 
He predicted that "many businesses will face very tough times, and that unemployment will rise steeply." 
Brash said the blame for any recession will lie squarely with the Prime Minister Helen Clark and Labour. 
Brash said he had hoped to return as Prime Minister to give this speech. 
He also said that he intends to lead National in the next New Zealand general election (2008) and would be surprised if he is replaced before then. 
He also claimed the speech was riddled with inaccuracies, particularly over Government spending. 
Brash's first speech at Orewa, delivered by Brash on 27 January 2004, was highly controversial. 
It addressed the theme of race relations in New Zealand, particularly the special status of Māori, New Zealand's indigenous ethnic group. 
Some regard the speech as a watershed moment in New Zealand politics. 
German rock and metal label GUN Records (Great Unlimited Noises) announced Friday that they were to close. 
Formed as a joint venture between BMG and Wolfgang Funk in 1992, the label had seen its parent merge with Sony in 2005 to form Sony BMG and Funk quit as president in December 2008. 
In the nineties the label worked with German metal bands such as U.D.O., Sodom and Running Wild. 
GUN's current international acts - including Wales' Bullet for My Valentine, Finland's Lordi and the Netherlands' Within Tempatation - will now be handled out of Sony's Munich international division. 
National artists, such as Oomph! and The Donots, will also be Sony's direct responsibility via either Four Music or Columbia Germany in Berlin. 
The label has also worked with Sturm und Drang, Apocalyptica and HIM. 
The closure will affect eight employees including Arno Hartfield, the managing director. 
San Jose, California mayor Ron Gonzales is being investigated by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's Office. 
Gonzales is accused of secretly agreeing to pay $11 million in city funds to waste disposal company Norcal Waste Systems, without notice or approval by the city council. 
The scandal has already resulted in an independent investigation, civil grand jury proceedings, Gonzales's censure by the council, and council members calling for his resignation or removal from office. 
In a statement responding to the DA's investigation, Gonzales announced he has hired Allen Ruby, a high-profile Silicon Valley attorney, to represent him in this matter. 
Ruby has previously represented the National Football League in lawsuits against Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis. 
Gonzales's statement also supported the decision of the DA to conduct further investigations into the city's contract. 
The mother of a firefighter who died in his duties fighting the blaze in southern California, has pleaded to the arsonist responsible for the 40,450 acre inferno to give himself up, and that she will not judge him. 
Bonnie McKay, mother to 27-year-old Jason McKay, said "I firmly believe you didn't believe that things were going to turn out the way they did, but they did." 
The fire, which has claimed the lives of four firefighters and caused 95% burns to a fifth, is now 60% contained. 
There is a massive aerial attack on the fire in progress, making use of fire helicopters and planes to dump thousands of gallons of water onto the blaze over the canyons of Riverside County. 
The blaze has now destroyed as many as 27 homes, and has forced the evacuation of 500 more. 
Bingu wa Mutharika, the president of the African country of Malawi, was inaugurated on Friday after having been reelected to a second five-year term. 
The Malawian election commission had earlier reported that wa Mutharika had won the election, having taken 2.7 million votes, more than twice than the 1.3 million votes received by the second place contestant, John Tembo. 
In a statement at his inauguration ceremony, Mutharika said one of his highest priorities would be to battle with corruption. 
"I shall continue to fight corruption because it is evil." 
"Corruption in whatever form or shape is an enemy to growth and prosperity because it robs the poor, and denies their legitimate right to development." 
He also promised to focus on food security and agriculture. 
"In the next five years my administration will continue to prioritize agriculture and food security," the president said. 
"We will remain committed in ensuring that our current food production levels increase further to sustain the country's food self-sufficiency." 
The opposition has contested the election results and boycotted the president's inauguration. 
"These elections have been rigged," opposition leader John Tembo said. 
He has said he will challenge the election's outcome in court. 
December 29, 2004 The death toll from the earthquake and tsunamis that has hit countries in Asia and Eastern Africa continues to rise, passing 80,000 people according to reports from several news agencies. 
A spokesman for the Red Cross speculated that the toll could increase to over 100,000 as some of the smaller islands in the Indian Ocean are checked, and a U.N. official said that the death toll might eventually approach 80,000 in Indonesia alone. 
The immediate fatalities from the earthquake and resulting tsunamis are but a fraction of the total effect from the disaster. 
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 5 million people lack food, water or basic sanitation necessary for survival. 
Officials continue to struggle with burying the dead and delivering basic suvival provisions to the population in the coastal and island areas most hit by the disaster. 
Round 6 of the Hyundai A-League produced an interesting first for the competition in its short existence, and something which has been totally against the grain so far this season. 
In the 20 games so far this season, only three home wins had been recorded, but for the first time ever in the league, all four home teams won their respective matches in a single round. 
The Mariners stay four points clear at the top despite losing its first game of the season against Adelaide, while Wellington had their first taste of victory at home, with the Phoenix smashing Perth 4-1. 
Melbourne and Sydney are set for a blockbuster in Sydney next week, after both had hard fought wins. 
The United States Army has suspended its contract with a company that delivered old and corroding ammunition from China for use by Afghan army and police forces in a way that violated the contract terms. 
The ammunition was supplied by the Miami-based AEY Inc., a company run by a 22-year old named Efrain Diveroli. 
The nearly US$300 million contract stated that bullets were coming from Hungary, but were actually decades-old, damaged and corroded bullets from China. 
Officials from the Army Legal Services Agency notified Diveroli, via a letter, that his company is suspended from future contracting with any U.S. government agency. 
The letter came as part of an Army investigation since November regarding violation of the contract. 
According to the New York Times, Diveroli signed papers back on November 25, 2007 certifying that 28 pallets of ammunition for Afghanistan had been manufactured by MFS 2000, a Hungarian company, according to a memo written by investigators. 
AEY violated the contract by breaking two clauses, one stating that the ammunition could not be acquired directly or indirectly from the People’s Republic of China, which is a violation of American law. 
The other clause specified that it must be packaged to comply with best commercial practices for international shipment. 
According to the Times, says the ammunition arrived in decomposing cardboard boxes which contained ammunition dating as far back as 1966. 
However, Army officials believe some ammunition even dates back further to 1962. 
The Army had contracted with AEY in January 2007 to supply various types of nonstandard ammunition for use by the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police, an Army official said on background. 
The company was required to purchase the ammunition and deliver it to Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. 
AEY was recently awarded a delivery order amount of $48,717,553 on March 17, 2007 as part of the $298,004,398 contract. 
Also according to the Times, when purchasing the ammunition, AEY worked with middlemen and a shell company which has been placed on federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking. 
Also, the Times reported that, Diveroli was secretly recorded in conversation that suggested corruption on his company's purchase of 100 million aging rounds from Albania. 
Bryan Whitman, The Pentagon's spokesperson told reporters that suspension of the contract was due to the violation of the origin of the ammunition and the packaging of the ammunition, not the safety and performance. 
“Safety and performance has not apparently been a factor, according to our folks in Afghanistan." 
”They have had no safety incidents reported and no reports of any ammunition that has malfunctioned associated with this particular contract,” Whitman told the press. 
He also denied that the issue happened because the Army awarded the contract to the lowest bidder and that he was not aware of AEY's qualifications to fulfill the contract. 
“As the United States government does business, they are obviously always trying to ensure they get the best value,” he said. 
“But that does not mean that, in achieving the best value for the taxpayer, that we will accept something that is below standard for what it is we are purchasing, either.” 
According to an Army official, the suspension of the contract will not have an impact on Afghanistan operations and other contractors are expressing interest into entering into a contract. 
Michael Diveroli, Efrain's father, who originally founded AEY as a small printing business, said of his son's career choice to CBS' Miami affiliate, WFOR, "I would prefer he became a nice Jewish doctor or lawyer rather than an arms dealer." 
"He doesn't always take my advice, I don't influence him." 
"As a father of a boy genius he's hard to control." 
Angelo Diveroli, Efrain's grandfather said the young man frequently accompanied him to gun shows when he was younger and became an expert at weapons. 
A friend of Diveroli said to WFOR, "The government came here and checked him out and gave him the contract." 
"How do you give someone, a 21 year old kid a contract like that?" 
The United States Army Criminal Investigation Command is continuing their investigation, according to officials. 
Having outlined his manifesto in his last pre-election radio broadcast, beleaguered Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has failed to deflect calls for his resignation. 
Offering an increased minimum wage, additional debt relief for farmers, and pay rises for civil servants the PM starts the election campaign with his Thai Loves Thais (Phak Thai Rak Thai) party in good shape for the snap election announced last Friday. 
Thaksin's dissolution of the lower house of parliament, and move to re-establish his authority through elections has met with criticism from leaders in the troubled southern provinces as well as from political opponents. 
Zafi-in Jae-loh, the deputy chairman of Narathiwat Islamic Committee said the move would do nothing to help the situation faced by ethnic Malay Muslims in the south. 
The three southernmost provinces, Narathiwat, Pattani, and Yala face near-daily bombings and shootings with a considerable armed forces presence contributing to tensions in the area. 
Opposition parties concerned that the three years early election will not resolve the current political situation have announced that they may boycott the April 2 poll. 
The Democrats (Phak Prachatipat) and the smaller Great People's Party (Phak Mahachon) took over 25% of the vote in the February 2005 elections. 
Third placed at the last election with 11.4% of the vote, the Thai Nation Party (Phak Chart Thai) have yet to announce their decision, leaving party leader Banharn Silapa-archa to decide. 
Despite the upcoming election, and in the face of rumours of violence, a mass protest against the Prime Minister still went ahead. 
The People’s Alliance for Democracy was reported to be monitoring a crowd they were suspicious of ahead of the rally in Sanam Luang, Bangkok. 
Noon saw the arrival of former politician Chamlong Srimuang with the Santi Asoke Buddhist sect, including barefoot monks and nuns. 
Reports indicated that the total number in attendance and supporting the call for the now-caretaker Prime Minister to go were in the tens of thousands. 
Alluding to past protests that had toppled Thai governments, Chamlong said "We can eat anything, sleep anywhere." 
Anti-Thaksin banners displayed at the open-air rally stated that the he had "No right to rule", while others read "Thaksin=Toxin" below an image aimed at comparing the PM with Adolf Hitler. 
Calls for the PM to go have a long history, with his policy of pursuing his opponents through the courts drawing the attention of the King, thus leading to Thaksin dropping cases against media firebrand, Sondhi Limthongkul. 
A challenge through the country's Constitutional Court was brought by 28 of the country's senators following the PM's family selling their 49% share in Shin Corporation tax-free. 
The sale, to Temasek Holdings, was widely seen as allowing control of key telecoms infrastructure to pass into foreign hands. 
Wikipedia describes Temasek as, "the investment arm of the Singapore government." 
15 elite commandos in the Pakistan anti-terror unit have been killed in a suicide car bomb attack. 
The car rammed into the brigade headquarters of the Special Operations Task Force, part of the Pakistan military Special Services Group, set up in conjunction with the United States. 
It is believed to be the work of Islamic terrorists. 
The bomb destroyed the mess hall, killing at least 15 and injuring 50 more, six critically. 
It is thought the dead may include members of the CIA. 
The wounded were taken to a local military hospital for treatment, while security forces secured the scene of the blast. 
The attack coincided with US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte visiting the country. 
The Special Operations Task Force was heavily involved in last month's storming of the Red Mosque in Islamabad, and is accused by Islamic extremists with links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban of brutal conduct in the incident. 
The unit has also attacked terrorists near the border on which Osama bin Laden is thought to be hiding. 
"This signals the transformation of the Islamic militants trying to bring down [Pakistani President Pervez] Musharraf from rag-tag fighters to highly skilled insurgents able to attack at will," a diplomatic observer said last night. 
"It is an extremely worrying development from the point of view of Musharraf and those who support him." 
Observers have expressed concern at the fact that the bomber was able to successfully attack such a high-profile and heavily guarded target as the headquarters, especially considering the building's close proximity to the Tarbela Dam generator, considered an important strategic asset. 
“Obviously, this was someone who was known and familiar to the soldiers there, and it could be one of the civilians working at the base.” 
Earlier this month, an attack aimed at the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence killed 25 people. 
In the morning of 30 October 2005, Romania with other countries from Europe will switch to Official Winter Time. 
Thus, 04:00 AM will become 03:00 AM and will be valid until 26 March 2006 when the Official Summer Time will be again used. 
Following Romanian Government's Decision nb. 20 from 1997, Romania adopts Winter Time and Summer Time in the same day with the states of European Union and other countries part of this deal. 
Official Winter Time is adopted in the last Sunday of October and the Summer Time in last Sunday of March. 
Usually, the official time of a country is Winter Time. 
Summer Time is a legal time adopted by some countries or territories during a part of a year. 
Summer Time is usually one hour in front of Standard Official Time. 
During summer months, the time is moved forward in order to use as much sunlight for human activities, as well as to save electric energy used for lighting. 
Until 1939 this worked yearly from the first Sunday of April (in 1932: 22 May) 00:00 AM and the first Sunday of October 01:00 AM (local time). 
From 1 April 1940 00:00 AM and 2 November 1942 03:00 AM, Summer Time was permanent in Romania. 
From 1943 the Summer Time was suspended and Romania used just Official Time (Winter Time). 
A 70 centimeter (27.6 in) zander on Lake Maggiore, Switzerland was killed by police divers after it attacked several swimmers over the weekend. 
The fish bit six bathers, two of whom required emergency medical treatment for bite wounds up to 10 centimeters (3.9 in) long. 
Fish warden Fabio Croci said, "It is quite unusual for Zanders to bite humans". 
It is suspected the fish's aggression could have been a result of a hormonal imbalance. 
After attempts to capture the Zander with a net failed, police divers resorted to harpooning it. 
Meat from the fish was later served to tourists around the lake. 
Two cars have been involved in a road traffic accident in the Scottish Lothian and Borders region, causing three fatalities and sending three to hospital. 
The incident occurred on the A68 road approximately 1.5 miles south of the Midlothian village of Pathhead when a Škoda Octavia and a Nissan Note travelling in opposite directions collided at approximately 0730 UTC today. 
The Nissan, which was carrying five occupants, overturned and came to rest on its roof. 
Three male Buddhist monks who sat in the back of the car died at the site of the crash. 
The female driver of the vehicle managed to get out of the vehicle herself but another male passenger in the front of the car had to be cut free by fire service members. 
The two front-seat passengers as well as the male driver of the Škoda were hospitalised at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, although none of their injuries are considered likely to be fatal. 
"This is a tragic incident," Inspector Simon Bradshaw of Lothian and Borders Police said, "and we are currently in the process of carrying out inquiries in order to establish the full circumstances of the collision." 
The A68 road close to the location of the accident was temporarily closed to allow police to investigate the incident, with traffic redirected to the B6370 road via the town of Gorebridge. 
Pakistani military agreed to help in the rescue mission of Slovenian alpinist Tomaž Humar. 
Humar was on his paramount course mission on the 4700 meter high south rock wall of the 8125 meter high Nanga Parbat mountain (the utmost west of the mountain chain) in the Himalaya mountains, being trapped in the ice-hole at an approximate height of 5900 meters for five days. 
The rescue mission with the military helicopter is planned for Monday morning local time, August 8, 2005. 
The rescue team managed to locate Humar on face on Sunday, but said they need a better helicopter for the actual rescue mission. 
Swiss Air Zermatt rescue pilots offered their help in the effort. 
In an atmosphere of fun and excitement, the 4th annual Junior Eurovision Song Contest was held in Bucharest, Romania. 
The big winners of the night were twin duo Sisters Tolmatchevy with their song "Vesna" (Spring). 
Followed by Russia were pre-contest favorites Belarus (winners of the 2005 edition), and Sweden taking the second and third places respectively. 
The evening began with an introduction by 12-year-old co-hostess Ioana Ivan followed by an elaborate dance routine. 
Romanian reporter, Andreea Marin took to the stage to kick off the 15 performances from various European countries. 
Romania incorporated historic and modern elements in an interesting way that would appeal to children everywhere. 
Dracula was also present on stage, helping Ioana and Andreea present. 
At the end of the voting, most of the reactions expressed shock in the Portuguese and Macedonian results. 
These two countries could be found at the bottom of the scoreboard. 
The Greater Manchester town of Rochdale has begun setting up decorations for a number of festivities, including Eid, a Muslim holiday. 
However, there's a twist—in order to save money, the town is also erecting Christmas decorations early. 
Among the decorations were a giant Noel sign, holly leaves, and a skiing penguin. 
Some residents were opposed to the move; one person said, "Seeing the lights makes me feel depressed." 
"I know we haven't had much of a summer, but let's get it out of the way first". 
"It's the height of summer and they're putting up Christmas lights." 
"A worker told me they had to be up in time for all the religious festivals, but most of the lights refer to the Christian Christmas." 
A spokeswoman for the Rochdale borough council said, "We understand that we're early putting Christmas lights up now, but we are merely putting them up and not switching them on." 
"We have a duty to save taxpayers' money, and by putting them up now with lights for other festivities – including Eid in September – we will be saving around £10,000". 
Recent tests have shown that an inexpensive drug may be able to kill cancer cells in humans. 
Dichloroacetate, a drug generally used to treat rare metabolic disorders, has shown the potential to assist in the treatment of brain, lung, and breast cancers, researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada say. 
Dr. Evangelos Michelakis of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada found that that DCA causes tumor regressions in animals with human cancers. 
Testing showed that DCA attacked cancer cells but did not attack healthy cells. 
The researchers and the Alberta Cancer Board and Capital Health do not advise the use of DCA to treat cancer yet, as clinical trials for the drugs use to treat cancer have not been performed yet. 
Unlike healthy cells, cancerous cells do not convert food molecules into energy in the mitochondria. 
Instead, they rely on a process known as glycolysis, which takes place in the main body of the cell, while the mitochondria are "shut down", researchers believe possibly due to the lack of oxygen supply to cells in the middle of a tumor. 
This means that another key function of the mitochondria - to activate an abnormal cell's self-destruct mechanism, apoptosis - is also blocked. 
When Dichloroacetate (DCA) enters a cancer cell, it restarts the mitochondria which in turn activate apoptosis, and the cancerous cell destroys itself. 
DCA is known to be relatively safe, although pain, numbness and gait disturbances may occur. 
The drug is also expected to be cheaper to manufacture than other drugs since there is no patent for it. 
A bomb exploded Tuesday night in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. 
The bomb may have targeted a high-profile individual, traveling through the high-security zone in the Colombo Fort area. 
Earlier in the day, a government minister was killed by a roadside bomb. 
This blast has been blamed on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by government officials. 
The deputy director of the government teaching hospital in the town of Ragama, Lalini Gurusinghe, announced the death of the minister. 
The explosion took place in Ja-Ela, a town some 12 miles north of Colombo. 
The AHLC (Ad-hoc Liaison Committee) met in Oslo, Norway on June 7 and 8 to discuss the Palestinian economical situation in Oslo. 
Its mission is to bring the key donors of aid and relief together with the Israeli and Palestinian governments to address the current state of affairs between the two countries. 
The AHLC keeps track on how donor countries interact with the Palestinian authorities and how the support they provide is handled. 
Early on the first day, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Palestinian Prime minister Salam Fayyad both expressed optimism and hope for the Palestinian situation. 
Minister Støre underlined the importance of continuing aid, but stated that he understood that most countries still had problems because of the world economic crisis. 
As for the unstable political situation in Palestine, Prime Minister Fayyad explained that "the political instability is also a reason why we need more aid." 
During the second day, a press conference with Minister Støre clarified the motives of the donations saying, "It’s is important to stress that donors are not doing this as a humanitarian project." 
Our donor aid is a political project aim[ed] at supporting and sustaining the Palestinian Authority, a key institution in what is supposed to become an independent Palestinian state. 
Minister Støre continued, stating, "It’s very important to stress that without a political horizon what we do as donors becomes less meaningful." 
"So the current states of affairs where the political horizon is unclear and where we don’t have political negotiations of the two states as previous commitments indicates and obligate the party’s." 
"Donors start to change their stand and other agendas get the upper hand." 
"So in 2009 at this present stage, donors have only delivered half the amount they had at this time last year." 
"You can leave that up to the financial crisis, but at the big donor conferences in Paris December 2007, and Sharm el-Sheikh February 2009 there were pledges enough to carry this through." 
On the question if the donor countries had offered to give any immediate financial relief, Minister Støre said "This has to be stressed, [this] has not been a pledging conference." 
"This has not been a donor conference where governments have been invited to come and make new pledges, as I said if everybody lived by their Paris pledges in December 2007, which were three year pledges, we are exactly half way in that, we would have been more or less fine." 
"But I think we have seen a forthcoming approach by some delegations, I will not name them or put a figure on it but I think it follows from what the prime minister and I have together have expressed here that there is an urgent need." 
A new meeting has been scheduled for September in New York, New York in conjunction with the United Nations General Assembly. 
22 million counterfeit cigarettes have been found in Cardiff, Wales by officials working for HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). 
They had an estimated value of five million GBP and impersonated the Classic Gold and Raquel brands of cigarette. 
The details of the discovery, which took place on December 19 last year, has only just been made public. 
The HMRC have stated that they have worked to find the source of the illegal products during the time since the discovery was made. 
The assistant director of criminal investigation for the organisation, Andrew Pavlinic, explained the reasons for this. 
"Had it been successful, it would have undermined the business of honest traders who only sell duty paid tobacco products," he continued. 
"The sheer quantity involved in this attempt suggests these cigarettes could have ended up in locations across the UK." 
"We have prevented UK consumers from being conned into buying cigarettes that are counterfeit and could have more serious risk to health than legitimate brands." 
The discovery was the largest hoard of cigarettes found by custom officials in the whole of 2008, although several other significant stashes were found throughout the year. 
For example, nine million counterfeit cigarettes were found in Suffolk in August, and eight million were found in Belfast in May. 
A truck carrying 35,500 pounds (16,100 kg) of explosives used in mining and seismic exploration overturned and exploded on a rural mountain section of U.S. Highway 6 in Utah's Spanish Fork Canyon Thursday afternoon. 
The wreck occurred shortly after 2 pm, as driver Travis Stewart, 30, of Rexburg, Idaho, was leaving Ensign-Bickford Co., a commercial explosives manufacturing plant at the mouth of the canyon. 
Witnesses said Mr. Stewart appeared to lose control of the truck after entering a curve in the road at a high rate of speed. 
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Ken Peay said, "speed was a factor" in the wreck of the truck but refused to speculate on how fast the truck was traveling when it wrecked. 
Lt. Peay said the posted speed limit on the road is 60 mph, but the advised speed is 40. 
At least 17 people received minor injuries and the explosion left a 35 foot deep crater in the highway. 
The driver was transported via helicopter to a hospital, where he was listed in fair condition, and was later released. 
The co-driver Troy Lysfjord, 37, of Blackfoot, Idaho, was helped from the wreck by passers by and listed in fair condition at Utah Valley Regional Hospital in Provo. 
The wreck site occurred on a major thoroughfare between Denver and Salt Lake City - about 60 miles south of Salt Lake City - was already under reconstruction by nightfall, as road crews began installing 10 inches of asphalt on the two lane road. 
Utah Department of Transportation spokesman Tom Hudachko said officials hoped to have the road fully repaired by Friday afternoon, adding that, "When you take a look at that hole that was there 24 hours ago, I think it's amazing the progress that was made." 
As of press time, the mouth of the canyon was reopened to traffic, while traffic at the accident site was impassible, and rerouted nearby. 
The explosion consumed all but about 60 pounds of explosives, and loosened some boulders on the north side of the highway, damaged railroad tracks and some fiber optic lines buried along the roadway. 
Amtrak and Union Pacific reported delays resulting from the wreck. 
Uinta National Forest spokesman Loyal Clark said forest firefighters were unable to respond to several small fires nearby that were apparently started by flying debris, and that helicopters dropped water to extinguish them. 
High humidity and lack of fuel from a previous fire delayed the fire's spread. 
The cost of repairs, while paid immediately by the state, will ultimately be borne by the trucking company's insurance carrier. 
The truck is registered to R&R Trucking of Duenweg, Missouri. 
UHP Lt. Peay said the investigation findings will be turned over to Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson whom would make any final decision about what charges, if any, would be pressed. 
The looming debate on whether the Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott or the Theraputic Goods Administration (TGA) should regulate mifepristone, RU486, has entered the Australian Senate, February 8. 
A free vote is due to be conducted on this issue. 
The first speakers have been all women speaking in support of passing control from the Health Minister to the TGA: Australian National Party Senator Fiona Nash, Australian Democrats Senator Lyn Allison, Australian Labor Party Senator Claire Moore. 
They have drawn attention to the fact that abortion is already legal in Australia, the inappropriateness of a Parliament minister to regulate a single drug versus a scientific and independent body, and if RU486 is an unsafe drug then the TGA will not approve the drug. 
Petitions were presented by Moore with the undersigned stating "medical experts, not the health minister" should regulate the drug. 
Australian Liberal Party Senator Gary Humphries then spoke, stating that the bill is a "mistake", not because of the possible risks, or that the TGA is unfit to perform the evaluation, but because RU486 is "not just another drug", "facilitating a medical procedure that is not just a medical procedure". 
Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle spoke in favour of the bill, making mention of views of others on the supposed push polling of some groups opposing the bill. 
Liberal Senator Nick Minchin, the new Leader of the Government in the Senate, spoke in support of Humphries and his views, and "was not persuaded to support [the] bill", and expressed his "conservative" views that life begun "from conception onwards". 
Family First Party Senator Steven Fielding spoke out against the bill also, likening the TGA as comprising of "unelected bureaucrats". 
He further commented that Family First cannot consider the social policy issues without considering social views, and drew attention to the TGA's response in the earlier Senate inquiry that the TGA "cannot consider social and ethical issues". 
Fielding drew attention to the guillotine being placed on the debate of the bill and the attitudes of the non-Government senators earlier criticising the Government on the industrial relations legislation being "rammed through" late last year. 
Prior to 2007 Taipei 101 Run Up, organizers held a 35-floors warming up match for local athletes from 2009 Summer Deaflympics with the theme of "Value Your Every Step". 
This warming up simulated every possible situation as athletes wore the RFID chip and some professional medical teams stood by for emergency. 
Hsiao-hua Tseng and Lan-feng Chen, men's and women's fastest athlete in this (warming up) match, finished separately with 6 min 9 secs and 6 min 45 secs. 
After this match, the host (Taipei 101) awarded certifications and announced that the main match will take place next Sunday (November 25) morning. 
In the opening round of the 2012 ANZ Championship this past weekend, the Southern Steel beat the Bay of Plenty Magic in Invercargill, New Zealand by a score of 49–47, while over in Brisbane, Australia, the defending champion Queensland Firebirds lost to the Melbourne Vixens by a score of 47–42. 
The wins by the Steel and the Vixens are considered by those who follow the netball league to be major upsets. 
The Firebirds' loss this past Sunday was their first in fifteen games extending back to last season. 
Last season's championship is not a harbinger of success this season, as every season since the league was founded in 2008, the defending champions have failed to finish in the top four and attempt to repeat their title claim. 
Going into the game, the teams had played eight games against each other, splitting the record at 4 wins each. 
The Vixens' win can be credited to several players including English national team player Geva Mentor, and returning Vixen stars Bianca Chatfield and Julie Corletto. 
Firebird captain Laura Geitz's quality play could not overcome other difficulties on the court for her team. 
In the Magic versus Steel game, the teams were tied at 44–44 with five minutes left in the game. 
The local crowd were behind the Steel, and they finished the game ahead by two baskets. 
The Magic's coach blames the loss partly on not preparing adequately to play against the Steel's Donna Wilkins, who gave birth to her third child in January of this year. 
Jess Waitapu made her debut for the Magic because teammate Julianna Naoupu had health problems that impacted her ability to play. 
On Sunday in Auckland, the favored LG Northern Mystics held on to defeat the Haier Central Pulse 51–47. 
Silver Ferns member Maria Tutaia was replaced by coach Debbie Fuller in favor of Grace Rasmussen, with Rasmussen making six out of seven shots to help put the game away for her team. 
The Mystics had six fewer shots than the visiting Pulse, but had a better shooting percentage which proved to be a decisive factor in the game. 
In Perth on Monday, the West Coast Fever beat the Easiyo Canterbury Tactix by a score of 55–35. 
The team's captain Maree Bowden and coach Leigh Gibbs were disappointed in the team's performance but believed there were some positives and room for improvement. 
The West Coast Fever are the only Australian side in the competition to never have won the league's championship, with their best ever finish being seventh in the ten-team competition. 
In September of last year, following the Australian victory at the Netball World Championships held in Singapore in July, the Fever signed Australian national team coach Norma Plummer as the club's new coach. 
stuff.co.nzs Chris Barclay believes this means the Fever have a chance of winning, especially following a pre-season that included two wins, a tie to the Firebirds and a single loss. 
She has sought to instill a greater sense of discipline in her players, not taking excuses for missing practices with the exception of Australian Diamond Susan Fuhrmann who is recovering from a chronic knee injury. 
She also sought to improve the Fever's roster with the inclusion of England national netball team player Eboni Beckford-Chamber and former Swifts player Catherine Cox. 
The Tactix are to play the Swifts at home this coming Monday in the second round. 
In the third round, the Tactix will play the Steel, in a game stuff.co.nzs writer Matt Richens believes they can win. 
In Adelaide this past Saturday, the Adelaide Thunderbirds beat the NSW Swifts by a score of 57–40. 
Australian Diamond goal attack Sharelle McMahon has taken the season off from the Vixens as a result of pregnancy. 
A study by the Ernst & Young Scottish ITEM Club has predicted that Scotland will enter the worst recession seen in the nation since 1980, but that the rest of the United Kingdom will fare worse. 
Scottish GDP is expected to contract by 0.4% in 2009, compared to 1% for elsewhere in the UK. 
The report expects this to account for 50,000 job losses in Scotland, with the worst level of unemployment since the 1990s - a jump from 74,000 to 124,000 out of work, or 4.4%. 
Dougie Adams, author of the report, warns that if the financial crisis is worst than anticipated there could be a contraction of 1%, making 60,000 jobs lost. 
Private services will fare worst, he says, with 20,000 jobs to go. 
Next will be manufacturing, with 11,000 jobs lost, and 7,000 more will go in construction. 
"The economy must face a future with a changed landscape for its previously buoyant banking sector," said Adams. 
"These include policy actions at a global and UK level, including any fiscal measures announced in the pre-Budget report, and the fall in oil and commodity prices." 
"The sharp decline in inflation that is in the pipeline will buoy disposable incomes and leaves an open door to further interest rate cuts." 
"Finally, the UK will also benefit from the sharp fall in sterling that is unlikely to be frittered away by wage inflation." 
"However, recovery critically depends on both the willingness of the banking system to extend credit and the readiness of businesses and consumers to use it." 
In 2010, he predicts Scottish growth to recover by 1.5%, with the rest of the UK gaining only 1%. 
Known for his struggle against French rule, Ben Bella led the nation from 1963 to 1965 having only learned during a prison sentence. 
He came from a poor, agricultural background and left school early, but it was during his schooldays he joined Messali Hadj's Algerian People's Party. 
Serving in World War II, Ben Bella was decorated with five medals for actions including conflict at the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy and shooting down a German aircraft over Marseille, France. 
After the war he was elected to seniority within a group dedicated to ending French rule. 
The movement was deemed illegal and Ben Bella escaped and fled two years after his 1951 arrest for his part in a fundraising robbery. 
A bloody conflict for Algerian independence eventually convinced France to relinquish control in 1962 and Ben Bella was freed. 
The following year he took control of a one-party nation. 
Within years of attaining power, defence minister , an ally of current president Abdelaziz Bouteflika, overthrew Ben Bella in a coup. 
Ben Bella had grappled with post-war consolidation after about 1.5 million French left the nation, leaving gaps in its economy. 
"Today we lost one of modern Algeria's bravest leaders," said Bouteflika, declaring eight days of mourning. 
Successive regimes detained Ben Bella first in prison and later his home from his deposition to 1980 when he left for Switzerland in exile, before being pardoned a decade later. 
A cork was temporarily used to fix a fuel leak on a British passenger train. 
The leak was created when the train struck a concrete block that vandals left on the tracks. 
Train service on the Paddington to Exeter line was stopped around Bath. 
This abrupt stop created a hole in the sightglass which helps monitor fuel levels. 
Worried the incident could cause a fuel leak, staff decided to use the cork of a wine bottle found in the buffet car, to block the hole. 
An incident that people worried would cause a delay of hours, was cleared up in around 20 minutes. 
The newly appointed Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino told reporters on Monday that "the Caledonia land dispute is the single biggest issue facing him" and that, " 'lawbreakers' in Caledonia will be dealt with swiftly, regardless of which side of the native occupation they are on." 
The Caledonia land dispute has been going on since February 28 and still has not been resolved. 
The native protesters occupied the Douglas Creek Estates, a housing development, southwest of Hamilton, saying that the property belongs to them. 
Townspeople have repeatedly called for police to remove the protesters from the land, which is now owned by the province and being held in trust until the dispute is resolved. 
"I certainly don't expect that there will be lawbreaking that isn't dealt with and that will be my message to our people as well, that it's their duty and responsibility is to enforce the laws," said OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino, on his first official day on the job. 
"I assure that those who do break the law will be dealt with." 
While under former commissioner Gwen Boniface, who resigned last year because of the dispute, the OPP were criticised for not enforcing the law, especially when several camera people were assaulted by native protesters. 
Fantino said the on-going occupation of a property by members of the Six Nations Reserve is beyond his ability to resolve. 
His role in the contentious dispute will be to keep the peace in the town of Caledonia. 
Officials in Ontario and the federal governments are currently negotiating with Six Nations representatives. 
Both the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) parties have announce "freebies" as part of their election manifestos in the lead-up to the vote in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. 
Freebies have been a success from the 2006 Tamil Nadu elections when DMK lured voters by announcing free colour televisions to households. 
That triumph led the major opposition AIADMK to announce similar freebies in their manifesto published Thursday. 
DMK has announced free laptops to college students, kitchen appliances and modern networks to rural regions. 
The AIADMK, publishing their manifesto later, expanded on each of the promises of the DMK, plus offering 4g gold mangalsutra for the poor, monetary help for rural households and fishermen, free rice, and more. 
AIADMK manifesto addresses larger issues, such as taking on the near-monopoly of the cable industry television industry, starting new Power generation plants to address power shortages in recent years. 
Television star Jerry Springer has signed a contract to join the year-old political network Air America Radio Network starting April 1. 
He says the new deal will not affect his popular television program, which will continue to be produced. 
After initially being carried by only 45 stations nationwide, the host of the long-running syndicated program, The Jerry Springer Show will eventually have his radio show heard on all 51 Air America affiliates. 
The show also is planned to be broadcast by the Sirius and XM satellite radio services. 
Springer said he is committed to making his radio show a success. 
"Progressive, populist voices need to be a part of our nation's dialogue," Springer said in a press release. 
Although best-known for his low-budget, tongue-in-cheek talk show, Springer does have a political pedigree. 
He was a Democrat mayor of Cincinnati in 1977 and made a failed bid for governor of Ohio in 1982. 
Lexmark International introduced the Lexmark P450 in the USA yesterday, the first printer to have a built-in CD burner. 
The CD burner allows users to copy photos from their camera directly to CD without requiring the printer to be connected to a computer. 
The P450 is a small, portable printer that can print 4in by 6in photos. 
Photos can be printed from USB flash drives, memory cards, Bluetooth devices and PictBridge compatible digital cameras. 
The printer includes a 2.4-inch color LCD from which users can perform basic editing tasks such as cropping, rotating, and removing red-eye. 
"The Lexmark P450 brings more photo processing functions to the home." 
"People can now save and organize their digital photos on CD, print from a cell phone, view their photos on a television and much more." 
"The Lexmark P450 is quite intuitive, easy to use and affordably priced," said Najib Bahous, president of Lexmark’s Consumer Printer Division. 
This printer will compete with many other portable printers such as the popular and slightly cheaper HP Photosmart 375. 
The Lexmark P450 is scheduled to be released in the USA in October, with an estimated retail price of $199USD, and Canada in November, with an estimated retail price of $299CAD. 
It is scheduled to be released in other countries shortly thereafter. 
Around 50 people have been arrested ahead of a planned human rights protest in Swaziland. 
The protest had been planned against the monarchy of Swaziland to call attention to the country's alleged lack of human rights. 
Many of those arrested have been released but several people remain in custody. 
The King of Swaziland, Mswati III, has come under pressure for living in luxury with his thirteen wives while many Swazi people are on the poverty line. 
He has also faced criticism for having a high number of sexual partners, when 26% of 15 to 49 year olds are HIV positive. 
Several South African trade unionists were included in the protesters arrested. 
A spokesman for Cosatu, the South African trade union federation, said that two of the unionists had not been released and their current whereabouts are unknown. 
Human rights group Amnesty International has commented on the events saying that, "The arbitrary arrest of these political activists, lawyers, trade unionists and journalists is nothing short of police harassment and intimidation." 
Swaziland is the last country in Africa to hold an absolute monarchy. 
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) approved two new IEEE 1394 Firewire standards last week. 
S1600 and S3200 — which enable data transmission rates up to 1.6 Gbps and 3.2 Gbps respectively — would make Firewire (Apple's name for the standard) theoretically four times faster than is currently possible. 
According to IEEE, the new standards are based on IEEE 1394b (FireWire 800) Standard. 
The new standard will allow peer-to-peer transfer without linking computers. 
In addition, the S1600 and S3200 standards will continue supporting the S400 and S800 previous standards through backward compatibility. 
"The new standard includes all of the amendments, enhancements and more than 100 errata which have been added to the base standard over the last 12 years," Les Baxter, chair of the working group which developed the standard, said in a press release cited in several sources. 
"This update provides developers with a single document they can rely upon for all of their application needs." 
Though not as common as the USB standard, Firewire serves a niche market, especially the aviation industry. 
USB 3.0, the next generation of the competing USB standard, is due in 2010 with reported speeds of 4.8 Gbps. 
The United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) says it finished interrogating the nearly 105 Iraqi scientists it held in its search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD). 
In many cases their information was helpful, but in other cases the wrong people were detained, and were subjected to questioning by "inexperienced and uninformed" interrogators. 
From an update to the Comprehensive Report of the Special Adviser to the DCI on Iraq's WMD, "As matters now stand, the WMD investigation has gone as far as feasible." 
After more than 18 months, the WMD investigation and debriefing of the WMD-related detainees has been exhausted. 
"As far as the WMD investigation is concerned, there is no further purpose in holding many of these detainees." 
"These individuals have shown no reluctance to engage in further discussions should the need for questioning arise about past WMD programs." 
Elsewhere, "Some may have other issues to account for, including Regime finance questions, but certainly some have been quite helpful toward the compilation of an accurate picture of the Regime's WMD efforts and intentions over the last three decades." 
The comments were addenda and an accompanying note, supplemental to the original report, which was issued last autumn, and seen as the final report of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG). 
They were added by Charles Duelfer, head of the ISG, and Special Adviser to the Director of Central Intelligence in Baghdad. 
Deulfer emphasised that more information is likely to emerge naturally, over time, from people with differing viewpoints and interests. 
And a backlog of documents recovered from the former regime remain to be examined. 
A preference for reinforcement of short-term security on the part of the coalition forces over anti-proliferation efforts, fear of arrest and detention on the part of the Iraqi personnel, and other factors in the continuing conflict of the post-war environment, all impacted on the effort by the ISG. 
The report confirms the expressed opinion of former UN weapons inspector, Scott Ritter, that Iraq had no significant WMDs. 
"[T]here was not a single intelligence service in the world that said Iraq maintained massive stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction," Ritter said at the time. 
Duelfer summary of the intelligence obtained, as understood by the ISG, includes, "[T]he risk of Iraqi WMD expertise of material advancing the WMD potential in other countries is attenuated by many factors and is presently small ..." 
And, "So far, insurgent efforts to attain unconventional weapons have been limited and contained by coalition actions." 
Also, "There continue to be reports of WMD in Iraq." 
"ISG has found that such reports are usually scams or in misidentification of materials or activities." 
"In a very limited number of cases they have related to old chemical munitions produced before 1990." 
The new addenda included information on the Iraqi Military Industrial Commission, the "state-run military-industrial complex" which played a "central role in the evolution of all the Regime's weapons programs". 
Lehman Brothers, a major American investment banker, has filed paperwork for bankruptcy. 
It would be the largest collapse of an investment firm in 18 years. 
Lehman attempted to find a buyer over the weekend but it met with no success. 
The last remaining bidder, Barclays PLC bank pulled out Sunday afternoon. 
Barclays, a United Kingdom-based bank, had become the sole bidder after a consortium led by Bank of America pulled out early Sunday morning citing that it would need government support before considering a bid. 
The support would consist of backing bad debts owed by Lehman. 
As of Monday morning, no buyer has come through to take control of the firm. 
The main sticking point for potential buyers appears to be the unwillingness for the U.S. government to provide financial support. 
Hank Paulson, Treasury secretary, has repeatedly said that no government money will be given to Lehman or used in any takeover the firm. 
Government money was used in the takeover of Bear Stearns by JPMorgan Chase in March of this year. 
A spokesmen for Barclays told the Financial Times, "the proposed transaction required a guarantee for the trading operations of Lehman Brothers that was potentially open-ended, and we were not willing to provide that guarantee." 
Paulson, along with other government officials, proposed a solution that Lehman would get split into two separate entities. 
However, this proposal has been discarded by many of Wall Street banks. 
Members of the G8 have reportedly been keep abreast of the situation by U.S. government. 
The firm, which has over 25,000 staffers, has suffered bad results due to the subprime mortgage crisis. 
Almost all the prisoners kept in Kandahar jail have escaped after the building was attacked by Taliban militants. 
Police have reported that "a suicide attacker drove his way into the main gate of the prison, it was very strong and destroyed the gate and two sides of the surrounding wall." 
About 350 militants participated in the attack, and 15 guards were killed, while about 1,000 prisoners escaped. 
The Taliban used a combination of two suicide bombers and roughly 30 other militants on motorcycles with rockets and small-arms to attack the prison. 
The suicide bombers destroyed the main gate to the prison, as well as a wall. 
Afterwards, the other militants engaged in a massive gun attack on the prison guards, allowing prisoners to escape. 
A state of emergency has been declared throughout Kandahar province, as large numbers of both Afghan and NATO forces have been deployed to track down the escaped prisoners. 
The European Environment Agency (EEA) released a report which shows that the European Union is on track to meet their Kyoto Protocol commitments to limit and reduce emissions responsible for the greenhouse effect on our earth. 
The five member states France, Germany, Greece, Sweden and the United Kingdom have already reached the target. 
All other member states, except Austria, which has to strengthen its efforts, expect to reach the target, too. 
EEA Executive Director Professor Jacqueline McGlade said: "It is encouraging that Europe's climate-changing emissions are expected to continue decreasing, outperforming the objectives set by the Kyoto Protocol." 
"Such an accomplishment should encourage all countries to agree on much larger reductions of global emissions, sealing a global deal in Copenhagen this December." 
"Commitments to deep emission cuts are urgently needed to preserve our chances to keep planetary temperature increases below 2ºC." 
Aníbal Archila, a Guatemalan reporter for Notisiete, was killed Thursday night as he was reporting on the eruption of the Pacaya volcano. 
Firefighters and another journalist found his body near Cerro Chino. 
Two more bodies were found near Cerro, both in the path of a lava flow. 
Fellow worker Vinicio Fuentes said that Archila couldn't escape from the rain of volcanic stones, but his cameraman and another group of local reporters could. 
Archila was found with several lava and rock injuries on his body. 
President Álvaro Colom and many other Guatemalan officials attended Archila's wake at a local chapel. 
Archila's body was taken at 08:30 (14:30 UTC) to the Metropolitan Cathedral for a mass. 
Later, it was moved to Notisiete's headquarters, where a memorial took place. 
Internment will take place at the Hermano Pedro cemetery in Mixco. 
The volcano began erupting on Thursday, and on Friday searches began for another three people who are missing. 
Colom has placed Guatemala City and the Escuintla region under a state of emergency. 
About 1,600 people have been evacuated from the region, and La Aurora International Airport has been closed. 
The Turkish government has come under fire from officials in Dogubayazit, where three siblings died from the H5N1 strain of Bird Flu, for not sending enough resources and not responding quickly enough in the region. 
The mayor of Dogubayazit, Mukkades Kubilay, claims that the Turkish government sent only three doctors and that there were not enough workers to destroy poultry. 
The government has been accused of doing too little, too late. 
Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker dismissed the claim, saying that culling of infected poultry began immediately following the discovery of H5N1 on December 15, 2005. 
Questions about whether the government acted aggressively enough early in the outbreak emerged as officials tried to contain the disease, which Eker said had been confirmed in 11 of Turkey's 81 provinces and was suspected in 14 others. 
The number of confirmed human cases of H5N1 in Turkey is 18. 
Several others with the virus have shown few symptoms or are in a stable condition. 
Authorities suggest that the strain may not be as deadly as first thought. 
Of those who contracted the virus in Asia, half died. 
An eight-year-old child who became infected after playing with dying chickens has been released from hospital. 
Nationwide, 355,000 birds have been slaughtered in an attempt to slow the outbreak. 
The Agricultural ministry is complaining that it has only 24 workers in Dogubayazit, a city of 56,000, and culling could take up to a month to complete. 
Experts are still warning of a possible pandemic, prompting the world bank to release US$500 million in aid to assist countries combat H5N1. 
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani announced that the military operation targeting Taliban militants based in the South Waziristan tribal region is now over, after nearly two months. 
He commented that the military is now focusing on the nearby Orakzai tribal region, in order to pursue the Pakistani Taliban leadership that is believed to have fled there from South Waziristan. 
There recently have been heavy artillery and air strikes in the area. 
"Now there are talks about Orakzai," Gilani said earlier today to reporters in a televised speech 
In mid-October, Gilani ordered Pakistan's military to conduct the offensive, known as Operation Rah-e-Nijat or "Road to Deliverance." 
Military officials say more than 600 Taliban members and some 80 soldiers have been killed in the operation near the Afghan border. 
These numbers have not been independently verified because, except for a few military-organized trips, the military has largely closed the area to journalists and aid agencies. 
The United Nations reported that about 40,000 of people have fled the region, and need humanitarian aid. 
Pakistani officials have blamed Mehsud's organization for a series of high profile attacks across the country that has killed more than 500 people since the beginning of October. 
Thousands of people around the world took to the streets in a "Global Day of Action" to mark the third anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. 
The weekend rallies and demonstrations drew smaller crowds than earlier anti-war demonstrations, when millions gathered in 2003 and 2004. 
US President George W. Bush, with dwindling public support for the war, marked the occasion with a speech, outlining his commitment to democracy in the region. 
Three days after a US Navy helicopter collided with a US Coast Guard airplane off the coast of California, a search and rescue mission is ongoing for the nine crew onboard the two aircraft. 
The two on board the AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter and seven on the C-130 Hercules transport plane were trained in survival and described as being in good physical condition, meaning rescuers maintain hope of finding them alive. 
They all had heat-retaining drysuits but it was unknown if they were wearing them at the time. 
The accident occurred at 7:10 p.m. on Thursday in an area of military airspace that is sometimes closed to the public, although its status at the time of the accident was not known. 
The helicopter had been in formation with two transports and another SuperCobra to practise night flying, while the Coast Guard plane was conducting search and rescue for 50-year-old boater David Jines. 
The search for Jines ends today whether he is found or not. 
After searching 644 square miles of ocean with nine aircraft debris has been located from both the aircraft, but no trace has been found of those on board. 
Operations are currently focusing near the military's San Clemente Island, where an area of about 50 miles of floating wreckage is located. 
British murderer Gordon Park was found dead today in his cell at a prison in Lancashire, England. 
Park, whose 66th birthday was today, was convicted nearly five years ago of the murder of his wife, Carol, in 1976. 
Her body was found over twenty years later in Coniston Water, in the Lake District, Northern England, leading to her being dubbed the "Lady in the Lake" by police, after the Raymond Chandler novel. 
The Prison Service state Park was found hanging in his cell at Garth Prison, unconscious, at 8am local time. 
"Staff and paramedics attended but Mr Park was pronounced dead at 9.40am", a spokesman added. 
An investigation has been launched by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, responsible for investigating deaths in custody; but suicide is suspected. 
His son, Jeremy, who had been fighting for his father's release, said "[w]e are all completely devastated and still believe his innocence 100%." 
Park was jailed for life in January 2005, with a minimum period of fifteen years, for his wife's murder after a ten-week trial at Manchester Crown Court. 
Carol Park was killed with an ice axe, then her body concealed in Coniston Water. 
She was not found until August 1997, when divers found her weighted corpse 70 feet deep. 
Park had claimed that his wife had left him for another man. 
His appeal against conviction was turned down in 2008, with the Court of Appeal saying that the geological evidence he wished to challenge was only one factor of the "strong circumstantial case" proving his guilt. 
Six of the world's largest computer companies are seeking to have a patent held by the Australian Government's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) revoked. 
Microsoft, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Intel, Apple and Netgear are taking legal action against the CSIRO to have its U.S. patent broken. 
In 1996, the CSIRO developed technology to allow computers to be networked together wirelessly. 
The technology is now built in to most laptop computers and manufacturers currently pay the CSIRO a licence fee to use it. 
According to CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Geoff Garrett, the system enables the speed of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) to be increased by a factor of five. 
This isn't the first time that the CSIRO has been involved in legal action surrounding this patent: in February 2005, it commenced legal action in the United States against Buffalo Technology, a Japanese-owned company, which had ended negotiations with CSIRO about obtaining a licence. 
The Australian Government's research arm has announced that it will fight the legal action to protect its intellectual property, the income of which it uses to fund its research. 
It has come under increasing pressure following the Australian Government's cutting its funding in 2003, which has only been recently restored. 
"As part of our business we create high quality intellectual property and we are prepared to defend it," Garrett said. 
"We actively encourage the utilisation of the results of research in industry and communities, both nationally and globally, and any royalty income will be reinvested in further research." 
The patent in question is U.S. Patent 5,487,069 Wireless LAN. 
The case also raises issues about the recent signing of a Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United States. 
Per the agreement, Australia plans to introduce American-style intellectual property law. 
WASHINGTON (AP) The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly confirmed Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state after a host of Democrats harshly criticized Bush administration Iraq policy. 
The expectation of Rice becoming the Secretary of State, like many presumed, has come true. 
The United States is replacing emergency oxygen handles on its 170 jet fighters. 
The move follows a report into a November 2010 crash that killed a pilot in Alaska. 
The report finds Captain Jeffrey Haney's death was partly due to aircraft design flaws. 
The experienced 31-year-old was on a night mission when his aircraft crashed nose-down among mountains. 
Planemaker now faces legal action from his widow Anna, which they vow to contest. 
The report identified three separate problems with the ring handle to activate emergency oxygen. 
The first was that pulling the ring could require intense effort, the second that it was possible to drop the ring between seats, and the third that pilots in cold-weather gear could struggle to grasp it. 
Now new handles have been designed in Arizona and the Air Force will place them on all of the 143 million aircraft. 
All 40 Raptors at Haney's base, near , have received the $47 upgrade. 
Haney's death has been attributed by his employer as the result of his "channelized attention" on getting the main oxygen system to restart after it automatically cut out when it detected engine bay air leaks. 
The Air Force say he should have activated his emergency oxygen but the accident report and lawsuit question his ability to do so. 
The report notes he was conscious and fighting to keep his jet airbourne up until impact. 
Documents filed with a court in Illinois claim the handle's position is "in an area impossible for a pilot to reach while he or she maneuvered the sophisticated aircraft at speeds exceeding the speed of sound and while he or she experienced forces many times the force of gravity." 
The fatal accident is not the only such problem to beset the F-22, which despite being billed by the Air Force as their most advanced fighter has never been deployed to combat since coming into service seven years ago. 
Three other Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson pilots activated emergency oxygen supplies during "physiological incidents" last month, said a spokesperson for the base. 
Raptors were grounded nationwide for five months last Summer over the oxygen systems. 
The Australian based pharmaceutical company CSL has announced that despite promising human trials of their bird flu vaccine, more research is needed before the final formula can be developed. 
Late last year the Australian federal government gave CSL AU$ 5 million to speed up research into the bird flu vaccine. 
The vaccine was tested on 400 Australians aged between 18 and 45 in October last year to determine its safety and effectiveness. 
The strain of bird flu used for the trials was taken from a bird flu victim in Vietnam and neutralised to prevent it from being contagious. 
The next phase of the trial will include 700 people from varying age groups. 
CSL has previously indicated that once their vaccine is approved, it could take between three and six months to manufacture enough of the vaccine to inoculate every Australian. 
The Pakistani government has blocked access to YouTube, the popular video-sharing website, citing "growing sacrilegious" content. 
The move comes after a Pakistani court ordered a temporary block of social networking site Facebook on Wednesday, when a row unfolded concerning a group on Facebook urging users on the popular social networking site to draw pictures of the Prophet Mohammed. 
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, the government agency responsible for the operation and maintenance of Pakistani telecommunications, ordered all internet service providers to "completely shut-down" all access to Facebook and YouTube from the interior of Pakistan. 
According to a spokesman, the agency only did so after "all possible" options had been exhausted. 
The spokesman, Khoram Ali Mehran, said that they were "just following the government's instructions and the ruling of the Lahore High Court", and that "if the government decides to unblock it, then that's what we will do". 
The Facebook user who created the group, entitled "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day", said that she had got the idea for the group after watching an episode of South Park on the television channel Comedy Central, in which a line involving the Prophet had been 'bleeped out'. 
The site was blocked the day before the event was scheduled to take place. 
YouTube was blocked in Pakistan in 2008, when material deemed "offensive to Muslims" led to restrictions. 
Access to Wikipedia, Wikinews' sister project, and Flickr, a photo sharing site, were also banned, on Thursday. 
A gene has been discovered that turns stem cells into cancer killers, promising new treatments that boost the body's ability to destroy tumors. 
South Korean scientists from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology in Daejeon say that the gene, Vitamin D3 Upregulated Protein 1 (VDUP1), spurs stem cells to become natural killer cells. 
These components of the immune system can eliminate virus-infected and cancerous cells. 
Research leader Inpyo Choi says the team observed that VDUP1 plays a decisive role in causing stem cells to become natural killers. 
The discovery was made by examining mice bred to lack the gene. 
The mice had a dramatic reduction in the number and activity of natural killer cells. 
Besides determining the gene's importance to the immune system, Choi and colleagues have developed technology needed to spur the creation of natural killers from a person's own bone marrow stem cells. 
Choi calls this "the first step toward developing new treatments using our own immune system to fight cancers and other serious diseases." 
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned that limiting funding for the United States efforts in Iraq could lead to more bloodshed in the Middle Eastern country. 
In an interview with radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, he said it might even lead to ethnic cleansing in Bahgdad and elsewhere in Iraq. 
Gates' comment followed a proposal from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to end most spending on the Iraq war in 2008, limiting it to targeted operations against al Qaeda, training for Iraqi troops and U.S. force protection. 
Sec. Gates also said that the duration of the troop increase is not clear and that evaluating whether the Administration's new strategy was working will have to wait till mid-summer. 
The Army general charged with day-to-day operations has suggested that the increased deployment may extend to early next year. 
Sri Lanka have beaten Kenya by 172 runs in Group C of the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship at Wanderers Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa. 
Sanath Jayasuriya scored 88 runs off 44 balls as Sri Lanka raced to 260-6 off 20 overs, the highest total made in a Twenty20 international. 
Mahela Jayawardene scored 65 runs before falling lbw to Jimmy Kamande, who took 3-48, bowling Kumar Sangakkara for 30 and Tillakaratne Dilshan for just three runs. 
Jehan Mubarak smashed 46 off 13 balls as Sri Lanka set a formidable target for Kenya. 
Chaminda Vaas immediately made a breakthrough, dismissing opening batsman Maurice Ouma for a duck. 
Kenya never recovered, and were reduced to just 88 runs in the 20th over as Sri Lanka dismissed their batsmen cheaply. 
The win, by 172 runs, is the largest margin of victory in a Twenty20 international. 
Seven unknown men armed with guns invaded the Terra Prometida camp, in Felisburgo city, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and killed five members of the Brazilian Landless Workers Movement movement (MST). 
The Terra Prometida camp had been invaded by the MST in May 2002 and there were about 200 MST families living there at the time of the attack. 
According to MST camp leaders the gunfighters set fire to MST tents and started shooting. 
The Workers Party (PT) has demanded the gunfighters' arrest and punishment. 
The MST is an ideologically diverse movement of agricultural workers in Brazil officially founded in 1984. 
According to MST, in 2003 there were about 632 MST camps in Brazil. 
MST is a large organization with many bases throughout Brazilian cities. 
Their most visible tactic has been the occupation of mostly privately-held plantations and landholdings, sometimes armed with carving knifes and scythes. 
Currently, MST receives help from the Brazilian government and donations from international organizations. 
The movement also receives funds by selling videos of their invasions. 
Overall, a recent report on labor standards in Brazil has shown that conditions for laborers are poor. 
A documentary set to be shown on October 10, 2010 in Australia about the life and times of the soon to be canonised Mary MacKillop — who will be the first Australian to be made a saint — suggests that nuns including MacKillop of the Sisterhood of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in South Australia were condemned and even excommunicated by high-ranking priests for informing the authorities of the apparent paedophilic acts of Father Patrick Keating at a local public school in Kapunda, South Australia. 
The excommunication of MacKillop and other nuns was performed by the Bishop of Adelaide, Laurence Bonaventure Sheil, in 1871, but the documentary is set to suggest that the influence of Father Charles Horan was the driving force behind the act. 
"She submitted to a farcical ceremony where the bishop was, I'm not sure you should use this word, gaga, but he had lost it and he was being manipulated by malicious priests," Father Paul Gardiner, a prominent figure in the canonisation of Mary McKillop, claims. 
According to Ignatius Fennessy in the Journal of the Galway Archaeological and Historical Society:"One Thursday evening, 21 September 1871, Horan told Mary MacKillop that the bishop (who had called while she was out that day) wanted her to go to another convent." 
"She could not go that night and wanted to discuss matters with the sisters and the bishop as well." 
"Horan told her that the bishop would not see her and added, 'I suppose you won't go.'" 
"The next morning the bishop arrived with four priests and, in a ranting mood, amid the hysteria of some of the sisters, and with MacKillop kneeling down on her knees in the chapel, he excommunicated her and sent her back into the world." 
Bishop Shiel renounced the excommunications on his deathbed five months later. 
The alleged paedophile priest, Father Keating, returned to Ireland, where he continued in fatherhood in the Catholic Church. 
Mary MacKillop officially becomes the first sainted Australian on October 17, 2010 in a ceremony at The Vatican. 
The recent E. coli outbreak that killed three people and sickened nearly 200 in the United States and Canada has been linked to cattle. 
Shortly after the outbreak began, the contaminated spinach had been traced to the Salinas Valley region of California. 
Now, health officials say the contamination came from cattle manure. 
The infected cattle manure was found on a ranch in Salinas Valley that is adjacent to the field that produced contaminated spinach. 
How precisely the infection was transported from the ranch to the spinach field is still unknown. 
Dr. Kevin Reilly of the California Department of Health Services said that "we don't know if wild swine are playing a role or not, but we do know that on this particular ranch, there is a very large population of wild boar, and we have witnessed on this site that they have torn through fencing and under fencing and have the ability to access the field". 
The bacteria could have been carried by wild animals from the cattle ranch to the spinach field. 
Joan Rose, a microbiologist and food safety expert at Michigan State University, commented that it is not surprising that cattle manure was the source of the infection. 
"If you start to look at the pathogen levels even in untreated sewage, it's minor compared to animal waste", she said. 
Spain defeated the Netherlands in extra time 1–0 to win this year's FIFA World Cup. 
The winning goal came in the last few minutes of the match, which saw thirteen yellow cards and one red card. 
Yesterday's win marked Spain's first World Cup victory, in their first World Cup final appearance, making the Spanish team the eighth distinct team to have won the championship since it began in 1930. 
It was the second time that the European champion for that year won the World Cup as well, the first being West Germany's victory in 1974. 
It was also the first time that a European team emerged as the World Cup victors on a continent other than Europe. 
For the Dutch, it was the third time they have lost in the World Cup finals, having done so in 1974 and 1978. 
The final match, played in Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium, stayed tied at 0–0 for all of regulation time. 
Called "a very difficult match" by Spanish coach Vicente del Bosque, the game started with a slow first half. 
The Dutch had an opportunity to take the lead in the second half, but Arjen Robben's shots were blocked by Spanish captain Iker Casillas. 
The Netherlands were forced to play with only ten players near the end of extra time after John Heitinga was kicked out of the game. 
The winning shot of the match came from Spanish midfielder Andres Iniesta in the 116th minute, just four minutes from the end of extra time. 
He managed to kick the ball past Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from just 8 metres (26.2 feet) away. 
If Iniesta had not made the goal, and game stayed scoreless until the end of extra time, the game would have been decided by a penalty shoot-out. 
Spain's victory was correctly predicted by the oracular animal Paul the Octopus. 
Paul's 2010 FIFA World Cup prediction record stayed at 100 per cent as a result. 
Fifteen years after the Winnipeg Jets left the province of Manitoba, Canada, an announcement on Tuesday made official what ice hockey fans have been anticipating: The National Hockey League's (NHL) Atlanta Thrashers are moving to Winnipeg. 
The Thrashers, who have been a target for relocation rumors amid the ownership struggles and financial losses, will leave Atlanta after eleven seasons there in the highest-level professional ice hockey league in North America. 
The deal, which was finalized early in the morning Tuesday, has just one step to climb: a vote by the NHL's Board of Governors, which will take up the matter at their June 21 meeting. 
Atlanta Spirit Group, LLC. (ASG), who owned the Thrashers—and continues to own both the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association, as well as Philips Arena, the arena both teams occupied—completed the sale to Winnipeg investor group True North Sports & Entertainment Ltd. 
The Thrashers will move into their new home arena, MTS Centre in Winnipeg. 
ASG has also been trying to find buyers for the Atlanta Hawks as well as Philips Arena. 
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, who also presided over the league when the Jets left Winnipeg in 1996, has stated the Thrashers will remain in the Southeast Division for at least the 2011-12 season, after which time the NHL is expected to shuffle teams between the Western and Eastern conferences to move the Thrashers to the West, to play with other teams in western North America. 
The two teams situated in the Western Conference which reside in the Eastern Time Zone, the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, as well as the Nashville Predators are considered favorites to be moved into the Eastern Conference when this happens. 
The city of Winnipeg, which has been ready and waiting for an NHL franchise since the Jets relocated to Glendale, Arizona and became the Phoenix Coyotes in 1996, is already host to a team in the second-tier American Hockey League, the Manitoba Moose. 
During the announcement Tuesday, True North stated that they were starting a season ticket drive. 
They also announced that they have yet to choose a name for the new team. 
The Thrashers are not the first franchise that True North has set its sights on in regards to acquiring an NHL team. 
The Coyotes, which have been owned by the league since the previous owners filed for bankruptcy in 2009, was highly sought-after by True North in the past few years in an attempt to literally "return the Jets to Winnipeg". 
In early May, the Glendale City Council approved a measure to pay $25 million to the league, to cover their operating expenses for the next year in order to keep the team in the city. 
This is not the first time an NHL franchise has been relocated north of the border from the #8-ranked media market in the United States; in 1980, the Atlanta Flames moved to Calgary, Alberta, becoming the Calgary Flames. 
Atlanta was later granted an expansion franchise in 1997, and the Thrashers took the ice to start the 1999-00 NHL season. 
In the 11 seasons the Thrashers spent in Atlanta, they made the playoffs only once; in the 2006-07 season, they reached the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, where they were swept in the best-of-seven series by the New York Rangers in four straight games. 
Sunnis upset over the hanging of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein began protesting Monday, the Associated Press reported. 
A mob in Samara, a town in the Sunni-dominated region of Iraq, tore off pieces of a bombed-out Shiite shrine, called the Golden Dome, which was attacked by extremists 10 months ago. 
They also carried a mock coffin and photos of Hussein, a Sunni who was executed by the majority-Shiite government on Saturday. 
Many were angered by a three-minute video, apparently shot on a cellphone and making its way around the Internet, that showed Hussein taunted by his Shiite executioners moments before he dropped to his death. 
In the video, those gathered to witness Hussein's execution could be heard chanting, "Muqtada! Muqtada! Muqtada!" for Muqtada Sadr, whose radical Shiite militia has been known to hunt down Sunni Arabs and kill them. 
At least one photo taken by the Associated Press showed a protestor Monday with a hand covered in red, made to look like blood. 
The protest followed Hussein's burial the day before in his birthplace of Al Auja, where mourners also expressed outrage for the hanging. 
"Today they proved themselves that the trial and the execution were mere retaliation and not justice," one mourner told the Los Angeles Times. 
According to Dr. Vinton Cerf, a few movie producers have talked about using filesharing such as BitTorrent for the distribution of video content. 
Dr. Cerf is considered to be one of the fathers of the Internet. 
One of the problems with having a video on demand service is video files take quite a bit of bandwidth to distribute. 
Through the use of file sharing, the clients that are requesting a video can share information amongst themselves and can take some of the load off of the original distributor. 
The only draw back to using file sharing is the distribution would not be instant; instead, it would have to be pre-recorded like TiVo. 
Ironically, the movie industry has been suing people for file sharing for years now. 
In the end, this same technology might save the movie industry millions. 
Cerf said, "They are only just now starting to come to honest grips with the possibilities of using the Internet," according to ZDNet Australia. 
Currently, waves of lawsuits against internet file-sharing services continue to be mounted. 
11 countries across Europe and Asia have seen lawsuits filed against individuals by record companies fighting file-sharing technology which they say is costing it billions. 
The total number of lawsuits worldwide is in the range of 12,000. 
A cruise ship caught fire 32 km (20 miles) off the southeast coast of England. 
The blaze started in the engine-room of the Calypso, which had 708 passengers and crew onboard. 
Specialist firefighters transported by helecopter from the East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service tackled the fire. 
It was tugged to Southampton by the Anglican Monarch, a tug boat jointly operated by England and France. 
The relieved passengers left to boat 16 hours after the fire started. 
"A team will be going onboard to assess the situation, so time will tell," said the Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokeswoman. 
At least four people died and forty were injured Saturday night as the result of a stage collapsing at the Indiana State Fair, located within the US state of Indiana. 
The Indianapolis Star has attributed the incident to poor weather. 
A storm with wind speeds as high as 60 miles per hour (96 kilometres per hour) had been reported. 
Captain Brad Weaver, an Indiana State Police employee, described witnessing "the framework from the stage start to come over", having given a public safety announcement shortly prior to the collapse. 
Numerous patients, including adults and children, have been admitted to hospital. 
Weaver claimed that the incident could not have been prevented. 
Video footage of the incident, which has now emerged online, displays witnesses screaming as the rigging falls down. 
One witness, who has been identified only as Chris, informed the BBC of the events he sighted. 
"We could see the sky get really dark and there was lightning and thunder." 
"It almost seemed like a hurricane hit out of nowhere." 
"The stage just leaned to the right and crashed down." 
"It felt to me like it was in slow motion." 
"Everyone was scrambling and it was horrifying because you knew people were underneath it." 
He described the incident as "the worst thing I have witnessed in my life." 
David Lindquist, a journalist for The Indianapolis Star, described the scenario as "bad, very bad", and that one "could clearly see people were under the footprint of the rigging." 
Freeing trapped victims from underneath the wreckage took rescue workers under twenty minutes, according to Lindquist. 
A Twitter account representing the Indiana State Fair confirmed the fatalities and stated that their "prayers are with the families of all affected". 
At the time of the incident — approximately 2100 EST Saturday night or 0000 UTC Sunday morning — US country music band Sugarland were about to perform. 
Band members Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles spoke out after the accident on social networking website Twitter. 
"We are praying for our fans, and the people of Indianapolis." 
Sara Bareilles, another scheduled performer at the event, also commented on Twitter. 
Bareilles said she was "speechless" and felt "hopeless" in the aftermath of the situation. 
As many as 3,200 mine workers became trapped in the in Elandsrand mine, a gold mine in South Africa about 50 miles (80 km) west of Johannesburg in Carletonville, Gauteng, after an incident on October 3. 
All miners have been rescued, and none of them were injured. 
The mining company says that a lift electrical cable broke on a basket that was carrying miners, trapping thousands at least 2,200 meters (1.3 miles) below the earth's surface. 
Reports from MSNBC and the Guardian Unlimited say that the shaft may have collapsed when a water or air pipe burst. 
The rescue operation went well with no complications, with the rescue taking just under 24 hours to complete. 
"They were underground when the accident happened and they were not able to surface because an electric feeder cable that is connected to the mine lift was severed," said a spokeswoman for the mining company, Amelia Soares. 
The snap was caused by a "fatigued" air pipe which burst and fell down the shaft damaging the "steelwork and electrical feeder cords," added Soares. 
"There have been no injuries or deaths," said CEO of Harmony mining, Graham Briggs who also said that the miners were previously contacted and were given "food and water." 
Earlier reports had stated that Lesiba Seshoka, a spokesman with the National Union of Mineworkers, said that the miners have not been heard from for hours and that they could have been enduring temperatures as high as 105 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius). 
"The only exit is blocked, probably by a fall of ground," said Seshoka. 
Rescue workers used a mine shaft that is next to the damaged one in an attempt to reach the trapped miners, and lifted them out, 75 at a time. 
There was no emergency exit in the shaft which is reported to have "not been maintained for ages," added Seshoka. 
"An escape route is the most important thing and they have failed miserably." 
"Our main worry is for more than 3,000 people who are underground," said National Union of Mineworkers for S. Africa chairman, Deon Boqwana. 
Current reports say that "negligence" was the initial cause for the pipe burst and that there has been a history of negligence from the mine. 
"Because of continuous operations there is no time to make adequate checks," said the President of the Miners union, Senzeni Zokwana to reporters during a news conference. 
The Elandsrand mine is currently under development and has been since February 2001 when Harmony bought the mine. 
Officials state that the mine will remain closed for a minimum of six weeks, while an investigation is performed, and the mine is deemed safe for miners to continue working in it. 
The mine is located in the Witwatersrand Basin of South Africa, which is said to be the location of the largest area of raw gold on the planet. 
Outgoing Iranian president Mohammad Khatami said that the proposed nuclear fuel work would not include producing enriched uranium, but stressed that Iran would ultimately resume its uranium enrichment programme. 
Khatami told reporters "Whether Europeans mention our right to resume activities at the uranium conversion facility at Isfahan or not, we will definitely resume them regardless." 
Iran has consistently maintained that it has a right to develop its own nuclear fuel cycle from its indigenous uranium resources to produce power. 
Though Iran has large oil stocks, environmental concerns and the Kyoto Protocol may preclude their continued development. 
The results of the appeals in the massive Italian football match-fixing scandal have today been announced by the Italian federal court. 
Juventus originally were relegated to Serie B with a thirty-point deduction. 
Their appeal still sees them in Italian football's second division, but with their points deduction almost halved to seventeen. 
They will still have their last two Scudettos stripped off them and the 2005-06 title will not be assigned to anyone. 
They will also have to play three games behind closed doors. 
AC Milan will remain in Serie A and with their points deduction reduced from fifteen to just eight. 
However, importantly, they have been reinstated into the Champions League, but will have to play in the third qualifying round. 
Fiorentina and Lazio have been reinstated into Serie A, having been demoted into Serie B originally. 
However, both clubs have had their points deductions increased, in Fiorentina's case the deduction was twelve points and Lazio will start the season with -11 points having originally had a seven-point penalty. 
Both clubs will not be allowed to play in European competitions next season and will have stadium bans. 
Fiorentina must play three games behind closed doors and for Lazio it's two. 
Carlos Ortega, one of the top opposition leaders in Venezuela, has been sentenced to 15 years in jail for inciting civil unrest during a strike. 
Following a military coup d'etat in 2002, the two-month strike battered the country's oil industry in a effort to oust the elected president Hugo Chavez. 
"From prison, I'll keep working, I'll keep fighting to preserve the freedom, democracy and unity of the people," said Mr Ortega in a telephone interview. 
"I'm no conspirator or coup plotter and I didn't betray my country." 
While Ortega had initially fled Venezuela following the issuing of an arrest warrant in 2003, the BBC reports that he had returned to Venuzuela from Costa Rica last August. 
Supporters of Mr Ortega have claimed the verdict is 'politically motivated' according to BBC reports, with an appeal being planned. 
Mr Ortega's opposition to current Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is well known. 
Chavez himself attempted (and failed) to carry out a military coup in 1992. 
Since then, Chavez was democratically elected president in 1998, 2000, and survived a recall referendum against him in 2004, and the constitutional reform referendum which he supported was supported by over 70% of the population in 1999. 
Pakistani militants killed ten soldiers and injured fifteen more during an attack on PNS Mehran, a military base in Karachi, in a revenge strike after the killing of Osama bin Laden. 
Commandos have cleared the base of militants; three of the attackers were reported also to have been killed. 
The militants reportedly took hostages inside the base but officials said they all had been rescued unharmed. 
Military forces continued to fight off the militants on Monday morning, hours after the attack began the night before when as many as twenty militants stormed hangars at the base and used rocket-propelled grenades to destroy a number of military aircraft, including a P-3C Orion. 
Witnesses reported hearing a number of loud explosions and heavy gunfire as the militants continued to attack the base. 
"They were carrying guns, rocket-propelled grenades and hand grenades," a spokesperson for the Pakistan navy said. 
Yusuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister, said the attack was a "cowardly act of terror". 
Reports last night indicated hostages may have been taken at the base, but officials have confirmed all foreigners at the base are safe and any hostages taken have been freed. 
Commandos moved in after the attack begun and fighting continued throughout the night, and more loud explosions and gunfire were heard in the base on Monday morning. 
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attack; a spokesperson said it was a revenge attack for the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces earlier this month. 
"It was the revenge of martyrdom of Osama bin Laden," the spokesperson said. 
"It was the proof that we are still united and powerful." 
The group warned after the death of bin Laden that they would attack Pakistani military targets. 
With the actual poll only days away, Thailand's Administrative Court has ruled against a new requirement introduced by the country's Election Commission. 
Voters will not be forced to complete ballots with a rubber stamp and may instead use a pen. 
Ruling that the change to require the use of a rubber stamp is in contravention of election law, Judge Anuwat Tharasawaeng highlighted that election law does not mandate how a mark must be made on the ballot. 
Israel's naval ships have entered Lebanon's territorial waters to enforce a blockade on the Levantine state, Thursday. 
"Since this morning Israeli naval vessels have enforced a full naval closure on Lebanon, because Lebanon's ports are used to transfer both terrorists and weapons to the terror organizations operating in Lebanon," a spokesman for Israeli Army said. 
The spokesman did not comment on whether Israel had also blockaded Lebanon's airspace. 
However Israeli aircraft attacked Beirut's Rafik al-Hariri International Airport, Thursday morning, which damaged the main runway and forced incoming flights to divert to Cyprus. 
Israel's Army Radio said that other airports might also be targeted in order to restrict access to Lebanon. 
"We will take all necessary measures to bring an end to the rogue behavior of a state that does not assume responsibility and put an end to the activities of a major partner in their own government," said Israeli Cabinet Minister Isaac Herzog to Reuters. 
The government in Beirut has said it accepts no responsibility for what Hezbollah claimed was the capture of two Israeli soldiers, in an attack which injured six Israeli civilians. 
27 civilians have been killed so far in Israeli raids on Lebanon. 
As residents of the Big Island of Hawaii continue to make preparations for Hurricane Flossie, a 5.3 magnitude earthquake rocked the Big Island at 7:38 p.m. local time last night. 
The earthquake jolted an area about 20 miles south of Hilo. 
There were no immediate reports of injuries from the earthquake, as of late Monday night. 
However, Tom Brown, a spokesman for Hawaii County Civil Defense did report that the quake caused a small landslide. 
Parts of Hawaii are already under hurricane watches, tropical storm warnings, and flash flood watches as Hurricane Flossie approaches. 
Public and private schools alike closed early Tuesday morning as residents and visitors were warned to stock up on food and water. 
Meteorologists predict the eye of the category three storm will pass less than 100 miles from the islands, leaving parts of Hawaii exposed to strong winds and up to 15 inches of rain. 
However, meteorologists also express caution in saying that even a slight change in course could take the storm closer to land. 
The Hawaii National Guard has been activated under the command of Governor Linda Lingle, who signed an emergency disaster proclamation ahead of the storm. 
Mayor Harry Kim also declared a state of emergency on Monday. 
The last time a hurricane struck the state was in 1992, when Hurricane Iniki devastated the island of Kauai. 
Six people were killed and over $2.5 billion in damage was caused. 
The video on YouTube has been viewed over 1.3 million times, and there are numerous parodies using the quote. 
T-shirts and coffee mugs with the slogan are also selling well. 
The phrase has also become notable enough to merit an article on Wikipedia. 
The situation brings attention to changes Chávez has proposed to the Venezuelan constitution, which would lift the restriction on the number of terms for the President of Venezuela. 
Early exit polls for the Israeli parliamentary elections suggest that the newly formed Kadima party of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Acting PM Ehud Olmert managed to capture between 28 and 32 seats in the 17th Knesset with Labor coming in second with 20 to 22 seats ahead of Yisrael Beiteinu with 12 to 14 seats. 
Likud got 11 or 12 seats, the National Religious Party took 8 or 9 seats and Shas 10 or 11 seats. 
The Pensioners party performed better than expected, capturing 6 to 8 seats, United Torah Judaism got 5 to 6 seats and Meretz around 5 seats. 
Arab parties are expected to get 7 or 8 seats. 
The results mean that Olmert could probably form a center-left coaltion to implement his unilateral disengagement plan for the West Bank. 
"The next prime minister is Ehud Olmert," said Roni Bar-On, a Member of the Knesset for Kadima. 
His party did worse than expected from opinion polls, which saw them at gaining about 40 seats. 
"This a crisis unlike any that has ever hit Likud," said Dan Naveh, a senior MK of the party referring to Likud's fall from being one of the dominating Israeli parties in the last decades to finishing only 4th. 
Correspondents for the BBC stress that Israeli exit polls are considered to be relatively unreliable, and that it may take some time to get definitive results. 
Users worldwide are reporting that they are unable to login to Microsoft's (MS) live services such as Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, and in some cases Xbox Live. 
"We are aware that some customers may be experiencing difficulty accessing their Windows Live accounts." 
"We’re actively investigating the cause and are working to take the appropriate steps to remedy the situation as rapidly as possible." 
"We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and disruption this may be causing our customers," said MS in a statement to the media. 
The exact number of users affected by the outage is not yet known. 
MS has not stated when the problem will be fixed. 
The New Zealand government has announced that the new minimum purchasing age to buy fireworks in New Zealand is 18-years instead of the current age of 14-years. 
Also the amount of time fireworks are available for sale during Guy Fawkes has been restricted to three days before Guy Fawkes night instead of ten days. 
The New Zealand Fire Service has welcomed the new restrictions despite them calling for a complete ban. 
The Environment minister, Honourable David Benson-Pope, said: "This aims to restrict young teenagers from purchasing these potentially harmful explosives, and to make the Guy Fawkes season less taxing for the Fire Service and Police." 
"We want to see fireworks users behaving responsibly, being aware of and avoiding fire risk, guarding the personal safety of themselves and others, and being aware of the effect the noise has on animals." 
Further restrictions have also been announced which will ban the separate sale of sparklers. 
Sparklers will only be available for purchase in packs contained with other fireworks. 
This restriction is to try and prevent the dangerous, home-made "sparkler bombs." 
Mike Hall, chief executive of the New Zealand Fire Service, said that he is pleased with the new restrictions around the sale of fireworks. 
"I met with the minister in November and expressed the Fire Service’s concerns, and it’s good to see that some action has come out of that." 
In response to why the government had not banned the complete sale of fireworks, Hon Benson-Pope said: "I have listened to the various groups that do want a ban, and I am still open to that possibility in the future, but I believe the best approach at this stage is to tighten up the laws around sale." 
The government has asked the Environmental Risk Management Authority to investigate the fireworks available for purchase in regards to the style, design and the construction of the various fireworks. 
"...and next year government will consult with industry about new regulations in this area," Hon Benson-Pope said. 
Mr Hall said: "Obviously we won’t know whether or not the measures Mr Benson-Pope has introduced will go far enough until the Guy Fawkes period in 2007, but we certainly hope they will limit the chaos we have seen in the past couple of years." 
Hon Benson-Pope said: "Guy Fawkes is a fun event for thousands of families, and fireworks-related damage is caused by a small group of mostly young people." 
"I don't feel it's fair on New Zealanders to ban fireworks sales at this stage because of the actions of a minority." 
"I understand the frustration the Police and Fire Service teams feel when faced with problems over Guy Fawkes, and I hope these new restrictions will send a message that deliberate harm or damage is criminal and is being clamped down on," Mr Benson-Pope said. 
On Wednesday, United States President George W. Bush signed into law a US$555 billion appropriation bill, called the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (aka H.R. 2764). 
The bill will keep government agencies running through September 2008. 
It also includes US$70 billion, which will fund the military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan well into 2008. 
The signing of the bill concluded a battle between Bush and the United States Congress, during which he threatened to use his Presidential veto. 
Even so, Bush complained about the final outcome of the bill: 
"I am disappointed in the way the Congress compiled this legislation, including abandoning the goal I set early this year to reduce the number and cost of earmarks by half." 
”Instead, the Congress dropped into the bill nearly 9,800 earmarks that total more than $10 billion.” 
”These projects are not funded through a merit-based process and provide a vehicle for wasteful Government spending," Bush said in a press release from the White House. 
English football club Manchester United has beat Liverpool 3–0, making it six points clear at the top of the table for United. 
The match, which started at 13:30 local time featured several bookings and a red card for Javier Mascherano (Liverpool). 
The half time score was 1–0 to Manchester United, with the other two goals being scored in the second half. 
The goal, scored by Wes Brown, was headed into the goal after a cross by Wayne Rooney. 
The second goal was scored by Christiano Ronaldo, was also scored through a header, although this goal was scored seconds after a shot by the same player. 
The third and final goal was scored by Luis Nani, just two minutes after the goal by Ronaldo. 
The goal was shot into the left hand side of the goal. 
A rainy day in Victoria, the provincial capital of British Columbia, failed to dampen the spirits of protesting teachers and their labour union supporters on Monday as thousands turned out to make their voices heard and, incidentally, shut down the city's transportation services. 
The local transit union was not involved in the strike, their offices were picketed by striking Telus workers. 
Across northern B.C. thousands of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) members are off the job in solidarity with the teachers. 
In Prince George a rally is planned to be held in front of the office of Education Minister Shirley Bond. 
"If solutions aren't found, on Wednesday of this week, another massive shutdown in a different area of this province will take place," shouted Jim Sinclair, B.C. Federation of Labour president, to a crowd gathered on the lawn of the Legislature yesterday. 
Inside, the opposition NDP used Question Period to repeatedly probe the ruling Liberal party's decision to not speak with the BC Teacher's Federation (BCTF). 
Carol James asked Gordon Campbell what the difference was between this strike and that held by the Hospital Union (HU) in 2004 - also an illegal strike. 
The Premier's response was that he personally did not negotiate with the HU, and the rule of law was supreme: teachers must return to the classroom before negotiations over a bargaining process for next year's contract may begin. 
The strike is back in court again this week, with Supreme Court Judge Brenda Brown saying she will rule Friday on requests the union be slapped with additional fines for refusing to call off the strike after the civil contempt of court ruling last week. 
The union and leaders may also face criminal charges after the government appointed Len Doust as an independent special prosecutor to assess whether criminal contempt charges may be brought. 
India's former External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh has, for the first time, been directly accused by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his involvement in the Iraq oil scam. 
The ED, which is responsible for enforcing foreign exchange control laws, has alleged that Singh, along with his son Jagat Singh and three others, acquired foreign exchange worth $8.9 lakh illegally. 
The 18-page show-cause notice issued by the ED says the money was acquired by the accused, in violation of U.N regulations, in exchange for two oil contracts awarded to Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation (SOMO). 
Of the $8,90,000, $7,48,550 was allegedly transferred by them to an account in the Jordan National Bank, the remaining $1,46,247.23, which was the commission for the oil-contracts, was deposited with Barclays Bank, in the Channel Islands. 
The money was transferred to an account in the name of Indus Trading Company, which itself is owned by Andaleeb Sehgal, a friend of Mr. Singh. 
The accused are required to respond to the show-cause notice (issued on the 2nd of September), which Natwar says is an attempt by the ED to "defame" him, within 30 days. 
The independent Pathak Commission's report had stated that there was "no material evidence to show that Natwar Singh derived any financial or other personal benefits from the contracts." 
The offices of DirectNIC, a New Orleans based webhost and services provider, were visited by armed members of the 82nd Airborne Division during an interview with Wikinews reporters Tuesday evening. 
DirectNIC has been the home of "Outpost Crystal" — an information dissemination effort involving hundreds of volunteers throughout the world — since Hurricane Katrina wracked the United States Gulf Coast last Monday. 
Armed police and military are currently patrolling the devastated city to protect residents and property. 
While New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has ordered a "forced" evacuation of the city, it is not apparent yet whether these orders are being executed by law enforcement agencies. 
DirectNIC personnel indicate that they will be allowed to stay as they constitute part of the recovery effort of the city. 
A new strain of Avian Flu or Bird Flu has been discovered in China and has also infected some humans. 
The virus also "spreads fast" and has covered a "big geographic region" according to Chinese health officials. 
It is not known how dangerous the new virus is and whether it is stronger or deadlier than the current H5N1 virus. 
Despite being detected in humans, no evidence has turned up to suggest that the virus can be spread easily from human to human. 
"The new variant doesn't indicate any increased risk for people other than the fact it seems to be pretty widespread," said World Health Organization's [WHO] Global Influenza Program, which is located in Zurich, Switzerland, Doctor Michael L. Perdue. 
"This virus seemed to spread very fast over a big geographic region." 
"However, we don't have any evidence to show whether this virus is more dangerous or less dangerous than any other H5N1 viruses," said State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong in China director, Yi Guan. 
The strain was discovered during April and June of 2006 in China's Fujian Province when Guan's team examined ducks, chickens, geese and other birds at a market in the province. 
At least 95% of the birds Guan and his team looked at were infected with the new strain and vaccines formulated to fight the H5N1 virus have not worked. 
"This novel variant may have become dominant ... because it was not as easily affected as other strains by the avian vaccine used to prevent H5 infection." 
The team is continuing surveillance on the area where the strain was discovered and according to Guan the virus "is not causing widespread infection outside of our surveillance area" but the new strain is reported in Thailand, Laos, Hong Kong and Malaysia. 
Scientists also say that current vaccines used in birds for the H5N1 virus might have caused the new strain to develop. 
On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. 
Christian Heritage Party candidate Steven Elgersma is standing for election in the riding of Haldimand—Norfolk. 
Wikinews contacted Steven Elgersma, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. 
Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. 
All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted. 
According to Chaindrawa, Saakashvili's government bears little resemblance to a democracy. 
Rather, Chaindrawa claims that the government of Georgia is an authoritarian regime that suppresses civil liberties and the freedom of the press, similar to the Russian government policies of Vladimir Putin. 
Chaindrawa states that Saakashvili tried to close down an independent TV station (Imelda TV), declared a state of emergency in 2007 against mass protests of the opposition, and committed election fraud. 
Chaindrawa also asserts the politics of Saakashvili's government as a cause of the current war with Russia. 
He says: "He wanted a victory parade in Zchinwali and got Russian troops marching toward Tbilisi". 
When asked why he was dismissed from the government in 2006, Chaindrawa stated that he tried to avoid military adventures in the conflict with South Ossetia and that he was highly critical of Saakashvili's failed 2004 attempt to conquer Zchinwali. 
On the question of what the West should do, Chaindrawa replies that the West should support the Georgian population, its civil society, and its institutions rather than the Saakashvili government. 
He continues to say that Georgia needs politicians who are pursuing reconciliation and compromise rather than confrontation. 
In an article in The Washington Times, Tsotne Bakuria, a former member of the Georgian parliament and now a senior fellow at Global International Strategic Group in the U.S., formulates a similarly harsh criticism of Shakasvili's government. 
She calls its government a "reign of terror" and says that the country has no independent judiciary and that Saakashvili uses trumped-up criminal charges (alleged money laundering) to silence and suppress members of the opposition. 
She describes the leader of the opposition Shalva Natelashvili being forced to ask NATO secretary Javier Solana for asylum for his wife and two daughters after they had received death threats. 
Natelashvili himself was threatened with arrest by a government member and is facing money laundering charges, as are other members of the opposition. 
Fiji's national airline Air Pacific has now officially returned to its original name: Fiji Airways. 
Fiji Airways adopted the Air Pacific name in 1971, slightly prior to its first international flight on June 3, 1973. 
The re-brand was described by interim CEO Aubrey Swift as allowing the airline to align itself "closer with Fiji as a destination". 
The name change is designed in part to reduce the confusion which surrounded the name Air Pacific. 
Swift noted that "Air Pacific just didn’t resonate with our customers" and said that same people "thought we were an air conditioning company". 
Along with the name change, the airline has redesigned its website, and changed the name of each of its classes of service. 
Pacific Voyager and Tabua Class have been replaced with economy and business class respectively. 
The airline has also introduced plans to overhaul its fleet of older Boeing 747s with Airbus A330s. 
It has said that the completion of this overhaul and the re-branding efforts will be completed by the end of the year. 
The airline's new brand-mark and livery features a masi design created by Fijian artist, Makereta Matemosi. 
The new identity is to "symbolises the airline's new identity and epitomises all that Fiji Airways represents." 
"It is authentic, distinctive, and true to the airline's Fijian roots", the airline said. 
Pervez Musharraf has invoked emergency rule in Pakistan according to state television. 
Reports say that police have surrounded the Supreme Court of Pakistan, while the judges are still inside. 
The court is deciding whether Musharraf was eligible to run in last month's election, which he won. 
The Supreme Court has stated that Musharraf does not have the authority to declare the state of emergency, which includes a suspension of the Constitution. 
Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, who recently returned home, is currently out of the country, visiting family in Dubai. 
Dawn News, a private television station in Pakistan had stated that sources said that a declaration of emergency rule was imminent. 
Dawn News and other private news organizations then went off the air. 
Some reports are also saying that land and cell lines into the capital are not functioning, but it is not clear if this is deliberate or is due to high traffic or some other concern. 
The United States said that it was "disappointed" by the move while the United Kingdom's foreign secretary said that it was vital that Pakistan "abides by the commitment to hold free and fair elections on schedule". 
Ted Hollis, a criminal attorney from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is suing the creator of a website which allows women to complain about men they have dated after being named by two women on the self-proclaimed controversial site. 
The website, DontDateHimGirl.com, allows women to use a search engine to find alleged deceivers. 
It calls itself "a powerful online resource that lets women out the men who have cheated on or lied to them". 
As well as featuring a discussion board that enables women to criticise partners, the website also includes the names, details, and photographs of so-called cheats. 
Men can respond to postings, but they can't get them erased. 
According to Hollis, two local women claimed the man was, among other things, two-timing. 
Mr Hollis added that he is blameless, and that the website should check the reliability of the information it contains. 
Tasha Joseph, the creator of DontDateHimGirl.com, notes that this is the first lawsuit filed against her website. 
She claims that she cannot be held responsible for the comments of others. 
This is due to her status as a provider, as opposed to a publisher or a writer, under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. 
Militants in Afghanistan have killed at least six foreign United Nations workers; three Afghans, and a US citizen, during an attack on an international guest-house in the capital Kabul on Wednesday. 
Local officials said three gunmen wearing suicide vests, disguised as police, stormed the compound around dawn that morning. 
They battled security forces for two hours before they either detonated their explosives or were shot dead. 
At least two Afghan security guards and a civilian died in the assault. 
A Taliban spokesman later took credit for the attack, calling it a "first step" to disrupt the planned November 7 presidential run-off election. 
The group called for a boycott of the polls, and threatened violence against anyone who would vote. 
Militants also fired rockets at a luxury hotel and the presidential palace in the capital on Wednesday, but without causing casualties. 
Adrian Edwards, a spokesman for the UN, confirmed that six staff for the UN were among the dead. 
"This has clearly been a very serious incident for us." 
"We've not had an incident like this in the past," he said. 
The US embassy released a statement saying that attacking civilian workers will not lessen US support for the Afghan people and their election process. 
The assault came a day after a series of bomb blasts in southern Afghanistan killed eight Americans, making October the deadliest month for US troops in the ongoing eight year war. 
On Monday residents of an apartment building just outside of Paris discovered a World War II bomb lodged in their chimney. 
Officials were able to defuse the device, reports All Headline News. 
However, there are other remnants of the World Wars that have been much more difficult for the French to defuse. 
The prevalence of anti-French sentiments reached a frenzied zenith prior to the U.S. invasion of Iraq. 
While it seemed that the storm had calmed recently, this week's release of Richard Chesnoff's latest book, The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can't Stand Us--and Why the Feeling Is Mutual, reminds us that this issue is not going away anytime soon. 
While there have been fewer sightings of "liberty toast" in recent months, from discussions with students in both the U.S. and France, this reporter found that America's perception of the French remains a hot topic of discussion on college campuses. 
Bryan Doeg, a military science student at the University of Central Florida, outlined the two prevailing thoughts that are the basis for many of these anti-French sentiments. 
"Most of my fellow students feel that the French are politically and militarily weak," said Doeg. 
Doeg believes that he and his classmates are not without reason for their perceptions about the French. 
"They are weak because of France's decline in power over the last century and its defeats against the Germans and Algerians," Doeg said. 
"And most of my experiences regarding their arrogance comes from soldiers who visited France and were treated like untouchables by the locals." 
Southwest Missouri State (SMS) finance major, Fabian Florant, got straight to the point when discussing Doeg's first assumption that the French are weak. 
"Americans hate the French with a passion because of World War I and II," Florant said. 
However some students pointed to France's involvement in the American Revolution, questioning how long America's memory really is. 
Jessica Morgan, an SMS English major, said that this and other examples have shown that France is far from being weak. 
"They stood up against Hitler when he was in his prime for months before he occupied their country," Morgan said. 
"The fact that by the time we got there, the Germans were a heck of a lot weaker than they were when the French had to face them doesn't seem to register." 
Morgan emphasized that France's refusal to support U.S. war efforts is a resounding display of strength. 
"It's somewhat ironic that we call them weak," Morgan said. 
"They stood up to the U.S. as well, daring the disapproval of the U.S. ... and all we can do is throw childish insults back at them." 
Lysiane Lavorel, a native of France and college student studying English there, offered a tongue-in-cheek response to France's supposed weakness while making reference to the 1996 film Independence Day. 
"As for the French being weak, it's true that in comparison with the strong and good Americans preventing aliens from invading the Earth, we are more than weak," Lavorel said. 
"It's true that we don't have any real impact on the world, and I find it much more comfortable that way …" 
"I wouldn't want to feel responsible for a war, for example." 
Doeg's second assumption is that the French are arrogant, and Lavorel agrees again. 
"Yes of course, I think we French are very arrogant," Lavorel said. 
Lavorel went on to explain her definition of French arrogance. 
"It's quite hard for us to see how people [Americans] seem to be so easily manipulated by government, big firms or media," Lavorel said. 
"Because for most French, we have learned to become skeptical, doubtful and to make our own opinion on things. 
However, she pointed out that this is especially true of Parisians, from which she says many of American's perceptions about the French are based. 
"Even in France, they [Parisians] are said to be arrogant," Lavorel said. 
"They are said to consider France as only composed of Paris, and provincial people are just hillbillies." 
An American student at a California university, who asked to remain anonymous to prevent the damage of his reputation among colleagues, said that he would describe 90 percent of the Parisians he has met as being arrogant. 
"In an academic setting, this arrogance is particularly frustrating," the source said. 
"Often the Parisians I know belittle other people when they understand a complicated concept better than another person. 
"On one occasion, a Parisian made a fool out of a good friend of mine," the source said. 
"My friend asked him how to model the eigenfunction of a microdisk resonator with finite-differences time-domain." 
"He said 'everyone knows you can derive these fields analytically." 
The source said that he is not perpetuating these stereotypes and that his preconceived notions do not alter how he perceives these interactions. 
"Often I'll hear someone say something like, 'Oh and be careful when you meet him--he's French," the source said. 
"But you know, 99 percent of the time, all of the stereotypes prove to be perfectly true and the warning is useful." 
SMS media student Lydia Mann, who visited France for two weeks recently and has hosted two French foreign exchange students, said that these perceptions are based upon cultural differences. 
"Americans, I think, misunderstand their culture which leads to their actions," Mann said. 
"They make a point to make themselves individualistic, which people find rude." 
SMS English major Christin Green agrees and believes that this entire discussion that attempts to blanket such a large group of people is ridiculous. 
"I want to learn about them with an open mind and a fresh perspective, unpolluted by bias or preconceived ideas," Green said. 
"It is not my place to judge or make assumptions about an entire people." 
"Stereotypes ruin this foundation and build another one that is much more destructive." 
China has said it is prepared to support eurozone countries during the financial crisis that has hit the sixteen member states. 
The country's foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said: "We are ready to support the eurozone to overcome the financial crisis and realise economic recovery." 
Several of the eurozone's member states have been impacted with increasing debt levels. 
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) have signed deals to hand a €110bn aid package to Greece, and an €85bn rescue package to Ireland. 
Industry commentators have said there are fears Portugal and Spain may soon also have to accept assistance from the IMF. 
Jiang said China had an interest in supporting the region, saying eurozone member states would, in the future, become "a major market" for Chinese foreign exchange investments. 
China reportedly has massive reserves of foreign currency, mostly made up of United States dollars. 
Analysts have suggested China plans to purchase more euros in the future. 
Other reports suggest China is preparing to buy between four and five billion euros to help Portugal fend off pressure in bond markets. 
Food deliveries from the RMT were allowed into the Vestas plant in Newport, England yesterday, but were cut off by Vestas management this afternoon. 
Protesters at the Isle of Wight factory celebrated the delivery of supermarket bags filled with groceries, which entered with a police escort. 
This morning, the sixteen remaining occupiers were told to prepare a list of items for future deliveries. 
But, according to "Mark", an occupier in the Vestas plant, this afternoon Vestas management reversed their decision, terming the August 1 food delivery a one-time "goodwill gesture" and saying food would no longer be allowed in. 
The food delivery followed a formal complaint by the RMT that denying the occupiers food was a violation of their human rights. 
The people inside the factory have been conducting their occupation since July 20, in protest against the closure of the factory, which produces wind turbine blades for the generation of wind power, and the loss of 625 jobs in the Isle of Wight and nearby areas. 
Mark went on to praise the "brave people" who have circumvented the security ring around the plant in order to get food and other items to the occupiers. 
An electric kettle thrown at the end of a rope up to the occupiers is said to be working well. 
Mark also noted that Louise Christian, a prominent British human rights lawyer, is now representing the Vestas occupiers. 
While the number of occupiers at the Vestas plant — originally nearly thirty, now only sixteen — have dwindled, Mark says the ones who remain are "very determined" and furthermore hold no ill will toward their co-workers who have left the occupation. 
In particular, the occupiers offered sympathy for Luke Paxton, who they say left the occupation due to a combination of personal issues and malnutrition brought on by the deprivation of food. 
Paxton, Mark said, has the remaining occupiers' "full support" and continues to campaign for the Vestas workers. 
In contrast to claims that green socialist group Workers' Climate Action were behind the occupation, Mark presented a more nuanced picture: the Vestas workers' initial contacts were with veterans of the occupation of Visteon's auto parts plants, with the AWL, SWP and Socialist Party becoming involved later with "quite a big involvement" from all groups. 
Members of Workers' Climate Action attended Vestas workers' meetings and gave their opinions, but, Mark says, a committee organised by the workers and composed of workers was making all the decisions. 
Mark also strongly rejected the support of Solidarity, a "nationalist trade union" closely associated with the BNP. 
In a July 24 statement, Solidarity backed the Vestas workers, with union executive member David Kerr saying "We are behind the Vestas workers 100 per cent. 
Mark, in reply, told Wikinews: "We do not want their support...they go against a lot of the things people believe in here. 
Most of the Vestas occupiers remain independent of trade unions, with only three of the sixteen people inside being members of any union. 
Mark closed with a message of solidarity with the occupiers of two Thomas Cook branches in Dublin, Ireland, whose employees began a sit-in at their offices on Friday after the announcement of surprise closures. 
"Don't back down...do not be pushed around, do not be intimidated". 
The Vestas occupiers have also exchanged messages of solidarity with SsangYong Motor Company in South Korea. 
Workers at SsangYong have been occupying their factory since May 22 in protest against a 36% cut in employees there. 
The occupation continues accompanied by a warning of increased union unrest in Britain. 
Neil O'Brien of centre-right think tank Policy Exchange told The Daily Telegraph that, while labour unrest had increased, the current state of affairs is "nothing compared to what is going to happen once the brakes are slammed on public spending." 
Typhoon Parma was threatening to strike the Philippines capital of Manila, devastated from Typhoon Ketsana just one week earlier, but has taken a more northerly path, largely sparing the city. 
"It’s a big help, we weren’t ready for another catastrophe," said Marides Fernando, mayor of the Marikina municipality. 
Forecasters say the storm changed course before striking the Cagayan province in the northern part of the country. 
Most of the region is expected to avoid major disaster. 
However, Parma, still packing sustained 10-minute winds of 110 miles per hour, has knocked down trees and powerlines, and is forecast to drop heavy precipitation. 
The most significant impacts may come in the form of mudslides. 
Tuguegarao Mayor Randolph Ting said, "Many houses have been destroyed and trees and electricity poles uprooted." 
"The province hasn’t been hit this hard in 10 years." 
"It will probably take 10 to 15 days for power to be restored". 
In advance of the storm, President Gloria Arroyo issued a "state of calamity" and tens of thousands residents were advised to leave their homes. 
Trevor Taylor, a resort owner in Santa Ana, Cagayan, reported that "The town is locking down; you don’t want to be on the road at this time." 
"We have moved everything that is loose, boarded every window and put extra material on the roof so it doesn’t get blown off." 
"A lot of people here have homes made of flimsy material, and these are likely to suffer a lot of damage." 
All interests in the areas potentially in the path of Typhoon Parma are urged to monitor its progress over the next few days. 
The Ministry of Defence has announced that a British soldier has been killed in an explosion in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. 
With this announcement, the total number of military personnel that has been killed in Afghanistan has now increased to 231. 
The man was killed on Saturday afternoon after an explosion near the town of Sangin. 
He came from 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, and was serving with 4th Battalion, The Rifles. 
The soldier's family have now been informed of the death, the Ministry said. 
Lieutenant Colonel David Wakefield is the spokesperson for Task Force Helmand. 
"He died a soldier, doing his duty and among his fellow soldiers," he said. 
Today on Capitol Hill, U.S. Army General David Petraeus presented a long awaited testimony. 
The number one U.S. commander in Iraq said 30,000 United States troops may be able to leave Iraq by the summer of 2008. 
The top U.S. diplomat in Iraq, Ambassador Ryan Crocker, also joined General Petraeus in the presentation to Congress. 
General Petraeus firstly said that the President's troop escalation in January met its objectives "in large measure." 
Petraeus said, "I believe that we will be able to reduce our forces to the pre-surge level ... by next summer without jeopardizing the security gains we have fought so hard to achieve." 
However, Petraeus would not speak about troop withdrawals past the summer of 2008 until March, saying, "Our experience in Iraq has repeatedly shown that projecting too far into the future is not just difficult, it can be misleading and even hazardous." 
The General recommends the government withdraw a Marine expeditionary team by the end of September 2007, and a brigade combat unit in December of 2007. 
Petraeus also recommended, "reduction of eight further brigade teams and the battalion combats in 2008 until we reach the pre-surge levels of 15 brigade combat teams by mid-July 2008." 
Petraeus presented Congress with a number of charts and graphs showing a decline in violence overall in Iraq. 
"The level of security incidents has declined in eight of the past 12 weeks, with the level of incidents in the past two weeks the lowest since June of 2006," Petraeus testified. 
Ambassador Crocker said that while he "cannot guarantee success" in Iraq, withdrawing completely now would result in failure. 
President Bush reportedly will use Petraeus and Crocker's recommendations as a base for his report to Congress. 
A senior administration official said it is "very likely" that President will speak in a prime-time address this week. 
Japan and Croatia drew 0-0 in the heat of Nuremburg, Sunday. 
Both teams worked hard and had clear chances to score but lacked the necessary ruthlessness in front of goal. 
On a hot field and under the blue sky in the Frankenstadion the conditions won as the match petered out at a walking pace. 
In the first period Japan's goal keeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi kept Japan in the game. 
Kawaguchi dived low to his left to save Darijo Srna's driven penalty after Dado Prso had been knocked down from behind by Tsuneyasu Miyamoto. 
The yellow card for the central defender and captain of the Japan team meant he would miss Japan's next match against Brazil. 
The Japanese keeper was centre of the action again when the Croatian coach's son Niko Kranjcar turned brilliantly and rattled the crossbar from 25 yards. 
With half an hour gone Kawaguchi got a shock - a bouncing back pass bobbled one meter in front of him. 
Fortunately for Japan though it evaded his control the ball trickled just wide of the post. 
Overall, their physical presence meant they were dangerous from their 11 corner kicks and were capable of making space to shoot from the edge of the area. 
If Zlatko Kranjcar might have wished for more luck in front of goal, Japan coach Zico might also rue the lack of finishing from his team. 
Both sides gave their best in the heat and deserved their first Fifa World Cup point. 
The result did not play either team out of the World Cup but the advantage in Group F remained with Brazil and Australia who had three points after the first games. 
Google Inc. formally submitted a bid to provide free wireless internet, or WiFi, in response to a request from Mayor Gavin Newsom's office. 
The company's goal is to ensure easy, reliable access to its search engine at all times. 
In another sign of its interest in Internet access, Google recently bought an undisclosed stake in a Maryland startup, the Current Communications Group, which is trying to provide high-speed connections through power lines. 
The European leaders who met on Thursday in Brussels announced that Italy would be likely to take command of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon(UNIFIL), but France is to remain in command until February 2007. 
Poland, Spain, Belgium and France are to send soldiers with Switzerland and Great Britain sending military expert units to Lebanon. 
Germany will not be sending land troops due to historical reasons. 
Ireland called for 9000 soldiers to be sent soon, whereas Philippe Douste-Blazy, the French Foreign Minister maintained that only 7000 are to be sent. 
The French President Jacques Chirac declared during a conference with the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel that there not more than 15,000 "blue helmets" will be stationed in Lebanon, calling this number "definitely excessive". 
The Israeli Prime Minister's spokesman Avi Pazner, speaking after the French announcement of sending 2000 soldiers, said "11,000 soldiers would still be missing". 
Liberal leadership hopeful Ken Dryden outlined his vision of the country today. 
He wants Canada to be a fair, global, environmental and learning society. 
"What I'm trying to focus on is the educational systems as part of a whole piece of what I call a learning society," Dryden told CTV's Canada AM this morning. 
"We learn from the day we are born and we learn until the day we die." 
"The challenge is finding ways of enhancing learning through a national system of early childcare and a proper mix of scholarships and government help, such as grants and tax incentives," said Dryden. 
Dryden admitted during a news conference that he doesn't know whether Canadian troops should withdraw or stay in Afghanistan or whether a carbon tax should be part of any climate change plan. 
He has now called for a thorough debate and examination of the issue. 
Other leadership hopefuls are planning big policy announcements this week as they head into the few weeks before delegates are chosen to attend to leadership convention in December. 
On Wednesday, a United States federal appeals court upheld convictions of fraud and obstruction of justice against media mogul Conrad Black, along with three other executives from his former press corporation, Hollinger International. 
Black, born in Canada and bearer of the title Baron Black of Crossharbour in the United Kingdom, was found guilty in July 2007 of three counts of wire and mail fraud for giving himself and others millions of dollars in illegal bonuses taken from Hollinger holdings, and for obstruction of justice based on surveillance footage of his moving 13 boxes of documents out of his Toronto office to his home the day after he was informed that he was being investigated. 
He was sentenced, and from March this year he began a 6 1/2-year prison term. 
Peter Atkinson and John Boultbee were convicted on the same fraud charges, and were sentenced to terms of 24 and 27 months respectively, while Mark Kipnis, who was implicated in the fraud, was given probation with 6 months of home detention. 
The appeals panel from the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, who heard the defence attorneys' oral arguments, presented its opinion in a 16-page document in which they rejected arguments against the fraud and obstruction charges. 
They noted that while the defence had presented a "no harm-no foul argument", in which it was argued that the accused were owed the money appropriated, "such arguments usually fare badly in criminal cases". 
They also dismissed claims that instructions given to the jury by the judge had been incomplete, or unclear, stating that "the defendants proposed a misleading statement as an alternative", and that in such situations the judge is allowed to stay with the original instruction, and in particular is not required "that a submitted charge be technically perfect to alert the court to the need for a particular charge". 
The appeals judges also discounted arguments from the defence regarding the defendants being unaware of the illegality of the transactions, making reference to an "ostrich argument", based on the urban legend that ostriches sensing danger stick their heads in the sand. 
It was noted that choosing not to investigate the suspicious nature of the payments was equivalent to accepting their illegality. 
An argument from Black's defence regarding the obstruction charge, that in moving the documents he was not in fact escaping scrutiny, was similarly rejected, as "all that needed to be proved is that the document was concealed in order to make it unavailable in an official proceeding," according to the ruling as written by Judge Richard Posner. 
Andrew Frey, the defence attorney for Conrad Black, said that the court's decision was based on "a number of factual misunderstandings", and that the defendants were considering a request for a rehearing of the appeal. 
Research by a team from Canada have published a report in the magazine Science stating that seabirds are the main carriers of pollution in coastal ponds in the Arctic. 
They showed that local sources of pollution are rare, meaning that seabirds played a proportionally greater role in local pollution. 
They do not produce pollution themselves, rather, they carry in other forms of marine pollution. 
The researchers found levels of DDT 60 times higher, 25 times more mercury, and 10 times higher hexachlorobenzene in ponds that seabirds frequented compared to nearby ponds birds did not use. 
All the pollution was originally of human origin - industrial or agricultural. 
Health Minister of Chile, Jaime Mañalich, announced on Friday the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners trapped in San José Mine, Copiapó is to begin this Tuesday, October 12. 
Mining Minister Laurence Golborne announced that the tunnel the miners will ascend "will be ready in the next 24 hours. 
"The rescue will take place between three and eight days (after finishing the perforation), depending on the decisions that are taken about the encamisado (process of coating the tunnel with a metal pipe)," Golborne added. 
He also said the miners "have no anxiety," saying that "they've waited a few months now for their rescue and are aware that they will have to wait some more days." 
Armed police officers from SO19 have raided properties in the Notting Hill and North Kensington areas of London and Italian forces have arrested the fourth bombing suspect at a property in Rome, Italy. 
The raids were in connection with the failed bombings on July 21. 
Scotland Yard have announced that a number of arrests have been made, and that three of the suspected July 21 bombers are now in custody. 
The most recently arrested suspects are reported to be those wanted in connection with the Oval tube and London bus bombing attempts . 
Officers in full body armour, helmets and gas masks and armed with shotguns and assault rifles were seen moving in. 
Small explosions were heard soon after, and CS gas and stun grenades are also believed to have been used. 
Police are cautioning that CS grenade launchers and explosive entries could be mistaken for shots, and have said that no shots were fired. 
Police at one point described the raid as entering a "challenging phase". 
Eyewitnesses said that the police asked one person in a building that was surrounded to give himself up. 
Muktar Said Ibrahim, one of two suspects named after the failed 21 July bombing attempts, is also known as Muhammad. 
The other officially-named suspect has already been arrested in Birmingham. 
At one point the cordon around the area was expanded, cutting off TV news stations from their broadcast vehicles which were caught inside the sealed-off area. 
Two weeks before the failed attacks of July 21, a series of bombs on July 7 killed 56 people, including four suicide bombers. 
Last Tuesday in Taipei, Google Taiwan held an annual summary press conference named "Collective Intelligence & Innovation" (In Chinese: 匯聚智慧、集體創新). 
With many products had already been presented to the public like wikis, blogs, and photo albums in the Web 2.0 era, Google served to provide lots of services like Google Apps, Google Maps and YouTube with suitable versions in Taiwan differing other countries this year. 
Global Deputy Director of Google Kai-Fu Lee said: "The contents on the Internet were mostly limited with some copyright issue in the past, but after many products in the Web 2.0 era are presented, several contents are progressively released and opened to the public in the presence." 
Also in this conference, the Engineering Director of the Google Taiwan R&D Center Li-feng Chien also announced the achievements on the "Google Taipei Developers' Day" and invited developers named Chi-pao Hu and Yi-ru Lin to share some actual applications on iGoogle. 
In the Scottish Premier League (SPL), Kilmarnock F.C. defeated Hibernian F.C. 2-1 on Saturday. 
Nine minutes into the game in Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, Scotland, Liam Kelly became the first player of the game to score for Kilmarnock. 
He achieved a second goal for his team 43 minutes after the game commenced. 
In the second half of the match on the snow-covered field, Derek Riordan scored one goal for his team Hibernian at 55 minutes, which was also his 100th career goal for the team. 
Liam Miller of Hibernian was given a red card after clipping Conor Sammon 80 minutes into the game. 
Referee Craig Thomson decided this rulebreaking occurred immediately outside of the penalty area. 
Kilmarnock's position in the SPL table now increases to fifth. 
"The attitude and the sort of tempo of how we're going about it in the second half is just sort of the place in the right direction where I feel we've gotta go." 
In a separate BBC Sport interview, Kilmarnock manager Mixu Paatelainen commented: "I thought for the first half we were excellent." 
"You know, the surface was quite tricky today because it was a little bit snowy and the ball skids along but, you know, that possibly helped our passing game." 
"You know, [Liam Kelly] was sharp, he was quick, he passed round players and he scored two excellent goals." 
"The second half was a little bit stickier for us, owing to Hibs." 
"They put us under pressure but, you know, thankfully our defence did their job and we only conceded one goal which was a fantastic strike from Riordan." 
Newcastle United received a £133.1m ($263m) offer from English billionaire businessman Mike Ashley on May 23, 2007 to buy the club. 
Ashley said in a statement "Newcastle United has a wonderful heritage and the passion of its fans is legendary." 
"I am sure that, like me, they are already excited about the prospects for next season under the new manager's stewardship." 
Ashley is already the largest shareholder in Newcastle United and currently runs Sports World International, the largest sporting goods retail in the United Kingdom. 
Today, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin visited the president and discussed a number of urgent matters, such as the help proposed to the United States following from the disastrous Hurricane Katrina. 
A UCLA team, headed by Brian Naranjo, has observed the nuclear fusion of deuterium nuclei in a tabletop device. 
The device uses a lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) pyroelectric crystal to ionize deuterium atoms and accelerate the ions towards a stationary erbium deuteride (ErD) target. 
Fusion of two deuterium nuclei results in the emission of helium nuclei (alpha particles), neutrons and gamma rays. 
The team anticipates applications of the device as a tabletop neutron generator, or in "microthrusters" for space propulsion. 
It is possible that there may be applications related to nuclear weapons, although this possibility is not discussed in the research paper. 
This development is not related to earlier claims of tabletop fusion or "cold fusion" having been observed during sonoluminescence. 
In fact, the leader of the team behind this development was one of the main critics of earlier low-temperature fusion claims. 
This device is not the first reliable tabletop fusion device; the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, developed in the early 1960s in the laboratory of Philo T. Farnsworth who was instrumental in developing television, is sold commercially as a neutron source. 
Research by Dr. Todd Rider of MIT suggests that the kind of non-equilibrium fusion produced in these sources will never be usable as an energy source (see his PhD thesis). 
Richard Jenkins, an engineer from the United Kingdom, broke a record for the fastest speed attained in a wind-powered land vehicle on Friday. 
Jenkins managed to reach a speed of 126.1 miles per hour (202.9 kilometres per hour) in his Greenbird car along the plains of Nevada's Ivanpah Lake. 
Jenkins said that he had worked for ten years to break the record, and that "things couldn't have been better" on the day he broke the record. 
"It's one of those things that you spend so long trying to do and when it actually happens, it's almost too easy," he said to the BBC. 
"Half the challenge is technical, having to create a more efficient vehicle than the previous record holder, then the rest is luck, being in the right place, at the right time, to get the perfect conditions, with the right people watching." 
"I must have been on record standby at some remote location around the world for at least two months of every year for the past ten years," he said. 
"Then everything came together perfectly and the Greenbird stepped up to the mark and performed amazingly. 
The previous record for the fastest wind-powered land vehicle belonged to Bob Schumacher from the United States, who reached 116 miles per hour in his Iron Duck machine. 
The Greenbird is a fifth generation in an array of vehicles created by Jenkins in his ten-year effort to break the speed record. 
It is composed out of carbon fibre composite, and powered only by wind. 
Jamaican Olympic athlete and coach Pablo McNeil has died at the age of 71. 
The cause of death was a long illness he suffered since a stroke in December 2007. 
A sprinter since childhood, McNeil competed at two Olympic Games. 
In the 1964 Tokyo Games he reached the semi-final of the 100 meters, finishing sixth. 
He also appeared in the 100 meters at the 1968 Games in Mexico City, but failed to make it past the first round. 
He was part of the relay team that won a silver medal at the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica. 
After a career of competing in athletics, McNeil turned his attention to coaching. 
He became the sprint coach at the William Knibb High School where he met Usain Bolt. 
He convinced Bolt to make the switch from cricket to track and trained him up until the age of 16, when Bolt joined the Jamaica Amateur Athletic Association-administered High Performance Training Centre in Kingston. 
Bolt, through his publicist, said that "Coach McNeil was a part of my early track and field life." 
"I appreciate all he sought to pass on to me." 
"I would like to offer my condolences and sympathies to his family and close friends." 
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture, Olivia Grange paid tribute to McNeil in a statement saying “Pablo McNeil has left a mark on Jamaican and world sports." 
"He was a good competitor for Jamaica and went on to nurture, mentor, inspire and coach some of our fine young athletes at William Knibb High School - including Usain Bolt who has been such a success and inspiration." 
"On behalf of the Government and people of Jamaica, I offer sincerely condolences to Pablo McNeil’s family, friends, and the entire Track and Field fraternity who will be saddened by his passing." 
Gabon's constitutional court has upheld Ali Ben Bongo's win in the August presidential election. 
Nine opposition candidates had challenged those results, alleging vote fraud. 
After recounting results from more than 2,800 polling stations, Gabon's constitutional court confirmed the election of the son of the country's long-time leader Omar Bongo. 
Announcing the results on state television, constitutional court president Marie Madeleine Mborantsuo reaffirmed Ali Ben Bongo's win with nearly 42 percent of the vote. 
Former interior minister Andre Mba Obame and opposition leader Pierre Mamboundou each finished with about 25% of the vote. 
But the recount changed their order, with Mamboundou now finishing slightly ahead of Obame. 
Mborantsou said that the court annulled results from one polling station. 
With Bongo winning more votes than any of his opponents, she said his election as the president of the Republic of Gabon is confirmed. 
The court's decision was final, and cleared the way for the president-elect's inauguration. 
The ruling rejects an electoral challenge by Obame, Mamboundou and other opposition candidates who accused electoral officials of massive vote fraud to benefit Bongo. 
Obame has gone on a hunger strike to deplore what he called "the installation of an era of dictatorship" in Gabon. 
He says fraudulent results are a humiliation for the massive numbers of people who voted for change. 
Bongo was considered the front-runner in the election since his father's death in June, after 42 years in power. 
Former colonial power France welcomed his election, saying the vote took place under "acceptable conditions." 
Most electoral observers agree the vote was generally fair despite irregularities that included security forces at polling stations, some ballot boxes not being properly sealed, and the absence of opposition representatives during some vote counting. 
When Bongo was first announced the winner following August's vote, police dispersed opposition demonstrators in the capital with tear gas. 
Protesters in the city of Port Gentil burned the French Consulate and attacked offices of French and U.S. oil firms. 
Human-rights groups say at least 15 people were killed by security forces. 
Interim President Rose Francine Rogombe says an investigation is under way to determine who is responsible for that violence. 
Irish airline Ryanair took a 12% slump in this morning’s trade, further intensifying concern about poor market conditions amid recessionary fears. 
Today, Ryanair announced a 27% drop in pre-tax profits in its third quarter net profits. 
Further falls are predicted for the company in its next fiscal year. 
"With oil prices at $90 a barrel and fear of recession in the UK and many other European economies, the current outlook for the coming fiscal year is poor." 
"While it is impossible to accurately forecast full year fuel prices and yields this far in advance, there is now a significant chance that profits may decline next year," Ryanair CEO Michael O'Leary cautioned. 
Ryanair said that it is not hedged against oil price increases for the next fiscal year. 
However, Ryanair is not the only airline to suffer from the economic downturn. 
However shrewd, Mr. O’Leary has plans to spend up to 200 million purchasing back shares in the company, which equates to 3% of the company share capital. 
Afghan officials have said that a rocket apparently fired at a luxury hotel in Kabul injured four people today, despite falling short of its target. 
An Interior Ministry spokesman, Zamary Bashary, told the Voice of America news agency the rocket exploded on a road between a hospital and the Serena Hotel, which is in the center of the capital, near the presidential palace, government ministries and embassies. 
The incident happened at about 18.15 local time (13.45 UTC). 
"It was a rocket that hit in front of the Rabia Balkhi hospital." 
"We have four wounded, three are civilians and one is a police officer," said Zamarai Bashary, a spokesman for the interior ministry, as quoted by the Agence France-Presse news agency. 
Taliban militants fired rockets at the same hotel last month, which is heavily guarded. 
No one was injured in that attack, which came on the same day that a suicide-bomb explosion killed five UN staff members and two Afghans at their quarters in another part of Kabul. 
Taliban militants also attacked the Serena Hotel in January 2008, in a commando-style assault that killed at least eight people. 
The Free State Cheetahs and the Blue Bulls will meet next week in the 2006 Currie Cup final, South Africa's domestic club rugby competition. 
The Bulls were the first to go through, winning the first semi final against rivals Western Province, and the Cheetahs won their semi against the Sharks. 
The Blue Bulls hosted WP at home, at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. 
The Blue Bulls led WP 20 to nine at half time. 
The gap was closed to 23-16 in the second half, but the home team eventually ran away with the game, in the end, winning 45 points to 23. 
At the second semi-final at Bloemfontein, the Cheetahs hosted the Sharks at the Free State Stadium. 
The Free State were up 17 to nil during the first half. 
The score was furthered to 24 points, but the Sharks' JP Pietersen scored minutes before the half finished to give the Sharks their first points, and the game went onto halftime, Cheetahs leading 24-7. 
The Cheetahs will host the final next week, being the highest place finalist (first, the Blue Bulls were second). 
The final will be the third Blue Bulls/Cheetahs affair in a row, and the fifth Blue Bulls appearance in a row. 
"It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters without authorization from his majesty." 
When protests broke out on April 13 of that year when Chávez was restored to power, Spanish officials met with U.S. officials just hours before. 
Kenya's livestock minister, Mohammed Kuti, said today that cattle rustlers have killed eleven people near the central town of Isiolo. 
Kuti, who is also the member of parliament for Isiolo, said the rustlers raided in a village in the area early in the day. 
"The eleven people were killed when rustlers stormed a village in Kisima area early this morning," he commented. 
The state-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation puts the number of attackers at 300, and stated that they stole an unknown number of livestock. 
Cattle rustling is common in Kenya, and the extended drought has heightened competition for scarce sources of food. 
In mid-September, 30 people were killed in a shootout as rustlers from the Pokot tribe attacked the Samburu tribe and made off with hundreds of cattle. 
Zimbabwean President Mugabe's Operation Murambatsvina ("Drive out rubbish") has seen at least 200,000 people made homeless in Zimbabwe as the government bulldozes "illegal" homes, buildings and markets. 
The opposition has said the operation is designed to "punish" those who object to Mugabe's government. 
Two children under the age of two have been killed, the first deaths reported so far in the actions which have been taking place for a month now. 
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw has been joined by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in condemning the evictions and urging African leaders to speak out. 
The government has said the buildings it is destroying are "illegal", and have said that the "black markets" are to blame for the country's "economic meltdown". 
The bulldozers have the protection of armed police as they do their work. 
Sometimes the police have forced homeowners to carry out the destruction themselves. 
At other times, the government has claimed it is destroying the buildings to get rid of unsafe structures and to reduce overcrowding. 
Other children have died when the walls of their houses have collapsed. 
The authorities are also preventing non-governmental organisations from providing aid to those who have lost their homes. 
The country currently needs to import 1.2 million tonnes of food to avoid famine as rural farming production drops. 
A Boeing 737-800 registered to Turkish Airlines with 135 people on board crashed at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on Tuesday. 
At least nine people, including the three pilots, were killed and over 80 had been injured. 
The airplane crashed short of the runway, close to the A9 highway, and broke into three pieces. 
According to witness reports, about twenty people were seen walking away from the crash. 
"The plane was nose up and the tail section was at a 45-degree angle." 
"The tail section broke down first, which broke off," said a witness in an interview with the BBC who was riding on his bicycle by the airport when the aircraft crashed. 
"And seconds after the crash people started exiting through the tail section [...]" 
"I saw dozens of people making it out very quickly, and as I was about to dial 112 the first sirens were noticeable, and within five minutes there were 10 or 15 ambulances." 
During the press conference, it was stated that a total of 60 ambulances went to the crash site and 150 medical people were present. 
Special vehicles were also used to enter the field, which wasn't easily accessible. 
"We cannot say anything about the cause at the moment." 
"The priority of the authorities is providing help and care," stated the vice-mayor of the Haarlemmermeer municipality, Michel Bezuijen. 
72 Turkish and 32 Dutch people were on board the aircraft, according to the Turkish ambassador to the Netherlands. 
League leaders Bayern Munich advanced to the 3rd round of the DFB Cup after defeating 2nd division leaders Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1. 
Luca Toni opening the scoring early in the 2nd half with a pair of goals. 
Substitute Miroslav Klose sealed the victory in the 82nd minute to make it 3-1. 
Bayern Munich next game is against Eintracht Frankfurt who they play on Saturday at home while Borussia Mönchengladbach are at home to Carl Zeiss Jena. 
The president of Egypt has suffered a "devastating blow" after the country's army announced they would not use force against their own people, who continue to protest against the government tonight. 
The news came hours after six journalists who reported on the protests were released from custody. 
Hosni Mubarak yesterday announced a new cabinet, which does not include several figures who protesters largely do not approve of. 
Analysts have, however, suggested little had changed within the government; many positions, they say, are filled with military figures. 
Garth Turner Member of Parliament (MP) for Halton, has joined the Liberal Party of Canada after months of being an Independent MP. 
Turner was elected with the Conservative Party of Canada in the January 2006 election, but was suspended in October from the Party after posting critical blog posts. 
After, there was some speculation the he would join the Green Party, which has 0 elected MPs in Ottawa, the nations capital. 
"Garth Turner is an exceptional Member of Parliament, known across Canada for his passion and accomplishments," said Liberal leader Stéphane Dion speaking in Ottawa today with Turner. 
"He is an outspoken advocate for fiscal prudence, progressive values and environmental sustainability, and I know Mr. Turner’s constituents of Halton will only be better served by his decision today." 
Now there is only one independent MP in the House of Commons being André Arthur for the riding of Portneuf—Jacques-Cartier in French speaking Quebec. 
In the video he says the Conservatives have an extreme right-wing agenda. 
He also adds that it is better to be in a Party than being independent. 
Nine people have died in a fiery tourist bus crash in Egypt on Thursday. 
The bus was carrying 40 North American and European passengers when it crashed in the Sinai peninsula. 
The bus left the road when it skidded off a tight bend and struck a concrete barrier, rolling over and catching fire. 
The bus ended the roll back the right way up and was completely destroyed by the fire. 
One wheel lay twelve metres from the main wreckage and skid marks were left on the road. 
The coach had been travelling from a resort at nearby Sharm el-Sheikh to the capital Cairo when it crashed at Abu Zenima, with some reports suggesting the cause was a blowout on a tyre. 
According to the Egyptian security official eight Russian nationals were killed, as was one of two drivers on board, both of whom were Egyptian. 
This was contradicted by Russian state owned service RIA Novosti, which stated just two Russians were among the dead. 
The Russian foreign ministry only said 16 Russians were injured and none killed, also contradicting the Egyptian security official who said only 14 people were injured in total. 
The Ukrainian foreign ministry said a Ukrainian woman had been killed and the Romanian foreign ministry said a 41-year-old Romanian woman was amongst the dead. 
The driver behind the wheel at the time survived the accident. 
The crash occurred at 6:00 am (0300 GMT) about 70km (45 miles) from Suez, and many of the injured were rushed to hospital there. 
Traffic officials, security personnel, civil defence soldiers and ambulances all responded to the crash. 
In addition, the Azure Travel coach, like all Egyptian tour buses, had at least one armed police officer travelling on board. 
Two Canadians and two British citizens are reported to be amongst the injured. 
The Brits are in a serious condition and one Canadian woman had her hand amputated. 
It is also reported that Italians were injured in the crash. 
Road accidents claim around 6,000 lives and injure 30,000 every year in Egypt. 
This high accident rate is fed by poor maintenance and regulatory enforcement and reckless driving, with many roads allowing high rates of speed to be achieved. 
A fog-triggered pile-up killed 29 in February, and 23 died in March in a head-on collision between two lorries. 
Early Cinco De Mayo celebrations were interrupted after a suspicious package caused the closure of a busy street in Buffalo, New York's Allentown District. 
For nearly three hours on Monday May 5, 2008 a busy street, popular with bars and hotels, was shut down while authorities examined the package. 
According to Buffalo Police spokesman Mike DeGeorge, workers in the offices on the 500 block of Delaware Avenue witnessed a suspicious person placing a suspicious package inside a United Parcel Service (UPS) drop box at around 4:30 p.m. EDT (UTC-4). 
"It is my understanding that at about 4:30 this afternoon, a call went out for a suspicious person." 
"Police responded and it appears there may have been a suspicious individual who was acting somewhat suspicious when he threw or tossed a package into a UPS box," DeGeorge stated to reporters. 
"The individual had a package under his jacket which tipped off the person as being suspicious." 
"He dropped the package into the [box], and made his way out to Delaware Ave. towards Allen," stated Buffalo Police Lt., K Szyszkowski. 
When police arrived on scene, they evacuated the offices at 570 and the New York State Health Department building at 584 Delaware Avenue, while the Erie County Bomb Squad was called in to examine the drop box and the packages. 
The street between Allen and North was shut down to traffic while police secured the scene. 
When Wikinews freelance reporter Jason Safoutin arrived on scene, at least 20 people were standing outside the buildings, most of whom appeared to be office employees. 
At approximately 6:10 p.m., the bomb squad arrived along with a K-9 unit. 
The commander of the bomb squad, Daniel Walczak entered the area between the buildings where the drop box was at about 7:15. 
He then opened the box and examined several packages with an X-ray machine, but found nothing to indicate an explosive device was present. 
After about 15 minutes, Walczak exited the area with the suspect packages. 
"It was a regular envelope, a UPS container about 18 inches by a foot and a half." 
"As of right now, I am not going to get into anything about the package weight until we go through a thorough investigation," stated Walczak to reporters. 
All of the packages will be sent to a laboratory for further analysis. 
Police would not say what might have been inside the packages. 
Allentown is home to two major hotels and over a dozen bars, but is no stranger to suspicious activity. 
In November of 2007, at least 12 fire bombs were found inside a building at 15 Allen, just a few blocks away from Monday's incident. 
Sri Lankan government troops are claiming their first significant victory since the peace accord went into effect four years ago, capturing the rebel-held enclave of Sempur in the country's embattled east. 
"We captured the main Sampur artillery position of the Tigers, We suspect they dismantled the guns or pulled them back. 
Rambukwella noted that the government's troops received little or no resistance as they took the 10-km swath of land. 
Overnight shelling and mortar attacks from the Tamil Tigers, the main rebel group involved in the fighting, killed one government soldier and injured several others. 
The objective of the incursion, said Rambukwella, was to neutralize the use of three Tamil Tiger guns aimed on government troops to the south. 
Tamil Tigers are claiming that they have not fled the area, and are continuing to engage government troops. 
On a CNN Wolf Blitzer Late Edition broadcast Sunday, U.S. Senators George Allen (R-VA) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA) both told Blitzer that in the furore created by the protest they believe President Bush should personally meet with Cindy Sheehan. 
She is the mother of a soldier son killed in Iraq in April 2004, and leader of a protest march now camped near the presidential ranch in Crawford, Texas. 
After returning from commercial break, Blitzer told his guests that CNN had just received a news bulletin from the White House. 
The bulletin said that Bush had met previously with Sheehan in the summer of 2004. 
Both Senators and Blitzer withheld further comment on the matter during the remaining segment of the show. 
Later that day, Cindy Sheehan herself appeared on CNN Sunday with Blitzer and said she did meet with Bush in Seattle with fifteen or sixteen other families. 
She defended her current protest by saying, "The whole meeting was simply bizarre and disgusting." 
Sheehan said that Bush entered the meeting chamber with an insensitive comment to those present, "Who we'all honorin' today?" 
She added, "His mouth kept moving, but there was nothing in his eyes or anything else about him that showed me he really cared or had any real compassion at all." 
"This is a human being totally disconnected from humanity and reality." 
The angry mother of the fallen U.S. soldier on Saturday led a protest march of nearly 50 on the Bush ranch. 
Cindy Sheehan of Vacaville, California demanded, but was denied, the chance to speak with Bush and personally ask him, "'Why did you kill my son? " 
"What did my son die for?" 
Sheehan was met outside the ranch, after progress of the march was stopped by Texas troopers and the Secret Service, by national security adviser Steve Hadley and deputy White House chief of staff Joe Hagin. 
Sheehan, unsatisfied with the meeting, vowed to remain camped outside the ranch until she is granted a personal interview with Bush. 
Meanwhile, Bush arrived in Albuqerque, New Mexico Monday where he signed into law the new energy bill. 
He will travel back to his Texas ranch this week to meet with his defense and economic advisers, then later, he will travel to Illinois to sign a highway bill. 
Cindy Sheehan said Sunday that she plans to hold the roadside peace protest near Bush's ranch until he talks to her again. 
Cindy's current comments are a drastic change from her comments in a 2004 interview with THE REPORTER of Vacaville, CA. 
"I now know he's sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis," Cindy said after their meeting. 
"I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss." 
Wellington, New Zealand, airport has denied supporters of New Zealand's National party to use its land for its newest billboard advertising. 
Bill English, National member, said: "Vicious attacks on critics by Helen Clark and her Labour-led Government have led to Wellington Airport turning down a National Party billboard as it was too politically sensitive." 
However the sign has been put up in Auckland, State Highway 20 and on Christchurch's Main North Road. 
"The billboards are being paid for from party funds and highlight the scandals and controversies that have surrounded Helen Clark during her time as Prime Minister." 
"The airport company has every right to decide who advertises on airport property, but last year Wellington Airport accepted billboards critical of the Government," English said. 
The billboard states on it: "painter-gate, corn-gate, doone-gate, speed-gate, pledge-gate and (next to an arrow) departure gate," all these words were accompanied by a picture of Helen Clark, PM, which slowly decreased in size. 
And then, at the bottom next to the National logo, it said: "Proudly paid for by supporters of the National Party - with their own money." 
Wellington Airport will not comment on why they declined the billboard on its property. 
Louise Murray, a spokesman for the airport, said: "The airport reserves the right to decline any advertising." 
Murray made no comment on how the decisions are made or why this particular billboard was rejected. 
"However, Wellington Airport, like everyone else, saw Helen Clark's assault on the Auditor-General and Labour's plans to legislate to stop people who don't belong to political parties criticizing the Government next election." 
"These actions have created a climate of fear and more so for a company doing business with Government-owned Air New Zealand," English said. 
In Pakistan, the Daily Times reported that construction work on a sewerage project has started in Pindi. 
It said that the construction work for the Rawalpindi Environment Improvement Project (REIP) aims to lay a new underground drainage and sewerage system in the area. 
The project director of REIP, Aslam Sabzwari, said, according to the report, that improvement of sanitation and sewerage system had started in the eastern zone of the city, consisting of 15 union councils (UCs). 
The project includes improvement of the sanitation and sewerage systems, a sewage treatment plant, solid waste management, removal of slaughter-houses and construction of public toilets. 
Sabzwari also said that 22 new tube wells would be installed, while 32 old ones would be repaired under the project, recalling that the existing sewerage systems in Satellite Town and Kahyabane-Sirsyed were laid in the 1950s and 1960s, respectively, and were the main cause of the increasing case of hepatitis in the city. 
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Punjab government sponsor the REIP. 
Reacting to the suicide bombing yesterday in a Netanya mall, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) entered the city of Tulkarem. 
The city has been governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), since March 22nd this year. 
In addition, a general closure was ordered on the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 
The closure will hold until the assessment of the situation changes, according to the IDF. 
The IDF ordered a curfew on Tulkarem at the beginning of the operation, at 2:30 a.m. (+3 UTC), Palestinians reported. 
Soldiers announced in loudspeakers that the city was under curfew and that all local residents were to remain inside their homes. 
One Palestinian policeman was killed and one was injured, as well as two Israeli soldiers, when the Israeli forces came under fire while entering the city, according to the IDF spokesperson. 
The IDF arrested five wanted Islamic Jihad members in the city. 
According to IDF officers, the operation is aimed at the Islamic Jihad organization, which staged the suicide attack in Netanya yesterday, as well as another suicide bombing attempt in a Jewish settlement in Samaria. 
The Israeli government asked the PA to arrest the wanted terrorists numerous times, according to high-ranking officers in the IDF. 
"The main objective is to locate Islamic Jihad members that operate under the shelter of the PA military responsibility", said Colonel Erez Weiner of the IDF. 
"We arrested five wanted members, some of whom were involved in the bombing of the Stage nightclub in Tel-Aviv." 
"The forces are also trying to locate the explosives lab that is behind yesterday's car-bomb in Shavey Shomron." 
"Apart from a few minor incidents we did not meet any opposition from the Palestinian side", Colonel Weiner said. 
The suicide bombings in Netanya and Shavey Shomron and the reoccupation of Tulkarem follow five months of relative calm in the Israel-PA relations. 
Steve Sinnott, who was the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers has died aged 56 of a suspected heart attack. 
Just days before his death his union voted for a 24 hr strike, to take place on the 24 April as part of a campaign over government attempts to impose real-terms pay "cuts". 
The Prime Minister Gordon Brown commented on the Union leaders death, saying, "Steve Sinnott was inspirational in his devotion to teaching, not just for children in Britain, but around the world". 
Born in Liverpool in 1952, he received a Social Sciences Bachelor of Arts from Middlesex Polytechnic in 1974. 
His PGCE was obtained at Edge Hill College in 1975. 
He joined the union in 1974 and he first taught in 1975 at Shorefields Comprehensive in Toxteth, Liverpool. 
He moved in 1979 to Broughton High School near Preston to take a post as head of economics and business studies. 
He left after his victory in the ballot for deputy general secretary of the Union in November 1994. 
In his private life he was a keen supporter of Everton F.C.. 
He leaves a wife, Mary, a son, daughter and two grandchildren. 
Konami Cup Asia Series 2007 battled in Tokyo Dome today, with 2007 BWC in Taiwan and upcoming 2007 Asian Baseball Championship chained on the qualification of 2008 Summer Olympics, this series may have varied Asians' teams recently. 
Xtra, owned by New Zealand telecommunication monopoly company Telecom, has created a joint venture between themselves and Yahoo!7, creating Yahoo Xtra. 
Yahoo!7 is the joint venture between Yahoo! and Australian network, Seven. 
The joint venture replaces the current and long-lasting partnership between Microsoft and Xtra, called XtraMSN. 
The current partnership's contract will expire at the end of this year. 
Telecom chose to change the partnership because Yahoo! has worked together with BT Group, Verizon and Rogers Communications. 
The new site, along with new online content will go online on around March 1, 2007. 
The partnership will result in Yahoo!7 taking 51% control of the partnership and Xtra taking the remaining 49%. 
Kevin Kenrick, chief operating officer of Telecom, said that they will now be able to target the underdeveloped online advertising community. 
"We see there is a fantastic opportunity to grow online advertising and the share of the online market." 
"Online advertising in New Zealand is getting to a tipping point of growth where there is a critical mass of online connections, broadband connections and an increase in the amount of time people are spending online." 
When the new site is launched, it will include a range of news, sport, weather, enhanced e-mail spam and virus protection, photo sharing, and internet radio. 
Theresa Gattung, chief executive of Telecom, said: "The Yahoo Xtra joint venture will provide New Zealanders with access to the world's best online services in a localised way." 
Ian Smith, chief executive of Yahoo!7, said: "The company was achieving market growth of online advertising of between 50 and 60 per cent a year in Australia and believed it could do the same in New Zealand." 
He said that the partnership will give them a great opportunity to showcase its tools, technology and platforms in New Zealand. 
Mr Kenrick said that the reason they had gotten a partnership with Yahoo!7 was that it is very difficult for a small player to develop its services in a New Zealand size market. 
One other online company Xtra had considered for the partnership was Google, among others. 
The reason they chose Yahoo!7 over other companies was because Yahoo!7 has the top position in big fields such as TV and video. 
Mr Kenrick said: "The whole area of content management is one we thought would benefit from others with greater expertise and more scope." 
The University of Alberta is set to expand into the heart of Edmonton's downtown with plans now in place to purchase the aging Hudson's Bay building on Jasper Avenue between 102nd Street and 103rd Street. 
The deal, which is yet to be approved by the University's Board of Governors, could result in students starting classes in the building as early as September 2006. 
The building has been a huge vacancy in the downtown core, with only the broadcasting corporation CHUM Limited using any space. 
University of Alberta President Indira Samarasekera has said there are no plans to ask the company, which owns 91.7 The Bounce and A-Channel to move. 
The total University population is growing much faster than the number of facilities required to support it, so expanding beyond the current campus makes sense. 
Establishing a presence downtown will also help the University and its many spin off companies. 
The University has not yet decided how the project would be funded, but is currently looking at a number of options, including partnerships with all three levels of government. 
Protests have continued after Manchester United defeated Lille in the Champions League round of 16. 
A free kick by Ryan Giggs in the second half of the game caused great controversy, as Lille was setting up their wall as the ball went into the back of the net. 
Lille players nearly walked off the pitch at the time, but they were goaded back onto the field, and the game ended 1 - 0 for Manchester United. 
Lille made one protest to UEFA, asking for a replay of the match, but the appeal was turned down, and the decision of referee Eric Braamhaar stood for the time. 
Lille has made a second protest, claiming a technical error on the referee's part, as the kick was taken without the whistle being blown. 
UEFA has rejected their appeal again, saying no proof of a technical error has been presented. 
Lille will have 3 days after receiving notice from UEFA to lodge another appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or the claim will be dismissed in full. 
The second leg game between United and Lille will take place next Wednesday at Old Trafford. 
South Auckland Tyndale Park Christian School have been asking parents of the pupils for permission to administer corporal punishment. 
The parents are informed that corporal punishment is illegal in New Zealand schools but it quotes the Bible "we ought to serve God rather than men". 
Today the New Zealand Herald reported that they had obtained documents that outline the school's "corporal correction" policy. 
The policy states that the strap must be given on the hand after consultation with another staff member and while that staff member is present. 
The child will then either be spoken to, prayed with or both. 
Bradford said: "A full investigation was needed to ascertain whether any students at the school had been assaulted." 
Tyndale Park Christian School is a private Christian school that caters for students ranging from Year 1 to Year 13. 
Jan Brinkham, school manager, said: "Our enrollment policy is between the parents who enroll children here and ourselves." 
"We are not a state school; we are not bound by a particular enrollment policy." 
"This is between the parents that enrol their children at our school and that is where the buck stops." 
"It's got nothing to do with anyone else except our parents," he added. 
The Education Review Office (ERO) and the Ministry of Education said that they were unaware of the policy and that private schools are not legally obliged to produce documents to government bodies. 
ERO last year said in a report: "The school manager should ensure that parents are clearly informed that the school administers no corporal punishment." 
Charlene Scotti, ERO area manger of review services said: "Some schools had policies to call parents in for cases where corporal punishment was required, but were careful not to include staff in punishing students." 
Bruce Adin, Ministry of Education northern regional manager, said: "The legality of the Tyndale Park document was unclear, but if school staff strapped a student it would be illegal." 
"Corporal punishment in schools was made illegal years ago because it was considered to be brutal and unnecessary," Bradford said. 
Another member of the Pennsylvania State University's cheerleading squad will step in to play the Nittany Lion at the 2009 Rose Bowl, after the main performer was suspended after being charged with DUI and summary traffic violations late last month. 
Penn State is the largest university in Pennsylvania and among the ten largest public universities in the United States. 
Pennsylvanian James Sheep was charged with driving under the influence on November 22. 
Cheerleading coach Curt White told the Associated Press that Sheep will return later in 2009. 
Sheep was pulled over on campus at 3:16 am November 22, before Penn's game versus Michigan State. 
Sheep has avoided interview requests by The Daily Collegian, Penn State's newspaper, on multiple occasions. 
In a statement, White commented: "James has been a very enthusiastic and hard-working Nittany Lion, but we are disappointed that his recent actions did not represent the high standards of this position." 
"We are planning to have James resume his duties in the new year and are confident that he will represent Penn State Athletics and the University with a high level of energy, dedication and respect." 
The Pennsylvania State University website lists Sheep on their website as the Lion from 2007-2008, conflicting with coach White's comment that he would return in the new year. 
The mascot was introduced in 1907, brought in as a costume character in 1921, and is even the subject of the book The Nittany Lion: An Illustrated Tale. 
While most American university mascots change in appearance over the decades, the Nittany Lion remains essentially the same design as it has for generations. 
Some earlier reports suggested that "46 current or former Penn State [football] players have been charged with crimes on 163 counts in the past six seasons." 
Of those players charged, 27 were found guilty of at least one charge. 
The judge in the U.S. federal death penalty trial against Zacarias Moussaoui ruled on Friday that prosecutors can seek replacement witnesses for seven Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) employees whose testimony was tainted, and therefore disallowed because of pre-trial coaching by a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) lawyer. 
The 18-member jury (6 alternates) were sent home for a week while the court dealt with the revelation that government aviation security witness had been contacted prior to the trial by TSA lawyer Carla J. Martin, to help prepare their testimony in the case. 
Martin, aged 51, is accused of misconduct by sending prosecution witnesses e-mail that included trial transcripts of another related case along with observations of her own that pertained to the Moussaoui case, including suggestions and talking points. 
She was recently suspended with pay by the TSA and retained Roscoe Howard to act as legal counsel in the face of legal actions that might arise against her. 
Judge Leonie M. Brinkema initially ruled to prevent testimony from any aviation employees, but reversed her decision after the prosecution argued they would have little case left if their testimony remained inadmissible. 
FAA employee testimony is expected to take the form of what measures would have been taken by the agency to prevent against the September 11, 2001 airliner attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. if Moussaoui had warned officials of the plan prior to the strikes. 
The connection to the Carla Martin involvement in the case was discovered in a separate trial involving liability lawsuits against two U.S. airline companies for losses as a result of the attacks. 
Family member lawyers of flight attendants drew attention to contacts by Martin to persons involved in the case. 
A U.S. federal public defender appointed to Moussaoui argued for the jury to spare his life during opening statements on Monday, March 6, in the trial that will determine his fate — either life in prison or death by lethal injection. 
Defense attorney Edward B. MacMahon said that Moussaoui "aspires to martyrdom," and called on jurors to deny the Al-Qaeda operative his wish to die. 
A wish that would result in him becoming "a smiling face on a recruiting poster for Osama bin Laden," MacMahon said. 
Moussaoui is believed by some to be the missing member in the team of 19 other attackers that carried out the suicide airliner strikes in New York City and Washington D.C. 
Arrested in Minnesota on immigration charges three weeks prior to the attacks, Moussaoui could have warned officials of the pending attacks, but failed to do so, argued Assistant U.S. Attorney Rob Spencer for the prosecution in opening statements. 
He said that he was to play a role in another future attack on the White House using an aircraft. 
Four of the conspiracy charges each carry a maximum penalty of death. 
Family members of the nearly 3,000 killed in the attacks were able to watch the Alexandria, Virginia courtroom proceedings by closed-circuit television in six U.S. cities: New York, Boston, Central Islip, N.Y., Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia. 
Moussaoui has a history of disrupting previous trial proceedings with outbursts. 
He has disavowed his lawyers, and mostly ignored his mother who was present during the opening days of the trial because she had spoken to his defense lawyers. 
Upon leaving the Tuesday, March 7 court session for a recess, Moussaoui pumped his right fist in the air and shouted, "Allah Akbar! God curse America! Bless Osama bin Laden!" 
The outbursts have been timed to occur outside the earshot of Judge Brinkema and the jury as those persons filed out of the courtroom for recesses. 
Moussaoui pleaded guilty in April last year to the conspiracy charges. 
Evidence linking him to the plot was discovered when his duffel bags were searched after the attacks. 
The race name is a homage to Saint Silvester, a catholic saint who died in December 31, 335. 
During his government the Christian religion became the official religion of the Roman Empire under the rule of Constantine the Great. 
This event was important for the Christians because they have been persecuted by the Roman Empire during 300 years and now they would have freedom to profess their religion without been in risk of been arrested or convicted to death by the government. 
For the 2004 race, the number of participants was about 15 thousand, with 13 thousand men and 2 thousand women. 
The majority of athletes were from Brazil but others came from other countries including Argentina, Australia, Sweden, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, Chile, Finland, Portugal, Luxemburg, Bolivia, Canada, South Korea, France, England, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. 
The women's race started at 3 p.m.(local time) while the men's race started two hours later. 
Apple sued HTC, a Taiwanese manufacturer of mobile phones, on Tuesday, in a lawsuit claiming 20 different patent infringements, largely relating to the user interface of the iPhone, which is manufactured by Apple. 
According to the lawsuit, filed with both the United States District Court in Delaware and the United States International Trade Commission, HTC violated Apple patents pertaining to both multi-touch gestures, which allow users to interact with a device's touchscreen using multiple fingers, as well as patents involving more general touch features. 
Devices mentioned in the suit are all phones manufactured by HTC that use Google's Android software. 
The lawsuit says that HTC, in selling the phones, knowingly induced those using the mentioned products to violate patents owned by Apple, some of which were filed in the mid-1990s. 
Although the lawsuit named only HTC as a defendant, many viewed the action as an indirect challenge to Google, as the lawsuit only covered HTC devices running Google's Android software. 
The operating system has seen increasing popularity in the last year, and has increasingly included multi-touch input of the type mentioned in the lawsuit. 
One analyst, from Kaufman Brothers, said, "I think this is kind of an indirect lawsuit against Google." 
Others said that Apple was suing HTC instead of Google because the phone manufacturer was an easier target than Google. 
Another analyst from MKM Partners said that "HTC is an optimal target for Apple-it's a relatively small vendor with a weak brand." 
In the documents, Apple said that their goal was to permanently block HTC from importing and selling devices that had the offending qualities, as well a significant cash payment in damages. 
Researchers say that new, ten million-year-old fossils found in Ethiopia, prove that the theory that humans may have evolved from a species of great apes eight million years ago, may not be true, but that humans may have split from apes as long as 10.5 million years ago. 
At least nine fossilized teeth, one canine tooth and eight molars, of a previously unknown species of apes found in Africa were discovered by a team of researchers from Ethiopia and Japan who then compared the 3-D make up of the teeth to other fossils that date back as far as 8 million years and found that the fossils are likely a "direct ancestor" of apes currently living in Africa and that the new ape fossils were that of a species of gorilla who ate mostly plants high in fiber. 
Current fossils and research say that the evolutionary split from apes to humans occurred at least eight million years ago. 
The new fossils say that the split may have happened as long as 10.5 million years ago. 
"Based on this fossil, that means the split is much earlier than has been anticipated by the molecular evidence." 
"That means everything has to be put back," said researcher at the Rift Valley Research Service in Ethiopia and a co-author of the study, Berhane Asfaw. 
Despite the finds, other researchers are not convinced that the findings are correct. 
"It is stretching the evidence to base a time scale for the evolution of the great apes on this new fossil." 
"These structures appear on at least three independent lineages of apes, including gorillas, and they could relate to a dietary shift rather than indicating a new genetic trait," said a Professor at the London Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom, Peter Andrews who also added, "but the fossil evidence for the evolution of our closest living relatives, the great apes, is almost non-existent. 
Researchers have named the newly discovered species Cororapithecus abyssinicus whose remains were found in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, the same place where the remains of Lucy were discovered in 1974. 
The Large Hadron Collider, a vast scientific experiment to smash together sub-atomic particles, moved a step closer to its goal on Friday night. 
Physicists announced they had sent protons all the way round the 27 km ring beneath the France–Switzerland border, for the first time since a major failure 14 months ago. 
The experiment, the largest of its kind in the world, was first switched on with great fanfare in September 2008, but suffered an electrical fault just nine days later. 
This caused a leak of ultra-cold liquid helium, resulting in severe damage. 
Repairs have cost approximately £24 million, on top of the £6 billion spent originally. 
Particles were injected into the ring at around 1500 GMT on Friday, and just after 1930 GMT the first completed circuit was confirmed. 
"We've still got some way to go before physics can begin, but with this milestone we're well on the way," stated Rolf Heuer, director-general of CERN, the European research group running the collider. 
The Large Hadron Collider is designed to smash together particles at almost the speed of light, creating conditions similar to those only moments after the Big Bang. 
By studying these collisions, scientists hope to shed light on theories such as supersymmetry and the Higgs boson. 
The six physicists Guralnik, Hagen, Kibble, Higgs, Brout, and Englert who predicted this particle in 1964 were recently awarded the 2010 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics for this work. 
Barring further problems, the first collisions are scheduled to take place in January next year. 
An ATM in Virginia Beach, Virginia was cracked so it would give out 4 times as much money as it was supposed to; and this was done just by entering numbers into the keypad. 
A man bought a pre-paid card and used it in the ATM. 
The attack consisted of a magic number which was entered in the PIN keypad, which caused the machine to disburse $20 bills when it recorded giving out $5 dollar bills. 
No one in authority noticed for nine days, until an honest ATM user reported the machine was giving out too much money. 
Rock group U2 will play a third date at Dublin's Croke Park this year. 
Following strong demand from fans, the group have announced that they will play Monday June 27th in addition to the 23rd and 24th. 
The band's current Vertigo tour has proved extremely popular among fans, with the original 160,000 Dublin tickets sold in less than an hour. 
The tour officially kicked off in San Diego, USA on 28 March 2005. 
Although no support act has yet been lined up for the extra date, it is widely believed that promoters MCD will have no trouble selling the additional 80,000 tickets. 
Peter Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, broke the tie on the vote on the second reading of the Canadian budget amendment, C-48, by voting in favour of the government, most likely averting a spring election, CBC Newsworld reported. 
The amendment to the budget adds $4.6 billion in social spending and delays of tax cuts. 
The outcome of the second reading vote on the main budget bill, C-43, was less dramatic as Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said that his party would support it. 
The vote for the amendment was tied at 152-152 until the Speaker's intervention, who only votes in the case of the tie. 
He stated his vote for the bill was in order to continue Parliamentary debate leading up to a third reading. 
It is the first time in post-Confederation Canada that the Speaker has had to break a tie on a non-confidence motion. 
The budget and the budget amendment were confidence motions, meaning that the government would have fallen and an election would have been called if either one failed. 
During the vote, Wikinews reporter Andrew pmk noted that the website of CBC, a major Canadian television network, was unavailable. 
Space Shuttle Discovery's final launch on the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station has been delayed at least an additional day. 
Launch is now targeted for 3:29 PM EDT on Thursday. 
The launch was originally scheduled for this past Monday, but was delayed two days because of helium and nitrogen leaks on board the shuttle. 
Technicians are now working to repair technical glitches discovered yesterday on a main engine control computer. 
The weather outlook, however, appears to be unfavorable for the new targeted launch day; there is an 80 percent chance of undesirable weather, according to the NASA space shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters. 
The mission management team (MMT) is meeting today to discuss and troubleshoot Discovery's newfound electrical problems. 
STS-133 is scheduled to be an 11-day mission to the International Space Station to ship supplies to the crew, as well as additional components for the orbital outpost's construction, including the Permanent Multipurpose Module and the third of four ExPRESS Logistics Carriers. 
The mission is the 133rd of the Space Shuttle Program and the 39th of Discovery. 
News agency AAP reported last Thursday that George H. W. Bush would be attending the Forbes Global CEO Conference, which starts this Tuesday. 
These reports have now been revealed to be a hoax. 
They were based on a media release and associated website, and reported in Wikinews, as well as a number of print publications in Australia. 
The president and publisher of Forbes Asia, William Adamopoulos, has confirmed that Mr Bush will not be attending. 
"Mr Bush, Sr. is definitely not attending the conference," he said. 
Mr Adamopoulos said that he is considering pursuing legal action against the originators of the hoax. 
According to reports, the media release and website used the Forbes name. 
"While we would not wish to oppose free speech in any way - for free speech is one of the things that unites both Australia and the United States - we are investigating what legal action could be open to us," he said. 
Two Australian broadsheets fell for the hoax put out by the 30A protest network. 
The network sent out a press release purporting to be from the organisers of the Annual Forbes Conference, claiming that former US President George H. W. Bush was to attend the conference. 
Bruce Knobloch of the 30A network indicated that the purpose of the hoax was to show how shallow the media coverage of the conference and the protest is. 
The hoax was originally reported by AAP, who checked the claim with a telephone number provided on the press release before publishing it. 
The hoax was then picked up by several internet news sites, including this one. 
AAP quickly published a retraction, however that didn't stop the hoax making its way into the paper versions of two of Australia's most respected broadsheets, The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Australian. 
The Forbes conference will take place at the Sydney Opera House, and will be attended by hundreds of CEOs from around the world, as well as Australian Prime Minister John Howard, former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and Steve Forbes himself. 
There is a protest planned to coincide with the conference. 
Protest organisers have called for people to assemble at Customs Square at Circular Quay at 5pm on Tuesday 30 August. 
The protest was originally planned for the Opera House forecourt, however police have declared this area to be an exclusion zone. 
A man has been charged with the murder of a 64-year old British woman in Hong Kong. 
Janet Gilson's body was found dead in a flat on Lamma Island on Saturday. 
She had been in Hong Kong since March 6th and was staying with her niece. 
It is believed the man who has been charged with her murder was the estranged husband of her niece. 
Police in Hong Kong would not confirm the identity of the suspect but have said that he was an "expatriate". 
Gilson's niece Julia Fareed told the South China Morning Post that the man police are questioning is her estranged husband who is originally from the Maldives. 
An official cause of death has not been released but it has been reported that Gilson did receive head injuries. 
Regional director for the Salvation Army Major Carol Bailey paid tribute to Gilson, saying, "She was a deeply spiritual woman and was highly respected and loved by all those with whom she came into contact." 
The world's second largest auto parts maker, Delphi Corporation, has announced today that 8,500 salary workers may be out of a job soon as part of a major restructuring plan, which will also include voiding the contract with the UAW union. 
The move would also shutdown over a third of its factories worldwide, including twenty one located in the United States. 
Eight plants in the U.S. are slated to continue operating. 
Those located in Clinton, Mississippi, Brookhaven, Mississippi, Lockport, New York, Rochester, New York, Warren, Ohio, Vandalia, Ohio, Kokomo, Indiana, and Grand Rapids, Michigan will continue to serve as Delphi properties. 
The rest of the factories are said to either be sold to other companies, or to be closed entirely. 
The plans were brought up to a bankruptcy judge earlier today. 
In addition to the proposed closings and layoffs, 34,000 workers may experience cut wages and less benefits. 
Hourly workers wages will drop from $27 to $22 an hour soon, and will further decrease to $16.50 in late 2007. 
Delphi previously filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 2005. 
In the original filing, requests were made to drop the hourly wages down to $12.50 an hour. 
As the National Disaster Coordinating Agency continues to evaluate the reports coming from regions all over the Philippines, bodies of those who drowned or perished while at sea have started to float into the shores of islands in Central Philippines. 
On Thursday, the Philippines Coast Guard reported that villagers recovered 124 bodies whose identities are still uncertain. 
Advanced decomposition has made identification difficult for authorities and, fearing a health epidemic, all of the bodies were immediately buried in makeshift graves. 
The identification of the victims has caused a stir among relatives looking for their missing family members, as forensic investigators were rendered helpless in proceeding to the scattered locations where bodies have been washing ashore. 
Over 100 divers from the combined Philippines and United States naval forces have been working overtime to retrieve the bodies of passengers trapped inside the capsized MV Princess of the Stars. 
Disaster management officials in the country announced that the dead from the weekend battering from Typhoon Fengshen could reach to a high of 1,300 people nation-wide. 
State officials reported that some 2.4 million Filipinos were affected by the disaster, putting property damage at a conservative estimate of $125 million. 
Relatives of missing passengers were finally brought near the site where the ferry capsized. 
On board a tug boat, relatives became severely emotional after a Roman Catholic mass was celebrated to commemorate the memory of those lost at sea. 
The number of hungry people in the world is projected to reach an all-time high of 1.02 billion this year, according to a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 
The report blames this latest spike in world hunger chiefly on the global economic recession, which has increased unemployment and reduced incomes among the poor, leading to greater food insecurity. 
The report, published on Friday, estimates that over 1 billion people will go hungry each day in 2009, a first in human history. 
This is a significant increase over last year's estimate of 915 million hungry people. 
According to the FAO, this increase of around 100 million people is not a result of poor harvests, as in the past, but rather a poor economy. 
"A dangerous mix of the global economic slowdown combined with stubbornly high food prices in many countries has pushed some 100 million more people than last year into chronic hunger and poverty," said Jacques Diouf, Director-General of the FAO. 
"The silent hunger crisis — affecting one sixth of all of humanity — poses a serious risk for world peace and security." 
Although food prices have declined from their record high levels in mid-2008, the report states that global food prices are still high compared to previous years, and that domestic prices remain prohibitively high in developing countries. 
In Mauritania, for example, a staple food such as wheat still costs over 600 USD per tonne, whereas in the United States the price has fallen below 300 USD. 
The current economic situation has intensified the problem created by high food prices. 
Many sources of income for developing countries, including remittances, foreign direct investment, foreign aid, and international trade, are expected to undergo severe declines. 
In addition, because of the global nature of the economic crisis, previously-used mechanisms such as currency depreciation and borrowing from international credit markets are more limited in their scope, according to the FAO. 
In developing countries, the report says, the urban poor are likely to be most affected by the economic slowdown, as their ability to find work is most dependent on factors like foreign investment and export demand. 
However, rural areas could also be affected, as an urban back-migration to the farms would put more pressure on an already strained rural job market. 
Budget constraints would lead families to purchase more grain products, which are cheaper than meat, dairy products, and other foods rich in protein. 
Investment in agriculture, according to Director-General Diouf, is the key to overcoming poverty and hunger in poorer countries. 
These countries "must be given the development, economic and policy tools required to boost their agricultural production and productivity", he said. 
Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, says that investment in agriculture is not only essential for overcoming hunger, but also for promoting economic growth in developing countries. 
"To unleash this potential and reduce the number of hungry people in the world," he said, the international community must ensure that farmers "have access not only to seeds and fertilisers but to tailored technologies, infrastructure, rural finance, and markets." 
However, the economic slowdown has forced the UN’s World Food Programme to shut down some of its operations, as it receives less financial aid from donor countries. 
Out of a required yearly budget of 6.4 billion USD, the agency currently has less than one-fourth of that amount. 
A former Christian Pastor Michael Guglielmucci has admitted that his cancer is a hoax. 
Wikinews has also learned that one of the churches he preached at has had videos showing his claims of cancer removed from YouTube, claiming copyright infringement. 
He has also admitted to being addicted to pornography for over 16 years. 
For at least two years, Gugliemucci claimed to have leukaemia. 
Reports say that he received an unknown amount of money through donations for his treatments and even released an compact disc album single titled 'Healer'. 
YouTube began removing the videos after the Hillsong Church in Sydney, one of the churches Gugliemucci preached at, began to claim they were in violation of copyright laws. 
Those videos reportedly had shown Gugliemucci speaking about his cancer and also included a video from his hit single album Healer. 
Some videos even showed him wearing an oxygen mask while he was performing his sermon. 
According to reports, several attempts to re-upload his videos to YouTube was quickly met with the site removing the videos under claims that they violate copyright laws. 
Wikinews has contacted the church, its publishing company, and YouTube for a statement regarding the removal of the videos, but has yet to receive a response. 
After the announcement of Gugliemucci's hoax, his father Danny released a statement saying that his son will undergo professional treatment for his "sins." 
"Michael is struggling with a different kind of illness and is receiving professional help and will do so as long as is needed. 
On the counsel and advice of our executive and board, after our up and coming Edge conference, we will take time to be with Mike and get him all the professional and spiritual help he needs to come to full recovery," said Danny Gugliemucci in a statement to the press. 
"In September in 2006, Mike had an accident and went to hospital. 
It was at this time, because of his torment of living a double life, Mike thought he could escape the pain by creating a diversion from his addiction to adult pornography, so he created the cancer scenario," added Danny. 
The Government of the United Kingdom has assumed direct rule over the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean, after an enquiry discovered what it alleges to be corruption and "serious dishonesty" at the highest levels. 
The islands' administration and Premier have been suspended for up to two years and their powers transferred to the UK-appointed Governor. 
The British Government has taken the unusual step because it alleges that former Premier Michael Misick and members of his cabinet have enriched themselves through the selling of crown land and other corrupt practices, and that the limits to suffrage in the islands make it impossible to form a jury immune to the influence of the accused. 
"This is a serious constitutional step which the UK government has not taken lightly, but these measures are essential in order to restore good governance and sound financial management", said the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Chris Bryant. 
However the reaction by the local government have been hostile, with the action being described as a "coup" by deposed Premier Galmo Williams. 
He told the BBC, "A coup is anything that has been done without the will of the people and being a colony anything the British government wants to do to us they can do to us." 
The Turks and Caicos Islands have been British overseas territories since 1799, and since achieving self-governance in 1976 have significantly developed offshore banking and tourism industries. 
Voters in Haiti are going to the polls today to vote for the country's next president. 
The election follows months of political turmoil after the corrupt first round election in November caused a crisis requiring international intervention. 
Haiti is still struggling to recover from the devastating January 2010 earthquake, with about one million people remaining in squalid, temporary shelters and a recent cholera epidemic which threatens to break out again with the return of the rainy season. 
Observers are hoping the new president will restore enough stability so rebuilding efforts can begin with international help. 
In Haiti’s first round of balloting in November, names were missing from voter rolls, ballot boxes were stuffed or trashed, voters were blocked from the precincts by supporters of candidates, among other irregularities. 
Haitians rioted, plunging the process into chaos that was quelled by the determined efforts of foreign monitors. 
Out of the original 19 candidates, two remained after the first round: Mirlande Manigat, age 70, a sedate, reserved university professor and wife of former president Leslie Manigat, and pop star "Sweet Micky" Martelly, age 50, who the The Washington Post described as being "a popular kompa singer [...] famous for dropping his pants on stage, mooning audiences, and dressing in drag — or sometimes a diaper." 
However, Martelly has waged an energetic, well financed campaign with pink campaign posters picturing his smiling face and bald head, cultivating a populist image with Haiti’s poor. 
He has been successful at marketing himself as an unpretentious outsider who will shake up the political system and yank the country out of its paralysis. 
At the same time, he has courted the upper class with a platform containing pro-business promises and support for the return of the Haitian army. 
The sedate personality of Manigat contrasts starkly with that of Martelly. 
She portrays herself as a dignified, mature mother figure able to nurture Haiti through its troubles. 
The determining factor may be the popular former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who returned two days ago to Haiti from South America after seven years in exile. 
Aristide has not endorsed either candidate, but Aristide supporters, among those Haitians most desperately poor, have voiced support for Manigat. 
Upon Aristide's arrival, there were banners saying, "My mother is here already. 
Pierre-Marie Boisson, a private-sector economist in Haiti, sees the candidates as having similar platforms, promising jobs, housing and free education, even if their personal styles are so different. 
"They have both promised the moon to the voters," he said. 
He noted that this puts tremendous pressure on the winner to produce results quickly in a world where the price of food and fuel is rising. 
As voting concluded, despite some irregularities such as missing ballots and late starts, authorities concluded the voting went well, without the pervasive fraud that marked the November election. 
Colin Granderson, head of Organization of American States (OAS) observer mission, said the runoff election was a great improvement over the previous one. 
WHP Holdings Corp., the parent company of White Hen Pantry, has been acquired by Tokyo based Seven & I Holdings Co. for $35 million from New York investment firm, Angelo, Gordon & Co. 
White Hen has previously declared bankruptcy. 
Seven & I is the owner and operator of the 7-Eleven convenience store chain. 
This is the largest buyout for the 7-Eleven brand in two decades and signals a continuance of the expansion Seven & I has pursued in recent years. 
"This acquisition is a strategic fit for 7-Eleven and enhances market presence in the Chicagoland area," said 7-Eleven Inc. 
The addition of White Hen stores will allow the company to increase their presence in greater Boston (55 stores) and metropolitan Chicago (206 stores) bringing their North American store count to over 7,100. 
The U.S. economy and its currency as an instrument of world trade has suffered a series of major setbacks in recent months. 
Some analysts say that the Federal Reserve's September 18th dramatic rate cut to 4.75% from 5.25% may be a case of "too little, too late", or that it was excessive and dooms the dollar. 
Today, Saudi officials declined to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time in decades. 
According to Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor for The Daily Telegraph, "it's a signal that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East." 
Hans Redeker, the Currency Chief at BNP Paribas, also stated today that Saudi Arabia's move to not adjust their own interest rates in sync with the Fed's cuts is a very dangerous situation for the US dollar. 
Redeker points out that "Saudi Arabia has $800bn (£400bn) in their future generation fund, and the entire region has $3,500bn under management. 
They face an inflationary threat and do not want to import an interest rate policy set for the recessionary conditions in the United States." 
Saudi central bank officials said that "appropriate measures" would be taken to stop the large capital inflows into the country. 
The Federal Reserve's half-point rate cut has already caused a plunge in the world dollar index to a fifteen-year low, reaching the weakest level ever against the Euro at just under $1.40. 
The Fed hopes that by making it cheaper to borrow, people will start spending and investing more. 
However, some analysts fear the cut will worsen inflation, making it harder to get personal loans, and further decrease confidence in the dollar around the world. 
There are already signs that global investors have started rejecting U.S. Treasury securities, and recent U.S. government data on foreign holdings show a decline in purchases of US securities from $97bn to just $19bn in July. 
In response to Ben Bernanke's statements today about a potential mortgage and housing market crisis, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer said, "If adjustable mortgage rates go up, people may not be able to afford their mortgage payments." 
Former Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan said earlier this week that housing prices may fall by "double digits" as the subprime crisis bites harder, prompting households to cut back sharply on spending. 
Jim Rogers, the economic commentator and former partner of George Soros, stated, "If Ben Bernanke starts running those printing presses even faster than he's already doing, we are going to have a serious recession. 
The dollar's going to collapse, the bond market's going to collapse. 
In recent months, the U.S. dollar has taken several other significant hits including Kuwait's decision in May to also break its dollar peg, and threats by China to interfere with the U.S. economy, calling it their nation's "nuclear option". 
According to public sources, the Chinese government has begun a concerted campaign of economic threats against the United States, hinting that it may liquidate its vast holding of US treasuries if Washington imposes trade sanctions that seek to force a Yuan revaluation. 
Gabon's new president Ali Ben Bongo has named his first government, after winning the country's recent presidential elections. 
Bongo has kept interim Prime Minister Paul Mba, who has served in the post since July when his predecessor stepped down to run against Bongo. 
Angelique Ngoma was moved from her position as minister of families to the defense minister — the first time that a woman has held that post in Gabon. 
President Bongo was defense minister in the previous government of his father, Omar Bongo, who died in June after ruling for forty years. 
In all, a dozen members of the new government are veterans of the previous administration. 
Including himself and the prime minister, there are just 30 members of the new government. 
Prime Minister Mba said the move "is aimed primarily at efficiency". 
Francois Engongah Owono is the secretary general of the presidency. 
Owono said that the new, smaller government will be more efficient and includes people determined to get everyone in Gabon working together for a better country. 
Bongo was sworn in Saturday after a lengthy review of the August election that brought him to power. 
Opposition candidates filed suit to overturn the results, accusing electoral officials of vote fraud to benefit the ruling party. 
Gabon's constitutional court recounted returns from more than 2,800 polling stations and confirmed Bongo's win. 
Most election observers believe the vote was fair, despite irregularities that included security forces at polling stations, some ballot boxes not being properly sealed, and the absence of opposition representatives during some vote counting. 
Bongo has promised to improve health, education, and housing in Gabon and more equitably distribute oil revenue. 
Under his father, Gabon became the world's sixth-largest oil exporter, but 70% of the population still live in poverty. 
NASA has successfully launched Space Shuttle Discovery after over a month of delays. 
Discovery lifted off at 7:43 p.m. (EDT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in the United States after NASA declared the weather to be "100% go for launch". 
"The clouds broke up and that's why we were go for launch," stated mission control on NASA TV. 
A crystal clear blue sky could be seen in Discovery's background about 40 minutes before launch. 
NASA earlier had made jokes about a small black bat attached to the rear of the external fuel tank delaying launch, but NASA assured it would not be a problem for launch. 
NASA also said that there was a bat on STS-72 which managed to fly away just before the shuttle launched. 
The current scheduled mission, STS-119, is set to fly the Integrated Truss Structure segment ("S" for starboard, the right side of the station, and "6" for its place at the very end of the starboard truss) and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. 
The arrays consist of two 115-foot-long arrays, for a total wing span of 240 feet, including the equipment that connects the two halves and allows them to twist as they track the sun. 
Altogether, the four sets of arrays can generate 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity – enough to provide power for more than 40 average homes. 
Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. 
The next change scheduled the liftoff date for February 12, 2009. 
It was then delayed until February 27, but was then delayed indefinitely on February 20 after NASA discovered an issue with the hydrogen control valves. 
Patrick Viera and Thierry Henry scored second half goals to give France a 2-0 win over Togo in Group G, Friday. 
A win that should have been a rout but for the number of almost unwatchable misses racked up by David Trezeguet and Frank Ribery. 
The lack of French execution in front of goal had fans in the crowd jeering when they were 2-0 up. 
This was very unfair on the French team, and particularly the brilliance of Patrick Viera, who were totally dominant as an attacking side and were much the better team in all areas - only to be let down by nerves in front of goal. 
Before the game France were third in Group G with two points from two matches to Korea Republic's and Switzerland's four. 
France had to win the game to get into the round of sixteen and the pressure seemed to be evident in the first half. 
Out of seventeen French shots at goal nine found the area guarded by Kossi Agassa but the keeper did not have to produce a spectacular performance. 
Togo did not play as much as a team as the French a fact reflected in their attack which forced Fabien Barthez to make just two saves. 
Patrick Viera, on his 30th birthday, got the necessary goal on 55 minutes. 
Ribery ran at the Togo defence and slipped a pass to Viera. 
Inside the area with his back to goal, the Juventus man turned his defender and hit the ball hard to Agassa's left. 
Viera's presence was noted by the eight fouls he suffered in the game; his excellence by the fact he conceded no fouls. 
He also got an assist on the second goal when he flicked a header to Henry in the penalty area. 
A typically clinical finish, Henry's first touch put the ball in a position to shoot before his marker could react. 
Raymond Domenech's side win earned a round of sixteen match against Group H winners Spain. 
The website of international news service Al Jazeera was hacked Tuesday by a group idenitified only as Al-Rashedon. 
The type of group and its exact purposes are unclear at this stage, although it appears to be supportive of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. 
A screenshot of the hacked page contains the current Syrian flag displayed on the top left and a screenshot of a regular Al Jazeera homepage, overlaid by a graphic resembling a rubber stamp with the word "HACK" written on it and a silhouette of two men sitting at a desk. 
As well as identifying the group which hacked the website in English and Arabic, the bottom left of the image also contains an Arabic language statement from the group criticising Al Jazeera for its coverage of the Syrian civil war. 
When roughly translated, the message means: "We have hacked you because your lack of support of Syrian government and militant groups backed by that government. 
We're compelled to do so on behalf of the Syrian people." 
According to technological weblog Gizmodo, reports have emerged of the .net and not the .com version of the website being hacked. 
The site reports that some users have not been able to access the website. 
Wikinews contacted Al Jazeera English about the incident and as of 8:31pm UTC, had received no response. 
A power outage in Indonesia that left about 100 million people without electricity has caused a political crisis. 
The country's state-owned energy monopoly, PLN, has not determined the immediate cause, and the country's president has ordered the national intelligence agency and police to investigate. 
The blackout appears related to deficiencies in Indonesia's power generation capacity. 
The power failure follows attempts to deal with the country's growing energy crisis, including conservation and trying to allow private companies to provide energy, which was ruled unconstitutional in 2004. 
In January, the Indonesian government held a special energy summit to attract investment in their energy infrastructure. 
At the summit they set the goal of adding 22,000 megawatts to Indonesia's present capacity of 23,000 megawatts, in order to support the country's growth. 
The World Bank and others have warned that without more investment in the country's energy infrastructure an energy deficit will result. 
"The power outage has resulted in worries over an energy crisis which could hurt the nation's industrial sector," said a trader on Indonesia's stock market. 
The outage began at 10:23 a.m. local time, August 18, 2005, when power failed along the electrical system that connects Java, Bali, and Madura, causing outages in Java and Bali. 
Almost half of the country depends on the electrical grid that experienced failures. 
The blackout caused traffic jams in Jakarta, forced cancellation of several international and domestic flights at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, shut down Jakarta's electric train service, and disrupted hospital operations. 
Some larger hospitals were forced to delay surgeries while many smaller hospitals could not receive patients. 
About 1,800 officers were called into action by Jakarta's metropolitan police to deal with short-term problems caused by the power failure. 
Candles used in place of electric lighting started six fires in Jakarta alone. 
Mulyo Aji, a PLN official, said more power failures are likely in the future as energy demand increases, without any corresponding new supplies of electricity scheduled to come online soon. 
Bruce, Canberra — Earlier today at the Australian Institute of Sport, Australia's Minister for Sport Kate Lundy and the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott were on hand when the Australian Olympic Team formally announced the Australian artistic gymnastics team to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. 
Melbourne-based Georgia Bonora and Ashleigh Brennan, Perth residents Emily Little and Lauren Mitchell, and Brisbane resident Larrissa Miller booked their trip to London. 
Lundy announced the government's A$4.5 million support for the Green and Gold Room in London. 
This facility, supported by the Australian Institute of Sport's experts, enables performance analysis to help the Australian Olympians excel during the London Games. 
Lundy also mentioned Gillard's Prime Ministers Challenge, which is not just for Australia's Olympians and Paralympians, but seeks to encourage the nation's young to play sports. 
Abbott started off with a quip that the only gymnastics he participates in is verbal gymnastics. 
The opposition leader then told the media present that Australia's Olympians have the country's support, and congratulated the competitors on the hard work they have put in for over ten years to get there. 
In a conversation with a Wikinews reporter following the press conference, Miller said the team does not feel pressure from the media or other teams to do well. 
They are very team-oriented and when it is time to compete, they ignore everything else going on and focus on performing their best. 
The team does not need to worry about anything but competing because the gymnasts get support from Gymnastics Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport to cover the cost of everything they need. 
With encouragement for the Olympians, Abbott and Lundy spent time on the trampoline. 
In a show of bipartisan support, Abbott assisted Lundy out of the foam pit they jumped into, with Lundy returning the favour. 
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan fired the first UN official in connection with the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal. 
"After a thorough review of all aspects of the case, the Secretary General has decided that Mr. Joseph Stephanides be summarily dismissed for serious misconduct in accordance with UN staff regulations," relayed spokesman Stephane Dujarric. 
"Mr Stephanides was advised accordingly yesterday and separated from service with immediate effect. 
This is a disciplinary action for a breach of staff rules regarding procurement." 
The investigation concluded that Stephanides infringed on regulations by helping the British company, Lloyds Register Inspection Ltd., win a contract under the UN programme for Iraq. 
Mr. Stephanides acted as the head of the Security Council Affairs Division when he allegedly told the company how much to lower its price to be awarded a contract. 
He denies any wrong-doing and hired a lawyer to defend himself. 
Aged 59, Stephanides worked for the UN for 25 years, and was due to retire in September this year. 
After a first food-for-oil interim report was released in February, Mr. Stephanides along with Benon Sevan were suspended. 
Sevan, the former head of the oil-for-food programme for 6 years, was also accused of breach of procurement rules in the report co-written by Paul Volcker. 
However, disciplinary measures against Sevan will not be carried out because of his status of diplomatic immunity. 
A final report is scheduled for publication in three months which should further clarify whether Mr. Sevan received Iraqi oil allocations for a friend's company. 
In the meantime, he remains suspended from all UN duties, and is being given only a symbolic salary of one dollar a year. 
A central and unanswered question, is whether either Stephanides or Sevan profited directly by their actions in executing and implementing the complex programme. 
University of Miami head football coach Larry Coker was fired today after a five win, five loss season. 
He was fired after a disappointing season which was filled with controversy and tragedy. 
On October 14th, a brawl in a game against Florida International University led to the suspension of 13 UM players. 
On November 7th, starting defensive lineman Bryan Pata was shot and killed outside his apartment in Kendall. 
The Hurricanes also went though a four game losing streak. 
"We have suffered disappointments and tragedy off and on the field," University of Miami President Donna Shalala said in a statement regarding Coker's firing. 
Coker firing came one day after a 17-14 win over 17th ranked Boston College. 
Coker may coach one more game if the Hurricanes get selected for a bowl game. 
University of Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano and former University of Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez has emerged as one of the top candidates. 
Voting polls opened in Kosovo at 7am (0600 UTC); the first time since declaring independence from Serbia last year. 
Both ethnic Albanians and the minority Serb population may vote for local mayors and councillors, a move seen as testing the government's capacity to organise its own democratic elections. 
The territory was run by the United Nations mission before its split from Serbia in February 2008. 
The Kosovo police have tightened security, and the 13,000 Kosovo Force troops — a NATO-led peacekeeping force — are on standby, according to its commander, General Markus Bentler. 
The main concern is the number of citizens who will vote, as only a 40% turnout level is expected. 
According to the BBC, most of the 120,000 Serbs oppose Kosovo's independence. 
The government in Belgrade and the Serbian Orthodox Church have called for a boycott. 
Polling stations are due to close at 7pm (1800 UTC); the first unofficial results are expected late Sunday evening. 
Repeated incidents of controversial approaches of Israeli F-16 jets to German military vessels, as well as claims of the opposition parties that Angela Merkel's government had tricked them into approving Germany's Lebanon mission cause ongoing controversies surrounding the historical deployment of Bundeswehr troops to the Middle East. 
The latest event to hit the headlines today was an encounter of a German helicopter with two Israeli jets off the Lebanese coast during the night of Thursday to Friday. 
Meanwhile, German State Secretary of Defence Peter Wichert is said to be under pressure over a growing row surrounding the German UNIFIL mandate: opposition politicians accuse the government of having misinformed them prior to the parliamentary approved for the Lebanon mission regarding the constraints of the German forces UN mandate. 
In particular, limited freedom to act within the 6-miles-zone of the Lebanese coast is seen as endangering the efficiency and feasibility of the Bundeswehr controlling arms smuggling. 
Peter Wichert apparently was responsible for an unclear statement which Angela Merkel supposedly sees as the cause of the current conflict. 
After Kenyans voted "no" for the implementation of the new constitution, the "Orange" anti-constitution campaign and the "Banana" pro-constitution campaign finally sat down together to discuss the way forward. 
The draft constitution would have banned foreign land ownership, set the prime minister position to report to the country's president, banned same-sex marriages and restricted regional political parties. 
It would have also given women equal rights to inherit property, and addressed local elections. 
This draft constitution was brought forward by the Attorney General, Amos Wako. 
A day after the results were announced, the President of the country, Mwai Kibaki, fired his whole cabinet. 
It is not yet known what he plans to do, but hopes for reconciliation are high: a member of the opposition called on the president "to provide leadership in the way forward". 
Typhoon Fitow has struck Japan, leaving two people dead and a third missing. 
The Japan Meteorological Agency released the information on the storm's effects in the country yesterday. 
The deceased are a 50-year-old construction worker who died after a landslide at a dam construction site in Fukui Prefecture last night and a 76-year-old man who died after being struck by a falling tree on September 6, shortly after Fitow made landfall. 
A 52-year-old man is missing in Kanagawa Prefecture, believed to be dead, and at least 60 people have been injured by the storm. 
According to information released by the Fire and Disaster Management Agency, around 200 buildings have been destroyed or badly damaged by the typhoon. 
A total of 5,000 people have been told to evacuate, 3,000 last night in Miyagi Prefecture. 
Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, Japan's two largest air carriers, both said 240 domestic and eight international flights have been cancelled as a direct result of the storm, which is expected to be immediately followed by Tropical Storm Danas. 
Fitow is now moving towards the Sea of Okhotsk, making progress at about 24 miles per hour. 
It is predicted that the storm will deposit anything up to 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rainfall on areas on the Pacific coast, possibly triggering flash floods. 
Sir Paul McCartney is scheduled on Saturday, November 12, to perform the first concert broadcast live into space. 
Performing in Anaheim, CA, McCartney will awaken astronaut Bill McArther and cosmonaut Valery Tokarev on the International Space Station. 
Songs played will include "English Tea" from his newly-released album "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard." 
Also on the playlist is the Beatles classic "Good Day Sunshine". 
The idea for the show originally came from a report McCartney received about "Good Day Sunshine" being used to wake astronauts aboard the space shuttle Discovery as it prepared to land in August. 
Said Sir Paul "I was extremely proud to find out that one of my songs was played for Discovery this summer. 
This event will mark the first time a live music show is broadcast into space. 
It should be noted that only his voice will be heard, as there is no video feed from the site. 
The former Beatle has seen interest in his work climb recently with the release of a critically-acclaimed album and a children's book, as well as a series of American commercials feature songs from his new album and a collage of video clips and photos detailing his life's work. 
At least three people are dead after two small planes collided in a remote area of Wyoming in the United States. 
The collision occurred between a Cirrus SR22 and a Cessna 172 near Rock Springs just before 12:30 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. 
The Cirrus was carrying two people, both of whom died, and was traveling from Polson, Montana to Rock Springs. 
The Cessna had one person on board who also died, but its destination is not yet known. 
One deployed parachute is reported to have been seen near the wreckage, but reports state it does not appear to have been deployed by a survivor. 
FOX News quotes KSL in Salt Lake City, Utah as saying that debris from the collision was scattered over five acres in an area that made it difficult for emergency officials to get to. 
The names of the deceased have not been released, pending the notification of family members. 
An aircraft dating back to the Second World War has crashed at Shoreham Airshow in West Sussex, United Kingdom whilst participating in a mock dogfight, killing the pilot. 
The plane was with the Royal Air Forces Association and had been performing in a Battle of Britain display. 
Witness Tim Deakin described the chain of events to BBC News 24: "The main point of the show was a Second World War dogfight between some Messerschmitts and some Spitfires. 
Midway through the dogfight one of the planes, I'm not sure which one, literally, turned quite steeply, went into almost a straight dive and ploughed into a hill probably about a mile from the airfield. 
There's still quite a bit of confusion about which aircraft it was." 
Witness Holly Russell had some more details: "They were doing a mock dog fight and it looked like the plane was doing a dive, but it was going too fast and smashed straight into the ground. 
Authorities could not confirm any injuries or fatalities, but the missing man formation was performed in a flyby shortly after the crash. 
The plane went down into a field near the A27, about a mile from the airfield. 
The plane was a Hurricane, one of three performing alongside the two Spitfires and five Messerschmitts. 
The show is thought to have been attended by about 20,000 people, and was delayed by about 30 minutes after the crash. 
However, eventually a tannoy (PA) announcement stated that the pilot "would have wanted them to carry on", and the show continued. 
The crash occurred on the first day of the two days the annual airshow is scheduled to take. 
Officials have requested for anyone filming the airshow at the time to come forward in the hope that the footage will assist in investigating the cause of the crash. 
An inquest was held this week after a 10-year-old boy died after being shot with an air rifle in Swansea, Wales. 
On September 27, 2009, Rhys Johnson and his friend, aged 12, took, without permission, an air gun which belonged to Rhys' father. 
The two boys played with it near to the location of the Johnson house in the district of Llansamlet. 
They were unsupervised when they were shooting the gun at a bucket that was hanging in a tree and a tin can that was placed on a box. 
The friend, who has remained anonymous, shot Rhys Johnson in the heart with the .22 caliber Webley Vulcan air gun at close range. 
Johnson died in a hospital at 0211 BST the next day from said wound. 
Philip Rogers, a coroner from Swansea, recorded the verdict as an accidental death. 
He was told that the friend had no intention of shooting Johnson. 
Therefore, no legal action has been taken against Johnson's friend accordingly. 
The boy held the rifle at the butt in his right arm with his finger on the trigger. 
As he turned he felt the gun to be heavy. 
As it fell away he pulled it towards him and accidentally fired the trigger. 
Rhys was holding himself to the chest—he thought he was joking then he thought he's shot Rhys in the hand. 
He saw no blood and Rhys ran to the house." 
The detective stated that the friend "was crying and apologizing for what happened." 
Rhys Johnson's father, David, age 36, an engineer in a workshop and the owner of the air rifle testified, "I would allow him to use it if he was with me when I was up the garden or we were spending time together. 
Rhys would have shown interest in it from when he was about eight-years-old." 
The coroner urged "anyone with children to try and ensure that such weapons are not used without parental supervision," going on to say that he was "sure Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were not aware the children were using the weapon unsupervised." 
Larry Craig, the senior United States Senator for Idaho, was arrested at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Minnesota after pleading guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct. 
He has been forced to pay US$575 in fees and serve 10 days in jail, and has been put on unsupervised probation for a period of one year. 
Craig was arrested on June 11th after an undercover police officer reported lewd conduct in one of the men's restrooms. 
At the time, he stated, "I complained to the police that they were misconstruing my actions. 
After his arrest, he stated, "I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. 
I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously". 
He has served in the United States Senate continuously since 1991, and was a United States Representative from 1981 to 1991. 
Earlier, he was elected to the Idaho State Senate in 1974, 1976 and 1978. 
Craig is married, and adopted the three children his wife had had from a previous marriage. 
Craig had previously faced allegations of homosexual behavior, and in 1982 went on network news to deny rumors involving cocaine and sex with male in congressional pages. 
He is considered a social conservative in his voting record, and supported a Federal Marriage Amendment to bar same-sex marriage. 
The head of the United States National Nuclear Security Administration, Linton Brooks, has been forced to resign due to security issues. 
United States Secretary of Energy, Samuel Bodman asked for Brooks' resignation because of issues including "serious security breaches" in several laboratories, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory. 
In a statement issued by Bodman, issues such as lab management were brought up. 
:"The deputy secretary and I repeatedly have stressed to NNSA and laboratory management the importance of these issues being addressed, rectified and prevented in the future. 
While I believe that the current NNSA management has done its best to address these concerns, I do not believe that progress in correcting these issues has been adequate." 
Brooks issued a statement to President Bush, and NNSA (National Nuclear Security Administration) employees, saying that he would resign "shortly". 
Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher won the FIA Formula-1 2006 Sinopec Chinese Grand Prix on the Shanghai International Circuit. 
Although the wet weekend was more suitable for the Michelin-tyred cars, Schumacher overtook both Renault drivers to win the race. 
Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisicella started from the first line of the grid, but were unable to hold the old champion behind. 
The situation became irreversible after Alonso's second pit-stop, where he was delayed for more then ten seconds longer then usual because of the problems with the right rear wheel. 
After that, he pushed hard on the leaders, easily overtaking his teammate and closing the gap to the "Red Baron" to about 3 seconds for the final lap. 
Tough luck for Fernando, pit-stop problem spoiled a fantastic battle. 
The other battle for the fifth place involving two Honda's, Nick Heifeld, Takuma Sato (+1 lap) and Christijan Albers (+3 laps) took place on the last lap when the slight rain touches the track. 
After it the Honda team driver Rubens Barichello lose the nose of his car in a hit of BMW Sauber, while his teammate, Jenson Button, has secured his fourth place (Rubens was included in the final standings on the sixth place). 
Incident is currently under investigation by stewards - Sato and Albers could be penalized for ignoring waving blue flags. 
Felipe Massa, the second Ferrari driver, penalized for engine change, was out due to a collision with David Coulthard from the Red Bull team. 
McLaren-Mercedes driver Kimi Raikkonen was first to park his car on the side of the track once again due to technical problems, while his teammate Pedro de la Rosa managed a good result. 
He regained two points more from Alonso in the drivers' championship - now they both have 116 points, though Renault team now returned the lead in the constructors' championship for just one point. 
Additional Sessions Judge Ravinder Kaur confirmed today that Mohammed Afzal, a militant attached to the Pakistan-based outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, would be executed on 20 October for his role in the attempted attack on the Indian Parliament building in 2002. 
On 13 December 2001, at 11:45 a.m. local time(UTC+5:30), just as the MPs were preparing to leave the House, militants armed with AK-47s and hand-grenades breached the security at Gate No.12 of the Parliament Building and opened indiscriminate fire, killing six policemen and one Parliament employee. 
The Army, along with police and NSG "Black Cats" sealed the area and killed all five gunmen in a "lock-down mop-up" operation. 
The attack increased tensions between India and Pakistan, which was accused by India of providing support to the Kashmiri militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, involved in the attack. 
A special court had earlier sentenced Delhi University lecturer S. Geelani, Afzal and Shaukat Hussain Guru to death under Section 3(2) of POTA (indulging in terrorist acts leading to deaths) and Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder). 
The court also fined Shaukat Hussain's wife, Afsan Guru Rs. 10,000 and sentenced her to five years rigorous imprisonment for concealing details of the plot. 
A Delhi High court ruling, however, later acquitted Afsana Guru and Geelani. 
On 4 August 2005, a Supreme Court bench including Justice P V Reddy and Justice P V Neolkar confirmed the death penalty for Mohammed Afzal and sentenced Shaukat Hussain Guru to 10 years rigorous imprisonment for concealing details of the conspiracy, thereby sparing him the gallows. 
Although the Supreme Court upheld Geelani's acquittal, it observed that his actions were not above suspicion and seemed to have supported the attack. 
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas held a final meeting Tuesday before their separate talks with United States President Bush this week during his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. 
Just hours before President Bush is due to touch down in Israel, Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas met in Jerusalem. 
Neither man issued any public statements following the meeting, but they instructed their negotiators to form working groups to discuss core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, Israel's borders with a future Palestinian state and the issue of Palestinian refugees. 
The talks are supposed to lead to the formation of a Palestinian state by the end of this year. 
Talks between the two sides have been bogged down since last November's Annapolis, Maryland Mideast peace conference, with Palestinians angry over continued Israeli settlement expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and Israelis angry over continued Palestinian militant attacks. 
Mahdi Abdel Hadi who heads the Palestinian research group PASSIA says both Mr. Olmert and Mr. Abbas are politically weakened, and it is unlikely either man can probably give the other what he wants. 
"I think both leaders, Olmert and Abbas are weak, vis-à-vis their constituencies," he explained. 
"It is what they can deliver to their own societies. 
Olmert is facing challenges by other leaders to take over the prime ministership. 
Abbas is challenged by the partition between Gaza and the West Bank and there have been no improvements to the quality of life under occupation." 
Since their last meeting with Mr. Bush at the Annapolis Mideast peace conference, Mr. Abbas and Mr. Olmert have each accused the other of reneging on pledges to advance the peace process. 
Now it will be up to Mr. Bush to see if he can get Mr. Abbas and Mr. Olmert to bridge their differences and get the peace process that was revived at Annapolis back on track. 
Three people in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and one person in Quebec won last week's Lotto 649. 
They will share the second-largest lottery jackpot in Canadian history as the lucky winners of Saturday's $43.2-million Lotto 649 draw. 
Eight Dollarama employees in downtown Toronto also held one of the winning tickets, worth more than $10.8 million. 
The biggest Lotto win was $54 million in a Lotto 649 draw in October 2005. 
It was won by 17 oil company workers in Camrose, Alberta. 
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (P-I), the 146-year-old Seattle newspaper, will make its final print edition on today, before becoming an online-only news agency. 
However, the online version is to be for local news only. 
The editorial staff would consist of twenty people, less than one-seventh of the 150 staff that were employed before the closure. 
With this closure, the Seattle Times is now Seattle's only major daily newspaper. 
"We don't feel like we have to cover everything ourselves. 
We'll partner for some content; we won't duplicate what the wire is reporting unless we have something unique to offer; we'll continue to showcase the great content from our 150 or so reader bloggers and we'll link to content partners and competitors to create the best mix of news on our front page," said Michelle Nicolosi, who is to be the executive producer of the online paper. 
The Hearst Corporation, the owner of the P-I, was not able to find a buyer for the newspaper when it was put up for sale back in January. 
The newspaper industry in the country has been suffering as revenue from advertising plunges. 
Other newspapers in the United States have also shut down recently: Denver's Rocky Mountain News shut down earlier this year, whilst the Tucson Citizen of Arizona will print its final edition on Saturday. 
While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. 
These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms. 
As a non-partisan news source, Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, who are looking to become the 43rd person elected to serve their nation from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. 
Wikinews' own Patrick Mannion corresponded with the Socialist Party USA nominee and candidate, Brian Moore via e-mail. 
Melbourne man Jack Thomas has been acquitted of terrorism offences in Victoria's Court of Appeal. 
His convictions for receiving funds from a terror group and using a false passport were quashed on Friday. 
Mr Thomas was earlier sentenced to five years in jail. 
Jack Thomas, 33, known as "Jihad Jack" was convicted under new Australian anti-terror laws. 
He was found guilty in February of accepting cash and a plane ticket from an al-Qaeda agent in Pakistan. 
The former taxi driver was sentenced to five years in prison in March. 
The Court of Appeal ruled Thomas's interview with Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Pakistan was inadmissible. 
Thomas appealed his conviction on the grounds that interviews conducted in Pakistan after his arrest in 2003 breached Australian law and should not have been allowed as evidence at his trial. 
He was interviewed without access to a lawyer, having already been interrogated during two months in custody in Pakistan. 
Mr Thomas' lawyers argued that he was earlier threatened with torture from foreign security agencies. 
His lawyer said Mr Thomas, who is married and has three children, accepted the money and plane ticket because he wanted to return home. 
Mr Thomas said he never had any intention of becoming an al-Qaeda operative. 
Lawyer Rob Stary said Thomas wanted to thank his legal team and staff at a hospital he had spent the past several months in psychiatric care. 
"He's in a debilitated condition as a result of what's transpired," Mr Stary said. 
Liberty Victoria president Brian Walters, SC, welcomed the decision, saying: "We believe that the Court of Appeal has righted a great injustice." 
Prosecutor Nick Robinson is calling for a retrial based on a television interview with the ABC. 
Rob Stary said the defence team would counter with arguments that prosecutors withheld a statement from a prisoner now held overseas. 
"The AFP has withheld important information that would have contradicted other evidence," he said. 
At least seven United Nations peacekeepers are dead, and nearly two dozen wounded, after Janjaweed militants in Darfur, Sudan, ambushed their convoy around 11:45 GMT. 
Five of those troops were from the African nation of Rwanda. 
Troops fought with militants for over two hours after militants ambushed their convoy of 40 armoured vehicles. 
Hafiz Mohammed, who leads the Sudan program at Justice Africa in London, England, says the latest attack reflects the deteriorating security situation on the ground and that everyone in Sudan is at risk of being attacked. 
Instead of actually protecting the civilians, they will end up not able even to protect themselves. 
It's going to discourage countries to contribute to the unit, which is creating problems. 
This is the security situation in Darfur, nobody is immune from being attacked," said Mohammed. 
The U.N. has condemned the attack releasing a statement saying, "the secretary-general (Ban Ki-moon) condemns in the strongest possible terms this unacceptable act of extreme violence against AU-U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur and calls on the government of Sudan to do its utmost to ensure that the perpetrators are swiftly identified and brought to justice." 
The peacekeepers are part of a joint African Union-U.N. mission aimed at putting 26,000 troops in the region. 
So far only around 10,000 of that planned mission have been ordered to the region. 
Countries unwilling to contribute forces, and constant government restrictions from Sudan, have contributed to the slow movement of troops to the region. 
A Saudi Arabian man named Abu Marwan al-Suri, 38, suspected of being a senior al-Qaeda "bag man", was killed in a shootout on Thursday, according to the Pakistan army spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan. 
It is believed he has been killed at a checkpoint in Khar, a town in the tribal district of Bajaur, Pakistan, when he opened fire on security officials from inside a car. 
According to Sultan, al-Suri opened fire when asked to stop his car. 
Al-Suri wounded two people and killed one Pakistani security official. 
"His death is quite a significant blow to al-Qaeda," said officials. 
"He was giving them money every three months," said officials. 
Pakistani officials say they have his body and that it will be examined to determine its true identity at a hospital in the city of Peshawar. 
Officials also say a notebook with instructions in Arabic on making bombs and explosive devices was found with al-Suri. 
The document goes on to call the investigation 'invalid', 'completely without merit' and 'careless'. 
The last 12 pages of this comprehensive rebuttal are responses to specific article criticisms, mainly consisting of differences of opinion on style and article composition, but some citing outright factual errors on Natures part. 
In their response, Nature refused to reveal their original data for comparison, and commented that Britannica had raised their grievances in private some time ago, and then received no further correspondence until Britannicas open letter of 22 March 2006. 
Nature notes that Britannica criticised 'less than half the points [their] reviewers raised', and states that the two encyclopædias were subject to the same treatment. 
Wikipedia has been stigmatised as unreliable due to its open-source nature and a perceived problem with vandalism. 
The December 2005 study was seen at the time as a major boost to the credibility of Wikipedia. 
Jimmy Wales was notified by one of his team members, on 27 January 2006 that all corrections provided by Nature were in place. 
Recent changes to some of the Wikipedia editing policies have attempted to resolve some of the reliability issues raised. 
Students in hundreds of schools around New Zealand are given NCEA (National Certificate of Educational Achievement) credits for simple, everyday tasks, an investigation by The New Zealand Herald on Sunday shows. 
The simple standards include: applying for a benefit, keeping healthy, talking and listening to a friend, wrapping a gift, dressing appropriately, washing clothes, working in a group, understanding the concept of friendship, ordering groceries either over the phone or in person. 
One of the standards include coming to school on time and good behaviour for 20 days, it appears on the students records as: "Work and Study Skills: Demonstrate Care and Timeliness as an Employee". 
Bill English, Member of Parliament for National and the education spokesman for National, said: "The easy credits demotivated students. 
Take someone who's struggling with maths and works hard to get four or five credits - and then they see their mate getting three credits for holding a conversation... 
That's something that children learn when they're 2, 3, 4... 
All those standards are available to any student who goes to a school which is accredited to assess the standard internally. 
The standards are not made up by the school but are real standards written by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA). 
The NZQA said, on Friday, that the standards would be marked down as "special supported learning" but recently they went back on that and said that now the credits are "mainstream and not differentiated on NCEA records." 
The chief executive of NZQA, Bali Haque, said: "Level one was absolutely basic and the delivery of unit standards was a developing process. 
The intention here is to recognise the learning that people have done, and give them credit for it." 
Mr Haque admits that this system "is not perfect" but is adamant that schools will not exploit the imperfect system as to boost pass rates, unlike in 2004 when Cambridge High School used legitimate standards to boost pass rates. 
The school used one standard that was titled "Interpersonal Communications: Participate in a team or group to complete routine tasks," and all the student had to do was pick up rubbish in a group. 
The dean of education at the University of Auckland, John Langley, said: "The other standards are meaningless. 
I turned 51 last week and I still can't gift wrap a parcel - and actually, it doesn't matter. 
The authority needed to look at what the NCEA standards were and how they were applied." 
"It is better to offer people those sorts of simple, unsophisticated qualifications than not to - as long as people understand the purpose," Mr Haque said. 
The secondary principals' association head, Graham Young, said: "The NCEA system put pressure on schools to accumulate credits - and the easiest way to do that was to encourage students into internally assessed unit standards. 
There are some very low-level unit standards which are extraordinarily easy to pass... 
For people with above-average or average abilities to be using those unit standards is absolute nonsense." 
Spokesman, Gilbert Peterson, for the employers and manufacturers association, said: "The titles of particular standards meant nothing to employers faced with a big grab bag of assessments. 
Getting credits for doing the washing or talking to your mate is just amazing. 
However Mr Haque said that he was confident employers would recognise the standards as basic, and that they were not misleading. 
Thursday was the second day of play in the third test between Australia and India at the WACA, Perth, Australia. 
Australia took the remaining four wickets before the lunch break. 
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (19) and Irfan Pathan (28) both fell lbw in successive overs. 
India reached 330 all out with the loss of Anil Kumble for one run and R. P. Singh for a duck. 
Australia struggled early on as Irfan Pathan dismissed both Australian openers for less than ten runs each and Michael Hussey was caught behind without scoring. 
The next session, Australia played well, despite losing Ricky Ponting (20) and Michael Clarke (23), coming to the tea break with a score of 5/148. 
However, in the last session of the day India took five wickets, sending Australia all out with a score of 212 after fifty overs. 
Andrew Symonds was Australia's top scorer with 66 runs, while Adam Gilchrist made 55. 
In reply, India are 1/52 at stumps having lost Wasim Jaffer for 11 runs just before the close of play. 
A suicide bomber at a volleyball game in northwestern Pakistan detonated a vehicle full of explosives Friday, killing at least 75 people and injuring scores more. 
Some reports placed the number of dead as high as 88. 
The explosion occurred in the town of Lakki Marwat in the North West Frontier Province, located nearby to the South and North Waziristan provinces, an area where Pakistani Taliban members are known to be active. 
Reportedly, the attacker drove his car onto a volleyball field, where a game, being watched by many people, was being played. 
Locals set up a militia and expelled the militants from this area. 
This attack seems to be reaction to their expulsion," said, Ayub Khan, a local police chief, to media. 
According to him, the attacker's vehicle contained 250 kilograms of highly intensive explosive material. 
Buildings in the vicinity of the field, including a mosque were collapsed or damaged by the force of the blast. 
"[W]e fear that some ten or so people might have been trapped in the rubble", Khan said. 
Another security official, Khabib Khan, said that there were around three hundred people attending at the volleyball competition when the explosion happened. 
We had it for the meeting, and for the tournament," he said to the Associated Press news agency over the telephone. 
Malik Naveed, the provincial police chief, said to Voice of America that the attack may have been a retaliatory move against the residents of the town. 
According to him, the village where the attack occurred was once considered a hub of Taliban fighters; however, he says, locals, with the help of authorities set up a militia force and either killed or expelled them from their area. 
"These insurgents, they were not very happy about it and they were cut off because the people had risen against them. 
So this was one way of taking revenge from these people," Naveed said. 
This incident is the deadliest attack in Pakistan since October 28 of last year, when 112 people were killed by a car bomb in the city of Peshawar. 
NASA's Cassini–Huygens spacecraft has discovered evidence for a large-scale saltwater reservoir beneath the icy crust of Saturn's moon Enceladus. 
The data came from the spacecraft's direct analysis of salt-rich ice grains close to the jets ejected from the moon. 
The study has been published in this week's edition of the journal Nature. 
Data from Cassini's cosmic dust analyzer show the grains expelled from fissures, known as tiger stripes, are relatively small and usually low in salt far away from the moon. 
Closer to the moon's surface, Cassini found that relatively large grains rich with sodium and potassium dominate the plumes. 
The salt-rich particles have an "ocean-like" composition and indicate that most, if not all, of the expelled ice and water vapor comes from the evaporation of liquid salt-water. 
When water freezes, the salt is squeezed out, leaving pure water ice behind. 
Cassini's ultraviolet imaging spectrograph also recently obtained complementary results that support the presence of a subsurface ocean. 
A team of Cassini researchers led by Candice Hansen of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, measured gas shooting out of distinct jets originating in the moon's south polar region at five to eight times the speed of sound, several times faster than previously measured. 
These observations of distinct jets, from a 2010 flyby, are consistent with results showing a difference in composition of ice grains close to the moon's surface and those that made it out to the E ring, the outermost ring that gets its material primarily from Enceladean jets. 
If the plumes emanated from ice, they should have very little salt in them. 
"There currently is no plausible way to produce a steady outflow of salt-rich grains from solid ice across all the tiger stripes other than salt water under Enceladus's icy surface," said Frank Postberg, a Cassini team scientist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. 
The data suggests a layer of water between the moon's rocky core and its icy mantle, possibly as deep as about 50 miles (80 kilometers) beneath the surface. 
As this water washes against the rocks, it dissolves salt compounds and rises through fractures in the overlying ice to form reserves nearer the surface. 
If the outermost layer cracks open, the decrease in pressure from these reserves to space causes a plume to shoot out. 
Roughly 400 pounds (200 kilograms) of water vapor is lost every second in the plumes, with smaller amounts being lost as ice grains. 
The team calculates the water reserves must have large evaporating surfaces, or they would freeze easily and stop the plumes. 
"We imagine that between the ice and the ice core there is an ocean of depth and this is somehow connected to the surface reservoir," added Postberg. 
The Cassini mission discovered Enceladus' water-vapor and ice jets in 2005. 
In 2009, scientists working with the cosmic dust analyzer examined some sodium salts found in ice grains of Saturn's E ring but the link to subsurface salt water was not definitive. 
The new paper analyzes three Enceladus flybys in 2008 and 2009 with the same instrument, focusing on the composition of freshly ejected plume grains. 
In 2008, Cassini discovered a high "density of volatile gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as organic materials, some 20 times denser than expected" in geysers erupting from the moon. 
The icy particles hit the detector target at speeds between 15,000 and 39,000 MPH (23,000 and 63,000 KPH), vaporizing instantly. 
Electrical fields inside the cosmic dust analyzer separated the various constituents of the impact cloud. 
"Enceladus has got warmth, water and organic chemicals, some of the essential building blocks needed for life," said Dennis Matson in 2008, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. 
"This finding is a crucial new piece of evidence showing that environmental conditions favorable to the emergence of life can be sustained on icy bodies orbiting gas giant planets," said Nicolas Altobelli, the European Space Agency's project scientist for Cassini. 
"If there is water in such an unexpected place, it leaves possibility for the rest of the universe," said Postberg. 
Ron Cahill, a Canberra resident and chief coroner of the Australian Capital Territory, has concluded the inquest into the deaths of three Australian nationals who were amongst the 21 people killed in the crash of Garuda Indonesia Flight 200. 
The Boeing 737-400 aircraft overshot a runway at Yogyakarta, Indonesia on March 7. 
The inquest indicated that Alison Sudradjat, Brice Steele and Mark Scott died from injuries sustained in the crash. 
Cahill commented that this finding would also apply to the deaths of two other Australians on the flight; the remaining fatal injuries were sustained by Indonesians. 
The inquest was opened at the request of families of the three victims involved in this inquest after the repatriation of their bodies. 
Cahill agreed fully with a recent report issued by the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee, which indicated that the pilot-in-command attempted to land the aircraft at extreme speed despite 15 automated cockpit warnings and a request from the co-pilot to perform a go-around. 
He went on to suggest that the pilot should be prosecuted over his mistakes. 
"I recommend that CASA and Air Services Australia and all Australian airlines review the report to consider whether any of the safety deficiencies identified have relevance to Australian aviation operations and therefore need to be addressed," he said. 
He went on to describe concerns with how these deficiencies are being addressed in Indonesia: "It is of some concern that the Indonesian regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, did not provide the National Transportation Safety Committee with details of safety action to address the recommendations which were in the draft report." 
Alison Sudrajat's daughter had this to say in light of the findings: "It was very informative and it was nice to know what exactly happened, because he went into quite some detail about everything." 
"It was quite comforting, but it's not going to bring anyone back." 
A huge fire at a Chilean prison in San Miguel has killed at least 81 inmates, and injured another 14, including a firefighter and three gendarmerie officers, the Chilean Health Minister Jaime Mañalich reported. 
The fire is considered the worst accident in the country's jail history. 
Fifteen corpses have been identified, Interior Minister Rodrigo Hinzpeter reported. 
Lawyers representing Haitian cholera victims warned the United Nations (UN) on May 7, if they do not admit liability for the spread of cholera in 2010, they'll be sued. 
Lawyers demand the UN apologize to and compensate the victims and improve sanitation efforts. 
Lawyers claim the UN is breaking international law by failing to apologize or provide remuneration to the victims. 
They're seeking a minimum of USD$100,000 each for families of the deceased and $50,000 for each survivor. 
So far, over 8,000 people have died and thousands more have been infected with the disease. 
UN peacekeepers, whom arrived in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, are being blamed for the spread of the disease which started near the troop's encampment. 
According to the lawsuit, waste from the UN camp was not properly sanitized, causing bacteria to enter the tributary of the Artibonite River, one of Haiti's largest. 
Prior to the arrival of troops, Haiti had not encountered problems related to the disease since the 1800s. 
The Haitian Institute for Justice and Democracy has referenced independent studies that suggest the Nepalese UN peacekeeping battalion unknowingly brought the disease to Haiti. 
Danielle Lantagne, a UN expert on the disease, stated the outbreak was likely caused by the peacekeepers. 
Scientists from Pacific Bio-sciences of California Inc. analyzed the bacteria in Haiti and concluded its genome is an almost identical match to samples recovered in South Asia, but different to those found in Latin America. 
The UN continues to deny any responsibility for the cholera outbreak and claims it is immune from further legal proceedings. 
Every year around November 5th, people in Great Britain and some parts of the Commonwealth celebrate Guy Fawkes night to commemorate the dissident from York and his Roman Catholic conspirators who failed to blow up the houses of Parliament on November 5, 1605. 
This so-called Gunpowder Plot is celebrated with firework displays and sparklers, bonfires and Guy Fawkes effigies. 
Fire experts, always busy around this time of year, have called for the use of safe and legal firework displays and have urged citizens to attend organised public displays. 
Every year dozens of people sustain injuries due to careless handling of fireworks or fires. 
Notably, the city of York is not having a public firework display this year, as health and safety measures would raise costs excessively. 
Events in Lewes, East Sussex (noted for Bonfire events and processions) were for the most part peacful, with only 16 arrests, mainly for public order offences. 
There had however been calls for certain tradtions of the Lewes events to be banned prior to the event on safety grounds. 
Critics say that bonfires and fireworks are not environmentally friendly. 
Piles of wood prepared beforehand are attractive nests for hibernating creatures like hedgehogs, who might burn in the bonfires. 
Some even suggest that Fawkes' failed attack is not something to commemorate at all. 
There are often odd, unusual and controversial items up for sale on eBay - multi-million euro planes, the Pope's old car and a young woman's virginity, to name just a few. 
Shoes custom designed for former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher have been put up for sale on eBay. 
The shoes, which have a reserve price of £2,930 (US $3,580), are currently owned by 65 year old Eleanor Graham. 
Ms. Graham bought them in a Sue Ryder charity shop after seeing a member of Thatcher's staff drop them in the shop. 
She guessed that they would increase in value over the years, so Ms. Graham purchased them. 
The Rayne shoes - which come in gold, silver and black suede - are size five and come with a letter received in 2001 from Ms Thatchers office confirming that she did wear Rayne shoes. 
You can see the shoes at eBay by clicking here. 
Jack Palance, best known for his role as Curly in the 1991 film, "City Slickers", died of natural causes on Friday, November 10, at the age of 87. 
He died in Montecito, California, surrounded by family, according to spokesman Dick Guttman. 
Palance is survived by his second wife, Elaine Rogers Palance; his daughter, Holly; another daughter, Brook Palance Wilding; grandchildren Lily and Spencer Spottiswoode and Tarquin Wilding; his brother, John Palance, and sister Anne Despiva. 
A memorial service for him is planned for December 16. 
He also played the role of the Oscar- nominated Jack Wilson in "Shane". 
A massive demonstration march on Thursday of over half a million Shiite Muslims in Beirut, Lebanon heard Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, tell the U.S. President George W. Bush and his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, to "shut up" after they reportedly accused Iran and Syria of fueling protest demonstrations over the Muhammad cartoons. 
Let Condoleezza Rice and Bush and all the tyrants shut up. 
We are an Islamic nation that cannot tolerate, be silent or be lax when they insult our prophet and sanctities. 
We will uphold the messenger of God not only by our voices but also by our blood," Nasrallah told the crowd, estimated to be 700,000 (police said the figure was likely to be even higher). 
The Hezbollah leader also told the crowd that protests must continue until laws are passed in Europe banning insults to Muhammad. 
NATO defence ministers are in Brussels meeting to discuss the controversy's security implications. 
The upheavals of protest in Afghanistan are blamed for the deaths of 10 people in that country this week. 
Muslim protests have spread across the Middle East, Asia and Africa. 
Speaking Wednesday at a joint news conference in Washington with the new Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, the U.S. Secretary Rice said, "Iran and Syria have gone out of their way to inflame sentiments and to use this to their own purposes and the world ought to call them on it." 
Her comments were preceded earlier that day President Bush who also called for an end to the violence: "I call upon the governments around the world to stop the violence. 
To protect the lives of innocent diplomats who are serving their countries overseas." 
American Alpine ski racer James Heuga has died at the age of 66. 
Heuga won a bronze medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. 
Richard Rokos, a coach who helped Heuga with his training in his later years commented on his death. 
He said "He tried to do his best, and when he didn't do as well as he was hoping for, he was disappointed. 
He couldn't walk, he couldn't run, he couldn't do anything else, but this was the way he could present himself as a competitive athlete. 
Heuga competed for the United States at the 1964 Winter Olympics. 
He won a bronze medal in the slalom with a time of 2.11.52. 
Heuga, along with Billy Kidd who won silver in the same event became the first Americans to win a medal in Alpine ski racing. 
Forced to retire early from competitive sport due to multiple sclerosis, Heuga continued to train as an athlete. 
In 1984 he opened up the Jimmie Heuga Center to help sufferers with multiple sclerosis. 
Billy Kidd, whom he shared the podium with at the 1964 games, said “Obviously, the world knew him for his accomplishments as a ski racer, but I admire him even more because of how he led his life, especially with the challenges of MS.” 
Zahi Hawass, Egypt's pre-eminent archaeologist, revealed the first ancient artifacts which may lead to the discovery of Cleopatra and Marc Antony's resting place. 
The expedition has found amulets, 22 bronze coins cast with Cleopatra's image and her name, a royal statue, an alabaster mask resembling Marc Antony, and a statue bust of Cleopatra. 
"If you look at the face of Mark Antony, many believed he had this cleft on his chin and that's why I thought this could be Mark Antony," said Hawass. 
"In my opinion, if this tomb is found, it will be one of the most important discoveries of the 21st century because of the love between Cleopatra and Mark Antony, and because of the sad story of their death. 
This is the perfect place for them to be hidden," said Hawass. 
Recently, outside the temple colourful mummies of nobles were excavated at a neighbouring necropolis. 
These discoveries have lead the archaeologists to believe that a ruler or person of royalty is interred within the temple itself. 
It was the practice of the Greco-Roman era to assemble the tombs of persons of status and other high ranking officials near their rulers. 
"The discovery of the cemetery this week really convinced me that there is someone important buried inside this temple. 
No one would be buried outside a temple without a reason. 
We saw that in the pharaonic days, they were always buried beside pyramids," explained Hawass. 
"She needed a place to be protected in the afterlife. 
If she had used the other burial site, she would have disappeared forever," said Kathleen Martinez, a Dominican archaeologist. 
She feels that "it could be Taposiris Magna because it was the most sacred temple of its time." 
Dr. Roger Vickers team used radar to locate three chambers within the rocky hill atop of which is the Temple of Taposiris Magna dedicated to the goddess Isis. 
The temple was constructed about 300 BC by Ptolemy II. 
The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) expedition led by Hawass has yet to excavate the burial chambers 40 feet (12 meters) underground where they hope to find a crown or Egyptian hieroglyph cartouches revealing the names of royalty. 
The Supreme Council of Antiquities expedition consists of Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the SCA, and Martinez who has extensively researched the life of Cleopatra. 
According to Plutarch who studied Roman history, Caesar allowed Marc Antony and Cleopatra to be buried in the same tomb. 
Alexandria is located about 30 miles (48 km) from the Temple of Taposiris Magna. 
The archaeological site is on a hill along the Mediterranean Sea overlooking the summer home of Hosni Mubarak, president of Egypt. 
The archaeologists fear they may have to postpone work for security reasons over the summer months. 
Oscar Peterson, a Canadian jazz pianist who earned many honours during his decades-long career, died Sunday in Mississauga, Ontario aged 82. 
The Montreal-born Peterson learned to play piano in childhood and by the 1940s was actively performing in Canadian big bands such as the Johnny Holmes Orchestra. 
A groundbreaking performance at New York's Carnegie Hall in 1949 brought Peterson's career to an international level. 
Among many honours, he was appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour, in 1984. 
He also received seven Grammy Awards and in 1978 was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. 
Chicago Cubs manager Lou Piniella announced Sunday that he will retire from Major League Baseball after almost fifty years of coaching, managing, and playing the sport. 
Piniella's announcement came after the Chicago Cubs lost to the Atlanta Braves 16-5 at the Cub's Wrigley Field. 
The 66 year-old Piniella said that he was retiring because of family issues. 
For much of the 2010 MLB season, Piniella's 90 year-old mother has been ill. 
"This will be the last time I put on a uniform. 
I'll go home, do what I have to do there...and enjoy my retirement," said Piniella. 
"My mom needs me at home; she hasn't gotten any better since I've been here. 
Rather than continue to go home, come back...It's not fair to the team, not fair to the players. 
The best thing to do is to step down, go home and take care of my mother," he added. 
During his 18 year career as a player, Piniella logged 1,705 hits. 
As a manager, he also won 1,800 games over the course of 23 years. 
Mike Quade, The Cub's third-base and outfield coach, will be Cubs manager for the remainder of the 2010 season. 
According to police, Kile Wygle, 28, from Newark, Ohio, was arrested for drunk driving after he crashed his motorized bar stool. 
While driving his bar stool, which is powered by a lawnmower engine, Wygle attempted to make a U-turn while going down his street and crashed. 
Police received a call from a local resident that Wygle had been injured in the crash. 
When police arrived, he was taken to a local hospital where police say he admitted to drinking 15 beers. 
After being treated for minor injuries, Wygle was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol. 
Wygle pleaded not guilty when appearing in court and denies that he was drunk, but that he did begin to consume alcohol following the crash. 
"I drank quite a bit after [the crash] because my head hurt so bad. 
I went in and drank a half a bottle of whiskey," stated Wygle to BBC News. 
He also requested a jury be present during his trial. 
Wygle says his vehicle can travel nearly 40 miles per hour. 
Police say that motorized bar stools have become popular, with residents building them and then racing them. 
Most are made from old lawnmower parts, a steering wheel and a bar stool. 
The largest multiplex cinema complex in Southeastern Europe opened on Friday in Bucharest, the capital of Romania. 
The cinema is operated by Movieplex Italy and is located in the Plaza Romania shopping centre. 
Robert Longhi, the general manager of Movieplex, said that the value of the investment reached 4.7 million euro. 
It is estimated that, during the first year of activity, the cinema will attract one million customers. 
Plaza Romania is one of the newest shopping centres in Bucharest, having opened in October 2004 after a 45 million euro investment by Anchor Group, a Turkish company, which also invested in the Bucharest Mall, another large shopping centre in the Romanian capital. 
Police in Indonesia have forwarded a 200-page brief concerning the Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 disaster to prosecutors. 
The move comes as an indication that the trial of pilot-in-command Captain Marwoto Komar is set to commence within weeks. 
The March 7, 2007 crash of a Boeing 737-400 at Yogyakarta International Airport killed 21 people. 
119 others were able to escape the burning wreckage after the plane overshot the runway, going through the perimeter fence and crossing a road and an embankment to come to rest in a paddy field. 
Most of the deceased were Indonesians, with five from neighbouring Australia also killed. 
A final report was later issued after an investigation by Indonesia's National Transportation Safety Committee (NTSC) in October 2007. 
The report blamed pilot error for the crash, finding that the airliner had touched down at roughly twice the accepted safe landing speed, and that Komar was "fixated" on landing and "probably emotionally aroused". 
The Cockpit Voice Recorder indicated that he ignored fifteen activations of the Ground Proximity Warning System and a call from his co-pilot for a 'go-around' as the plane touched down. 
A number of other criticisms were also leveled at the airport, the airline and transport politicians for contributing factors. 
Komar is to be prosecuted over the crash for negligence. 
His earlier arrest - which he was subsequently released from pending full charges - sparked protests from Indonesian aviation groups and criticism from international groups, including IFALPA, a powerful international airline pilots' association. 
Evidence in his trial is set to include documentational evidence and aircraft wreckage, but it is unclear whether it will include the NTSC report. 
Much controversy was caused by the suggestion it may be used, since international regulations limit the use of materials intended for safety investigations as evidence to prove liability in criminal or civil cases. 
Kamal Firdaus, council for the pilot, explained what this means for his client: "Today the documentation has been officially accepted by the prosecutor," adding, "I suspect from this it will be two to three weeks until it is handed over to the court - that's the usual practice. 
Firdaus commented that it would be "difficult" for liability to be established and that, "we are ready and it will be a very interesting legal case, so let's see what will happen in the court." 
Komar, 45, is believed to be the first pilot prosecuted over an air accident in Indonesia despite the country's poor aviation safety record. 
He is being charged with three counts of negligence, but the potential sentence is unclear, as Aero-News reports that he could face life imprisonment while The Age says he can face up to seven years' imprisonment. 
His case is considered a landmark, with aviation groups believing his trial may set the precedent for pilots involved in future accidents. 
Colombian authorities rescued a 2-month-old baby, who was kidnapped by a woman on Monday in Bogotá, in Armenia on Thursday night, September 14. 
The baby girl, Maribel Muñoz, was taken by a woman who told her parents, Zenaida Muñoz and Henry López Romero that she belonged to an NGO and could get medical care for the girl inside Hotel Tequendama. 
The parents, who are displaced people, went to Caracol TV network in order to report the kidnapping. 
Surveillance recordings from the hotel and the city's bus terminal helped with the search. 
The woman, described as in her late twenties, of height 1.65 m, and having black hair and almond-shaped eyes, left the hotel with two men and went to the local bus terminal. 
On Thursday, a taxi driver told the media that the day before, he had driven a woman with those features to Cedritos, a neighbourhood in northeast Bogotá. 
Finally, on Thursday night, the kidnapper, Esmeralda Echeverri Castaño, was taken into custody in Cali. 
She confessed that she had abandoned the baby in a hotel in Armenia, where Maribel was finally found and moved to a hospital. 
The doctors found the baby to be in good health. 
Maribel's parents, who live in a modest house in Usme, south Bogotá, recognized the baby on Friday early morning, thanks to a digital picture sent from Armenia to the police in Bogotá. 
The child was returned to her parents at 11:30 a.m. (16:30 UTC) on Friday. 
US president Barack Obama declared a swine flu emergency in the country on Saturday, according to a statement released by the White House. 
Obama signed a declaration late on Friday, authorising health secretary Kathleen Sebelius to bypass some federal rules, in order to let health officials respond more efficiently to the outbreak of the H1N1 virus. 
The move is aimed at making it less difficult for people affected by the virus to seek treatment, and allow medical providers to give it immediately, bypassing potential hurdles such as health privacy regulations. 
"As a nation, we have prepared at all levels of government, and as individuals and communities, taking unprecedented steps to counter the emerging pandemic," the president wrote in the declaration. 
Swine flu has now been circulated in 46 of the 50 US states, and has resulted in at least 411 confirmed deaths since the end of August. 
Production of antiviral vaccines has been slower than initially predicted, and it is likely that the US government's targets for delivery won't be met by drug makers, according to Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
Windsor Castle, one of Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom's official residences, is to get a hydro-electric power scheme. 
The £1 million project will consist of a series of under-water turbines to be installed at Romney Weir in the nearby River Thames. 
The system will generate 200kW, enough to meet approximately one third of the castle's electricity needs. 
The electricity from the four turbines will not be sold into the local electricity grid, but will instead be directly connected to Windsor Castle's electrical system. 
It will save 600 tonnes of carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere every year. 
The scheme was announced after it gained planning permission from the local council, the plans having been submitted in February of last year. 
A feasibility study will now be conducted, with construction scheduled to start next year. 
The Windsor Castle is not the only environmentally-friendly Royal scheme. 
A borehole beneath Buckingham Palace provides cold water for air-conditioning and the Duke of Edinburgh's taxi runs on liquid petroleum gas. 
On Friday, twin attacks in Iraq killed at least 72 people and wounded another 149. 
Separated by twenty minutes, the bombings targeted two marketplaces in Baghdad shortly before the call to Friday prayers. 
These attacks were unlike suicide bombings in that the bombs were dynamite and ball bearings strapped to two women. 
These human bombs were then detonated remotely using mobile phone. 
Major-General Qassim Moussawi, spokesman for the Iraqi military in Baghdad said, "The operation was carried out by two booby-trapped mentally disabled women." 
He did not explain how the forensic evidence could have proven the mental disability of the women. 
"We found the mobiles used to detonate the women," he said. 
Moussawi said this of the investigation: "Forensic and bomb squad experts as well as the people and traders of al-Shorja area of the carpet market have confirmed that the woman who was blown-up there today was often in the area and was mentally disabled... 
In the New Baghdad area the shop owners and customers of the pet market confirmed that the woman who was blown-up there was mentally disabled as well." 
An aide to Moussawi suggested the claims were based on eye-witness reports. 
He also said authorities believe the women were unaware of plans to detonate the explosives. 
Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a spokesman for the multinational force in Baghdad, said, "By targeting innocent Iraqis, they show their true demonic character. 
They care nothing for the Iraqi people; they want to subjugate them and forcefully create a greater Islamic sharia state." 
Later, Stover told Reuters that the U.S. military was not aware of evidence to suggest the women were mentally handicapped. 
Pentagon reports on the attacks also lacked any reference to the mental condition of the women. 
"There is nothing they won't do if they think it will work in creating carnage and the political fallout that comes from that," the U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said. 
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the bombings underlined "the absolute bankruptcy and brutality" of those who carried them out. 
"The Iraqi people have been right to turn against these terrible, violent people in their midst who will do anything." 
Forty-five were killed at the Ghazl pet market, and 27 were killed in New Baghdad. 
The Ghazl market is only open on Fridays and had remained popular despite two attacks in 2007. 
"Most people who visit this market are poor and just want to enjoy themselves but they came and got killed," said Hassan Salman, who sells bird seed at the Ghazl market. 
Angry fans of the AEK Athens football team damaged the ferry "Ierapetra" during the route from Heraklio, Crete, to the port of Rafina in Attica. 
About 700 AEK supporters boarded the ferry after the end of the Greek football cup final between Olympiacos and AEK which took place in Crete. 
The victory of Olympiacos over AEK, 3-0, angered the supporters of AEK, which is believed to be the catalyst for damage in both the stadium and the ship. 
The Prosecutor ordered a preliminary inquiry into the incidents that took place onboard the Ierapetra. 
During the trip, a group of youths started breaking everything for no apparent reason. 
They caused extensive damage to the passenger lounges and the bars, while they responded to the crew’s pleas with cursing. 
A Greek police officer was injured in the leg by a flare, and a crewmember was also injured. 
The owner of the ship, Dane Sea Line of Piraeus, estimates the cost of damage to the ship at €150,000. 
The Greek media has accused the administration of Greek police and the Ministers of Public Order and Shipping of negligence in not doing more to prevent the events. 
Officials in the Bush administration privately threatened the organizers of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Montreal, saying that any chance there might have been for the United States to sign the Kyoto Protocol would be lost if Bill Clinton spoke Friday at the meeting. 
The threat was received within minutes of the Associated Press running a story on Clinton being added to the program. 
"It came through loud and clear from the Bush people—they wouldn't sign the deal if Clinton were allowed to speak." 
Clinton said, "There's no way that I'm gonna let petty politics get in the way of the deal. 
The organizers later reported that they had "called the administration's bluff." 
In his speech Friday, Clinton described the Bush administration's opposition to Kyoto as "flat wrong." 
Vice-President Dick Cheney directed the U.S. envoy to walk out Thursday, in response to comments by Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin on Thursday. 
The walk out is not believed to relate to Clinton's attendance. 
The Virology Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS) in Bratislava was severely damaged by fire. 
The flames reportedly reached as high as one hundred meters. 
Firefighters from all Bratislava fire-stations took part in the fire-fighting operation. 
The situation was complicated by dense smoke, necessitating the use of gas masks. 
Thanks to a quick evacuation of SAS employees and construction workers, none were injured. 
However, some equipment of the top-level scientific facility was damaged and various research projects will be affected as well, Rosová admitted. 
The "software unit containing information of incalculable value" was rescued in time, reports say. 
There is no danger of toxic spills or leak of viruses. 
The micro-biotic organisms studied in the institute are safely stored and infected animals were not held in this building. 
The virology samples will be destroyed as the coolers went out of service after the power supply was cut for security reasons during fire-fighting. 
The SAS vice-chairman Albert Beier estimated the value of the cooler boxes to be close to two million Euros. 
"They often contain a life-long work of our researchers," he added. 
Two people have been killed and tens more wounded after the powerful Typhoon Melor struck the Japanese island of Honshu on Thursday. 
Melor is the first tropical cyclone to strike Japan in two years. 
The typhoon, with winds of up to 200 kilometres per hour (120 mph) made landfall early on Tuesday. 
Some train services and airplane flights had to be cancelled due to inclement weather. 
Electricity was cut off to 40,000 or so homes and 11,000 people were evacuated to emergency shelters, the national Fire and Disaster Management Agency reported. 
Both confirmed casualties from the storm were hit by debris by trees uprooted by heavy winds. 
Melor weakened somewhat as it continued northward up Japan's central island. 
It is expected to move off the country's eastern coast by nightfall on Thursday. 
The New Zealand government has announced that it will be reviewing funding for medical and dentistry students at Otago and Auckland Universities to certify the institutions' standards and help staff retention. 
The dean of Auckland University's Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Professor Iain Martin says the review “can’t come soon enough”. 
It says that it has been worried about student debt for years "High debt encourages too many graduates overseas, or into high paying areas of practice at the expense of areas like general practice" 
The investigation into the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczyński has revealed that passengers were in the cockpit of the crashed plane. 
According to the head of the technical commission involved with investigating the crash, Alexei Morozov, the crew of the aircraft had been warned of limited visibility, although it has not been determined whether or not the crew's decision to land had been influenced by the passengers on board. 
The cause of the crash has not been identified, although the possibility of an explosion or terrorist attack on board the aircraft has been ruled out. 
Morozov also said that the crew on board the plane had not been properly trained for the flight, and had been assembled only a few days before the flight. 
He said that the crew "did not undergo regular simulated training, including the practice of co-ordination and emergency situations during flights." 
The overall leader of the investigation, Tatyana Anodina, confirmed that unauthorized people had been in the cockpit near the end of the flight, saying that "in the cockpit there were individuals who were not members of the crew." 
One person had been identified, although their name has not been released. 
The investigation also found that the aircraft involved had been in normal operating condition; Anodina said that "[t]he engines were working up till the moment the plane collided with the ground." 
Yesterday, Basketball Australia announced the final Olympic squads for the 2012 Summer Olympics ahead of a farewell series in the Melbourne area this weekend for both the Opals women's team and the Boomers men's team. 
On the men's side, Patrick Mills, Matt Dellavedova, Joe Ingles, Adam Gibson, Peter Crawford, Brad Newley, David Barlow, David Andersen, Matt Nielsen, Mark Worthington, Aleks Maric, and Aron Baynes earned a trip to London. 
The Opals kick off their Olympic campaign on the first day of the Olympics in a match against Great Britain. 
The Boomers start on the second day of Olympic competition with a game against Brazil. 
Two 11-year-old twin brothers were found stabbed in their home in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. 
Their older brother is being charged with the stabbings, one of which was fatal. 
Grandfather Lovett Williams said Tyrel was found upon his dead brother, Tyron. 
While Tyron was pronounced dead at the scene, Tyrel underwent hours of surgery at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh and is expected to survive. 
Williams allegedly told police that Tyrel said his 18-year-old brother, Troy Lavalle Hill, was their killer. 
The boys have a 3-year-old sister who was not home at the time of the stabbing. 
Search parties worked throughout the night on Tuesday looking for Hill but he did not turn up until a neighbor spotted the suspect on Loretta Drive in Penn Hills. 
Troy Lavalle Hill reportedly has a history of emotional problems. 
"They were great athletes, straight-A students, just good, little boys...It's tough," said neighbor Don Taylor. 
Another neighbor added, "Wonderful neighbors, just the sweetest kids I've ever known." 
Grief counselors were on duty at the childrens' middle school, Linton Middle School. 
There is no word on a motive in the case. 
Grandfather Williams said, "I don't know how I'm going to make it...I moved here so I could be with my grandsons. 
As long as [Tyrel] makes it, I might make it, too." 
A Cathay Pacific passenger aircraft from Hong Kong was escorted by two Canadian military aircraft after the pilot issued an alert of a bomb threat to the aircraft. 
The aircraft landed without incident at Vancouver International Airport at around 1340 local time (2040 UTC). 
Passengers were initially kept on board the aircraft before being allowed to get off; the plane was moved to a secure section of the airport while police investigated the incident. 
Two Canadian CF-18 fighter jets had taken off from a military base on Vancouver Island to intercept the plane after the pilot's alert. 
A Canadian official said that "As a precaution, NORAD fighters escorted the aircraft until it landed safely in Vancouver." 
According to a police official authorities had taken the threat seriously, even though no dangerous substances had been found on board the plane, and passengers had not been in danger. 
An unidentified passenger from the flight said that "They told us there was some sort of terrorist problem and the baggage would be held up." 
Christopher McCowen, a 33-year-old garbage collector, has been arrested and charged with first degree murder, aggravated rape, and armed assault. 
Christa Worthington, a United States fashion writer, was found stabbed to death three years ago on January 6, 2002, in her home in Truro, Massachusetts. 
The Truro police had already attempted a mass DNA test of all male residents of the town, on the third anniversary of the murder three months before, prompting an outcry from the ACLU. 
McCowen himself had in fact already provided a DNA sample to the police prior to the mass testing, in March 2004. 
Vail, Colorado, United States — Yesterday, Wikinews sat down with Australian blind Paralympic skier Melissa Perrine who was participating in a national team training camp in Vail, Colorado. 
And are you like Jess Gallagher and just here training and not competing? 
I want to let you get back to changing. 
The Australian Government has said in response to the recent tsunami tragedy that it may take Sri Lankans as humanitarian refugees. 
Sri Lankans already in the Australian community, however, are being overlooked, according to Ian Rintoul of the Refugee Action Coalition. 
The government issued hundreds of Sri Lankans their deportation orders on Christmas Eve, and similar conditions affect people from Aceh in Indonesia, near the epicenter of the quake. 
The Australian Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) said it has had a special hotline running since December 30 in response to the tsunami disaster. 
"People who usually live in an area that has been directly affected by the tsunamis and may wish to temporarily extend their stay in Australia should contact the Department on the hotline on 1300 735 683," a Department spokesperson said. 
An Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 airplane crashed upon landing at San Francisco International Airport around 11:30 AM local time today. 
Flight #214, coming from Seoul, carrying 291 passengers — including one infant, and 16 crew members — crashed on runway 28L. 
Two deaths are reported and 10 passengers were taken to San Francisco General Hospital critically injured. 
In total, officials report 181 people were hospitalized and one person remains unaccounted for. 
It is reported that when the airplane took off from Seoul, smoke was coming from the airplane. 
The weather was good as the plane was landing in San Francisco. 
According to David Eun, a passenger on the airplane and the executive vice president of Samsung, the tail came off of the plane upon landing. 
A non-passenger witness, Anthony Castorani, has reported that a fireball formed upon the plane landing and that the plane flipped over. 
A large portion of the passenger area of the plane was on fire and has burned out. 
Passengers were seen using emergency slides to escape the wreckage. 
There have been no reports stating that the airplane pilot made distress calls before the accident. 
Law enforcement does not believe the accident was the result of terrorism or criminal activity. 
The National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash. 
The airport was closed to all incoming and outgoing air and vehicle traffic until 3:30 PM local time, when it opened 2 runways. 
More than 70 flights headed to San Francisco were not allowed to land at the airport and were sent to other cities. 
Some flights have been diverted to Sacramento International Airport and Delta Air Lines has canceled 10 flights to and from San Francisco. 
United Airlines and Virgin America offered passengers the opportunity to change the flights at no extra cost until Monday. 
Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Chief Operating Officer, was supposed to travel on the Asiana flight. 
She rescheduled, along with colleagues, her flight to fly on United Airlines instead. 
A Boeing 777 can hold as many as 300 passengers. 
Romania's ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) has emerged ahead in yesterday's legislative and presidential elections. 
The voter turnout was around 57% of all eligible voters, which number 18 million people in a country of 21.7 million. 
However the PSD did not gain the vote majority needed to declare an outright victory, and it will now proceed to a run-off election against the centre-left opposition. 
Called the Truth and Justice Alliance, the main opposition is a union of candidates from the National Liberal Party and the Democrat Party. 
While PSD+PUR is currently leading, the most hotly-contested election in Romania's post-Communist history may come down to the run-off, to be held on December 12. 
The winning presidential candidate of the run-off will not only become the country's president but will also appoint a prime minister to lead the government. 
In the presidential election, Adrian Năstase, the PSD's presidential candidate, won approximately 42% of the vote, while Traian Băsescu of Truth and Justice obtained around 35%, according to exit polls. 
Năstase led the exit polls due to greater support in rural Romania, as well as support from the urban poor, due to his policy of boosting the economy. 
Năstase's PSD+PUR coalition was also supported because they are credited with saving Romania from economic collapse during their presidential and legislative term from 2000 until the present time. 
During his term of prime-minister of Romania, from 2000 to 2004, Năstase not only boosted the economy but ensured that Romania entered NATO and progressed towards its accession to the European Union, expected to occur in 2007. 
In 2004, the economy is expected to grow by 8.6%, the highest rate in Europe. 
Băsescu won a majority in Bucharest, Romania's capital, as well as in the wealthier cities of Transylvania. 
Băsescu is supported by the educated middle-class, who take a favourable view upon his policy of stamping out corruption in one of the region's most corrupt countries. 
Băsescu has also received a boost due to his liberalist policies and his proposal for tax reform and the introduction of a flat tax. 
In the legislative election, the PSD+PUR coalition obtained 40% of the vote, while the Truth and Justice alliance trailed with 35%. 
Because the PSD+PUR coalition did not gather the majority of the votes (50%+1), it will have to form a governing coalition with the minor parties, a process which is expected to be tedious given the fact that both of the major parties have ruled out entering into a coalition with ultra-nationalist The Greater Romania Party, which obtained around 12% of the vote. 
A 23-year-old pedestrian walking along Racecourse Road in the city of Londonderry, Northern Ireland at around 0220 GMT on Sunday night was struck by a black Volkswagen Passat and has been killed. 
A 22-year-old man has now been arrested by the police and taken away for questioning, so as to assist police with their enquiries. 
The road was closed so that investigations could be carried out but has since been reopened. 
The Police Service of Northern Ireland are asking any witnesses to contact them as soon as possible. 
Also, another accident was reported which took place in Newtownhamilton, County Armagh in which two 17 year old boys were involved. 
One of them is severely ill while the other has been discharged from the hospital. 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu actively pushed for a military strike on Iran, according to a report published in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz on Thursday. 
A document revealed by Wikileaks, dated July 20, 2007, shows that Mr. Netanyahu, leader of the Likud party, urged an attack on Iran in exchange for joining the government at the time, led by Ehud Olmert. 
Mr. Netanyahu's request was made as part of discussions to form a government of national unity between Likud and Mr. Olmert's Kadima party, according to the leaked cable, classified as "confidential" and penned by Marc.J. Sievers, who was at the US embassy in Tel Aviv as a political counselor. 
An advisor to Mr. Netanyahu told American officials at the time that the Likud leader was willing to take the post of foreign minister, while Mr. Olmert would have become prime minister. 
However, Mr. Netanyahu demanded military action against Iran as the price for his participation in the proposed coalition. 
According to the advisor cited in the US cable, Mr. Netanyahu urged the Kadima leader to "galvanize Israel for action against Iran." 
Israel has previously entertained the possibility of military strikes to prevent Iran from attaining nuclear weapons capability. 
In November 2010, Iran announced uranium enrichment activities had been disrupted by the Stuxnet computer virus. 
The Iranian government later accused the US and Israel of responsibility for the malware. 
Israel and Western powers have accused Iran, whose president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for Israel to be "wiped off the map," of seeking to obtain nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear program. 
The National Hockey League (NHL) has handed down a season-long suspension, including the playoffs, to Chris Simon of the New York Islanders. 
The suspension, for a minimum of 25 games, is a ruling for a hit Simon laid on Ryan Hollweg of the New York Rangers during a March 8 game at Nassau Veterans' Memorial Coliseum. 
In a press release earlier today, the NHL indicated that they considered Simon's hit on Hollweg, with a stick to the face, to be a deliberate intent to injure. 
"The National Hockey League will not accept the use of a stick in the manner and fashion in which Mr. Simon used his Thursday night," said Colin Campbell, NHL Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations. 
After receiving a hard check from Hollweg, Simon swung his stick and delivered a two-handed blow to Hollweg's upper body, causing a cut on Hollweg's chin. 
Based on his $1-million contract, which expires at the conclusion of the 2006-07 season, Simon forfeits a minimum of $80,213.90. 
The suspension could carry over into the 2007-2008 hockey season, depending on how far the Islanders advance into the playoffs. 
According to the NHL press release, if the Islanders do not qualify for the 2007 playoffs, or play fewer than 10 playoff games in the 2007 playoffs, Simon would serve additional games at the start of the 2007-08 regular season to satisfy the minimum term of the suspension. 
Garth Snow, General Manager of the Islanders, indicated his support for Simon in a brief press release. 
"I spoke with Colin Campbell this morning and he informed me of his decision. 
Chris Simon has played a major role in our success this season and we will miss his presence in our lineup. 
His regret is clearly evident in the statement he released last night. 
Our entire organization supports Chris every step of the way." 
In a statement March 10, prior to the verdict, Simon expressed regret for his actions. 
"After watching the tape the morning after Thursday's game, I was disgusted. 
There is absolutely no place in hockey for what I did. 
I was grateful to learn that Ryan is okay and that he returned to the game. 
My hope is to reach out to him in the near future." 
Simon explains that his behavior may have been influenced by a hit he received less than a minute before his stick swinging incident. 
When I saw the tape on Friday morning, it explained a lot to me when I saw the look on my face after being hit into the boards. 
Simon didn't appear to let it excuse his hit on Hollweg. 
"I need to make clear that this is not justification for the danger I put Ryan Hollweg in and the damage I have caused the game. 
The Associated Press indicated that criminal charges against Simon are being considered. 
According to a spokesperson for Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, "no decision has been reached" on bringing charges, but that "prosecutors would review the tape." 
The military reported that after taking the youth to an isolated area they searched him and found another four explosives. 
The Hawara checkpoint has seen this kind of trouble before. 
In April 2004, soldiers there arrested a 16-year-old, also Palestinian, with a suicide bomb strapped to his body. 
The teenager, Hussam Abdo, later told an Israeli newspaper he was on a mission to kill Israeli soldiers. 
Israeli radio noted that this is the third Palestinian child in the past two months caught attempting to transfer explosives past Israeli checkpoints. 
Raouf Amin el-Araby, a 52-year-old Egyptian doctor who has been serving the Saudi Royal family for 20 years, was convicted of malpractice. 
Egyptian newspapers reported that he was accused of driving a Saudi princess "to addiction", reportedly after treating a Saudi princess with painkillers. 
Initially sentenced to 7 years and 700 lashes, he has been sentenced to 15 years and 1500 lashes, 70 a week, after making an appeal. 
Family members, friends and colleagues gathered in outrage and grief outside the headquarters of Egypt's doctors union, calling upon King Abdullah to pardon Raouf. 
"1,500 lashes is unprecedented in the history of Islam," read one banner carried by protesters. 
"Who is responsible for the humiliation of our doctors abroad?" read another. 
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) and the foreign minister are working hard to find a way to return Raouf home quickly. 
Hafez Abu Saeda, the director of EOHR, stated that the princess was prescribed the same medication that she was receiving in the United States, "so it is obvious that the doctor was not at fault for her addiction." 
Protests in Egypt have driven the Egyptian foreign ministry to seek a solution, partly out of concern that negative repercussions may damage relations between Cairo and Riyadh. 
A human rights lawyer said that he was given the first 70 lashes last week and he will get 70 more this week. 
Several thousand Muslims protested today in Paris, France, as well as the eastern city of Strasbourg, against the publication of caricatures of the prophet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper and the re-publication of some of these caricatures in French newspapers: the daily France Soir and the weekly Charlie Hebdo. 
The protesters consider that these caricatures insulted their prophet, and thus, they contend, their religion and themselves. 
Charlie Hebdo is a weekly paper known for its extremely acerbic positions against organized religion; it often mocks Catholicism, the largest religious denomination in France. 
Some banners claimed that freedom of speech should not imply the possibility of insulting religious figures. 
Other banners claimed that French society was applying dual standards. 
Some protesters demanded a law against "islamophobia"; France does not have blasphemy laws and has a tradition of anticlericalism. 
Many of the female protesters wore a scarf to hide their hair, and some wore a hijab or veil. 
The French government enacted a law prohibiting conspicuous religious symbols in government-operated schools, a move widely considered to be targeting the veil and scarf, which many consider a sign of subordination of females. 
The protest was followed at a distance by a large complement of CRS and other police forces. 
Libertarianz party president, Craig Milmine, and the party leader, Bernard Darnton, spoke exclusively to Wikinews journalist Gabriel Pollard about the political philosophy, libertarianism in New Zealand. 
This article follows on from interviews with republican, Lewis Holden; and monarchist, Noel Cox. 
The idea of libertarianism is where consent is required for all actions between people, and that these interactions are voluntary. 
Over four million people will be given freedom to run their own lives as Mr Milmine said. 
He says the Government doesn't follow this generally accepted principle. 
"They take money without consent, order us around, and tell us what we can and cannot put in our bodies." 
Their party website states, "We will put paid to bloated government bureaucracy and its authoritarian inclinations." 
Mr Darnton said that one of the biggest jobs of Libertarianz is to show New Zealanders how their lives could be better. 
"We just smile and get on with the next thing." 
Libertarianz is, as Mr Milmine says, "principled opposition to the idea of a large nanny-state government in New Zealand." 
"A burglar stealing your TV is in the wrong because they are taking without permission." 
"The government steals a proportion of your wealth every year, the fact that they allow a minor amount of input from you into how they are going to distribute the stolen loot does not change the fact that they stole it in the first place." 
Mr Darnton also describes the current system of governance as a game. 
"What's right or wrong doesn't really matter as long as the red team or the blue team or whoever is scoring more points." 
"The reason this political philosophy, underpinned by objectivism, isn't well accepted in the New Zealand culture is because New Zealanders are generally wary of major change, vote for the party they always have, and vote for the party they think will win, not the one they want to win," Mr Darton believes. 
"These sorts of behaviour reinforce the big parties, even though neither have much to offer," Mr Darton said, "What Libertarianz is proposing is something quite different to anything any other party is putting forward." 
Mr Milmine sees New Zealanders accepting libertarianism because, "Slowly people see that the government doesn’t solve their problems, it caused them in the first place." 
And when this is followed by a significant minority, Mr Milmine says, the change will happen very quickly. 
Although Mr Milmine does say that he cannot predict what will happen to New Zealand if it were to change to a libertarianism state, "because it is asking me to predict the interactions of over four million people when they are given freedom to run their own lives." 
As well as changing the system of Government, Libertarianz also propose New Zealand becoming a republic and removing the constitutional monarchy. 
Mr Darnton said, "The monarchy is so distant in New Zealand that I don't think becoming a republic would make a big difference in many people's lives." 
Mr Milmine says, "A head of state has a valid role to play as a check on the power on the government, but it cannot perform this role if it is toothless." 
Although Mr Darnton believes that New Zealand will eventually become a republic, he is wary of making a push to it too quickly. 
He cites anti-prosperity and the governmental interference as issues that could make it into a written constitution and making it harder to shift later. 
While Mr Milmine says they would run into problems with people disagreeing with the Treaty of Waitangi if it were placed into a written constitution. 
And the final question asked to both Craig Milmine and Bernard Darnton was whether they were a Holden or a Ford fan. 
Mr Milmine said he preferred "Subaru – I prefer the rallies – they allow more freedom" while Mr Darnton bluntly said, "No, I'm not." 
According to federal prosecutors, Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr., the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, told a grand jury that his superiors authorized him to disclose to reporters information from the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate. 
Portions of the report included still-classified information on Iraqi weapons capability leaked in June and July 2003. 
Libby's claim of authorization was revealed in a letter by special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald, written January 23 and included in papers filed in court by Libby's defense team on Monday. 
Although this letter did not say which "superiors" Libby referred to, the National Journal reported on Thursday that their sources said this included his immediate boss, V.P. Cheney 
Mr. Libby was obliged to step down after he was indicted on charges that he lied about his role in exposing the identity of Valerie Plame Wilson, a C.I.A. operative, to the journalist Robert Novak in July 2003. 
Federal prosecutors plan to use the confession to establish that Mr. Libby was part of the Bush administration's public relations campaign to rebut Mr. Wilson's op-ed column in The New York Times. 
The column stated that there was little evidence to support the administration's claims that Saddam Hussein was pursuing weapons of mass destruction. 
Jonathan Ross presented his final episode of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on the BBC after more than nine years. 
He also finished hosting his programme on BBC Radio 2. 
Ross announced his departure from the BBC in January 2010, having decided not to renew his contract with the broadcasting organisation. 
The guests that appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on Friday were English football player David Beckham, American actor Mickey Rourke and Jackie Chan, an actor from Hong Kong. 
Ross has stated that he was "ashamed of" few programmes and that "[t]he vast majority are shows I am proud of." 
He felt "grateful, lucky and honoured" to have been able to work at the BBC. 
When talking about his programme on BBC Radio 2, during his final pre-recorded three-hour-long edition broadcast yesterday, Jonathan Ross commented: "It has been a tremendous experience for us - obviously I like to think that the place has always been a little livelier while we are around." 
"There were certain periods when it was a little too lively, but it's been a great experience and a learning experience, bizarrely for people of our age." 
The final song to be played at the end of the show was "Drive-In Saturday", performed by David Bowie. 
Jonathan Ross is expected to present a new television chat show on commercial British channel ITV at some point in the future. 
It is believed that Graham Norton will be the replacement for Jonathan Ross as of 2011. 
There are two things one can expect on a trip to see Michael Musto at the offices of the Village Voice: a 20-minute round-trip wait for the elevator and rapid fire answers from one of the most recognizable gossip columnists in the United States. 
Musto, in addition to his appearances on Countdown with Keith Olbermann and the E! network, has been writing his column for the Voice since 1984. 
He has recently compiled the best of them in a book released this year titled, La Dolce Musto: Writings by the World's Most Outrageous Columnist. 
He was Carrie Bradshaw, replete with a prodigious use of puns, before Sex and the City was a thought. 
His column is a romp through his life, spats and opinions on socio-political issues. 
As David Thigpen of the Chicago Tribune wrote, Musto is "a funny and caustic satirist who masquerades as a gossip and nightlife columnist." 
Musto, a Columbia University graduate, is a rarity in today's celebrity world: he is accessible. 
He often corresponds with his readers and his public functions are a mix of parties, nightclubs, academic lectures, university panels and film premieres. 
He is friendly and frank, and he welcomes people to join him in his world ("I just got a message that Michael Lucas died!" he says staring wide-eyed at his phone; the message turned out to be false). 
Wikinews reporter David Shankbone spoke with Musto about his life and his relationship to the world of celebrity journalism. 
According to Democratic Senator Mark Begich from Alaska, the U.S. Department of the Interior has decided to halt all new Arctic exploratory oil drilling applications until 2011. 
The response is believed to be caused in part by the two current oil spill disasters (that of the Deepwater Horizon Incident and more recently the Alaska oil pipeline malfunction). 
However, Begich is not happy about the actions taken by the White House. 
"I am frustrated that this decision by the Obama administration to halt offshore development for a year will cause more delays and higher costs for domestic oil and gas production to meet the nation's energy needs," Begich claims. 
Last September, the state of Alaska made a public notice about Shell's desire to drill off the coast of the Beaufort Sea, placing experimental drilling rigs at two drill site location: "Torpedo" and "Sivulliq". 
"Shell is committed to undertaking a safe and environmentally responsible exploration program in the Chukchi Sea and Beaufort Sea in 2010," said Shell Oil Company President Marvin E. Odum to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Mineral Management Service (MMS). 
Odum follows with, "I am confident that we are ready to conduct the 2010 Arctic exploratory program safely and, I want to be clear, the accountability for this program rests with Shell." 
Chuck Clausen, director of the Alaska project at the National Resources Defense Council is not so optimistic: 
"Hazards present in the Arctic can include frigid temperatures, presence of sea ice, gale-force winds, intense storms and heavy fog ..." 
Odum believes that the climate in the arctic will make any spill easier to clean up because, "Arctic conditions create differences in responding to oil in cold and ice conditions." 
"Differences in evaporation rates, viscosity and weathering provide greater opportunities to recover oil." 
"In Arctic conditions, ice can aid oil spill response by slowing oil weathering, dampening waves, preventing oil from spreading over large distances, and allowing more time to respond." 
However, Clausen believes that there are no current systems to remove oil from icy ocean waters. 
This is not the first time that President Obama's administration has taken the environmentally cautious path in Alaska. 
The President put Bristol Bay off limits to oil and gas exploration until 2017. 
Bristol Bay currently is one of the top salmon fishing grounds in the state. 
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar is expected to give a speech at Thursday's White House address, regarding the suspension of Arctic oil drilling projects. 
Terry Knutsen, a man who achieved some notoriety in the 1960s with the novelty song Curse of the Hearse, was seriously injured in a collision late Wednesday evening, according to sources close to the singer. 
Mr. Knutsen, 70, routinely billed himself under the stage name Terry Teene and some sources indicate he may have recorded as many as 300 songs. 
Yesterday morning, local media reports indicated that his condition was listed as "critical", but a source close to Mr. Knutsen described his condition yesterday morning as "grave". 
Mr. Knutsen has performed for many years throughout Texas as a professional clown. 
He made a brief (uncredited) appearance many years ago on one episode of the hit television show In Living Color. 
Sources indicate he also had minor roles in various films. 
Simon Crean, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, has accused the Howard Government of abandoning regional development and showing no commitment to rural Australia. 
In a media release timed to coincide with the ten-year anniversary of the Howard Government, Mr. Crean said that the privatisation of Telstra and a failure to reform the Regional Partnerships program demonstrated the government's lack of commitment to the bush. 
"The Minister for Transport and Regional Services has failed to clean up the Regional Partnerships program, four months after a Senate Inquiry recommended major changes," he said. 
"AU$1.1 million dollars spent on the Gunnedah Grains to Ethanol project has been wasted - it still hasn't produced a single litre of ethanol." 
"Likewise Beaudesert Rail, the recipient of $5.7 million in Government grants, has not travelled a single kilometre." 
Regional Partnerships program provides government assistance for projects in regional areas. 
According to a government media release, there is $360.9 million available under this program for the period 2005-06 to 2008-09. 
Mr Crean also criticised the National party for "[selling out] rural and regional Australia - on Telstra, on trade and on essential services." 
"Last week's revelation that Telstra plans to get rid of 5000 payphones after privatisation show the serial contempt of the Bush by the Coalition." 
The Minister for Transport and Regional Services, Warren Truss, has distanced himself from the Telstra announcement, saying that Telstra has an obligation to maintain services. 
"Certainly, there is a still a demand for payphones around Australia." 
"Telstra are expected to provide those kinds of services," he said. 
"I think the time will come when we will move on to new technology and some of those systems that were more important in the past will be less important in the future but there are still many Australians who still depend on payphones and community telephone systems." 
Warren Truss' office was contacted to provide a response to Mr. Crean's criticisms, but had not responded by the time this article was published. 
A court martial got underway today accusing a Canadian soldier of murder for shooting a member of the Taliban on an Afghan battlefield. 
Captain Robert Semrau's case is believed to be a military and legal first. 
Semrau, 38, is facing four charges for the 2008 death. 
He is accused of second-degree murder, attempted murder, behaving in a disgraceful manner, and negligently performing a military duty. 
It is alleged that he shot the man twice despite him being an unarmed and "seriously wounded" prisoner. 
Court documents set a scene in which 36-year-old Semrau was in charge of a small group of soldiers caught in an ambush on October 19 last year. 
The Canadians were mentoring some new Afghan recruits, who were under British command. 
A United States Apache assault helicopter provided assistance to the group, who were in Lashkar Gah, Helmand, strafing the area. 
After beating back their attackers the soldiers discovered a fighter with injuries deemed to be so severe that medical aid would be ineffective, along with a dead man. 
Shortly afterwards, with only Semrau near the man, two gunshots were heard. 
At least one eyewitness claims to have watched Semrau shooting the militant with his field rifle. 
Troops then moved on and the man's body was never recovered. 
Captain Semrau was not investigated for two months, when his superiors heard of the alleged killing. 
He was ultimately arrested by the Canadian Forces National Investigation Service a month later and charged. 
He is now set to go on trial before Colonel Mario Duti, a military judge, and a five-member panel. 
The Canadian Press contacted Michel Drapeau, a retired lawyer and colonel. 
He says he believes it to be the first time Canada has launched a court martial for the death of a prisoner on the battlefield. 
"I can't remember any such incidents in the past 50 years and in the Second World War, I don't believe there was such a court martial." 
"There are a few recorded instances of alleged extra-judicial killing by Canadian soldiers, but no court martials for murder." 
Two Canadian soldiers faced a murder charge for the death of a teenager in Somalia in 1993 but the case was dropped; some evidence emerged during the inquiry that suggested another man may also have been killed illegally. 
More anecdotally, Canadians have been accused of similar murders in Korea and of shooting German prisoners for revenge during the second world war. 
Microsoft Corp. is establishing, in Shanghai, China, a center for research and development. 
It will be Microsoft's first research and development center of this kind outside the U.S. 
Microsoft decided to take this step because of several setbacks that occurred in its online services working in China. 
The company's new research and development center is to be established in Shanghai's Zizhu Science Park. 
At this location, where another giant, Intel Corp, already has its research office, Microsoft plans to develop Internet software. 
It will have a special technical support team that will work on Microsoft's MSN Messenger. 
The company hopes to make its online communication tool popular among Chinese teenagers and young professionals. 
However, the software giant lacks a facility to work with its well-known MSN service. 
Investing in its communication tool may strengthen the company's leading position on the Chinese market. 
Setting up the MSN research and development center in Peoples Republic of China implies that Microsoft looks forward to taking advantage of the Chinese market, which represents a quite flexible environment. 
This statement was made by Doug Crets, who works at Media Partners Asia as a Hong-Kong-based analyst. 
Around 9:40am (Wednesday) Sydney time and 2:40pm (Tuesday) California time, on ABC News 24 (of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation), a reporter covering the United States election said the network would call California for Barack Obama before the polls closed. 
The reporter went on to explain that the media in the United States avoids doing this so as not to affect voter turnout, but as they are reporting in Australia, this is not a local concern and they are not concerned about making predictions about race results. 
Going into the elections, Obama was already forecast to win in California, with RealClearPolitics predicting he would win by 14 points. 
ABC OTUS had also predicted Obama would win the state. 
Predicting election results before actual returns has been a problem historically, such as when Florida was called for Al Gore before all the votes had been counted. 
The Scugog flag controversy has now came to an end. 
The controversy began when councillor Lynn Philip Hodgson lowered the town hall flag out of respect for a fallen Canadian soldier. 
Rather than an issue of patriotism, the controversy dealt with union contracts which may have specified that the raising and lowering of flags was a role reserved only for union members. 
"I thought I was doing the right thing at the time and I still think I did," Hodgson said yesterday. 
"The public reaction to the lowering of the flag in a timely manner needs to be addressed," said Drebit. 
The union dropped the grievance and said it was all a "misunderstanding." 
An extensive vaccination campaign across 19 West and Central African countries is to begin today in an attempt to stem a year-long polio epidemic in the region. 
The United Nations and international aid agencies plan to immunize 85 million children under five. 
More than 400, 000 volunteers and health workers will take part in the campaign, visiting children in their homes. 
The current polio epidemic has been going on for a year and there have been outbreaks in the last six months in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Sierra Leone. 
These countries will be the focus of the campaign, along with Benin, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Niger, Nigeria and Togo. 
Efforts last year failed to halt the disease because not enough children were vaccinated. 
The program failed in part because local religious leaders told parents that the vaccines would sterilize their children, or cause AIDS. 
As well as targeting more children, today's campaign features better training for volunteers. 
Vaccinations will be repeated on 26 March in the six key countries, and again on 24 April for all 19 countries involved. 
The campaign is funded by Rotary International who have provided $30 million. 
In 2009 the World Health Organization reported that approximately 1,600 children were paralysed by the virus worldwide. 
At least eight people have died in a fire in a multi-storied office center, namely, in the office belonging to the Russian Savings Bank (Sberbank), in the Russian Pacific port city of Vladivostok, the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday. 
A spokesman said that the blaze broke at about 12:00 local time (02:00 UTC) on the sixth floor of the building. 
Some of the victims died when they jumped out windows in an attempt to escape the flames. 
In addition to the fatalities, another 15 people were hospitalized with burns and injuries. 
According to firefighters, serious breaches of fire-safety regulations were partly to blame for the deaths. 
A door to the attic was locked and people could not escape through an emergency exit. 
A team of investigators led by the deputy prosecutor of the Maritime Territory, Sergei Luchaninov, is looking into how the fire started. 
South African media have reported that police staff in South Africa were arrested on allegations of fraud. 
Police said Saturday that nine people including six employees of the South African Police Service were arrested in Mpumalanga. 
A spokesperson for the police service, Captain Leonard Hlathi, said that the other three individuals have resigned from the police. 
Hlathi said that the individuals were arrested for fraud, corruption and theft, and allegedly defrauded South Africa of approximately R2.5-million (about US$327,000) between 2003 and 2007. 
"This was a syndicate that has cost the police service more than R2.5million and we believe we have made a breakthrough," said Hlathi. 
Hlathi told the South African Press Association that the investigation began in April 2007 and showed that the suspects registered companies in the South Africa police database, though no existing files were found for the companies themselves. 
He said that three out of the five companies were found not to exist. 
The suspects were arrested on Friday by the Mpumalanga organized crime unit. 
"We have a warrant of arrest that we are happy to execute against you right away." 
"You are now under arrest on charges of fraud and you have the right to remain silent if you so wish," said Superintendent Obed Ngwenya, police organized crime unit head, prior to arresting one of the individuals. 
The individuals arrested appeared in the Nelspruit magistrate's court on Friday. 
They were released with a subsequent court date set for June 21. 
While whole blocks of Beirut are leveled to rubble and civilians flee by the thousands, the U.S. administration is, according to the New York Times expediting a delivery of bombs to Israel. 
An op-ed piece in the Sydney Morning Herald concludes that the sale of more American arms to the Israeli arm will cause anger and might be used to justify Iran supplying missiles to Hezbollah. 
According to Arab political analysts the decision to rush more bombs to Israel will increase existing anti-American feelings in the Middle East and will help radicals. 
The rushing of more bombs to Israel is consistent with US policy, according to a report issued three days ago by the World Policy Institute which indicates that Israel has always been the largest recipient of military aid from the United States. 
According to Frida Berrigan, co-author of the review entitled 'U.S. Military Assistance and Arms Transfers to Israel: U.S. Aid, Companies Fuel Israeli Military', U.S. military aid to Israel is about $3 billion a year. 
This equates to about 20% of the Israeli military budget annually. 
According to Berrigan, in an interview given to Democracy Now on Friday, just on the 14th of July while calling for restraint the U.S. also sold $120 million worth of jet fuel to the Israeli military assisting their bombing campaign of Lebanon. 
In fact, Berrigan said, since the Bush administration came into power, about a total of $6.3 billion worth of weapons sold to Israel. 
Berrigan also added that if in fact the United States wanted to cut military aid at this time they have precedent to do so, citing as an example the Reagan administration's cut of military aid and freezing of weapons sales to Israel during its last invasion of Lebanon in 1981, during the then conflict's first 10 weeks. 
Israel claims they have been using precision-guided munitions in order to neutralize Hezbollah and to minimize harm to civilians. 
However, U.N. and Lebanese officials estimate at least 360 Lebanese civilians have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded, with about 700,000 people already displaced since Israel's bombings began. 
According to the United Nation's emergency relief co-coordinator, Jan Egeland, nearly one third of casualties resulting from the Israeli offensive in Lebanon have been children. 
Egeland, who visited Lebanon today denounced the Israeli strikes and appealed for safe passage for aid, saying civilians were paying a "disproportionate price" in the attacks targeting Hezbollah strongholds. 
He said civilians are paying a disproportionate price in Lebanon and northern Israel and stated that "A disproportionate response by Israel is a violation of international humanitarian law." 
In many capital cities around the world including the Middle East, as well as Europe, Canada, Latin America and the United States thousands of people took part in demonstrations against the Israeli strikes. 
In London people marched to the US embassy and shouted slogans such as "George Bush, terrorist" and "Down, down, USA." 
In Tel Aviv 1,000 Israeli Jews and Arabs also turned out to denounce their country's actions, gathering in Rabin Square and brandishing placards reading "war is disaster" and "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies." 
Doctors performing a Caesarian delivery in a Darwin, Australia hospital were stunned to discover a rare ovarian ectopic pregnancy. 
According to Robin Cahill, general manager of the Darwin Private Hospital, ovarian pregnancies occur in only 1 in every 40,000 fertilisations. 
An ectopic pregnancy occurs when a fertilised egg implants in a woman's body in a location other than the uterus. 
The most common place for an ectopic pregnancy to occur is the Fallopian tubes, accounting for roughly 95% of all ectopic pregnancies. 
Ectopic pregnancies are generally discovered early, especially as they tend to cause bleeding in the mother, and tend to miscarry or be terminated due to the health risks they pose. 
The mother, Meera Thangarajah, however, suffered no complications during her pregnancy, and an ultrasound performed mid-way through the pregnancy did not discover the complication. 
The hospital's obstetrician Andrew Miller says that having an ovarian pregnancy survive to full-term is "unheard of". 
The British Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists agrees, with a representative saying the odds of a successful ovarian pregnancy are "no more than one in a million", taking into account both the difficulty of bringing such a pregnancy to term and the tendency for the pregnancy to be terminated when it is discovered early. 
The baby, a girl, was named Durga, a Hindu name meaning "goddess", and weighed 6 pounds 3 ounces (2.8 kg). 
The father, Ravi Thangarajah, says that doctors told him he was "one of the luckiest men in the world". 
The play is scheduled to open March, 18, as part of the Theater Festival of Curitiba. 
In the past two months, Parker Somerville, a videographer for the website TMZ.com, transitioned from an average guy leading an ordinary life, to living in an extraordinary voyeuristic existence, and back again to the beginning. 
Simply put, it was a transition from reality to reality, with a two-week detour in reality television. 
Somerville was a former contestant on the CBS reality TV staple Big Brother, currently in its ninth installment. 
Evicted on Day 14, Somerville hoped to have another chance to play the game, but came in second in the special "America's Choice" poll to bring back a former HouseGuest (the poll results were eventually not used at all and nobody was brought back). 
Now freed from a three-week sequester, Somerville was interviewed by Wikinews reporter Mike Halterman and he discussed his thoughts on Big Brother, how he and his fellow HouseGuests were portrayed and received, and what he plans to do now that his experience is, for the most part, over. 
Somerville will return to Big Brother on finale night in five weeks. 
Big Brother airs on CBS in the United States, Global in Canada, and E4 in the United Kingdom. 
People came across Canada to Ottawa to celebrate Canada's 139th birthday. 
About 25,000 people including Prime Minister Stephen Harper, his wife and their two children were there. 
Military veterans, medal-winning Olympic athletes and some of Canada's biggest names in music were there. 
Canadian artists like Colin James and Annie Villeneuve performed in front of the Peace Tower. 
Since Canada has two official languages (English and French) some artists were from Quebec and sung in French. 
Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged Canadians to pay tribute to the soldiers and aid workers in Afghanistan. 
"Let's show our appreciation, today and every day, to those who do it best for us in Afghanistan and around the world," Harper said. 
"Our diplomats, our development workers and brave men and women of the Canadian Forces." 
Michaëlle Jean noted Canada's prosperity, including in her remarks a thank you to the people who toil to provide the country with a safe and plentiful food supply. 
Bill Graham released a statement describing Canada as being like no other country, "made up of individuals, representing all ethnicities and all religions, bound together by our shared values of family, community, tolerance and freedom." 
Musicians performed in front of the Peace Tower, and fireworks ended the show. 
George W. Bush, the president of the United States has visited Tennessee, which was hit by over 25 tornadoes which caused over 33 deaths. 
In the visit Mr.Bush said that "the government has got a role to play" in repairing the damage from the tornado and that anyone who has been affected should call 1-800-621-3362 to "find out the help that is available." 
Later in the speech Mr.Bush said that he's "sorry you're going through what you're going through," to the residents of Macon County, which he was visiting. 
He continued by saying that "life sometimes is unfair and you don't get to play the hand that you wanted to play," and that he believes "the question is when you get dealt the hand, how do you play it?" 
He continued by saying that the community of Macon County "is going to be as strong as ever." 
Andry Rajoelina, who ousted Madagascan ex-president President Marc Ravalomanana earlier this week, officially became the leader of the country, after being sworn in on Saturday. 
National television broadcasted the inauguration, which occurred at a soccer field in Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar. 
Tens of thousands of people attended the event, although approximately 2,000 supporters of Ravalomanana held protests in the capital's Democracy Square. 
"We proclaim today the end of the dictatorship," said the new president, promising to tackle corruption that was rife under Ravalomanana. 
Earlier this week, then-president Ravalomanana gave up his power to military forces, which subsequently gave Rajoelina control over the government. 
Many foreign powers, among them the United States and France, have denounced the change in leadership as a coup. 
Norway and the US have both frozen all non-humanitarian aid to Madagascar, whilst the African Union suspended Madagascar's membership. 
The South African Development Community (SADC) stated that it "completely rejected the legitimacy" of the new president. 
At least three assailants tried to storm the U.S. embassy in the Rawda area of Damascus, Syria. 
According to reports, there was an exchange of gunfire and explosions were heard due to a car being blown up. 
A Chinese diplomat was injured by a stray bullet while he was standing on top of the Chinese embassy building, located close to US embassy. 
American celebutante and businesswoman Paris Hilton has bashed a recent presidential campaign ad by 2008 U.S. presidential hopeful John McCain in which he compared his rival Barack Obama to celebrities such as Hilton and Britney Spears. 
In McCain's TV ad, it was stated that Obama was "the biggest celebrity in the world." 
Hilton recorded and uploaded a video to comedy website Funny or Die, in which she mocked McCain by calling him a "wrinkly white-haired guy." 
"I am Paris Hilton, and I am a celebrity too," she states at the beginning of the video, but not before images of the Star Wars character Yoda and the cast of The Golden Girls are paraded across the screen apparently comparing the characters to McCain. 
"Only I am not from the olden days, and I am not promising change like 'that other guy'." 
"I'm just hot," remarked Hilton, adding, "I guess I am running for president," since McCain's TV ad showed her. 
McCain's advertisement, released early this week, states, "Is the biggest celebrity in the world ready to help your family?" 
According to the Boston Globe and video displayed on its website, the narrator then points out that "the real Obama promises higher taxes, more government spending." 
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama, responded to the ad: 
"Is the biggest proponent of George Bush’s tired, failed policies ready to bring about change?" 
"Another day brings another dishonest attack from John McCain." 
"While Senator McCain knows that Senator Obama has proposed cutting taxes for 95% of American families, what he’s not telling us is that he wants to give $4 billion in tax breaks to the oil companies, continue giving tax breaks to corporations that ship our job overseas, and provide no direct tax relief for more than 100 million middle-class families." 
Hilton appears in good spirits in her video and even thanks McCain for endorsing her. 
"And I want America to know, that I am like totally ready to lead." 
Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan has won stage 15 of the 2007 Tour de France in a time of 5h 34' 28". 
Michael Rasmussen of Denmark kept his overall lead by 2' 23' over Alberto Contador of Spain. 
The two extend their lead on Cadel Evans of Australia by 1' 37", and more on the rest of the contenders. 
The United States Department of the Treasury's Bureau of Engraving and Printing unveiled a new United States one hundred-dollar bill Wednesday morning. 
This is the first time that the one hundred dollar note has been redesigned since 1996. 
Until now the one hundred dollar note, along with the one and two dollar notes, was not part of the newest batch of dollar note redesigns. 
The Bureau of Engraving and Printing redesigned the series 2006 5, 10, 20, and 50 dollar notes previously. 
The new one hundred dollar note will contain new security and design features. 
Along with a new stylized portrait of Benjamin Franklin, the note also features a quill pen and inkwell on the obverse. 
On the reverse it has a new larger printed '100' in gold lettering. 
The new security features include a EURion constellation, a new more secure watermark, and a new feature called 'motion' which uses 650,000 micro lenses to create a moving image. 
The note was originally slated for release in 2008 although budget constraints pushed the release date back to late 2009 or early to mid 2010. 
The note will go into general circulation by early 2011. 
According to YouTube the 11 videos were removed by direct DMCA requests from Schaper. 
The videos have been reported to be of anti-Scientology protests, recorded by various members of the group Anonymous. 
In early September, an entity named American Rights Counsel LLC -- which has described itself as a 'rights group', but without provision of contact details -- requested the removal from YouTube of over 4,000 anti-Scientology videos. 
Many of these videos consisted entirely of self-made content by anti-Scientology protesters; others were quite explicitly extracts from official Church of Scientology footage. 
Users had initially speculated that Schaper was responsible for these requests; no evidence, however, has been obtained to this effect, nor has official comment been obtained from American Rights Counsel. 
Wikinews contacted Schaper to find out why he made the new requests. 
According to him, the videos were not of protests against Scientology, but instead were videos of alleged hate-crimes and hate-speech, which were allegedly attacking Schaper personally. 
"The videos in question have been produced by an YouTube (U.K.) user to directly attack me and my companies." 
"I made the requests in accordance with YouTube’s terms and condition, after confirming directly with YouTube and the local ECTF office in Los Angeles, to remove material that infringes on my copyright." 
"None of the videos removed by YouTube fall under the fair use guidelines or can be considered news-worthy." 
"The content of the videos has been classified by law-enforcement as hate-speech and frivolous attack." 
"The producers of these videos are based in the U.K. and local law-enforcement has been contacted by the FBI," said Schaper to Wikinews. 
When Wikinews asked Schaper if he was acting on behalf of the Church, Schaper denied any such involvement. 
He also stated that he was not attempting to remove videos critical of him, or the Church, but also emphasizes other videos still on YouTube that are "a personal attack against me and my beliefs." 
"Despite the fact that I am a Scientologist, none of the videos removed, where removed on behalf of the Church of Scientology or any organization associated with the church." 
"In addition I like to point out that I have not removed any video, critical of me personally which does not violate my copyrights and I have no intention to do so," said Schaper. 
In addition, Wikinews invited Dr. Schaper to comment on the apparent discrepancy between his actions and his advocacy of free speech. 
Dr. Schaper feels that that the two stated aims are not in conflict, stating, "I believe the First Amendment but I also see how Anonymous tries to abuse these liberties." 
"Not everything is protected under the free speech clause and laws have been enacted to protect each citizen from abuse." 
Schaper also stated that Anonymous is "breaking the law" by uploading material to YouTube which could be considered hate crimes. 
He also states that he would not mind a one-on-one conversation with some members of Anonymous, but "these guys don’t have the balls for a direct sit-down because they should get their facts straight." 
"Anonymous is overstating a case and claims that their abuse and online bullying would be protected under the First Amendment forgetting the fact that they indeed are breaking the laws," added Schaper. 
Schaper does not plan on enforcing the Church's copyrights saying, "they can handle their own content" and that he "will continue to enforce my copyrights and seek full prosecution in cooperation with federal law-enforcement." 
Wikinews has contacted YouTube for a statement regarding this incident, but has yet to receive a response. 
In a recent study released by the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), economic opportunities for women are still lagging behind opportunities for men in the developing world. 
Improvements have been made in women health and education, according to the study. 
The study calls for investments totaling over US$13 billion a year to achieve gender equality and women empowerment. 
Danny Leipziger, World Bank Vice President for Poverty Reduction and Economic Management, said, "gender equality is key for poverty reduction and growth." 
"Progress on women’s education is essential but not enough if we don’t improve women’s access to good jobs and credit lines, to land ownership and to income-generating activities." 
The study Equality for Women: Where Do We Stand on Millennium Development Goal 3? looks at the achievements made by the developing world as laid out by the Millennium Development Goals (MD). 
These goals are eight international development goals that 189 United Nations member states and at least 23 international organizations have agreed to achieve by the year 2015. 
They include halving extreme poverty, reducing child mortality rates, fighting disease epidemics such as AIDS, and developing a global partnership for development. 
Education has improved in 82 countries out of 122 and are on track to meet their MD goals. 
However, 19 countries, 13 of which are in Sub- Saharan Africa, are seriously off track to meet their target. 
The United Nations will hold a conference on Thursday at the annual session of the UN in New York to discuss the Millennium Development Goals. 
Officials say the crash, which occurred when the plane was approaching a Russian airport on Saturday, was due to dense fog, and that there are no survivors. 
Sergei Antufyev, the governor of the Smolensk area, said on Russian television that no one survived the crash; the claim was backed by Polish news agencies as well. 
"As it was preparing for landing, the Polish president's aircraft did not make it to the landing strip," he commented. 
"According to preliminary reports, 85 members of the delegation and the crew," he added. 
The exact passenger number was not known at first, with conflicting figures given by the Russian police, who said there were 132 people on board, and Polish officials. 
However, a full flight manifest received from the Presidential Office has been published by several news portals, giving 96 as the number of killed in the crash, including eight members of the crew. 
The manifest is also available on the Office's official web page. 
Television footage showed the burning plane with its charred parts scattered in the forest where it crashed. 
The plane crashed approximately two kilometres (1.3 miles) from Smolensk airport. 
"Two flashes of fire next to each other," he said, as quoted by the BBC. 
Several other Polish government figures were in the plane as well. 
Poland has declared a week of national mourning after the incident. 
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was immediately appointed by Dmitry Medvedev, the president, as the head of the commission to investigate the crash. 
The latter also sent Sergei Shoigu, the Russian minister of emergency situations, to the site of the crash. 
Princess Kiko has given birth to a 2,558 gram (5.639 lb) baby boy, on 6 September at 8 h 27 (Japan Standard Time). 
He is the first male baby born in the Japanese imperial family since his father in 1965. 
The baby was delivered with a Caesarean section, and will not be named until a ceremony seven days after his birth. 
Emperor Akihito, currently on a tour of Hokkaido, welcomed the birth. 
A number of traditional rites will take place, including the baby boy being symbolically presented with a sabre. 
The boy will be the third in line to succeed to the Japanese throne after the Crown Prince Naruhito and Prince Akishino, father of the child. 
The fact that Crown Princess Masako wasn't able to have a boy to succeed the throne is thought to have provoked her depression and subsequent withdrawal from public activity. 
Pressure from the Imperial Household Agency for another child was ineffective and therefore Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed a panel to find an alternative succession system. 
The panel's recommendation to allow women to inherit the throne was met with fierce criticism from conservatives. 
The birth of the baby boy eases the pressure for the reform which about 70% of Japanese favoured but which was postponed sine die when the news of the pregnancy came to the public. 
Prince Akishino has previously criticized his elder brother for not trying to sire a boy. 
According to Crown Prince Naruhito this was in order to protect Crown Princess Masako. 
At the same time, Princess Kiko has become the darling of the media while the Crown Princess has been accused of being "selfish" by some newspapers. 
Maher said he was asked by CBS News to appear on the segment. 
But when he asked if he could talk about religion, "that was a dealbreaker from the start". 
Instead, he said they would send over a list of "acceptable topics". 
CBS News executive producer Rome Hartman has since responded in an e-mail to TVNewser saying that, "Bill Maher was never told that he couldn't discuss religion in a Free Speech segment," and added, "In fact, Free Speech has already addressed religion and we expect others will in the future." 
No response from Bill Maher on this statement as of yet. 
To help cancer patients overcoming cancer and finding a bright life, Taiwan Cancer Friends New Life Association invited more than 100 cancer patients and volunteers and held the pre-tour launch of "Passing Through Cancer, Finding Love" Eastern Taiwan Bicycle Tour Challenge from Fugang (Taidong) to ChiShinTam (Seven Star Basin, Hualien) for a new miracle. 
Min-fa Lin (Secretary General of Taiwan Cancer Friends New Life Association) remarked that a cancer patient inspires this tour because the one finished a small bicycle tour from Shihlin to Tamshui, after this event known by governments and companies, Sports Affairs Council of Executive Yuan of Taiwan (SAC) supervised and Giant Co., Ltd. sponsored this Hualien-Taidong tour. 
He also hoped this event will inspire common people finding a bright life from a dark or hopeless life. 
Huang-lang Tsai (Deputy Commissioner of SAC) remarked that SAC promoted public sports in Taiwan for a long period, and SAC respected the participation on disadvantaged people or minority. 
He hoped those disadvantaged people such as handicapped, cancer patients, deaf people can participate sports equally with common people, and also recommended some low-cost sports like long-distance running, walking, and bicycle riding, and hoped people in Taiwan will support "Taiwan Citizen Walking Day" at November 11, 2007. 
After the speech by Tsai, he presented a symbolized flag to a delegate named Tsia-tse Kuo and hoped this trip will succeed. 
This challenging tour will take place at September 23 and 24. 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has declared that the National Army is on maximum alert along the Colombian border, after he broke relations with that country on Thursday. 
The declaration comes in the wake of the Colombian Secretary of State's claim before the Organisation of American States (OAS) that the FARC has a "consolidated," "active" and "growing" presence in Venezuela, with some 1500 guerrilla fighters in 87 camps. 
Venezuela's Secretary of Defense Carlos Mata told the media that his forces have been mobilised since Thursday morning, and are awaiting the orders of their Commander in Chief, the President. 
Relations between the two countries had previously been strained, after the Venezuelan government voiced its opposition to new US military bases being set up in Colombia. 
The Colombian ambassador has been given 72 hours to vacate his offices in Caracas. 
A reporter's notes subpoenaed by the U.S. District Court in Washington may show United States President George W. Bush's chief political advisor Karl Rove as one of the two sources behind the leaking of the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame, according to one or more anonymous sources cited by MSNBC. 
However, Rove's lawyer, Donald Luskin, acknowledged that although Rove had communicated with Cooper shortly before Plame's identity was leaked, denied any wrongdoing on the part of his client, saying that "Rove absolutely did not identify Valerie Plame." 
The notes are those of TIME magazine White House correspondent Matthew Cooper. 
They were released by Norman Pearlstine, editor-in-chief of TIME Inc., by order of the court, in ruling that, in the case of leaking the identity of CIA agents, reporters must reveal the identity of their sources. 
The court's ruling was based on the clause in Constitutional law summarized popularly with the phrase "Crying fire in a crowded theater": that when the degree to which the speech puts the safety of others at risk outweighs the degree to which it benefits others, so does their right to safety and security outweigh one's right to free expression. 
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the reporters' appeal of the case. 
Nobel Laureate in Physics Hans Bethe died in his home in Ithaca, New York on March 6, 2005, according to Cornell University, where he was professor emeritus of physics. 
Bethe, whose mother was Jewish, fled Germany in 1933 when the Nazi Party came to power. 
Bethe, along with hundreds of other Jewish academics, were fired from their posts as a result of one of Adolf Hitler's first anti-Semitic acts. 
Bethe moved first to England and in 1935 to the USA where he taught at Cornell University. 
Between 1935 and 1938, he studied nuclear reactions and reaction cross sections. 
This research was useful to Bethe in more quantitatively developing Niels Bohr's theory of the compound nucleus. 
During World War II, he served as a prominent member of a special summer session at the University of California, Berkeley at the invitation of Robert Oppenheimer, which outlined the first designs for the atomic bomb and served as the beginning of the Manhattan Project. 
When Oppenheimer started the secret weapons design laboratory, Los Alamos, he appointed Bethe as Director of the Theoretical Division. 
After the war, Bethe argued that a crash project for the hydrogen bomb should not be attempted, though after President Truman announced the beginning of such a crash project, and the outbreak of the Korean War, he signed up and played a key role in the weapon's development. 
In 1968, he reflected upon the choice, noting that "It seemed quite logical." 
"But sometimes I wish I were more consistent an idealist." 
Though he would see the project through to its end, in Bethe's account he was primarily hopeful that the weapon would be impossible to produce. 
He later characterized Stanislaw Ulam was the "father" of the hydrogen bomb, and Edward Teller as its "mother," and himself as its "midwife." 
Among his many honors, Bethe received the Max Planck medal in 1955, and in 1961 he was awarded the Eddington Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for his work in identifying the energy generating processes in stars. 
In 1967, Bethe was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for his studies of the production of solar and stellar energy, stellar nucleosynthesis. 
He postulated that the source of this energy are thermonuclear reactions in which hydrogen was converted into helium. 
During the 1980s and 1990s, Bethe campaigned for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, arguing against the nuclear arms race and against nuclear testing. 
In 1995, at the age of 88, Bethe wrote an open letter calling on all scientists to "cease and desist" from working on any aspect of nuclear weapons development and manufacture. 
In 2004, he signed a letter along with 47 other Nobel laureates endorsing John Kerry for president of the United States citing Bush's apparent misuse of science. 
A shipment of humanitarian aid from the Italian government was delivered to Tbilisi, the capital of flood ravaged Georgia on Tuesday. 
Norway and the United States sent tents, clothes, food and generators for electricity. 
Torrential rains lasting nearly a week combined with snow-melt to create in the worst floods in 20 years in the Caucasus republic. 
A third of the country is effected, mostly in the western portion, with damage reported to buildings, homes and many roads. 
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli called for an assessment of the flood and mudslide damages. 
Amendments to the 2005 budget are foreseen in the range of 20 million Lari to cover disaster relief efforts. 
A two-minute silence at noon BST (UTC+1) has been marked by millions across the United Kingdom and the European Union to remember those who died last Thursday in the London attacks. 
In London, all buses and cabs came to halt, and all people in their offices stood outside. 
Trains were not stopped but the two-minute silence was announced and marked through the underground and overground services. 
At the bombing sites, wreaths were laid in respect, with hundreds gathering at the sites to mark the silence. 
At Buckingham Palace, Queen Elizabeth II stood on the forecourt in silence, accompanied by Foot Guards. 
Prime Minister Tony Blair marked the silence in the garden of 10 Downing Street, and Mayor of London Ken Livingstone paid his respects at Trafalgar Square. 
At The Open Championship taking place at St Andrews, golfers also paid their respects. 
Yesterday, Anfield stadium fell in silence during the Liverpool F.C. vs TNS UEFA Champions League football match. 
In Paris, France, President Jacques Chirac stood in silence at the Elysee Palace before taking part in the Bastille Day parade. 
The European Parliament marked the silence along with European Commission offices across the EU. 
The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) said on Monday that repairing the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will cost up to €16.6 million or US$21 million. 
The LHC, which is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator, is located near the border of France and Switzerland and crosses the border four times. 
It is designed to simulate the conditions shortly after the Big Bang, but it broke down on September 19 due to an electrical failure. 
Most of the repair time is covered by previously scheduled maintenance time, and CERN originally hoped to have the machine up and running again by early May. 
However, CERN officials now believe that it may take until the end of July or longer. 
CERN spokesman James Gillies said: 
"If we can do it sooner, all well and good." 
"But I think we can do it realistically by early summer." 
The machine operates at temperatures colder than outer space and must be gradually warmed up for experts to assess the damage, causing much of the delay. 
CERN expects the repair cost to fall within the annual budget for the project. 
Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has released a new videotape. 
During the broadcast, al-Zawahiri talks to the general Muslim population saying, "I call upon them to reject any referendum on Palestine, because Palestine is not for bargaining or bidding." 
"Palestine was a land of Islam, and its liberation is the duty of every Muslim." 
"I call upon Muslims everywhere to support the brothers in Palestine." 
Al-Zawahiri also claims that the United Nations is trying to "occupy" Sudan and is attempting to "divide" the nation. 
"The spineless Sudanese government ... is joining the United States in dividing Sudan to stay in power." 
"In Sudan, the crusader (U.N.) Security Council decided to send military experts to Darfur in preparation for its occupation and division." 
"I call upon every Muslim and everyone who has faith in Sudan, and every fervent Muslim in Darfur to confront the Zionist Crusader plot to occupy the lands of Islam," added al-Zawahiri. 
Zawahiri also talks about judges in Egypt who wish to make the judiciary system independent. 
"In Egypt, the crusader system supports the secular system that violates the judges' integrity, cheats in elections and enforces emergency law." 
"The regime won't give you your independence because to do so would be to kill itself," said Zawahiri, who was addressing the Egyptian judges. 
"You agreed on the constitution and the secular laws imposed on the nation by arms and suppression and torture and rigged elections." 
"I tell the Egyptian judges you will not gain independence because America and Israel simply and clearly do not want that, and what you see today in procedures against you is part of their promised American reform plan," added Zawahiri. 
Zawahiri also talks about the aid to the Palestinian government, which has been frozen. 
"The Arab governments did not have the courage to even meet the Palestinians' needs for one month." 
"Because the orders came from [Washington D.C.] to their agents to starve the Palestinians and to isolate them," added Zawahiri. 
The videotape is approximately 17 minutes long and it is unknown where Aljazeera got the tape. 
Françoise Demulder, the French war photographer who was the first woman to win the World Press Photo of the Year award has died at the age of 61. 
The World Press Photo website says that "Demulder stated at the time that she hated war, but felt compelled to document how it's always the innocent who suffer, while the powerful get richer and richer." 
This is why the organization presented her with the award in 1977. 
During her career Demulder reported on wars in Vietnam, Palestine, Cambodia and Lebanon. 
Her photograph of refugees in Beirut won her the press photography award. 
Jonathan Randall, a Washington Post correspondent who knew Demulder, paid his tributes to the photographer. 
"This was a time when there were beginning to be women correspondents but there were relatively few women photographers," he said. 
"When she won the prize it was really quite something." 
"It showed that women were capable of doing what had hitherto been a man's occupation." 
Three people are dead and five are injured after an explosion tore through a shopping center near the port of Jounie, 20 kilometres north of Beirut, Lebanon. 
The 45-pound bomb, which was placed under a stairwell, exploded around 1:30am local time (0330 UTC). 
Police say they believe the bomb was placed there just before the center closed. 
The blast caused serious damage to the shopping center, breaking windows, causing false ceilings to collapse, and pillars to warp within a radius of several hundred meters. 
Manchester United beat Middlesbrough 4–1 in a game where they scored four goals in four games which tied a 100-year-old record. 
It was a one-sided affair as Manchester United as they had the majority of possession and had 21 shots on target. 
Both Manchester United and Middlesbrough have the week off since they were eliminated from this season's Carling Cup. 
On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. 
Christian Heritage Party candidate Jerome Dondo, CGA is standing for election in the riding of Brandon—Souris. 
Self-employed since 2000, Dondo works as a finance consultant with First Nation reserves, and provides accounting services to small business clients. 
From 1993-1998, he worked in the accounts department of Transport Canada. 
He volunteered as a pastor for Pentecostal Faith Temple in Cat Lake, Ontario, and is currently on the Parent’s Advisory Committee of Ecole Gilbert Rosset, St-Claude, Manitoba. 
Wikinews contacted Jerome, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. 
Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. 
All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted. 
Merv Tweed is the Conservative Party incumbent in the riding. 
Along with Dondo, challengers include M.J. Willard (Liberal), John Bouché (NDP), Dave Barnes (Green), and Lisa Gallagher (Communist). 
For more information, visit the campaign's official website, listed below. 
A Virginia man who allegedly clubbed to death an alligator he hooked while fishing, is under consideration by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Richmond for destroying a "threatened species". 
But according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service web page of delisted species on the Endangered Species Act, the American alligator was removed from the list in 1987. 
The reason cited for its removal was the species had recovered. 
Fisherman Max Belle reportedly used an oar to bring into submission the 44-inch-long, 9 pound creature when he brought it to the boat. 
Belle was fishing on the Chesterfield County Falling Creek Reservoir, where the alligator was first sighted in May. 
An alligator is not a native species in the mid-Atlantic region of the USA, and it is thought that it was released by someone who once kept it as a pet. 
U.S.Department of Agriculture (USDA) employee attempts to capture and relocate it were unsuccessful. 
The native habitat of the alligator is in regions of the Southeast, starting from the Carolinas and moving southwards to Texas. 
The fisherman’s attorney, David P. Baugh, said area residents surrounding the reservoir are happy the alligator is gone. 
Referring to the support for Mr. Belle of reservoir neighbors, he said, "... next time they [USDA] will ask to hire Mr. Belle to come catch the alligator." 
His client received a court summons Thursday and is prepared to pay a $300 fine and $50 court costs if he is found guilty of the federal misdemeanor crime. 
It took investigators two weeks to positively identify the toothy crocodile as an American alligator, (Alligator mississippiensis). 
According to a Government Official, four miners are trapped in an Ecuador mine located 250 miles (405 kilometers) southeast of the country's capital, Quito. 
The miners have been trapped since 03:00 (08:00 UTC) local time. 
According to the Under-Secretary of Mining Development, Jorge Espinoza, the men are trapped 500 feet (150 meters) below the surface. 
Rescuers are currently on the scene and they expect to reach the men within 24 hours. 
According to a Government Official, the men are believed to be alive "because they were far enough away from the site of the collapse," however their condition is unknown and rescuers have not been able to make contact with them. 
It is estimated that there is five to six days of breathable air left in the mine. 
The mine is suspected to have collapsed due to a build up of underground water which caused the mine's supports to buckle and collapse, blocking all exits. 
According to the Tribunal spokesman Raed Jouhi, the Iraqi High Tribunal's appeals court in Baghdad confirms the sentence of death against the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, after a month and a half of trial review. 
According to the CNN, no sentence has been notified to Saddam Hussein yet. 
On November 5, Hussein was sentenced to death for his role in the Dujail massacre in 1982, in which 148 Shiites died. 
According to Iraqi laws, Hussein would be hanged within 30 days, and there is no chance of pardon. 
United States and Iraqi forces have captured the al-Qaeda in Iraq's second in command, Hamad Jama al-Saedi. 
He is also known as Al-Suaidi, Abu Rana and Abu Humam. 
Officials say that the arrest "dealt a severe blow" to al-Qaeda in Iraq. 
According to officials, Saedi masterminded the al-Askari shrine bombing which occurred in February. 
"Deliberate intelligence work both by Iraqi forces and as well as multinational forces have dealt a very severe blow to al Qaeda organization in Iraq," said Barham Salih, the Planning Minister for Iraq. 
The arrest was made north of Baquba when forces found Rana hiding inside a building. 
According to Rubaie, the building was currently in use by some families. 
Forces found information on the location of Saedi when a U.S. airstrike in June killed former leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. 
Daniel Kidd is running for the Family Coalition Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Don Valley West riding. 
Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. 
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. 
Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents. 
Former American Idol winner Ruben Studdard has won a lawsuit and $2 million against his ex-manager Ronald W. Edwards and Edwards' promotions company, Sez Inc. 
The lawsuit was for misappropriating the singer's money and credit cards. 
The suit claimed Edwards misused more than $246,000 of the singer's money. 
According to the judge's ruling, Edwards stole money from Studdard's checking and other bank accounts, improperly used his credit cards and even used Studdard's money to repay a $10,000 bank loan. 
Jefferson County Circuit Judge Scott Vowell awarded Studdard $500,000 for actual losses and another $1.5 million in punitive damages. 
Vowell dismissed Edwards' promotions company from the suit because it was bankrupt and had no money or assets. 
Edwards filed a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on June 17, 2005. 
Studdard has sold 2.2 million records, but because of the damage done to his credit by Edwards, it is now even hard for Ruben to buy a home, said Vowell. 
An Islamic militant web forum has released a videotape of Al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who reportedly released the tape to commemorate the battle of Tora Bora in December 2001. 
Zawahiri has made at least three other tapes since November, all of which were broadcast by Al-Jazeera. 
He appeared in two tapes in January, and in one tape on March 4, 2006. 
The latest video was not released immediately after the date it was allegedly filmed, nor has Al-Jazeera yet broadcast the video by Zawahiri despite having broadcast his three previous tapes. 
Al-Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden, released an audio tape on January 19, 2006. 
Parts of that tape were aired on Al-Jazeera and it was the first time in over a year that Bin Laden had been heard. 
By a majority of 378 to 262, Members of the European Parliament have voted to abolish the right of European Union countries to opt out of Working Time Directive. 
If the Council of Ministers agrees, the right to opt out of the directive will be phased out over a period of three years. 
Under the "derogation" provision of the directive, individual workers can waive the right to work no more than 48 hours per week. 
Among the member states, only the United Kingdom uses this provision. 
The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that computer systems involved with the processing of tax returns for individuals are back online. 
Tax processing had been halted on March 6, 2007, due to a computer glitch. 
The source of the problem had been traced back to software maintenance performed on March 4. 
In an update on the CRA website, dated March 14, Michel Dorais, Commissioner of the Agency, stated that all of the databases had been restored and CRA employees are processing the backlog of returns and payments. 
Tax processing for businesses had not been affected by the computer shutdown. 
In his statement, Dorais thanked taxpayers "for their patience and understanding" during the service outage. 
He also stated that "the integrity and safety of personal data was never at risk". 
The CRA suggests that it would work quickly to process the resulting backlog of tax returns. 
According to analysts, the major earthquake and subsequent tsunami that hit on Friday is likely to have major economic impacts within Japan, though the global economy is unlikely to be significantly affected. 
The overall negative impact of the earthquake on Japan's gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to be only a few tenths of one percent, though that is expected to be enough to push Japan's expected recovery from its current economic slump back by several months. 
It added that most of the economic effects of the quake will probably be felt early this summer. 
To fund the current rescue efforts, the Japanese government is reportedly considering raising taxes, as the estimated cost of rebuilding affected areas is as high as one percent of the total five trillion dollar GDP. 
Japan currently carries high levels of debt, estimated to be about ten trillion dollars, which is expected to make additional government spending for rebuilding efforts difficult. 
The Japanese stock market index Nikkei 225 dropped 1.7% at the end of the day Friday; it closed fourteen minutes after the quake and tsunami struck. 
Beginning on Monday, when trading resumes, the Bank of Japan is, according to its governor, prepared to inject money into the economy in order to stabilize the markets. 
12 firefighters in Buffalo, New York, United States have been taken to the hospital where they are being treated for smoke and chemical inhalation after a massive fire broke out at a warehouse on Buffalo's west side, early Monday morning. 
At least three fire companies started battling the blaze, which engulfed the entire warehouse, sending a plume of smoke into the air which could be seen for several miles, at one point darkening the sky. 
All 12 firefighters are being treated at Erie County Medical Center, but their conditions are not known. 
At least 80 firefighters were reported to be on scene along with a total of nine of the 19 fire companies in Buffalo. 
Firefighters were still on scene as of 9:15 a.m. EDT (UTC-4) today, nearly 24 hours after the fire started. 
The fire started at the Leisure Living Pool Supplies warehouse at 1130 Niagara street between West Ferry and Albany streets behind the Rich Products building at around 10:30 a.m. Monday and was not brought under control until 6:30 a.m. today. 
Firefighters had the fire under control just before 12:00 p.m. Monday, but wind off Lake Erie reignited the fire at around 3:00 p.m. 
At around 7:00 p.m., most of the blaze was under control, but smoke could still be seen coming from the building. 
All employees from both Rich's and the chemical company have been sent home for the day and made it out safely. 
The building is owned by PoolSupplies.com which is a division of Leisure Living, selling supplies, recreation and chemicals for swimming pools. 
At 9:00 p.m., firefighters reported that most of the fire was contained under the collapsed portions of the building, but around 10:00 p.m. firefighters reported that more thick black smoke started to rise from the building. 
Black smoke usually indicates burning, whereas white smoke often indicates water putting out a fire. 
Firefighters are using a helicopter, courtesy of the Erie County Sheriff's Department, that is equipped with infrared cameras in order to see the areas of the building which still contain a significant amount of heat or fire. 
After having fought the fire for over 24 hours, fire officials stated that the fire was mostly extinguished and ordered fire companies to start shutting down the hoses and pack up their equipment. 
Just before 1:00 p.m. the fire command post stated that fire investigators were on scene and that "they can call us (firefighters) back if they need anything." 
Officials have urged all residents near the blaze to stay indoors and to shut all windows and doors due to the smoke which has been blowing close to the ground. 
At least one civilian who was inside a park at the foot of Ferry was also taken to the hospital for smoke and chemical inhalation. 
Officials were able to evacuate the park and no other injuries were reported. 
At one point, the sun was blocked by the black smoke rising from the building. 
It appears it reignited due to the earlier collapse of the roof and the winds off the lake. 
"Right now, one thing fire officials would like to get out and stress is anyone in and around the Niagara and Ferry area, if you could please go indoors, and shut your doors," stated Michael DeGeorge, a spokesman for the Buffalo Police Department, to reporters. 
The northbound lane of the I-190 expressway, which lies just to the west of the warehouse, was closed at the Porter Street exit at the Peace Bridge to the exit leading to the 198 expressway for several hours. 
At 11:15 p.m., firefighters stated they would begin to reopen the lane. 
Niagara street from Albany to West Ferry reopened to normal traffic in the late morning hours of Tuesday. 
Throughout Monday afternoon and early evening, employees of Marco's Restaurant on Niagara and Albany were providing ice and beverages to firefighters and police officers who were on scene. 
Temperatures were quite warm, in the upper 70's (F), with winds gusting to nearly 15-20 MPH, coming out of the southwest. 
Although the wind assisted in reigniting the fire, it also assisted firefighters by quickly clearing the area of smoke. 
The warehouse is a storage and distribution facility for pool chemicals, especially chlorine. 
Chemical drops could be felt flying through the air, which also had the smell of bleach. 
According to a source who spoke to Wikinews on condition of anonymity, the warehouse contained over US$8 million in supplies and chemicals. 
Earlier tests performed on the air by firefighters and Haz-mat officials had shown that the smoke and fumes rising from the fire are not dangerous or toxic. 
Further tests were performed, but those results are not yet known and officials don't believe there was any danger to the air. 
Officials will testing the water runoff from fire hoses to make sure that it is not contaminated as it is emptying into the Niagara River. 
The warehouse is located just down stream from a drinking water pumping station with several more scattered along the River from Buffalo to Niagara Falls. 
The cause of the fire is not known and is under investigation. 
Last year, on May 14, 2007, at least five buildings that were part of a warehouse complex about 1/3 of a mile from Leisure caught fire, and required nearly 130 firefighters to battle the blaze. 
Smoke from that fire was seen over 40 miles away. 
Instead of returning to practise from a fractured finger today as scheduled, flamboyant Dallas Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens is instead recovering at Baylor Medical Center this morning from an apparent suicide attempt last night. 
A female friend who was with Owens last night observed him taking several prescription pain killers and behaving erratically. 
She called 911 and Owens was rushed to the hospital. 
Original reports stated that Owens was suffering from an adverse reaction to the pain medication, which he was taking for a fractured hand. 
But this morning, Dallas police have reported that Owens took an unknown large amount of the pills, and when asked by police this morning if he had been attempting to hurt himself, Owens replied, "Yes." 
Paramedics have only confirmed that they called police to report that they were bringing Owens to hospital. 
Owens has since said that he was not attempting suicide. 
On February 4, 2009 in an attempt to keep MySpace safe for young users, MySpace officials stated that they have removed 90,000 sex offender accounts from their website. 
The social networking site admitted this is double what they anticipated last year. 
MySpace previously thought the site had 40,000 offender accounts registered. 
North Carolina attorney general Roy Cooper and Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal stated that they encourage and seek more social networking sites like MySpace to become safer. 
After the MySpace team calculated the number of sex offenders on their website they submitted the numbers to both attorneys on Tuesday February 3. 
"This shocking revelation, resulting from our subpoena, provides compelling proof that social networking sites remain rife with sexual predators," said Blumenthal. 
Both attorneys work with Facebook and MySpace in an agreement to make their social networking websites safer, especially for young users. 
They have already made both websites safer by implementing dozens of safeguards and a special features where users older than the age of 18 have limitations searching users less than 18 years of age. 
120 years after it was founded, the University of Wales (UoW) will shut down. 
Already comprised of several institutions, two will merge fully while two more will become independent universities. 
With a charter from 1893 and the Prince of Wales as its chancellor, problems began at UoW last year after concerns the head of a Malaysian partner institution, a local pop artist, had non-legitimate qualifications. 
This was followed by Thailand's authorities denouncing another UoW partner as illegal, then an investigation in the UK into all the UoW's foreign ties. 
The Quality Assurance Agency said UoW's overseas checks on foreign institutions were inadequate. 
The UK Border Agency is investigating a possible visa scam whereby foreign students were sold exam answers for a qualification leading to UoW entry and British visas. 
Two colleges — Rayat London College and Lampton College — are suspended over the claims. 
Trinity St David and Swansea Metropolitan universities are to merge, forming University of Wales: Trinity St David. 
It is to use the latter's own royal charter, which is itself 190 years old. 
Newport and Glyndwr are set to become universities in their own right. 
The dissolution follows calls from the leaders of rival universities for the end of UoW. 
"I warmly welcome the historic decision taken today by the University of Wales Council," said UoW Vice-Chancellor Professor Medwin Hughes, who will fill the same role for the new University of Wales: Trinity St David. 
The Prince of Wales is among past students, having spent a 1969 term there. 
The institution's various member organisations at one point included the now-separate Cardiff University. 
Rabies is a disease that has no cure and nearly everyone it infects is dead just two weeks after the symptoms show. 
And yet, last week a teenage girl named Jeanna Giese was released from a hospital having been successfuly treated. 
She became the first known person to recover from the disease without vaccination. 
On September 12, 2004, Jeanna — a 15 year old from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin— was bitten by a bat while attending church. 
By the time she saw a doctor about fatigue and numbness, it was October 18, and the bat incident was not brought up until several days later. 
Usually when there is a possibility of rabies, doctors will vaccinate patients: the vaccine has a chance to act before the symptoms appear. 
In Jeanna's case it was too late to try to vaccinate, and her doctors at the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin devised a new treatment. 
Jeanna was put into a drug-induced coma for a week, and doctors began an intensive treatment to prop up her nervous system until her natural immunity recovered enough to fight the disease. 
By surviving and recovering, Jeanna became the only person known in medicine to overcome rabies without a vaccine. 
She is not yet fully recovered: the effects of the coma are still apparent, and she has difficulty with movement. 
Yet the doctors believe that she is getting well much faster than they expected, and feel that Jeanna will be able to return to her high school studies, needing only physical and occupational therapy. 
The novel treatment is hailed by doctors as promising, but needs analysis and verification on another human. 
Jeanna's is the sixth case of human recovery from a rabies infection, but the other five people were vaccinated against rabies either before infection, or before the symptoms appeared. 
Stan Berenstain, co-creator of the popular Berenstain Bears children's books, has died due to complications from cancer at age 82. 
Along with his wife, Jan Berenstain, Stan and Jan Berenstain published over 200 books aimed at teaching children to read and helping them with lessons such as sharing, new siblings. 
The first Berenstain Bears book was published in 1962 and titled "The Big Honey Hunt". 
With the help of head of children's publishing at Random House, author Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, the Berenstains created a franchise that drew millions of young readers. 
Until 1997, when they hired an employee to run the company's computer, Mr. Berenstain and his family managed the entire ursine enterprise, which has branched out into two television series, videos, stage musicals, toys, cereal and other products. 
According to an interview of the Berenstain Bears official website, Papa Bear is based on Stan, Mama on Jan; Stan clarifies that he's "not as stupid" as Papa. 
Stan fed his interest in drawing as a child, by drawing on paper bags and cardboard. 
The shooter in the Virginia Tech university shootings has been identified as Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year old South Korean national. 
He was studying English and lived on the university campus. 
The President of Virginia Tech, Charles Steger said in an interview that the "possibility exists" that more than one gunman was involved. 
"It appears that the second shooter was a resident in our dormitory... it appears he was an on-campus resident," Steger said. 
Ballistic reports confirm that the same gun was used in both instances of the campus shootings, but police could not confirm if the shooter was the same. 
The shootings on Monday were in two separate locations, and occurred two hours apart. 
The first took place at 07:15 (12:15 UTC), at West Ambler Johnston Hall dormitory. 
Then, at about 09:15 (14:15 UTC), 30 people were killed in the second shooting, about half a mile (800 metres) from the first at the Norris Hall classroom building, on the same campus. 
Bodies were found in four classrooms and a stairwell, according to Virginia state police superintendent Col. Steve Flaherty. 
Some students complained that they had received no warning from the university until an e-mail alert sent more than two hours after the first incident. 
The university has suspended classroom courses for one week, and Norris Hall will remain closed for the rest of the semester. 
University officials have expressed an interest in developing a text messaging alert system where persons can add their phone number to a list for notification in the event that incidents may warrant the use of caution or extra attention. 
In a reaction to the school massacre, the gun control group Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence asks for "common-sense actions to prevent tragedies like this from continuing to occur". 
The New York Times ran an editorial with a similar message for gun control. 
In a unanimous 95-0 vote Thursday, the United States Senate passed a bill that would forbid employers and health insurance companies from discriminating against someone based on information learned through genetic testing. 
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, described by Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy as "the first major new civil rights bill of the new century," will now be sent back to the House of Representatives, where it could be approved as early as next week. 
President George W. Bush, who would have to sign the bill for it to become law, has voiced his support for the legislation. 
The bill forbids employers from firing, refusing to hire, or otherwise discriminating against employees based on genetic information, such as a family history of a hereditary disease. 
It also makes it illegal for employers to request genetic information of an employee or the employee's family. 
Health insurance companies are also addressed in the bill, which forbids them from requesting genetic information or using such information to set premium rates or determine enrollment eligibility. 
However, insurance companies would still have the right to base one's health coverage on the actual presence of a genetic disease. 
"For the first time we act to prevent discrimination before it has taken firm hold and that's why this legislation is unique and groundbreaking," said Maine Senator Olympia Snowe, who sponsored the bill along with Sen. Kennedy and Sen. Mike Enzi. 
Snowe fears the threat of discrimination may discourage people from undergoing genetic testing, which can help to diagnose a wide range of diseases and lead to lifesaving therapy. 
Kathy Hudson, director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center, reports that 92 percent are worried that information gained in genetic testing may be used against them. 
"After a very long wait," she says, "Americans can now be confident that their genetic information cannot be used by health insurers or employers in harmful or hurtful ways." 
"Federal legislation establishing a national and uniform basic standard is necessary to fully protect the public from discrimination and allay their concerns about the potential for discrimination," the bill reads, "thereby allowing individuals to take advantage of genetic testing, technologies, research, and new therapies." 
Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn initially blocked Senate action on the bill, warning that it could potentially lead to excessive lawsuits against employers and insurers. 
But after changes were made to the bill to ease his concerns earlier this week, he supported the legislation and allowed the Senate to vote on it. 
"We certainly improved the bill from a liability standpoint," said Coburn, an obstetrician. 
Similar bills were unanimously passed by the Senate in 2003 and 2005, but in both years the bill stalled in the House. 
The current bill was passed in the House of Representatives a year ago by a 420-3 vote. 
A genetic nondiscrimination bill was first introduced 13 years ago by New York Representatives Louise Slaughter, who says the House will "get it out to the White House as quickly as we can." 
U.S. Dept. of Justice attorney for 40 years, Dave Margolis, was assigned by James Comey on August 12 to take over his position as the acting Deputy Attorney General. 
The former assistant deputy replaces Comey as the acting boss of Patrick Fitzgerald, the lead prosecutor of the Plame CIA leak case. 
Comey left the post for the private sector as general council for Lockheed Martin Corp. 
Navy Lt. Commander (who testified for Kerry's Iran-Contra hearings) alleges that when David Margolis was the Domestic Criminal Section Chief, he helped limit the liability of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in the Iran-Contra affair. 
Martin is also on record as having alleged that Margolis was part of a "restricted access group" known as RAG-1, which "was first to develop and then to coordinate the CIA's policy of trafficking in narcotics on a large-scale basis, in order to produce ongoing covert revenue streams pursuant to the aid and sustenance of illegal operations of state," according to Martin. 
The Comey departure, without Margolis stepping in, would have left two key posts at the Justice Department unfilled. 
The head of the Criminal Justice, formerly occupied by Christopher Wray, has been empty since May. 
Flanigan is facing tough questioning during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation process. 
Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) said he is unsure whether he would vote for his confirmation. 
Flanigan's role in the aggressive interrogation techniques used on detainees from Afghanistan and Iraq and his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff are being probed. 
An F/A-18 Hornet jet belonging to the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels squadron crashed in Beaufort, South Carolina Saturday. 
The pilot was killed while flying during an air-show at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. 
The crash occurred approximately three miles beyond the air station near Pine Grove and White Pine roads, in Beaufort. 
According to a Navy news release, the Blue Angels were performing the final maneuver of their routine when the accident occurred. 
"It was [the pilot's] second year on the team, and first year as a demonstration pilot." 
"The other five Blue Angel jets were not involved in the incident." 
The cause of the accident is under investigation, but no other jets are said to be involved. 
In a news conference, Lt. Commander Anthony Walley said "Our squadron, and the entire U.S. Navy, are grieving the loss of a great American, a great naval officer, and most of all, a great friend." 
The pilot's name has not officially been released, but it is believed to be Lt. Commander Kevin Davis, 32, from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, as local media reports the number 6 jet was the one that crashed. 
Germany will lend Albania €16.7 million (USD21.5 million) as part of a loan in order to help the country improve its water supply networks in two southeastern towns, Pogradec and Korca. 
The deal was signed last Tuesday between the Albanian Finance Ministry and Germany's government-owned KfW Bank. 
Germany has been one of the most significant donors to Albania since the fall of Communism. 
In total, it has contributed more than €326 million to the country's development, while investing €135 million in its water supply and urban canals. 
Survivors of the London Bombings have urged the British public to write to their MPs, and set up an online petition calling for an independent Public Inquiry into the attacks. 
52 people were killed and hundreds more injured on July 7th 2005 when four suicide bombers blew themselves up on three separate London Underground trains and a public bus. 
Earlier this week the British government rejected calls for a Public Inquiry, arguing that such an investigation would be too expensive, take too long, and be a distraction from their efforts to combat terrorism. 
Instead, the government has offered to put together a "narrative of events". 
But survivors of the attack argue that a fully comprehensive investigation could teach valuable lessons which may help reduce the likelihood of future attacks, and improve the response capabilities of the emergency services. 
Some survivors, such as Rachel North (a pseudonym), who has been active in organising a support group for her fellow victims, have been angered by the government's alternative proposal of a "narrative". 
Writing on the weblog she started to help her, and others, come to terms with the aftermath of July 7th, Ms North says: 
"Even if you don't like the questions, don't like the answers, think you know the answers already, Mr Blair, it is us, not you, who are paying the cost for this…" 
"If the cost of answering questions makes you squirm, then too bad..." 
"We run the risks on the trains, the buses, the streets each day…" 
"How dare you presume you know our questions and how dare you presume that they can be answered by a 'narrative of what happened', as if we are children to be placated with a story." 
"We are constantly reminded that this is the worst peace time bombing London has ever seen, for something that bad there should be an inquiry." 
"People died, families lost someone they loved and hundreds are still suffering." 
"You can't put a price on that but apparently the government can." 
"If nothing else, an enquiry would make sure some of these lessons were learnt in case, God forbid, anything like this happened again." 
"I thought there were plans in place for emergencies such as this." 
"Whilst the emergency services did a fantastic job on the day, I have been stunningly underwhelmed by the support offered to victims since." 
"An anonymous survivor, writing on the 'Yorkshire lass' website, says:" 
"'When I watched the Al-Qaeda video declaring Jihad against the UK I was haunted by the familiarity of the voice, it was my voice, my accent, my dialect." 
"This is not a man who was recruited and trained in some far off country that I have barely heard of, this was a man who was recruited and trained while he lived 20 minutes from my mother's home where I was born and raised." 
"The words he spoke of are words similar to what I have heard many times from disillusioned young men that I studied for my A Levels with." 
"They are the words of hatred I overheard when I worked as a support worker at my local college." 
"They were words of students who were educated... when someone follows through with the actions of those opinions to the detriment of others, questions need to be asked why preventions were not put in place and this needs to be done by public inquiry for peace of mind." 
"I have been told that I am looking for justice in the wrong place and in some way that is right." 
"However, I want some sort of justice, some manner of peace of mind, some questions answered and resolutions made." 
"I don't want others to have to go through what myself and hundreds of other commuters did on that Summer's day." 
Quoted on the BBC's website, Saba Mozakka, the daughter of Behnaz Mozakka,who died in the Piccadilly Line explosion, said: 
"The families will be campaigning for there to be a full public inquiry..." 
The survivors' petition has so far gathered over 100 signatures. 
The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution today demanding Iran halt all "enrichment-related and reprocessing activities, including research and development" before August 31. 
The resolution was passed under Article 40, Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which sets the stage for possible economic sanctions if Iran does not comply with the resolution, but does not authorise military action. 
The resolution, number 1696, was drafted by the permanent five members of the council and was passed by a 14-1 vote, with Qatar, the only Arab member of the council voting against. 
The resolution expressed "serious concern" at Iran's non-compliance with the IAEA's demand to halt enrichment and other activities and asked the IAEA director to report on Iran's compliance by the end of August. 
This is the first legally binding demand on Iran to halt enrichment work, and the first to suggest possible sanctions. 
The resolution says that "appropriate measures" will be taken if Iran does not comply, but does not explicitly state any threat of sancions. 
Iran's ambassador to the UN, Javad Zarif told the Reuters news agency, "Iran's peaceful nuclear programme poses no threat to international peace and security and therefore dealing with this issue in the Security Council is unwarranted and void of any legal basis or practical utility," 
Valery Churkin, Russia's ambassador to the UN said the deadline was meant to meet Iran's request to allow it to consider an offer made in June by the permanent five and Germany, offering Iran a "package" of sops in return for giving up enrichment activities. 
The trial against internet file-sharing network Kazaa in Sydney, Australia, is coming to an end, as closing arguments began today. 
Kazaa pleaded it could not be held responsible for the copyright infringements perpetrated by its users, as it cannot control how the software is used. 
The peer-to-peer distribution software and its owner, Sharman Networks Ltd. and its directors were sued by a group of Australian record labels for copyright infringements by the network's estimated 100 million members worldwide. 
Members of the software share music files with each other, and download up to three billion songs and music files monthly. 
The music industry claims it has lost millions of dollars in unpaid royalties as a result. 
Lawyer Tony Meagher argued that Sharman is no more responsible for the uses of its software than the designers of the photocopiers and video recorders were responsible for the illegal copying of materials on those machines. 
The remaining question is whether Kazaa authorises its users to download files illegally. 
"We tell these users in our Web site and we tell them in our license that they cannot use this (software) for infringing copyright," Meagher told Judge Murray Wilcox. 
By consenting to this license by users, Kazaa is exempted from responsibility. 
The record industry claims Kazaa not only enables but encourages copyright infringement. 
Record industry lawyer Tony Bannon argued that as Kazaa collected information from its users through spyware and sold it to advertisers, the company's claim that it had no control over the software was "completely mind boggling." 
This is not the first trial against Kazaa, and other programs of its kind. 
In August last year, Judge Stephen Wilson ruled that the distribution by Grokster and Morpheus of peer-to-peer software does not violate U.S. copyright law. 
Rod Dorman, lead trial council for Sharman Networks in the U.S., said, "As a result of this decision, Sharman Networks will be filing a motion for summary judgement, nearly identical to the successful motions filed by Grokster and Morpheus, and we are confident that Judge Wilson will find that our product, Kazaa, is a lawful product as well." 
However, the ruling held no precedential effect in the Australian trial, as the principles differed. 
Kazaa and the FastTrack protocol are the brainchild of the Scandinavians Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis, and were introduced in March 2001 by their Dutch company Consumer Empowerment. 
It appeared during the end of the first generation of P2P networks. 
In July 2004, Romania will revalue its currency, the leu, so that 10,000 old lei will equal 1 new leu, with 1 euro being equal to approximately 3.6 new lei. 
Dual pricing, in both the old leu and the new leu, has already been introduced from March 2005. 
The transition to the new leu is expected to stabilise the Romanian currency and prepare the country for euro adoption. 
In Romania's case, the adoption will take place 5-7 years after accession in 2007. 
Technology company Sony has recalled 440,000 Vaio laptops due to a fault in the wiring which could result in overheating. 
The recall involves some laptops in the VAIO VGN-TZ100 series, VGN-TZ200 series, VGN-TZ300 series and VGN-TZ2000. 
The affected laptops were sold through the SonyStyle store for between CAN$1,700 and CAN$4,000. 
The recall affects 48 countries, with 373,000 of the recalled laptops being sold in countries other than Japan. 
Sony has received 209 reports of overheating worldwide, and one customer has reported receiving minor burns. 
One of the countries not affected by the recall is the United Kingdom. 
A spokesperson for Sony UK said that there have "been no reported incidents of this potential issue in products sold in the UK to date, and a product recall is not required." 
Fans of quirky numbers everywhere celebrated recently as the clock struck 01:02:03, 04/05/06 (using the DD/MM/YY date convention). 
This once-in-a-century event was highlighted in advance by webloggers and websites such as Boing Boing. 
For countries where the MM/DD/YY convention is more common, the event happened a month ago on 5th April. 
The date attracted numerous comments when posted to the news website Digg, and the special date has been mentioned by hundreds of thousands of websites, according to a Google search. 
Whilst 01:02:03, 04/05/06 won't happen again for another hundred years, those who missed out might want to celebrate 06:06:06, 06/06/06 in just over a month's time, unless you're a hexakosioihexekontahexaphobic. 
The Greek ministries of Public Order and Economy announced that they offer the amount of 800,000 euros to those who will submit information that could help authorities in the fight against local terrorism. 
More specifically, as Greek police stated, everybody who has information about the Revolutionary Struggle (ELA) terrorist far-left organization, can call (within Greece) the police numbers, 170 and 1014. 
This effort by the Greek government has been fully supported by the Embassy of the United States in Athens which, in a statement, announced that offers up to $1 million to those who will significantly help towards the capture of terrorists. 
As the Embassy stated, "you can help bring terrorists to justice and save lives by providing valuable information to resolve past acts of terrorism or prevent future ones". 
The Revolutionary Struggle is regarded as a spinoff of the notorious terrorist group November 17th; the members of which were captured in 2003. 
ELA took responsibility for a rocket attack against the US Embassy in Athens, on January 12, 2007. 
The Entertainment Software Association president Douglas Lowenstein confirmed speculations that his group is planning to file a lawsuit against the state of Oklahoma because of a new law, HB3004. 
Under this law, games that have "inappropriate violence" are added to a list of materials that are considered harmful to minors. 
Lowenstein said that the ESA believes "HB3004 will restrict the First Amendment rights of Oklahoma's citizens and intend to file suit in Oklahoma federal district court shortly, asking that the state's new video game law be overturned." 
Similar laws have been found unconstitutional in St. Louis, Indianapolis, Washington, Illinois, and Michigan. 
A California video game law is currently being reviewed in federal court. 
Last week, a Minnesota law was passed fining minors $25 for purchasing games rated "mature" or "adults only". 
The annual Living Planet Report compiled by the Zoological Society of London and the Global Footprint Network, published this week by WWF International, assessed "the health of the planet's ecosystems" and measured the demands people make on the planet's resources. 
The Living Planet Index is based on population trends between 1970 and 2003 of over 3 600 populations of more than 1 300 vertebrate species from around the world. 
There has been an overall decline of around 30 per cent over the 33-year period. 
Tropical species populations declined by around 55 per cent on average from 1970 to 2003, while temperate species populations, have shown little overall change. 
The Ecological Footprint measures the area of biologically productive land and sea required to sustian humanity. 
In 2003 this was 14.1 billion global hectares, or 2.2 global hectares per person (a global hectare is a hectare with world-average ability to produce resources and absorb wastes). 
The total supply of productive area, or biocapacity, in 2003 was 11.2 global hectares, or 1.8 global hectares per person. 
Demand overshot supply first in the 1980s and has been increasing every year since. 
By 2003 the overshoot was about 25 per cent. 
Thus, it took approximately a year and three months for the Earth to produce the ecological resources humanity used in that year. 
The Living Planet Index and the Ecological Footprint, along with other measures, have been adopted as indicators for the 2010 targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity. 
The report concludes with a description of the roles of the various disciplines required to "shift humanity's current trajectory on to a path that will remain within the biological capacity of the planet". 
James P. Leape, the Director General of WWF International summarises: 
"The message of these two indices is clear and urgent:" 
"we have been exceeding the Earth's ability to support our lifestyles for the past 20 years, and we need to stop." 
"We must balance our consumption with the natural world's capacity to regenerate and absorb our wastes." 
Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who is US Senate Majority leader, is under a lot of criticism over comments he made during the 2008 United States presidential election, toward US President Barack Obama. 
The highlighted comment made by Reid was calling Obama a "light-skinned" black man "with no Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one." 
The remarks were released in a book co-written by Time magazine reporter Mark Halperin, and New York magazine reporter John Heileman. 
Reid has since apologized for "using such a poor choice of words." 
Reid has been a partner with the Obama Administration on issues such as health care reform. 
Democratic Party chairman Tim Kaine told Meet the Press "the comments were unfortunate and they were insensitive", but "I think the case is closed because President Obama has spoken directly with the leader [Reid] and accepted his apology." 
Members of the Republican Party have called on Reid to resign over his comments. 
Party chairperson Michael Steele told Fox News Sunday "There is this standard where the Democrats feel that they can say these things and they can apologize when it ... comes from the mouths of their own." 
Having appeared alongside Kaine, where the Democrat Party chairman stated the case was closed, Steele argued that there was a double standard, on the basis of then-Senator Obama calling in 2002 calling for Trent Lott, at that time the majority leader, to be ousted for supporting the views of Strom Thurmond, who stood as a segregationist Presidential candidate in 1948. 
The book Game Change published today, also says that New York Senator Chuck Schumer encouraged Barack Obama to run in early 2006, even though he later endorsed his former colleague Hillary Clinton. 
Other revelations included that John McCain's aides were concerned about Sarah Palin's failure to understand basic facts prior to her ABC News interviews with Charles Gibson, including why North Korea and South Korea are separate countries. 
Co-authors Halpern and Heileman have a history of vocal criticism of media coverage of the 2008 Presidential election. 
In late 2008, Daily Kos reporter Jed Lewison drew attention to comments by Halpern, on-stage with Heilmen, asserting the reportage was, "extreme bias, extreme pro-Obama coverage"; he characterised election coverage as, "the most disgusting failure of people in our business since the Iraq war". 
Halpern's centrepiece example was an analysis of New York Times profiles on the prospective First Ladies; overlooking earlier NYT coverage that reported on Obama's Caucasian ancestors being slave owners. 
ABC News anchorman Bob Woodruff and his camera operator Doug Vogt have been seriously injured in an explosion. 
Early reports indicate that both men sustained head injuries in the blast. 
Woodruff was evacuated to the Balad Airbase, 68 kilometers north of Baghdad and is currently undergoing surgery. 
"Bob and Doug are in serious condition and are being treated at a U.S. military hospital in Iraq," ABC said in a statement. 
Reports say Woodruff was taping a report inside an Iraqi mechanized military vehicle near Taji, Iraq when the vehicle ran over and detonated an improvised explosive device. 
ABC also reports that exchanges of small arms fire took place shortly after the explosion. 
MSNBC reports that Woodruff and Vogt were wearing body armor and helmets when the explosion occurred, measures that may turn out to have saved their lives. 
The Associated Press is reporting that the two men were standing in the hatch of the vehicle at the time of the explosion, and that no other people were injured. 
Woodruff and Vogt had been embedded with the 4th Infantry Division that was accompanying an Iraqi Army unit. 
ABC also said that both Woodruff and Vogt were wearing body armor and helmets. 
The U.S. military headquarters in Baghdad has confirmed the attack took place. 
Vogt, a 46-year-old Canadian based in France, is an Emmy-award winning cameraman for ABC News with 25 years of experience. 
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 61 journalists have been killed in the line of duty in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. 
Woodruff became the permanent co-anchor of ABC's World News Tonight, with Elizabeth Vargas on January 3, 2006, replacing the late Peter Jennings. 
The New York Mets baseball team has agreed to a 20-year sponsorship deal with financial house Citigroup for the team's new ballpark, now called CitiField. 
The deal, which includes stadium naming rights, is worth more than $20 million annually, according to a baseball official. 
This tops the approximately ten million annually the NFL's Houston Texans receive from Reliant Energy to call their home Reliant Stadium. 
The agreement between the Mets and the financial services company includes options for both the team and Citigroup that could extend the deal to up to 35-years. 
Other commercial arrangements are part of the contract, the official said. 
Construction on the ballpark, next to the current stadium in Queens, New York, began last summer and is scheduled to be ready for the 2009 season. 
The Mets have played at Shea Stadium since 1964, the team's third year in the league. 
The ballpark is named for William A. Shea, a lawyer who helped bring National League baseball back to New York. 
The announcement will be made Monday at a special ceremony that will be attended by New York Govener, George Pataki and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 
Citigroup is one of the world's largest full-service banks, with two hundred million customers in more than 100 countries. 
Tropical Storm Danielle is now a Category 1 hurricane, with winds up to 130 km/h (80 mph). 
The storm is headed towards Bermuda and forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida expect it to strengthen over the next two days. 
Hurricane Danielle is the second hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. 
The 80 km/h (50 mph) storm in the Pacific Ocean is about 210 km (130 miles) south-south west of Acapulco, Mexico. 
Mexico has issued a tropical storm watch in the area. 
Hurricane Danielle formed near the Cape Verde Islands off the coast of West Africa, being classified as Tropical Depression Six. 
Meteorologists predict that Danielle will be the first of several storms to form within the next two weeks, as the Atlantic hurricane season is currently at its peak. 
"There are signs that the Atlantic is acting like it should in August and September." 
"We're seeing more activity than we did earlier in the season," said Rick Knabb of the Weather Channel. 
"Even though the 2010 season seems to be one with low activity, emergency officials are still stressing safety and awareness to residents in hurricane-prone areas." 
"It only takes one storm to cause a loss of lives and devastating property damage," Lauren McKeague, Florida Division of Emergency Management, says. 
Hurricane Andrew was a catastrophic Category 5 storm that came during a year when it was a lower-than-average season. 
In the Six Nations Cup, Ireland beat England 28 points to 24, to win The Triple Crown. 
Ireland have now beaten England on the last three occasions that these sides have met. 
The software watchdog group StopBadware.org, run by the Berkman Center for Internet & Society of Harvard Law School and the Oxford Internet Institute, has opened a dialogue with AOL about concerns over the presence of badware, also known as malware, in the now-free AOL 9.0 software. 
Badware refers to software applications that try to download additional software with very little or no explanation. 
StopBadware.org decided to investigate after their users have sent in complaints regarding the operation of the software. 
According to the "open inquiry" on StopBadware.org, the preliminary tests conclude that AOL 9.0 installs software and Internet Explorer extensions without the consent of the user, requires users to take certain actions, and it doesn't completely uninstall itself. 
The page then warns readers not to use the AOL software unless they're prepared to handle the risks involved. 
The report clarifies its charges; for example it lists "RealPlayer, QuickTime, AOL You've Got Pictures Screensaver, Pure Networks Port Magic, and Viewpoint Media Player" as the software that is installed without notification. 
Additionally, the AOL toolbar, a bookmark to AOL.com, as well as extra icons are added to Internet Explorer without consent. 
The report continues by noting that AOL coerces users into upgrading the software by a popup window that does not allow refusal, as well as automatically upgrades the software without allowing that option to be disabled. 
AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein claims that these problems are going to be addressed in an upgrade available next month. 
In the meantime, Weinstein claims that the problems are not malicious. 
"No one has done more to protect users from malware than AOL," Weinstein said. 
John Palfrey agrees that the findings of AOL are not the worst he's seen, but they should disclose more information about the software to users. 
When AOL was issued with an advance copy of the report, StopBadware.org was "very impressed" with their response, and that they look forward to working with AOL. 
In the biggest ever narcotics haul in India's capital, the New Delhi police have seized over 4,400 kg of Mandrax and Rs. 20 crore from a dealer in the city. 
The consignment, meant for a customer in the U.S, was seized from a godown in Badarpur, near the Delhi-Haryana border. 
The alleged trafficker, identified as Vinod Sharma, claimed that the contraband was not his and that he had nothing to do with the matter. 
Sharma started his career as a scrap-dealer in Delhi, and police suspect that with the help of some contacts he used container depots for drug-trafficking, whilst successfully dodging both the police and the Customs Department. 
On Sunday the Delhi Police arrested him at his Kalkaji residence. 
The Deputy Commissioner of Police for South District, Delhi Police, Anil Shukla said, "Sharma befriended container drivers and once they had driven past customs, he and his men would meet them at a distance and pilfer the containers." 
The Council of Europe is pressing member governments to provide information concerning CIA prisons operating secretly in Europe. 
In an interim report by the human rights council rapporteur, Swiss senator Dick Marty made public the 42-member nation's preliminary conclusions regarding CIA activity on European Union soil. 
Marty reported, "Individuals have been abducted, deprived of their liberty and transported to different destinations in Europe, to be handed over to countries in which they have suffered degrading treatment and torture." 
The report estimates the rendition of "more than a hundred persons." 
But when it comes right down to it, no irrefutable evidence exists to confirm allegations that the CIA operated secret detention centers in Europe. 
"There is a great deal of coherent, convergent evidence pointing to the existence of a system of 'relocation' or 'outsourcing of torture'," the report stated while further noting that, "It is highly unlikely that European governments, or at least their intelligence services, were unaware." 
"Our aim is to find out the truth that is being hidden from us today", he said. 
He adds that he is afraid of "the pressure put on the media in the United States not to report on this affair." 
A researcher for Human Rights Watch, John Swift, said; "Cooperation is going to be needed if this investigation is going to succeed." 
"They can decide to cooperate with this investigation and uphold European traditions of human rights, or they can continue their romance with the CIA." 
The report has also been criticized for appearing to lack new content and to be incomplete. 
Former minister for Europe and British member of parliament Denis MacShane has said that Marty's report "has more holes than a Swiss cheese." 
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack has rejected the report and stated that it was an example of the "same old reports wrapped up in some new rhetoric." 
US Department of Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff has stated regarding the US government that "the government acts in accordance with the law and with respect to the sovereignty of host countries in which it operates," and further stated that "The authorities are free to investigate what they want to investigate but we should not allow ourselves to be distracted from the need to identify, prevent and protect against terrorist acts of violence." 
The group Amnesty International USA is calling for the US Congress to create a commission to investigate detention and interrogation practices. 
The United States neither confirms nor denies the existence of secret detention centers. 
Rico Daniels is a British TV presenter living in France who is known for his two television series — The Salvager — whilst he still lived in the UK and then Le Salvager after he moved to France. 
Rico has been in a variety of jobs but his passion is now his profession - he turns unwanted 'junk' into unusual pieces of furniture. 
Rico's creations and the methods used to fabricate them are the subject of the Salvager shows. 
Rico spoke to Wikinews in January about his inspiration and early life, future plans, other hobbies and more. 
Read on for the full exclusive interview, published for the first time: 
The Co-operative Group (Co-op) and Bristol-based Somerfield today agreed on a deal worth £1.565 billion which results in Somerfield being acquired by Co-op. 
Co-op has said that the acquisition took place on a "cash-free debt-free basis." 
Peter Marks, chief executive of The Co-operative Group, claimed that "this is good news for consumers and for competition in the grocery market, where we will create a stronger fifth player in food and a convenience store chain with unrivalled geographic reach." 
He then said that "for The Co-operative Group this is a transformational deal – cementing our position as the UK’s premier community retailer and helping us significantly as we lead a renaissance of The Co-operative brand." 
Paul Mason, chair of privately-held Somerfield, also commented on the takeover. 
"The Co-operative Group and Somerfield have a similar focus in terms of customers, store types, product ranges and business vision." 
"Our shared vision of providing a high-quality and affordable convenience offer to local communities means that together we will be twice as strong, and therefore twice as able to deliver the local grocery shops British customers demand," he said. 
With 4.4% share of the market, the Co-op is the fifth largest grocery chain in the UK. 
The owners of Somerfield made their wish to sell the company clear in January of this year. 
Co-op first expressed an interest in the purchase in April. 
BBC News Online reported that the Competition Commission may force Co-op to sell some stores due to its increased presence. 
American-based online retailer Amazon.com has backtracked from its July decision and actions to remotely delete George Orwell's classic dystopian novels, Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, from customers' Kindle e-book readers. 
Late Thursday, Amazon emailed owners of Kindle readers who had previously lost copies of these novels, offering a new copy of the deleted books, or a gift certificate or check for US$30. 
In the email, the company's chief executive, Jeff Bezos apologised again, and described the earlier actions as "stupid, thoughtless and painfully out of line with our principles." 
Initially, the two works of Orwell were made available to Kindle owners by a third-party company which did not have the rights to distribute them. 
When Amazon was alerted to this by the actual rights holder, the company removed the books from their online store then, far more controversially, remotely deleted the books from their customers' devices before issuing refunds. 
In the aftermath of significant press coverage of Amazon's actions to remove content, legal action was started against them in Washington alleging violations of the company's published terms of service, the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, and Washington's consumer protection legislation. 
A Michigan student named as a plaintiff in the case explained that the deletion of his copy of 1984 had rendered his annotations and notes worthless. 
First published in 1949, the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four will not enter the public domain in the United States until 2044. 
The president of Niger, Tandja Mamadou, has been captured and imprisoned by a group of Nigerien soldiers under the name of "Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy" after an attack on the presidential palace late Thursday. 
The Nigerien embassy in London has issued a statement saying that both the president and ministers in his company were "safe and well," although officials said that the company was most likely imprisoned in military barracks outside of Niamy. 
According to an announcement by the representative of the group responsible for the coup, a Nigerien Army colonel, the country's constitution has been suspended and all government institutions have been dissolved. 
It is not clear who the leader of the coup is, although several military sources said that Major Adamou Harouna of the Nigerien Army was responsible. 
The coup apparently took place during a cabinet meeting in the capitol building, and was preceded by a several-hour long gun battle in the capital, Niamy. 
The battle began at about 13:00 local time (12:00 UTC), ending about four hours later, with both foot soldiers and tanks involved, although no significant deployment of the military was reported. 
The morning after the battle, the streets were relatively quiet, and the only significant military presence is heavy artillery around the presidential palace. 
The battle led to at least ten deaths, four of which were soldiers. 
Additionally, a curfew has been imposed, and the military has closed Niger's borders. 
Despite the crisis, the government has yet to release an official statement as to its status. 
The actions of the military prompted condemnations of the coup from both the African Union and the nation of France, both of which called for negotiations to resolve the situation. 
The West African group of countries Ecowas has already dispatched a delegation to talk to the group responsible for the coup. 
The coup came after an extended political crisis in which President Tandja has dissolved both the National Assembly and Niger's High Court, as well as extending his presidential term by three years, and removing all further limits on his term. 
These actions have led to increasing pressure against him and the government, culminating with a thousands-strong demonstration against the government last week. 
Serial killer Michael Ross appeared before a Connecticut court today, and told Judge Patrick Clifford that he wanted to die. 
If executed, Ross will be the first person put to death in Connecticut in over 40 years. 
Ross admitted to killing eight women in Connecticut and New York in the 1980s, and to raping several of them. 
The hearing considered whether Ross, who holds a degree in economics from Cornell University, was mentally competent to waive his appeals. 
Dr. Michael Norko, appointed by the court to examine Ross, testified that Ross is a sexual sadist and is prone to depression. 
Ross had attempted suicide three times in the past, Norko told the court, but he is not suicidal now. 
Norko further testifed that Ross is taking medication to control his psychiatric problems. 
Norko testified that Ross made a rational decision in electing to waive his appeals, and the court agreed, finding Ross clear headed and well educated. 
"This decision is his right to make," Judge Clifford said from the bench. 
However, Ross' father and the Connecticut Public Defender's Office have filed motions in Rockville Superior Court claiming that Ross suffered from mental delusions at the time of his orignial trial, and that his previous attorneys did a poor job defending him. 
There is no word when the Rockville court will rule. 
James Hipwell, a former financial reporter for the Daily Mirror tabloid, told the Leveson Inquiry today he believed hacking into voicemails of celebrities and others was a "bog-standard tool" for entertainment journalists at the Mirror. 
Hipwell was fired from the paper in 2000 and then convicted and sent to prison in February 2006 for using his "City Slicker" column in the newspaper to write about companies he had a financial stake in, which netted him approximately £40,000. 
Trinity Mirror newspapers, which publishes the Mirror, also publishes another tabloid The People which is also alleged to have used phone hacking to get stories. 
Hipwell told the inquiry he believed that voicemail hacking was "genuinely accepted", "happened every day" and "was entirely accepted by the senior editors on the newspaper" and that "it was seen as a slightly underhand thing to do but not illegal." 
Hipwell's testimony contradicts claims by the former editor of the Mirror, Piers Morgan, who now hosts a talk show on CNN. 
Morgan claims that under his editorship, he was unaware of any hacking, but Hipwell claims it is unlikely Morgan did not know about hacking going on at the paper. 
The Leveson Inquiry was set up by the British Prime Minister David Cameron following the scandal which engulfed the News of the World after widespread allegations they hacked into voicemails of crime victims and their families including the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, and has so far interviewed numerous representatives of the media industry, and alleged victims of press intrusion and phone hacking. 
The United States and Russia yesterday agreed to the swap of prisoners held by both nations after eleven Russian spies were arrested late last month. 
The swap will include the ten Russian spies arrested on US soil (the eleventh was arrested in Cyprus and subsequently escaped) and four spies being held in Russia on charges of espionage. 
The spies arrested by the US all pled guilty to charges of "conspiracy to act as an unregistered agent of a foreign country." 
Below are the Russian spies who were convicted (cover names are in quotes, while real names are unquoted):*"Richard and Cynthia Murphy" *Vicky Paleaz *"Juan Lazaro" *Anna Chapman *Mikhail Zemenko *"Michael Zottoli" and "Patricia Mills" *"Donald Howard Heathfield" and "Tracy Lee Ann Foley" 
The swap reportedly began late yesterday, with Russia beginning the process of releasing at least one of the prisoners they held, Igor Sutyagin, almost immediately. 
Russian media reported that he had already arrived in Vienna, Austria, although his father said that it was so far unconfirmed. 
Russia has so far not confirmed the identities of other prisoners to be released, although several names have been speculated, including Alexander Zaporozhsky, Sergei Skripal, and Alexander Sypachev, all accused of transferring information to foreign governments. 
The US arrested the ten spies that are to be returned to Russia as part of its breakup of a long-term spy ring that had operated for years, and involved the spies living as American civilians, some as couples. 
Prosecutors say that they had been commanded by Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service, with the mission of collecting information about American policy. 
The tsunami caused by Japan's magnitude 8.9 quake on Friday destroyed the commercial fishing harbor of Crescent City, California, a coastal town still recovering from a devastating tsunami in 1964. 
Although most of the fishing boats were removed in advance, the 198 docking slips that the harbor had provided for boats, enabling the livelihoods of the fishing crews, were lost. 
"We're facing not only physical but financial disaster," he said during a briefing. 
"Our business activity came to a screeching halt yesterday, and that affects the entire community." 
Councilwoman Kelly Schellong said, "This is going to have a trickle-down effect beyond the lost jobs." 
Crescent City's unemployment rate was 13 percent before Friday's tsunami destroyed its commerical fishing industry. 
The 1964 tsunami that hit Crescent City killed 11, demolished the harbor and heavily damaged large portions of the business district. 
Although the city subsequently rebuilt, another tsunami again damaged the harbor in 2006. 
The city was in the midst of reconstructing the harbor when Friday's tsunami hit. 
The harbor is surrounded by land and a breakwater built after the 1964 disaster. 
The tsunami's huge waves entered through a small opening provided for the entrance and exit of boats. 
Lori Dengler, director of the Humboldt Earthquake Education Center, says Friday's tsunami was one of as many as 38 tsunamis to strike Crescent City within the last 78 years. 
She calls the city a "tsunami magnet" because of the topography of the ocean floor that contributes to its vulnerability. 
She also blames the breakwater built after the 1964 tsunami because it traps tsunami waves in the harbor, causing them to boil and churn. 
A county supervisor found the view painful on Saturday as she surveyed the wreckage accompanied by state officials. 
The Centre for Independent Studies has released a paper calling for reform of university student fees system. 
The paper, authored by Andrew Norton, argues that the cap on loans to full fee paying students is too low. 
The current cap allows for loans during a lifetime of AU$50,950. 
"Setting the FEE-HELP limit at this amount biases the market against courses that are long or have high per year costs, or both," argues Norton in the paper. 
"The loan cap is a crude way of controlling lending, taking no account of course costs or capacity to repay." 
He argues that the system should function more like commercial lending. 
"A truly radical reform would make student loans mimic commercial loans: students with good earning prospects could borrow large sums, other students could borrow less, and some could not borrow at all," he said. 
"Instead of denying or limiting loans to people doing high cost courses, as now occurs, the government could deny loans to people who are unlikely to repay." 
The paper was criticised by Senator Kerry Nettle, Education Spokesperson for the Australian Greens. 
She argued that the changes would mean an increase in costs to students already struggling to pay, and called on Education Minister Julie Bishop to rule out the changes. 
"To consider refusing loans to those deemed less able to repay would further cut off higher education for Australians from low socio-economic backgrounds," she said. 
"Julie Bishop should use her address to the National Press Club tomorrow to rule out any moves to further deregulate the HECS system." 
"Student fees have spiralled upward under the Howard government and any further deregulation would just make a bad system worse," she added. 
After an exhaustive two year, 20 million euro ($28 million) search, the final resting spot of Air France Flight 447 has been located. 
The location of the wreckage is six miles north of the plane's last reported position off the coast of Brazil at a depth of 3,800 and 4,000 meters (2,070 to 2,190 fathoms or 12,467 feet and 13,123 feet). 
The wreckage of the Airbus A330-200, was found Sunday by a team from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, using a Remus robotic submarine and its side-scan sonar. 
After the wreckage was found, another Remus robot submarine with cameras was sent down to the site, where it filmed bodies in the wreckage. 
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, France's Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Sea, confirmed to reporters: "Bodies were found." 
"We are now confronted with another trauma," Robert Soulas, vice president of Entraide et Solidarité AF447, a support group for families of victims of the crash, said. 
Soulas lost his daughter and son-in-law, who were on board the flight when it crashed. 
"For me, personally I would like to leave the bodies of my children, my two children, on the seabed." 
The remains of the plane, which were concentrated in a 600 metres by 200 metres (1,968 feet by 656 feet) area, appear to be relatively intact which leads investigators to believe that the plane hit the water intact and did not explode mid-air. 
Around 50 bodies of the 228 passengers and crew on board and parts of the plane were found shortly after the crash in 2009. 
According to Jean-Paul Troadec, the head of France's Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA), the accident investigation body for aircraft overseeing the operation and investigation, the wreckage and bodies will be bought to surface and then sent to France for investigation. 
The salvage operation, which will cost around 5 million euros ($7.1 million) according to estimates, will be financed by the French government. 
Three salvage companies who are bidding to recover the wreck have until afternoon on Thursday to submit proposals. 
The operation should take between three weeks to a month. 
On raising the remains of the plane Troadec said: "We want to know what happened in this accident, most particularly so it never happens again." 
Some family members agreed saying such as Michael Gaignard, whose sister was on board the plane said, "We want to know what happened in that plane." 
An attorney for several families said some had yet to come to terms with loss of loved ones, saying "There's been no burial, no goodbye ... just lots and lots of suffering." 
However, despite the discovery of the wreckage, the plane's two flight recorders, the flight data recorder (FDR) and the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) have yet to be found at the crash site. 
Alain Bouillard, who is in charge of BEA's recovery effort said, "It's still a jigsaw puzzle." 
There are concerns that the two-year length the recorders have been submerged in seawater along with enormous pressure located at the depth of the wreck, that the data on the recorders might be unreadable. 
Bouillard said it is possible the recorders were damaged, but had "great confidence" in their robustness. 
Without the recovery of the recorders, investigators may be unable to determine the cause of the crash. 
The leading theory at the moment is that the crew received incorrect air speed readings from the aircraft's pitot tubes, devices which measure how fast the aircraft is travelling. 
Experts say the tubes may have become iced over, causing the crash. 
The plane's Aircraft Communications Addressing and Reporting System (ACARS) sent out 24 messages over a four-minute long period stating numerous problems and warnings, including incorrect air speed warnings occurring aboard the aircraft, just prior to it going down. 
Archaeologists Timothy Darvill of Bournemouth University and Geoff Wainwright, President of the Society of Antiquaries, claimed to have found evidence that Stonehenge was once a center of healing. 
In an excavation conducted at the site, a large number of human remains were found that display signs of physical injury or disease. 
Study of the teeth from the skeletons indicates that about half of them were from outside the area. 
A large number of bluestone or spotted Preseli dolerite chips found during the excavation led the researchers to conclude the stones were venerated for their healing properties. 
It is believed that about 80 of such bluestone blocks were transported from the Preseli Hills in Pembrokeshire, Wales to the Salisbury plains. 
The inner circle of bluestones are the earliest stone structures found in this site. 
Later bluestones were encircled by the imposing sandstone monoliths of sarsen stones. 
"It could be that people were flaking off pieces of bluestone, in order to create little bits to take away... as lucky amulets," said Professor Darvill. 
Radiocarbon dating indicates that the original bluestone circle was built around 2300 BC. 
This date coincides with the burial of "Amesbury Archer", whose tomb was discovered near Stonehenge. 
The skeleton of this man reveals that he had serious knee injury and tooth problems. 
Researchers therefore conclude that the Archer came to Stonehenge to be healed. 
Dating of charcoal fragments revealed that the site was inhabited as early as 7200 BC by groups of hunter-gatherers. 
This is more than 3500 years earlier than previously known. 
London, England — The Australia national wheelchair rugby team defeated Canada 66–51 to win Australia's last gold medal of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. 
The Canadian team had no answer to Ryley Batt, who scored 37 goals. 
Before the game he skylarked by riding his wheelchair on one wheel. 
The commentator called him "Houdini" for escaping any attempt to restrain him. 
He did share the ball with the rest of the team. 
By contrast, the Australian defenders held Canada's Garett Hickling to just seven goals. 
At one point two Australian defenders trapped him in a corner, unable to move, which he appeared to find very frustrating. 
Spectators included the Australian Chef de Mission, Jason Hellwig, and his deputies, Michael Hartung and Kate McLoughlin. 
The rugby team's gold medal brought Australia's count to 32, and the total medals to 85, putting Australia in fifth place. 
The team's gold medals were presented by HRH The Earl of Wessex. 
Bertha became the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season Monday, after strengthening from a tropical storm overnight. 
As of 11:00 am EDT, the Category 1 hurricane is located in the mid-Atlantic ocean, about 775 miles east of the Leeward Islands, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida. 
It has maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour, with higher gusts, and it is moving west-northwest at 15 miles per hour. 
The storm is expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours, with a possibility of intensifying into a Category 2 hurricane later today. 
The National Hurricane Center sees "no apparent environmental factors" to inhibit Bertha's intensification into a Category 2 storm. 
Over the next few days, it is projected to gradually turn towards the northwest, while reducing in forward speed. 
The National Hurricane Center has not said whether Bertha will affect any land areas. 
However, a five-day forecast map shows Bertha passing near Bermuda around Saturday. 
"While the degree of the turn has important implications regarding potential impacts to Bermuda," the National Hurricane Center said, "it is much too early to determine if Bertha will actually threaten that island." 
Coincidentally, Bertha was also the name of a 1996 hurricane, which formed exactly 12 years ago on July 7. 
Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) and mobile phone company O2 have said they intend to open London's Millennium Dome as a concert arena in April 2007. 
The 365 m diameter dome was built in the 1990s for the year 2000 celebrations and is the largest single-roof structure in the world. 
After hosting an exhibition for 2000, the dome has mostly laid empty. 
The building, to be renamed the O2, will contain a 23,000 seat arena, an 1,800 seat theatre and a 2,200 capacity night club. 
Afghan government officials have said that a powerful suicide car bomb hit near the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 80 others. 
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, saying their target was the embassy. 
The Afghan Interior Ministry says the explosion killed mostly civilians on the heavily guarded road between its headquarters and the Indian Embassy. 
Eyewitnesses reports said that the the blast was very powerful, shattering shop windows, filling the air with dust and scattering debris all along the road. 
General Sayed Abdul Ghafar Sahibzada, the Kabul police chief, said the suicide bomber exploded his vehicle in the center of the capital. 
Thursday's blast comes one day after the eighth anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion into Afghanistan to topple the Taliban government. 
Last year, a similar attack by a Taliban suicide car bomber killed about 60 people near the Indian embassy. 
It was the deadliest assault in the capital since 2001. 
Recently elected Markham, Ontario MPP Michael Chan became Ontario's Revenue Minister today to reflect the large Chinese-Canadian community. 
Former Ontario NDP premier Bob Rae created the revenue ministry. 
Liberal premier Dalton McGuinty recreated it because he wanted Chan in it. 
He also said that Finance Minister Greg Sorbara needs a hand with his job and this would help. 
"Michael is a strong member of our team and brings a great deal of experience to this position," McGuinty said today. 
"Michael is passionate about building opportunity for Ontario families and we're happy to have him on the team." 
Before getting in power, Chan owned an insurance brokerage in Markham with hundreds of agents. 
Chan won on February 8 and was just sworn in two days ago. 
At 4:53 p.m. (EDT), Space Shuttle Discovery took off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on its final mission, STS-133. 
Its mission is to deliver and install onto the International Space Station (ISS), the Permanent Multipurpose Module Leonardo, the ExPRESS Logistics Carrier-4 and provide critical spare components for the station. 
Six astronauts, Steve Lindsey, Eric Boe, Alvin Drew, Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt, and Steve Bowen, are participating in the mission. 
The shuttle is also carrying Robonaut2, the first dexterous humanoid robot to be in space. 
Although its first priority will be to test its operation in microgravity, upgrades could eventually allow it to fulfill its ultimate purpose of becoming an astronaut helper on boring or dangerous tasks. 
The launch of Discovery, which was supposed to occur at 4:50 p.m., was delayed for three minutes due to a technical problem in the shuttle's command system and a chipped heat shield tile near the crew hatch which needed to be patched. 
The launch was also repeatedly postponed since November 1 due to various technical problems with the shuttle's systems and a hydrogen leak in the fuel tank along with cracks and bad weather. 
A small piece of foam broke off during the launch but NASA has reported that it is unlikely to cause problems. 
Discovery and the crew of STS-133 are scheduled to spend about two weeks in space and aboard the ISS, logging 4.5 million additional miles of flight. 
The launch comes just hours after an unmanned automated European cargo spacecraft, ATV-2, docked with the orbiting outpost to deliver supplies and equipment to the crew. 
STS-133 is scheduled to be the final mission of Discovery, with its first being STS-41-D in 1984. 
Discovery flew 39 flights in its operational history, including the current mission, delivering several payloads to space including the Hubble Space Telescope and visiting two different space stations: Mir and the ISS. 
STS-133 is the 133rd shuttle mission and the 35th mission to the ISS. 
Discovery is the oldest surviving shuttle, and has flown more missions than any other shuttle. 
It was also the first shuttle to fly after the Challenger disaster and was the first shuttle to fly after the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. 
Later, Discovery became the first shuttle to fly a Russian cosmonaut. 
After the current mission, there will be at most two remaining shuttle flights. 
Endeavor has one more mission remaining, and if an emergency rescue is needed or more funding is secured, Atlantis will also fly once more before the entire fleet is retired. 
"The shuttle has provided an amazing capacity for this country to gather data." 
"I think we’re still sorting through a lot of it, trying to figure out what all we’ve learned from it." 
"This chapter in our space history known as the space shuttle has been incredible," said Bryan Lunney, lead space shuttle flight director for the mission. 
Kabul Afghanistan saw the worst violence on Monday since the fall of the Taliban, after a large U.S. Military cargo truck crashed into about a dozen vehicles at an intersection in Kabul killing at least 7 civilians and injuring about 40. 
"There was a traffic jam and all the vehicles were stopped," said one witness, 21-year old shopkeeper Mohammad Wali. 
"The American convoy hit all the vehicles which were on the way." 
A U.S. military spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Fitzpatrick, said no U.S. troops had been hurt, and that an investigation has begun into the incident. 
The U.S. military also said the crash was caused by brake failure but Afghans often complain about aggressive driving tactics of the U.S. military. 
Convoys often pass through crowded areas at high speed and occasionally disregard road rules. 
U.S. military says such driving is necessary to protect the troops from attack. 
Afghan rioters also claimed U.S. troops had shot and killed civilians at the scene of the accident. 
Chanting "Death to America," rioters stoned the U.S. convoy involved in the accident Monday before heading to the center of Kabul where they ransacked offices of international aid groups and searched for foreigners. 
Smoke billowed from burning buildings along the path of destruction. 
Royal Mail workers have voted 3:1 in favour of a nationwide postal strike in the United Kingdom. 
The Communication Workers' Union (CWU), that represents employees of the postal service balloted members on nationwide strike action, following a series of regional strikes over the past 3 weeks. 
Of the 80,830 members consulted, 61,623 voted in favour of a walk-out. 
The union's General Secretary, Dave Ward, said that there would be no strike action for at least 10 days. 
The possibility of further talks with the Royal Mail before undertaking action has not be ruled out; any walk-outs in the run-up to Christmas will cause extreme disruption to deliveries. 
New South Wales Police have broadened investigations into Australia's oldest Catholic boarding school, St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, New South Wales, following claims that at least 13 men were sexually abused while children at the school in the 1970s and 1980s. 
The claims have surfaced following police being alerted in August last year. 
Police have appealed for victims to come forward, but acknowledged it may be difficult for some. 
"I would imagine it would be very hard for anyone subject to these sort of things to come forward," Detective Superintendent Michael Goodwin said. 
"All I can say is that NSW police force will be providing every form of support we possibly can to make the process for them as trouble-free as possible." 
Superintendent Goodwin reassured the community that the allegations date back two decades and there is "absolutely no suggestion whatsoever that the college involved is/has been looking to anything in the current day." 
"The college involved has been cooperating with the police completely with this inquiry," Goodwin added. 
The police would not release how many suspects were being investigated but said their inquiries had not led them to any other locations where former staff may have been employed. 
Superintendent Goodwin said Police were exploring all lines of enquiry and that "no loose ends [are] being let go at this stage." 
The school's principal, John Edwards, said the police had served him with a search warrant last month which listed the names of three former staff members. 
"There were three former staff member who were listed on the search warrant that was served on me in early July, and we facilitated the gathering of material for police," Mr Edwards told Fairfax Radio Network. 
Mr Edwards called for the matter to be transparent and described the complaints as "gravely concerning" and he hopes they are properly dealt with by the courts. 
"It is absolutely a requirement for this matter to be open, for this matter to be addressed and this matter to be resolved," he said. 
"This school is very concerned to ensure that children are treated well and that their interests are protected." 
A former priest, Brian Joseph Spillane, aged 65 was arrested over the case in May. 
He faced Bathurst Local Court in July, facing 33 separate charges including six counts of sexual intercourse with pupils aged 10 and 18. 
Spillane's lawyer, Greg Walsh, says media reports alerted him to the new claims. 
"I don't know anything about eight alleged other victims, I've not been served with any witness statements so I really can't comment about it," said Walsh. 
One former student described the alleged abuse as "an orgy", claiming that boys were herded into a prayer room by a priest chanting "hypnotic" spells in tongues. 
It is alleged that boys were subject to sexual abuse or forced to assault each other once in the prayer room. 
A former border told The Daily Telegraph that priests "got a group between eight and 12 of us together and they'd just start chanting and I would wake up during these sessions and see what was going on." 
The allegations came to light after one of the alleged victims made a visit to Bathurst last year to hand out fliers documenting the abuse and providing a link to his website address. 
The school called in police, who the victim claims contacted him and asked him to make a complaint. 
Two teenagers have been found shot to death in Salford, Greater Manchester, w:UK. 
One of the victims is a 15-year old girl, the other victim is a male aged 18. 
Emergency services were called to reports of a shooting on Saturday morning. 
The man died in an ambulance en-route to the hospital. 
A Greater Manchester Police spokeswoman said officers were still trying to establish the circumstances of the shooting. 
"Police were called to Orion Place in Lower Broughton, Salford, following reports that shots had been fired." 
"Officers attended and discovered the body of a 15-year-old girl." 
"An 18 year-old boy was also found at the scene." 
"He was taken to a hospital by ambulance but died a short time later." 
"The investigation is at a very early stage and inquiries are continuing," the spokeswoman said. 
The Heath Avenue area is sealed off while officers investigate. 
News articles frequently discuss some issues but neglect others that might be more critical. 
Today the UN issued its third annual list to focus attention on a set of these relatively ignored stories. 
Police reports state that a bomb blast in a church in Nepal on Saturday has killed two people and injured at least a dozen more. 
The attack comes just hours before the national parliament was due to elect a new prime minister. 
The bomb detonated in the Church of the Assumption in the town of Lalitpur, located south of Nepal's capital of Kathmandu. 
Around 150 people were in the church at the time of the explosion. 
According to the Nepalese home ministry spokesman, Navin Ghimire, the National Defence Army, an obscure Hindu extremist group, left a message at the scene of the disaster, assuming responsibility for the explosion. 
The group says it wants to return Nepal's Hindu monarchy back to power after it was abolished last year. 
It has taken responsibility for the killing of a missionary in July of last year. 
This is the first bomb attack on a Christian church in Nepal. 
Egypt intends to launch an international initiative to fight misuse of the internet. 
The idea lies in implementing a long-term international cooperation plan that concerns suppressing the activity of criminals and other groups that use World Wide Web for promoting their interests. 
He also outlined the fact that the plan for fighting cyber-crime stipulates the introduction of new rules for Internet users. 
The game does not affect Group D as both Germany and the Czech Republic have already qualified for next summer's tournament. 
The victory for Germany keeps them tied in first position in Group D. 
Germany finishes off its Euro 2008 qualification games against Wales on Wednesday. 
A new study by Duke University in the US suggests depressed adolescents who respond to treatment within twelve weeks are at a reduced risk of drug abuse later in their lives. 
The research followed about half of a pool of 439 adolescents who had received treatment for major depression and volunteered for Duke University research. 
At the five-year study's conclusion the participants were aged 17–23. 
Of those who had experienced a reduction in depressive symptoms within twelve weeks of treatment, ten percent went on to have drug abuse problems. 
Alcohol use problems, however, were equally prevalent regardless of treatment outcome. 
The study was run by Dr. John Curry, a professor of neuroscience and psychology. 
Curry noted that the results for those treated successfully held true "whatever they responded to — cognitive-behavioral therapy, Prozac, both treatments, or a placebo". 
The study has called for treatments to take possible alcohol and drug use into account. 
Said Curry, "When the teenagers got over the depression, about half of them stayed well for the whole five-year period, but almost half of them had a second episode of depression... what we found out was that, for those who had both alcohol disorder and another depression, the alcohol disorder almost always came first". 
He also said the study had "a take-home message" in "that alcohol use disorders are very prevalent during that particular age period and there’s a need for a lot of prevention and education for college students to avoid getting into heavy drinking and then the beginnings of an alcohol disorder". 
Curry, alongside Dr. Susan Silva, a co-author, want more research using larger groups. 
They also say work towards a comparison with non-depressed individuals is needed. 
The government of Eritrea warned of "dire consequences" unless Uganda removes its troops from the African Union (AU) peacekeeping force deployed to Somalia. 
Ali Abdu, Eritrea’s information minister stated, "We believe the government of Uganda must rectify its error and pull out from Somalia, otherwise the situation will become increasingly dangerous." 
"It will not only worsen, but will become a war between the Somali people and external forces." 
Uganda has already sent 1,000 of a planned 1,500 troops under AU auspices to the area. 
The AU plans to send 8,000 multinational troops in total, and has recently vowed to continue their deployment despite attacks on its first deployed forces and threats of an Islamist commander. 
The Islamic Courts Movement has also threatened to wage jihad against the peacekeeping forces. 
Reacting to the comments, Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the Uganda Peoples Defense Force (UPDF) said, "Eritrea has no right to demand that we withdraw." 
"Unless they are claiming they are not part of the African Union." 
"We received a mandate, not only from the AU but also from the UN." 
The UPDF forces have been attacked since arriving at Mogadishu on March 6. 
They came under mortar fire at the airport during a hand-over ceremony. 
Over this week, two UPDF troops were wounded in an ambush and a landmine was discovered on the road leading to the airport. 
Two UPDF soldiers were also wounded by shrapnel in the attack and were flown back to Uganda. 
Another mortar attack that missed a UPDF convoy and hit a nearby restaurant on March 7 killed 13 civilians and wounded 20. 
The UPDF attributed the loss of one of its planes, which burst into flames while landing, to a technical problem and not the result of an insurgent attack. 
Eritrea also took the opportunity to condemn its rival Ethiopia that helped install the provisional government of Somalia. 
Eritrea claimed that Ethiopia (whom it has a border conflict with) is seeking to carve up the country and was acting as a puppet of the United States. 
In the past the United Nations has accused Eritrea of providing arms and equipment to the Islamists. 
On October 22, WikiLeaks released nearly 400,000 United States military field reports detailing events of the Iraq War between 2004 and 2009. 
That amount of documents makes it the largest leak in the history of the United States military. 
The documents report 109,000 deaths during the 2004–2009 period, including 66,000 civilians deaths. 
The war logs describe scenes of torture and abuse asserted to have been committed by Iraqi security forces. 
Safia Ahmed-jan, the director of the Afghan Ministry of Women's Affairs for the Khandahar province and an advocate of women's rights and a strong critic of the Taliban's repression of those rights, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen outside her home in Khandahar city in southern Afghanistan on Monday. 
A grandfather and his grandson have died off the coast of North Wales, UK, after their sailing dinghy was overwhelmed and capsized in rough seas. 
They were with a party of four who had been angling from a 4.6 m boat. 
At 4pm local time on Saturday the Holyhead Coastguard received an emergency call from the Star Reader saying they had found a capsized dinghy adrift three and a half miles north of Puffin Island, off the east coast of the Isle of Anglesey. 
A third vessel, the Sara Jane, also attended the scene to allow a first aider on board to render assistance. 
A RAF search and rescue helicopter was scrambled and the Beaumaris lifeboat launched to effect a rescue effort. 
Two people were found clinging to the boat but two more had been washed away. 
The rescue helicopter lowered its winchman onto the dinghy to begin CPR on the nine year old boy before he was winched onboard. 
He was flown to nearby Bangor Hospital, but later died. 
The Beaumaris lifeboat raced the grandfather - also suffering serious hypothermia - ashore to a waiting ambulance, but he too died shortly afterwards. 
The lifeboat also carried an uninjured member of the party ashore, while the helicopter returned to rescue a second young boy. 
All had been wearing life jackets, but the sea was running at 1.5 m waves in a 45 km/h wind at the time. 
It is believed the two dead had been in the water for at least three hours before they were recovered, and died from the effects of hypothermia. 
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, said on Wednesday that not continuing to use biofuels would be a "crime against humanity." 
"Don't tell me, for the love of God, that food is expensive because of biodiesel," said Lula, when talking to reporters. 
Lula also stated that he was ready for a debate on biofuels. 
"I and my government are ready to travel around the world," he said. 
This move comes soon after a press release was made available by the European Parliament saying that "in the last year scientific evidence, though disputed, has indicated that biofuels may not be as good for the environment as was once thought." 
A Washington, D.C. student of Georgetown University has been arrested on suspicion of a hate crime, in which he allegedly beat up another man because the victim was gay. 
News reports confirm that the victim - who also goes to the same school - recognized the alleged assailant, because of his profile and photos on Facebook. 
Washington DC Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced yesterday that Philip Cooney had been arrested after a warrant was issued for the September 9 attack, which occurred in the 1400 block of 36th Street NW (Between O and P Streets, NW). 
The victim was allegedly attacked by a group of males yelling homophobic slurs. 
"He made it a point to etch the suspect's face in his mind and remember him," Police Lt. Alberto Jova said. 
"Because of that he was able to give a very positive identification." 
The victim in this case suffered a broken thumb and cuts and bruises to his face. 
The victim suspected his attacker was also a student at Georgetown, and did extensive examination of information available on Facebook, a popular web site used by students to socialize online. 
Cooney could not be reached for comment, and will be arraigned in D.C. 
A friend of the alleged assailant was shocked at the allegations and said he is "one of the nicest and most gentle people that we know at this school." 
The attack is considered unrelated to two other hate crimes which occurred this month in the Northwest quadrant of the city. 
In order to find P-2 level officers for the United Nations Secretariat, the international organization is holding competitive recruitment competitions in 42 countries. 
Six occupational groups are being sought: Architecture, Demography, Library, Security, Science and Technology, and Statistics. 
There will be a written examination (both a general paper and a specialised paper) and an interview. 
The written examination questions are given in English and French, the two working languages of the Secretariat. 
Candidates must write their answers for the general paper in English or French. 
However, they may write their answers for the specialized paper in English, French, or any of the other four official languages of the Secretariat, i.e., Arabic, Chinese, Russian, or Spanish. 
The examinations will take place on February 28, 2006 in New York, Addis Ababa, Andorra La Vella, Athens, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva, Monaco, Nairobi, Santiago, Vaduz, Valletta, and Vienna. 
According to the UN, applicants "should hold at least a first-level university degree relevant to the occupational group in which they would like to take the examination." 
"Furthermore, applicants should not be more than 32 years old on 31 December, 2006 …" 
The following countries have been selected for the 2006 competition: Andorra, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Saudi Arabia, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Cabo Verde, Comores, Republic of Korea, Gambia, Japan, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Equatorial Guinea, Israel, Kiribati, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Liechtenstein, Maldives, Malta, San Marino, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Moldova, Monaco, Norway, Oman, Panama, Portugal, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Tonga, Tuvalu, USA, and Vietnam. 
The practice of scouting under-represented nations for highly-qualified employees is an annual occurrence. 
The United Nations Secretariat is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and it is headed by the United Nations Secretary General and assisted by a staff of international civil servants worldwide. 
It provides studies, information, and facilities needed by United Nations bodies for their meetings. 
It also carries out tasks as directed by the UN Security Council, the UN General Assembly, the UN Economic and Social Council, and other UN bodies. 
The United Nations Charter provides that the staff be chosen by application of the "highest standards of efficiency, competence, and integrity," with due regard for the importance of recruiting on a wide geographical basis. 
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received a successful coronary artery bypass surgery and was recuperating well in the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Sunday. 
Dr. Manmohan Singh is the 17th and current Prime Minister of the Republic of India. 
He also serves as the Union Minister for Finance, succeeding P. Chidambaram. 
According to critical care specialist Dr. Vijay D'Silva, who has been entrusted with his post-operative care, Singh has been given a liquid diet since morning including a cup of tea, and was speaking to doctors after the procedure. 
"The way you [doctors] are taking care of me, you should also take care of other people", Dr. D'Silva, who received his basic medical training in Nagpur and headed the ICU at Mumbai's Jaslok and Lilavati Hospitals before he helped set up the ICU at the ultra-modern Asian Heart Institute, quoted Singh as saying. 
"The second operation always takes longer and makes it difficult to reach the heart." 
"We did a total of five by-passes to clear multiple blockages in his arteries." 
"Surgery was the long term answer since there were many blockages." 
"We will take the PM out of the breathing machine in the next 2-3 hours and the PM should stay for three days in the ICU and then 4-5 days more in the hospital," Drs. Panda and D'Silva explained. 
Singh's personal physician and AIIMS cardiac surgeon, Dr. K. S. Reddy, has predicted the PM will be allowed to attend to some official work in two weeks, to most of the duties in four weeks and will be able to resume office in six weeks. 
"PM was sent to the Operation Theatre at 6:40 am, surgery was done at 8:45 am and was concluded at 7:30 pm." 
"PM was sent back to the ICU at 8:55 pm," said Dr. Reddy. 
"The team has brought about 20 boxes of special equipment with it." 
"Earlier, Dr. K. S. Reddy had discussions with Dr. Panda in connection with the line of treatment to be followed," the team of 11 doctors said. 
The team of surgeons made a 6 to 7 inch incision along the scar that marked the PM's 1990 bypass operation, and he was given five grafts. 
"The new grafts, all 3 mm long, will last the PM the rest of his life," said Dr. Pradyot Kumar Rath from the Asian Heart Institute. 
"If the PM could have been so active with all the blockages, he can be even more active now," Dr Panda said. 
Singh underwent a coronary angiography at the AIIMS hospital on Tuesday and Wednesday and was discharged on Thursday. 
The tests results revealed multiple arterial blockages and Singh returned to hospital on Friday for pre-surgery tests. 
External Minister Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, age 73, has been given the charge of Finance Ministry after he held meetings with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and then Prime Minister Singh. 
Mukherjee said he would meet the Prime Minister because he was going for treatment and when he was abroad, Singh was in hospital. 
"You should not be unnecessarily worried over and coming here in large numbers," he said. 
Mukherjee has also taken charge over some prime ministerial responsibilities, while Singh recovers, officials and media reports said. 
But no acting prime minister has been named while Singh is recuperating. 
Mukherjee will also preside over Cabinet meetings and will further handle coal, environment and forests, including information and broadcasting and finance portfolios. 
Pranab Kumar Mukherjee, a native of West Bengal, India, is the Minister for External Affairs of India in the Manmohan Singh-led Government of India. 
A prominent leader of the Indian National Congress in the 14th Lok Sabha, he is known to be a competent party apparatchik, "a prominent Gandhi family loyalist who did not win a popular election until 2004". 
Singh, a diabetic, underwent a bypass surgery in Britain in 1990 and had an angioplasty in 2004 in Delhi in which stents were introduced in his arteries. 
He had earlier been operated for a benign enlarged prostate in 2007, and for nerve compression in both wrists in 2006 and cataract removal procedure last year, officials said. 
The Congress Party, which leads the coalition Government, has said that he will remain Prime Minister if Congress and its allies win again. 
But Congress is reportedly planning to replace him, possibly within two years, with Rahul Gandhi, the 38-year-old son of Sonia Gandhi, the Italian-born Congress leader. 
"Days are not far off for Rahul Gandhi to become Indian Prime Minister," Mr Mukherjee said earlier this month. 
Rahul is an Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency. 
He is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, the most prominent political family in India. 
He is the son of current Italian-born Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991. 
Gandhi was 14 years old when his grandmother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her security guards. 
His great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was the first Prime Minister of India, and his great-great-grandfather Motilal Nehru was a distinguished leader of the Indian independence movement. 
An Israeli woman was killed early morning today by a Qassam rocket launched by Palestinian fighters from Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip. 
Rockets were launched at the southern Israeli city of Sderoth and several other locations. 
Two rockets landed in the city, killing a 57-year-old woman and injuring a 24-year-old bodyguard of the Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz, who lives in the city. 
The bodyguard lost both legs due to shrapnel wounds and is still in surgery, several hours after the attack. 
The Al-Quds Brigades, military wing of Islamic Jihad, took responsibility for the attack, saying they have launched "two sophisticated Quds rockets at a mid-range" as a retaliation for the IDF artillery shelling of Beit Hanoun earlier this month, in which 19 people were killed. 
Izz al-Din al-Qassam, Hamas' military wing, also took responsibility for the attack. 
IDF officials said today that the attack was carried out from the area around Beit Hanoun cemetery, where large-scale Qassam launching operation is underway. 
Another attack occurred hours later, when another rocket landed near several young men, injuring a 17-year-old youth severely and several others lightly. 
With today's attacks, 10 Israelis have been killed by Qassam rockets since 2002 and over 270 injured. 
Attacks by Israel aimed at Hamas fighters have killed over 400 Palestinians including many civilians, since June this year. 
The UN has certified that the Delhi Metro has aided in the reduction of greenhouse gases, earning 'carbon credits'. 
This makes the Delhi Metro the first of its kind in the world to do so. 
This comes under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the UN under the Kyoto Protocol. 
The UN said the rail based system has helped to save 630,000 tonnes of pollution a year. 
The credits to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) are worth $9.5 million for each of the next seven years. 
More credits would be given for more passengers on the system. 
The credits are designed as a financial incentive for developing countries to reduce greenhouse emissions. 
According to the DMRC, it has reduced road traffic by more than 91,000 vehicles per day. 
Studies conducted by a team of physicists at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) conclude that new synthetic NBA basketballs are less lively, more slippery when damp, and bounce more erratically than the traditional leather balls. 
James Horwitz, Chairman of the UTA Department of Physics was contacted by the Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to study the new ball. 
Horwitz asked UTA physics professor Kaushik De to lead the project. 
De's team found that the new balls are tackier when dry, but become much more slippery than leather balls when they get damp. 
Traditional leather basketballs provide more grip when they are slightly wet. 
The synthetic balls bounce 30% more sporadically, possibly due to deep embossing, and are less lively than leather basketballs. 
Some of these issues could be fixed with a variety of methods, including modification of the embossing, increasing the air pressure in the balls beyond the regulation 8.5 psi, and constantly drying the balls with towels during the game or frequently replacing them with fresh basketballs, say De and Horwitz. 
Erosion in Nigeria has lead to increasing concern on climate policy for the entire country. 
Areas in Nigeria have been subject to damages caused by increasing erosion for over 50 years. 
This issue has grown over the past years, and responsibility has been pointed at a lack of national policy. 
However, locals recognize that they too contribute to the problem. 
"Some of the problem of erosion is created by our people, by our attitude to waste disposal." 
"When we dump garbage in the drains that are built by the government we simply aggravate the problem of erosion," said state environmental commissioner Michael Egbebike. 
"And this waste combined with the force of the flood and trying to erode the soil and sometimes they actually block the channel that has been created for flood dispersion and the floods come back and actually destroy their homes, and at that point they call on government," he added. 
Geological studies of the area affected most by erosion, Anambra, have concluded that the cost of implementing a project which could effectively slow erosion are estimated at US$2 billion. 
Officials are looking for answers and help in funding a project at the Copenhagen environmental conference in December. 
"The state is struggling because the monies spent on this erosion problem are huge sums of money." 
"So we will of course need a lot of help from the international community and the federal government." 
"Alone it would be a Herculean task for Anambra state," commented Egbebike. 
On Thursday, May 26, Amnesty International urged foreign governments to investigate high-level U.S. government officials for human rights violations committed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. 
William Schulz, the executive director of the U.S. branch of Amnesty International, said that governments have an obligation under international law to conduct investigations into alleged human rights violations. 
Amnesty International released a list, which Schulz read in his speech: Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA Director George Tenet, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller, former commander of US forces in Iraq and current commander of the Joint Task Force Guantanamo, and Douglas Feith, the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. 
In 1998, General Pinochet of Chile was arrested in London after a Spanish judge issued an international arrest warrant. 
Schulz claims that similar measures could apply to members of the current U.S. administration such as Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. 
White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan has described recent criticisms of the United States regarding alleged human rights abuses as "unsupported by the facts." 
President Bush, in a press conference on Tuesday, was asked about Amnesty International's report. 
"In terms of the detainees, we've had thousands of people detained." 
"It seemed like to me they based some of their decisions on the word of — and the allegations — by people who were held in detention, people who hate America, people that had been trained in some instances to disassemble — that means not tell the truth." 
A zoo worker is dead and two visitors are seriously injured after a Siberian tiger escaped from the San Francisco Zoo in San Francisco, California in the United States and attacked three people who were inside a cafe. 
The tiger was shot dead by police who were called to the scene. 
They found the tiger attacking one of the zoo visitors when they killed it. 
"Apparently, right around closing time -- there was a pen with four tigers in it -- one of the tigers got out." 
"The tiger went into a cafe at the zoo and attacked a patron." 
"They shot the tiger, and the tiger is deceased," said zoo spokeswoman Mindy Talmadge. 
After the tiger attacked the worker, it then went on to attack the two other visitors. 
No names have been released, but reports say that the two injured visitors are male and brothers aged 18 and 19. 
The person killed is also being reported as male aged 23 who is reportedly a friend of the brothers. 
Both the injured individuals are currently receiving treatment at San Francisco General Hospital. 
All animals were then counted and accounted for after the zoo was locked down, including the three other tigers that were in the cage. 
Earlier reports suggested that all of the tigers had escaped, which later turned out to be false. 
The incident is currently under investigation, but authorities are not ruling out any possibilities, including possible negligence. 
"We won't know until tomorrow whether this was negligence or intentional or how the tiger got out," said Sgt. 
The zoo has two different kinds of tigers, two Siberian and one Sumatran tigers. 
The Siberian tigers are named Tony and Tatiana while the Sumatran is named Padang. 
It is not yet known which of the two Siberian tigers was involved in the attacks. 
Last year, another zoo worker was seriously injured by Tatiana while attempting to feed her, but survived the attack. 
The powerful storm system that flooded parts of the Midwest and the Plains moved through Ohio today. 
Six people were killed in Oklahoma, eight were killed in Texas, and one person was killed in Missouri due to the storms. 
The flooding was a result of a powerful storm system combined with the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin. 
Some parts of the U.S. saw eleven inches of rain in the matter of a few hours on Monday. 
The storms moved into Ohio on Tuesday, flooding a seven-mile (11 km) stretch of Interstate 75 in northwestern Ohio. 
Sheriff's Lt. Neil Riedlinger said, water was over 3 feet (1 m) deep in some areas of downtown Carey, Ohio, and a local nursing home had to be evacuated. 
And, about 200 people were evacuated in the Akron, Ohio area due to severe flooding. 
Southwestern Wisconsin was under another flash flood watch Tuesday night and Wednesday, with a chance of rain through Friday. 
On Monday, the heavy rain flooded street, streams, and a sewage treatment plant in Iowa. 
Wind gusts of up to 82 mph (132 km/h) and golf-ball sized hail were reported in Nebraska from these storms. 
In Minnesota, a dive team and a National Guard helicopter were called in to search for Jered Lorenz, 37, whose car was found overturned lodged in between rocks along a creek. 
Numerous mud slides were reported all across Minnesota, an area believed to be among the hardest hit areas according to meteorologists. 
Ben Tracy of WCCO-TV in Rushford, Minnesota reported, "It's the worst flooding anyone here has seen in 30 years." 
Orange X's in the area mark buildings that have already been searched for survivors. 
The United States Marshals Service working together with nearly 960 other law enforcement agencies recently concluded a week-long operation, Operation FALCON, which succeeded in the arrest of 10,340 fugitives across the United States and elsewhere. 
Other regional sweeps have been conducted before; but this was the first of its kind at the national level and resulted in the highest number of arrests ever recorded in a single operation. 
Operation FALCON, which stands for "Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally", received the cooperation of more than 3,000 law enforcement agents from the US Marshals, state, county and city level, and other US agencies. 
Operations were also coordinated internationally with INTERPOL and the US State Department, resulting in the detainment of 16 foreign and international fugitives. 
Operation FALCON was conducted during a one week period, April 4-10, 2005, chosen to coincide with National Crime Victim's Rights Week, April 10-16, the dates being chosen to "honor the victims" of violent crime in America. 
“By taking violent fugitives off the streets and putting them behind bars where they belong,” said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, “we've honored the victims and made our streets safer.” 
The focus of Operation FALCON was on apprehending fugitives wanted for violent crimes, gang activities, drug trafficking, and sex-related offenses. 
Arrests were made in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and in several International locales. 
“I applaud the achievements of every Deputy Marshal, police officer, detective, trooper, investigator, deputy sheriff, and special agent who hit the street virtually around-the-clock for seven days,” said Robert J. Finan II, the Marshals Service’s Assistant Director for Investigative Services. 
He continued, “Also of note is that during the course of this initiative, there were no serious incidents or serious injuries to either law enforcement officers or those who were taken into custody.” 
Benjamin Mullany, the British man who was shot along with his wife while on holiday in Antigua has died. 
He and his wife, Catherine had been on the last day of their honeymoon when both were shot during what seems to be a botched robbery on July 29. 
Doctors were unaware if he knew that his wife did not survive the attack. 
Ben was flown back to Britain on August 2 after a 22 hour operation to try and save his life. 
He died at Morriston Hospital, in Swansea, Wales where he remained unresponsive. 
The couple married on July 12 and later flew out to the holiday island. 
With the death of both Catherine and Ben the murder figures for Antigua have been placed into double figures. 
Prime minister Baldwin Spencer has asked for Britain's help during the investigation. 
A "critical" campaign ad, launched by the US Republican Party, that took a swipe at Canada has been pulled. 
"Canada can take care of North Korea," a man in the television ad says. 
The ad's purpose was to blast Democratic Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr, who is running against Republican Bob Corker. 
The comment about Canada is secondary to the ad's first purpose. 
An official for the Republican National Committee told NBC the ad had been pulled because it had "run its course," just one day after party chairman Ken Mehlman defended the ad and said it would continue to run. 
"Just imagine if I registered a complaint every time my country or president was criticized," said the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins. 
"Compare that (one ad) with the criticism early this year during the (federal) election that happened every day in Canada ...ads that were run consistently throughout your country." 
A source within the Canadian government told the Canadian Press that Canadian ambassador to the U.S. Michael Wilson called the White House to remind the Republicans of the heavy load Canada is carrying in Afghanistan. 
The Canadian Embassy in Washington has been on an advertising campaign, plastering subway stations in Washington with posters depicting Canadian troops in Afghanistan. 
There is also a website featuring military cooperation between Canada and the U.S. 
The Canadian ambassador to the U.S. has issued a complaint to Washington in response to the television ad. 
The 30 second ad (see source below) can now be viewed on YouTube. 
A wet late Spring season's increase in rainfall helped duck populations rebound in the northern Great Plains near the U.S.-Canadian border. 
A dry Winter and resulting low ground water levels threatened duck nesting grounds in the area. 
Much to the relief of duck hunters, who feared a possible 2005 ban on duck hunting, the most-recent waterfowl survey released this week by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service showed duck populations in South Dakota on the rebound. 
This contrasted to a May survey that showed fewer ducks and waterfowl nesting areas in the state with the population of breeding ducks numbering 1.6 million, down from 1.7 million in 2004. 
The same May survey indicated that duck habitats, specifically ponds, had declined more than 35 percent from the historical average. 
However, late Spring rains reportedly improved wetland conditions and irrigated grasslands for grazing duck broods and re-nesting hens. 
The figures are used to set duck-hunting limits for the fall season, which begins in August. 
"I have observed many duck broods across eastern South Dakota in July, and grassland cover looks great statewide," Spencer Vaa, a waterfowl biologist with the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks said in an Associated Press report. 
Germany's minister of defence, Franz-Josef Jung (CDU), has proposed to shoot down planes hijacked by terrorists. 
Although the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany decided in February 2006 that shooting down a hijacked plane would only be lawful if there were no innocent passengers on the plane, Jung announced in public that he would give the order to attack if the basic principles of the constitution were in danger or if the plane posed a tremendous threat to the people. 
Representatives of the grand coalition differed in their views regarding this question. 
A member of the Social Democrat Party disagreed with Jung and advised him against contradicting the court's judgment. 
The opposition in parliament even called Jung an "enemy of the constitution" and called for him to resign. 
Jung was supported by members of his own party which underlined the necessity of shooting down a hijacked plane in order to save thousands of lives. 
The dispute between the two coalition partners concerning new laws to ensure the security of Germany remains unresolved. 
The pilots of the German airforce have made it clear that they won't bring down a hijacked plane due to fundamental legal and moral doubts. 
In the United States and other European countries such as France, Great Britain or the Czech Republic laws were passed which give the government permission to shoot down a passenger plane under the control of terrorists. 
Britain has stated that it will reconsider the asylum application of a gay Iranian teenager who believes he will be persecuted for his sexuality if he is deported back to Iran. 
The announcement Friday by the British government came after the European Parliament urged a resolution to the case and said that Iran has a history of torturing and executing homosexuals. 
Britain had initially rejected an asylum request by 19-year-old Mehdi Kazemi, and Kazemi fled to the Netherlands, where his case was turned down and he returned to Britain. 
British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith released a statement on the case: "Following representations made on behalf of Mehdi Kazemi, and in the light of new circumstances since the original decision was made, I have decided that Mr. Kazemi's case should be reconsidered on his return to the UK from the Netherlands." 
Eighty members of Britain's upper house of Parliament sent a letter to Jacqui Smith, appealing to the government to "show compassion and allow Mr. Kazemi to have a safe haven in the United Kingdom." 
Roger Roberts of the House of Lords initiated the petition, and stated: "There is no doubt that he will be persecuted and possibly face state-sanctioned murder if he is forced to return." 
Simon Hughes, Member of Parliament for North Southwark and Bermondsey, said he would support Kazemi if he returns to the United Kingdom: "I hope Mr Kazemi will now come back to Britain where arrangements are already in place for an urgent meeting with him, his family, specialist lawyers and myself to prepare a new application to the Home Office." 
Gay rights advocate and spokesman for the British gay rights group OutRage!, David Allison commented "It's cruel to even suggest sending him back …" 
Ben Summerskill of the British gay rights organization, Stonewall, said: "We are obviously delighted that the home secretary has listened to the representations that were made in this case …" 
"There are overwhelming reasons why people should not be deported to Iran in the current circumstances, and it is important that Britain is seen as a safe haven." 
His uncle spoke with CNN on condition of anonymity, and said that his nephew was studying in Britain in 2006 when his partner in Iran was arrested and hanged after being charged with sodomy. 
Kazemi's uncle told CNN: "Under torture and pressure, (the partner) revealed Mehdi's name as his boyfriend." 
Gay sex is considered a crime in Iran, and is punishable by death. 
After Britain's Home Office initially denied Kazemi's asylum application, he fled to Canada and then the Netherlands, where he was detained. 
Kazemi faces deportation from the Netherlands to Britain, after their highest court rejected his plea on Tuesday. 
The Netherlands' highest court rejected the case, citing EU law that Kazemi's case was the responsibility of the country where he first requested asylum. 
A resolution passed by the European Parliament Thursday asked EU states "to find a common solution to ensure that Mehdi Kazemi is granted asylum or protection on EU soil and not sent back to Iran." 
The resolution also stated that Iranian authorities "routinely detain, torture and execute persons, notably homosexuals" and that "Mehdi's partner has already been executed, while his father has threatened him with death." 
In a September 2007 speech at Columbia University, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was challenged by University president Lee Bollinger for Iran's treatment of gays. 
Ahmadinejad stated that "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country," drawing laughter from the audience. 
"In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don't know who has told you that we have it." 
According to Iranian human rights activists, over 4,000 gay men and lesbians have been executed since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. 
Belgian authorities have confirmed that at least eighteen people died in a head-on collision between two passenger trains in the suburbs of Brussels. 
Other reports suggest that the death toll could be as high as 25. 
More than 125 passengers are reported injured, 11 of them "very seriously". 
Rescuers were still trying to free bodies from the wreckage of the trains more than eight hours after the crash, which occurred in snowy conditions at 08:28 local time (0728 UTC) near the station of Buizingen in the municipality of Halle, about 15 kilometres southwest of the Belgian capital. 
The collision saw the first two carriages of one train being forced upwards into the air over the first carriage of the second train. 
Eyewitnesses described the collision as "brutal", with passengers being thrown "violently" around the carriages. 
Television footage showed the two smashed locomotives forced up in the air, with passenger cars strewn over a wide area and dazed survivors wandering at the crash site. 
Train speed at the time of the crash was not immediately known. 
There are reports that one of the trains ran a stop signal. 
Initial reports suggest that the Leuven–Braine-le-Comte train was on the wrong line. 
It is not known if the train went through a red signal or if there was a problem with the signalling. 
A "well informed source" quoted by French-language daily Le Soir suggested that there might have been an electrical failure in the signalling system. 
The collision occurred on one of the main access lines to Brussels-South station, about 14 kilometres (9 miles) from the Belgian capital. 
It caused "major damage" to overhead power cables, especially on the Brussels–Mons and Brussels–Tournai lines, and high speed rail services between Brussels and France and the UK have been suspended. 
Thalys services were temporarily halted due to the accident, with four of its trains in the region being diverted to alternative stations. 
Thalys services between Brussels and Cologne have now resumed, but services to Amsterdam and Paris are still suspended. 
One passenger on board, Christian Wampach, described conditions on board the train, "It was a nightmare." 
"There were a number of people injured in my car but I think all the dead were in the first car." 
Another passenger, Patricia Lallemand, said, "When we came out we saw dead bodies lying next to the tracks, some mutilated." 
The famous Greek lawyers, Sakis Kechagioglou and George Nikolakopoulos have been imprisoned in the Athens' jail of Korydallus, as they were found guilty of graft and corruption. 
As a result of this, a big scandal within the Greek legal community has been raised through the exposure of illegal actions that judges, lawyers, solicitors and attorneys have done during the previous years. 
A few weeks ago, after the information published by the journalist Makis Triantafylopoulos in his popular Television show "Zoungla" in Alpha TV, the member of Parliament and lawyer, Petros Mantouvalos was abdicated as members of his office had been involved in illegal graft and corruption. 
Moreover, top judge Evangelos Kalousis is imprisoned as he found guilty of corruption and degenerate behaviour. 
Except from journalists' research about scandals in the legal Community of Greece, accusations from well-known lawyers and attorneys such as the famous Athens' lawyer Alexis Kougias, against colleagues have as a result a greater dialogue and discussion in the country upon this important issue. 
A decades-old building collapsed along Ma Tau Wai Road in Hong Kong at about 1:30pm on Friday, local time. 
That building was located at 45J, Ma Tau Wai Road in Hung Hom. 
A shop on its ground floor was undergoing renovations when the building collapsed. 
Firefighters arrived at the scene to search survivors and they asked residents in the buildings nearby to evacuate the area. 
Chief Executive Donald Tsang called for an investigation into the cause of the building collapse. 
The government required all old buildings with similar structures to undergo inspection, according to Secretary for Development Carrie Lam. 
The government has confirmed that four people were dead in the incident. 
Rescue efforts ended on Saturday morning when the government confirmed that no one was missing. 
Lam visited the scene on Saturday afternoon and sought advice from the police and Buildings Department. 
Secretary for Labour & Welfare Matthew Cheung said that the government would do its best to meet the victims' needs. 
The government had inspected its five-storey structure before the incident and had ordered repairs. 
After the tragedy, the government announced that it would inspect buildings older than 50 years in one month. 
The government has restricted access to buildings at 45G and 45H as they were in danger. 
Relatively unknown Indiana Senator Evan Bayh is taking steps to make a run for U.S. President during the 2008 election cycle. 
Bayh has formed a political action committee (PAC) and already is a leading money-raiser among Democratic party hopefuls. 
The Hoosier politician also is touting his appeal to traditionally republican voters. 
Australia's coastwatch has found a missing boat which with more than 40 passengers after it had left Indonesia's Papua province, reportedly bound for Australia. 
Initial reports say the vessel has been spotted off Cape York, three days after it was reported missing. 
The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) says the boat was carrying people who left for security reasons as a campaign against Indonesian rule of the Melanesian province continues. 
Any application for possible asylum can only be submitted to the Australian authorities if they reach the Australian mainland. 
Australia operates a detention centre in Nauru to process people intercepted at sea while trying to reach Australia illegally. 
The AWPA said the group had been forced to flee Papua by boat because the usual way of leaving the province — by crossing the eastern border into Papua New Guinea — had been made more difficult by increased surveillance. 
"No one (has) come from West Papua in boats before like this, seeking political asylum," said a spokesperson for AWPA. 
Fears for the safety of the asylum-seekers mounted over the weekend after the group failed to turn up on Australia's Cape York Peninsula after leaving Papua's Merauke port on Friday morning. 
The group had reportedly been making the 250 kilometre journey across the Torres Strait in a 25-metre traditional boat. 
"A vessel fitting the information reported was located by Coastwatch at about 2pm at Cape York," an immigration department spokeswoman told AFP. 
Customs and government officials were on their way to meet the boat, she added. 
The plane reportedly skidded off the wet runway, crossed a busy thoroughfare before careening into a fuel depot and warehouse ultimately bursting into flames. 
"The plane accelerated when it reached the end of the runway and tried to take off again to avoid the road, but it crashed into the building and exploded," Junior Matos told AFP. 
Authorities believe that all 180 people onboard the plane have died, and a further 15 people on the ground are feared dead as well. 
Low clouds and heavy rain were reported at the time of the crash. 
Additionally, the runway has had a history of problems with standing water. 
Neither of these factors have been linked to the cause of the crash at this point. 
Rodrigo Pinho, state attorney, said the authorities will thoroughly investigate "to determine the cause and to identify who was responsible". 
With the announcement Monday of €2 million in new funding from the European Union (EU), the Republic of Djibouti's Ministry of Agriculture hopes to provide some relief to an estimated 25,000 rural inhabitants suffering through severe drought conditions. 
The money, to be channeled through UNICEF for its water and sanitation program, will be used to develop new wells and improve existing ones. 
UNICEF is to contribute a further €60,000, as well as technical expertise to the Ministry of Agriculture, who will carry out the bulk of the work. 
At the same time, the UN aid agency World Food Program (WFP) indicated that it is working with the Ministry of Agriculture and UNICEF to gradually shift Djibouti's reliance on emergency aid to a Food for Work program, which it hopes will assist nomadic herders in Djibouti with long-term sustainability. 
"What we are trying to do together with the Ministry of Agriculture and UNICEF is, for example to dig wells so that despite drought, these herders will be able to irrigate their fields," said Simon Pluess, WFP spokesman. 
"And, together with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, we will try and promote vegetable gardens." 
Djibouti has survived harsh drought conditions for the past 5 years. 
Groundwater is the primary source of water for drinking and irrigation, but has been difficult to exploit and is often contaminated. 
Almost 50 percent of people in rural Djibouti do not have ready access to properly developed source of drinking water. 
And, due to the ongoing drought, water availability for livestock is limited. 
Livestock have shown signs of distress and, subsequently, milk production is down substantially. 
Nearly half of all families in Djibouti's northwest were forced to migrate to find pasture for their livestock. 
As the droughts continue, the importance of properly maintained wells has become apparent. 
Years ago there were more rains and also more pastureland for cattle. 
"Now it is good for us to have functioning wells so that we can keep cattle here," said Anou Amada, farmer in the village of Andoli. 
A 2006 survey indicated that only 15 percent of wells in Djibouti were equipped with a protective concrete wall to prevent contamination. 
Andoli's well is one of many undergoing repair through WFP's Food for Work project. 
“WFP couldn’t do this alone, so we work with the Ministry of Agriculture and UNICEF to dig wells and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization for vegetable gardens,” said Benoit Thiry, Director, WFP in Djibouti. 
When the project is completed in 2008, it will have increased Djibouti's water pump capacity by adding 25 solar-power pumps, which would compliment the current 61 diesel-powered pumps. 
"The advantage of solar...is that it is much cheaper and requires less maintenance," said Omar Habib, UNICEF communication specialist. 
"We want the people to participate and to appropriate these pumping stations." 
"The government’s role in the long term should be as restricted as possible," he added. 
NASA launched the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program space probes, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) on board the Atlas V rocket at 5:32 p.m. EDT (2132 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 
Due to nearby thunderstorms the launch was delayed about 20 minutes from the scheduled launch time of 5.12 p.m. EDT (2112 GMT). 
The mission will be NASA's first unmanned rocket expedition to the moon in a decade. 
The aim of the LRO mission is to spend at least a year in a low polar orbit above the surface of the moon to gather neccesary data for future missions and longer lunar expeditions. 
It will be orbiting approximately 30 miles (48 km) above the moon, trying to find safe landing sites, locating potential resources, characterizing the radiation environment and testing new technology. 
The 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) spent upper stage Centaur motor of the Atlas V launch vehicle will strike the surface of the moon at 9,000 km/h (5,600 mph) resulting in a 350 ton (317 metric ton) plume of debris rising between 6 to 30 miles (10 to 48 km) above the moon's surface. 
From this impact, scientists hope to be able to detect any water ice or vapor using the LCROSS satellite which will crash land nearby four minutes later. 
Astronomers who own amateur-class telescopes with apertures as small as 10 to 12 inches may be able to sight the ejecta cloud as it will have a period of brightness about one minute after impact. 
The launch was originally planned for yesterday, but delayed for the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, which was itself later delayed again due to another hydrogen fuel leak. 
King Fahd of Saudi Arabia has been admitted to a hospital in Riyadh for testing. 
Unofficial sources say that the King, who has been ill since 1995, might have "water in his lungs", possibly indicating pneumonia. 
Crown Prince Abdullah has performed most of the duties of the aging monarch in recent years, and is a very likely candidate for succession of the throne should King Fahd succumb to his illness. 
This week saw the English-language version of Wikipedia, the collaboratively written online encyclopedia, reach 2,000 featured articles with the inclusion of the article El Señor Presidente. 
Featured articles (FAs) meet Wikipedia's highest standards for quality, accuracy, neutrality, completeness, and style, and thus are considered the best articles on Wikipedia. 
The Wikipedia team that carries out the assessment and quality control before conferring the status of featured articles promoted five articles to FA status at the same time: Walter de Coventre, Maximian, El Señor Presidente, Lord of the Universe, and Red-billed Chough. 
With five promoted at the same time, conferring the status of 2,000th on one is an arbitrary decision and in some respects any of these articles could actually make a claim to the honour. 
The professor of the class, Jon Beasley-Murray, began using Wikipedia as a collaborative space where his students could both do coursework and provide a type of virtual public service. 
Thus, he created a Wikipedia project, Murder Madness and Mayhem, that focussed on creating articles relating to the Latin American literature covered in his class. 
The Wikinews team contacted Prof. Beasley-Murray, who agreed to be interviewed for this story. 
Thus far the project has created seven good articles in addition to the 2,000th featured article. 
The United States Border Patrol has announced that a Border agent, Brian Terry aged 40, was shot and killed in Southern Arizona near the border with Mexico on Tuesday night after a shoot out with suspected bandits who were targeting illegal immigrants. 
Reports state that at least four suspects are in custody with one suspect still at large. 
Terry was killed at around 11:00 p.m. local time (PST) Tuesday night near Rio Rico. 
Border Patrol spokesman Eric Cantu told the Associated Press that the FBI is probing the agent's death and had few details at the time. 
Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Protection also released a statement saying, "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Terry family for their tragic loss." 
"Our commitment to Agent Terry and his family is that we will do everything possible to bring to justice those responsible for this despicable act." 
U.S. flags across Arizona will be flown at half-staff in honor of Terry. 
Local government officials have said that at least eleven people were killed on Sunday in southern Afghanistan by a roadside bomb. 
The governor's spokesman, Daud Ahmadi, said to media that "a civilian car struck a roadside bomb in Nawzad district." 
According to the spokesman, a family was riding on a tractor with a truck-bed hitched on back, when it hit the explosives on a central road; all of the people aboard died, including two children and two women. 
The incident comes several weeks after soldiers from the US, NATO, and Afghanistan, initiated an offensive against the Taleban in Helmand's Marjah and Nad Ali areas on February 13. 
On the same day that the Yad Vashem Holocaust History Museum was opened this year, a lesser-known museum and educational center was opened by a Muslim man in the Israeli town of Nazareth. 
This unique museum, intended to raise awareness of past Jewish suffering in the eyes of Palestinians through historical photographs and Arabic-language educational materials, is believed to be the first-ever Arab holocaust museum. 
Nazareth is of course well-known to Christians as the site where Joseph and Mary brought up the child Jesus. 
In modern times, Nazareth is the largest Arab town in Israel, having many self-proclaimed Palestinians, a Muslim majority, and a 35% Arab-Christian minority. 
The museum's owner Khaleed Mahameed, a 43-year old lawyer, husband, and father of two, said that he learned about the holocaust during his time at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 
He spent about 20,000 shekels (US$4,500) of his own money in order to create the museum, despite the alienation of his own brother, the rejection of the Arab news media, and a public that is slow to accept his ideas. 
Mahameed purchased about 80 photographs from the more well-known museum at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, site of Israel's national memorial to the Shoah (holocaust), located on the Har Hazikaron (Mount of Remembrance). 
The newly enlarged Israeli museum at Yad Vashem, opened March 15 with the attendance of President Moshe Katsav, replaced what was the world's first holocaust museum, established in 1972. 
As part of his effort to educate Palestinians, Mahameed has printed 2,000 booklets in Arabic describing photographs of Nazi horrors, offered stipends to Arab students of the subject, and started a new museum website (Alkaritha.org) with some translations offered in English, Arabic, and Hebrew. 
Mahameed believes contributions such as his are necessary to the Mideast peace effort. 
"Understanding this and the fact that personal security is perhaps the major concern of Jews in Israel and elsewhere, as a direct outcome of the Holocaust and the feelings of persecution, is extremely important." 
"If we, as Arabs, can dissipate these concerns and show understanding over what happened it will help create the climate for real dialogue in which Israeli Jews and especially decision-makers will be able to have a greater understanding of the suffering of Arab citizens and the Palestinians." 
"This, in turn, would hopefully lead towards a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and an end to discriminatory policies towards Arab citizens and the acceptance that they deserve equal rights." 
Mahameed is not without his critics, not only among Arabs who say that Mahameed should do more to draw attention to the situation of present-day Palestinians, but also representatives of the Israel office of the Jewish Anti-Defamation League (ADL), who have stated without visiting the museum that they consider some of the attitudes expressed on Mahameed's website to be anti-Semitic. 
"The establishment of the first Holocaust museum for the Arabic-speaking public can be an important first step in educating the Arab world on the unique horrors of the destruction of European Jewry." 
"Particularly now, at a time when Holocaust denial is rife both within and outside of the Arab world, the attempt to teach young Arabs about the Holocaust and to learn moral and ethical lessons from it is a worthy pursuit." 
"If however, the Arab Institute for Holocaust Research and Education is, as noted on its Web site, ideologically grounded in the belief that it was the Palestinian people who paid the price for European guilt over the Holocaust by imposing what they believe is an illegitimate Jewish state in the heart of the Arab world then the institute will merely propagate the classic anti-Israel use of the Holocaust and promote anti-Semitism." 
Friday was Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day in Israel, a day of solemn reflection on the loss of 5 to 7 million Jewish lives due to unprovoked Nazi aggression in World War II. 
Images, films and documentaries of the Holocaust are typically broadcast throughout the Israeli news media on that day, deeply affecting the survivors and their children. 
However, these images do not typically reach a Palestinian audience, according to museum visitor Mufeed Khattib last month. 
"Perhaps I didn't see it well because it was on Israeli TV," he said. 
"It is different for me that an Arab man did this." 
New Zealand's national airline, Air New Zealand has announced that they will be flying direct to Canada. 
Flights from Auckland to Vancouver will operate three times a week between November and March, to coincide with the peak travel season between the two destinations, as Canadians escape winter and New Zealand skiers head to the Canadian slopes. 
46,000 Canadians visit New Zealand and 16,000 New Zealanders visit Canada each year, starting at the end of this year. 
The reinstatement of the Vancouver link restores a route phased out in the 1990s. 
Canadian visitors make up two percent of international visitor arrivals, however they stay longer and spend more in New Zealand than many other visitors spent an average of 29 days in New Zealand in 2006, and spent almost $3400 each. 
In total, they contributed $136 million to New Zealand's economy. 
Tourism New Zealand chief executive, George Hickton has said that the direct flights will make New Zealand look much more appealing to the Canadian market. 
The Tourism Industry Association New Zealand say that the new route has the added benefit of freeing up seats on Air New Zealand's busy routes from San Francisco and Los Angeles. 
This unusual hurricane season, one of the most active in history, has produced another strange storm. 
Category 1 Hurricane Vince, which was formed from a non-tropical low today, is forecast to head east towards Portugal, rather than west as is usual. 
Vince caught forecasters by surprise, since the waters in the area are around 25ºC. 
Few expected Vince to even form in the cool waters, much less to become a hurricane. 
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center do not expect Vince to be a hurricane for long. 
It is forecast to weaken as it moves towards Portugal, and to finally become extratropical. 
In about 48 hours, they believe Vince will be absorbed by a front in Portugal or Spain. 
A rescue operation is underway after sixteen-year-old American Abby Sunderland, attempting to sail around the world by herself, lost contact with her family while in the Indian Ocean. 
Sunderland, from Thousand Oaks, California, had originally hoped to become the youngest person to sail around the world nonstop by herself. 
She departed from Marina del Rey, California on January 23, 2010 and was about halfway through the attempt when Sunderland's family lost communication with her Thursday morning. 
That night, an Australian plane was able to locate her 40-foot (12.2-metre) long boat, Wild Eyes, which had lost its mast earlier. 
Sunderland had been sailing amid a rough storm in the Indian Ocean early Thursday when her boat was flipped over. 
After losing contact, the teenager activated two manual distress radiobeacons, or EPIRBs, and a search-and-rescue operation was formed. 
As part of the operation, a Qantas Airways Airbus A330 was sent over the ocean by Australian authorities. 
The plane's crew was able to make radio contact with Sunderland, and confirmed that she was not injured and that her boat was upright, but was unable to continue sailing. 
The closest rescue boat, a French fishing ship, was about 24 hours away from Sunderland's location when she was found, and is expected to meet her later today. 
She was stranded about 2000 miles (3218.7 kilometres) southwest of Australia's coast. 
Near the beginning of the voyage, she made a stop at Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, after the boat's generators were not producing enough power. 
She resumed the attempt in February, but autopilot problems forced another stop at Cape Town, South Africa for repairs in April, and she had to give up going for the unassisted record. 
Sunderland's parents, Laurence and Marianne, have vigorously defended against claims that their daughter was too young to be attempting such a feat. 
They have also been criticized for allowing her to depart the United States at the beginning of the year, because Sunderland would likely arrive in the Indian Ocean during the region's winter. 
Marianne Sunderland has said that Abby would likely not try "something of this magnitude again." 
Last year, her brother Zac had completed a circumnavigation when he sailed solo around the world at the age of seventeen. 
She had begun preparing for this journey at the age of thirteen. 
With development of Microsoft's Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) browser almost complete, Microsoft announced on Friday that it is time for IE6 users to move away from the antiquated 10-year-old browser. 
On a new website, "The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown", Microsoft has launched an aggressive campaign to persuade users to stop using IE6 and update to a newer IE. 
Its goal is to decrease IE6 users to less than one percent. 
IE's various versions accounted for 70 percent of the market in 2009; this has dropped to approximately 56 percent today. 
Mozilla Firefox, its main rival, has been actively increasing its market share while the recently released Google Chrome is also quickly gaining users. 
PC World's recent analysis of its own web traffic statistics concluded, "Usually, Internet Explorer is the #2 browser after Firefox, but over the past 30 days it's been #3, a couple of points behind Safari-and nearly tied with Chrome." 
"But if it isn't, and Chrome continues to surge, IE could fall to fourth place." 
As they design their web pages for the newer browsers with advanced web technology and geared to the newest web core markup language HTML 5, they are forced to accommodate older out-of-date technology to support IE6 users. 
Also, not mentioned on Microsoft's "The Internet Explorer 6 Countdown" site, are the numerous security vulnerabilities putting the browser at risk of being hacked. 
The Internet security firm Secunia.com, has said that as of March 4, 2011, IE6 has 277 vulnerabilities; 39 percent of these are rated "highly critical". 
Microsoft says that the latest versions of Internet Explorer provide the user with enhanced protection from these attacks and threats. 
Microsoft's Internet Explorer 6 is one of the most successful software products ever as measured by its durability and the massive numbers of people who have used it. 
But it has outlived its usefulness, and Microsoft no longer wants to support it. 
As the start date of the former Iraqi leader's trial approaches, the chief judge of the tribunal has stated that the fate of Saddam Hussein will be broadcast on live television. 
In a statement to CNN, Iraqi national security advisor Muwaffaq Rubaie said that "...this is going to be a fair, just trial with a defense counsel in there, with a proper prosecuting counsel as well there..." 
The first charge, filed earlier this month, alleges Hussein's responsibility in the 1982 killing of 143 residents of Dujail, in which he was the target of a botched assassination attempt. 
The tribunal, which was set up in December 2003, has been marred by delays. 
There are accusations of bias from the defense counsel of Hussein, as well as fears for the judges' safety which have consistently pushed the trial back. 
The defense team has challenged the tribunal's legitimacy and stated they have not been given enough time to prepare. 
This concern has been echoed in the past by some human rights groups, "It's really critical that it's done right," says Michael Posner, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights. 
"For those who believe in international justice and accountability for human rights crimes, the trial of Saddam Hussein is a rare opportunity to test the system and make it work." 
Many Iraqis, particularly Shia and Kurdish, want to see Hussein tried for chemical gas attacks on the Kurds in the 1980s. 
In 1988, one of these chemical attacks killed as many as 5,000 people. 
As well, many Iraqis want Hussein punished for reprisals against a Shia uprising in 1991. 
The trial is set to begin on Wednesday, October 19th. 
United States Presidential candidates Senators Barack Obama and John McCain each participated in a live forum broadcast from Saddleback Church in Lake Forest. 
The forum, moderated by pastor Rick Warren, was scheduled to showcase the candidates to an evangelical segment of the population, who account for 26.3% of the American public. 
During the forum the candidates were each individually asked a series of identical questions by the pastor, with Senator Barack Obama going first and Senator John McCain taking his turn second. 
Senator McCain traveled to the church and waited in a green room while Obama was speaking, and by agreement did not listen to the questions or Senator Obama's responses. 
When asked whom they believed were the three wisest people to rely on as president, Obama answered that his wife and grandmother were at the top of his list along with a mix of Republican and Democratic Senators. 
McCain comprised his list of a range of people: the architect of the troop surge in Iraq, General David Petraeus; Democratic Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis; and the former CEO of eBay, Meg Whitman. 
In response to being questioned about their toughest decisions in life, Obama answered that deciding to oppose the Iraq War in 2002 was his toughest, while McCain cited his refusal to leave his men behind in a POW camp in Vietnam when given the chance. 
On some philosophical questions the candidates differed in their moral stances. 
When asked when they believed individuals should be given human rights, Obama responded that the question was "above [his] pay grade" while McCain decisively replied that he believed it should occur "at the moment of conception." 
On the concept of evil, Obama related it to the situation in Darfur and on America's streets. 
McCain related it to radical Islamic extremism relaying that he believed evil should be "defeated." 
He then promised that as president he would hunt Osama bin Laden to the "gates of hell." 
They both answered that the biggest moral dilemmas in their lives were personal mistakes they had made when they were younger. 
For Obama, it was his drug use, for McCain it was his failed first marriage. 
Both candidates were on the stage together briefly between the interviews and shook hands and hugged in a moment symbolic of Warren's call for civility at the beginning and end of the forum. 
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has stated that the cholera outbreak that has struck the African country of Zimbabwe seems to have passed its peak. 
The WHO said that "while data collection and verification remain a challenge throughout the country with the effect that weekly statistics are not always accurate or complete, the overall trend over the last 2 months is of a decreasing number of cases and deaths." 
"The overall trend over the last two months is of a decreasing number of cases and deaths," the WHO said. 
The number of new cholera cases in the week ending March 14 was 2,076, almost half of the 3,812 infections reported the week before, and 8,000 per week in the beginning of February. 
The WHO stated that the fatality rate per week dropped from a peak of 6% in January to 2.3% this month. 
91,164 total cases were reported as of March 17 since the epidemic started in August of last year, with a total of 4,307 deaths. 
The cholera epidemic is the deadliest in Africa for a decade and a half. 
US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, after several months of controversy, today announced his resignation after 13 years of public service. 
While he did not elaborate on the circumstances of his departure, he referred to his tenure as a "remarkable journey" and said he had "lived the American dream." 
Critics of the embattled Attorney General have called for his ousting for several months, largely over his conflicts with the US Congress over the Bush Administration's warrant-less wiretapping program, and his firing of nine US attorneys. 
Observers have expressed surprise at the sudden announcement, as Gonzales had said as recently as the weekend of the 18th of August that he had planned to stay through the end of President Bush's second term. 
Critics of the Attorney General, most notably Harry Reid, majority leader for the US Senate, have welcomed the announcement, as Gonzales had been one of the most controversial members of the Bush Administration. 
President Bush spoke on his "close friend's" resignation saying that he has reluctantly accepted the resignation, but noted that Gonzales' name had been "dragged through the mud for political reasons." 
Throughout the recent controversy Bush has stood next to Gonzales. 
Paul Clement, the current Solicitor General, will serve as the acting Attorney General until a replacement has been confirmed by the Senate. 
The Peel P50, a single door, three wheel microcar went on display at New York's Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum on Monday. 
The Peel Engineering Company manufactured 50 to 100 of the one-seater vehicles which weighed 130 lb (59 kg), and are 52.8 in (134 cm) in length, 47 in (120 cm) in height and 39 in (99 cm) in width. 
The little car can travel as fast as 38 mph (61 kph), and comes equipped with a handle on the car so the driver can pull the car to back up. 
Only twenty of the vehicles have survived since 1963, and the original price of £199 has soared to approximately £40,000 (US$ 65,000) today. 
Former governor of New York Hugh Carey has died at the age of 92. 
Carey was the 51st governor of the state and held office from 1975 until 1982 as a Democrat. 
During his tenure he held more power over the finances of New York City than any other governor, before or after Carey's term. 
He saw the city through the financial crisis of the 1970's. 
The office of current governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the death. 
In a statement, Cuomo said “Governor Carey led our state during a time of great financial turmoil and pulled us back from the brink of bankruptcy and economic ruin.” 
Carey ran for Governor during the 1974 election after being urged by his wife Helen. 
Helen was battling cancer and died 18 days before Carey announced his intentions to run. 
During his first year in office, the state was in a financial crisis and banks had stopped giving the city access to credit due to a $5 billion deficit. 
He managed to come to a agreement with the bankers that heavy spending cuts needed to be made. 
Carey was a father of 14 children and grandfather to 25. 
Two of his sons died in a car accident in 1969. 
Another son, Paul became a commissioner for the Securities Exchange Commission and died in 2001 after a battle with cancer. 
Prince Laurent of Belgium, the youngest son of King Albert II of Belgium, has been questioned last night by the federal police and is attending today's court session in Hasselt in a marine fraud case that has gripped Belgian media since last December. 
He arrived in a Smart car and was accompanied by his lawyer and former politician Fred Erdman. 
The case turns around funds of the Belgian Navy that have been used to beautify the Prince's villa in Tervuren. 
In total, € 2.2 million was supposedly diverted from the marine's purchasing services using false invoices. 
Roughly € 185 000 was allegedly used to paint the Prince's villa, install lights in the garden, for the purchase of carpet and furniture, and for his secretariat and for animal clinics the Prince supports via his Foundation. 
Twelve marine officers and contractors are being accused of document fraud, collusion, bribery, embezzlement of government money etc. and could face 10 years in prison. 
The money was part of the budget that wasn't spent at the end of the year, and which would flow back to the government if the army didn't spend it. 
The Prince, who is also an officer in the navy, is being treated only as a witness in this case, there have been no charges against him. 
The Attorney General in Hasselt Marc Rubens has said that there are no elements in the investigation that point to the fact that Laurent was aware of the affair, however several accused have contested this in the press. 
Technically, the villa is not the property of the Prince himself, but of the Royal Gift, which manages the real property of the Royal Family. 
During his interview by the police last night, Prince Laurent stated that he needed funds to renovate his villa, and that Noël Vaessen, his adviser, told him the Navy could help him. 
The Prince stated that he thought it was legal, and that he had no reason to doubt his adviser. 
Vaessen has declared in the media during the last month that the Prince actively participated in the fraud, and that he fears a cover-up. 
He said that the Prince was a demanding party in the operation, and that "he knew that we were arranging things to make his life and his work as comfortable as possible." 
According to Vaessen, the Prince was in need of money to support a royal lifestyle, and "didn't even have enough money to buy food." 
In 2001, Vaessen was discharged with honour from the army "for medical reasons", but Defence Minister André Flahaut is investigating if there was no agreement to give him his pension in exchange for the fact that he wouldn't incriminate the Prince. 
Vaessen also accused the Prince of other things, such as racing against the high-speed train TGV on a French highway. 
Captain Johan Claeys, one of the accused, studied with the Prince and worked at the facturation services of the Navy in 1998 and 1999. 
One of the accused contractors, Marc Luypaerts, has told the press that the judge responsible for the investigation in Hasselt had forbidden him to speak about Prince Laurent. 
Laurent's status as a Prince has several judicial consequences for the trial. 
In Belgium, it's against the law to incriminate the Royal Family during a trial. 
Also, the Prince is protected from judicial pursuit because he is also a Senator by law. 
Justice Minister Laurette Onkelinx has issued a Royal Decrete, which the King has signed while on holiday in Napels, which would make it possible for Princes to testify in a trial. 
However, Public Prosecutor Erwin Steyls has chosen to have Laurent interrogated by the police last night in Hasselt. 
This was the first time during the last six years of the inquiry that the Prince was questioned. 
Today in the court, the Prosecutor defended the act of having him questioned outside the trial, saying that there were several procedural issues. 
First, the subpoena for the Prince wasn't issued in time to be legal. 
Second, the details of the protocol to hear the Prince in court were not explained in the recent Royal Decrete, making it worthless -something Minister Onkelickx denied. 
Thirdly, nobody can be forced to testify against himself, and if the Prince were to make false statements under oath, he could only be sued for perjury. 
However, the court has decided to let him testify anyway this afternoon. 
During the last month, the case has caused a several spin-off discussions in Belgium. 
One of the surprises during this period was the King's Christmas Message, in which he referred to the case. 
The regional governments are now investigating and discussing their donations to the IRGT/KINT, an environmental organisation supported by Prince Laurent. 
But there is also an ongoing debate over the position of the Monarchy in Belgium. 
Some politicians are suggesting to limit the role of the Monarchy, and other think that only the King and Queen, the Crown Prince or Princess and the widow(er) of the King or Queen should receive state funding. 
Controversy was sparked by his choice of conservative Italian Rocco Buttiglione for the Justice Commissioner position, who made several statements regarding homosexuality and women that members of the European Parliament objected to. 
The European Parliament voted in favour the Commissioners on November 18th, giving Barroso and his staff the green light to start their official five-year term starting on Monday. 
While the Greens, Eurosceptics and the Communist Party voted against, the Commission secured the approval of the Parliament's biggest parties - the Socialists, the Liberals and the European People's Party. 
The vote ended with 449 in favour, 149 against and 82 abstentions, CNN reports. 
According to senior officials in the Obama administration, the U.S. is to significantly and permanently reduce its stockpile of nuclear weapons by thousands of weapons as part of a major rethinking of American nuclear policy. 
The move is coming as part of a major policy review intended to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons around the world. 
According to an unnamed official, the review "will point to dramatic reductions in the stockpile, while maintaining a strong and reliable deterrent." 
As part of the new policy, conventional weapons will have a greater role in the future. 
According to officials, there are thousands of weapons that could be retired, largely by eliminating those currently stored. 
The move comes as a significant step towards Obama's stated goal of reducing and eventually ending the spread of nuclear weapons worldwide. 
The policy changes come as part of the Nuclear Posture Review, a document which is undertaken by all presidents. 
In addition to the reduction of nuclear weapons, Obama's review will also adjust the United States' defense towards non-nuclear options, including missile defense, largely within striking distance of the Persian Gulf to reduce the threat posed by countries such as Iran. 
A centerpiece of the new policy is a new plan called the "Prompt Global Strike," which involves a new type of conventional weapon that could be fired from the U.S. and reach anywhere in the world within an hour, providing an effective option for attacks worldwide, such as against a missile launch from North Korea or a strike against Al-Qaeda in Pakistan. 
The new weapons would achieve the same effects as nuclear weapons, without the threat of conventional war escalating into nuclear war. 
The changes reflect a new focus on nonproliferation and arms control by the Obama administration, policies that were largely dismissed by the Bush administration. 
In conjunction with new domestic policies, the Obama administration is trying to win passage of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which would ban all nuclear explosions for any purposes. 
The treaty was defeated in the 1990s, during the Clinton presidency, and still faces strong resistance in the U.S. Senate. 
The Obama administration is also trying to revise the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to close loopholes that have been exploited by North Korea and Iran. 
The administration has also been pressured to redefine the role of America's nuclear arsenal. 
Democrats have been pressuring the administration to formally declare that the role of America's nuclear weapons is solely to deter nuclear attack on the United States. 
American military officials, as well as some officials within the White House, however, have urged the administration to retain more ambiguous wording from the Bush era, which says that nuclear deterrence is only the primary role of American nuclear weapons, which would leave open the option of using nuclear weapons against enemies that threaten the US with chemical or biological weapons. 
Tera Myers, a former actress in pornographic films, has left her position as a science teacher at Parkway North High School in St. Louis County, Missouri after her past was revealed by a student. 
This marks the second such controversy involving Myers, also known under the names Tericka Dye and the stage name Rikki Anderson. 
She was suspended by Kentucky's McCracken County Public Schools system in 2006 after her career in pornography was made public. 
Don Senti, interim superintendent of the district, said Myers was on administrative leave from her position at the school at her own request. 
Myers' request, granted "out of respect for her privacy and that of her family," came after a student inquired about her pornographic career. 
The district said Myers passed background checks before being hired as a teacher in 2007, but it did not know about her past until the student found out about it online, because her career in the pornography industry was legal. 
A Parkway representative said the Kentucky school at which Myers last worked was contacted in 2007 to verify her references, but no mention of her suspension or stint in pornography was provided. 
Myers will continue to be paid until the end of the semester, at which time she is to leave the Parkway School District. 
According to Tandy, Dye "was concerned about the impact it would have in the building," and, on March 4, informed the school's principal of her past after being asked by the student. 
Myers also was the coach of the girls' volleyball at Parkway North High School. 
Myers previously taught at Reidland High School in Paducah, Kentucky, and was suspended in 2006 after a student there discovered her pornographic career. 
That May, Myers defended herself, saying, "Anybody who has been in my classroom could tell you how much I love teaching and how much I love these students, and that should be what matters more than anything in my past." 
Known as Tericka Dye at the time, she protested against her dismissal and even appeared on the "Dr. Phil" talk show. 
Myers said she became involved in the adult industry after working as an impoverished exotic dancer in California. 
Late last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed objections to the United States Government's 'secret' attempts to obtain Twitter account information relating to WikiLeaks. 
The ACLU and EFF cite First and Fourth amendment issues as overriding reasons to overturn government attempts to keep their investigation secret; and, that with Birgitta Jonsdottir being an Icelandic Parliamentarian, the issue has serious international implications. 
The case, titled "In the Matter of the 2703(d) Order Relating to Twitter Accounts: Wikileaks, Rop_G, IOERROR; and BirgittaJ", has been in the EFF's sights since late last year when they became aware of the US government's attempts to investigate WikiLeaks-related communications using the popular microblogging service. 
That was said by some, especially from nationalistic and populist parties, such as Peace and Justice, and Self-Defense and League of Polish Families, candidates in the last elections (both parliamentary and presidential), who had been promising people a strengthening of the position of Polish president. 
He was unable to stand for re-election again as the Constitution of Poland states that the Polish president can only be re-elected once. 
The head of the Israel Defense Forces, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, resigned on Tuesday January 16, 2007 after an internal review criticized his military's leadership during the war in Lebanon last summer. 
Halutz sent his resignation letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, which according to Israeli Army Radio said, "For me, the concept of responsibility is everything." 
Halutz has also been facing criticism after it was disclosed that he sold a portion of his stock portfolio hours after the Lebanon fighting began on July 12, 2006. 
The slow moving, and wavering between hurricane status and tropical storm Ophelia, crawled up the U.S. coastline from northern Florida on what appears to be a track for landfall on Thursday near Cape Lookout, North Carolina on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. 
Ophelia gained some strength to a Category 1 hurricane over the last 24 hours while on its north-northeast track to side-swipe the protruding coastline of the Carolinas. 
Power outages were reported with sustained winds of 80 mph and rain, up to 6 inches, in the southeast portion of the state. 
Ocean Isle Beach closed a bridge to the barrier islands due to the rough surf conditions created by Ophelia. 
Residents and tourists had been ordered on Sunday to evacuate Ocracoke by governor Michael F. Easley. 
Tourists on Hatteras Island were also ordered to leave, but earlier on Monday, emergency officials for Dare County decided against an ordered evacuation for the northern portion of the Outer Banks. 
Weaker tropical and hurricane storms such as Ophelia have in the past still caused major damage from flooding in North Carolina's barrier islands from winds stirring up the shallow sound waters between the mainlaind and Outer Banks. 
Further inland from the storm, except for the possibility of thunderstorms, little effect from Ophelia is expected. 
Virginia's governor Mark R. Warner declared a state of emergency on Monday as a precaution. 
Nearly two dozen F-15 fighter jets were moved from Hampton's Langley Air Force base out of Ophelia's way to Florida. 
A team of scientists at Stanford University claim to have detected a subtle, missing element of Einstein's theory of relativity. 
In a press release dated February 16th, Robert Kahn, Stanford University's Public Affairs Coordinator, announced the experimental confirmation of frame dragging, an effect in which the presence of a rotating body causes space itself to be pulled along as the body rotates. 
While the effect was theorized by Josef Lense and Hans Thirring as far back as 1918, the small scale of the effect, as little as one part in a trillion for a satellite orbiting the Earth, made detecting the effect difficult. 
The observation was made by the Gravity Probe B satellite, which carries finely-machined gyroscopes. 
Scientists looked for small changes in the motion of the gyroscopes to detect the frame dragging effect, as well as the much larger geodetic effect – small corrections to the Earth's gravitational field due to differences between Einstein's and Newton's theories of gravity. 
The experiment was conducted on the satellite from 2004 to 2005. 
However, the complexity of the data analysis along with unforeseen engineering problems have made finding the effect in the experiment's results difficult. 
In particular, the presence of small electrical charges on the gyroscopes interfered with their results. 
Francis Everitt, the experiment's Principal Investigator, stresses in an interview with the New York Times that their announcement is only preliminary and that, with further analysis, they hope to improve the precision of their results; currently, they say they have only detected the frame dragging effect to within plus or minus fifteen percent of its expected value. 
The theory of general relativity was developed by Albert Einstein in the early 20th century to explain the behavior of moving objects in space, after the discovery that the speed of light was always the same no matter how the person measuring it was moving. 
While it successfully explains many strange behaviors in space, such as the slow shifting of the orbit of Mercury and the bending of light by massive objects such as black holes, testing the theory on Earth has always been difficult due to the small scale of relativity's effects in everyday life. 
The 'Invitational Games for the Deaf, Taipei 2008' started yesterday in Taipei, Taiwan. 
After table tennis and soccer, events from martial arts including karate, judo, and taekwondo were featured mainly in the 2nd matchday. 
Unlike the taekwondo event which applied a single elimination rule, events from karate and judo applied round robin rules in their competitions. 
A University of Georgia marketing professor has allegedly killed three people and injured two others today in the southeastern United States. 
The shooting took place approximately 12:25 p.m around the Athens Community Theater in the Athens-Clarke County, in the northeast part of Georgia. 
Authorities suspect George Zinkhan in the shooting and have issued a nationwide alert for him and his 2005 red Jeep Liberty with Georgia license plate AIX1376. 
The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) reports that two handguns were found at the scene. 
Athens-Clarke County Police Captain Clarence Holeman reported that two others were injured by shrapnel, and the extent of their injuries is unknown. 
A discussion took place before an evening performance between the alleged shooter and one of the victims. 
The AJC reports that the victims were Marie Bruce, 47, Ben Teague, 63, and Tom Tanner, 40. 
Clarke County coroner Sonny Wilson said Saturday night that all three were shot multiple times. 
Bruce was the wife of the alleged shooter and president of the theater company, while the others were part of a production of Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure. 
Tanner was performing in the production, and Teague was a member of the production crew. 
Police also report that Zinkhan was involved in an argument with an unidentified man before the shooting occurred. 
According to Capt. Clarence Holeman of the Athens-Clarke County Police Dept., the two people wounded suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to St. Mary's Hospital in Athens. 
Holeman also confirmed that both victims were injured by ricochet: one in the leg and one in the foot. 
Zinkhan is reported to have left his two youngest children in the car while at theater, and then left to drop them off at the home of his his neighbor Robert Covington. 
Zinkhan reportedly told Covington that there had been an emergency and would be gone for about an hour. 
"Our first thoughts are for safety of the university community and for prompt apprehension of the person responsible." 
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of all those who have been affected," University of Georgia President Michael F. Adams said in an official statement. 
Matt Hardy, 22 years old, was at the scene of the crime, and had seen his friend Tom Tanner being shot twice. 
His father John Hardy commented to reporters that "at 22 you're not supposed to watch people die." 
Matt Hardy spoke to investigators and departed with his parents. 
The university sent text messages and e-mails to students advising them of the potentially dangerous situation. 
Police are requesting that anyone who comes in contact with the suspect dial 911 and exercise extreme caution. 
Zinkhan has been described as a 57-year-old Caucasian with a goatee-style beard and full mustache. 
He has blue eyes and brown hair worn above the ear according to his most recent photograph. 
He was reported to have been wearing blue shorts with a polo shirt at the time of the shooting, and he may be driving the red Jeep. 
The BBC has reported that 8000 schools have been fully or partially closed by today’s national UK teachers strike. 
The majority of state schools in the city of Bristol are closing for the strike, although many of the schools for students age 16+ are expected to remain open. 
Some schools that originally said they would be closed have made the decision not to close for the strike. 
The Guardian reports that the strike, which is expected to take place on Thursday, will be the first national teachers' strike in 21 years. 
Earlier this week, John Dunford from the Association of School and College Leaders told The Guardian that: "Most secondary schools will be partially closed; a thousand could close." 
International Labor Day, or May Day, has been marked by protests throughout Switzerland. 
Roughly 12,000 protesters organized across the country, rallying against the dismantling of social welfare, as well as wage dumping and the large salaries of top company officials. 
The protests were peaceful, although minor skirmishes did occur in Zurich and Lucerne. 
These usually involved clashes between left and right extremists rather than with authorities. 
In one case, bottles and fireworks were used as weapons, but no injuries were reported. 
Protesters in Geneva demand reform regarding illegal immigration, and equality for men and women. 
In Zurich trade unions urged the free movement of people, as well as an ending to the pressure on salaries. 
Vasco Pedrina, Co-president of the union Unia, called the difference between high and low incomes a "existential and human tragedy". 
Pedrina and others, including Bern mayor Alexander Tschäppät, spoke out during the Saturday and Sunday period of protests. 
A recently published nationwide survey of US teenagers indicates boys tend to masturbate more — and start younger — than girls. 
It also finds boys who masturbate are more likely to engage in safe sex than boys who don't. 
Dr. Cynthia L. Robbins, the study's lead author from Indiana University in Indianapolis, spoke of the need for the academic community to focus more on masturbation. 
"Many adolescent boys and girls masturbate, and among sexually active teens masturbation is associated with other sexual behaviors and condom use." 
"It is important to recognize that masturbation is an important and normal component of adolescent sexual development." 
The survey, named the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB), was supported by Church & Dwight, which makes Trojan condoms. 
A representative nationwide sample of 820 teens 14–17 years old participated in the study with parental permission. 
The findings were published Monday in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 
Male and female respondents were asked to note how frequently they masturbated in the past three months, the past year, and throughout their lifetime. 
They were also asked to recall whether they masturbated alone or with a partner, and also how often they used condoms. 
Nearly three-fourths of boys reported having masturbated, compared to only less than half of girls. 
About half of boys reported masturbating twice or more per week, also higher than the 23 percent of girls. 
Masturbation rates for both genders increased along with age, though only boys were more likely to report having "recently" engaged in the activity as they grew older. 
Among adolescents who engage in oral or vaginal sex, boys who masturbate were eight times more likely to use a condom than boys who don't. 
The researchers who conducted the study urge more open and educational discussion of this highly stigmatized topic. 
"The findings of this study together with existing publications on masturbation should be used by health care providers to inform, educate and reassure adolescents about masturbation to provide competent and comprehensive sexuality education in the clinical setting". 
May 27, 2005 Mount Qomolangma, known in the west as Mount Everest, may be taller than ever, and a group of 24 Chinese researchers have scaled the peak and made observations they hope will document its current height. 
In 1975 the peak was surveyed at a height of 8 848 metres, in line with previous calculations, but a U.S. survey team in 1999 measured it at 8 850m. 
The growth to some extent fits current theories regarding the geology of the region, a region with crustal upthrust. 
The growth may also be due in part to rapid glacier retreat on the peak's slopes, and the mountain springing back as the weight of snow melts and runs off. 
At the same time, recent theories suggest the mountain is also shrinking. 
The peak may be getting smaller from subsidence as it reaches extreme heights, and again the glaciers and snow help to stabilize and expand the mountain itself. 
There is some disagreement regarding the methods of measurement used previously, so the researchers spent an hour at the summit taking measurements using radar, satellite, and other methods on 6 points. 
The average of the measurements will be used to make the official Chinese measurement, which remains at 8 848. 
Results of the expedition are expected to be available in August. 
A previous measurement team from Italy also used the radar methodology in 2004, but their results have not yet been published. 
The mountain straddles the border between Tibet and Nepal, and is known by several names. 
In Chinese, 珠穆朗瑪峰 (pinyin: Zhūmùlǎngmǎ Fēng); Tibetan Qomolangma ("Mother of the Universe"); in Nepal Sagarmatha ("Forehead of the Sky"); and in English named after Sir George Everest. 
In a conscience vote last night, Wednesday, parliament decided that the alcohol purchasing for New Zealanders will not be raised to 20 but instead will stay at the current age of 18. 
The vote was 72-49 with the noes as the majority, a conscience vote is where the individual Member of Parliament (MP) votes instead of the party and their policies. 
The bill was brought before Parliament with the intent of placing the drinking age back at 20 following its lowering to 18 in 1999. 
It was first drafted by Matt Robson of the NZ Progressive Party, and was then taken on by Martin Gallagher from the New Zealand Labour Party. 
However, the Labour-led government is being attacked for interfering with the liquor purchase age bill. 
Before the debate on the bill, two ministers who are against raising the age, justice minister Mark Burton and associate health minister, Damien O'Conner both announced that they would fully review the sale/supply of liquor to people below the age of 18, regardless of whether the bill were passed or not. 
The review will most likely look at how many off-licence outlets there are and increased law enforcement of the drink age. 
Mr Burton said that he did not pre-empt the bill voting, he said: "It was important to ensure all options were on the table before the vote." 
"What we are saying is you can have confidence that if the bill doesn't proceed there will be an alternative vehicle for addressing the issues immediately thereafter." 
Many MPs said that it was unorthodox to intrude in such a manner in the voting process. 
Leader of Jim Anderton's Progressive coalition and supporter of the bill, Jim Anderton, said: "Making a last-minute plea to MPs is not to be fooled by the promise of the unnecessary review." 
"This is the review you have when you want to give parliamentarians a soft option." 
"And I hear that sigh of relief in many places, 'oh gosh you've got a review so we don't have to make a hard decision'." 
"Well this is the place for hard decisions and this is where the buck stops." 
Christopher Bishop, a spokesman for the Keep it 18 campaign, said: "We welcome the Government's moves to review the supply of alcohol to minors in the likely event that the Sale of Liquor Amendment Bill is defeated today." 
"Raising the drinking age is never going to work as a way of dealing with New Zealand's drinking culture." 
"It is a simplistic and knee-jerk solution – a legislative sledgehammer." 
Chester Burrows, National MP, said: "My experience is I've seen too many pissed young people, raped young people, assaulted young people." 
Gordon Copeland, United Future MP, who also preferred the split age, said he had "no doubt the move would influence the way people voted." 
Ron Mark, New Zealand First MP, said: "Are we going to do something, or are we going to do nothing?" asked New Zealand First list MP Ron Mark. 
"We can at least let this bill go through to the next stage." 
Ross Bell, spokesman for the Drug Foundation, said: "Not only is such a review too narrow, it also seemed to pre-empt the outcome of Wednesday's debate." 
"A cynical person might think the announcement gave MPs an excuse not to support the bill." 
"That review has already been looked at by the Law and Order Select Committee, and what is needed is a review of price and availability of alcohol." 
However it has been suggested by the select committee previously researching the drinking problem in New Zealand that there is little hard evidence 18 & 19 year olds are buying alcohol for minors, with the largest problem instead being the purchasing of alcohol by parents for their children. 
The Scottish National Party (SNP), which supports Scottish independence from the UK, has pulled off a historic, albeit narrow, victory in yesterday's Scottish elections. 
In the third Scottish election since the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the left of centre SNP beat the ruling Labour Party by a single seat. 
It won 47 seats, while Labour won 46, down from the current 50. 
It is the first time since the parliament opened that Labour has been beaten, and the first time in fifty years that they have not had a majority of Scottish constituency seats in any election. 
SNP leader Alex Salmond declared: "Scotland has changed for good and forever." 
He added that the Labour Party had "lost the moral authority to govern Scotland." 
The current First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell of Labour said: "While I recognise that the SNP are the largest party by the narrowest of margins, Alex Salmond must himself recognise that he does not have a majority in the Scottish Parliament or anywhere near a majority of the vote." 
It is believed that many factors caused the Labour vote to slump and the SNP vote to rise, including the war in Iraq and the renewal of Trident, which are both unpopular in Scotland. 
The election also raises a serious dilemma for the Labour party's Gordon Brown, a Scotsman widely tipped to succeed Tony Blair as the next prime minister of the United Kingdom. 
Brown is vehement in his support of the Union, and is a Westminster (London parliament) MP for Kirkcaldy. 
An SNP government in Scotland will find itself facing the very Labour party it beat in power in London. 
Hifikepunye Pohamba, the president of the southern African country of Namibia, declared a state of emergency in in the country on Tuesday after heavy flooding killed 92 and displaced 5,032 since January. 
100,000 children were unable to attend classes due to the disaster, which closed 218 schools. 
Severe flooding occurred in Namibia about the same time last year, when 42 people were killed by the disaster. 
This year's floods appear to be worse, as President Pohamba stated that the Zambezi River had reached 7.1 metres, compared to last year's peak of 5.37 metres. 
Flooding has also reached neighbouring Angola, where nineteen people have died, according to the Red Cross. 
Wednesday morning, the Frankfurt Book Fair opened its gates to the first of an estimated 280,000 visitors this year in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. 
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the biggest book fair in the world. 
It also organises the participation of German publishers at more than 25 international book fairs and is the co-founder of the Cape Town Book Fair in South Africa. 
It maintains the most visited website worldwide for the publishing industry. 
The German Publishers & Booksellers Association, which runs the Frankfurt Book Fair, says that the book market is thriving. 
It declared on Tuesday that the high number of exhibitors and the record numbers of 7,448 exhibitors from over 100 countries, showing 391,652 books, including 121,267 new books of this year, proves that the book market is thriving. 
TV and merchandising rights have long played a role, but have become more and more important for larger projects. 
Two other media forms have also become more standard elements of the value chain. 
E-books and audiobooks are both big topics of this year's Book Fair. 
Fighting words were exchanged in the Australian House of Representatives over the matter of the division of Medicare safety net payments per electorate. 
The Minister for Health and Ageing Tony Abbott (Liberal, Warringah) had introduced a policy that the Government would pay Medicare users up to a fixed amount — the safety net — to help in addressing "gaps" in certain payments which Medicare would not cover, such as certain hospital payments. 
The Opposition was opposed to the idea on efficacy counts. 
Abbott was asked a Dorothy Dixer in Question Time today about the benefits of the safety net. 
He alleged that criticism by the Opposition Health spokeswoman Julia Gillard (Labor, Lalor) that the safety net favoured Liberal/National Party coalition electorates was misleading as it was a Labor electorate, Grayndler that received the "highest safety net benefits per electorate". 
This led Gillard to make a personal explanation after Question Time, stating that "the top four electorates receiving money under the Medicare safety net are Wentworth, North Sydney, Bradfield and Warringah" — all coalition electorates. 
The Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley (Labor, Brand), put a question to the Speaker of the House, David Hawker (Liberal, Wannon) asking of the Speaker his "assurance that no person is being deliberately misled by the actions of any other person". 
Abbott had then interjected towards Beazley, saying "You big bellowing cow"; the Speaker asked Abbott to withdraw, but Abbott mentioned that "the Leader of the Opposition regularly interjects 'pompous ass' and 'goose', but I am happy to withdraw". 
Beazley then responded through the Speaker saying of Abbott, "I think that he is a sleazy, dummy-spitting, little git." 
Abbott then made a personal explanation of his own, saying "The safety net benefit per person in the electorate of the member for Grayndler was $591, the highest in New South Wales...the safety net benefit in the electorate of Sydney was $589, the second highest...the benefit in the electorate of Lowe was $458, the third highest". 
The matter was not further raised at the time, but after the Matter of Public Importance debate, Gillard moved a motion to suspend standing orders which would prevent Abbott from explaining his earlier claim "when this claim is totally untrue", to correct the "grossly inaccurate and misleading statement", to "apologise to all Members in this place" and to "apologize to the Member for Grayndler and his constituents". 
Gillard also listed the amounts of payments "released by the Minister himself", that Wentworth received $7.8 million, North Sydney received $7.5 million, Bradfield received $6.9 million, Warringah received $6.3 million; whereas Grayndler received only $3.6 million. 
She attempted to debate the motion but a gag motion to silence Gillard was moved and won because of Government numbers. 
Anthony Albanese, the Labor member for Grayndler attempted to second the motion but the gag was moved on him as well. 
The final vote on the motion was lost 55 to 79. 
In the gold medal match at water polo's FINA World League Final tonight between the Australia Stingers and United States women's national water polo team, Australia lost 4–6 to the USA in the last major competition before the 2012 Summer Olympics. 
The victory made for seven World League Super Final titles for Team USA. 
At 7:00 p.m. Chinese local time, 9:00 p.m. Australian local time, the game got under way, with a Tweet from Australian Water Polo for fans at home who could not watch the game live. 
The Australians were down at quarter time, 1–2 with the team's only goal coming from Bronwen Knox off a pass by Kate Gynther. 
By half time, Australia had battled back to take the lead 4–3, only to finish the third period tied 4–4 with the United States, and eventually lose 4–6. 
In the lead up to the World League Final, the Australians spent time in Singapore before departing for China. 
While in Singapore, players had an opportunity to relax at the pool and several, including Knox, Rowena Webster, Nicola Zagame, and Melissa Rippon were very active on Twitter. 
The team arrived in Shanghai and the Shanghai Institute of Sport a week before the start of the FINA Super League Finals. 
During their week-long preparation, they worked on strength and fitness training. 
When away from the pool, they did not have access to Twitter, Facebook, or television and had to entertain themselves using other means. 
Players finally explored the city six days after their arrival. 
With limited opportunities for amusement in the hotel room during the competition, assistant coach Ryan Moar updated his Twitter account and played with a toy helicopter. 
Several of the players who were active on Twitter before departing for China stopped updating, including Webster, Rippon, and Zagame. 
Knox and Moran continued to provide updates on Twitter and Instagram throughout the competition. 
Australian game days during the tournament included warming up poolside before the start of their games, and cooling down in the pool after them. 
Going into their match against the USA, they notched an 8–7 victory over China, an 18 to nil victory against Germany, and a 9–7 overtime shootout win against Russia. 
On gold medal game day, Jane Moran updated her Twitter account to say "Final of World League Super Finals today v USA - goooo Stingers! ‪#stingerspride". 
About eight hours prior to game time, the team finished their final training session. 
Earlier in the afternoon, prior to game time in Australia, Channel 9 ran a feature on the team. 
Prior to the start of the game, the Australian Stingers official team Twitter account mocked Team USA for their team-branded k tape. 
During the pre-game warm up, team members did a variety of things including playing with their phones, warming up, and getting their arms taped. 
It was business as usual for the team that had beaten the United States the previous month at the VISA Water Polo International. 
The bronze medal match between the China women's national water polo team and Greece women's national water polo team preceded the gold medal game, which Greece won 8–7, with quarter scoring of 1–2 in the first, 4–2 in the second, 1–2 in the third, and 1–2 in the fourth. 
In the other match, the Russia women's national water polo team easily beat the Germany women's national water polo team 18-4. 
NASA has said that preliminary investigations show that Discovery is safe to fly home. 
Final findings will not be available for several days as a team of 200 experts study all video and stills footage taken of the shuttle during launch, and on approach to the International Space Station (ISS), with which Discovery docked earlier today. 
Images from new cameras have revealed that a section of foam weighing some 250 g fell away from the external fuel tank during launch, but did not strike the Orbiter. 
However, NASA has announced the grounding of all further planned Shuttle launches until they have a firm understanding of why the foam comes away, and what to do about it. 
A piece of foam striking the Columbia's wing during take-off in January 2003 was responsible for the loss of the craft as it made its reentry to Earth's atmosphere. 
As part of the check for damage the crew of Discovery used a laser-scanner on the robotic arm to inspect the craft's wing leading-edges and nosecone. 
The belly of the Orbiter will be checked later this week. 
In a first, the Shuttle also performed a slow back-flip in some 180 m from the ISS enabling the two-man crew of the space station to take high-resolution images of the underside of the Orbiter. 
Chelsea beat Liverpool in extra time to advance to next month's UEFA Champions League Final in Moscow. 
Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina punched away Michael Ballack's shot which landed at the feet of Didier Drogba who capitalized by scoring the opening goal of the 2nd leg. 
Fernando Torres equalized in the 2nd half after Yossi Benayoun beat the defenders to set up the goal. 
After Chelsea were denied a goal by the Assistant Referee moments earlier, Referee awarded Chelsea a penalty shot which Frank Lampard converted. 
Dider Drogba added Chelsea's 3rd goal of the 2nd leg. 
Ryan Babbel brought Liverpool within a goal of advancing with 3 minutes of extra time remaining. 
The win for Chelsea means that they have made their 1st ever UEFA Champions League final and will be competing in the 1st ever all-English final in UEFA Champions League history. 
In an effort to ease complaints by the U.S. and Europe about a heavy influx of low priced Chinese goods, China will raise export tariffs on 74 categories of textile products in June. 
This follows plans from the U.S. to impose quotas on Chinese textiles and clothing. 
Products likely to see an increase from the Chinese move include synthetic fiber shirts, trousers, knit shirts and blouses, cotton shirts, and combined cotton yarn. 
Last week, similar restrictions were imposed by the U.S. on cotton trousers, knit shirts, and underwear. 
Currently, a 2.5 cent charge per item is imposed; the new tariff will raise this to the equivalent of 12 cents per piece now. 
While this is a fourfold increase, it is not expected to affect consumer prices. 
Because of this, some doubt the tariff will have any effect on correcting the trade imbalance. 
This move is in response to U.S. trade quotas imposed due to concerns that increased Chinese goods would put U.S. textile manufacturers out of business. 
According to Auggie Tantillo, executive director of the American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, a textile industry group in the U.S., the move will preserve 10,000 U.S. jobs. 
The new U.S. trade quota will limit the growth of Chinese textile imports to 7.5 percent compared with shipments over the past year. 
Prior to January 1, a global quota system helped regulate the trade. 
With the quota system gone, fears have arisen that a flood of Chinese goods could undercut U.S. competitiveness in the market. 
China is able to market its goods cheaply due to an artificially weak yuan. 
The U.S. Treasury criticized the China yuan policy as "highly distortionary", posing a major risk to China's economy itself and to global economic growth. 
They challenged China to revalue its currency to bring it to a level they believe will allow fairer competition between global manufacturers. 
Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said, "I believe they are not reasonable". 
Laura Jones, a representative of large retailers, also criticized the move, saying "These restrictions on imports from China will do absolutely nothing to help the U.S. textile industry -- and the government knows it." 
Omar Bongo, the president of the western African country of Gabon, has died at a clinic in Barcelona, Spain, according to the Gabonese prime minister. 
Jean Eyeghe Ndong said that Bongo, the longest-serving leader of an African country, had died at the Quiron clinic on Monday, at the age of 73. 
"At 2:30 pm, the medical team informed me, as well as the officials and members of the family present, that the president of the republic, head of state Omar Bongo Ondimba had just passed away following a heart attack," Ndong said, adding that the president had been admitted to the clinic early in May. 
"I noted at that time that the head of state whom I visited in the intensive care unit was alive and well." 
"But we knew that the health of the president had become a source of concern in recent days," he said. 
According to Gabon's constitution, the president of the senate is to become the interim ruler should the president die while in office. 
The senate's president is Rose Francine Rogombe from the Gabonese Democratic Party. 
The constitution says new elections should take place within 45 days. 
Tom Cruise this week took the delivery service to a whole new level. 
Celebrating his 43rd birthday with numerous guests at a party in the USA, Cruise decided to call up his three favorite chefs, all living in Italy, to prepare a meal. 
Cruise decided to fly all three chefs out to the United States at a cost of €14,500. 
According to the Daily Mail the chefs cooked the celebrity tagliatelle ragu, veal, and chocolate tiramisu. 
Australia, Japan, South Korea and the Netherlands have all qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 
Australia drew 0–0 with Qatar, Japan defeated Uzbekistan 1–0, South Korea qualified by defeating the United Arab Emirates 2–0 and a 2–1 win over Iceland saw the Netherlands qualify. 
All four countries have two games to play in qualifying. 
"They put us under pressure," Australia coach Pim Verbeek said of his team's games. 
"We thought they could only do that for 20 minutes and they did it for almost 90 so I have to congratulate the young players from Qatar." 
In a statement emailed out to the media, Football Federation Australia CEO Ben Buckley said, "It's another first for Australian football, and it's come off the back of a comprehensive qualification pathway which began in February last year." 
"Qualifying this time around, with the travel and match conditions the team has experienced, is a true measure of the progress football has made." 
"While 'do or die' results, such as the famous Uruguay game four years ago are exciting, a qualifying campaign such as this one through the Asian zone is a tough test." 
FIFA named the Japan-Uzbekistan game as match of the day. 
Japanese forward Shinji Okazaki scored the only goal of that match, securing Japan's place at the World Cup. 
"This away game was really tough but I'm really happy, because I'd only scored in friendly games previously," Okazaki said. 
"This time, I feel like I did very well for the Japanese team." 
"Japan are a big team — both on and off the field — who have become a major force in world football." 
"We are delighted that they today became the first team to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup," Danny Jordaan, World Cup organising committee chief, said. 
South Korea opened the scoring in there match with the UAE through Park Chu-young after five minutes. 
Ki Sung-yueng sealed qualification for the Koreans on 37 minutes. 
The Netherlands scored their two goals in the first ten minutes. 
Nigel de Jong scored after eight minutes and Mark van Bommel scored on 15 minutes. 
The Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois State Police have begun a statewide campaign to reduce the number of road fatalities in Illinois this year by 100. 
The program began last Thursday and will continue until the end of the year. 
There were 1,043 road fatalities in Illinois last year, and this year officials want that figure to be at 943 or less. 
If successful, the state will have experienced the fewest road fatalities since 1921. 
Organizations and advocacy groups throughout the state are encouraging citizens to promote public awareness of unsafe driving practices, such as driving while impaired, distracted, or unbelted. 
In addition to saving lives, the program is also aimed at reducing the costs associated with car crashes. 
According to the National Safety Council, the average economic cost associated with a road fatality is $1 million. 
More than 400 law enforcement agencies throughout the state are being asked to enhance operations and provide weekly activity and crash reports. 
The Itasca Police Department, for example, has joined the initiative and will target DUI and seat belt violations, and the Ottawa Police Department will increase enforcement of driving laws by issuing citations to violators. 
Columbia University President Lee Bollinger Wednesday jokingly named Bill Clinton to a professorship. 
In opening remarks at the Kraft Program Series, "Challenges of New Democracies," he said that "the last time he was here I said that 'one more lecture,' and he'd be up for tenure." 
Mr. Clinton and former Czech President Václav Havel were guest lecturers at the Morningside Heights campus. 
Havel is midway through a seven week writing residency at Columbia. 
Both nations former leaders spoke about the challenges they faced during their times in office in order to bring the former Warsaw Pact countries into the West. 
Havel mentioned that no one anticipated the rise of criminal mafias in the post-communist period, and that he and other dissidents imaged a swift transition from communism to democracy. 
He cited Czechoslovakia's 1948 destruction of civil society as a significant delay. 
Clinton urged the United States to use its international economic power to improve the world. 
Citing an even distribution of "intelligence and ability... throughout the world," with India and China's enormous population, he said that it's only a matter of time when "other people get their act together" and "have more people than we do" when, "as a nation, we won't be dominant." 
Acknowledging increasing American reliance upon Chinese economic growth, Clinton said the Chinese government will shortly have "a trillion dollars in cash reserves" while the United States has "a combined annual budget and trade deficit of a trillion dollars." 
Mentioning the Bush administration's tax cut given to him and others in his income tax class, he said that the United States "had to borrow money from (the Chinese government) to pay for my tax cut." 
He also suggested that increasing American foreign aid to 0.7% of the U.S.'s $11 trillion Gross Domestic Product aid through cuts in the Department of Defense budget would "create a world with more partners and fewer adversaries." 
Criticizing a "dubious construction of a very vaguely identified threat of WMDs in Iraq," Mr. Havel questioned why planners failed to anticipate civil instability after initial combat operations. 
Mr. Clinton declined comment citing his recent testimony before the Baker-Hamilton Commission and his wife Hillary's position as New York senator. 
He acknowledged that it is an international best interest policy if Iraq "held together rather than falling apart, we would be better off if it had some measure of security and couldn't become a base for terrorist operations." 
A main belt asteroid, No. 274301, has been named after Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia. 
The information became available on the Minor Planet Center's website yesterday. 
The decision of the Committee for Small Body Nomenclature to assign the name "Wikipedia" to the asteroid was published in the Minor Planet Circular of January 27, published online yesterday, page 82403. 
It was submitted to the Committee by the head of the Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory in Ukraine, Yuri Ivashchenko. 
The asteroid 274301 Wikipedia was discovered by the team of astronomers of Andrushivka Astronomical Observatory. 
At first it was observed by that team on August 25, 2008 at 22:47 (UTC). 
It was also observed on the next night and two weeks later on September 6. 
Accurate calculation of its orbit showed asteroid 2008 QH24 is the same as 1997 RO4 and 2007 FK34. 
The asteroid had been previously spotted by observatories including Caussols-ODAS in France, and Mt. Lemmon Survey and Steward Observatory in Arizona, US. 
On April 18, 2011 the minor planet received the number 274301. 
Mohsin Musa Matawalli Atwah, 45, who is accused of being an Al-Qaeda explosive expert, was killed in a missile attack on Wednesday night in Pakistan, said Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, Pakistan's information minister. 
At least eight other alleged terrorists, both foreign and of Pakistani descent, were also believed to have been killed in the strike. 
However, the body of Atwah has not yet been found and the identities of the others killed are not yet known. 
It is believed that at least two children were also killed. 
"We can confirm the identities of the foreigners killed once we have carried out a thorough ground check," said Pakistani military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan. 
Atwah, also known as Abdul Rahman Al-Muhajir, Muhammad K.A. and Abdel Rahman, is accused of being responsible for the bombings of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998 which killed 20 Americans and at least 200 Africans. 
Atwah is on the FBI's list of most wanted terrorists with a bounty of five million dollars. 
"The confirmation is based upon multiple intelligence sources," said Ahmed. 
"I confirm the death of this Egyptian terrorist," said an Egyptian minister. 
Pakistani forces used missile fire and explosives launched from assault helicopters to kill the expert in the North Waziristan village of Naghar Kalai, which lies near the border of Afghanistan. 
Atwah "had been living here for quite some time," said one security official. 
However, it is believed that associates of the alleged terrorists killed removed the bodies and buried them in an unidentified location, but at least four tribesmen that were killed were buried in the town's cemetery. 
So far, neither the United States FBI nor U.S. officials in Egypt have confirmed the death of Atwah. 
Former Republican governor Carroll Campbell will lie in state today on the second floor of the Statehouse in Columbia, SC. 
There will be a funeral at Trinity Episcopal Church in Columbia at 10:30 a.m. local time on Saturday, and there will be an additional funeral service and burial at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pawleys Island. 
North Korea has warned of "self-defensive blows" to South Korea if they participate in joint, live-fire military exercises with the United States, scheduled to begin in the next few days. 
The U.S. and South Korea will be taking part in a one day, live-fire exercise on Yeonpyeong Island, the island which was shelled by North Korean artillery on November 23. 
Nearly 200 rounds of artillery were fired at the island. 
Four people were killed and another 14 were injured in the attack. 
South Korea had been taking part in annual military exercises with the U.S., off the island's west coast when the attack occurred. 
They returned fire, firing nearly 80 rounds of artillery, but no damage was reported on the North Korean side. 
"Second and third self-defensive blows that cannot be predicted will be dealt." 
"The intensity and range of the firepower will create a situation more serious than one on Nov. 23," said a statement released by the North Korean government via the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the country's main news agency. 
It accused the two nations of creating "hysteria of war of aggression against the DPRK, escalating the military tension and confrontation." 
The nation's official website Uriminzokkiri, warns that "if war breaks out, it will lead to nuclear warfare and not be limited to the Korean Peninsula." 
North Korea further demands the exercises be canceled saying, "the South Korean puppet warmongers must immediately cancel the provocative coastal live-fire drills planned on Yeonpyeong." 
The country considers any exercises that take place on Yeonpyeong Island, to be a violation of their territory. 
According to the U.S. State Department, the exercises are part of regular drills between the U.S. and South Korea and are not provocative. 
"There’s nothing provocative or unusual or threatening about these exercises." 
"The North Koreans have been notified about what South Korea plans to do," said Philip J. Crowley, a spokesman for the State Department. 
The U.S. and South Korea have no plans to cancel the exercises. 
A Virginia, USA jury found a man, described as one of the top ten spammers in the world, guilty on Friday of the felony crime of using an alias to send massive bulk e-mailings. 
The 9 year prison sentence handed down by the jury was put on hold by the Loudoun County Circuit Judge Thomas Horne, allowing the perpetrator, Jeremy Jaynes of Raleigh, N.C., to seek an appeal. 
Jaynes, who used the alias “Gaven Stubberfield” as well as others, peddled junk products and pornography. 
Prosecutors say he grossed up to $750,000 a month by sending at least 10 million emails a day using 16 high-speed lines. 
The case was prosecuted in Virginia because it is the home to the leading internet service provider AOL, the company who instigated the charges. 
This is the first time a conviction has been gained using the legislation enacted in 2003 to curb bulk e-mail, aka spam, from unsolicited distribution into users mailboxes. 
Jaynes remains free on a $1 million bond while his case is appealed. 
Prosecutors differed with his attorneys on the prospects of Jaynes winning his appeal. 
His attorney, David Oblon, though never denying that his client was in the “marketing” business, argued that nine years was too long to sentence an out of state resident for a law that had taken effect just two weeks earlier. 
"We have no doubt that we will win on appeal," Oblon told reporters. 
"Still, the sentence is not what we recommended and we're disappointed." 
Prosecuter Lisa Hicks-Thomas said she was pleased with the outcome and confident the law would be upheld on appeal. 
Charles Chibitty, the last surviving member of the group of 17 who served in World War II as the Comanche "code talkers" died in a Tulsa, Oklahoma nursing home July 20. 
Chibitty was among the 14 Comanches who landed with the D-Day invasion of Normandy Beaches where they reported by radio to division headquarters on the progress of the landings. 
The Comanche were dubbed code talkers because the American Indian language has no written record, and it was never broken by the Germans during the war. 
One of the first messages transmitted in Comanche language during the landings was "right beach, wrong place". 
It warned soldiers they landed about a half mile from their intended target. 
Chibitty served with a unit that landed on Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. 
Mr.Chibitty served with the rank of a Corporal in the 4th Infantry Division that engaged in the breakthrough of the Siegfried line in Hurtgen Forest. 
His division also saw action in the Battle of the Bulge and the rescue of the "Lost Battalion". 
His division was among the first to undertake the liberation of Paris. 
Then later, the 4th Infantry was the first to enter Germany. 
The Comanches, who came from the Lawton area in Oklahoma, heard rumors of a military plan to organize a native speaking unit. 
He enlisted in 1941, and along with 19 others, they were trained for special duty by the U.S. Army Signal Corps. 
All were sent to Fort Benning, but three remained state-side because they had dependents and deployment in the mission was dangerous. 
The French Government gave special honors to the Comanches by bestowing them with the Chevalier of the National Order of Merit in 1989. 
Mr. Chibitty was honored in 1999 when the Pentagon bestowed on him the Knowlton Award. 
In a 1999 interview with the Armed Forces Information Center, Chibitty said: "The Navajo did the same thing." 
"The Navajos became code talkers about a year after the Comanches, but there were over a hundred of them because they had so much territory [in the Pacific Theater] to cover." 
Joe Holley of the Washington Post recalled this quote from Mr. Chibitty in 2002: "It’s strange, but growing up as a child I was forbidden speak my native language at school." 
My language helped win the war, and that makes me very proud. 
Iraq has carried out the first executions since the demise of the Saddam Hussein regime. 
Three men convicted of murder were hanged on Thursday morning in Baghdad. 
The Iraqi government argues that the death penalty will help to deter criminals but spokesman Laith Kubba admitted that "this is not an easy thing to do". 
Iraqi president Jalal Talabani is personally opposed to capital punishment and stated that he would never sign a death sentence, not even against Saddam Hussein himself. 
Human rights groups and the United Nations had hoped Iraq would refrain from using the death penalty against its citizens and urged the government not to carry out the sentences. 
The three men, named as Bayan Ahmed Said, Ouday Dawood Salman and Dhahar Jasim Hassan were convicted of murdering three policemen in the city of Kut, Wasit province. 
Hundreds of legal, highly-skilled workers in the United States sent hundreds of flowers to the Director of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), Emilio Gonzalez as part of a symbolic and peaceful protest over what they said was a "flip-flop" by the State Department and the USCIS on eliminating Green card processing delays. 
Dr. Gonzalez announced on the USCIS website late last night that the flowers will be forwarded to the injured service members recuperating at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and at Bethesda Naval Hospital. 
In response, Immigration Voice, a non-profit organization representing skilled, legal immigrants, said that they welcome the fact that Dr. Gonzalez acknowledged the symbolic gesture of our protest and are overjoyed that these flowers will brighten the day of the injured service brethren. 
Immigration Voice also said that it is their sacrifice for American freedom that has made this country great and such a desirable destination for multitude of people from around the world and that they wanted to say "Thank you and god bless you" to the servicemen. 
U.S. House of Representatives majority leader Tom DeLay was today indicted in Austin, Texas by a Travis County grand jury on conspiracy charges. 
DeLay announced that he will step down temporarily from his leadership position. 
DeLay has publicly countered that the charges are partisan and thus politically motivated. 
The charges originate from the District Attorney of Travis County, Ronnie Earle, a Democrat who has prosecuted Democrat and Republican office holders, including U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison. 
Mr. DeLay's attorney Steve Brittain said that DeLay was accused of a criminal conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme along with two associates, namely John Colyandro, former executive director of a Texas political action committee formed by DeLay, and Jim Ellis, the head of DeLay's national political committee. 
Attorneys for Colyandro and Ellis have filed to have the proceedings moved out of Travis County in order to obtain a fair trial. 
Travis County, located in central Texas, contains the state capital of Austin and is politically known as a liberal county within a conservative state, as indicated by the most recent presidential elections. 
According to the indictment, "the defendants herein, with the intent that a felony be committed, did enter into an agreement with one or more of each other with a general purpose committee known as Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (political action committee) that one or more of them would engage in conduct that would constitute the offense of knowingly making a political contribution in violation of Subchapter D of Chapter 253 of the Texas Election Code..." 
The indictment does not include specific charges of how DeLay was involved in the conspiracy. 
Mr. DeLay, upon announcement of the indictment, made a solitary public comment: "I have notified the speaker that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference and the actions of the Travis County district attorney today." 
Bill White, another of DeLay's attorneys, said "it's a skunky indictment if they have one." 
DeLay's spokesman, Kevin Madden, called the indictment "nothing more than prosecutorial retribution by a partisan Democrat," referring to prosecutor Ronnie Earle, a Democrat. 
According to House Republican party rules, DeLay must resign upon indictment. 
Party officials told the Associated Press that Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert R-Illinois, will likely recommend Republican David Dreier of California as replacement, while some duties may also go to Majority whip Roy Blunt, R-Missouri. 
DeLay has previously been admonished three times by the House Ethics Committee. 
In their October 6, 2004 letter to him, the members wrote in part concluding, "...it is clearly necessary for you to temper your future actions to assure that you are in full compliance at all times with the applicable House Rules and standards of conduct." 
We remind you that the House Code of Official Conduct provides the Committee with authority “to deal with any given act or accumulation of acts which, in the judgment of the committee, are severe enough to reflect discredit on the Congress.” 
House Republicans earlier eliminated the rule requiring his resignation upon indictment, but reinstated it fearing voters' outcry. 
DeLay's Political Action Committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, was earlier indicted on charges it accepted corporate contributions mostly from the credit card industry . for use in state legislative elections. 
Texas law prohibits corporate money from being used in elections, permitting it only for administrative expenses. 
Having gained GOP control of Texas's legislature, DeLay masterminded a redistricting plan in 2004 that allowed the GOP to gain six seats in the U.S. House, formerly won by Democrats, and build a majority in Congress. 
In one case, one lawmaker switched parties, to maintain office. 
Al-Jazeera reported a few days earlier that the Iraqi militants would kill the journalists unless the Romanian government withdraws its troops from the country within four days. 
With 850 troops, Romania has one of the largest contingents in Iraq. 
In January this year, after President Băsescu was elected, he pledged to send more peacekeeping troops in Iraq. 
On Friday evening, the colleagues and relatives of the journalists gathered in front of the Cotroceni Palace, Băsescu's residence, to call for their release. 
After learning of the released tape, Băsescu returned from the GUUAM summit in Chişinău, Republic of Moldova, where he was an observer, to Bucharest, where he called for a meeting with the relevant departments to discuss the issue. 
Reporter Marie-Jeanne Ion, from Prima TV, and cameraman Sorin Dumitru Miscoci and reporter Ovidiu Ohanesian, from newspaper România Liberă, were kidnapped in Baghdad on March 28, one day after President Băsescu made an unexpected visit to Iraq to announce a supplement of troops. 
Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament Benoit Sauvageau was killed in an automobile accident on Monday morning after his vehicle hit a tow truck at the side of a road in his Montreal constituency. 
Sauvageau, 42, had been an MP since 1993 and represented the riding of Repentigny at the time of his death. 
"I think he was a very good member of Parliament, a very good sovereigntist," added Duceppe. 
Visibly shaken by the news, Duceppe said: "It's awful, at 42 with four children (daughters) between the ages of five and 15, it's not right." 
Former Quebec Premier Lucien Bouchard, who led the BQ when Sauvageau was first elected, told Radio Canada: "It's a tragedy." 
"He is a man who was engaged in political fights but he did it correctly, with nobility and idealism and a lot of respect for others, even his adversaries," said Bouchard. 
As an MP he was the Bloc's spokesperson on public accounts and the treasury board and was also the party's critic responsible for the Official Languages Act and the rights of Francophones outside of Quebec. 
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the prayers and thoughts of all Parliamentarians are with Sauvageau's loved ones at this difficult time. 
A car containing an large explosive device has been defused in the Haymarket, London. 
A second device was later found in a car park in Park Lane. 
A car, a light metallic green Mercedes-Benz E Class saloon (produced 1984-1995), parked near the nightclub 'TigerTiger', contained petrol, gas cylinders and nails. 
Police carried out a controlled explosion at 2:00 a.m. BST and the car has been taken to a forensic explosives laboratory for further investigation. 
Eyewitnesses saw the car driving "erratically" and colliding with bins before being abandoned. 
An ambulance crew in the area alerted police after seeing smoke inside the car. 
Deputy Assistant Police Commissioner Peter Clarke said there could have been "significant injury or loss of life". 
A meeting of COBRA, chaired by new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was held about the incident. 
Police say it is too early to tell who is behind the threat. 
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the country faces a "serious and continued security threat" and urged people to "be vigilant at all times". 
Disruption has been caused to transport in the area with roads closed and bus routes diverted. 
Piccadilly Circus tube station has reopened after an earlier closure 
Police are reviewing major events to be held in London over the weekend. 
CBS News has reported that a message appeared on the widely used jihadist Internet forum Al-Hesbah at 8:09 a.m. June 28, saying: "Today I say: Rejoice, by Allah, London shall be bombed." 
The message went on to mention the recently announced knighthood of Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie. 
Following an incident at Glasgow airport, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith announced the elevation of the UK's national threat level from "Severe" to "Critical", indicating that an attack could be expected "imminently". 
Two people have been arrested in Cheshire in connection with the Glasgow International Airport attack and attempted London car bombings. 
A new report by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) documents 129 cases where media workers have been killed because of their work during 2004. 
They expect the number to increase as more information reaches them. 
49 casualties (close to 40%) occurred in Iraq, making it by far the deadliest country for journalists. 
At least 20 of those appeared to be cases where journalists were directly targeted because of their profession. 
Another country that deserved special attention was the Philippines, where 13 journalists appear to have been assassinated in separate incidents because of their reporting. 
None of the murderers have been apprehended by the police. 
In Nepal, two journalists were killed by security forces and one by the rebels. 
Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, has chosen to step down from his post as CEO of the company. 
The former Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook will be succeeding Jobs as CEO. 
Jobs resigned in a letter to Apple's board of directors stating, "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s C.E.O., I would be the first to let you know." 
In that same letter, Jobs stated that his desire was to remain as chairman of the board. 
Steve Jobs has been fighting pancreatic cancer since 2004 and has been on medical leave since January of this year. 
He briefly made an appearance in March and June to unveil the iPad 2 and the iCloud, an online cloud computing service. 
In part of his resignation, Jobs left this farewell, "I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you." 
Tim Cook was personally recommended by Jobs to take over as CEO and has been serving as interim CEO since the beginning of Jobs' medical leave. 
Before his post at Apple, Cook held positions at IBM and Compaq. 
Due to an operational overhaul by Cook, he is credited with the success of the iPad and MacBook Air. 
He also stood in Steve Jobs' place while the CEO underwent liver transplant surgery. 
He received $59 million for his performance in the position. 
Analyst Charles Golvin predicts that the resignation will not begin to affect Apple performance for 1.5 to 2 years. 
Many of the new products are already under development and Jobs will continue to steer the company from his position as chairman of the board. 
Art Levinson, chairman of Genentech and a member of the board, adds, "Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration". 
A contrary view is offered by Charles O'Reilly, a management expert at Stanford University, who stated, "Great companies rarely go from strength to strength". 
Richard Doherty attributes Steve Jobs' success as the ability to hold off on a product until it is perfect. 
He states "A lot of products could have gotten to market earlier, but he wanted it better." 
In light of the revelation, Apple shares (AAPL) slid $19.37 in after hours trading—a drop of over 5%. 
Since market open, Apple shares rose to $373.72, a drop of only $2.46 since Wednesday's close. 
Over 60 miners were killed in an abandoned gold mine shaft near Welkom, in the Free State province of South Africa, after a fire broke out inside the mine. 
36 bodies from the Harmony Gold mining company Eland mine shaft were brought up earlier on the weekend from depths up to 1.4 kilometers (1 mi). 
On Tuesday, 25 more bodies were recovered by other illegal workers. 
"We suspect there was a fire on the 18th of May." 
"Over the weekend [30 May] we were informed by other illegal miners that people had died," said Tom Smith, Chief Operating Officer for Harmony's South Region, "The bodies are not burnt." 
"It seems more of a case of gas or smoke inhalation." 
"I don't know if there are any more bodies down there, we just have to wait." 
The workers may have died from poisonous gasses, smoke inhalation, suffocation, cave-ins or carbon monoxide poisoning. 
Harmony gold mine will not send anyone in to the mine as the conditions are extremely dangerous and abandoned shafts are without safety equipment. 
Illegal workers may gain access bypassing security at one mine site, and exit via a series of interconnected underground tunnels many miles away. 
Harmony is internationally the fifth largest gold mining company and has bought up old, abandoned mines. 
Police were seeking relatives to help identify the bodies, and are instigating an investigation into the circumstances. 
Almost 300 "gold pirates" were arrested over the past two weeks at the Eland mine shaft alone. 
Thousands of illegal workers can be underground, and remain working for weeks and months continuously. 
"These are ex-miners and unemployed people - we need to target the syndicates," said Smith. 
There are over 4.18 million unemployed in South Africa due to the economic decline, and another 1 million may soon join the ranks. 
Welkom, with a population of over 400,000 is located northeast of Bloemfontein, the provincial capital. 
Nearly 3,000 people demonstrated in Saint Petersburg, Russia on Saturday to oppose a proposition to construct a skyscraper in the city. 
The demonstrators were protesting against the Okhta Center, a proposed supertall 77-story skyscraper for the gas company Gazprom measuring 400 metres (1,300 feet). 
They said that the tower would ruin the city's skyline, famous for its historic buildings, palaces, and canals. 
Galina Safronova, 55, said that "this action will destroy my city, the city where I grew up, and the city that I want to save for my grandchildren," as quoted by the Associated Press news agency. 
UNESCO, the cultural body of the United Nations, warned that the skyscraper, if built, may endanger St Petersburg's world heritage site status. 
Government officials supporting the proposal, however, said that the tower would give St Petersburg a large economic boost. 
A neologism coined in advice columnist Dan Savage's column Savage Love in response to comments made by former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum about homosexuality has gained prominence during the ongoing election cycle in the United States. 
After Santorum spoke out against LGBT rights in the United States in 2003, readers of Savage’s column voted to define the word "santorum" as "the frothy mixture of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex." 
The prominence of this term's association with Santorum, a current candidate for the Republican Party presidential nomination, has had an impact on the former Senator's presidential campaign. 
Dan Savage commented on the continued impact of the santorum neologism, in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram published Sunday, "It's still out there and it is an insanely dirty joke." 
"It is vile, as are Santorum's comments about gay people." 
At a speaking engagement on Friday, Santorum stated that same-sex partnerships don't "benefit society". 
Whilst speaking as part of his campaign for the U.S. presidency in 2012, Rick Santorum has had to answer questions from supporters of LGBT rights regarding his controversial political positions on issues pertaining to them. 
Critics have showed up to Santorum events and tried to glitter bomb the candidate. 
Democratic strategists poised themselves to take advantage of Santorum's association with the neologism phenomenon. 
Based on sources among Democratic operatives, Jack Cahill of American Thinker reports Democratic tactics in Missouri involve actually galvanizing support for Santorum ahead of that state's Republican caucuses in order to eliminate the possibility of a Mitt Romney win. 
Cahill says they view Santorum as mostly a dirty joke's punchline. 
Wikinews previously reported on the santorum neologism phenomenon in 2006, as part of an article, "Wikinews investigates Wikipedia usage by U.S. Senate staff members". 
The investigation noted that: "An edit to an article about a controversy over Senator Rick Santorum's statements about Constitutional rights to privacy with regards to sexual acts, seemingly coming from Rick Santorum's staff members, removed a reference to an effort to redefine Santorum's last name as a neologism". 
In a 2003 interview with the Associated Press, Rick Santorum compared legalizing same-sex marriage in the United States to supporting bestiality. 
Readers of the Savage Love advice column selected a new definition for the Senator’s last name, and Savage created a website www.spreadingsantorum.com to document the spread of the phenomenon. 
The term became a prominent result in searches online, and gained dominance on Web search engines including Google, Bing, and Yahoo!. 
Google global communications chief Gabriel Stricker commented to National Public Radio in an interview this January, that the company was avoiding editorial judgment, and that the prominence of the santorum neologism phenomenon in web searches is due to increased interest in the subject. 
Stricker stated, "There definitely are people who are finding this to be the best answer to their question, and they are indicating this by either clicking on this result or linking to this result as the best answer to that question." 
In the wake of Santorum's showing in the 2012 Iowa Republican caucuses, additional curious people looked up the former Senator on the Internet and in turn discovered the santorum neologism phenomenon. 
After journalist Laura Sydell of the National Public Radio program All Things Considered received criticism for covering the increased attention to the santorum neologism, she explained why the issue was relevant: "I felt it was an important and legitimate story in the wake of Mr. Santorum's success in Iowa." 
"Although the site had been up for many years, it was only after Mr. Santorum's success in the caucuses that a large number of people were actually searching for more information about him." 
The Canadian Press provided a similar analysis in January — that more coverage of Santorum has led to more coverage of the neologism. 
Rick Santorum himself has acknowledged and discussed the existence and prevalence of the santorum neologism phenomenon, in comments to the press. 
He was quoted in January by The Canadian Press on his assessment of Google's response: "I suspect if something was up there like that about, say, Joe Biden, they would get rid of it." 
"To have a business allow that type of filth to be purveyed through their website or through their system is something that they say they can't handle." 
Santorum tried to alleviate the neologism's results in web searches by reaching out to Google in September, but this act only served to increase reporting and coverage of the phenomenon. 
In a 2011 radio interview with host Steve Malzberg, Santorum characterized the neologism as "filth". 
He criticized the response of the press to the phenomenon, saying, "It's offensive beyond, you know, anything that any public figure or anybody in America should tolerate, and the mainstream media laughs about it." 
In an effort to reduce the effect of the ongoing financial crisis, six central banks worldwide have reduced their interest rates by 0.5% in an unexpected move which took place today. 
The banks involved in the deal are the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, and the Swiss National Bank. 
"Throughout the current financial crisis, central banks have engaged in continuous close consultation and have cooperated in unprecedented joint actions such as the provision of liquidity to reduce strains in financial markets," said the banks in a joint statement. 
"Inflationary pressures have started to moderate in a number of countries, partly reflecting a marked decline in energy and other commodity prices." 
"Inflation expectations are diminishing and remain anchored to price stability." 
"The recent intensification of the financial crisis has augmented the downside risks to growth and thus has diminished further the upside risks to price stability." 
"Accordingly, the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, Sveriges Riksbank, and the Swiss National Bank are today announcing reductions in policy interest rates." 
"The Bank of Japan expresses its strong support of these policy actions." 
Japan expressed support for the move, although it did not cut its own interest rate by 0.5% as that would mean bringing its interest rate down to 0% from 0.5%. 
The US interest rate was lowered to 1.5% as part of the move, while the UK rate was lowered to 4.5%. 
The new rate of the Swiss National Bank is 2.5%, while Sveriges Riksbank, the Swedish central bank, lowered its rate to 4.25%. 
On September 29, Minnesota will become the first U.S. state to require diesel fuel sold at filling stations in the state to be blended with 2% biodiesel. 
This follows the statewide mandate requiring ethanol to be mixed into gasoline—also a first by Minnesota—which took effect in 1997. 
The biodiesel mandate was approved by the 2002 state legislature, and was sent to then-Governor Jesse Ventura. 
Ventura allowed the bill to become law without his signature, stating his concern that the increased cost of fuel would affect the trucking industry—potentially spurring inflation—though he felt that this was nearly balanced by the positive impact the mandate would have on agriculture in the state. 
The law had an initial target date of July 1, 2005, but would only go into effect once production capacity exceeded 8 million gallons (30 millon liters) per year. 
At the beginning of 2005, the state was only capable of producing three million gallons each year, but two new facilities in Albert Lea and Brewster increased state capacity twentyfold when they opened this summer. 
Each of the two new plants can produce 30 million gallons (113 ML) annually. 
Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson verified production levels in the August 29 edition of the Minnesota State Register, meaning that the law will become effective following a month-long notification period. 
The prices of diesel and biodiesel have equalized, so the negative economic impact initially feared by Ventura are not expected to come to pass and the effect should be pennies more or less per gallon. 
Despite the dramatic increase in capacity, biodiesel production is not yet a broad solution to shortages or high prices—in 2001, the state used 14.3 million gallons of petroleum every day. 
Pramod Mahajan, the general secretary of India's main opposition party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, was shot in Mumbai earlier today. 
The attack occurred at Mahajan's residence at around 6:30 a.m. IST (0100 UTC). 
There are few details available at this time, however sources say Mahajan was shot three times at close range by his brother Praveen Mahajan, allegedly over a property dispute. 
His lawyer Nandkumar Rajukar claimed that he was depressed and suffering from some mental trauma. 
Pramod Mahajan was rushed to the nearby Hinduja Hospital, where he is currently being operated upon for a serious injury to his liver. 
A senior surgeon at the hospital stated that Mr. Mahajan was still in critical condition and that the next 72 hours would be "crucial". 
Three bullets are still lodged in his body and doctors are finding it difficult to extract them. 
There is talk of using the help of doctors from the armed forces, who have better experience in treating bullet injuries. 
Mr. Mahajan's liver was severely injured in the incident, leading to massive blood loss. 
Doctors say that he is currently on a ventilator and that the bullets cannot be removed for fear of causing even more bleeding. 
Praveen Mahajan has been booked under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code that deals with attempt to murder. 
He underwent a psychological examination, which indicated that he was mentally stable. 
Senior politicians from across India are arriving in Mumbai to offer their support to the popular leader. 
The Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh, speaker of the Indian parliament Somnath Chatterjee and the President of India A P J Abdul Kalam have expressed shock over the attack. 
Atmospheric scientists warn that greenhouse gas emissions are increasing more rapidly, despite global efforts to curb the use of fossil fuels, new research by Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) shows. 
According to CSIRO research scientist Dr Mike Raupach, 7.9 billion tonnes of carbon were emitted into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide in 2005 - a doubling in the rate of increase since 1990 - and the rate of increase continues to accelerate. 
Data from the Cape Grim air pollution monitoring station in north-west Tasmania shows carbon dioxide emissions have increased by 2.5% each year for the past five years. 
"From 2000 to 2005, the growth rate of carbon dioxide emissions was more than 2.5% per year, whereas in the 1990s it was less than 1% per year," Dr Raupach says. 
Dr Raupach, who co-chairs the international Global Carbon Project also, was surprised by his research results. 
"It shows recent efforts globally to reduce emissions have had little impact on emissions growth," he said. 
The CSIRO found that in global terms, China has the highest current growth rate in CO2 emissions although it's emissions per person are below the global average. 
China's accumulated contribution since the start the 1800s is only five per cent of the global total. 
The USA and Europe have each contributed more than 25% of accumulated global emissions. 
Carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere — a separate measure to carbon emissions — had also increased at an unprecedented rate. 
Dr Paul Fraser, also from CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research, said that atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide grew by two parts per million in 2005, the fourth year in a row of above-average growth. 
"To have four years in a row of above-average carbon dioxide growth is unprecedented," Dr Fraser said. 
He said the trend over recent years suggests the growth rate is accelerating, "signifying that fossil fuels are having an impact on greenhouse gas concentrations in a way we haven’t seen in the past." 
In a policy change prompted by activists staying in Gaza protesting Israel's plan to close Jewish settlements there, Israel announced that nonresidents will not be allowed into the territory. 
Israel's Southern Command on Thursday announced "only residents of the Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip will be allowed [entry into Gaza]", where the Jewish state plans to end its decades-long presence. 
Israel also will stop issuing permits to close relatives of settlers. 
Legislators in the Massachusetts General Court, their name for the state legislature, approved legislation on Tuesday, April 4, that would make it the first state in the United States to require all residents to have health insurance and impose penalties for non-compliance. 
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a Republican who is expected to run for U.S. President in 2008, is expected to sign the bill. 
The bill passed the lower house, the Massachusetts House of Representatives by a vote of 155-2, and unanimously by the state senate. 
The Democratic Party holds supermajorities in both houses of the legislature. 
At least one other state (Hawaii) requires employers to provide employee health insurance, but no other state holds individuals accountable for coverage. 
Google has translated its email service, Gmail, into 12 languages, and it has put up a form that allows the public to volunteer to translate the Gmail interface into 144 more languages. 
While most of the languages listed in the volunteering form are old, three are relatively new: Borkborkbork, Klingon, and Esperanto. 
Additionally, the form lists Pig Latin, which is a method of rearranging words to obscure a language, rather than a language in itself. 
Google has also recently introduced a feature known as "My Search History," which allows users to record their searches. 
Use of the search history requires that the user have and log in to a Google or Gmail account. 
The International Monetary Fund and the European Union approved aid packages to help Georgia recover from its conflict with Russia, which occurred in early August. 
The IMF approved a US$750 million loan which will allow Georgia to rebuild its currency reserves. 
The European Union also approved an aid package of €500 million in aid by 2010, which is expected to help internally displaced people (IDPs) and economic recovery in the form of new infrastructure. 
Only €100 million of the EU aid will be given to Georgia this year. 
These loans are aimed to restore confidence in Georgia's economy and send a signal to international investors that Georgia's economy is sound. 
According to the IMF, international investors have been "critical to Georgia's economic growth in recent years." 
Takatoshi Kato, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chairman of the IMF executive committee, said the loan will "make significant resources available to replenish international reserves and bolster investor confidence, with the aim of sustaining private capital inflows that have been critical to Georgia's economic growth in recent years." 
Georgia has requested $2 billion in international aid to help it recover from the conflict. 
So far, the United States has pledged $1 billion in aid. 
Further assistance and loans to Georgia are expected from other organizations. 
Kato noted that "...Georgia is expected to receive financial assistance from multilateral and bilateral donors and creditors in support of the reconstruction effort." 
It is expected that an international donors' conference will take place next month to solicit more aid for the country. 
Georgia's government expects that economic growth will be more than cut in half as a result of the conflict. 
Last year, Georgia's GDP increased 12.4% and it is predicted by the IMF that growth will be less than 4 percent in the coming year. 
Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov have just completed their mission's first space walk aboard the International Space Station. 
The mission lasted 5 hours, 28 minutes, ending at 1311 UTC. 
The two astronauts, working in Russian space suits, performed a variety of tasks. 
Chiao and Sharipov installed a work platform, called the Universal Work Platform, along with its base and associated wiring. 
They also installed a commercial robotics experiment and a biological experiment on the exterior of the Zvezda Service Module. 
In addition, they checked vents on systems that help control the Station's atmosphere and relocated a Japanese physical science experiment. 
Residue accumulation around the vents of the Elektron oxygen generator was noted and photographed by Sharipov. 
Technicians on the ground will analyze the information to determine if this residue has been contributing to the problematic operation of the Elektron. 
During this spacewalk, the station again encountered the mysterious forces that have been saturating the Control Moment Gyros during previous spacewalks. 
The walk marks Chiao's fifth for 31 hours, 34 minutes, accumulated time and Shapirov's first. 
This was the 57th space walk conducted at the Station and the 32nd to be based out of the orbital outpost. 
Expedition 10 is scheduled to conduct its second spacewalk in March. 
The 2006 QANTAS New Zealand Television Awards were announced tonight (NZDT). 
The best observational reality (non format) show out of Snotties, The Zoo and Tough Act was Snotties. 
Best reality (format) show finalists were Downsize Me!, Sensing Murder and Shock Treatment. 
Best current affairs report finalist were Alex Teka, Detox Diary, Not Fit to Practise and Turning the Tide. 
Best news or current affairs presenter of the year finalists were Shane Taurima, Willie Jackson, John Campbell and Susan Wood. 
Winner was John Campbell, the prize was awarded to him by his producer, Carol Hirschfield. 
No finalist was for the award of TV journalist so the winner was Mike McRoberts and the first thing he said when he arrived on stage was: "Crikey dick." 
The best news or current affairs editor was Shahir Daud. 
Lifestyle and information programme finalists were House Trap, Target and The Living Room. 
The best popular documentary section finalists were Give My Children Back, Earthquake and Million Dollar Tumour (all of which aired on TV3). 
Geoff Husson got the award for the best non-drama director. 
The winner of favourite female, as voted by the public "by a country mile", was Hillary Barry. 
Public voted favourite male was Simon Dallow taking the award, who was "lost for words...truly shocked..." 
The favourite programme nominees were Shortland Street, Outrageous Fortune, NZ Idol, Sensing Murder, Downsize Me!, Dancing With The Stars, Target and bro'Town. 
The winner was, as voted by the public, Shortland Street. 
Grey's Anatomy won the best international programme as voted by the public. 
Best sports or event coverage out of Na Ratou Mo Tatou, V8 Supercars Pukekohe or 3 News election night was Na Ratou Mo Tatou (ANZAC day coverage). 
Best entertainment nominees were What Now; the Gunge and Run Awards, Dave Dobbyn; One Night in Matata and Snatch out Booty and the winner was Dave Dobbyn; One Night in Matata. 
The best non factual script writer went to David Brechin-Smith. 
Fred Renata, best camera non factual, and best editing for non-factual went to Bryan Shaw. 
Finalists were for best news report team are, "David-Benson Pope" on 3 News, "Robert Hewitt" on One News and "Gaza" on 3 News. 
Best current affairs show finalists were Fair Go, Sunday, Campbell Live. 
Winner was Campbell Live, when on stage Mr Campbell said: "Bloody Stoked." 
Best news finalists were 3 News and One News and the winner was One News. 
Best actress finalists were Kate Atkinson, Robyn Malcolm and Kate Elliot. 
Best actor finalists were Antony Starr, Ryan O'Kane and Scott Wills and the winner was Ryan O'Kane. 
The last award, best drama, the finalists were The Insiders Guide to Love, Doves of War, Outrageous Fortune. 
The winner of best drama was The Insiders Guide to Love. 
December 22, 2004 The controversial European Union Directive on the Patentability of Computer Implemented Inventions, also called the "software patent directive" has been put to rest for 2004. 
The directive was expected to easily pass through the European Council's Fisheries Council on Tuesday, December 21, but was removed from the agenda at the request of Poland's Minister of Science and Computerisation, Wlodzimierz Marcinski. 
The directive's opponents, some of whom had conceded defeat on Tuesday before the vote was taken, will continue the debate informally until meetings resume in 2005. 
Software developers, who supported the European Parliament's proposal last year to definitively rule out software patents, welcomed the delay as a chance to reintroduce those provisions into the current draft. 
Florian Mueller, campaign manager of NoSoftwarePatents.com, which is supported by three IT companies (1&1, Red Hat, and MySQL AB), applauded Poland's move. 
"The Polish government deserves greatest admiration for its courage!" said Mueller in a press release. 
"Now Europe has the opportunity to have a constructive debate on the severe shortcomings of the current Council text, under the new Luxembourgish EU presidency next year." 
Germany's representative also backed the delay, saying it would allow everyone to align the current proposal to changes proposed by the European Parliament last year. 
"We were well aware that [the current proposal] has room for improvement with an eye to the objective of arriving at a consensus position between the EU Council and the European Parliament," Germany's Federal Minister of Justice Brigitte Zypries said in a Tuesday statement. 
"We will continue to work constructively toward finding a solution that even better meets the needs of those concerned than the decision taken in May of this year." 
On May 18, 2004 EU Council reached a political agreement on a "Common Position" on the directive which ignored the European Parliament's vote from last year. 
Later, the Dutch parliament failed to convince its EU representatives to reverse their vote. 
According to the new voting weights which took effect on November 1, the majority needed to formally adopt the Common Position (after translations were done) is questionable. 
The 20 countries that supported the Directive on May 18 fall short of the new qualified majority by 16 votes. 
A car crash in the British region of Leicestershire has resulted in the deaths of six people: three men and three women. 
The incident, involving a lorry and a Ford Mondeo, occurred at around 01:00 UTC today (02:00 local time) on the A607 road. 
Simon Adkin of the local police said that, "the black Mondeo was travelling towards Leicester and the lorry was travelling in the opposite direction." 
He announced that the police "are appealing to anyone who witnessed the incident and saw either of these vehicles beforehand to get in touch." 
The driver of the Ford, who was killed in the incident, was a 23-year-old male. 
An 18-year-old man, 19-year-old woman and 18-year-old woman were also killed in the incident. 
The ages of the other two people are not yet known. 
As a result of the crash, the A607 is expected to remain closed for most of today. 
The Illinois House of Representatives voted this Thursday to lift some penalties for teenagers who engage in sexting. 
While minors are still prohibited from sending nude photos of other minors taken on cell phones, they will no longer be required to register as sex offenders. 
Instead, they could be punished with court-ordered supervision or community service. 
The bill, which was sponsored by State Representative Darlene Senger from Naperville, passed with a 114–1 majority and will be considered by the Illinois Senate. 
The lone dissenter, State Representative Careen Gordon from Morris, declined to comment on her vote. 
The adult literacy program Read Santa Clara marked its tenth anniversary today with a gathering of program participants, staff, and supporters from the community. 
Read Santa Clara trains volunteer tutors and matches them with adult learners who wish to build their literacy skills. 
In the presentation, program staff and supporters reviewed the program's history and growth, honored long-time participants, and looked toward the future. 
Santa Clara Mayor Patricia Mahan spoke at the gathering, noting, "Read Santa Clara joins people who need to learn with people who need to teach, and what a powerful combination that is." 
Program coordinators estimate that tutors volunteered some 5000 hours last year. 
City Manager Jennifer Sparacino estimates, "That's worth about $100,000 per year in volunteer time." 
Learners also spoke about what Read Santa Clara meant to them. 
Raymond Moreno said, "I hope it stays for another ten, twenty, thirty years, because we need it." 
Juan Velasquez said, "My life has changed a lot...I did many things I could not have done without help." 
And Ike Moore said, "To be able to express myself...What a gift!" 
PepsiCo has acquired Poland's Star Foods, a leading maker of snacks, for an undisclosed sum. 
The deal strengthens its position in Poland in snacks sales such as potato chips. 
More than half of PepsiCo's total sales is from snacks, less than 20% is from soft drinks. 
Star Foods was selling potato chips under the brand Star Chips, and corn snacks under the brand Mr. Snaki. 
WMAQ-TV NBC 5 Chicago announced yesterday that reporter Amy Jacobson was leaving her job after being videotaped in a bikini with her two sons at the home of Craig Stebic. 
Jacobson has been covering the story of Stebic's wife Lisa, who has been missing since April 30. 
Jacobson says that she took her children on a social visit on her day off, following an invitation from Stebic's family. 
Jacobson has reported at WMAQ for the last ten years. 
The video of her at Craig Stebic's home was either taken by or given to CBS 2 WBBM-TV Chicago, the CBS affiliate. 
The entire six minute video of Jacobson is available at cbs2chicago.com. 
The WMAQ President and General Manager Larry Wert stated "Amy has been one of our most valued reporters for over ten years." 
"The decision to part ways has been a difficult one." 
Speaking with WGN Radio on Wednesday morning, Jacobson described WBBM-TV's releasing of the video a "cheap shot". 
She told Spike O'Dell that she is sickened by the entire ordeal and may pursue legal action against the people who took the video of her at Craig Stebic's house. 
Jacobson said her attorney told her it is illegal to videotape people on private property and she said she "is looking at all of her legal options." 
A press release was sent to the WMAQ-TV Newsroom staff on July 10, 2007. 
Jacobson came to WMAQ-TV in 1996 from Fox affiliate WJBK located in Detroit. 
She began her career at KSAX and also worked in El Paso and Tucson, AZ. 
She started at WMAQ as a freelance reporter and moved up to general assignment reporter. 
She and her husband have two children and live on the north side of Chicago. 
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton starting from pole wins the FIA Formula-1 2007 Japanese Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Japan. 
It was the first race on this circuit since 1977, when James Hunt won the race for McLaren-Ford. 
A rainy and foggy weekend at Fuji appeared to be very hard for all drivers as the race ran longer then expected and the drivers have to concentrate more due to severe weather conditions. 
The race started behind the safety car which stayed on a track for an unusually long time, about 40 minutes. 
Both Ferrari drivers, who managed to get the second row on the starting grid in the Saturday qualifying session were out of the game on the first laps due to their tyre selection mistake - drivers were forced to change to extreme wet tyres after a few driving errors. 
When the pace car finally turned off the lights giving the drivers a clear road Hamilton quickly got away from his teammate, Fernando Alonso, who had more fuel on board and thus had a heavier car. 
Alonso would be eliminated after 41 laps in a driving accident. 
Heikki Kovalainen driving for Renault finally leads to a first podium finish for the team in this season, the Finn managed to get second place. 
Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber both nearly finished on the podium, but a collision between their Toro Rosso and Red Bull sponsored vehicles took them out of the race. 
Renault-engined cars did well in the race with David Coulthard and Giancarlo Fisichella finishing in 4th and 5th places. 
Robert Kubica got a drive through the pit-lane penalty after some dangerous driving and a collision with Hamilton, causing the Polish driver to be rolled back to 7th place. 
Felipe Massa took 6th place for Ferrari in his hard battle with Kubica in the sprint to the finish line. 
Vitantonio Liuzzi rounded out the top eight for Toro Rosso. 
Adrian Sutil did his best for Spyker, finishing ahead of both Hondas. 
It was confirmed that Spyker will change owners next season becoming the first Indian national Formula One team in history. 
In the Drivers' Championship Hamilton, with 107 points, has increased his lead over teammate Alonso to 12 points. 
Kimi narrowed the gap to the McLaren drivers, now only five points behind Alonso. 
Hurricane Dean hit the coast of Mexico's mainland today as a Category 2 hurricane, with winds sustained at 100 mph. 
Dean moved across the Bay of Campeche, eyeing over 100 oil platforms and several oil ports in the center of the country's oil industry. 
Over 14,000 workers in the area had to be evacuated. 
The eye of the storm hit Tecolutla, a major tourist town. 
Currently, there are no reports of deaths or serious injuries following the landfall in Mexico. 
However, the storm caused major damage to some areas with very heavy rains shutting down many roadways and flooding many homes. 
Overall Dean is being blamed for at least 20 deaths in the Caribbean. 
The storm has since been downgraded to Category 1 status. 
British singer Amy Winehouse died today in her London home in Camden Square, aged 27. 
The cause of death is not yet known and is being treated as "unexplained", according to the metropolitan police. 
"On arrival, officers found the body of a 27-year-old female who was pronounced dead at the scene", said a police statement on their website. 
An ambulance was called to her address where paramedics reported her dead on the scene at around 16:00 local time (15:00 UTC) in London. 
Winehouse previously had problems with drugs and alcohol and checked herself out of rehab in June. 
At least 400 homes have been evacuated in Sierra Madre near Los Angeles, California after a wildfire which started on Saturday, began to threaten their homes. 
So far only five percent of the 350 acre fire is contained, with over 400 firefighters battling the blaze. 
Authorities say that it has been over 40 years since some parts of the land have caught fire. 
Authorities say the investigation into how it started may take up to three days to finish. 
So far there have been no injuries and no homes have yet been damaged, but one building storing equipment used by firefighters was burned to the ground. 
For a short time, at least 100 hikers were trapped in the mountains and a boy scout camp was also threatened by the blaze. 
Several people celebrating a wedding have also been trapped by the fire but are not injured and authorities say they are in no danger from the blaze. 
However, there are currently around 1000 people under mandatory evacuations, and the city has been declared in a state of emergency. 
It could take at least five days before the fire can be brought under full control. 
The MTR Corporation, the only railway company in Hong Kong since the rail merge in 2007, has loosened their rules. 
The corporation proposed the new modifications, then transferred the proposal to the Legislative Council, and will be effective from September 2010. 
The new set of rules allow 'non-disruptive' use of profanity in private conversations, and the punishment for inflammatory use of expletives is lowered from a fine of HK$5000 to HK$2000. 
The new set of rules have also excluded the regulation against wandering in MTR premises, as well as the rule against attempting to eat or drink. 
Democratic Party member James To has expressed his concerns about a new rule that outlaws the display of promotional material. 
According to To, the wearing of Tiananmen Square Incident-related T-shirts or acting the Goddess of Democracy may breach the new MTR rules. 
He also deems two other regulations, namely the prohibition of distracting MTR staff members and photography and video-recording in the train carriages, 'unreasonable'. 
Unionist Li Fung-ying is also confused whether chewing gum was considered food. 
MTR head of operations Choi Tak-tsan replied that only what is regarded as food counts. 
They had not yet discussed on this matter, said Choi, and will soon. 
Li is also concerned about the rule which prohibits the entering of the first-class carriage without buying a ticket. 
Her main concern is whether the passenger will be allowed to buy the ticket rather than being fined HK$500. 
Wong Kwok-hing believes that the MTR corporation should call upon more effort to advertise a more 'civilised' and 'polite' way of taking the train. 
Jeffrey Lam thinks that the new rules do not do enough to restrict shouting. 
MTR replied that anyone who shouts in the train can be advised to leave the train or even prosecuted. 
Astronauts and ground controllers are looking at apparent damage to the International Space Station P6 4B solar array spotted by the crew during deployment. 
NASA halted the deployment of the solar array wing to evaluate the damage. 
Deployment is about 75 percent complete with 25 of 31 bays deployed. 
The crew has been asked to photograph the area on the solar array wing and downlink the images to the ground. 
Shuttle Discovery is presently docked to the ISS during mission STS-120. 
The available information about the phosphorous cloud following the railway accident in the Ukraine last Monday is becoming more and more cryptic. 
The political involvement of most media and other factors are causing contradictions among official sources that are making press work extremely hard. 
Moreover, no one is permitted to enter the accident location. 
The site of the accident was closed to visitors following the injury of three TV journalists who got too close. 
The mayor of Champaign, Illinois denies that Barack Obama is eligible to hold the highest office in the United States, joining others who question the validity of the president's birth certificate. 
"You know, if you're not willing to produce an original certificate like a birth certificate, then you've got something to hide." 
The Republican, three-term mayor of the central Illinois city made the comment to a man holding a video camera during a Tea Party protest at West Side Park in Champaign. 
The man who recorded him apparently was an anti-Tea Party student from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. 
Schweighart's concerns reflect those held by some Tea Party proponents and "birthers", who claim that Obama is not eligible to be the president because he was not born in the United States. 
Although officials in Hawaii have confirmed that Obama was born there, birthers still insist that he has not proven his constitutional eligibility as a natural born citizen. 
Champaign County Board member Al Kurtz, declaring himself "flabbergasted" by the remarks, has called on the mayor to resign. 
"It's a ridiculous statement to make, and that's why I felt like he polarized the city with those kinds of bias." 
"I think from this statement, it will make him a very ineffective mayor," he said. 
Other local politicians are less concerned by Schweighart's comment, such as city council member Marci Dodds, who does not believe the mayor should resign. 
"I respect the mayor greatly but I am somewhat disheartened by his comments." 
"If we all get fired for making dumb comments, we'd sure be moving around a lot," she said. 
In the case of a Marine who fired upon an unarmed and wounded Iraqi in a mosque in November 2004, the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service, headed by Major General Richard Natonski, ruled that the soldier acted in self-defense, and within the law of armed conflict. 
In a statement released by the Marine Corps: "He has determined that the actions of the Marine in question were consistent with the established rules of engagement, the law of armed conflict and the Marine's inherent right of self-defense." 
In a videotape of the event, the Camp Pendleton U.S. marine raises his weapon and fires into the body of a Iraqi lying up against a wall in a mosque. 
When the Marine approached the wounded man, the marine is heard on the videotape saying, "He's f****** faking he's dead; he's faking he's f****** dead." 
Then he fired his rifle point-blank at the man's head, at which point a companion said, "Well, he's dead now." 
The shootings occurred inside a mosque during a U.S. offensive that led to house-to-house fighting in southern Falluja last November. 
A television journalist embedded with the Marines recorded the killing on videotape. 
The man killed was one of several Iraqi insurgents who had been wounded in fighting and then disarmed by marines, who then moved on leaving the wounded men in the mosque. 
The next day a second line of marines moved through the area, who fought with more insurgents. 
Due to the time that had passed since the first wave of marines, the second line assumed that any buildings could have been re-occupied by insurgents. 
The corporal found wounded men in the mosque when they searched it. 
At that moment marines from the first line of attack were approaching the mosque, among them the journalist, who had also been there the first time. 
When they entered the journalist taped what he saw, the same people who were left there, disarmed. 
Some were still alive and one marine thought a man lying on the ground was a threat because one of his arms was not clearly visible, so he could be hiding a weapon. 
However, instead of keeping him covered so another could search him he shot him, while the journalist was taping it. 
When the marine saw this and heard that these men had already been disarmed before he shouted that he didn't know that. 
In sworn testimony, the corporal said he thought the people in the mosque were a threat. 
A known tactic of anti-Iraqi forces (AIF) is to feign injury or death, and the marine could reasonably claim they were still a threat. 
"The evidence supports the conclusion that the shooting of all three AIF by the corporal during the assault on the mosque was consistent with the ROE (rules of engagement)." 
"The evidence indicates that based on the actions of those AIF, the corporal reasonably believed that they posed a hostile threat to him and his fellow Marines and justifiably fired in self-defense." 
"The enhanced videotape of the shooting supports the corporal's claim that the wounded AIF was concealing his left arm behind his head." 
"While it is not clear whether the AIF in the videotape made any overtly threatening gestures, it is clear that the Marines of 3/1, to include the corporal, were aware that feigning death was a common enemy TTP (tactics, techniques & procedures)." 
"Accordingly, it was reasonable to believe that the corporal fired on the AIF after reasonably believing that the individual was committing a hostile act by exhibiting a known enemy TTP (feigning death and subsequently moving his concealed arm)." 
"Based on all the evidence in the case, and the rules of engagement that were in effect at the time, it is clear that the corporal could have reasonably believed that the AIF shown in the videotape posed a hostile threat justifying his use of deadly force." 
Kevin Sites, the NBC TV journalist who taped the event as "pool" footage, was embedded with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment when it neutralized Fallujah. 
The incident in the mosque raised considerable controversy over whether embedded journalists should maintain a neutral point of view. 
The unedited footage was aired extensively by Al Jazeera over the months following the incident. 
Sharif Hikmat Nashashibi of the Arab Media Watch said the footage would support the idea in the Middle East that the prime concern of US forces is not the welfare of Iraqis. 
In the USA, however, the shooting itself was not shown because NBC considered it too shocking. 
Now that Sites is no longer embedded he wants to bring the whole story out in the open. 
Despite the fact that Sites introduced the footage with a long explanation of how the soldiers were under a lot of stress, which could easily cloud their judgement, he received thousands of hate-mails per day and even death-threats 
Sites later responded to the criticism in an open letter to the regiment in his weblog. 
A roadside bomb in the Iraq capital Baghdad has killed four people, including two journalists working for television network CBS. 
The two journalists, cameraman Paul Douglas and soundman James Brolan, both British, were embedded with the American 4th Infantry Division and were on a routine patrol when a nearby car packed with explosives was detonated. 
An U.S. army officer and an Iraqi interpreter were also killed. 
CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier, who the journalists were working with, was seriously injured and was flown to an U.S. military hospital to receive surgery. 
With the addition of these two journalists, Iraq is now "the deadliest war for reporters in the past century", according to Editor and Publisher, the total coming to seventy-one. 
This compares to sixty-nine reporters killed during World War Two, and sixty-three in Vietnam. 
Alexander Downer, Australia's foreign affairs minister, told the Cole Inquiry yesterday that it was not his department's job to investigate claims that wheat exporter AWB was paying kickbacks to Saddam Hussein in the lead up to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. 
Mr Downer, who entered the inquiry via a back entrance to avoid the crowd waiting outside told the inquiry numerous times that he did not read a series of diplomatic cables which raised concerns about AWB in Iraq. 
Mr Downer admitted that he did not have the time to read diplomatic cables and the only time he did so was when he is "stuck on a plane" and has nothing else to read. 
The claims are in stark contrast to a statement made to parliament in February where Mr Downer said "Of course I would have read them". 
When asked why the department of foreign affairs and trade did nothing about the allegations first received in 2000, he told the inquiry that his department couldn't investigate AWB and responsibility for the oil for food program laid with the UN. 
"The department does not have the legal authority to go into AWB and access their files" he said. 
"They (the UN) also had people on the ground in Iraq because insofar as there could be infringements of the sanctions regime, those infringements could take place within Iraq and Australia had no access to Iraq during that period." 
Mr Downer admitted that the department of foreign affairs and trade had dealt with each cable, despite he not reading them and that were satisfied with assurances from AWB that there was no substance to the allegations. 
Mr Downer was also asked about an unassessed intelligence report, sent to the National Security Committee of cabinet which raised concerns about Alia, the Jordanian trucking company used by the AWB to transport wheat around Iraq. 
The document alleged that Alia may have been paying kickbacks to the Iraqi regime. 
Mr Downer told the inquiry that the intelligence may not have been dealt with. 
"There is so much intelligence." 
"It's a very major challenge, to deal with intelligence" he said. 
When asked by Terry Forrest, counsel for AWB executives what the point of sending intelligence to his department when it was never read, Mr Downer conceded that it was "physically impossible" to read it all. 
Mr Downer was also questioned about a cable delivered in June 2003 from US army captain Puckett which claimed that every contract under the UN's oil for food program contained a kickback. 
Mr Downer told the inquiry he didn't see the cable as being important because the information was provided by "a junior officer in the US army". 
Mr Downer denied claims made by former AWB executive Andrew Lindberg that he had been told about the possibility that money may have been paid to Iraq by Alia. 
According to Mr Downer it is common practice in his department to have two advisors at such meetings, where one of them takes notes so there is a record of what is said. 
According to Mr Downer, no notes were taken during the meeting despite it being "the usual practice". 
Mr Downer told the inquiry that he had no idea why notes weren't taken during the meeting, despite the meeting being quite important. 
He also told the inquiry that he couldn't recall if he noticed that nobody was taking notes as he would have been "focused a little more on the meeting than on somebody taking notes". 
Microprocessor company Intel Corporation has quit the board of directors for the One Laptop Per Child association (OLPC), a non-profit organization that aims to provide children in developing countries with inexpensive laptops. 
An Intel spokesman cited a "philosophical impasse" as the reason for the split. 
Intel joined the OLPC board in July 2007, agreeing to give financial and technological support to the project. 
Development began on a new laptop using an Intel processor rather than the current processor made by Advanced Micro Devices, a rival of Intel. 
A prototype of this machine was expected to be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Les Vegas, Nevada, which begins in a few days. 
According to Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy, OLPC had repeatedly asked Intel to abandon its support for the Classmate PC, a similar laptop designed for children in developing countries, and focus entirely on the OLPC program. 
"At the end of the day, we decided we couldn't accommodate that request," Mulloy said. 
OLPC President Walter Bender said in an interview that Intel's resignation will have "no impact" on the program. 
"We never really got much going with Intel to have an impact," Bender said. 
He criticized Intel for a "seemingly half-hearted effort" in developing the new laptops and for using the agreement to make "marketing statements". 
Tournament hosts France slumped to a shock defeat against Argentina in the opening match of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. 
France looked shaky, making errors throughout and Argentina took the lead early on through penalties from Felipe Contepomi. 
Ignacio Corleto scored the only try of the match for Argentina in the 27th minute, but Contepomi missed the conversion, hitting the post. 
At half time Argentina led by 17 points to 9, with all France's points coming from penalties scored by David Skrela. 
Although France improved in the second half, Argentina's strong defence held them off and France were only able to close the lead to five points when David Skrela scored his fourth penalty of the match in the 60th minute. 
Skrela and his replacement Frederic Michalak both missed penalties, damaging French chances of a comeback. 
This is the first time that the French have lost during the pool stages of the World Cup. 
2003 champions England start defending their title tomorrow when they play the United States. 
Australia face Japan while New Zealand, who are one of the favourites to win the tournament, play Italy. 
Floods in the Algerian town of Ghardaïa which is in the M'zab Valley, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, have killed at least 29 people according to local officials and Ali Belkhir, the head of public health for the north African country. 
Belkhir confirmed that "following these floods, we can sadly declare that 29 people have died." 
He also said that 84 people were injured, although the Algerian interior ministry has since lowered the toll to 48. 
Six hundred homes were also flooded in the incident, and several hundred people were evacuated by helicopter. 
According to reports on Algerian national radio, there may also be undiscovered damage in towns nearby Ghardaïa, which is approximately 600 kilometres from the Algerian capital, Algiers. 
The flooding was caused by storms that flooded a seasonal river, known locally as a wadi, which can rise quickly by around 8 metres. 
A judge in Montana yesterday released Barry Beach after 28 years and eleven months behind bars. 
Beach confessed to a 1979 killing but has since maintained his innocence and now he's been granted a new trial. 
Residents of the suburb of Minyama, Australia have come to a compromise with restaurant chain McDonald's. 
A 24 hour store was planned for the suburb but the fast food giant backed down agreeing that the store will only open overnight on Fridays and Saturdays. 
Every other day it will be open from five in the morning to eleven at night. 
As part of the compromise, a walkway connecting the suburb's main road to the residential area near the new McDonald's has been closed off. 
"They will all be restricted to Nicklin Way," said John Meyer-Gleaves, a spokesperson for protest group Say No To McDonald's, referring to late night customers. 
The group also managed to get a higher wall placed between the store and the residential area to cut noise and light pollution. 
In December, Sunshine Coast Regional Council knocked backed the then-proposed store with mayor Bob Abbot expressing concern about its proximity to a residential area. 
"I'm pretty sure I'm the only councillor who already has a 24-hour McDonald's in my division, we have enough issues with that one, and this is overkill," Councillor Chris Thompson, Division 4 in the Sunshine Coast Regional Council, had said about a 24 hour seven day a week store at Minyama. 
The 24-hour McDonald's in Councillor Thompson's division, Mooloolaba, is part of a larger complex and does not back onto residential premises. 
Yemeni government officials reported that Yemeni armed forces have killed over 100 Zaidi Shia rebel fighters following a battle to capture a town in the country's north. 
In a statement, the government said that "the bodies of more than 100 rebels have been recovered from the roadside outside the town of Harf Sufyan." 
"It seems that the bodies were those of rebels who were trying to flee the town during a mopping-up operation over the past two days." 
The statement also said that two commanders, Mohsen Saleh Hadi Gawd and Salah Jorman, were identified among the dead. 
The government statement said the Yemeni forces "totally [purged] the town of rebel elements in the past two days, forcing the rebels to surrender or flee." 
The Zaidi insurgent group, also known as Houthis, have been fighting for northern independence for the past half decade. 
Two weeks ago, the Yemeni government started Operation Scorched Earth to try to exterminate the insurgents. 
Harf Sufyan is a town in Yemen's northern mountain range. 
It is about seventy kilometres north of Sana'a, the country's capital. 
A van carrying around thirty-three people crashed into the Alamatti reservoir on the Krishna river in north Karnataka, killing 25 people while the rest managed to swim to safety. 
The passengers, including women and children, were from Bagsibundu village in Koppal district and were going to visit the Alamatti dam after going on a pilgrimage to Koodalasangama. 
District officials rushed to the spot and initiated efforts to rescue survivors and extricate the bodies of the deceased. 
Chief Minister of Karnataka, H.D Kumaraswamy expressed shock over the accident. 
After a 3-1 victory in the 2nd game of the UEFA-Women's Cup final 2005 the players of the 1.FFC Turbine Potsdam have won the European championship against the Swedish team of Djurgården / Älvsjö - the UEFA Women's cup. 
A 73-year old retired pastor, Reverend Roland Weisselberg, burned himself alive during Reformation Day services on Tuesday]in Erfurt, Germany. 
His self-immolation was apparently in protest against the spread of Islam, which he felt the Protestant church should take more seriously. 
His last words were "Jesus and Oskar,", believed to a reference to Oskar Bruesewitz, a priest who burned himself alive to protest the Communist government of East Germany. 
He was transported to a burns unit in Halle but died en route. 
Rev. Weisselberg had lived under Communism in East Germany, and had been a publisher in his former vocation. 
Axel Noack, Bishop of Saxony, said that he was shocked at Rev. Weisselberg's self-immolation, stressing that Christians could not accept a "clash of cultures". 
He confessed that the issue of Islam had been sidelined within the Church and was only spoken about in private. 
There were few Muslims there with whom they could engage in dialogue, Noack said. 
Following a dispute with London-based company Independent International Investment Research (IIIR), Internet company Google Inc. has dropped the use of its "Gmail" name for its free email service. 
IIIR launched its own web-based email service called Gmail more than two years prior to Google's own service. 
All other countries (except Germany, where a similar dispute also resulted in a name change) will continue to use the Gmail name and domain (gmail.com). 
The change took place on Wednesday, when all new Gmail accounts created from a UK IP address will use the @googlemail.com domain, instead of the former @gmail.com. 
As the service is still "invite-only", invitations for the service will also be made for the @googlemail.com domain. 
Former UK Gmail users will continue to use the @gmail.com domain for the near future. 
Two bombs detonated in the Güngören district of Istanbul, Turkey Sunday evening, killing at least 17 people and wounding over 150. 
The neighborhood targeted is mainly residential, and the victims were civilians. 
At least five of those killed were children, according to local officials. 
This bombing was the worst terrorist attack in Istanbul since the 2003 Istanbul Bombings, in which truck bombs exploded outside two Istanbul synagogues, killing 23 and wounding more than 300. 
The initial explosion caused little damage, but attracted crowds of onlookers. 
The second more lethal blast occurred 10 minutes later, about 50 metres away. 
"After the first explosion, I rushed outside to check on my two sons, found both of them." 
"But my elder son insisted on going back to find his father," said Nimet Arslan to International Herald Tribune. 
Following the second bomb, she said, "a dark smoke filled the air and all I could see or hear was people screaming." 
Turkish President Abdullah Gül said in a statement, "Nothing can be achieved by terror, violently claiming lives of the innocent." 
"These attacks show the inhumanity and misery of the assailants." 
It is not yet clear who is responsible, but Turkish authorities suspect the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a Kurdish separatist group. 
"Of course, there are links with the separatist organization," the governor of Istanbul province, Muammer Güler said, "It's surely a terror attack, there’s no doubt." 
This follows a recent shooting attack on the United States consulate in Istanbul. 
On Sunday, the Turkish military announced that its fighter jets had raided twelve PKK settlements in Northern Iraq, which the PKK uses as a base to launch attacks on Turkey, raising speculation of PKK involvement in this attack. 
However Zubeyir Aydar, a senior Kurdish militant, denied any involvement in the attacks in a statement to a pro-PKK news agency. 
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan visited the site on Monday, calling for calm and nationwide solidarity. 
Mozambique's main opposition party has rejected the results of last month's national elections, alleging fraud and ballot-stuffing. 
Official results were released on Wednesday confirming that President Armando Guebuza had won another term in office. 
The secretary-general of the opposition Renamo Party, Ussufo Momade, announced his party's rejection of the election results, saying there had been widespread fraud. 
"We demand the cancellation of the results that were just announced and we insist on a new vote." 
The National Electoral Commission said Wednesday that Guebuza had received more than 75% of the valid votes cast two weeks ago. 
"The National Electoral Commission declares that Armando Emilio Guebuza has been elected president of the Republic of Mozambique for five years," the commission stated. 
The president's Frelimo Party also won 191 of the 250 seats in parliament. 
Before the elections, Frelimo had 160 seats and Renamo 90. 
Frelimo has been in power since 1975, when Mozambique declared independence from Portugal. 
Renamo's candidate, Afonso Dhlakama, received 16% of the vote, while the leader of a new party, Daviz Simango of the Mozambique Democratic Movement (MDM), received 8%. 
Sixteen other parties were also in contention for parliament seats, but none of them received more than one percent of the vote. 
Frelimo, which has a two-thirds majority in the parliament, has a sufficient number of seats to alter the constitution without support from other parties. 
There has been some speculation that Frelimo may use this to allow Guebuza to run for a third term - currently, the constitution allows a president to serve only two terms in office. 
Senior Frelimo party members, however, promised that Guebuza had no intention of seeking another term. 
"The majority in parliament will give us more freedom to choose what is best for Mozambican people." 
"And that is what we will continue to do in the next mandate," said Frelimo election officer Veronica Macamo. 
Soon after the election results were announced, Renamo alleged that there had been widespread ballot-stuffing in some districts, and that its observers had been expelled from others. 
The MDM also protested, saying ballots had been tampered with at some stations, and produced a cell phone video showing election officials apparently tampering with ballots. 
The party also made a list of alleged voting irregularities, which was given to media and election observers. 
He also rejected the electoral body's verdict that the poll was credible. 
"What the CNE is saying is what Frelimo tells them to say." 
"But what the international community didn't know is that those polling station agents were actually recruited to stuff the ballot boxes." 
"If that was not the case, why did they arrest most of our polling station watchers?" 
"That is exactly to create the opportunity for them to do the stuffing," he said. 
An observation consortium of religious and civic groups conducted a parallel tabulation of the vote in eight percent of the stations nationwide. 
The group said there were indications of irregularities in six percent of the voting stations. 
Voter turnout nationwide was 45%, but some stations reported a turnout of 95% or more, raising suspicions that there was ballot stuffing involved. 
Other voting stations reported a turnout of 15% or less. 
Many ballots were disqualified because they had a check-mark beside the face of one candidate, but a fingerprint beside the face of another. 
Some observers concluded that such fraud might have affected the outcome in one of the contests for parliament, and several of those for the provincial assemblies. 
Most international observers, however, had deemed the elections fair and free, although there had been some criticism that the electoral commission had disqualified MDM candidates for all but four provincial assemblies on technical grounds. 
"The pre-election phase was characterized by peaceful, tolerant and yet enthusiastic political atmosphere." 
"There was clear evidence of vigor and enthusiasm among political parties as they conducted their campaigns," said the South African Development Community (SADC), which sent 98 observers to oversee the elections. 
The national elections commission stated that no official complaints of voting irregularity were submitted to them. 
"Political parties have two days after the voting day to present complaints or proof of irregularities." 
"We did not receive any complaints during this period," said the chairman of Mozambique's National Elections Commission, Leopoldo da Costa. 
Bayern Munich's #1 goalkeeper Oliver Kahn striker Miroslav Klose have been ruled out of Thursday's UEFA Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg match against Portugal's Belenenses. 
Oliver Kahn will require elbow surgery and will be out for five weeks. 
Bastian Schweinsteiger, Marcell Jansen and Luca Toni didn't practice today for precautionary reasons. 
Michael Rensing will replace Oliver Kahn in net while it's not known what formation Ottmar Hitzfeld will use on Thursday. 
In Goma, on the eastern side of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), at least 70 people, according to officials, have died because when a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 crashed on take off yesterday. 
VOA has reported that as many as 100 people could have been on board the plane at the time of its crash. 
A director of Hewa Bora Airways, the airline involved in the incident said that "we [the airline] have managed to save most of the passengers who have been evacuated to hospitals." 
Naomi Schwarz, a journalist on the scene described the incident. 
"The whole top of the plane is ripped off and the two buildings next door are pretty much destroyed too." 
"People are carrying buckets full of water to try to put out the fire." 
As of 08:00 UTC, the majority of the Hewa Bora website was not available. 
Bolton Wanderers opened the scoring after only eight minutes when Ricardo Gardner scored on a deflected shot. 
After taking 15 minutes to settle in, Bayern Munich started to attack more frequently and it paid dividends after 30 minutes when Lukas Podolski equalized. 
Early in the 2nd half Bayern Munich took the lead when Podolski got his 2nd goal of the game. 
However, with 8 minutes left, Bolton equalized which earned Bolton's 2nd point in the group stage while Bayern lead Group F with 4 points. 
If Bayern Munich wins their next UEFA Cup match, they are all but assured their place in the next round. 
In an attempt at a world first twenty short-tailed bats are to be moved by the New Zealand Department of Conservation from the Tararua Ranges to Kapiti Island. 
If the transfer to predator-free Kapiti works, it will become the first time that bats have ever been trans-located. 
All previous attempts at moving bats have failed due to their natural homing instincts. 
However scientists with the Department of Conservation, are aiming to overcome this by shifting juveniles. 
Conservation Minister Chris Carter said that while the trial was risky, it was also worthwhile. 
"A willingness to push boundaries and try new things is exactly what conservation in New Zealand needs," he said. 
At least 70 people are dead and hundreds more injured after three earthquakes and several aftershocks rocked western Iran between Doroud and Boroujerd in the Lorestan province at 11:06 p.m. local time (1936 GMT) on Thursday. 
Some estimates of those injured currently range between 700-1,200 people. 
The first earthquake measured a 4.7 on the Richter magnitude scale and was in a mountainous area and the second measured a 5.1. 
The third quake measured a 6.0 and hit Doroud and the villages surrounding the area at 4:47 a.m. local time (0117 GMT) on Friday. 
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, however, a 5.7 magnitude quake occurred at 0117 UTC followed by an earthquake of 4.7 magnitude fifteen minutes later. 
They also report that the previous day, a quake measuring 4.7 in magnitude occurred in the same area. 
Power has been cut to some areas and there are reports of at least 330 villages that have been severely damaged. 
Some reports say that at least 20 villages have been destroyed. 
In December of 2003, a magnitude 6.6 earthquake killed over 31,000 people and in February of 2005 a 6.4 eathquake killed 600 people near Zarand in the Kerman province. 
The European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee supported on Tuesday a proposal by the European Commission to scrap visa requirements for citizens of Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia, starting on January 1 of next year. 
The committee also asked that Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania be included in the visa liberalisation process, although neither has met EU-determined benchmarks yet. 
European Parliament members also want to initiate visa liberalisation dialogues with Kosovo and establish a roadmap for visa-free travel. 
Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro currently appear to have strong support within the Parliament for implementing the proposal. 
“I am convinced that what we are trying to do now with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania will not slow down the other three countries. 
This was a political decision by all the member-states of the European community and that will not change,” said Tanja Fajon, the European Parliament Rapporteur on Visa Liberalization. 
Microsoft decided to buy a health information search engine called Medstory. 
This is the company's first step towards an involvement in the health market. 
The software that Medstory develops involves artificial intelligence techniques which are applied to both medical and health information stored in medical journals, as well as government documents. 
According to Peter Neupert, vice president for health strategy at Microsoft, the acquisition of Medstory represents the first step in assembling technologies which can serve well for the consumer experience in health care. 
Microsoft decided to make its move into the health care system at a time when many websites, that provide various information on health, started to significantly raise their traffic and receive investments. 
The industry analyst and Medstory investor, Esther Dyson, mentioned that the technology provided by Medstory is not just a search engine, it also represents an ontology engine. 
He also outlined the fact that Microsoft has acquired "some of the best deep technology" in the fast growing field of medical search engines. 
A collision between two United States military helicopters in Iraq that killed four last month has been blamed on enemy fire. 
The two OH-58 Kiowa Warriors had been on a mission in Kirkuk when they were targeted and struck each other during evasive action, killing all those on board. 
The anouncement on the involvement of hostile fire, which had previously been ruled out, was made at Fort Drum shortly after a memorial service for the two crews, who had been based there. 
The Army said that forensic evidence revealed the presence of enemy fire. 
"The two OH-58D helicopters were engaged and struck by hostile fire while conducting a reconnaissance mission," said a Fort Drum spokeswoman. 
The Agence France-Presse was told that the investigation "determined that the two OH-58 helicopters involved in the January 25 incident [sic] in Kirkuk province were engaged and struck by hostile fire," and that "While executing evasive manoeuvres in response to the hostile fire, the two OH-58s collided, resulting in the catastrophic loss of both aircraft and crews," by a US Army spokesman for northern Iraq. 
There is no indication as in to the precise nature of the attack. 
Sunni nationalist extremist group Nakshabandiya had handed out leaflets after the attack saying they had shot the aircraft down and "would soon show a video," later repeating this claim on their website. 
The group has ties to Saddam Hussein's fugitive deputy Izzat Ibrahim al-Duri. 
The death toll was the highest for US soldiers in a single event for four months in Iraq. 
The four men were Philip E. Windorski Jr., Matthew Kelley, Joshua Tillery and Benjamin Todd, all Warrant Officers with the 10th Mountain Division's 10th Combat Aviation Brigade. 
Melbourne Victory has won the A-League Grand Final against Adelaide United at the Telstra Dome. 
Melbourne came into the match with a 6-0 (2-0, 4-0) win over Adelaide United in their two legged semi final. 
Adelaide United came into the match with a win against Queensland Roar in the preliminary final. 
The A-League uses the Page playoff system where the winner of the major semi final (1st vs. 2nd) qualifies for the grand final, while the loser plays the winner of the minor semi final (3rd vs. 4th) for the remaining place. 
Melbourne midfielder Tom Pondeljak scored the only goal for the match with a long range strike on sixty minutes. 
Adelaide were reduced to ten men after ten minutes when Cristiano landed a clumsy elbow to the head of an opposing player. 
Melbourne was reduced to ten men twenty minutes from time when Danny Allsopp was sent off due to a late fracas. 
Adelaide were great, they pushed us right to the death but I think we deserved it," Melbourne captain Kevin Muscat said. 
"Down to 10 men it was a very difficult game for us but the amount of courage and heart the boys showed tonight to get through the game and keep fighting to the end was fantastic. 
"It's one of those things I guess, it changed the game, but what can you do about it now?" Adelaide Captain Travis Dodd told Fox Sports after the match. 
"We worked hard to keep it scoreless until half-time, to keep our discipline and keep our shape and keep doing what we were doing." 
Online organisations around the world are today testing (IPv6) — a new system of Internet addresses hoped to resolve the issue of the present system being at capacity. 
The current standard was set up in the 1980s; it gives everything on the Internet a twelve-digit address and allows for 4.3 billion combinations. 
With these exhausted, IPv6 is designed to increase the limit 340 undecillion — that's 340 trillion trillion trillion. 
Major websites including services run by Google, Facebook, and Yahoo! are taking part in the test, switching their content to use the new system. 
Facebook predicts 99.97% of users to be unaffected and Google anticipates 99.5% will not encounter problems. 
Fiji and Australia are among the first countries to have business-hours web traffic during the test. 
Internet Society of Australia President Tony Hill claims more than 100 global companies are involved. 
The Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger plane, was set to land in the United States of America on Monday after a test flight. 
One of the A380s is flying from Frankfurt to Chicago via New York; the airplane will be carrying about 500 people. 
It is being billed as the first time it has carried a near-normal number of passengers, though most will be staff of Airbus and German airline Lufthansa. 
A second A380 is also travelling to the U.S. on Monday, but without passengers. 
This will be branded as a Qantas flight and fly from Frankfurt to Los Angeles LAX airport. 
The first leg of the flight going towards New York will be travelling under a Lufthansa flight number, and is due to arrive at New York's John F. Kennedy airport at 12:30 EST (16:30 UTC). 
The test flights are being used to monitor everything from how easily the plane docks at the terminal gate to the way the in-flight dining and entertainment services work. 
Deliveries to Singapore Airlines, its launch customer, are not due until October - two years late. 
Delays of the production of the A380 have cost Airbus more than 6 billion dollars. 
Airbus has warned there could be additional charges to come. 
These monetary problems have led to a recently-announced restructuring program at Airbus, called Power8, in which 10,000 jobs go and several factories will be sold to Airbus partners. 
France will lose 4,300 jobs, followed by Germany having a loss of 3,700 jobs, while the United Kingdom and Spain will see 1,600 and 400 jobs cut respectively. 
The Belgian government has announced that it will give up to 150 million € (US$ 199 million) in aid to help sub-contractors which supply Airbus and employ thousands of workers. 
The UK's Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced today a grant of £4.6 million towards the restoration of Lews Castle on the Western Scottish island of Stornoway. 
Estimates suggest approximately £14 million (US$ 21.9m, € 16.2m) will be spent to restore and convert the Victorian era property into a museum with four-star hotel accommodation. 
Originally built as a home for James Matheson, who made his fortune in the Chinese and Indian opium trade, the castle has lain empty, and on the at-risk register, since the late 1980s. 
A gap of £1.6 million in required funding remains a concern the local Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (previously, Western Isles Council) is actively seeking help from both Europe and the Scottish government. 
Council leader Angus Campbell intends to press the Scottish Government on the final funding; "it would be a huge shame if all the other funding is lost", he said. 
"We are optimistic about getting some European funding, which is absolutely crucial, and are asking the Scottish Government to close the funding gap." 
Campbell describes what would be the first UK museum with Gaelic as its primary language as "a generational project" with benefits throughout the communities of the Outer Hebrides. 
Local MSP Alasdair Allan commended the council's efforts to save Lews Castle saying they, and other agencies, "have been working tirelessly to progress plans that would ensure Lews Castle becomes both a cultural and economic asset to the islands." 
Throughout its colourful history, the castle was at one time owned by William Lever who founded Unilever. 
Before gifting the castle to the local people in 1923, Lord Leverhulme invested in electric lighting, central heating, an internal telephone system, and the extension of the ballroom for social gatherings. 
In World War II, the castle was the base for a Naval hospital and squadron of amphibious biplanes. 
Post-war, it spent 30 years as a technical college and school. 
If the final tranche of funding is secured, in 2014 the castle will become the first-ever archive facility in the Western Isles. 
The collections of Museum nan Eilean (MnE) could move from their current home into the castle; items held by the National Archives of Scotland could return to their native isles. 
And, modern facilities would permit collections from the National Museum of Scotland and the British Museum – such as the Lewis Chessmen – to be exhibited there. 
A NATO airstrike has killed at least seven members of the Afghan security forces in the western province of Badghis on Friday, according to the Afghan defence ministry. 
"Due to a NATO forces air strike on November 6 in Badghis province seven Afghan security personnel (both Afghan army and national police) were martyred and also some were wounded," the ministry stated. 
NATO and Afghan authorities are investigating but NATO officials have yet to comment. 
Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman, Gen Mohammad Zahir Azimi, said that the airstrike hit a base housing NATO and Afghan troops. 
The announcement comes amidst Friday's investigation in Badghis, where more than 25 joint troops sustained injuries whilst searching for two missing United States paratroopers. 
According to an anonymous Western military official they were injured by friendly fire. 
According to local media, 25 people have died in an illegal coal mine in central China, after a fire broke out there. 
The incident occurred at the mines of the Dongxing Coal Mining Company, near the city of Zhengzhou, the capital of the Henan province. 
It is believed that the fire was started by an electrical fault, the Xinhua news agency reports. 
There were 31 total miners inside the mine; six were able to escape, but the others burnt to death. 
The owner, manager, and an investor of the mine were taken into police custody on Monday. 
Their assets, and those of the mine, have been frozen by the authorities. 
It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, although an investigation is underway. 
China's mines are the deadliest in the world; according to Al Jazeera, several thousand miners die each year due to accidents in them. 
Earlier this month, over 30 people were killed in another coal mine in the northern part of the country, after a flood. 
The government has pledged to crack down upon illegal mines and enforce safety rules. 
China has joined other members of the United Nations Security Council in openly warning North Korea against future provocations and took several diplomatic measures on Tuesday and Wednesday. 
China's foreign ministry released a statement Wednesday that urged a return to talks: "We believe that maintaining peace and stability on the Korean peninsula is in the interest of all parties ... 
The statement came after North Korea's announcement Tuesday that it would no longer honor the testing agreements that have been made with the United States. 
The United States halted its food aid, which had been part of the agreements, after Friday's failed launch. 
Also on Tuesday, China delivered another stern warning to the nation through its party newspaper Global Times. 
In the statement, China expressed impatience with its neighbor and said China's foreign policy toward North Korea would not be hijacked by North Korea's leaders. 
Behind the scenes, China has ceased the repatriation of North Korean nationals on Chinese territory. 
Diplomatic pressure on North Korea continued this week as the country remained defiant during its celebration Sunday. 
Kim Jong-un gave his first formal address on Sunday in the aftermath of Friday's failed attempt to launch a multistage rocket into orbit and in honor of the anniversary of Kim Il-sung's 100th birthday. 
North Korea publicly acknowledged that its rocket broke up in flight and over ocean waters before ever taking orbit Friday morning. 
The United Nations criticized North Korea over the weekend for a satellite launch that member states saw as a "provocative" move, which followed shortly after the country's launch. 
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called the attempt "deplorable" and said it "threatens regional stability." 
Corinne Momal-Vanian, UN spokesperson, said, "The Secretary-General urges the (North Korean government) not to undertake any further provocative actions that will heighten tension in the region." 
The UN Security Council met in a closed session Friday. 
Susan Rice, who is both the current UN Security Council president and US ambassador to the United Nations, said, "The United States' view of this is quite clear, we have condemned the launch. 
We view it as a direct violation of resolution 1718 and 1874. 
We think it’s important that the Council respond credibly and we will be working in that direction." 
While China is being openly critical of North Korea, it has a veto right on the UN Security Council that has prevented further sanctions. 
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said China stood with other member nations of the Security Council in penalizing North Korea for future actions. 
In a nation where speeches by leaders are rare, the young North Korean leader on Sunday said, "Superiority in military technology is no longer monopolized by imperialists." 
The public event finished with the display of a new rocket and it further punctuated Kim Jong-un's call for making the military the nation's number one priority. 
Google, the owners of YouTube, claimed in a court briefing today that the one billion dollar lawsuit against the company "threatens the way hundreds of millions of people legitimately exchange information." 
Viacom Inc. is suing Google over 150,000 videos, for which Viacom owns the copyright, that were allegedly being shown on YouTube. 
Google has responded by saying that they followed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which prevents companies from being prosecuted if they bring down copyrighted content as soon as they are made aware of it. 
"Viacom’s lawsuit challenges the protections of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that Congress enacted a decade ago to encourage the development of services like YouTube," said Google. 
"Congress recognized that such services could not and would not exist if they faced liability for copyright infringement based on materials users uploaded to their services. 
It chose to immunize these services from copyright liability provided they are properly responsive to notices of alleged infringement from content owners." 
"Looking at the online world today, there is no question that Congress made the correct policy choice," Google continued. 
"Legitimate services like YouTube provide the world with free and authorized access to extraordinary libraries of information that would not be available without the DMCA -- information created by users who have every right to share it." 
Google then claimed that "YouTube also fulfills its end of the DMCA bargain, and indeed goes far beyond its legal obligations in assisting content owners to protect their works." 
American politician of the Democratic party Dennis Kucinich plans to run for president in 2008 the five-term congressman's spokesman, Andy Juniewicz, said Monday. 
Kucinich ran in 2004 and was last in nearly every primary and caucus of that year. 
Kucinich began his political career as a Cleveland city councilman and later as the youngest person ever elected mayor of the Midwestern city. 
The congressman made his decision to run, according to a written statement, because he felt his own party's leadership was not aggressive enough in opposing the Iraq war. 
Kucinich, 60, is a staunch opponent of the Iraq war. 
He has advocated cutting off funds for the war, saying that voting for money to maintain or expand the war is incompatible with a position of opposition to it. 
He also co-chaired the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is a self-described "Wellstone Democrat." 
He has been praised as "a genuine progressive" by a Ralph Nader and in 2003, Kucinich was the recipient of the Gandhi Peace Award. 
If elected, he would be the country's first vegan president. 
Estonian and Finnish oil spill response vessels are working on cleaning up the oil spill caused by the sinking of the Runner 4. 
The Dominican-registered ship sank on March 6 near the Estonian coast in the Gulf of Finland. 
This oil disaster may be even worse than the one of February, which was described by the BBC as the worst oil spill that Estonia has ever experienced. 
According to The Baltic Times, specialists say that this time up to 40 tons of oil might have leaked into the sea from the Runner 4. 
The ship was carrying, according to MTV3, over 100 tons of heavy fuel oil and 35 tons of light fuel oil. 
The ship Runner 4 sank due to a collision with another ship, in a convoy following a Russian icebreaker. 
The crew managed to leave the ship before it sank. 
He says, according to Finland's national broadcasting company (YLE), that the countermeasures should have started a week ago, immediately after the disaster, instead of now. 
He said, "It's difficult now to get the oil under control. 
It's spread all around, and ship traffic is spreading it further. 
Finland will be paying the costs of the cleanup, as Estonia did not make an official request for help. 
The Estonian Border Guard's representative Helena Loorents says that Finland was not asked for help, as every day spent in the cleaning costs a lot of money. 
According to Urmas Raudsepp, the director of Estonia's Institute of Marine Research, the oil spill's location was only found out on Thursday March 16. 
The Finnish ships had, however, arrived at the site on the day before. 
The wind is over 17 meters per second (38 miles per hour) and it is raining. 
The oil spill is moving into waters too shallow for the three Finnish vessels, so they can no longer do their job. 
Hylje will be heading back to Finland on March 19 and the other two might follow within a few days. 
According to the Estonian paper Postimees, the oil spill is now a kilometer (0.6 mile) away from the Estonian capital of Tallinn. 
The U.S. House Committee on International Relations voted Wednesday on a Resolution of Inquiry that would have required the White House and State Department to "transmit all information relating to communication with officials of the United Kingdom between January 1, 2002, and October 16, 2002, relating to the policy of the United States with respect to Iraq." 
The resolution comes in response to questions that have been raised by senior intelligence officials and information revealed in leaked U.K. documents such as the Downing Street Memo, regarding the handling of pre-war intelligence by the Bush administration, and the planning and execution of the Iraq war. 
Originally proposed by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), the Resolution of Inquiry had 83 co-sponsors at the time of voting, including one Republican member of the International Relations Committee, Jim Leach, who was the only Republican voting in favor of the resolution. 
Some members of the committee from each party were absent. 
Around 1927, one of his teachers, Alfonso Caso, encouraged what will be the start of his career; he suggested Henestrosa to write the same zapotec myths, legends, and fables, the base of his first book Los Hombres Que Dispersó La Danza, published in 1929. 
In addition to his prose and poetry, Henestrosa served in the federal legislature and was a Senator from the state of Oaxaca from 1982 to 1988. 
The British Broadcasting Corporation made the announcement that he had died at 1030 GMT in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders — his chosen home town. 
McLaren started rugby commentating on a BBC radio station in 1953 while he was a reporter with the Hawick Express, a newspaper. 
He was awarded an MBE, an OBE and a CBE and retired in 2002. 
People have now paid tribute to the man who became known as the "voice of rugby". 
In a video shown on BBC News Online, HRH The Princess Royal can be quoted as saying that "[e]ven if you didn't think that you understood anything about rugby, somehow Bill McLaren gave you the confidence to listen to what he was saying. 
Gavin Hastings, who was the former rugby captain for Scotland, said that "[f]irst and foremost, Bill was a very proud and passionate Scot but such was his professionalism that you would never really have known that. 
He always remained very unbiased in his commentary and I think that that was unquestionably one of his endearing qualities. 
He was a wonderful commentator and he just brought the world of rugby into so many people's homes." 
John Thorbun, who is the secretary for Hawick Rugby Club, stated: "We're devastated, obviously — we've got a room named after him at the rugby club. 
It was very close to his heart, Hawick Rugby Club. 
After an investigation, Wikinews has learned that oil spewing from a rupture in the seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico on June 13 was 50 to 60 feet from the Deepwater Horizon leak. 
A nearly four and a half minute video posted on YouTube on June 13 was from the Viking Poseidon ROV (Remote Operated Vehicle) 1. 
It shows oil and methane leaking from the seafloor at around 2:48 a.m. on June 13. 
The ROV monitors the leak for a minute and even gets covered in a plume of oil and sand before it moved on to the next spot. 
Smaller eruptions were seen as the ROV traveled, making the leak locations vary from 50 to 60 feet from the damaged well. 
Until now, there was no way to determine the location of the ROVs in relation to the previously leaking Deepwater Horizon well. 
Alexander Higgins, an independent computer programmer, developed the 'Gulf Oil Spill ROV UTM Distance Calculator.' 
Higgins told Wikinews how he created the calculator, and says it is "very accurate," but that the tool would "not give you accurate measurements over a large distance, e.g. from the well head to New Orleans." 
BP, who owned and operated the Deepwater Horizon, has denied that any oil or methane gas is leaking from the sea floor. 
Seismic tests were conducted on July 16; Admiral Thad Allen of the United States Coast Guard said that "no anomalies" were found, but also that the tests were "not comprehensive." 
On Sunday, Wikinews contacted BP, who authenticated the video, and asked if any ROVs were sent back to the crack and leak location on June 13 for further investigation. 
According to their office in London, England, they "sent ROVs to investigate and monitor that and no further signs of oil or gas were found." 
They also stated that they "have continued to monitor" and "have also carried out seismic surveys. 
Wikinews also asked if they could confirm the location of the leak and crack, but no response was given. 
However, on July 18, the Associated Press reported that there was "seepage" coming from the area at the bottom of the Deepwater well head. 
For the past two days, ROV cameras showed bubbles coming from the base of well. 
BP said it would test the bubbles to determine what they are and as of Sunday, COO of BP Doug Suttles says the bubbles are not methane, but further tests are being conducted. 
"If you can imagine, it is not an easy operation to collect those bubbles so that they can be tested to see what their make-up is." 
Since the June 13 video surfaced, other videos have been posted to YouTube allegedly showing some of the ROVs being tossed around by large amounts of oil seeping through the seafloor. 
One video showed an alleged eruption spraying oil and debris around the BOA DEEP C 2 ROV before it was tossed from side to side. 
Some of the cracks on ocean floors, where oil has leaked from, have occurred naturally. 
One such oil spill in California in 2005 was the result of a naturally occurring crack in the floor of the Pacific Ocean. 
Some of those cracks can cause oil to leak through at a rate as high as 5,000 gallons a day, with most of the oil not even reaching the water's surface. 
In the Gulf of Mexico, oil leaks through natural cracks at a rate several times less than leaked from the Deepwater well. 
"The Deepwater Horizon site releases 3 to 12 times the oil per day compared to that released by natural seeps across the entire Gulf of Mexico. 
By May 30, the Deepwater Horizon site had released between 468,000 and 741,000 barrels of oil, compared to 60,000 to 150,000 barrels from natural seeps across the entire Gulf of Mexico over the same 39 day period," said Cutler Cleveland, a Boston University professor at the university's Department of Geography and Environment. 
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill started on April 20 after an explosion on the rig. 
Efforts to put out the fire failed and the rig subsequently sank to the bottom of the Gulf. 
On April 22, an oil slick appeared on the surface of the Gulf. 
BP capped the leaking well on July 13 which effectively stopped oil from leaking into the Gulf. 
The company has been running a pressure integrity test on the 150,000 pound cap for 48 hours. 
Earlier on July 17, they announced the test would continue for another day. 
BP hopes for the well's pressure to rise to or above 7,500 PSI. 
As of Saturday morning the well's pressure was just above 6,700 PSI. 
BP fears anything lower than the expected PSI could mean a leak in the cap or elsewhere, such as oil or methane seeping up from the seafloor. 
We will keep monitoring and make the decisions as we go forward. 
The longer the test goes the more confidence we have in it," said Allen. 
Canon Inc. announced the initiative to start production of new generation flat-panel television on its own. 
The sole production will occur after Canon Inc. buys the stake of Toshiba Corp. in their joint venture, SED Inc. 
The companies are expected to make an official statement concerning their joint venture. 
In order to start production of the new flat-screens based on the SED technology, Canon Inc. had to clarify the situation with the Texas-based Nano-Proprietary Inc. 
The latter has brought a lawsuit against Canon in 2005 on the basis of the two sided agreement concerning the patent on SED technology. 
The agreement didn't allow Canon to make any other ventures on this technology, but Canon joining forces with Toshiba was the reason for the mentioned lawsuit. 
The dispute with Nano-Proprietary was the ground for Canon and Toshiba to delay the construction of the $1.7 billion plant for SED-based flat-panels. 
Earlier the companies agreed to contribute with 100 billion yen each in the SED plant. 
Toshiba's stake in the joint venture SED Inc. is about Yen$10 billion, or, approximately, US$83 million. 
This new SED (surface-conduction electron-emitter display) technology is meant to replace the existing LCD and plasma screen due to their smaller sizes and lower energy consumption. 
At the end of this year the companies planned to start mass production of these new displays. 
Did we need to take a poll to find out how well America sleeps at night? 
Probably not, but the results of the poll offer a worrisome picture about our problems getting a good night’s sleep. 
The National Sleep Foundation, the poll sponsor, reports three-quarters of adults say they frequently have a sleep problem, such as waking during the night or snoring. 
The average adult gets less than the recommended seven to nine hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. 
This leads to poorer health, lower productivity on the job, more danger on the roads and a less vibrant sex life. 
One-fourth admit their sleep problems do have an impact on their daily lives. 
Becky Mcerien, 50, in Philadelphia, told a reporter "By 3 to 4 in the afternoon, I'm starting to feel brain-drained and I need that caffeine to pick me back up again," 
But Guillermo Sardina, 55, of Hamilton, N.J., said "I sleep through the night. 
Darwin McCallian, 51, of Burke, Va., rises at 4 a.m. to get a jump on traffic for his commute to Washington, DC. 
"When I sleep in a little bit longer, it makes me a safer driver," McCallian noted. 
They recommend avoiding alcohol and caffeine close to bedtime, and that adults pay attention to how much sleep they get as well as the quality of that sleep, and seek help if needed. 
A video has surfaced online that appears to show at least two Russian missiles flying out of control after the Lodeynoe Pole air force base caught fire in St Petersburg on May 23. 
The video, which was broadcast by BBC News is about 45 seconds long and shows at least two out of control missiles being launched from within the base as the fire rages on and landing nearby. 
No one was killed or injured when the missiles were set off, but witnesses report that several missiles "were flying over" their heads as they watched the blaze. 
According to unnamed police officials investigating the fire, at least 400 to 450 air-to-air missiles were damaged or destroyed in the fire. 
Officials estimate that the cost of the damage could exceed 80 to 100 million United States dollars. 
We have yet to establish how many of them exploded and how many were damaged by fire, but in any case they can't be used," said an unnamed Russian official as quoted by the International Herald Tribune which quoted Interfax. 
The base housed missiles and Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet planes. 
Yesterday, in front of the USS Wisconsin in Norfolk, Virginia, presumptive Republican presidential nominee, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney selected Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate. 
After an introduction from Virginia governor Bob McDonnell, who himself had been considered a potential running mate, Romney officially made the announcement. 
He referred to Ryan as "an intellectual leader of the Republican Party" and initially labeled Ryan as the "next president of the United States" before correcting himself after Ryan reached the podium. 
Ryan, 42, has represented Wisconsin's 1st congressional district since 1999 and serves as chairman of the House Budget Committee. 
Last year, he authored the budget proposal, The Path to Prosperity, which promotes reductions in federal spending of $6.2 trillion from the Obama plan through a repeal of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a reformation of Medicare, and capping of federal discretionary spending. 
During his acceptance speech, Ryan said that his "record of getting things done in Congress will be a very helpful complement to Governor Romney's executive and private sector success outside of Washington." 
He added that the campaign "won't duck the tough issues—we will lead" and went after the record of President Barack Obama, arguing that his policies "didn't make things better." 
On the announcement, senior Obama staffers explained that Ryan's selection "makes clear that Romney would be a rubber stamp for the congressional GOP" and that the choice provides the Obama campaign with "clear advantages". 
According to Reuters, Romney made the decision on August 1 after returning from his international trip. 
Four days later, Ryan was secretly flown to Brookline, Massachusetts to meet Romney at the home of Beth Myers, who was running the vice presidential search. 
Ryan was supposed to be announced on Friday in New Hampshire, but he had to return to Wisconsin to attend a memorial for victims of the 2012 Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting. 
Thereafter, the campaign decided to make the announcement in Virginia, and so Ryan was once again secretly flown, this time to Elizabeth City, North Carolina near Norfolk, where he met with Romney and prepared his acceptance speech. 
NBC News first announced the decision, and the Romney campaign announced the news to supporters through a phone application at seven a.m., a couple of hours before the official announcement. 
NASA has announced that the Cassini spacecraft has found what seem to be geysers spewing water on the moon Enceladus. 
The find raises the possibility of life on other planets, as liquid water is believed to be a requirement for life. 
"This marks the first time that scientists have seen evidence of water in liquid form so close to the surface on another body beyond Earth," said Cassini scientist Torrence Johnson. 
Although life may be found on the moon, most scientists concede that if Enceladus does harbor life, it probably consists of microbes or other robust organisms capable of living in extreme conditions. 
This latest discovery shows that life in other parts of the universe may be more probable than previously thought. 
"We realize that this is a radical conclusion — that we may have evidence for liquid water within a body so small and so cold," said Dr. Carolyn Porco, Cassini imaging team leader at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colorado. 
"However, if we are right, we have significantly broadened the diversity of solar system environments where we might possibly have conditions suitable for living organisms." 
Irish budget airline Ryanair have dismissed pilot John Goss, who has worked with the airline for 25 years, over remarks he made in a documentary about safety at the airline. 
Ryanair issued a statement confirming legal proceedings have been begun against Goss. 
The airline is already suing the UK's Channel 4 over Monday night's broadcast of Secrets of the Cockpit, part of the Dispatches series, in which Goss appeared. 
The programme discussed the airline's safety with a focus on fuel policy, investigating allegations Ryanair uses a bare minimum of fuel and intimidates pilots who raise concerns. 
Goss, who had been due to retire in October, is a key figure of Ryanair Pilots Group (RPG), which conducted a survey of more than 1,000 flight crew. 
According to the RPG survey almost 90% of respondents said the safety culture was nontransparent. 
Ryanair had told pilots anybody signing a "so-called safety petition" might be dismissed. 
Pilots interviewed for the programme said they felt pressured to save fuel, the cost of which has hit Ryanair's profits. 
Following an incident in Spain in which three Ryanair flights declared fuel emergencies after being diverted to Valencia the Spanish Air Authority described Ryanair flights usually landing with a bare minimum of fuel, in a report the airline dismissed as "manifestly inaccurate and factually untrue". 
One anonymous pilot interviewed by Channel 4 accused the airline of "threats and bullying". 
Over 90% of those surveyed wanted a regulatory inquiry, with RPG saying the survey results were passed to the airline and the Irish Aviation Authority. 
RPG is not recognised by the airline which calls the group "[lacking] any independence, objectivity or reliability" and a union front. 
The other pilots interviewed by Channel 4 chose to remain anonymous, with only Goss identifying himself. 
The airline says RPG only conducted their survey to unionise Ryanair pilots and issued a statement describing the documentary as "based on nothing more than anonymous hearsay claims made by individuals whose identity was concealed, and/or by representatives of pilot unions of Ryanair's competitor airlines masquerading as a non-Ryanair Pilot Group". 
Ryanair claim Goss wrote to the airline saying he had no concerns about safety, stating "We will not allow a Ryanair employee to defame our safety on national television just three weeks after he confirmed in writing to Ryanair that he had no concerns with safety and no reason to make any confidential safety report". 
The airline further say they "look forward to correcting Mr Goss's defamatory claims in court". 
Channel 4 have previously stated an intent to defend the legal action against them. 
Political activist Ralph Nader has announced the launch of an independent campaign for President of the United States. 
Nader, who also ran for president in the previous three elections, made the announcement on NBC's television program Meet the Press. 
"Dissent is the mother of ascent, and in that context I have decided to run for president," said Nader. 
"In the last few years, big money and the closing down of Washington against citizen groups prevent us from trying to improve our country. 
And I want everybody to have the right and opportunity to improve their country." 
In 2000, Nader ran for President as a Green Party candidate and received 2.7% of the popular vote. 
Many Democrats believe his campaign led to the election of Republican George W. Bush by taking away potential votes for Democrat Al Gore, especially in the state of Florida. 
Nader also ran in 2004 as an independent, but only garnered 0.4% of the vote. 
At a press conference yesterday, Democratic candidate Barack Obama doubted that a potential Nader candidacy would have the same impact as in 2000. 
"I think the job of the Democratic Party is to be so compelling that a few percentage of the vote going to another candidate's not going to make any difference," he said. 
"He thought that there was no difference between Al Gore and George Bush and, eight years later, I think people realize that Ralph did not know what he was talking about," Obama told reporters. 
"Obviously it’s not helpful to whoever our Democratic nominee is," she said. 
"I remember when he did this before, it didn't turn out too well for anyone, especially our country." 
She said Nader "prevented Al Gore from being the 'greenest' president we could have had", and she hoped his bid will be "just a passing fancy that people won't take too seriously." 
Nader dismissed criticism of his entry into the race, saying, "For anybody who thinks that the third try is something that should be demeaned, it represents persistence, it represents never giving up the struggle for justice." 
Meanwhile, Republican candidate Mike Huckabee welcomed Nader into the race, in the hopes that he will lessen the Democratic voter base. 
"I think it would always pull votes away from the Democrats, not the Republicans," he said. 
"So actually, Republicans would welcome his entry into the race and hope that a few more will join in." 
A vote of no-confidence, to be held on Monday, is expected to signal an end to the current Canadian government. 
The vote is to be held at 6:30PM local time in Ottawa, Ontario. 
The no-confidence vote against Paul Martin's government was introduced by three of the opposition parties last week. 
The actual motion was proposed by Conservative party leader, Stephen Harper. 
Indonesia's High Court in Yogyakarta has overturned the April conviction of a Garuda Indonesia pilot who was behind the controls in an air disaster. 
Captain Marwoto Komar was cleared of negligently causing the deaths of 21 when his Boeing 737 overshot the runway at Adisucipto Airport. 
The March 2007 crash occurred after the flight from Jakarta landed at excessive speed and a steep angle. 
The jet bounced down the runway before overshooting and coming to rest in a rice field, where it was destroyed by fire. 
Of the 140 on board, sixteen Indonesians and five Australians were killed. 
The court in Komar's trial had ruled that while it could not be shown for sure that the aircraft was mechanically sound with the Captain solely responsible for the dangerous landing, Komar had two minutes in which to inform air traffic control and his co-pilot Gagam Salman R. that they were experiencing an emergency. 
The court found that had he done so Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting equipment could have been mobilised ready for the incoming jet. 
The investigation by the National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) found no mechanical defect and stated that fifteen activations of the Ground proximity warning system had been ignored, but international law made this inadmissible as evidence. 
The ruling was overturned in September, but has only just been published. 
The High Court ruled that the prosecution had failed to "legally and convincingly" demonstrate guilt and therefore "the defendant's rights, position and status should be restored." 
Komar received half of the four year sentence sought by prosecutors but avoided jail as he was freed on bail while the appeal was pending. 
Komar's lawyer Mochtar Zuhdi said the High Court decision was final and cannot be appealed. 
The decision to charge Captain Komar was highly controversial; the first time Indonesia prosecuted a pilot over a crash. 
Indonesia Air Traffic Controllers Association chief Adrie Gunawan said that 26 controllers left the country fearing possible prosecutions if anything went wrong on their shift; they also threatened to strike. 
Indonesian Pilots' Association chief Manotar Napitupulu said "This shows that the justice system has finally understood that Marwoto’s case did not belong in court." 
Last year Wikinews interviewed Paul McCarthy, an aviation lawyer and pilot who serves as the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations' representative to the International Civil Aviation Organisation. 
McCarthy said that prosecuting the man could have a chilling effect on people speaking to accident investigators, hence affecting safety. 
Victims' families in Australia are upset and angry at the decision. 
The Sydney Morning Herald used a headline that stated "Ruling denies justice for Australian crash victims". 
"The fact he has had his conviction quashed and pilot status reinstated, it's like nothing's happened," said Caroline Mellish, whose brother Morgan was killed. 
Simone Kerr, who lost her sister in the disaster, said "My greatest fear is that he will be flying again." 
Mahatma Gandhi's grandson, Arun Manilal Gandhi, was interviewed by Peter Sissons on behalf of BBC News 24. 
Peter asked what Mahatma Gandhi would have done had he seen the Al-Qaeda problem. 
"Why don't all the Muslims, Christians and other religions have a day of fasting to show Al-Qaeda that we reject their philosophy," Arun Manilal Gandhi, founder of M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence, replied. 
Heidi Hog turned inspiration into action launching [the] Fast for Freedom 8·8·8 campaign. 
"I maybe simplistic but sometimes its the simple things that need to be addressed," Heidi H. says. 
Mike Wacht works in public relations and marketing, focusing on transportation and construction. 
He is a member of the 511 Deployment Coalition and designer of Fast for Freedom 8·8·8 logo. 
"I want to reach the whole world and let the displaced and unfortunate know they are not forgotten." 
"It's been an inspiration and a small attempt to make a difference." 
"I've never tried to start a world-wide movement before, so I'm fumbling through with a little imagination and a lot of faith," said Mike W. 
A worldwide fast on August 8, 2008 is proposed, beginning at midnight for a 24-hour period. 
Fasting is practised in many religious traditions and spiritual practices. 
The proposed day of action, August 8, 2008, has generated many supporters, according to Heidi H. and Mike W. 
"There is a fresh buzz about encouraging people in a one-day peaceful fast from all nations to participate worldwide against war, famine, starvation, and aggressive secret governments." 
United States Senator John McCain (R-AZ) has won the State of Florida's Republican Party primary election, edging out former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney by five percent (36 versus 31%). 
With this win, Sen. McCain is now clearly the frontrunner going into next week's Super-Tuesday primaries. 
One time GOP front-runner Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who placed a lagging third in Florida, the state he based his campaign on, dropped out of the race Wednesday, largely because he had no previous primary wins and dwindling support. 
McCain was quoted saying: "I want to thank my dear friend, my dear friend Rudy Giuliani, who invested his heart and soul in this primary and who conducted himself with all the qualities of the exceptional American leader he truly is". 
Democratic Senator and former First Lady Hillary Clinton, also from New York, won the Democratic primary in Florida; however, due to Democratic Party policy, the state has been stripped of its delegates. 
A man was sentenced to three years probation after he and his mother argued about "American Idol," a popular TV show in the U.S. 
Cory Favreau hit his mother with a novelty bike chain in May after she expressed praise for last year's runner-up Katherine McPhee. 
She was treated for a cut on her head and was released, police say. 
Favreau, a twenty-five-year-old native of Plattsburgh, New York, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault. 
He also pleaded guilty to a contempt charge for violating a court order to stay away from his mother. 
20-year-old Kyle Flack, who came from Stanford-le-Hope in Essex, was deafblind and suffered from quadriplegia, cerebral palsy, and substantial learning difficulties. 
He died in October 2006 after suffocating when his head became jammed in the railings around his hospital bed. 
The trust admitted that health and safety breaches were a "significant cause" of his death, said Pascal Bates for the prosecution. 
There had been significant errors in the hospital's "systems and procedures", as the patient had not been properly supervised, training of staff was inadequate, information had not been passed on correctly, and warnings had not been heeded. 
Bates told the court that the hospital had reached "markedly short" of the required standard, adding that "[m]anagement failed to lay down correct procedures." 
Earlier this year, Gill Flack, Kyle's mother, called for bosses of the hospital to be held personally responsible for this incident. 
She described the hospital as the "worst place" for her child to have been cared for, saying that the standards of care there were "absolute crap". 
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has rejected moves by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to negotiate, saying that he had no "Israeli partner" and not being serious about peace. 
Ahead of talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy last Friday in Paris, he called upon France to be more involved in the Middle East peace process, after expressing disappointment with Barack Obama's performance and lack of action plan; in an interview with Le Figaro he called the United States the "weak link". 
Al-Assad said that he would not negotiate directly with Israel, but is willing to have discussions in Turkey. 
"If Mr Netanyahu is serious, he can send a team of experts, and we'll send a team of experts to Turkey." 
"Then we can really talk, if they're interested," he said. 
"There is a mediator, Turkey, which is ready to resume its mediation." 
"There is also French and European support for this process." 
"What we lack is an Israeli partner who is ready to go forward and ready to come to a result." 
According to the BBC, France has been the major contributor in attempting to bring Syria back to diplomatic talks. 
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will attempt to stimulate talks in the Middle East between Israelis and Palestinians in the coming days. 
Before talks with President Sarkozy, al-Assad had said "France must act". 
Since Israel's creation in 1948, Syria has been in a state of war with the country, having at no point recognized the existence of the state of Israel. 
(See List of No Recognition of Israel) The major issues of conflict between the countries at present time concern Israel's possession of the Golan Heights region, annexed in 1981, and Syria's support for Hezbollah and Hamas. 
The last direct talks between the two states collapsed in 2000. 
Manuel Zelaya, the president of Honduras who was removed from power by the Honduran Supreme Court, has begun making his way back to his country. 
Flying from Washington, Zelaya is to arrive in Honduran air space at around 22:00 (GMT). 
The former president had announced his willingness to return to his country, hoping for a reintegration. 
Zelaya asked his people to be able to "practice his rights peacefully" after his arrival in the Central American country. 
Nevertheless, the interim government that deposed Zelaya has announced that the flight would not be allowed to land. 
Foreign Minister Enrique Ortez said "I have ordered to not allow him to enter, whoever he comes with, to avoid the imprudence of allowing a president of the republic to die, of allowing a president of the republic to get hurt, of allowing a person to die". 
Zelaya travels together with the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Miguel D'Escoto. 
Other leaders of Latin America, who had promised to travel together with Zelaya, will instead monitor the development of events from El Salvador. 
Among these leaders are the presidents Rafel Correa (Ecuador), Cristina Fernández de Kirchner (Argentina) and Fernando Lugo (Paraguay), together with the Secretary-General of the Organization of American States (OAS), José Miguel Insulza. 
Zelaya's return takes place after the Organization of American States (OAS) voted in favour of suspending Honduras from the organization. 
OAS resolved to suspend "immediately" the de facto Honduran government lead by Roberto Micheletti in accordance with the Inter-American Democratic Charter. 
However, fear has aroused that Zelaya's return could trigger more violence. 
The archbishop of Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, urged Zelaya not to return, fearing a possible "bloodbath". 
Fiji and New Zealand are engaged in a game of diplomatic tit-fot-tat after expelling each other's High Commissioners. 
This afternoon Fiji's military regime expelled acting New Zealand High Commissioner to Fiji Caroline McDonald. 
The New Zealand government retaliated by expelling Fiji's High Commissioner to Wellington, Ponsami Chetty. 
Both will be given a week to leave the country. 
McDonald's expulsion was announced late this afternoon by Fiji's interim Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, who said that it was "a direct result of McDonald's actions over the past year that have been contrary to the accepted international norms of diplomatic behaviour". 
The Fijian government has accused New Zealand and Australia of spying on Fiji, claiming they were tapping phone lines and listening in on members of the interim regime. 
The New Zealand government has denied any "misbehaviour" by McDonald. 
The round of diplomatic tit-for-tat was sparked by growing tensions between New Zealand and Fiji over sanctions put in place in the wake of the 2006 coup. 
Members of the interim regime and their immediate families are barred from entering New Zealand. 
Last week the Fijian regime threatened to expel New Zealand's High Commissioner unless the New Zealand government granted a visa to George Nacewa, the son of a senior regime official. 
But yesterday the interim regime apparently backed down on its threat, issuing a statement that it would not expel McDonald and announcing that it would establish a special team to improve relations between the two countries. 
McDonald is the second New Zealand diplomat expelled by Fiji. 
In June 2007 then-New Zealand High Commissioner Michael Green was expelled after being accused of interfering in the country's domestic affairs. 
Last week ONE News Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver was deported as she arrived to cover the crisis. 
Fiji's military overthrew the country's elected government in a military coup in December 2006. 
The mother of Brazilian soccer player Luis Fabiano has been kidnapped. 
The police are not giving too many details, and a great part of local media is not reporting the case, afraid of putting the life of Fabiano's mother at risk. 
On November 6, 2004, the mother of Robson dos Santos, or Robinho, was kidnapped. 
In both cases, the hostages were released and they are well, and the police arrested the suspects. 
A building in Iran's capital Tehran collapsed today and killed at least 19 people. 
The victims were all labourers living inside the building, which is reported to have been in a seriously unstable condition for a month, with occupants refusing to comply with evacuation requests. 
The early morning disaster in the Sa'adatabad district reduced the building to rubble in seconds. 
The seven story building was described by The Canadian Press as 'dilapidated'. 
Five people have been arrested, including the owner and contractors. 
Iranian state media promised that those responsible would be dealt with severely. 
A Russian teenager has accomplished an unprecedented feat in the history of world aviation. 
He flew a distance of 1,300 kilometres in a wheel well of a Boeing 737 and lived. 
The fifteen year old Andrey Scherbakov spent two hours in the wheel well of the airplane at extreme temperature of −50° centigrade. 
The rear wheels do not go all the way into the plane; the wheel merely retracts into an opening and remains exposed. 
The boy managed to bypass security at the Perm city airport to hide in the plane as it took off. 
Airport workers found the boy after the plane had landed at Moscow. 
The boy was delivered to the hospital by the airport staff and is said to be in a critical condition. 
His arms and legs were so severely frozen and swollen that the rescuers were not able to remove his coat and shoes. 
There is a probability that his hands may have to be amputated. 
However, according to the medical staff at the hospital, it is nothing short of a miracle that the boy survived the ordeal. 
The Boeing 737 has a cruising speed of 900 kilometres per hour and was flying constantly at an altitude of 10,000 metres for two hours. 
As a result, the boy suffered severe frostbite in both of his hands. 
Doctors in Ural city would have to remove his fingertips, which contracted gangrene after they had frozen, but they were committed to do everything within their power to stop it from spreading. 
When Scherbakov finally came to his senses, he told the police that he had run away from his family so as to escape his alcoholic father. 
He said that he was wandering around the territory of the airport and noticed a hole in the fence. 
He fell asleep during his examination of the stowaway of the plane. 
It is curious how the inspection staff and the technicians found nothing on their inspection of the aircraft just before the flight. 
The boy claims that he fainted soon after and came around only when the plane had landed in Moscow after traveling hundreds of kilometres from Perm. 
However, Moscow's air and water transport control department said that the claim was true. 
A department spokesperson said that the incident happened on Friday, and the boy's parents were immediately informed and flew into the capital on the same day. 
Stowaways in wheel wells risk freezing to death after take-off or being crushed when the wheels retract. 
This year, a body was found in the wheel well of a jet in San Francisco after a flight from Shanghai and another body was found in Atlanta after a flight from Dakar, Senegal. 
Zork Hun is running for the Libertarian party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Parkdale-High Park riding. 
Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. 
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. 
Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents. 
Services were slowly restored after an unscheduled strike by SNCF drivers closed one of Paris's six main railway stations. 
Gare Saint-Lazare was closed from 10 am local time on Tuesday morning. 
Members of the Sud Rail labour union later voted to return to work, and the station re-opened at 7 pm the same day. 
Gare Saint-Lazare is Europe's third busiest station, and its lines serve Paris suburbs, as well as inter-city routes to Normandy in northern France. 
In a move aimed to prevent fines stemming from its antitrust lawsuit filed by the European Commission (EC), Microsoft announced that it will be releasing portions of the source code to its Windows operating system. 
The EC ruled in March 2004 that Microsoft had abused its position in the low-end server and media player market, and required that Microsoft "disclose complete and accurate interface documentation which would allow non-Microsoft work group servers to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers". 
Microsoft reacted by making available 12,000 pages of technical documentation and up to 500 hours of technical support, but the EC came to the conclusion that it was not enough. 
Announcing that "we are putting our most valuable intellectual property on the table so we can put technical compliance issues to rest", Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith asserted that Microsoft would be superseding the EC's requirements as a sign of good faith. 
"While we are confident that we are presently in full compliance with the Decision, we wish to dispel any notion that Microsoft’s technical documents are insufficient", said Smith. 
The EC responded in a memo that it will study Microsoft's reply to the Statement of Objections once it receives the full details. 
However, EC Competition Commissioner spokesman Jonathan Todd commented that "it would be premature to conclude access to the source code would resolve the problem of the lack of compliance with our decision." 
A similar offer was made by Microsoft in August 2002 during its antitrust lawsuit filed by the United States Department of Justice and several states' Attorneys General. 
The resulting "Microsoft Communications Protocols Program" had suffered continuous criticism regarding excessive cost, paperwork, and non-disclosure agreements. 
It is unclear at this time if Microsoft's planned "Work Group Server Protocol Program" will suffer from the same issues if accepted by the EC. 
Microsoft is expected to return to the EC courts in April. 
Two days before Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, a biography of actor Tom Cruise written by journalist Andrew Morton, was released in the United States, a video showing Cruise promoting Scientology was leaked to the Internet. 
The promotional video appeared on video-sharing sites including YouTube, Gawker.com and radar online.com, and clips from the video were also shown on Wednesday morning talk shows in the United States. 
In the 9-minute video produced by the Church of Scientology, Cruise is seen discussing his beliefs while the theme from his Mission: Impossible films plays as background music. 
Cruise appears wearing a black turtleneck sweater, speaking about his dedication to changing people's lives. 
The format of the video appears to be an interview with Cruise, and it is edited with questions cut out. 
Throughout the video, Cruise uses Scientology jargon terms such as "KSW": "For me, it’s all about KSW." 
The term stands for Keeping Scientology Working, which refers to a 10-point letter written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard in 1965 to ensure the organization's survival. 
Cruise also discusses "SPs", or Suppressive Persons, "PTSPs", a "potential trouble source" influenced by a Suppressive Person, and the need to "confront and shatter suppression". 
Cruise makes assertions about programs which use Hubbard's teachings such as Criminon and Narconon "We're the authorities on getting people off drugs." 
Of the manner in which he wishes to spread Scientology's message, he says "You're in the playing field or out of the arena." 
The video concludes with Cruise laughing, and then a voiceover says: "Scientology can be defined by a single question: would you want others to develop the knowledge you have?" 
" In answering that question, Tom Cruise has introduced LRH [L. Ron Hubbard] technology to more than 1 billion people on earth." 
"And that is only the first wave he has unleashed." 
"That is why the story of Tom Cruise, Scientologist, has only just begun." 
According to Reuters, the Church of Scientology stated that the video was shown at a 2004 meeting of the International Association of Scientologists. 
In a statement, the Church of Scientology said that the video was Cruise's acceptance speech after he had been given the organization's "Freedom Medal", and was shown "before an audience of 5,000 church parishioners and their guests." 
The statement also called the video that appeared on the Internet a "pirated and edited version." 
A representative for Cruise confirmed the Church of Scientology statement: "The video is of Mr. Cruise making an acceptance speech to fellow parishioners at a private church event in 2004." 
David Miscavige, head of the Church of Scientology, had presented Cruise with the "Freedom Medal of Valor" at the 2004 ceremony. 
Eighty Scientologists have received the "Freedom Medal" since the award's establishment in 1985, but Cruise is the only recipient of the Freedom Medal of Valor. 
Andrew Morton's Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography characterizes Cruise as the second most powerful individual within the organization. 
The video first appeared on the Internet on Sunday, and disappeared after the footage was linked to from Gawker.com and The Huffington Post. 
Gawker.com posted a copy of the video Tuesday morning, and said that the video had "been passed around privately by reporters and writers investigating Cruise's ties to Scientology." 
Gawker.com noted that a smaller video clip which had previously been available on YouTube "is no longer available, most likely after the Church of Scientology sent in a copyright infringement notice." 
Gawker.com has stated that the video will stay up on its site, and has reprinted correspondence with Ava Paquette, an attorney with Moxon & Kobrin, a law firm representing the Church of Scientology. 
Nick Denton of Gawker.com commented on the posting of the video "It's newsworthy, and we will not be removing it." 
Investigative journalist Mark Ebner is helping to post more than two hours of additional footage related to the Cruise video, and called it "the most unintentionally hilarious footage you've ever seen," and characterized it as "better than" when Cruise jumped on Oprah's couch during a May 23, 2005 appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the South Park parody of Cruise in the controversial episode "Trapped in the Closet". 
Ebner appeared on The Today Show on Wednesday, and discussed the video's appearance on the Internet. 
In response, the Church of Scientology called Ebner a "fraud". 
Ebner told the New York Daily News that "These tapes were made for purposes of recruitment." 
Attempts by the Church of Scientology to stop distribution of the video via the Internet "seem to have backfired spectacularly," according to The Press Association, and by Thursday the video was viewable on websites other than Gawker.com, including the New York Post, Independent Television News and the BBC. 
For websites based in Britain usage of the video is protected under copyright laws, specifically for reporting news and current affairs. 
Still other reports on the video linked to locations where it could be watched, including a report in The Times. 
Copies of the video were not available on Google Video on Thursday, but were still available on YouTube. 
Attorney Mark Stephens of London-based firm Finers Stephens Innocent commented on the Church of Scientology's attempts to remove the video from the Internet: "The Scientologists, by taking action to enforce their copyrights, have made it a news story." 
"The mistake was not to foresee that a news story has special protection in copyright law in reporting news and current events." 
Yousuf Raza Gilani, the prime minister of Pakistan, has told British prime minister Gordon Brown that Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is not in the country. 
Brown hailed Pakistan's efforts to "disrupt the activities of al-Qaeda", and referred to them as his "allies", promising to provide another £50 million to support the operations to stabilise the borders of the nation; announcing this pledge, he said "This is your fight but it is also Britain's fight." 
Gilani said in a press conference today "I doubt the information which you are giving is correct because I don't think Osama Bin Laden is in Pakistan." 
He argues that the intelligence provided by the United States is not "credible or actionable", and requested "more clarity" from the US before he could act on it. 
He said that Pakistani officials "are carefully examining" Barack Obama's new Afghanistan plan, which he announced yesterday, before making a decision on whether or not to support it. 
The month long election campaign in the run up to this weekend's elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo has ended, with a one day break before voting can begin Sunday. 
The fiercely fought campaign began on June 29th and involved no less than 9,707 parliamentary candidates and 33 presidential candidates. 
Canvassing ended yesterday with a mass rally in support of the current president Joseph Kabila. 
Kabila, who became the youngest head of state in Africa in 2001, used his final speech before voting to claim credit for taking the D.R.Congo to its first democratic elections in over 40 years. 
"I can say to you without false modesty: mission accomplished" he told crowds of around 50,000 on Friday, "We've reunited and pacified the country." 
"It is also a message of hope, and for peace and development and security after the polls." 
The international community is taking a keen interest in the elections — the first since 1961. 
However, the July campaign has been marred by violence and accusations of fraud on all sides. 
International observers, such as the Carter Centre, expressed concern that the incumbent President's domination of the media would undermine the campaign. 
Several hundred people protested at alleged irregularities in the polls on the 18th of July, which ended in 7 people being killed in police clashes. 
This Thursday, 6 people were killed in election related incidents in the capital, Kinshasa, and yesterday, Kabila's presidential guards killed an opposition candidate's bodyguard in a gunfight. 
50,000 polling stations have been set up around the country, for the 25.6 million voters, with over 60,000 Congolese police and 1,700 international observers in place to monitor voting. 
Argentina reached their first ever World Cup semi-final with a 19-13 victory over Scotland in the quarter-final stage of the 2007 Rugby World Cup at the Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France. 
Scotland took the lead with a penalty from Dan Parks. 
However Felipe Contepomi kicked two penalties as Argentina moved ahead, before Gonzalo Longo Elía added a try to extend their lead. 
Chris Paterson responded with a penalty just before half time, but Argentina went into the interval leading 13-6. 
Argentina extended their lead further after the break with a third penalty from Felipe Contepomi and a drop goal from Juan Martín Hernández. 
Chris Cusiter scored a try for Scotland with seventeen minutes remaining, but they could not make a breakthrough as Argentina held on to win. 
South Africa, who defeated Fiji earlier today, await Argentina in the semi-finals. 
Manchester United and Watford met Saturday at the neutral ground of Villa Park for the semi-final of the FA Cup. 
Both teams went into the game on highs, as United had thrashed Roma 7-1 during the week, and Watford had defeated Portsmouth 4-2 in the Premiership. 
With that confidence boost for Watford boss Adrian Boothroyd, Watford sported an attacking lineup with Hameur Bouazza and Tamas Priskin as strikers. 
United's recent injury troubles allowed Alan Smith to play as strike partner to Wayne Rooney with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer on the bench. 
The first chance in the match fell to United, and the Red Devils capitalized. 
A long ball by Carrick was left by both Smith and Giggs before it came to Rooney, and he cut inside before blasting a shot high to the right of Richard Lee, giving United an early lead. 
Watford were not dispirited by the early goal, and soon began to create chances through set pieces. 
A flailing boot by a Watford player in the area connected with Edwin Van Der Sar's recently healed nose, and the big Dutch keeper had to have splints put in before play could continue. 
Watford took advantage of the stoppage to catch their breath, and scored as soon as play resumed when Hameur Bouazza's side footed volley caught Van Der Sar unaware, and crept in off the crossbar after deflecting off Gabriel Heinze. 
United's response was nearly instant, as Smith's pass into Rooney released him on the right. 
After Lee nearly blocked a pass into Ronaldo, the Portuguese winger was able to bobble the ball home, scoring his twenty-first goal of the season, and restoring United's lead. 
Gavin Mahon then had a chance to equalize again for Watford, but his side footed volley was saved by Van Der Sar. 
Ronaldo then had a chance for his second as he was released by Rooney, but a last ditch tackle by DeMerit kept the scoreline at 2-1. 
A groin injury for United's Rio Ferdinand then forced Alex Ferguson to replace him with Darren Fletcher, a move which saw a shuffle in the entire back line. 
Rooney then had a chance for a brace, but his hard shot was palmed away by Lee. 
Watford started the second half strongly with Bouazza nearly scoring off a long throw, but his side footed effort went just wide. 
Alan Smith then set up Rooney's second goal of the match as his curling cross was easily deflected in by Rooney's left foot. 
Cristiano Ronaldo was then replaced with Kieran Richardson, and the substitute made nearly an instant impact, scoring United's fourth goal of the afternoon. 
A well timed pass by Smith was met by the sprinting Richardson, and he easily chipped the ball over Lee and into the back of the net to secure a place in the final for United. 
Relegation bound Watford will meet Blackburn in the Premiership next, while United have a league game of their own at Old Trafford against Sheffield United. 
A final report released today by the Indonesian National Transport Safety Committee found that Adam Air Flight 574 crashed because the pilots were distracted by an instrument failure. 
The loss of the budget carrier's Boeing 737 into the sea near Sulawesi on New Year's Day 2007 left all 102 on board missing and presumed dead. 
The report found that the 737, registered PK-KKW, suffered a Inertial Reference System (IRS) failure. 
While pilots were troubleshooting for this navigational system they first unintentionally disconnected the autopilot, then failed to monitor other instruments informing them they were approaching the sea, crashing into it and destroying the aircraft. 
The flight had been a scheduled domestic passenger service between Djuanda Airport at Surabaya and Sam Ratulangi Airport at Manado, and disappeared from radar screens at 35,000 feet. 
National Transportation Safety Committee head Tatang Kurniadi told a press conference "This accident resulted from a combination of factors including the failure of the pilots to adequately monitor the flight instruments, especially in the last two minutes of the flight." 
Preoccupation with a malfunction of the Inertial Reference System diverted both pilot's attention from the flight instruments and allowed the increasing descent and bank angle to unnoticed... 
"The Cockpit Voice recorder revealed that both pilots were concerned about navigation problems and subsequently become engrossed with trouble shooting Inertial Reference System (IRS) anomalies for at least the last 13 minutes of the flight, with minimal regard to other flight requirements." 
He also supplied a number of statistics concerning the final moments of the flight. 
Whilst in a right bank with sustained elevator input pushing up the nose the aircraft reached Mach 0.926 and 3.5g. 
The airspeed had reached 490 KCAS by the end of the recording. 
Investigator Santoso Sayogo said that the high speed impact caused the plane to disintegrate. 
In 2006 another B737 suffered a navigational problem and flew into a radar blackspot, leaving it lost for several hours before performing an emergency landing hundreds of miles from the intended destination. 
Sayogo said today that in the three months preceding the accident the airline had registered 154 defects in PK-KKW's navigational equipment. 
The crash, coupled with Adam Air Flight 172, which snapped in half during a hard landing, and Garuda Indonesia Flight 200, which overshot the runway in Yogyakarta, killing 21, prompted the European Union to add all Indonesia's airlines to the list of air carriers banned in the EU. 
Earlier this month another Adam Air flight departed the end of a runway during landing, injuring five and damaging the plane. 
This prompted the authorities to ground Adam Air for three months after a regular evaluation, after which they may be permanently shut down. 
Nine people were killed and 31 were injured after a car bomb blew up in the city of Falluja in western Iraq, local officials said. 
This is the second bomb blast in the Anbar province within the past few days. 
Six people were killed after a suicide bomber detonated explosives at a funeral in Haditha on Monday. 
"Security forces are still looking for victims under the rubble," said the head of the Amiriya local municipal council, Shaker al-Issawi. 
According to reports from witnesses, the blast was so strong that it threw bodies onto rooftops of neighbouring buildings. 
Unlike previous such explosions, this explosion did not appear to be set by a suicide bomber. 
A witness near where the car bomb exploded said that a man had parked a blue truck, and left it a quarter of an hour before it exploded. 
The British rail regulator has announced new train services for the country's premier line. 
New "open access" (unregulated and non-franchised) company Grand Northern is to be given space (known in the industry as "paths") to run three train services a day between London King's Cross and Bradford, Halifax, Wakefield and Pontefract in West Yorkshire. 
Grand Northern's sister open access company Grand Central was given an extra path to increase services between King's Cross and Sunderland. 
The existing franchisee of the line, National Express East Coast, was given the right to run services to London from Harrogate, Lincoln and Bradford, but not provided with paths unless the government changes the contracts of the other franchises whose territory these services would cross. 
Two other potential open access providers had their plans rejected by the regulator. 
First Group's Hull Trains had wanted to start a new service, Harrogate Trains, to run from North Yorkshire to London, whilst Platinum Trains had sought paths from London to Aberdeen in Scotland. 
Britain's state-owned national railway company British Rail was controversially split-up and privatized in stages between 1993 and 1997. 
It was replaced by a series of privately owned regional train franchises for set periods, several unfranchised open access services and a track control and maintenance company. 
A local Swiss government has shown some bare cheek and has taken action, after hordes of German naked hikers rambling across the Swiss alps au naturel, caused indignation amongst locals. 
Authorities in Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden have warned that starting from February 9, the government will impose hefty fines of 200 Swiss Francs (£122, €135) on naturists found walking or hiking in the nude without clothes in the picturesque mountains because of a recent influx of visiting German nudists. 
The new ordinance is expected to be passed this spring. 
If it is approved by the local parliament on February 9 it should be effective on April 26. 
The Swiss canton aims to stop spread of 'indecent practice' by minimally-clad German climbers. 
The problem started with a group of "boot-only hikers" who were stopped by the police in the Alpine region last autumn. 
They had wandered there regularly, proudly marching through nature with bare bums, and had also advertised what they thought was a naked paradise on the internet. 
A nude rambler dressed in nothing more than a rucksack and walking boots in the eastern Appenzell region was arrested and detained in the canton, but authorities were unable to file lawsuit because the act was not punished by law or ordinance at the time. 
"We were forced to introduce the legislation against this indecent practice before the warm weather starts," Melchior Looser, the canton’s justice and police minister, said. 
“Ultimately, in the summer lots of kids stay in our mountains,” he added. 
In the guidelines imposed, arrested offenders who cannot pay the fine, will face legal action. 
The new enabling ordinance has, however, been met with protests by nude hikers. 
"It's the most harmless pursuit possible," said Dietmar, age 58, a German lawyer. 
German tabloid Bild Zeitung has editorially attacked Swiss intolerance and even suggested nudist alternatives worldwide, after hinting a Swiss tourism boycott. 
Local authorities of Harz mountain range in central Germany have also announced the openness to any visitor of an “official naked walking route” in nature's outdoors. 
The naked ramblers have hoped it doesn't lead to another naturist-clothed 'war', like the one at a beach between German and Polish holidaymakers in 2008. 
Naturism has roots traced from the start of the 20th century. 
"Abandoning unpractical clothes enables a direct contact with the wind, sun and temperature", naked hiker website nacktwandern.de stated. 
"The local people are upset and we in the government share their concern." 
"How would one feel if one was to go walking in nature and suddenly came across a group of naked people? " 
"They are definitely not people from the area, and I think many of them come from Germany,” he noted. 
"I can understand that we all have to live in this world together," said Barbara Foley, International Naturist Foundation member of the central committee. 
"But I would certainly enjoy doing the hike in the nude and I wouldn't want to be deprived of it." 
"Maybe they should designate a couple of trails and people would know they might come across naturists there," she added. 
Appenzell Innerrhoden (Appenzell Inner Rhodes) is the smallest canton of Switzerland by population and the second smallest by area, Basel-City having less area. 
The population of the canton was 15,471 as of 2007, of which 1,510 (or 9.76%) were foreigners. 
The canton in the north east of Switzerland has an area is 173 km². 
It was divided in 1597 for religious reasons from the former canton Appenzell, with Appenzell Ausserrhoden being the other half. 
Most of the canton is pastoral, this despite being mountainous. 
Cattle breeding and dairy farming are the main agricultural activities: Appenzeller cheese is widely available throughout Switzerland. 
Due to the split of Appenzell along religious lines, the population (as of 2000) is nearly all Roman Catholic (81%), with a small Protestant minority (10%). 
The town, however is far from liberalism: the canton granted women the right of suffrage only in 1990 under pressure from the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland and international human rights groups. 
The Alpine village of Appenzell Innerrhoden, being known for its beautiful landscape, has recently been declared a "naked rambler paradise" by a German mountaineering website, which was created by a lobby group of hikers. 
An ethical controversy has surged in the United States and elsewhere around nine-year-old Ashley X (her family name has not been released). 
The disabled girl was operated upon at the request of her parents, to prevent her from growing, menstruating and developing breasts. 
The parents, who wish to remain anonymous, explain their situation on a blog entitled The "Ashley Treatment". 
There have been over 1000 reactions on the blog so far. 
Ashley suffers a condition termed static encephalopathy with marked global developmental deficits of unknown etiology, which means brain damage of unknown cause leading to a kind of static condition. 
She can make sounds, move her arms and kick her legs, but she cannot change her position, eat, walk, talk etc. 
Many of these children are in poor health and die young, but Ashley is in good health. 
For all of these functions she depends on her caregivers. 
Most of the day she passes watching her surrounding, lying on a pillow. 
Her parents call her their "Pillow Angel", "since she is so sweet and stays right where we place her—usually on a pillow." 
Ashley's parents want to keep her at home and care for her themselves, and they want to guarantee their daughter's quality of life. 
To this end, they say, Ashley underwent several surgical procedures and medical treatments during a period of three years. 
To attenuate her growth, Ashley was given high doses of the hormone estrogen. 
Ashley now measures 4ft 5 (1m 35cm) and weighs around 75 lbs (34 kg), which is below her expected length and weight. 
Her low body weight and size would improve her comfort, and at the same time facilitate the work of her caregivers. 
Surgery to remove her uterus (a procedure called a hysterectomy) and breast buds were performed, so Ashley does not menstruate and will not develop breasts, both of which parents think only would cause her discomfort. 
Since high estrogen levels can cause menstrual bleeding and breast development, the surgery was also meant to limit these effects. 
She also underwent surgery to remove her appendix, because it would be difficult to diagnose appendicitis given Ashley's low communication possibilities. 
Leader of the Federal Opposition in Australia Tony Abbott has made claims Thursday during Question Time in parliament that a 'people's revolt' is looming based on the Prime Minister Julia Gillard's proposal for a 2012 carbon tax. 
In what Mr. Abbott describes as a "betrayal of the Australian people", Ms. Gillard announced Thursday that a price for carbon will be put back on the national agenda, for several years, to be followed by the formation of an emissions trading scheme. 
In the lead up to the 2010 Federal Australian Election, Ms. Gillard claimed that while she might implement a green house gas reduction scheme, "[she would] rule out a carbon tax". 
The price on carbon will be applied to industrial and transport emissions but will not, however, affect Australia's agriculture. 
The Prime Minister's announcement resulted in a large portion of Question Time being devoted to the issue with a Member of the Opposition being expelled from the House for disorderly conduct. 
Mr. Abbot then moved to censure the Prime Minister and conclude Question Time claiming "Nothing is more fake than making a promise to the Australian people before the election and breaking it after the election …" 
"I don't believe it's going to happen because I think there will be a people's revolt." 
"They will see this as an assault on their standard of living, which is exactly what it is". 
To which the Prime Minister responded "Increasingly Australians understand that the Liberal Party, under the Leader of the Opposition, is a party of the past with no real policies or plans for the nation's future …" 
"You get judged ultimately in this Parliament by what you decide to do and what you deliver, and on this side of the Parliament we are determined that from July 1 (2012) we will price carbon." 
The Opposition claims that the proposed carbon tax will cause petrol prices to rise by A$0.065 per litre while energy bills may increase by $300 per year. 
Irish Senator Kieran Phelan has died suddenly at the age of 60. 
Phelan died after falling ill in his hotel in Dublin this morning, shortly before a meeting due to be held by the Seanad. 
Phelan sat on the Industrial and Commercial Panel and had been a Senator since 2002. 
He was also a Laois County councillor and was elected council chairman in 1998. 
He is a constituency colleague of mine and a lifelong friend. 
As a mark of respect, Leader of the House Donie Cassidy proposed that the house be adjourned until June 1st. 
New Orleans police shot eight armed gunmen on the Danziger Bridge, according to a police statement, after contractors crossing the bridge came under fire. 
The police claim they shot at eight people carrying guns on the bridge. 
This comes as Mayor Robin Nagin began to turn the city over to state and federal control. 
The fourteen contractors were en route to launch barges into Lake Pontchartrain in order to fix the break in the 17th Street Canal when, according to police, the gunmen opened fire on the group. 
Deputy Police Chief W.J. Riley said police shot at eight people carrying guns, killing five or six. 
However, according to foreign sources, the five killed were contractors for the Army. 
In a unrelated incident, a civilian helicopter crashed near the Danziger Bridge. 
The two passengers on board escaped with only minor cuts and scrapes. 
The Danziger Bridge spans a canal which connects Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi River. 
Peter Dunne's proposition as the leader of the New Zealand political party, United Future, to have Waitangi Day changed back to New Zealand Day failed. 
The New Zealand Day bill would have created disharmony within the society according to parliamentary select committee, the Justice and Electoral Committee. 
But they do say that it could be a good idea for a completely new holiday to be created called New Zealand Day. 
"I welcome the advice from the committee that many of the submitters were in favour of retaining Waitangi Day and having another day set aside for a national day that will celebrate everything that's good about New Zealand and being a New Zealander," said Mr Dunne. 
Mr Dunne said the reason for his proposed change was because since New Zealand is multi-cultural, then New Zealand's national day should be one about everybody and not one about grievance. 
Mr Dunne says that he is still backing New Zealand Day in some form despite the rejection, as he is now considering many options, including changing the Queen's Official Birthday holiday to New Zealand Day, and starting Dominion Day back up. 
He says that he is now considering writing up a new bill to submit it to the New Zealand Parliament. 
Waitangi day is on February 6, each year and celebrates the Waitangi signing of New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi). 
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stated the U.S. government may have planned the September 11, 2001 attacks. 
He said the attacks have been used to justify U.S. "aggression" throughout the Middle East and also that 9/11 conspiracy theories are plausible. 
Chavez said in a speech Tuesday, "The hypothesis is not absurd ... that those towers could have been dynamited." 
He also said "A building never collapses like that, unless it's with an implosion." 
The U.S. government has maintained that Al-Qaeda orchestrated the attacks under the leadership of Osama bin Laden. 
At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, after four days of negotiations, Africa countries have made the first draft version of future possible treaty, to replace the 1997 Kyoto protocol. 
Africa leaders demand 5% of GDP of developed world citizens to be given as a finance to developing countries for struggle with global warming. 
Along with this, developing countries expect rich countries to increase their emissions cuts goals. 
Funding for developed countries was previously expected to be 130 billion US dollars. 
The new proposal is about 11 times larger, according to 2008 GDP estimates. 
In an interview in Copenhagen, China’s representative Su Wei commented, "The developed countries need to speed up the process and come forward with more ambitious targets by 2020." 
Many nations offered emissions cuts pledges, which vary from 4% to 17% cuts by 2020, compared with 1990 levels. 
The Africa's draft proposes a goal of 65% cut for every developed country. 
Though the new goals are harder, Anders Turesson, European Union representative at UNCCC, doubted in the ability of them to prevent 2-degree warming. 
In an interview in Copenhagen, he said, "We are concerned about the environmental integrity of these texts and we do not see how they will deliver the 2-degree target." 
"Hopefully we will be able to step up our ambitions as we move forward in the negotiations." 
British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband criticised the draft text for absence of a certain temperature raise threshold, said that the new texts "are shorter texts than we’ve had before, which we can negotiate around because the imperative here is to get on with it and get to an ambitious solution". 
Bloomberg news company interviewed several people from New York environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). 
Its policy director David Doniger expects most difficulties to come at the end of the UNCCC, when Barack Obama and Wen Jiabao arrive at the summit: "It’s really come down to a set of difficult " 
"It’s a lot easier for lower-level negotiators to come to an impasse and go home." 
"It’s not easy for senior officials and definitely not easy for heads of government." 
As international climate policy director of NRDC Jake Schmidt commented similarly, "It’s going to be a tense negotiation over emissions cuts for developed countries." 
Zinedine Zidane has apologised on French TV for his actions on the World Cup final, Wednesday - but the apology did not extend to his victim. 
Zidane had headbutted Italian player Marco Materazzi and was sent off after 110 minutes play. 
But on French television Zidane showed remorse for his behaviour. 
"I want to ask for forgiveness from all the children who watched," he said. 
It was expected that Zidane would reveal what provoked him into the headbutt. 
However, Zidane refused to divulge what Materazzi actually said but did say that Materazzi made remarks which were "very personal" and specifically concerned his mother and sister. 
Materazzi had earlier admitted that he insulted Zidane, but denied any remarks on Zidane's mother or having made a racial slur. 
"I lost my mother when I was 15 years old and still get emotional when I talk about it." 
"Zidane is my hero and I have always admired him a lot," said Materazzi. 
While the French star's comments contradicted Materazzi's view Zidane also refused to apologise to Materazzi for his on-field assault. 
"I want to apologise to them [the children] but I can't regret what I did because it would mean that he [Materazzi] was right to say what he said". 
The partial apology comes as FIFA President Sept Blatter said Zidane may be stripped of his Golden Ball award for the tournament's best player. 
FIFA set up a disciplinary committee to investigate Zidane's violent conduct. 
After the red card to Zidane, Italy went on to win the final on penalty kicks. 
U.S. Senator Barack Obama's family name may sound similar to that of the given name of Osama bin Laden. 
According to prominent American left-wing online blog Daily Kos, which was the first to report it, CNN mixed the two up on Monday, leading into a segment on bin Laden with the title, "Where's Obama?" on The Situation Room, a show hosted by pundit Wolf Blitzer. 
Soledad O'Brien and Blitzer apologised separately during CNN's American Morning on Tuesday. 
"We want to apologize for that bad typo," Mr Blitzer said. 
"We also want to apologize personally to Senator Barack Obama." 
"I'm going to be making a call to him later this morning to offer my personal apology." 
He also added that he appreciated the online blogs who brought the error to light. 
"Though I'd note that the 's' and 'b' keys aren't all that close to each other, I assume it was just an unfortunate mistake, and don't think there was any truly malicious intent," said Tommy Vietor, Obama's press secretary. 
The government of Canada is fighting to keep Washington from having access to passenger lists for Canada's domestic flights. 
The Canadian transport minister Jean Lapierre said two-thirds of Canada's domestic flights at some point cross through American air space. 
The Minister said he may have to re-route them (around U.S. airspace) rather than breach the privacy rights of domestic Canadian passengers. 
In plans which are not yet finalized, Washington recently warned Canada (and other countries) the U.S. intends to require that its no-fly list procedures apply to all foreign airlines which pass through U.S. airspace. 
After 9/11, a watch list of suspected terrorists was created by the U.S. that bars those on the list from air travel within its borders. 
On Wednesday, Lapierre said it's a “very hot issue,” and that he’s working to protect the privacy of Canadians. 
"We don’t think it’s a good idea that Canadians travelling from one (Canadian) city to another would have to be checked under the American no-fly list.” Lapierre said. 
He estimates that nearly two-thirds of the 278,000 yearly flights between Canadian cities cross over the U.S. border. 
Most major flight zones from urban centers in Canada are in its southern portion, close to the U.S. where even winds might push a plane across the border. 
If the matter can not be resolved, Lapierre said, “We would have to take a northern route, which would be much more expensive.” 
Yahoo! News Canada reports that Lapierre intends to lobby U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta against the changes. 
Last year, the Canadian province of British Columbia put controls on firms that handle an individual's personal data that prevents them from sharing private information on Canadians with U.S. authorities. 
The issue goes to Canada's sovereignty of its citizens and the U.S. sovereignty of its airspace. 
The historically close relations between Canada and the U.S. was evident during the recent Virgin Atlantic incident, where a flight was intercepted by 2 Canadian CF-18 jet fighters. 
They were scrambled from Quebec to escort the inter-continental flight originating from London to the Halifax International Airport after a hijacking signal, an apparent accident, was sent from the plane. 
The plane was detained in Halifax on Friday for approximately four hours. 
Ultimately it was cleared, and landed safely at its original destination in John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City. 
Both the ACLU and the Electronic Privacy Information Center are involved in lawsuits against the U.S. government relating to no-fly lists. 
EPIC has received documents under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act which it says "establish that the TSA administers two lists: a "no-fly" list and a "selectee" list, which requires the passenger to go through additional security measures." 
"The names are provided to air carriers through Security Directives or Emergency Amendments and are stored in their computer systems so that an individual with a name that matches the list can be flagged when getting a boarding pass." 
"A "no-fly" match requires the agent to call a law enforcement officer to detain and question the passenger." 
"In the case of a Selectee, an "S" or special mark is printed on their boarding pass and the person receives additional screening at security." 
The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization which maintains data on hate groups, has described Alamo's organization as a "cult". 
The Ross Institute Internet Archives for the Study of Destructive Cults, Controversial Groups and Movements maintains a web page on Tony Alamo and his organization. 
AP reported that many former members of Alamo's organization also characterize the Tony Alamo Christian Ministries as a "cult". 
Anna Pugh, a former member of the organization for 11 years, recounted some of her experiences in what she referred to as "Tony's Cult" to KOCO-TV. 
She stated that while she was living at Alamo's compound she felt she was brainwashed. 
Pugh says that while she was a member of the group a seven-year-old girl took her aside and told her Alamo had sexual conduct with minors while watching pornography. 
"I think that congregation in there needs to see what that man is." 
"He is a very unmerciful, malicious, vindictive, judgemental, condemning person," said Pugh. 
Former member Anthony Lane told KSLA-TV he was kicked out of Tony Alamo Christian Ministries when he questioned some of Alamo's teachings. 
"He is definitely a man who arranges marriages of little girls, and orders beatings of little children," said Lane. 
He has been getting help from a support group called Partnered against Cult Activities (PACA). 
Lane is trying to gain custody of his three children who are still in the group with his wife. 
Alamo was convicted of tax evasion in 1994, and was released from prison in 1998 after serving four years out of a six year sentence. 
The Internal Revenue Service said Alamo owed the U.S. government US$7.9 million. 
Prosecutors in the tax evasion case argued prior to Alamo's sentencing that he was a flight risk, and a polygamist who conducted inappropriate activities with women and girls in his organization. 
The Tony Alamo Christian Ministry organization promotes a philosophy and belief system which asserts sex with underage girls and polygamy is acceptable. 
The organization is critical of Catholicism, homosexuality, and the government. 
Tony Alamo Christian Ministry has compounds in Arkansas, California, Georgia and New Jersey, and Alamo himself lives near Los Angeles. 
Edward Natapei, the Prime Minister of Vanuatu has lost his position and parliamentary seat over a paper work blunder. 
Natapei was in Trinidad and Tobago at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and his staff failed to file the paperwork that notified the parliamentary speaker of his absence. 
Under Vanuatu law, since he missed three consecutive sittings of parliament without notifying the speaker in writing, he must forfeit his seat. 
In order to comply with the law, Natapei would have needed to submit a signed explanation for his absence to the speaker. 
The last time a similar event occurred was in the 1980s when a Member of Parliament lost his job for failure to notify the speaker of his absence. 
Natapei is now on his way back from Trinidad and Tobago. 
The nation is currently being run by a caretaker government. 
Members of Parliament are set to vote for a new Prime Minister next week. 
Natapei was elected Prime Minister on September 22, 2008, as President of the socialist, Anglophone Vanua'aku Pati party. 
After 14 months in office, he now holds the record for the shortest term as prime minister in Vanuatu's history. 
On Monday, Australian telecommunications company Telstra has introduced dual carrier HSPA+ standard for broadband Internet business customers in the Next G network. 
This is the first time this technology is being introduced on national scale. 
The bandwidths the users can deploy increased into two to three times, with Telstra becoming the world’s fastest national mobile broadband service. 
The switch started with enabling the service for premium users. 
On Sunday two separate suicide bombing attacks killed up to 31 people. 
The first attack took place when a police-army convoy was hit by two roadside bombs in the mountainous region near the Pakistani-Afghani border. 
The second bombing took place when a suicide bomber detonated in front of a police headquarters in Dera Ismail Kha killing 17 police recruits who were taking a test to join the local police force. 
Since the Red Mosque siege began there have been 67 people killed in bombing and shooting in Pakistan. 
On Saturday 24 soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber crashed into two army vehicles in the town of Swat along the Afghani border. 
In that attack three civilians were killed 39 people were wounded most of them critically. 
According to reports, at least eighteen people were killed in Brazil in the past 24 hours, following heavy storms that led to mudslides and torrential rains. 
Most of the deaths occurred in the Rio de Janeiro area of the country, and the local Office of Civil Defense commented that more deaths are likely as the inclement weather continues. 
The deaths were caused mainly because some shanty-houses collapsed under rain or mud. 
After an oil pipeline in China exploded and spilled around 1,500 tonnes of oil into the Yellow Sea near the city of Dalian, the government has launched a cleanup operation consisting of more than 800 vessels. 
The spill occurred on Friday, after a pipeline at the port exploded. 
The oil terminal at the port has been closed ever since. 
Authorities have been using 24 ships designed for cleaning up oil, and today ordered around 800 civilian fishing boats to join the operation. 
The spill has been halted, although an oil slick which measured 50 square kilometers at its height remains in the harbor, and ships are using absorbent foam to remove oil from the water, as well as barriers to keep oil from reaching the shore. 
Despite their efforts, parts of the coast reportedly have a slick of oil evident on beaches and rocks. 
Although rough seas have affected the cleanup, authorities expect to have completed the operations within ten days. 
According to domestic media, concerns over safety at the port have been raised in the past; a government study in 2006 noted that five projects at the port were at risk of accidents. 
The spill has caused ongoing disruptions to the port's operations, with several ships, including six oil tankers carrying a total of around twelve million barrels of oil, having been diverted to other ports both in China and other countries. 
Snow has fallen in Baghdad, Iraq for the first time in approximately 100 years. 
Although Baghdad sometimes sees hail and sleet, snow has never been seen in living memory. 
Snow was also recorded in the western and central parts of the country, where it is also very unusual, and in the Kurdish north, which is mountainous and commonly sees snowfall. 
A statement by the meteorology department read "Snow has fallen in Baghdad for the first time in about a century as a result of two air flows meeting." 
"The first one was cold and dry and the second one was warm and humid." 
Dawood Shakir, director of the meteorology department, told AFP his take on the causation of the snow: "It's very rare." 
"These snowfalls are linked to the climate change that is happening everywhere." 
"We are finding some places in the world which are warm and are supposed to be cold." 
Temperatures in some parts of the country fell below freezing, compared to winters that are normally mild in a climate that sees summer temperatures of 120 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Snow fell in the capital city from prior to dawn until just after 9 a.m. local time. 
The flakes failed to provide a covering of snow, instead melting quickly. 
However, many local people still had positive things to say about the once in a lifetime event. 
Mohammed Abdul-Hussein, a 63-year-old in retirement, commented "For the first time in my life I saw a snow-rain like this falling in Baghdad." 
"When I was young, I heard from my father that such rain had fallen in the early '40s on the outskirts of northern Baghdad but snow falling in Baghdad in such a magnificent scene was beyond my imagination." 
Fawzi Karim, who runs a small restaurant in Hawr Rajab, six miles from Baghdad said "I asked my mother, who is 80, whether she'd ever seen snow in Iraq before, and her answer was no…" 
"This is so unusual, and I don't know whether or not it's a lesson from God," while college student Talib Haider said "a friend of mine called me at 8 a.m. to wake me up and tell me that the sky is raining snow." 
"I rushed quickly to the balcony to see a very beautiful scene." 
"I tried to film it with my cell phone camera." 
"I called my other friends and the morning turned out to be a very happy one in my life." 
Resident Aysar Khaled told Reuters "I woke up and I saw snow falling, so I woke up all the family and told them to come and see the snowfall." 
"Everyone in Baghdad is delighted because this is a new thing, this is the first time that it snows in Baghdad…" 
Some viewed it as a sign of impending peace, or at least of an improving situation in the war-torn country. 
Hassan Zahar, a 60-year-old resident, said "It is the first time we've seen snow in Baghdad." 
"I looked at the faces of all the people, they were astonished…" 
"I invite all the people to enjoy peace, because the snow means peace." 
The snow was "a new sign of the new Iraq," according to traffic policeman Murtadha Fadhil, who spoke to Reuters whilst sheltering under a balcony. 
"We hope Iraqis will purify their hearts and politicians will work for the prosperity of all Iraqis." 
There are no reports of any bloodshed during the time the snow was falling. 
According to Forbes annual World's Billionaire list released yesterday, Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim is the world's richest person for the second year in a row, with a net worth of US$74 billion. 
American Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft Corp, is again listed in second place with US$56 billion while investor Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway is third. 
China added the most new billionaires to the list with 54 while Russia added 31. 
The US came in third, with 23 new billionaires; American Mark Zuckerberg, chairman of Facebook, more than tripled his net worth to US$13.5 billion, placing him in Forbes' 52nd spot. 
Although the US is home to 413 billionaires, more than any other country, the changing distribution of global finances is evident. 
Today, due to the increasing wealth of emerging nations, just one in every three billionaires is American, a decline from ten years ago when Americans numbered one in every two. 
Brazil, Russia, India and China together accounted for more than 108 new billionaires. 
Last year, New York was home to more billionaires than any other city in the world, while this year Moscow is home to 79, which beats New York's current number of 58. 
Forbes lists a world total of 1,210 billionaires whose combined wealth is US$4.5 trillion, an increase from last year's total of US$3.6 trillion. 
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra arrived today in Cambodia where he will take up a post as the government's economic advisor. 
The appointment has caused a diplomatic incident between the two countries, as Shinawatra was condemned to two years in jail in absentia for corruption. 
Tension is already mounting, with the Thai government expressing both anger and embarrassment over the appointment. 
They have withdrawn their ambassador and have decided to cancel plans with the Cambodian government for trade and oil exploration. 
This comes amidst disputes over the Preah Vihear temple complex which spans both countries. 
Thailand has further threatened to close borders with its neighbour. 
Thaksin will address 300 Cambodian economics experts on Thursday in Phnom Penh and is expected to remain "two or three days" according to Cambodian cabinet spokesman Phay Siphan. 
"It is an honour for Cambodia's economic sector and we hope that Cambodians nationwide welcome him warmly," he announced. 
"We are looking forward to learning from Thaksin's great economic experience and we are convinced that his experience will contribute to our country's economic development," he said. 
A coup in 2006 ousted Thaksin after members of parliament defected during military rule. 
Since then he has been in exile, mostly living in Dubai. 
He is still influential in Thailand, using protests by the Red Shirts, and the Thai government fears that Thaksin will use Cambodia as base to campaign. 
However, Thaksin published a letter on his website on Monday indicating that he did not intend to "go to Cambodia to help Cambodia fight with Thailand [...]" 
"As I travel to Cambodia to discuss poverty and the world economic situation, I will try to preserve Thai interests with our friends in Phnom Penh, despite the Thai government still hounding me wherever I go," he stated. 
A Canadian NATO soldier was killed today in Afghanistan by a bomb while on patrol in Panjwaii district, west of Kandahar on foot. 
Military officials have not yet released the name of the soldier. 
His remains were taken by a helicopter to the Kandahar Airfield. 
One soldier from Hamilton, Ontario was reported to have suffered minor hearing loss as a result of the blast. 
Earlier today at 12 p.m., there was a rally called Red Friday for the Canadian troops in Afghanistan held in the Younge-Dundas Square in Toronto, Ontario. 
Many in Toronto wore red in support for the troops. 
It was announced at the rally that the Canadian soldier was killed by a bomb. 
Wikibooks, an Internet project which seeks to create free content textbooks using wiki technology, has published its February 2005 statistics. 
The Cookbook project leads the statistics, both by number of contributors (94) and by total edits (668). 
Newcomer of the month is "Wikibooks Pokédex", with 337 edits by mainly one user, followed by "Programming:Ada" (320 edits). 
Seventy contributors edited on "Wikiversity", followed by sixty-eight users on the "Jokebook". 
Wikiversity is a project of its own which aims to build a collaborative learning environment online. 
Wikibooks was originally meant as a place for textbooks and manuals but has increasingly become a community creating books on all kinds of subjects, with the cookbook being the most prominent example. 
Intended as a collection of recipes from around the world, it hosts recipes from Hamburger to Sushi, ethnic cuisines from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean, and gives background information on ingredients, nutrition, and many cooking techniques. 
Wikis are openly editable websites that are often used to create knowledge bases. 
Wikibooks is a project operated by the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the United States which runs several free content wikis, including Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia, and Wikinews, a free news source. 
The statistics for Wikibooks are extracted using an SQL query on the latest Wikibooks database dump. 
Dark Floors, a horror film under production in Northern Finland and starring the hard rock band Lordi (who are famed for their monster costumes and lyrical themes), has received €300,000 (£200,000) funding from the Finnish government. 
Lordi are also famed for their record-breaking 292 point victory in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006 with their song Hard Rock Hallelujah. 
It was also the first time a hard rock song had won the contest, and Finland's first ever victory. 
The film is being shot in English, with a largely Finnish cast, and has a production cost of €4.2 million (£2.84 million). 
The plot features a "monster attack" on the world, with a young Autistic girl being the only person in a position to save it. 
Lead singer Mr Lordi said that as their masks and costumes were derived from horror films it was "kind of natural" that they should make their own. 
According to a French journalist and the imam of the local mosque, around 400 people have been killed in the riots that erupted due to a dispute in the result of the local elections. 
The riots are taking place in the Nigerian city of Jos, which is located between the Christian and Muslim areas of Nigeria. 
The elections which sparked the violence, did, according to a rumor spread around the city, result in the predominantly Christian People's Democratic Party beating the All Nigerian Peoples Party, a predominantly Muslim party. 
Khaled Abubakar, the imam of the city's central mosque, made an estimate of the death toll. 
"So far about 400 bodies have been brought to the mosque following the outbreak of violence," he stated. 
"Families are coming to identify and claim the bodies, while those that cannot be identified or are not claimed by anybody will be interred by the mosque." 
A French journalist confirmed the reports of Abubakar, despite the fact that early reports showed only twenty deaths. 
Yakumu Pam, a Christian clergyman in Jos, also commented on the chaos. 
"Hundreds of people have been killed in the last two days since the riots started," he stated. 
"Remains of burned bodies litter some parts of the town." 
In an effort to stop the fighting, the army has been ordered to open fire on people, and to create a buffer zone between the Christians and the Muslims. 
Umaru Yar'Adua, the President of Nigeria, has stated that he is "very sad" about the ongoing violence. 
Scott McClellan, a former White House Press Secretary, says in a new book that George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and Karl Rove, misled McClellan about the Plame leak, leading him to publicly exonerate Rove and Lewis "Scooter" Libby. 
"And five of the highest ranking officials in the administration were involved in my doing so: Rove, Libby, the vice president, the president's chief of staff, and the president himself," says McClellan in a excerpt of the book that was released to the public. 
In an interview with CNN, earlier this year, McClellan said his statements were what he "believed to be true at the time based on assurances that we were both given." 
At that time he gave no indication that Bush was involved with or even knew that Rove or Libby were involved with the leak. 
The current White House Press Secretary, Dana Perino, said, when asked about it today, that it is not clear what McClellan means in the excerpt. 
"The President has not and would not ask his spokespeople to pass on false information," she said. 
"Just when you think the credibility of this White House can't get any lower, another shoe drops," said Senator Chuck Schumer, of New York. 
"If the Bush administration won't even tell the truth to its official spokesman, how can the American people expect to be told the truth either?" 
Cindy Sheehan, the grieving mother of a fallen soldier in Iraq, has gained national attention for her efforts to demand the President of the United States speak with her personally. 
"What I want to ask is, 'What noble cause did my son die for?'" 
"And if he says that it was to get rid of Saddam or liberate the Iraqi people, I'm not going to buy it." 
Prompted by President George W. Bush's announcement that Americans in Iraq have died for a 'noble cause', Sheehan has been camping near Bush's Texas ranch for the past week to demand a private conversation with the President. 
"I don't want comfort," she told Cox Newspapers, "I want the truth." 
Mr. Bush said he was aware of the pleas of the grieving mothers, "But whether it be here or in Washington or anywhere else, there's somebody who has got something to say to the President, that's part of the job. 
"And I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say." 
"But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life." 
Cindy has been joined in Crawford by hundreds of supporters, including many other mothers of fallen soldiers, who are camping out with her and joining her in calling "for the truth" about why their sons had to die. 
Rallies of support are also taking place and being scheduled across the nation, and contributions from citizens across the world are flowing into the "Peace House", a nearby cottage providing shelter and support for the mothers. 
Casey's grandparents and other members of her extended family issued a statement emailed to the Drudge Report website, which reveals their disagreement with the actions and statements that Mrs. Sheehan has made and accuses her of using her son's death to promote a personal agenda: 
:The Sheehan Family lost our beloved Casey in the Iraq War and we have been silently, respectfully grieving. 
We do not agree with the political motivations and publicity tactics of Cindy Sheehan. 
She now appears to be promoting her own personal agenda and notoriety at the expense of her son's good name and reputation. 
The rest of the Sheehan Family supports the troops, our country, and our President, silently, with prayer and respect. 
Mrs. Sheehan has responded by saying that political views within her extended family have always been diverse, but she is happy that her husband and children share her views and are supporting her efforts. 
She says her husband Pat, couldn't bear having Casey's things at home and put most of them in storage. 
Mrs. Sheehan and her husband were part of a group that met with the President following her son's death last year; a meeting that President Bush began with what she thought was an insultingly insensitive greeting; "Who we'all gonna honor today." 
Mrs. Sheehan says she had mixed feelings about Bush's demeanor at the meeting, but kept quiet. 
When more information came out about the planning for the war, however, she started to feel utterly betrayed. 
"I want the kind of meeting that holds him accountable for the words he's actually said.", Sheehan told Time magazine reporters. 
The UK Secretary of State for Defence John Reid has admitted the withdrawal of 5,500 of the 8,500 British troops in Iraq by spring 2006 is a possibility. 
It comes after a report was leaked to the Mail on Sunday in the aftermath of the 7 July London bombings. 
The document (Options for Future UK Force Posture in Iraq) was marked "Secret - UK eyes only" and also contained information on possible U.S. troop reductions, bringing the number of Coalition forces in Iraq down to 66,000. 
About 176,000 Coalition troops are presently in Iraq, 130,000 of which are from the United States Armed Forces. 
However, the document also reveals there is division between the Pentagon, which apparently favours a "relatively bold reduction", and U.S. commanders in Iraq who are more cautious. 
The British Army is the lead component of the Multi-National Division (South-East). 
It has maintained forces in the 8,000+ region since the end of the 2003 Iraq War. 
In the document, Mr Reid admitted that a large reduction of British and U.S. forces would make it difficult for other countries to keep their force in Iraq. 
Mr Reid, who took up the position of Secretary of State for Defence on 6 May 2005, admitted that the document was made by him for Prime Minister Tony Blair. 
In the document, Mr Reid stated that a decision would need to be made later this year on British forces levels in Iraq. 
The possible transfer of control of Al Muthanna and Maysan provinces, followed by Al Basrah and Dhi Qar provinces in 2006, were also included in the document. 
It estimated the reduction of British forces could save about £1 billion pounds (about $1.7 billion U.S. dollars). 
In a statement on 10 July made in response to the leaking of the document, Mr Reid denied that the document signalled any change in policy, stating that, "No decisions on the future force posture of UK forces have been taken." 
"But we have always said that it is our intention to hand over the lead in fighting terrorists to Iraqi security forces as their capability increases." 
"We therefore continually produce papers outlining possible options and contingencies." 
On 4 July, during a debate in the House of Commons, Mr Reid had hinted at possible reductions in forces, saying that, "By and large, about 12 [of 18] of the provinces are relatively free of terrorist attacks." 
"As the Iraqi forces become trained to take the lead, it is possible, over a period of time, to hand the lead role to Iraqi forces in certain areas of the country and gradually, we hope, over the whole country." 
A spokesperson of the MND (SE) was questioned by a Wikireporter. 
When asked whether speculation of reductions would affect British forces morale in Iraq, it was insisted that, "The British forces will continue to operate in the professional manner to which they always have done." 
The spokesperson added, "No decision on the future posture of UK forces in Iraq has been taken." 
"Assisting the Iraqis to improve the security environment remains our top priority." 
Speaking of the response by Iraqis to the London bombings, the spokesperson said, "Most of the feed back from Friday pray[ers] in the British Area of Operation were against the attacks on London." 
April 7, 2005 ABC News anchorman Peter Jennings was diagnosed this week with lung cancer. 
Despite beginning out-patient treatment next week which will involve chemotherapy, Jennings will continue to front ABC's 'World News Tonight' show, "to the extent he can do so comfortably", says ABC News. 
"Almost 10 million Americans are living with cancer," Jennings told ABC staff on Tuesday. 
"I am sure I will learn from them how to cope with the facts of life that none of us anticipated." 
The 66-year-old anchor man, who gave up smoking several years ago, added: "I hope it goes without saying that a journalist who doesn't value deeply the audience's loyalty should be in another line of work." 
Jennings began his career at ABC News in 1964 and in 1983 was made senior editor and anchor of World News Tonight. 
Due to ill health, he was unable to work during his network's special report on the recent death of Pope John Paul II. 
Pakistani officials have said that a suicide bomber struck a crowded market today in northwest Pakistan, killing an anti-Taliban mayor. 
At least eleven other people were killed in the blast, and dozens were wounded. 
Initially, Mayor Abdul Malik was reported to have survived the attack in the Matni area on the outskirts of the city of Peshawar. 
The market was crowded with shoppers ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid. 
Officials said that Malik, a former Taliban supporter, had switched sides and raised a militia to fight the Taliban. 
He had survived several attempts on his life since shifting his allegiance. 
"Malik had survived several attacks on his life in the recent past, since he turned against the militants," said the top Peshawar official, Sahibzada Anis. 
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) reported today a "significant explosive event" had occurred at Mount Redoubt in Alaska. 
Lightning was observed within an ash cloud that formed over the volcano. 
As a result the AVO raised the alert level to 'warning' and level 'red' for aviation. 
According to the Observatory, seismic activity caused a major lahar, similar to a mudslide or landslide, to occur in the Drift River Valley. 
Inhabitants of the Valley were advised to seek high ground and take immediate precautions against flooding. 
So far there are no reports of injuries or evacuations. 
Wikinews has e-mailed the AVO for a statement regarding the event, but has yet to receive a reply. 
"Strong, but diminishing seismic activity is continuing as of 07:35 AKDT," said the AVO on its website. 
At 9:18 a.m., the AVO reported that the event had ended. 
"Continuing seismic activity and web camera images indicate that low level emissions of steam, gas, and some volcanic ash are continuing to be emitted at the volcano at altitudes of [20,000 feet]." 
The AVO is sending a team to investigate the latest eruption which will include a fly-over to take readings on the gases being emitted. 
The explosion sent volcanic ash which spread to "Homer, Anchor Point, and Seldovia" to an altitude of over 50,000 feet. 
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued an advisory stating that ash fall can be expected from "Ninilchik Southward through mid morning." 
The advisory is scheduled to end at 10:00 a.m. (AKDT). 
As a result of recent eruptions at Redoubt, half of the 6 million gallons of crude oil stored in the Drift Valley will be removed to a safer location. 
There is no word on when the move will take place. 
The storage facility is located just 22 miles from Redoubt. 
Two recent polls have shown that the residents of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England would prefer to live in Scotland. 
Located 57 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland and over 300 miles from London, Berwick was a frequent bone of contention in the border wars between the independent kingdoms of England and Scotland, changing hands at least 13 times between 1147 and 1482. 
Under the Treaty of Perpetual Peace agreed in 1502 by the English King Henry VII and the Scottish King James IV, Berwick was declared to be "of the Kingdom of England but not in it". 
This resulted in Berwick having to be named individually in legislation until the British Parliament passed the Wales and Berwick Act in 1746 which stated that unless specially specified otherwise, the term "England" in laws included Berwick and Wales; in 1853 the declaration of war on Russia specifically mentioned Berwick, but the 1856 Treaty of Paris did not, leading to the urban legend that the town was still at war with Russia until the Mayor signed a peace treaty with a Soviet diplomat in 1966. 
Since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, Berwickers have noted that Scottish residents receive about £1500 more government expenditure each year than English residents, including free care for elderly people and free university tuition, both of which have to be paid for in England. 
The town already has a strong Scottish influence - famously both its football team and rugby team play in the Scottish leagues, a minority of the town's banks are Scottish, and the Church of Scotland has a large congregation in the town. 
A poll conducted for the ITV television programme, Tonight, to be broadcast on February 18 has shown that 60% (1,182 for, 775 against) of those polled would prefer the town to be in Scotland, while a poll for The Berwick Advertiser newspaper showed 78% in favour. 
This has resulted in a motion being proposed by Scottish National Party MSP Christine Grahame, calling on the Scottish Government to negotiate for Berwick's "restoration" to Scotland. 
A spokesman for Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said "The Scottish Government has no territorial demands on our friends in England. 
But it's clear most people in Berwick would rather be part of SNP-governed Scotland than Labour-run England." 
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Heikki Kovalainen won the FIA Formula One 2008 ING Magyar Nagydíj at the Hungaroring, Budapest, Hungary on Sunday. 
It was the first Grand Prix win of Kovalainen's driving career and he became the 100th winner in Formula One history. 
Ferrari driver Felipe Massa had dominated the race since the start when he overtook both McLaren front line sitters - first Kovalainen and then Lewis Hamilton. 
During the first part of the race, Hamilton punctured his front tyre and lost more positions as well as his hopes of winning. 
It seemed that Ferrari had the race in the pocket, but on the dying laps, Massa's engine was consumed by fire and he stopped on the main straight. 
Kovalainen took the opportunity to rush to the finish line. 
Timo Glock did a brilliant job for his Toyota team, taking the second place. 
He qualified in fifth place and was in third until Massa went out. 
The race became the first podium finish for Timo Glock, too. 
Still, his position was in danger from Kimi Räikkönen, who was racing close to Timo, but slowed down to secure his third place. 
Renault drivers Fernando Alonso and Nelsinho Piquet finished fourth and sixth, respectively. 
They improved from their starting positions of seventh and tenth respectively. 
The top eight was rounded out by pole Robert Kubica from BMW Sauber. 
Two other Renault-engined cars of Mark Webber and David Coulthard (Red Bull team) — split by Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) — were the last cars to finish on the lead lap. 
TheHonda and Williams teams, as well as Giancarlo Fisichella from Force India were all lapped. 
In one of the most shocking changes in No. 1 in Hot 100 history, rapper Kanye West, who has been in the news this week because of his controversial views on the federal government’s reaction to the relief efforts of Hurricane Katrina, received a surge of radio airplay in the pop mainstream radio markets and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time in his career as a performer. 
The 19-1 rally makes it the fifth biggest gain to No. 1 in Hot 100 history. 
The song also gains a record 94-2 on Billboard’s Pop 100 chart kept out of the No. 1 on that chart by the Pussycat Dolls with “Don’t Cha”. 
Mariah Carey is still No. 2 with “Shake It Off”. 
“Shake” was widely expected to gain to the Hot 100 pole position this week. 
Mariah Carey was No. 1 all summer with “Together” dethroned only once before by American Idol winner Carrie Underwood with “Inside Your Heaven” on the July 2 chart. 
Missy Elliott’s “Lose Control” featuring Ciara and Fat Man Scoop gained 5-3 while “Don’t Cha” dropped to No. 5. 
Bow Wow’s “Like You” featuring Ciara gained 7-6 trading places with Rhianna’s “Pon de Replay”. 
The only other song gaining into the top-10 is Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” rising 12-8. 
Bow Wow’s “Let Me Hold You” featuring Omarion fell 5-9 and Lifehouse’s “You and Me” rounded out the top-10 with a two position dip. 
Gabriel Amorth, the Roman Catholic Church's leading exorcist, has suggested missing schoolgirl Emanuela Orlandi was kidnapped for sexual abuse at orgies attended by foreign diplomats and arranged by Vatican police. 
Amorth, 85, who was appointed by the late Pope John Paul II, makes his remarks as Italian police try to determine if bones buried near the body of a mobster belong to Orlandi. 
Anonymous claims have suggested the tomb of contains clues to her disappearance. 
Investigators are examining bones removed from his burial site in the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare. 
Buried in a nearby crypt, the bones are thought to be centuries old but forensic tests are ongoing. 
One theory is Pedis kidnapped Orlandi to press Vatican officials over a financial dispute, with his onetime lover claiming her body was disposed of in a cement mixer. 
Amorth refutes this explanation, and also an alleged "international dimension"; another theory is that the kidnapping was to try and secure freedom for Mehmet Ali Agca of Turkey, who shot at the pope in 1981. 
Orlandi's vanishing "was a crime with a sexual motive" says Amorth. 
He further told La Stampa "The network involved diplomatic personnel from a foreign embassy to the Holy See. 
Orlandi has not been seen since she set off from the family apartment in the Vatican City, heading for a Rome music lesson. 
Amorth is a controversial priest who lays claim to thousands of exorcisms and has criticised activities such as yoga and children reading books as spiritually harmful. 
Two men were hanged Iran on Thursday, following their conviction for playing a role in the bombing of a Shiraz mosque, which killed thirteen people, last April. 
After the June election, which was widely disputed, there were several weeks of demonstrations and protests, which saw 4,000 people arrested by the authorities in a crackdown, among them journalists and reformist politicians. 
Opposition groups asserted that the elections were rigged to favour president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the government denied it, saying it was a foreign-backed attempt to discredit the Iranian government system. 
Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi has said that Nigeria should be divided into two separate nations to avoid further violence between Muslims and Christians. 
He was quoted as saying that the spilt "would stop the bloodshed and burning of places of worship." 
During his speech to students, Gaddafi spoke about the partition of India. 
He called that division a "historic, radical solution" which saved the lives of "millions of Hindus and Muslims," despite reports that one million people were killed. 
He also called the recent violence in Jos a "deep conflict of a religious nature," and put the blame on the British stating that the federal state was imposed by Britain. 
Around 100 people have died already this year in violence near the city of Jos. 
A senior Nigerian diplomat responded to Gaddafi's comments saying that he "did not take the suggestion seriously." 
Patsy Calton from Bramhall, Cheshire, England, a Liberal Democrat MP for the Cheadle constituency died at age 56 from cancer on Sunday May 29. 
The Liberal Democrat party leader Charles Kennedy described her as a "spirited and courageous" politician. 
She was first elected to the Cheadle constituency by the slim margin of 33 votes in the 2001 election. 
She was then re-elected just 24 days before her death with a greatly increased majority of 4020, in spite of not campaigning herself due to the illness. 
She was a staunch supporter of a ban on smoking in enclosed public spaces. 
Acting as the party's health spokesman, she supported the Bath Liberal Democrats anti-smoking initiatives in the 2004 spring conference. 
She is survived by her husband Clive Calton, who worked as her researcher at the House of Commons, and her son and two daughters. 
Talks between the European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai, held today in Beijing, brought no compromise on unblocking 80 milion pieces of Chinese textiles impounded in the EU. 
The clothing is held in European warehouses due to overshoot of the China-to-the-EU export quotas. 
In June, the EU member states agreed to raise the limit by approximately 10%, but EU importers and Chinese producers continue to push for a greater amount of trade. 
Concerns on textiles imported from Asia have split the EU countries: those with strong retail sector support increasing the quotas, while others, which have large clothing industries (Spain, Portugal, Italy) want to keep, or even reduce, limits in the future. 
A similar dispute exists between China and the United States. 
On Friday, George W. Bush's administration announced new quotas on imports of Chinese bras and synthetic fabric, after negotiations between both countries broke down. 
Bill Gwatney, chairman of the Democratic Party of Arkansas, died this afternoon at 3:59 pm CDT (UTC-5) after having been shot earlier this morning. 
The suspect is Tim Johnson, a white male, described by Gwatney's secretary as wearing "khaki pants, white shirt, silver-gray hair, late 40s." 
He reportedly walked into the party headquarters facilities in Little Rock, Arkansas, conversed with the Chairman's secretary, refused her offer of bumper stickers, and then walked past her saying he had to see the Chairman. 
After the shooting, Johnson got into his blue Chevrolet pickup truck and led police on a 25-mile chase. 
The end result was the shooting of the suspect, who was airlifted to a hospital and eventually died of his wounds. 
According to The New York Times, Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton issued a joint statement saying, "We are stunned and shaken by today's shooting at the Arkansas Democratic Party where our good friend and fellow Democrat Bill Gwatney was critically wounded ... 
Bill is not only a strong chairman of Arkansas' Democratic Party, but he is also a cherished friend and confidante." 
Gwatney was also a car dealership owner and former state senator. 
The British Prime Minister Tony Blair has announced that the minimum wage is to go up from GBP 4.85 (EUR 7.03) per hour to GBP 5.05 (EUR 7.32) per hour in October and GBP 5.35 (EUR 7.76) per hour in October 2006. 
The minimum wage for 18-21 year-olds, the development minimum wage will also go up from GBP 4.10 (EUR 5.94) per hour to GBP 4.25 (EUR 6.16) per hour. 
The rises was a recommendation by the Low Pay Commission, a government organisation responsible in the minimum wage said that the minimum wage has increased the amount of jobs in the market. 
The minimum wage started in the UK in 1998 as one of the election proposal of the Labour government and it started at GBP 3.60 (EUR 5.22) per hour. 
The Trade Union Congress said they welcome the rise, however they want the minimum wage to go up to GBP 6.00 (EUR 8.70) per hour. 
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) called for a "pause year" on the minimum wage to assess the above inflation rises 
Political speculators are says the announcement is to coincide with a possible general election in May this year. 
According to city health officials in Hammond, Indiana, there have been two more cases of West Nile virus reported in humans. 
The two victims are former chief of police, Frank DuPey and a 67-year-old Hammond resident. 
Currently both patients are hospitalized with acute disease, according to Hammond Health Officer-Administrator Rodrigo Panares. 
David Hempleman-Adams left St. John's at approximately 9:30 p.m. local time on July 2, 2007 from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador in a small helium filed balloon in an attempt to make the Trans-Atlantic crossing in the smallest balloon ever to make such a crossing. 
The final destination of the landing is not known and will be determined as the flight nears its end. 
The craft is made of light weight material with just enough space for necessary equipment and cooking implements. 
The basket is small and has openings in the side for Hempleman-Adams to extend his legs as he sleeps. 
Hempleman-Adams is hoping to make the crossing in three to four days and reach Europe by July 5 or 6th. 
Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan has today handed down his last budget before the 2013 Federal election. 
He announced two financial years of deficits before the budget returned to surplus in 2016/2017. 
"This year, we've faced the second largest revenue write down since the Great Depression," he said. 
There is to be a A$60 billion write down over four years. 
"Because of our deep commitment to jobs and growth, we have taken the responsible course to delay the return to surplus, and due to a savage hit to tax receipts, there will be a deficit of $18 billion in 2013/14". 
Infrastructure spending includes A$12.9 million to connect more local governments to the national broadband network, A$40 million on other local government infrastructure, investment in Brisbane's cross river rail and Melbourne's Metro rail system. 
People earning the Newstart Allowance can now earn more from paid employment before there payments from the government are cut. 
Mr Swan announced the so called "Baby Bonus" was to be merged into the Family Tax Benefit Part A. 
"Family Payment system reshuffle leaves poorest worse off!" Australian Greens leader Christine Milne tweeted. 
In light of an oil spill that occurred off the coast of southeast Queensland in 2009, a captain of a cargo ship and four companies are set to appear in court. 
In March of last year, the cargo ship Pacific Adventurer, with Filipino national Bernardino Gonzales Santos at the helm, encountered bad weather, which resulted in its fuel tank being damaged by loose cargo, leading to the spillage 270,000 litres of oil into the Pacific Ocean. 
The oil later washed up on Sunshine Coast beaches as well as Moreton and Bribie islands and was dubbed "one of Australia's worse environmental disasters" by the media. 
Santos and four companies behind Pacific Adventurer face individual counts of discharging oil into the ocean and can be fined a maximum of AU$1.75 million in the case of the companies, while Santos faces a $350,000 fine if found guilty. 
Santos is also charged with not taking reasonable action following the incident. 
Like Swire Shipping, China Navigation Company LTD and Bluewing Shipping LTD, who are both joint owners of Pacific Adventurer, pleaded not guilty to all charges. 
However, prosecutor Peter Davis stated that "[t]he prosecution's case is that the cause of the cargo going overboard was due to faulty lashings [...] 
The European Union would like to make it easier to dismiss employees. 
Then, thanks to the improved flexibility of the market, it should be simpler to find a job. 
Surveys show that Europeans mostly seem to agree with the need to adapt and change. 
The concept of flexicurity, preached by the European Commission, is aimed to encourage EU governments to unfasten their employment policies. 
According to Vladimír Špidla, the European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs & Equal Opportunities, a too protective employment policy may paralyze the labour-market. 
Such a policy "extends the time needed for jobseeking and the period of unemployment", writes the Commission in its report. 
On its paper, the Commission is inspired by the social model of the Scandinavian countries - namely by the social system established in Denmark in the late 1990's. 
Don Brash, leader of the opposition National Party in New Zealand, admitted that he was aware that members of the Exclusive Brethren church were going to release contentious brochures attacking his political rivals. 
Mr Brash said he had met members of the church a number of times. 
He has admitted today that he was aware of the group's intention to publish brochures that were critical of the Labour Party and The Greens. 
A spokesman for the Group admitted to having spent NZ$500,000 on the campaign so far. 
The pamphlets were published without the link to the Church being obvious. 
However, former members of the Church identified the men as belonging to the church which has been described as a sect. 
Its members are not allowed to listen to Radio, Television or use computers at all. 
There are approximately 2000 members in New Zealand and active branches in the US and Australia. 
They are linked to political support for George Bush and other conservative politicians. 
Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, 78, has developed double pneumonia and is being treated with "massive" amounts of antibiotics according to hospital officials. 
"We are talking about pneumonia that is being treated with massive antibiotics. 
There is no change in the functioning of the brain tissue and no significant fall in vital signs," said officials at Tel Hashomer hospital in the Sheba Medical Center located in Tel Aviv, in a statement today. 
Yesterday doctors stated that Sharon's urine ouput had "decreased significantly" and that a scan of his brain "showed a deterioration in his brain function," said Anat Dolev, a Sheba Medical Center spokesman. 
Yesterday the hospital reported that the condition of Sharon was getting worse. 
Sharon has been in a coma since suffering a major stroke on January 4. 
Since being admitted to the hospital, he has undergone several rounds of surgery on his brain in an attempt to stop bleeding. 
An anti-APEC rally through the streets of Sydney has attracted around 5000 demonstrators, with up to 18 arrests and two police injured. 
In the days leading up to the rally, police had warned that the demonstration could attract up to 20,000 people and turn into a full scale riot, however these fears were not realised. 
The mostly peaceful demonstration marched from Sydney's Town Hall to Hyde Park where they were greeted with a carnival atmosphere. 
The demonstrators protested against the 2003 Iraq invasion, climate change, workers' rights and globalisation with many blowing whistles, yelling chants and beating drums. 
While reports in the media vary, up to 18 people were arrested when they turned violent. 
Two police officers were injured, one when hit by an iron bar and another when he was hit with a dart. 
Those arrested have been charged with offences ranging from assaulting police, hindering police, resisting arrest, offensive conduct and breaching a secure area. 
Despite the arrests, NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione praised the conduct of the majority of protesters. 
Mr Scipione credited the huge numbers of police and poor weather for the successful outcome of the rally. 
"It certainly caused numbers to dwindle, in fact it surely caused numbers not to turn up," he said. 
"But more importantly, I think it was the combination of the show of force, the police were out there in big numbers, and we don't apologise for that. 
"We always indicated that we would be there, in sufficient numbers to be able to act swiftly against those that broke the law. 
Security surrounding the APEC summit is the tightest ever seen in Australia with a 5 km fence restricting access to Northern parts of Sydney's CBD, overflights by airforce jets, police on jet skis, snipers, riot squad members and special laws to crack down on security during the summit. 
There have been complaints about the conduct of police which are alleged to of misused special search powers which only apply to the fenced zone surrounding APEC facilities and of heavy-handedness by police. 
Several protesters claimed that Sydney had been turned into a "police state" as a result of the security measures. 
Commissioner Scipione said "all allegations of police misconduct would be investigated". 
A second protest, held in Belmore Park attracted around 1,000 people from Vietnamese and Tibetian backgrounds protested against Chinese President Hu Jinato's human rights record. 
Organiser of the protest, Tenpa Dugdak said Australian Prime Minister John Howard should make human rights in China an APEC issue. 
UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown has announced a review into the 'social effects' of gambling, throwing doubt over the government's previous plans to grant a license for a 5,000 m² 'supercasino'. 
The review, to take place in September, will look at "whether regeneration in the areas for the super-casinos may be a better way of meeting their economic and social needs than the creation of super-casinos". 
Gordon Brown made the announcement during Prime Ministers questions, in response to a question from Labour MP Andy Reed. 
The plan to allow the building of a single supercasino, and 16 smaller casinos, was set in motion by previous Prime Minister Tony Blair. 
An independent Casino Advisory Panel had recommended in February 2007 that the supercasino license should be granted to the city of Manchester, a recommendation which the Government was expected to follow. 
The new announcement by Gordon Brown throws doubt over these plans, and BBC News are quoting an unnamed 'Whitehall source' as having commented that the supercasino plan is "dead in the water". 
A man has died after he was hit by a large wave and swept out to sea in Blackpool, England. 
The 44-year-old victim was reportedly stood on the steps near to Cocker Square when he was hit by the wave. 
Witnesses looked on as the man was swept out to sea. 
Watch manager Su Daintith released a statement confirming the death of the individual. 
"The man we believe was about to enter the water at the bottom of the sea wall steps when he was swept off without any warning by a large wave which was a result of the overnight weather conditions," they said. 
"Our thoughts are with his family and friends during this tragic time." 
RNLI lifeboats, coastguard officers and the RAF received reports of a man in the sea around lunchtime. 
A lifeboat crew managed to retrieve him from the water, and he was transported by ambulance to Blackpool Victoria Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 
Russian president Dmitriy Medvedev met with the Khaled Meshaal, leader of the Hamas group, earlier this week in Syria, prompting criticism from Israel. 
Medvedev, during the meeting, had encouraged Hamas to reconciliate with rival Fatah; a spokeswoman quoted him as saying that "no one" should be left out of the peace process. 
He also requested that an Israeli soldier captured by Hamas in 2006, Gilad Shalit, be released, although this was refused by Hamas, who says that Shalit wouldn't be released unless there was an "honourable" prisoner exchange with Israel. 
Shortly before his conversation with Meshaal, Medvedev also held a meeting with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. 
A statement by the Israeli foreign ministry read: "Hamas is a terror organization whose declared goal is the destruction of the state of Israel. 
Hamas is responsible for the murder of hundreds of innocent civilians, among them immigrants from the Soviet Union and also Russian citizens. 
"Israel has always stood by Russia in its struggle against the Chechnyan terrorism. 
We expect the same attitude when we are talking about the Hamas terrorism against Israel." 
Ha'aretz, an Israeli newspaper, described the meeting as being "a surprise" for the country. 
Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry, responded to Israel's comments, saying: "Hamas is not an artificial structure. 
It is a movement that draws on the trust and sympathy of a large number of Palestinians. 
"It is known that all other participants of the Middle East quartet are also in some sort of contact with Hamas leadership, although for some unknown reason they are shy to publicly admit it." 
Only a few countries in Europe, including Russia, maintain ties with Hamas; the European Union and the United States regard it as a terrorist organisation. 
United States Senator Hillary Clinton has been holding discussions about and interviewing potential campaign staff for a White House bid in 2008. 
Clinton met with Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer Sunday about support if she chooses to run. 
"She said before the election that after the election she would be considering a presidential run," said senior Clinton advisor Howard Wolfson. 
"Part of that process is seeking the advice and counsel of her colleagues in New York." 
One New York Democrat, who asked to not be named, said he was recently called by a senior Clinton team member. 
While it was not said that Clinton had chosen to run for president, "it was pretty clear." 
New York senior Senator Charles Schumer, Clinton's Democratic colleague, told Associated Press (AP) he would be meeting with Clinton in the next week. 
"She wants to sit down and talk next week, which we're going to do. 
I have no idea what it's about, and until we sit down and talk that's all I'm going to say about it. 
I think she'd make a very good president but let's wait and see. 
Last week, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack announced he would seek the Democratic nomination. 
Indiana Democrat Senator Evan Bayh announced Sunday he is considering running for the White House. 
Clinton tops every national poll of likely Democratic candidates and had tried to keep private many of her overtures to supporters and new staff. 
The deliberations have started to become more public in the last week as the field of likely contenders has begun to expand. 
Illinois Senator Barack Obama, has attracted tremendous publicity around a possible run without committing himself. 
He has jumped to second place behind Clinton in many polls. 
Obama's emergence as a potential contender has led some observers to suspect Clinton has stepped up her timetable for making a decision about a run. 
Her aides dismiss that notion, saying she is observing the timetable she has long planned. 
Other likely candidates include 2004 nominee Senator John Kerry; his vice presidential running mate, former North Carolina Senator John Edwards; New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson; and Senators Joe Biden of Delaware and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut. 
Four people have been injured after a series of earthquakes struck West Sumatra in Indonesia. 
Sudirman Gani, head of the local administration's politics and national unity division, stated that "the first quake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale was recorded at 2:48 p.m. 
It was followed by a 5.2-magnitude quake at 3:13 p.m., before the last one, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, hit 10 minutes later." 
The wounded were taken to Yos Sudarso public hospital with minor injuries. 
The first earthquake occurred 38 miles (45 kilometres) under the Indian Ocean according to the U.S. Geological Survey. 
Indonesia's meteorological and geophysics agency did not issue a tsunami warning. 
Ade Edward, West Sumatra's disaster mitigation coordinator, said that "We have told all residents to stay alert and not to worry too much since we will guard the city [Padang]." 
Rescuers are continuing their efforts to reach the trapped miners in the Beaconsfield mine in northern Tasmania. 
A five tonne borer drilling machine has been secured in place to drill a one metre hole through the remaining 12-16 metres of rock that fell into the main shaft. 
Since drilling began at 7pm last night, the machine has made a 2 cm wide pilot hole half way to the miners. 
The trapped miners have been given egg sandwiches and yogurt, and have received apple ipod MP3 players filled with the miners favourite songs to pass the time and drown out the sounds of the drilling. 
Meanwhile on the surface, the ever-growing media frenzy in Beaconsfield has forced the mine operators to enforce bag checks of rescuers entering the mine to ensure that no recording devices are taken into the mine. 
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have won the 95th Grey Cup in Toronto, Canada on Sunday after defeating the Winnipeg Blue Bombers by a 23-19 score. 
Saskatchewan last won the Cup in 1989, and their last appearance at the championship game was in 1997 against the Toronto Argonauts. 
The Canadian Football League (CFL) championship game was held at Toronto's Rogers Centre before a crowd of 52,230. 
This is the first time these two western Canadian teams have met in a Grey Cup final. 
Despite Winnipeg's lead during the first and third quarters, Saskatchewan's offence proved too strong for the Blue Bombers in the end. 
A half-time performance by rock musician Lenny Kravitz included the song "American Woman", originally performed by Winnipeg band The Guess Who. 
On Thursday, Saskatchewan quarterback Kerry Joseph was declared this year's CFL Outstanding Player at a player awards ceremony in Toronto. 
The Cup is named after Earl Grey who donated the trophy to honour Canada's most successful amateur rugby team. 
By the time the Canadian Football League was formed in 1958, the Cup became the top prize for professional football in Canada. 
Next year's CFL championship game is scheduled at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. 
Resulting from the Israeli bombings on July 13 and 15, 2006 of the Jiyeh power station, located on the coast 30 kilometers south of Beirut, Lebanon, approximately 35,000 tons of heavy fuel oil have spilled into the Mediterranean Sea. 
The Lebanese Ministry of Environment expects additional tonnage to flow into the sea as a result of the damage. 
For comparison, the Exxon Valdez oil spill released nearly 40,000 tons. 
According to Berj Hatjian from the Lebanon Ministry of Environment, "What we have here is equivalent to a tanker sinking, and 20,000 to 30,000 tonnes reaching the shoreline." 
Furthermore, several storage tanks caught fire due to the blast of the bombardment and continued to burn uncontrollably for 10 days after. 
Wind and water currents have spread the oil slick across 70-80 kilometers of Lebanon coastline. 
April 7, 2005 The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating allegations of wrongdoing in the building of a new $1.5 billion "skyway" portion of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, according to a report published in the Oakland Tribune. 
The bridge spans the San Francisco Bay between Oakland and Yerba Buena Island. 
The paper reported that welders for KFM, the company under contract to build the bridge, told authorities they were pressured – and even paid monthly bonuses of between $200 and $600 – for performing substandard welds on the support piers for the bridge if it meant the project proceeded faster. 
But Caltrans, the state agency in charge of building the bridge said their inspectors checked the welds and determined the work, although rushed, met safety standards. 
"We've got good welds, good procedures and everything is in place to have a quality product. 
If a defect got in, we can't find it," Pete Siegenthaler, Caltrans project manager told the Tribune in an interview. 
A KFM spokesman told the Tribune that the welds are in "compliance with stringent Caltrans specifications." 
According to a report by Oakland television station, KTVU, the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Transportation are joining the FBI in the investigation of the matter. 
The federal government is getting involved in the investigation because more than $1 million in U.S. taxpayer money was spent during its construction. 
If questionable welds are found in the support piers, according to reports, much of the new construction may have to be torn down to be rebuilt. 
The current 68-year-old span was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. 
At $6.2 billion total, the new bridge qualifies as the largest public works project in California's history. 
The New Zealand A1GP team, with racer Jonny Reid, placed seventh in A1GP feature race and picked up four championship points in the second round at Brno track, Czech Republic. 
New Zealand managed to secure themselves first place in the qualifying race by being fastest in all four qualifying segments with a time of 3:30.053, Germany second with 3:30.524. 
This put New Zealand in the pole position to start the sprint race. 
When racing for the 20 minute sprint race started Germany and New Zealand 'locked horns' before the very first corner. 
It ended with both cars crashing out of the race. 
This crash made both New Zealand and Germany start from the end of the track for the feature race. 
New Zealand managed to crawl their way back to get seventh place, but dropped to fourteenth place from twelfth, out of 23 competing nations, on the leader board with only five points. 
David Sears, Engineering Team Director for both Germany and New Zealand, said: "Reid and his German counterpart Nico Hülkenberg were warned about keeping apart...but still ended up making life difficult for themselves." 
Sears added: "To finish first you must first finish and the track is incredibly wide here at Brno, so why New Zealand and Germany should be rubbing wheels on the very first corner is anyone's guess. 
To recover and finish strongly was encouraging for Jonny and the car certainly has the raw speed and looks to be one of the quickest going around. 
That's the pleasing part amid the disappointment and we now need to refocus and prepare for the next month's round in China." 
"We were so much quicker than the other teams in qualifying that it would be criminal to be banging wheels when a great result is there for the taking." 
The next A1GP race takes place on November 12 in Beijing. 
A U.S. F-15 fighter aircraft crashed into the ocean early Tuesday approximately 45 miles off the coast of Ikeijima island, part of the Okinawa chain. 
The pilot, whose name was not released, ejected safely and was rescued. 
The New Zealand Medical Association (NZMA) has warned the public against taking party pills, even though they are legal in New Zealand. 
This warning comes because Benzylpiperazine, or BZP, can trigger hypothermia, seizures, paranoia, insomnia, anxiety, nausea, vomiting, palpitations and spasms of the muscle. 
Some of those side effects will occur if the person has taken 4.5 tablets. 
Those who do take party pills should not mix them with medication, drugs or alcohol. 
Also those with mental illnesses are advised to steer clear of the pills. 
Ross Boswell, chairman of the medical association, said: "There were growing concerns about the safety of BZP-based party pills," and the legality of the pills is coming under fire. 
"If people insist on taking the pills, they should make sure they stick to the manufacturer's recommended dose, of one or two pills, and not combine them with other stimulants." 
A study done at the Christchurch Hospital has shown that 61 patients had been to the emergency department a total of 80 times. 
Of those 80 times, 15 of them were toxic seizures and two patients presented life threatening conditions. 
The pills are often sold as "herbal highs" but according to Boswell, there is nothing "herbal" about them as they were first made to treat cattle that had worms. 
Boswell said: "Further research on the effects of BZP is soon to be released by the Health Minister," as the New Zealand government is debating whether or not they should be banned or have their sale restricted. 
A spiritual guru known as "Swami Amritachaitanya" is being held in Kerala, India on charges of fraud, rape and possession of narcotic drugs. 
Swami Amritachaitanya, whose real name is Santosh Madhavan, was arrested by Interpol in March on criminal charges in a police raid at his 16-suite ashram in Kochi, India following multiple police complaints against him. 
Indians living in Bahrain have recently come forward and filed a case against Madhavan in India on allegations of fraudulent practices related to his supposed charity activities. 
Twenty Indians living in Bahrain filed a case against 35-year old Madhavan on Tuesday. 
They claim they were victims of a scam after Madhavan convinced them to invest in a charitable organization and tourist resort, but allegedly kept the money for himself. 
"Twenty of us have e-mailed a complaint to the Inspector General and Commissioner of Ernakulam police as well as Kerala Home Minister," said complainant Jaya Kumar in a statement to the Gulf Daily News. 
Ernakulam is a district in the state of Kerala in India. 
"He was very convincing about his charity activities as well as the resort," said Kumar, a purchasing officer at a company in Bahrain. 
Police began an investigation into Madhavan in April after a woman filed a complaint alleging he had promised to start a business with her after a meeting in Dubai, but she said he disappeared after she gave him the money. 
Serafin Edwin traveled to the capital of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, last week from her residence in Dubai, in order to give testimony against Madhavan. 
She was greeted at the international airport by police, and is under police protection due to concerns for her safety. 
Her family members told Khaleej Times that she feared physical harm from Madhavan or his henchmen. 
Interpol has been investigating Madhavan in allegations related to his business dealings with Serafin Edwin since 2004. 
"I am happy that the police finally caught up with him and he is in prison. 
He is a big fraud and everything that comes out of his mouth is a lie," said Serafin Edwin in a statement to the United Arab Emirates paper The National. 
Madhavan was arrested by Interpol police after multiple underage girls went to law enforcement with allegations of rape and sexual abuse. 
According to Press Trust of India, police in India received complaints from three underage girls alleging he had raped them. 
The Times reported that Madhavan is accused of making pornographic movies with underage girls, sexual assault, rape, fraud and possession of narcotics. 
A police raid of Madhavan's four-story mansion in India uncovered drugs, a police uniform, a pelt from an endangered tiger and pornographic DVDs. 
Gulf Daily News reported that Madhavan was arrested in Kerala in conjunction with an Interpol "red alert", which was issued after consultation with Dubai police in 2004. 
Self styled "godmen" and "gurus" are under increased observation by police in India following the arrest of Madhavan, and police are specifically investigating their sources of wealth and possible fraud. 
But we won’t allow illegal activities under the guise of spirituality," said Kerala home minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan in a statement to Howrah News Service. 
G. Sudhakaran, Kerala's minister for temples, presented a different viewpoint in a statement to The Times. 
"They’re conducting all kinds of criminal and material activities behind their spiritual exteriors. 
There are so many swamis who have enlightened the hearts and minds of people, but these people are fakes with no idea about spirituality. 
They are only interested in women and money and muscle power," said Sudhakaran. 
Many Hindus were upset by Sudhakaran's words, as some devout Hindus consider swamis to be above the law and should not be criticized. 
The price for a barrel of oil dropped after news broke that Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had been killed in a US airstrike Thursday. 
The death of al-Zarqawi seems to have been interpreted by the market as good news for the future supply of oil from the region. 
This is against the backdrop in 2006 when the price of oil had reached a record high of $70 a barrel. 
Today on the New York Mercantile Exchange light crude futures for July dropped from over $70 a barrel to a low of $69.54 before rising to $69.63 for a $1.19 loss. 
"There's less of a terror threat in Iraq now," said Naohiro Niimura, vice president of energy derivatives at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd, in Tokyo, who gave his reason for the fall. 
Iraq lies over one-third of known oil reserves but since the Iraq war in 2003 has been unable to pump more than 2 million barrels a day - 1 million less than prior to the coalition invasion. 
In May exports were said to be 1.5 million bpd. 
The line on a graph that plotted oil price had done a steady incline over recent years, though many factors are involved in the price of a barrel of oil so it is almost impossible to say how much the troubles in Iraq contributed to this rise. 
Iraq's exports make up the largest proportion of its Gross Domestic Product and a significant proportion of world supply. 
Investors were said to have been worried about developing in the country citing lack of security and legal protection. 
Al-Zarqawi, known for videotaped beheadings, suicide bombing campaigns against coalition forces and civilians and reportedly some attacks on oil infrastructure inside Iraq, had claimed responsibility for bombing three hotels in Amman, Jordan. 
It was hoped the death of Osama bin Laden's operative in Iraq would remove a man who had opposed the US-backed Shiite-led state and western influence in the wider-region. 
The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki's recent appointment of new security and home affairs ministers also may have affected the oil market. 
Director general of marketing and economics at the Iraqi oil ministry said both pieces of news together were "a positive indicator for security," said Shamkhi Faraj. 
Other voices sounded a note of caution against the optimism: "The situation in Iraq has now become so chaotic, that it transcends the death of one man, influential as al-Zarqawi was," said Edward Meir. 
The analyst at Man Financial believes the threat to the Iraqi oil industry is political as well as physical. 
"Yes, al Qaeda attacked oil installations but they were not the only actors and they were not the main actors," he said. 
"There is also a new factor -- political parties that are using threats against oil to gain leverage." 
In an announcement about oil, Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Barham Salih of the Iraqi government said it hoped to produce 4.3 million bpd in four years. 
Saturday evening, at approximately 7:00 p.m. PST on Mt. Washington in Los Angeles, California, a brush fire broke out on the southwestern side of the hill. 
Firefighters were on the scene by 8:30 p.m. with fire trucks, paramedic units, surveillance helicopters, and water-equipped helicopters. 
Two fire trucks blasted water at the blaze from higher up on the mountain, while every minute or so, a water-equipped helicopter would swoop down over the flames and release its payload. 
At the top of the hill, there were five fire trucks and one paramedic unit; the three main entrances to the mountain were barricaded off by fire trucks. 
By approximately 9:15 p.m., the flame was entirely extinguished, thanks mainly to the water-equipped helicopters. 
Firefighters were offering bystanders bottles of water and Gatorade to help combat the effects of standing near an open flame. 
On Thursday, London's Mayor Boris Johnson announced the shortlist of bidders to supply up to ten further trams to Transport for London (TfL) for use on the city's Tramlink network in Croydon. 
TfL, who purchased the Tramlink network from Tramtrack Croydon Ltd. in 2008, announced the plans late January, after submitting the tender to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on January 29. 
According to the notice, the additional trams will operate approximately 75,000km per year, will be needed for "at least 10, but not more than 20 years" and can be either new build or existing vehicles that can be modified — at a reasonable cost — to run on the Tramlink infrastructure. 
The tram fleet is currently made up of 24 Bombardier CR4000 trams, which were constructed for the opening of the 28km network between 1998 and 2000. 
22 of these trams are currently needed to operate the three tram routes each day, and the new service is expected to require at least an additional five trams daily, bringing about the need for a boost to the fleet levels. 
The shortlist to supply the trams consists of City of Edinburgh/CAF, Stadler (Stadler Pankow GmBH) and Pesa (Pojazdy Szynowe PESA Bydgoszcz S.A.Holding, and the the three consortia will now be invited to submit proposals to supply the additional trams. 
It is not currently known whether the bids made by Stadler and Pesa will be for new-build or second-hand vehicles, however the bid from Edinburgh/CAF is to use a number of the currently-dormant trams that were constructed for that city's own tram network. 
The system has had several set backs since construction began, with the network now set to open in stages with a number of tram lines (but not the trams to operate them) being cancelled, leading to a large surplus of vehicles that could be hired out in the short term. 
The trams are amongst some of the longest and heaviest in Europe, though, and will require a large amount of modification to enable them to be able to operate on Croydon's network if the bid is successful. 
Shortly after the announcement, whilst inspecting one of the network's current trams at East Croydon tram stop, Boris Johnson said: "I have no greater responsibility as Mayor than to ensure people can move around this city with ease, comfort and reliability. 
"Trams in Croydon have proved a major success and this is reflected in journey numbers which have soared by 45 per cent since the network opened in 2000. 
"I look forward to the extra vehicles developing this vital, much-appreciated, and indeed attractive, form of transport further." 
Funding for the new trams is expected to largely come from TfL, however the London Borough of Croydon has also confirmed a £3m contribution to the project. 
This will also include the refurbishment of tram stop surrounds. 
Croydon Council Leader Mike Fisher said: "This is looking like a great deal for Croydon and shows the benefits of an ambitious local authority and committed Mayor working together, pooling resources and expertise. 
"There is real support to get additional trams for Croydon to keep pace with growing demand for Tramlink services and also to secure major improvements for pedestrians and transport users around and between East and West Croydon stations." 
TfL anticipates that, providing a successful bid is made, the new trams would be delivered to the network's depot at Therapia Lane in late 2011, with an entry into service from early 2012. 
Three are dead after a tornado hit Cincinnati, a small town in Arkansas, about three miles from Oklahoma’s border. 
Around 6:00 local time, on Friday, the system, fed by warm winter air, caused several injuries, damaging the power grid. 
Josh Howerton, the county’s sheriff’s dispatcher, stated that the storm touched down near the town’s center. 
A tornado warning for Cincinnati and nearby towns was issued by the Tulsa weather center nine minutes before the storm struck. 
"Any time you have a significant change in air mass there is going to be unsettled weather marking the two different air masses," said Joe Sellers, a meteorologist from the National Weather Service in Oklahoma. 
Alain Corneau, a French film director, has died at the age of 67. 
Born on August 7, 1943, Corneau's first interest was music. 
Before the success of his first film, Corneau attempted to make a documentary about New York and an adaptation of a novel. 
After working as assistant director on L'Aveu with Costa Gavras he directed his first film in 1973, France, Inc. 
Corneau's other films include La Menace, Fort Saganne, and the highly successful Tous les matins du monde. 
Tous les matins du monde received 11 César Award nominations and won seven of them. 
The awards included Best Film, Best Director, and Best Music. 
Corneau said in a 1992 interview in the New York Times that "Many people got emotional about this film, and that made it possible for it to escape cult status." 
French President Nicolas Sarkozy commented on the death of Corneau. 
He said "Corneau was a courageous man and a great director." 
Corneau was set to appear at the Toronto Film Festival in September. 
In Iran, the state-controlled TV station has announced that the country for the first time test-fired a space rocket, with scientific equipment aboard. 
"The first space rocket has been successfully launched into space," the station's website reported. 
The rocket was later reported not be designed to reach an orbit. 
Iran claims it reached an altitude of 94 miles and then parachuted home. 
No images have been released, and no other reports have confirmed the launch. 
The announcement comes at a time of international tension over Iran's nuclear program. 
In a speech today, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad compared his country's nuclear program with a train with no brakes and no reverse gear. 
Manouchehr Mohammadi, a deputy foreign minister, said the country had prepared itself for a standoff over its nuclear activities. 
Diplomats said that if Iran would possess advanced missile capabilities it would be of concern to the nations who believe Iran is developing nuclear weapons, something Iran denies. 
The head of the Iranian space center, Mohsen Bahrami, was quoted saying that the scientific material on board came from the science and from the defence ministry. 
He also said that the test was in line with international regulations on the matter. 
Although the news would mean a significant breakthrough for Iran's missile technology, the story was only mentioned during one TV broadcast, and not at all by other official Iranian media. 
Iran has said in the past it wants more satellites to increase its cellular phone and internet capabilities. 
It also said it hopes to become a center for science and technology in the region. 
Since 2005, Iran already has one satellite in space, Sinah-1, which was launched in Russia with a Russian rocket. 
The rocket was described as serving telecommunication and research purposes. 
Soon after the 2005 launch, Iran announced they would develop their own launcher. 
Yesterday, the Iranian Defence Minister spoke of Iran's plans for their own satellite launcher, and disclosed his country's desire to join the club of countries with a space program. 
With an election coming up this Saturday in the Australian state of Queensland, Wikinews reporter Patrick Gillett previews the contesting parties. 
The current distribution of seats has the Australian Labor Party with 58 of the 86 total, the Liberal National Party with 25, the Queensland Greens & One Nation with one each and independents holding four. 
The Australian Labor Party (ALP) is currently in government and have been since 1998. 
Current premier and leader of the ALP Anna Bligh will be, if Labor wins, the first female to elected premier in Australian history. 
Ms Bligh became the third female premier in Australian history when Peter Beattie resigned in 2007. 
The premier has received criticism from other parties for backflipping on its commitment to run a full term. 
"After 11 years in office, Ms Bligh only cares about one job: her own," said Lawrence Springborg head of the Liberal National Party (LNP) and the Leader of the Opposition. 
It is seen as a prototype for a national merger between the Liberal and National parties. 
The Opposition need to pick up at least twenty seats from the government to overcome the significant Labor majority and a number of independents. 
The Greens unveiled its policy to open two solar power stations on the weekend of January 31/February 1. 
"We can tackle climate change and create long-term jobs, but Labor can't see that because they are blinded by the interests of their big donors - the urban development and coal industries," said Mt Coo-tha candidate Larrisa Waters. 
The Greens main policies have been stated "Green collar jobs", "managing where the money is going", education and transport. 
"The Greens want to give the community and the environment a voice back in State Parliament," says Ms Waters. 
The Socialist Alliance will run two candidates as independents because of what they call "restrictive rules for registration." 
The Daylight Saving for South East Queensland (DS4EQ) party was set up in late 2008. 
DS4SEQ leader Jason Furze gave an interview to Wikinews in January. 
"DS4SEQ would like to gain a sizeable percentage of the primary vote and win a number of seats," Mr furze said. 
Courier Mail writer Dennis Atkins wrote in today's Courier Mail that DS4SEQ "will poll better than anyone expected - polling close to double figures in some seats around Brisbane and on the coasts." 
News Limited newspapers The West Australian and the Courier Mail reported that swing voters would decide the election. 
Caloundra lead Glasshouse by 153 runs at stumps on day two of the 2010 Sunshine Coast, Australia division one cricket grand final. 
"I think the nerves of a grand final gets to you too. 
You try and put it in the back of your mind but it’s still there,” Glasshouse captain Brett Milini said. 
Caloundra were all out in their first inning for 193. 
I thought 250 was a par score and I thought we were in with a big chance,” Milini said. 
"If we were good enough, we should have got that pretty easy but we didn’t bat well today." 
Caloundra rounded out day two at six out for fifty seven, leaving Glasshouse an outside chance of snatching the championship. 
“We’ve given ourselves another chance but if we bat like we did in the first innings, we’re already gone,” he said. 
“It should be a real good game, it’s interesting cricket.” 
Results for the second division, third B division, southern fourth division and fifth division traditional grand finals have not been accessible to Wikinews as of this report 
A minimum of 85 Hindu pilgrims have been killed in India and 64 injured after their lorry and trailer plunged 24m (80ft) into a river gorge late last night. 
Approximately 150 people were on board when the driver lost control on a sharp bend near the village of Nagbavji, Rajasthan, smashing through a concrete crash barrier and continuing down into the valley, coming to rest inverted. 
An overnight rescue operation was initiated, removing both survivors and bodies of the dead from the wreck, with the aid of cranes and spotlights. 
Ambulances and medical teams rushed to the scene from surrounding areas. 
Of the 64 who were hospitalised, three are reported to be in critical condition. 
The Press Trust of India reported that as many as 130 were injured, and Al Jazeera reported that there may have been 200 people on board. 
It is believed the death toll could rise still further, as many people remain trapped beneath the trailer. 
The truck was a 12-wheeled model designed for hauling shipping containers, and was carrying pilgrims from three nearby villages Shiwal, Madri and Bhawa. 
The driver had offered to take them to their destination for free, a practise common in India, despite the fact that such trucks are not safe for passenger transport, being designed primarily as freight transporters. 
The vehicle had been destined for the temple of Ramdev, a site considered by both Hindus and Muslims as being of high spiritual significance. 
The temple is the subject of an annual ten-day pilgrimage every September, which begins on September 13, although most of the 250,000 pilgrims who flock to the site arrive several days in advance of the festival. 
The Chief Minister of Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje visited the three villages in which the victims resided. 
The local government has initiated a full inquiry into the disaster. 
Eyewitness reports say that Islamist insurgents in Somalia have captured the town of Jowhar, a strategically important city 90 kilometres north of the country's capital of Mogadishu. 
According to the witness reports the Al-Shabaab rebels took the town after two hours of fighting on Sunday. 
After overtaking the city, the militants released prisoners from the city jail. 
A resident told Reuters that seven people died in the fighting. 
The United Nations Security Council has expressed "concern at the loss of life and the worsening humanitarian situation arising out of the renewed fighting". 
Meanwhile, in Mogadishu, fighting between government forces and Al-Shabaab has left at least 68 people dead in the past two days. 
The Somali government has started to lose ground against Al-Shabaab in the past few weeks. 
Currently, it does not control much area outside of the capital which is reinforced by African Union troops. 
The ringleaders of the so-called Bali Nine were today sentenced to death by a Denpasar court. 
Andrew Chan received the news via translators at about 3:45 p.m. AEDT, and Myuran Sukumaran was sentenced at about 4:50 p.m. AEDT. 
The two were charged with attempting to smuggle 8.3 kg of heroin from Bali to Australia. 
The Australian Federal Police have been criticised for allowing the Bali Nine to travel to Indonesia, where it was known they could face the death penalty. 
Yesterday two other drug mules, Renae Lawrence and Scott Rush, were sentenced to life imprisonment. 
Chan was alleged to be the mastermind of the operation, and Myuran was alleged to be an enforcer. 
Chan, who claimed to have rediscovered his Christian faith, prayed for divine intervention prior to the sentence being handed down. 
Chan fell over after jostling with a media scrum, and Sukumaran threw a bottle of water at the media. 
Donald Rothwell, a Professor of International Law at the University of Sydney, has said that, unlike countries such as Singapore, it may not be long before the two are executed. 
"The Indonesian judicial system is one in which death sentences are often carried out very quickly," he said. 
"So unlike the situation of Van Nguyen in Singapore, where an appeal process and a clemency process played out over quite some time, this may not be the situation in Bali." 
Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer told parliament today that he had made a direct request to the Indonesian government that the death penalty not be imposed. 
"On the 18th of December last year, I wrote to the Indonesian Attorney-General reminding him that the Australian Government was opposed to the death sentence and we didn't want to see, in the context of the Bali nine, any of the Australians sentenced to death," he said. 
In Bali the death sentence is carried out by firing squad. 
An Israeli rocket has struck the Press TV building in the Gaza Strip. 
According to the news agency, other television news stations called Al-Alam and Al Arabiya are also based inside the building. 
There was no warning prior to the attack and only journalists were inside the building when the rocket hit. 
Press TV states that some of their broadcasting equipment on the building's roof was damaged in the blast. 
According to live video being broadcast by Press TV, journalists on the roof are marked with 'TV' or 'press' on their coats and helmets. 
Press TV uses the roof of their building to broadcast most of their live video feeds of Gaza. 
The agency claims that they were given assurance by the Israeli military that the building would not be targeted. 
The agency also states that coordinates of the building were given to the Israeli military everyday so they would not attack the building or mistake news crews for Hamas militants. 
Despite the claim by witnesses and Press TV employees, a spokesperson for the IDF states that the building was not a target and was likely a result of "collateral damage." 
There are no reports of other buildings having been hit in the area around the Press TV building. 
Press TV states that regardless of the attack, they are still "prepared to show the horrific attacks by the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) with graphic images of children being killed". 
Press TV, an Iranian based news agency, is one of few international news agencies broadcasting live video feeds of Gaza and currently has more journalists in Gaza than any other world news agency. 
Commemoration of the Srebrenica massacre will be held on July 11, when newly identified bodies will be buried. 
In 1995, Serbian forces, according to International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), massacred around 7500 Bosnian Muslims. 
It is expected that by July 11 another 550 bodies will be identified and ready for burial. 
Elections were held in Bulgaria for the 240 members of the Assembly today. 
According to exit polls, the Leftist Coalition for Bulgaria has a lead with around 31%, but without majority, neccesating creation of coalitions. 
The National Movement for Simeon II which is currently ruling is in the second place, with around 21%. 
The third is Ethnic Turks of Bulgaria, with around 11%. 
It is expected that the National Movement for Simeon II will attempt to form a coalition with one of the lower placed parties in order to outnumber the Leftists. 
At least 6,000 candidates (from 22 parties) ran for election to the 240 member parilament. 
4% of the votes are needed to gain a seat. 
The opposition Leftist Coalition, headed by Bulgarian Socialist Party lead the election, but did not gain an outright majority. 
Sergei Stanishev, leader of the socialist party, stated he would attempt to form a governing coalition. 
We are ready to form a government ... and we will negotiate with any democratic party," Stanisheve said in a press conference. 
In the last six free elections held since 1989, no government has been re-elected -- each has had to implement stringent economic and social reforms, since the fall of communism, and has lost popular support as a result. 
The delegation representing Brazil at the funeral of Yasser Arafat returned today, November 13, 2004. 
The chief-minister of Civil House José Dirceu was a member of the delegation. 
Unfortunately they arrived too late for the funeral and the delegation watched only part of the funeral activities. 
PCdoB (Brazilian communist political party) Deputy Jamil Murad, member of the delegation, said there was a "deep mourning" feeling. 
Jamil Murad had visited Yasser Arafat in April 2004, along with nine other Brazilian deputies. 
According to Jamil Murad: "Yasser Arafat was a Palestinian leader who became a world projection leader". 
Australia's Allan Davis won the 2009 Tour Down Under professional road cycling race. 
Sprint specialist Davis completed Sunday's final stage in the main pack to maintain the lead he had built up in time bonuses from sprint wins earlier in the race. 
122 cyclists completed the six day race around a circuit starting and ending at Adelaide, South Australia. 
American cyclist Lance Armstrong also participated in the race, his first professional bike race since the 2005 Tour de France. 
It is not clear if the seven-time Tour de France winner intended to compete for the general classification, but he did make an unsuccessful breakaway on Sunday in pursuit of a stage victory. 
Despite several attacks over the week, Armstrong placed 29th in the general classification. 
A spokesperson for Scotland Yard has confirmed that no arrests have been made after Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone was injured in a mugging on Wednesday. 
The 80-year-old billionaire was treated in hospital for head injuries he sustained in the attack, in which the four muggers stole £200,000 of jewellery from him and his 31-year-old girlfriend. 
The attack occurred as Ecclestone visited his company's office with girlfriend Fabiana Flosi—who was reportedly "shaken" but uninjured—in central London. 
"There can be little doubt that this was a targeted robbery because of who Mr. Ecclestone is," a police source said. 
"The muggers were callous and showed little regard for the victims. 
Four years ago, Ecclestone was mugged as he parked his car outside his £10 million home in Chelsea Square; two wheels were taken from the car. 
Freelance journalist Gabriel Pollard interviewed John Ballinger who has what is believed to be the first unlocked iPhone working in New Zealand on the Vodafone New Zealand GSM network. 
Ballinger, director of Bluespark Ltd., managed to unlock the iPhone without having to solder anything. 
This is unlike George Hotz, the first person to unlock the iPhone, who had to by using a different method involving soldering. 
Ballinger followed the steps on how to unlock it on a website and had watched a few videos the day before. 
He described the website, despite containing a few spelling mistakes, as "really good". 
He says that the spelling mistakes are noticeable and can result in file-not-found errors. 
It took Ballinger around four to five hours to complete all necessary steps. 
However, half of this time was trying to get the case of the iPhone open. 
He also didn't want to scratch the case, unlike others, so he used plastic tools "used to replace iPod batteries that worked okay." 
He also recommends having two people on this job as this will help when it comes to shorting a circuit. 
After that, all you have to do is run some software, according to Ballinger. 
"The software part is pretty simple, follow the instructions and it could be made even easier if all the files were in one download. 
However, he cannot use either the built-in YouTube application or the email applications as it will not connect to the Post Office Protocol. 
"I can use all of them via the web browser but none by the inbuilt iPhone applications... but I am sure there will be an app you can install that will fix this or a new hack or it's just me." 
He can also only get the Internet if there is a Wi-Fi connection, as Vodafone NZ has 3G but no EDGE; additionally, Ballinger could not get the slower GPRS working. 
"If there was a 3G phone then this phone would be amazing!" 
He says he "really really" does love the iPhone due to its small size, its quietness, and the fact that it does not get hot. 
At a Republican rally in Colorado, U.S. Alaskan governor and Vice-Presidential hopeful, Sarah Palin accused Democratic candidate Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists who would target their own country". 
The charge was repeated at a later rally for around 13,000 Orange County, California supporters. 
The accusation centers around a report in The New York Times associating Obama with William C. Ayers, a Chicago professor who was a member of the radical Weathermen group during the 1960s. 
Ayers was one of the founders of the Weathermen, and involved in their anti-Vietnam War bombing campaign throughout the early 1970s. 
Loading her attack with hot-button issues, Palin told supporters "one of Barack's earliest supporters is a man who, according to the New York Times, and they are hardly ever wrong, was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that quote launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and US Capitol. 
These are the same guys who think patriotism is paying higher taxes." 
Despite Palin's attack, the original article in the October 3 New York Times concluded that Obama and Ayers were never close, and that the connection was through Obama's initial run for office and a schools reform project, "saying that their paths have crossed sporadically". 
The report quotes Obama as describing Ayers as, "somebody who worked on education issues in Chicago that I know" and "somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8". 
According to a campaign spokesman, the two men first met through the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an educational project started in 1995. 
Democratic campaign aides claim the alleged relationship has been played up by the presidential hopeful's opponents as a smear campaign. 
Comparisons to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) have been drawn. 
SBVT was a political group drawn together during the 2004 presidential election with the aim of opposing John Kerry's candidacy. 
Toy manufacturer Mattel announced today that they are recalling more products over fears of dangerous levels of lead in the toy's paint. 
This soft, but heavy and poisonous metal can be fatal when there is more than 10 μg/dL in the blood. 
The 800,000 toys have been recalled over safety fears and are thought to be mostly Barbie products. 
This recall has increased the concern over the safety of the Chinese production process. 
The lead paint was traced to an un-authorised producer and that firm was closed down, however the most recent source has not yet been located. 
Chinese production accounts for almost 65% of Mattel's overall production. 
Mattel is considered as one of the most stringent producers in the market however their reputation is in danger. 
Toys that are currently being produced are being packaged ready for the Christmas rush, however there are fears that if these are recalled then there will be a Christmas shortage. 
Various sources have indicated that as of today no significant international aid has arrived in the island of Nias -- a small volcanic island off the coast (North Sumatra province, Indonesia) -- a full ten days after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake occurred. 
These observations were noted by former Indonesian central parliament member Firman Jaya Daeli, activists from Howu-howu (a Dutch NGO), and Surf Aid International. 
Most international aid in Indonesia has been focused on the province of Naggroe Aceh Darussalam (Aceh), as it is where the biggest number of dead has been reported. 
There has also been other reports from local media that the island of Simeulue is suffering similar fate. 
Although the number of dead in these two islands is relatively small compared to other areas, the number of people left homeless is far from insignificant. 
In Simeulue of the 15 000 households 7 500 have permanently lost their homes. 
The number of destroyed houses in Nias is estimated at 4 500. 
Infrastructure damage, leading to slow distribution of food aid, has lead to the very real possibility of widespread starvation. 
The island is popular with surfers who have mounted a considerable grassroots campaign to provide aid to the island (see links below). 
Communication to and from the isolated island proves to be difficult. 
Figures released by the U.S. 2010 census on Wednesday show that the city of Detroit has lost approximately 238,270 people, one-fourth of its total, since 2000. 
Detroit, once one of the top five U.S. cities in population, has its lowest number of residents since 1910. 
Population numbers affect the the amount of federal and state funding a city receives. 
In the last few decades, dozens of Michigan state laws have been passed allowing Detroit, because its population was at least 750,000, special measures to raise revenue and allocating it a larger share of Michigan's state revenue than its population warranted. 
Now that Detroit's population has fallen to 713,777, it is no longer eligible for these financial advantages. 
The mayor of Detroit, Dave Bing plans to appeal the census results. 
"Every person that’s counted in the census brings approximately $10,000 to Detroit over the next decade for schools, roads, hospitals, and social service programs," Bing explained. 
"Additionally, we could lose millions in statutory revenue sharing from the state. 
We are in a fiscal crisis and we have to fight for every dollar. 
The decline of the auto industry hastened the population loss already diminished by the 1967 riots that precipitated white flight to the suburbs. 
Approximately 23 percent of the city’s living quarters are now empty. 
To reduce the city's size there is a program in progress to demolish 10,000 abandoned or vacant buildings and turn the land into farms or countryside by 2014. 
U.S. federal laws forbid drawing congressional district boundaries that dilute minority voting strength. 
The 2000 redistricting rules for the 2012 elections mandated that Detroit's two congressional districts must be 60 percent black voters, since four out of five of Detroit's residents are black. 
To comply, the two remaining congressional districts will have to expand into Detroit's mostly white suburbs to attain enough minority voters to meet the 60 percent target, reducing the clout of black Detroit. 
Andrew Beveridge, Queens College sociology professor, attributed Detroit's population decline to the loss of its industrial base. 
He said: "Except for New Orleans after Katrina, it's basically the largest drop for a U.S. city in history. 
They have to find an economic base or the decline will continue." 
13 American coal miners were trapped 2 miles (3 kilometers) inside the Sago coal mine in the US state of West Virginia. 
They were trapped since 6:40 am Eastern, Monday, January 2 following a methane gas explosion which caused the shaft to collapse. 
Rescue operations have commenced and at last report they were 1,400 feet from the location of the miners. 
Governor Joe Manchin, who lost an uncle in a 1968 mining disaster is there along with families who held a vigil in the Sago Baptist Church. 
A population study, released by Statistics New Zealand titled A History of Survival in New Zealand, highlights that the life expectancy of New Zealand males born in the mid 1890's would have been five years higher without the impact of the two world wars, as 10% of males died in war. 
Also males born in the late 1910's would have had a three year higher life expectancy, without the impact of the two world wars as well. 
The new study is an international study of survival and mortality. 
The study also reveals that a male born in the late 1870's would have had an average life span of 51-years-old and in the 1930's the average life span was 69-years-old. 
And in females the life expectancy is 75-years-old, previously 55-years-old. 
Kim Dunstan, Statistics NZ demographer, said: "The dramatic lifespan changes were attributed to many factors, including improved hygiene, sanitation, medicines and infectious disease control. 
People born in the late 1870's had a 23% chance of not making it to see their 15th birthday, people born in the 1900's had a 15% chance, people born in the 1930's had a seven percent chance, people born in the 1960's had a three percent chance and those born around the 1990's had a one percent chance. 
Mr Dunstan said: "The study provided the most complete picture of how long New Zealanders lived and showed for the first time the impact of war deaths on the population. 
Death comes to us all and it does affect us at a lot of levels. 
A lot of people have had family members who died in the war and can relate to their own experiences." 
A History of Survival in New Zealand also shows that New Zealand is one of the few countries in the world that has an almost complete and detailed history of births, deaths and migration information dating back to the late 1800's. 
This study is a historic book full of births, deaths and external migration for the population of New Zealand. 
It will also be used in the future relating to health, population and mortality areas. 
It is also unique because it follows the population from birth right through to death. 
"We see the study very much as the basis for further work ... across other organisations in New Zealand and, indeed, internationally," Mr. Dunstan said. 
The Philippine military said today that gunmen have seized at least 75 people, most of them schoolchildren, after a raid on a remote elementary school in the southern Philippines. 
Military officials said that about fifteen gunmen from the Manobo tribe abducted some of the residents of a village on the Mindanao island on Thursday. 
The group, reportedly armed with M-14 and M-16 rifles, captured four teachers and the school principal of the New Maasim Elementary School, and an unknown number of students. 
The seizure occurred shortly after the flag ceremony, when they were due to start classes. 
Two foresters for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources were also taken hostage. 
Negotiations are being made to release the captives, according to a local police chief. 
We are trying to find out how the others can be released," said Lino Calingasan to the Reuters news agency. 
Local police have filed charges against the suspected kidnappers, however, they reported that the gunmen didn't seem to want to hurt or kill the hostages. 
Officials said that the gunmen appear to be using them as human shields to escape. 
The southern Philippines suffers from frequent banditry, loosely supervised government-armed militias, and Muslim and communist insurgents. 
Last month, 57 people in an election convoy were massacred in the southern part of the Maguindanao province, which has since been placed under martial law. 
On Tuesday, the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations held a hearing titled "Credit Card Practices: Unfair Interest Rate Increases." 
The hearing examined the circumstances under which credit card issuers may increase the interest rates of cardholders who are in compliance with the terms of their credit cards. 
Subcommittee Chairman Carl Levin said in his opening statement: "Today's focus is on credit card issuers who hike the interest rates of cardholders who play by the rules — meaning those folks who pay on time, pay at least the minimum amount due, and wake up one day to find their interest rate has gone through the roof — again, not because they paid late or exceeded the credit limit, but because their credit card issuer decided they should be 'repriced'." 
Present to testify on behalf of credit card issuers were Roger C. Hochschild of Discover Financial Services, Bruce L. Hammonds of Bank of America Corporation, and Ryan Schneider of Capital One Financial Corporation. 
Much of the 90 minute hearing focused on specific cases where interest rates were raised, allegedly because credit scores of the debtor dropped, and not because they were delinquent or otherwise behind on payments. 
According to Levin, this practice made it so that almost all payments went towards finance charges with almost none toward repaying the principal. 
This, he felt, is an unfair practice, as the credit card companies were negligent in informing their customers of the rate hikes and the reason for such hikes. 
The collective credit card debt of Americans totals an estimated US$900 billion. 
Issuers have come under pressure to disclose their policies in regards to setting fees and interest rates. 
The US Truth in Lending Act requires that terms of a loan be set forth up front. 
Fluctuating interest rates on credit cards would, on the surface, appear to violate this act. 
Roger C. Hochschild disagreed, arguing that "every card transaction is a new extension of credit ... 
This makes it difficult — and risky — to underwrite, and price, the loan based solely on the borrower's credit-worthiness at the time of application [for the card]." 
Ryan Schneider, agreed: "The ability to modify the terms of a credit card agreement to accommodate changes over time to the economy or the credit-worthiness of consumers must be preserved." 
"Attempts to interfere with the market here ... will inevitably result in less credit being offered," warned Bruce Hammonds. 
All three credit card executives also mentioned an ongoing Federal Reserve System review of credit card rules that already proposes a 45-day notification ahead of any rate changes. 
Included in the criticism was the practice of mailing checks to card-holders, failing to notify applicants that obtaining additional cards could lower their credit score and raise their rates, and "ambushing" card-holders with raised rates. 
Ranking minority member of the subcommittee, Norm Coleman said, "families find themselves ensnared in a seemingly inescapable web of credit card debt. 
They particularly report being saddled with interest rates that skyrocketed on them seemingly out of the blue." 
A fierce storm on Sunday resulted in massive 18-foot waves, which split a Russian oil tanker in two and sank two Russian freighters nearby. 
The tanker spilled at least 560,000 gallons of fuel into a strait which leads to the Black Sea, and officials say it may take years to clean up. 
The tankers sank in the Strait of Kerch, which links the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov in the northeast. 
The two ships were carrying a total of around 7,150 tons of sulfur, according to Sergei Petrov, Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations regional spokesperson. 
The tanker was carrying nearly 1.3 million gallons of fuel oil, and was stranded several miles from shore. 
Emergency workers were prevented from collecting the spilled oil immediately due to stormy weather; the head of the state environmental safety watchdog Rosprorodnadzor, Oleg Mitvol, said "there is serious concern that the spill will continue". 
Workers eventually managed to begin work on cleaning up the spill, an effort which may be long-term. 
Tar-like sands laden with oil and seaweed were piled on the shore, while oil-covered birds in slick-covered water tried to flap their wings. 
Regional coast guard officer Anatoly Yanhuck said once weather improves they will begin pumping oil from the tanker, then tow the ship to port. 
Two fuel-loaded barges and Turkish freighter Ziya Kos also ran aground in the area, but there was no further environmental damage, said Petrov. 
Ten ships altogether were sunk or run aground in the area of the Black Sea near the Straight of Kerch and the Straight itself; a Russian freighter carrying metal was also reported as having sunk near the port of Sevastopol on Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. 
One of the sulfur-carrying freighters reported three crew members as drowned, and five more as missing, while two members of the sunk freighter carrying metal were reported as drowned and another remains missing. 
The oil tanker's 13 crew members were all rescued safely, and all members of the second freighter were also reported as safe. 
Captains had been warned Saturday morning of the stormy conditions, regional prosecutor Maxim Stepanenko told Russia's Vesti 24. 
The oil tanker was not built to withstand fierce storms, having been designed to transport oil on rivers during Soviet times, he said. 
Chemist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Service office of response and restoration, Jim Farr said the sulfur spill from the two freighters wouldn't create a "hazardous situation", a statement backed up by Alexei Zhukovin, expert with the Emergency Situations Ministry's branch in Southern Russia. 
Although on land sulfur is used as a fungicide, in a marine setting it wouldn't act as one, said Farr; instead a sulfur spill can be compared to dumping sand on a reef and smothering it, or placing a blanket on a bed of grass. 
Long-term effects are more difficult to speculate on, however, without better knowledge of the area and its currents. 
Oleg Mitvol said that although the sulfur spill doesn't present an environmental danger, the two freighters might also leak fuel oil from their tanks, adding to the pollution. 
Russia, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, and Ukraine all border on the Black Sea. 
With resource reusing, environmental awareness, and creations, Jane Goodall Institute Taiwan held "2007 Hope Parade" in Taiwan and lots of environmental volunteers, community colleges, and charity organizations (approximately more than 10,000 people) participated this parade walking from Taipei Municipal Hsing-an Elementary School to Ketagalan Boulevard with some materials showing the presence of five continentals. 
"To respond with theory of 'Roots & Shoots' by Dr. Jane Goodall, 'Roots & Shoots Program' in Taiwan has been promoted for a long time with the living quality improving and environment awareness valuing." 
According to the organizer, this parade is originally founded with some communities in Xizhi, Taipei County. 
To expand the global view of environment respect, this parade is chosen at Taipei City to show the particularity and differences of creatures which should be cared by common people. 
In the second canonization ceremony of his papacy, Pope Benedict XVI today named four new saints. 
The new saints were Rosa Venerini (1656-1728), Mother Theodore Guerin (1798-1856), Filippo Smaldone (1848-1923), and Bishop Rafael Guizar Valencia (1878-1938). 
Rosa Venerini helped to establish Italy's first public schools for girls. 
Mother Theodore Guerin pioneered schools and religious institutions in Indiana after emigrating from France in 1840. 
One of the schools she founded, a girls academy, is still in existence a few miles west of Terre Haute. 
Now named Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, it is the oldest Catholic liberal arts college for women in the United States of America. 
Italian priest Filippo Smaldone founded an order of nuns and schools for the deaf. 
Bishop Rafael Guizar Valencia disguised himself to care for the wounded during the anti-clerical Mexican revolution. 
Mexican foreign minister Luis Ernesto Derbez says he is confident that he will become the next Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General, and will be in the post within 4 months. 
He claims to have 17 of the 18 votes needed in order to have the support of a majority within the 34 member states of the OAS. 
The post became available after the previous Secretary General, Miguel Ángel Rodriguez, served only 24 days of his term of office, before returning home to Costa Rica to face corruption charges. 
The other candidates for the post are ex El Salvadorean president Francisco Flores, Guatemalan Rigoberta Menchú and Chilean Interior Minister José Miguel Insulza. 
Meanwhile Francisco Flores is in the Dominican Republic on the beginning of a tour of Caribbean countries drumming up support for his own candidacy. 
He is being accompanied by El Salvador's deputy foreign minister Margarita Escobar in a clear sign of the importance El Salvador puts on getting their candidate into the job. 
A trial date has been set in a fraud case against the Church of Scientology in France. 
The date for the first hearing has been set for May 25, 2009. 
If the Church is found guilty, then Scientology would be ruled illegal and would be banned from operating in France. 
Prosecutors claim that the Church is engaged in illicit practices in attempts to sell their alleged self-help material. 
The Church also faces charges of illegally operating as a pharmacy by illegally treating individuals with prescription medications. 
The charges come from an unnamed woman, who in 1998 purchased nearly 140,000₣ (US$30,000) worth of Scientology self-help material which allegedly included prescription drugs. 
After a few months passed, the woman said she felt like she was being scammed. 
Following several complaints from other unnamed individuals and an investigation, judge Jean-Christophe Hullin ordered the Church's 'Celebrity Center', and the seven managers to be put on trial for fraud and "illegally practicing as pharmacists." 
On September 8, 2008 the Church released a statement following the order to stand trial saying that they felt "stigmatized" by the French judicial system. 
"The special treatment reserved for the Church of Scientology Celebrity Center raises questions about the equality of the justice system and the presumption of innocence," the Church said in a statement to the press. 
This is not the first time the Church has been accused of fraud in France. 
They have also been convicted of it several times, including the Church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard who was convicted of fraud in 1978. 
In 1997 the Church was convicted of fraud in Lyon and 1999 in Marseille. 
The 1978 convictions included Hubbard and his wife at the time, Mary Sue, both now deceased, and two other Scientologists. 
The 1978 convictions included Hubbard and four Scientologists after a seven year investigation into the Church by the French authorities. 
The court ruled that Hubbard and the others were using Scientology by making fraudulent claims that it was curing people from diseases to "increase the financial revenue" of the Church, and the ruling ordered Hubbard and the Scientologists to serve four years in prison. 
However, Hubbard, along with the four Scientologists fled France, never to return, and never served a prison term. 
An infectious superbug spreading in the United States is to "emerge in force" in Canada, doctors fear. 
The bacteria have been reported popping up in day care centers and locker rooms across the U.S. 
Usually elderly or very ill hospital patients get the disease. 
More than 2 million U.S. residents are infected every year, the Centers for Disease Control estimates. 
An article in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on Tuesday said that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are "spreading with alarming rapidity." 
The bacteria can cause boils, pimples, or in extreme cases, flesh-eating disease, and more. 
"The resistant bacteria is an old foe with new fangs: a pathogen combining virulence, resistance and an ability to disseminate at large," wrote Dr. John Conly, medical professor and an infectious disease specialist at the University of Calgary. 
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario are the provinces which already have had MRSA in hospitals. 
A 30-year-old Calgary, Alberta man died last year of lung abscesses associated with the infection, as well as a three-month old toddler in Toronto, Ontario. 
Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Alex Rios, last summer, suffered from an infection caused by Staphylococcus aureus in his leg. 
Pitcher Ty Taubenheim had a similar infection on his foot. 
Doctors are currently investigating some Calgary residents, who could be one of the first Canadian reports of MRSA outside of a hospital setting. 
A cholera epidemic in Angola has killed over 1,200 people in the past three months. 
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) says about 35,000 people have fallen ill, half the victims in the capital of Luanda, where the first cases were detected in February. 
The UN say the epidemic is Angola’s worst cholera outbreak in almost two decades continues to rage on with 546 new cases and 31 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. 
The medical charity Mangola, Medecines Sans Frontieres and the World Health Organisation say it is the worst outbreak recorded in the country. 
Spokesman for Medecines Sans Frontiere Richard Veerman said: "Angola is heading for its worst ever outbreak and the situation remains very bad in Angola," he said. 
"It's very worrying, the official number of deaths countrywide is now more than 1,200, which is likely under-reported. 
Many people will be at home and die at home and have no possibility to come to one of our treatment centres." 
Cholera, an acute intestinal disease caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, causes copious, painless, watery diarrhoea that can quickly lead to severe dehydration and death if treatment, including rehydration, is not given promptly. 
Foreign ministers seeking to resolve Iran's nuclear crisis will meet in London today at 5P.M. 
The countries sending their foreign ministers are United Kingdom, the United States, China, France, Germany and Russia. 
The participating nations, with the exception of Germany, have veto powers in the UN Security Council. 
The UN Security Council is also likely to meet next week to discuss further action to take against Iran, following its failure to persuade Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program. 
Many western governments suspect that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons capability. 
Iran insists that the enriched uranium is meant for power generation only. 
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, and European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana have executed four rounds of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program but have failed to make a breakthrough. 
Solana's representative, Cristina Gallach, stressed the current diplomatic efforts were different from a European initiative in 2004-05, which ultimately failed. 
"The offer of November 2004 was only one and a half pages long and only had the Europeans' signature, while the June 2006 offer has the signature of the whole Security Council and Germany," she said. 
A peaceful protest in Sarajevo, lasting for several weeks so far, was ignited by a post on an online discussion board, Sarajevo-X. 
In a post named "Patriotism" one user, with nickname Stolac92, expressed his dissatisfaction with Bosnia today, writing among other things on December 22: "My heart hurts. 
But what hurts the most is that we are quiet, we are tolerating, forgiving instead of doing something about it." 
After receiving support from other forum members, the user proposed gathering in front of the Assembly building every day, starting from 5pm. 
The protests started the same weekend, and had been lasting since, with couple to several dozen people attending. 
Forum members decided they will not support any particular political party, but to work for Bosnia and Herzegovina without political ethnic entities and to support policies which are fair to all citizens and punish criminals. 
They decided to use an open palm with a Bosnian map on it for their symbol, with word Dosta (Enough) as their slogan. 
Bosnia and Herzegovina has been divided in two ethnic entities since the end of the war, the Serbian Republic and Federation of Bosniaks and Croats. 
Economic progress has been slow and created disparity between people. 
Since his death on Friday, tributes have continued to be paid to Sir Bobby Robson, the former manager of the English national association football team. 
Silences were held at football games throughout the country over the weekend, with fans creating makeshift shrines at Newcastle United and Ipswich Town, the two clubs he was most strongly associated with. 
Today Robson's widow was moved to tears when she visited the shrine created by over 50,000 fans at Newcastle. 
She went on to express her gratitude to the generosity and affection of fans who have since Friday raised over £2,000,000 for the Sir Bobby Robson Foundation, the cancer charity founded by her late husband. 
At Ipswich fans hope to rename one of the stands at Portman Road after their former manager. 
Despite failing to win any major trophies with the national team, Bobby Robson was one of the most successful and best loved England managers. 
His team infamously lost a penalty shoot out to West Germany for a place in the finals of the 1990 World Cup. 
Robson was picked for the position of England manager after a 13 year spell at Ipswich Town enabling them to become league runners up twice and to win the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. 
Following the decision by the Football Association to not renew his contract after the 1990 World Cup, Robson won honours in club football with PSV Eindhoven, FC Porto, and FC Barcelona. 
His success as a manager has been put down to a great tactical brain and the ability to get the best out of his players, not least through his respect and generosity of spirit towards them. 
Robson will be remembered for his humour, his integrity, and his love of a game that he relished from childhood visits to his beloved Newcastle, a team he was later to manage. 
He died at the age of 76 after a long battle with cancer, and leaves behind his wife of 54 years Elsie and their sons Andrew, Paul, and Mark. 
A bomb explosion on a bus in Myanmar (alternatively Burma) has killed a 55-year-old man and left another man wounded. 
The explosion occurred yesterday at 8:50 am local time (0220 GMT) as the bus traveled to Yangon, but state media has only posted news of the attack today. 
The deceased was identified only as Khant by the New Light of Myanmar, the Burmese government-owned daily newspaper. 
The article said that the injured man was 46-year-old Pa Pa and that he received a stomach injury. 
The bus had 35 passengers traveling from Kyaukkyi, and was near Daik Oo, some 85 miles from its destination. 
The bombing was blamed on insurgents, but it is unclear which group is responsible. 
The ruling military junta is subject to attacks from a number of extremist groups opposed to its rule. 
A British High Court judge has ruled that Pringles are not a potato snack and therefore not subject to a 17.5% tax. 
The judge, Justice Nicholas Warren, overruled a Value Added Tax (VAT) Tribunal decision that imposed the 17.5% tax which is also applied on other potato products. 
Pringles' owner Procter & Gamble had claimed at a ruling in May that Pringles do not feel, look, or taste like a crisp. 
Justice Warren ruled that since Pringles are only 42% potato, it is exempt from VAT. 
Ukrainian basketball player Alexander Belostenny has died at the age of 51. 
Belostenny was a key player in the Soviet Union basketball team and was both a European and Olympic medallist. 
He won gold in the 1979, 1981 and 1985 European championships and gold in the 1982 FIBA World Championship. 
After retiring in 1994 he ran his own restaurant up in Germany, which he had acquired in 1991. 
Following the announcement of his death, the Ukrainian basketball federation released a statement saying that "On behalf of all fans, we want to express our deep condolences to the families and friends of the deceased. 
The bright memory of Alexander M. Belostenny will always live in our hearts." 
Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin, who qualified thirtieth, won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2010 AAA Texas 500 held on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas, United States. 
This became his eighth win of the season, and his second at Texas Motor Speedway. 
Throughout the course of the race there were nine cautions and thirty-five lead changes among fourteen different drivers. 
On the final restart, Matt Kenseth caught Hamlin and passed him. 
Later the same lap, Hamlin reclaimed the position, after Kenseth collided into the wall, prompting him to finish second during the race. 
Joey Logano managed the fourth position in the closing laps of the race, after starting twentieth on the grid. 
Greg Biffle, from the Roush Fenway Racing team, clinched the fifth position, after leading 223 laps during the race. 
Kevin Harvick followed Biffle in sixth, while Clint Bowyer could only manage seventh. 
Hamlin became the Drivers' championship leader with 6,325 points, thirty-three points ahead of Johnson. 
The Manufacturers' сhampionship standings is led by Chevrolet with 249, 40 points ahead of Toyota and 91 ahead of Ford with two races remaining in the season. 
Looking forward to next week, Hamlin said, "I'm going to race Phoenix as if I'm 33 behind, to be honest with you. 
There's no comfortable margin going into Homestead, because anything can happen. 
So for me — Phoenix being an up-and-down race track for me — I've got to really be focused on practice day to get what I need, to give [crew chief] Mike [Ford] the information that I need — just 100 percent stay focused is all I can do. 
But like I say, I'm not going to be conservative having the lead. 
I'm going to want to stretch that out before we get to Homestead. 
England beat Paraguay 1-0 in a bruising encounter among the shadows of the Commerzbank Arena, Frankfurt, Saturday. 
In the sunshine and heat, which reached 30 degrees Celsius, it became a physical game that saw three bookings and the referee frequently blowing his whistle. 
England got the perfect start scoring after just 3 minutes from a David Beckham freekick. 
Swung in from the left of the field, the ball clipped the head of Paraguayan captain Carlos Gamarra on its way to the net. 
Both sides looked nervous and no side got control of the midfield. 
Passes were frequently misplaced and attacks from both teams lacked cutting edge. 
Paraguay lost number one goalkeeper Justo Villa to an injury in the sixth minute of the game. 
Missing Wayne Rooney, arguably their team's most skilled player, whose recent injury though healed had ruled him out for this match, the noisy England fans in the crowd didn't have much to sing about except the victory. 
England's Swedish manager Sven-Göran Eriksson's side had more possession but failed to score more than the one early goal. 
On their part, Paraguay was unable to capitalise on a number of English defensive errors to get an equaliser. 
England next face Trinidad and Tobago while Paraguay face the England manager's home nation, Sweden. 
A Virgin Trains train travelling at high speed collided with a car near Copmanthorpe, Yorkshire, England, killing the car's driver. 
The accident took place at approximately 20:55 GMT when the Class 220/221 train, travelling at close to 100mph, hit the car which was on the tracks. 
The train then partially derailed but remained upright, coming to a stop further down the tracks. 
The car driver is believed to have been killed instantly. 
North Yorkshire Police said that the car had left the road, driven through a fence and ended up on the track. 
The train was the 14:25 Virgin Voyager cross-country service from Plymouth to Edinburgh Waverley, capable of speeds up to 125mph, but was deccelerating on approach into York. 
The line between York and Leeds was closed for several hours, delaying other services. 
Virgin Spokesman Arthur Leathley told reporters that Network Rail hoped to have three of the four lines in that section of the track operational by Tuesday morning. 
A deadly hotel bombing in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, has killed at least fifteen people, including three Somali Cabinet ministers, earlier today. 
The blast targeted a university graduation ceremony being attended by a number of government officials. 
The Shamo Hotel was hosting a graduation ceremony for Benadir University. 
Eyewitnesses reported that a suicide bomber gained access to the venue dressed as a woman, donning a full abaya and a veil. 
The attacker was wearing an explosive strapped to his torso, but was not patted down by security. 
The director of Median Hospital, Ali Yusuf, commented that "forty people with shrapnel wounds, including students and medical doctors, have been hospitalized today. 
Former Islamic Courts Union members at the scene identified the bomber, whose head and face had been completely shaven, as a member of al-Shabab, the ultra-conservative Islamist group believed to have links to al-Qaeda. 
Somali Health Minister Qamar Aden Ali, Education Minister Ahmed Abdullahi Waayeel, and Higher Education Minister Ibrahim Hassan Adow were killed in the attack on Hotel. 
Abdulkadir Mohamed Osman, the Somali presidency's director of information, commented on the incident. 
The blast rocked inside the hotel, killing three ministers and wounding another one." 
Adow served as the foreign secretary of the insurgent Islamic Courts Union when it took power in 2006. 
The Somali minister for sports is also reported to be hospitalized and in critical condition. 
Mohamed Mohamoud, an attending graduate of the ceremony, said that he personally saw the remains of the health minister on the ground, as well as the corpses of other government officials. 
They have been studying in such a horrific environment, and today they passed away without benefiting from their education. 
Two journalists, a reporter for Radio Shabelle and a cameraman with al-Arabia TV, were also found dead from the explosion. 
The National Union of Somali Journalists has issued a statement condemning the attack and expressing outrage at the loss of their colleagues. 
Somalia is one of the world's most dangerous places for journalists to work. 
Eight have been killed in Somalia since the beginning of 2009. 
Hotel Shamo is often chosen by government officials to host events and at one time was a popular lodging option for foreign journalists. 
Recently-released Canadian journalist Amanda Lindhout and Australian photojournalist Nigel Brennan were staying at the hotel before their capture last year. 
The hotel security staff say that they were kicked out of the room prior to the ceremony, as government security officials wanted sole handling of the event. 
The government officials were attending the graduation of 43 students from the local Banadir University. 
The official death toll from the blast is expected to continue to rise, with some reports indicating that more than 60 people have been found dead. 
The attack is the latest in a string of incidents linking al-Shabab to common insurgent tactics used by Islamist terrorist groups in other parts of the world. 
Until recently, suicide bombings were an unusual practice in Somalia. 
In September, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for a bold attack on a meeting between government officials and the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia, known as AMISOM, which killed 17 peacekeepers, including the top Burundian commander. 
Two vehicles containing explosives were given entry to the AMISOM base and subsequently blew up. 
The rebel group is battling for control of the war-ravaged nation against the Western-backed Transitional Federal Government, led by former Islamic insurgent Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. 
Rebel groups control much of southern and central Somalia, as well as significant portions of Mogadishu. 
The government is being bolstered by the continuing presence of the peacekeeping force composed of Ugandans and Burundians. 
The AMISOM forces are mandated with the protection of key city sites such as the airport, seaport, and presidential palace. 
Sir Richard Branson, successful British entrepreneur, better known as the founder of the Virgin brand, has made a suggestion to the next British chancellor to both save MG Rover, the largest independent manufacturer of cars in England until it collapsed this spring, and help with rapidly rising oil demand. 
He wants the British government to give subsidies to the fallen car-maker so that it can be the first European producer of hybrid cars. 
A 7-year old Tennessee boy who was eager to get his driver's license got an early education when he decided to take his parents pick-up truck for a joyride. 
The boy, whose name was not released, remembered to wear his seatbelt and even used his turn signal when he was supposed to. 
Police chasing the boy initially thought they were chasing a drunk driver. 
He couldn't stay in his lane," Officer Josh Laverette said. 
But when the truck came to a stop in front of a house, police saw that it was a boy, a second grader, barely 4 feet tall, behind the wheel. 
"He was so short he had to sit up close to the steering wheel," Laverette said. 
"Whenever he would brake, he would pick himself up with his left foot and stomp on the brake with his right." 
When police began to talk to the boy, who managed to park in front of his own home, "He said the reason he took the vehicle was because he wanted to get his license," said Laverette. 
"There were like probably five city cars and three county cars and a state trooper" all of which were chasing the pickup, said Susan Daniel, a witness to the incident. 
"It blew my mind because we actually watched him put on his turn signal and turn, and we could see when he went past that he had seat belts on," Daniel said. 
"Then to come find out it was a child, I was really shocked." 
The boy was charged with driving without a license, eluding police and leaving the scene of an accident. 
He is expected to appear in juvenile court next week. 
The Italian dailies La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera are reporting that US forces may not have been informed of the operation to rescue kidnapped Italian journalist, Giuliana Sgrena, in which the intelligence agent Nicola Calipari was killed by US troops. 
The Italian government disputes this account, and has said that the US was fully aware of the operation on March 4. 
La Repubblica is reporting that US forces were aware of Italian intelligence agent Nicola Calipari's presence, but not the specific details of his mission. 
Speaking in the La Repubblica newspaper, General Mario Marioli assisted those involved in the operation in Baghdad, by obtaining a special badge for them from coalition forces upon their arrival. 
However, as the deputy commander of the coalition forces in Iraq, Marioli reported that he was unaware of Calipari's purpose in Iraq, so he could not tell coalition troops on the ground the details of the Italian mission. 
According to La Repubblica, Marioli reported that he "had no contact with US intelligence officers" prior to the shooting. 
The People's Republic of China has signed an agreement with ASEAN to establish the world's largest free trade area. 
Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, India and Australia are considering joining. 
ASEAN members include Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Singapore and Indonesia. 
In the last four years China has become a major importer of oil and commodities, and a major exporter of finished goods. 
China has also strengthened relationships with oil suppliers in the Middle East and Africa. 
This pact lifts trade restrictions and removes tariffs from many imports and exports. 
It also allows China to continue manipulating the value of its currency in its own interests. 
The yuan is currently undervalued, making Chinese-made goods artificially cheap for foreign importers. 
Stated in the agreement is ASEAN's intention to create a unified economy--and by implication polity--similar to the EU. 
This agreement will cement China's role as the center of the South Asian regional economy, and at the same time strengthening bonds between China and other countries in the region and ease their suspicions over a growing superpower. 
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun separately adopted accords with the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, agreeing to launch the talks early next year. 
Australia and New Zealand are expected to sign similar agreements with ASEAN before discussions close later Tuesday, although ASEAN remains wary of Australian Prime Minister John Howard's refusal to sign its nonaggression treaty. 
Howard played down these concerns but said on record that he reserves the right to preemptively act against terrorists on foreign soil if they threaten Australia. 
Pakistani officials have said that five attacks on government sites across the country have killed at least forty people. 
The latest attack occurred late on Thursday at a government residential area in Peshawar. 
Officials said they suspect Taliban militants for being responsible for the attacks. 
Authorities said that the situation in the eastern city of Lahore was under control, following separate attacks on the country's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and two police training centers. 
Gunmen with at least one suicide jacket stormed the FIA building at mid-morning. 
The FIA is an agency responsible for investigating matters relating to terrorism and immigration. 
Early last year, the building was the target of a suicide truck bomb that killed more than 20 people. 
"Reportedly, four men attacked the FIA building and initial reports are that two of them have been killed," said the provincial interior secretary, Nadeem Hassan Asif Punjab. 
Soon after the assault on the FIA began, gunmen targeted two police training centers on the outskirts of Lahore. 
In the suburb of Manawa, gunmen targeted a center that militants attacked earlier this year. 
In the other incident, attackers with suicide jackets in Bedian climbed over a wall to gain access to the Elite Force Training Center. 
It took several hours before security forces were able to gain control of all the sites. 
The attacks in Pakistan's east took place hours after a suicide car bomber targeted a police station at a garrison town about an hour's drive from the northwestern city of Peshawar. 
Speaking to local media, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said intelligence agencies had expected attacks on security sites in the country and that authorities will remain on high-alert. 
He said the recent violence shows the militants want to bring the frontlines from Pakistan's violent northwest to Punjab province. 
On Saturday, militants with ties to Punjab, as well as the South Waziristan tribal region, assaulted the Pakistani army's headquarters in Rawalpindi. 
Pakistani intelligence officials believe the attacks are a reaction to the military's raids on South Waziristan. 
The military is expected to launch a full-scale assault on Taliban militants in the region bordering Afghanistan. 
England beat Kenya by 7 wickets (with 60 balls remaining) in the final Group C game in the World Cup at Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, Saint Lucia. 
England will now advance through to the Super 8 stage. 
Rain delayed the start of the match by some two hours, and therefore the match was only a 43 over game. 
Sales of smartphones running the Android operating system have tripled since the beginning of 2010, according to figures released yesterday. 
Market analysts GfK said that "around one in every eight handsets sold in the UK between April and June 2010 on a contract is Android-powered, compared to one in 33 on average between January and March." 
Last week, Samsung stepped up the marketing for its latest Android-powered device, the Galaxy S. 
Other Android-powered devices include the Sony Ericsson X10 and the HTC Desire. 
GfK analyst Megan Baldock said to The Guardian: "The figures suggest an increasing number of consumers are now asking for Android handsets by name." 
A morbidly obese Ohio man died Wednesday after being found unconscious in his home several days earlier. 
The man had been sitting in a chair for two years and was physically fused to it when he was discovered by two roommates, one of which was his girlfriend. 
Authorities who arrived at the house in Bellaire reported seeing the man sitting amidst his own urine and feces, which were infested with maggots. 
The man's skin had become attached to the recliner's cloth, said law enforcement officers, one of whom had to dispose of his uniform after responding to the home. 
In order to transport the man to the hospital, officers had to carve out a portion of the wall. 
Identified as 43-year-old Richard Hughes, the man died after being taken to Wheeling Hospital in West Virginia. 
The residence's landlord said Hughes, weighing 348 pounds (157 kilograms), began sitting in the chair after his knees started to hurt, and refused to get up. 
Hughes' girlfriend told police that she fed him because he was unable to move around. 
Jim Chase, a city official, called the room where the man stayed "very filthy, very deplorable" and said it was "unbelievable that somebody live[d] in conditions like that." 
Kuwait might finance a great number of public works in East Timor, in an investment worth 500 million to 600 million dollars, the East Timorese Prime Minister said today. 
José Ramos Horta leaves today for an official visit to Kuwait. 
"I want to start right now the negotiations process with the Development Fund of Kuwait for the construction of great projects for East Timor's roads, bridges, harbors and airports", Ramos Horta, East Timor's Prime Minister, said. 
"For a project of this magnitude, to carry throughout several years, the amount of money to be spent is about 500 million to 600 million dollars or more. 
We are now waiting a preliminary study made by an Indian company, paid by Kuwait", Ramos Horta added. 
The East Timorese delegation is composed by the Minister of public works, Odete Victor, and the Minister of energy & mineral resources, José Teixeira. 
The visit is part of an invitation by Kuwait's Prime Minister Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah, and includes meetings with the Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the crown prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammed Sabah Al Salem Al Sabah and representatives of the Development Fund of Kuwait. 
This is the second visit to Kuwait in two years by Ramos Horta, an country with who the East Timorese Prime Minister maintains relations with several members of the royal family and of the government. 
A group of 19 people, including local aborigines and Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) staff, were sprayed by a crop duster in rural Australia today. 
They were walking the proposed route of a freeway bypass, looking for sites that may have significance to Aboriginal people. 
The freeway bypass will be part of the Hume Highway, near Coolac in south-west New South Wales. 
Police are yet to rule out that the dusting was deliberate. 
"We don't know whether they knew the people were there or not so we're appealing for anyone who might have witnessed the incident or knows anything about a low-flying crop-duster in the area to contact police," she said. 
News available via the web does not (as of this writing) detail the effects of the spraying. 
ABC Online reports that the pilot of the plane may face charges. 
An explosion in a coal mine has killed at least 80 people in the city of Donetsk, Ukraine, while 20 people are reported missing. 
According to reports transmitted by the local press and the Emergency Situations Department, 360 miners managed to get to the surface safely; 28 others are currently hospitalized, some with severe burns. 
The Zasyadko mine is nearly 1,000 meters deep, and 457 people were in the mine when the explosion occurred at 3:11 am. 
Initial reports suggest that the explosion was caused by methane mixing with the air in the mine. 
During the afternoon, more than thirty rescue teams were found at the scene, wearing hard hats and oxygen tanks as they prepared to enter the mine. 
Relatives of the victims gathered around the entrance to the mine, awaiting news of their loved ones. 
The Prime Minister of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych, responded to the scene; the president of the country, Viktor Yushchenko, will visit the area this Monday. 
"I am grieving with all of Ukraine", declared the Ukrainian head of state. 
He also criticized the government, saying that the mining industry has been a victim of "insufficient efforts". 
With obsolete installations and poor construction, Ukraine has been a victim of various mining accidents in the past. 
According to union estimations, between 2006 and 2007 nearly 250 miners died in accidents. 
Internet search king Google is preparing to provide free VoIP service — a technology that that makes it possible to have a telephone conversation over the internet. 
Existing technology will be marketed in the Google name, something which may make all the difference. 
Sources suggest that Google may firstly introduce its telephony service to users in the United Kingdom, but the actual date when the service will launch and the exact details of the plan are as yet unknown. 
Google is a California-based search engine whose mission "is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful". 
The largest search engine on the web, Google receives over 200 million queries each day through its various services. 
Zimbabwe have defeated Australia by five wickets in Group B of the 2007 Twenty20 World Championship at Newlands Cricket Ground, Cape Town, South Africa. 
Australia, who are the world champions in the 50 over format, struggled against some good fielding and bowling from Zimbabwe. 
Elton Chigumbura took 3-20 and Gary Brent took 2-19 as Australia were restricted to 138 for 9 wickets after 20 overs. 
Brad Hodge was Australia's top scoring batsman, scoring 35 not out, while Andrew Symonds scored 33 runs before being stumped. 
Zimbabwe's batsmen started well, but Vusi Sibanda was caught behind for 23, as were Justice Chibhabha, Tatenda Taibu and Stuart Matsikenyeri to leave Zimbabwe on 70-4. 
A heavy shower interrupted the innings, but play restarted and Brendan Taylor scored 60 not out as Zimbabwe reached the target with one ball remaining in a tense finish. 
Drug maker Merck & Co. was found liable for a person's death concerning the use of the pain medication Vioxx, according to a jury verdict in a Texas court. 
The plaintiff's case, headed by the widow of Robert Ernst, who died in 2001 of an irregular heartbeat and of clogged arteries while on the drug Vioxx, was successfully awarded $253.4 million dollars. 
Vioxx was pulled from the shelves in 2004 after a study discovered it could double the risk of a heart attack or stroke if taken for longer than 1.5 years. 
However, the US government agency, the FDA, decided in February of this year to allow the product back on the shelves. 
Merck's stock price dropped 10% within minutes of the verdict being announced, and continued to fall hours after. 
There are in excess of 4,200 other Vioxx-related lawsuits pending across the USA. 
Moldovan wine producers took three silver medals at the third annual international contest of wine tasting and judging of strong alcoholic beverages, the "Concours Mondial de Bruxelles 2008". 
Previously, the event was held in Portugal and in Maastricht in 2007 and will held in Spain next year. 
The medals went to the wines produced by the stock company Acorex Wine Holding, Amaro de la Valea Perjei 2003, Pinot Grigio/ Aligote/ Sauvignon Blanc 2005 and Pinot Noir 2005, with the last two being from the Private reserve series. 
Last year's fourteenth edition of the contest, held in the Netherlands in 2007, Moldovan wines won three gold medals and three silver ones. 
The Lower Saxony, Germany tax authority is migrating 12,000 desktops to use SuSE Linux with KDE as the desktop environment. 
The systems are being migrated from Sun's Solaris x86 version 8, which has been in use at the organization since 2002. 
According to Eva Brucherseifer, president of the KDE community in Germany and managing director of basysKom, the migration process in its "peak phase" and is porting 300 systems every day. 
Interpol has issued an "Orange Notice" for the leader of southeast Asian Jemaah Islamiyah, Mas Selamat bin Kastari, who escaped from a detention center Wednesday. 
Singapore Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng told his Parliament that a "security lapse" is what led to Mas Selamat's escape. 
While waiting to visit his family, Mas Selamat escaped from the Internal Security Department's Whitley Road detention facility shortly after 4 PM local time after being granted permission to use the washroom. 
The escape led to Mr. Wong apologizing for the incident and the beginning of an island-wide manhunt for Selamat. 
"When it comes to escapes, the first hours are crucial," said Jean-Michel Louboutin, Interpol's executive director of police services. 
"The state of Singapore has put into operation everything that's needed to be done. 
It's a small country, so it's easy to cross and leave." 
Selamat, a 47-year-old former bus mechanic and a father of 5, was once accused of plotting to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's international airport. 
He is "someone who presents a potential physical danger to others, but also a potential danger by organizing future bombings," Louboutin said. 
Mas Selamat bin Kastari, a Singaporean national of Indonesian birth and extraction, stands 158 cm (about 5 feet 2 1/4 inches) tall and walks with a limp in his left leg. 
After the "Orange Notice" was released, Mas Selamat's picture and fingerprints were released to Interpol's 186 member countries. 
A train, traveling at a high rate of speed, was carrying over 850 passengers when it rammed into an empty train near Rio de Janeiro. 
The empty train was in the process of being moved between sets of tracks. 
Officials are currently putting the death toll at eight, and at least 70 others are seriously hurt. 
"We have to use blowtorches to open the sides of the train cars to reach the people," said Pedro Machado, commander general of the Rio de Janeiro Fire Department. 
"Our priority is to give support to the survivors, the passengers trapped in the wreckage, and reduce the number of fatal victims," said Col. Souza Filho, the head of Rio de Janeiro's Civil Defense Department in an interview with the Globo TV network. 
"They had fractures in their arms, their faces, everywhere," said Marcos de Souza, director of the Posse Hospital in a televised interview. 
He said the hospital does have a large emergency ward but they are bringing in extra personnel to treat collision victims. 
Six media organisations, including Fairfax, are mounting a constitutional challenge to secret hearings in an upcoming terrorism trial in Australia. 
The trial involves Sydney man Faheem Khalid Lodhi, who is charged with committing acts in preparation for a terrorist attack. 
Lodhi is accused of conspiring with French terror suspect Willie Brigitte to attack Sydney's military bases and electricity supply network. 
Federal Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock will issue a certificate to prevent information judged to be sensitive from reaching the public at Lodhi's trial. 
The Federal Attorney-General has the powers to do this under the National Security Information (Criminal and Civil Proceedings) Act. 
The grounds for the challenge are that National Security Information legislation violates the separation of executive and judical powers, required by the Australian constitution. 
Tom Blackburn, SC, counsel for the media groups mounting the challenge claims that the act allows for the federal executive to intrude into judicial matters by ordering parts of the trial are kept secret. 
The challenge will be heard on 31st January 2006 by Justice Anthony Whealy of the Supreme Court of NSW. 
In the course of Lodhi's trial, towards the end of December Justice Anthony Whealy ruled that evidence and pre-trial matters are to remain secret. 
A federal judge ruled Monday that the controversial morning-after pill Plan B must be made available without a prescription to girls as young as 17, citing the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) willingness to concede to the Bush administration's conservative influences by setting the age limit to 18 in 2006. 
Plan B, available in the United States since 1999, consists of two pills designed to prevent conception and must be taken within 72 hours of sexual intercourse. 
Only since 2006 has it been available without a prescription, following lobbying from the World Health Organization and American Medical Association. 
Currently the drug is only available without a prescription to women over the age of 18. 
The lawsuit was filed in 2005 by the Center for Reproductive Rights. 
In the ruling, the judge blasted the FDA for giving in to "political considerations" and delaying approval of the new age limit. 
Susan F. Wood, former director of women's health at the FDA, resigned in 2005 in protest over the agency's handling of the drug. 
“What happened with Plan B demonstrated that the agency was off track, and was not being allowed to do its job properly,” she said. 
The Family Research Council, a conservative organization, said the judge had given in to "political ideology promoting sexual license for teens." 
The FDA says it is reviewing the ruling, which it has thirty days to comply with. 
A 600 lb bomb which was found in Northern Ireland has been defused by a bomb disposal team. 
The bomb was found on the side of a road near the village of Forkhill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. 
It was defused by an expert bomb disposal team from the Irish Army. 
The explosives were home-made and weighed 600 lb (270 kg). 
It is believed that the bomb was planted there by dissident republicans. 
The Police Service of Northern Ireland believed that there could have been a "devastating outcome" — and that they were also potentially targets of the bombers. 
Chief Inspector Sam Cordner said: "The actions of terrorist criminals in planting this device in the Forkhill area put local people and police officers at significant risk." 
"Their target may have been the police, but they did not care who they killed or injured." 
"It is only through the hard work and professionalism of police officers and their military colleagues that the area has been made safe," Cordner said. 
20 people had to evacuate their homes while the bomb was safely defused. 
Authorities took the device and will conduct a forensic examination. 
A Southern Sudan Air Connection aircraft has crashed today in Southern Sudan, killing over a dozen people, including the area's defence minister. 
There are conflicting reports on how many people were on board and how many died in the Bahr Gazal crash, but at least twenty people were on board. 
Some sources suggest nineteen fatalities and two survivors, and others say there were 26 deaths and no survivors; it should be noted that if either of these were correct then there were more than twenty on board. 
Lieutenant General Dominic Dim Deng, the area's defence minister, is confirmed to be dead and it is thought at least 19 military officials are now deceased. 
"The plane had been rented from a charter company and was carrying a delegation of leaders from the (former rebel) Sudan People's Liberation Movement from Wau to the capital Juba," said Luka Mariak, spokesman for the Souther Sudan president Salva Kiir. 
This makes the journey around 450 kilometres (290 miles), with the plane crashing in a flat region 375 kilometres (around 220 miles) from Juba. 
The United Nations said that the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) had dispatched a helicopter to assist the emergency response effort. 
The UN also said that the aircraft was a Beechcraft 1900 and that they would fly in government officials and aviation experts to conduct an investigation. 
Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, UNMIS's Secretary-General's Special Representative, offered his condolences to the government on behalf of both UNMIS and th UN as a whole. 
Kiir said in a press conference "Twenty-one passengers were killed and either two or three crew members." 
"Two engines failed and there was nothing the pilot could do." 
Justin Yak and his wife are also confirmed to be dead. 
Yak was the minister for cabinet affairs until a 2007 reshuffle left him removed from office. 
He was an adviser to the president at the time of his death. 
Bodies were flown into Juba Airport were relatives waited for hours for news. 
UNMIS is expected to fly the bodies on to their nearby airfield, to which there is no public access. 
The disaster is thought to be an accident caused by mechanical trouble. 
The pilot had contacted Air Traffic Control (ATC) to report engine problems and requested permission to conduct an emergency landing at nearby Rumbek. 
In proceedings by the Guantanamo military commission at the United States Guantanamo Bay Naval Base on Monday, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and four alleged co-conspirators stated that they will confess and plead guilty to the charges they face in the planning and execution of the September 11 attacks in 2001. 
The defendants announced their intentions in court, with Stephen R. Henley reading their filing. 
He also said it was "our earnest desire" to admit guilt and said he wanted the proceeding to end because "I do not trust Americans." 
Mohammed also expressed displeasure that it took over a month for the court to address his filing requesting "an immediate hearing session to announce our confessions." 
In court he said, "I don't know — are the military commissions using carrier pigeons or what?" speaking in English. 
The judge would not accept pleas from Binalshibh and al-Hawsawi, ordering mental competency hearings for the two. 
Al Hawsawi objected and told the judge he decided to plead guilty "with all my complete mental capacity and voluntarily." 
However, Mohammed told the judge they would not enter their pleas without Binalshibh and al-Hawsawi, "We want everyone to plead together." 
After the competency evaluations, another hearing will be held, where the five may enter their pleas. 
Presiding Officer Stephen Henley asked for briefs from prosecutors on whether the military commission can "accept a plea of guilty to a capital offense." 
Monday's hearing was unusual in that, in addition to the press, the families of five 9/11 victims were also in attendance. 
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative has announced its goal to eradicate Polio from Asia in 2005. 
The 16 year old private-public project aims to add Poliomyelitis to the list of childhood diseases which have been eliminated. 
The World Health Organization, Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF are leading the Initiative and coordinating a series of overlapping immunization campaigns in the region. 
In 2004 Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan cut their number of Polio cases by 45%. 
In 2005 the goal is to cut the number of cases by 100%. 
The three countries are the last in Asia to have endemic polio, and the disease is confined to a small number of regions within the country. 
Only 186 cases were reported in 2004, down from 336 the previous year. 
The United States military Strategic Command (STRATCOM) has said that the 'fireballs' spotted over areas of Texas in the United States on Sunday February 15, are not related to the collision of a U.S. and Russian satellite in space. 
According to spaceweather.com, NASA says the object was a meteor. 
"There is no correlation between the debris from that collision and those reports of re-entry," said STRATCOM military spokeswoman Major Maj. Regina. 
"It's a natural meteor, definitely," said Bill Cooke, an astronomer at NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. 
On Tuesday, February 10, the American civilian communications satellite Iridium 33, launched in 1997, and the defunct Russian military communications satellite Kosmos-2251, launched in 1993, collided over Siberia. 
On Friday February 13, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued an alert for falling debris from the satellites, following reports of "explosions and earthquakes" along with "flashes in the sky" in Jackson and Louisville, Kentucky. 
Then again on Sunday, calls to 9-1-1 began to come in to Williamson County, Texas sheriff's office around 12:30 p.m. (Central time) that burning debris and fireballs were seen falling from the sky onto parts of Austin, Houston, Waco and San Antonio. 
"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported to local law enforcement on Friday that these events are being caused by falling satellite debris." 
"These pieces of debris have been causing sonic booms, resulting in vibrations felt by some residents, as well as flashes of light across the sky," said the NOAA on Friday in an public information alert posted on their website. 
The FAA says the burning material over Texas is not related to this alert. 
Residents in Texas reported their homes and windows shaking and large explosions on Sunday morning. 
After a search of several areas, the Williamson county sheriff's office reported that no debris or impact sites were found. 
Earlier unconfirmed reports had said the debris could have been the result of a small plane exploding. 
There was previous speculation was that the object in Texas could have been a meteor. 
Doctor Marco Ciocca, a professor at Eastern Kentucky University told WKYT on Sunday that it's too early for the debris from the satellites to be reentering the planet's atmosphere. 
"[It could] be months" before any of the satellite wreckage enters the earth's atmosphere. 
"It will either vaporize or stay in orbit for some time before falling into earth's atmosphere." 
However, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) said on February 12 that the debris could have taken 10 days or less to reenter over portions of the planet. 
"Within 24 hours of the collision, the U.S. space tracking system had identified 600 pieces of debris." 
"This large number suggests that the collision must have been relatively head-on." 
"If the two satellites hit head-on, rather than a glancing blow, the energy of the collision would completely disintegrate both satellites into clouds of debris," said the UCS in a statement on their website who also added that the collision took place in "the same region of space where China destroyed a defunct Chinese weather satellite with an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon" in 2007. 
"That January 2007 test created a massive amount of debris." 
There have been at least eight major satellite collisions since 1991. 
The satellites, both of which had a mass in excess of 450 kilograms, and were traveling at approximately 17,500 miles per hour (28,150 km/hour), collided 491 miles (790 km) above the earth. 
Scientists say the explosion caused by the collision was massive. 
They are still trying to determine just how large the crash was and how the earth will be affected. 
The results of a plotting analysis will be posted to a public website. 
New research published in the journal Nature Medicine has shown a link between a faulty gene and migraines. 
Scientists hope that this discovery will lead to improved pain management treatments for sufferers, with possible benefits for pain treatment generally. 
The breakthrough involves a gene known as TRESK, thought to control the brain's reaction to pain: if it is defective, then many normal activities and actions will be painful. 
Migraine sufferers (thought in the United Kingdom to number about eight per cent of men and eighteen per cent of women) often complain that light, noise and touch cause pain. 
TRESK can potentially be affected by drugs that would change the point at which it reports pain, which would alleviate the suffering of those with migraines. 
The study involved scientists from the Medical Research Council Functional Genomics Unit at the University of Oxford and from Canada. 
They looked at the DNA of 110 people with migraine and members of their family, and found that TRESK was a major component in migraines. 
One of the Oxford researchers, consultant neurologist Zameel Cader, described it as a "once in a generation find" and said that it could "potentially lead to a treatment for pain in general." 
Before this study, no genes had been directly linked to migraines, although parts of the DNA that raised the general risk had been found. 
Migraines are described by the World Health Organisation as a major worldwide cause of disability. 
In Britain, it is estimated that migraines affect 20 per cent of the population, with about 190,000 migraines occurring daily and over 25 million lost days from work every year. 
Lee Tomkin, director of a sufferers' charity, Migraine Action, described the news as "fantastic" and "genuinely a really great step forward." 
Professor Peter Goadsby from the Migraine Trust termed it "a novel direction to consider new therapies in this very disabling condition." 
With studies suggesting the existence of life on Mars, the new system may soon see implementation. 
Paraguay beat Trinidad and Tobago in a match that had no effect on the qualifiers through to the round sixteen of the Fifa World Cup, Tuesday. 
Paraguay edged the game from start to finish and got a goal in each half. 
Trinidad and Tobago could manage just two shots to trouble Aldo Bobadilla in the Paraguay net. 
Kelvin Jack, who started his first Fifa World Cup game, made seven saves. 
After 25 minutes Jack was a bystander when Roberto Acuna's freekick was driven hard into the box. 
Jack's central defender Brent Sancho inadvertently directed the ball goalbound with his head. 
The goal that sealed the game for the South Amercians was scored six minutes from time by Nelson Cuevas after he had exchanged passes with Roque Santa Cruz. 
The game was notable for being the last appearance for Carlos Gamarra, 35, for his national side. 
After three games the Group B table was topped by England with seven points and then Sweden with five points with Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago going out of the competition. 
The Common Council requested on Tuesday that a picture be found on what many thought was the site of a previous hotel. 
The Proposed Elmwood Village Hotel would be placed on the intersection of Elmwood and Forest. 
It was suspected by residents and business owners in the area that hotel once stood in the same spot. 
The Elmwood Village hotel is a proposed development by Savarino Construction Services Corp. 
After some research, a freelance journalist writing for Wikinews was able to determine that there was never a hotel on the proposed Elmwood Village Hotel site. 
However; there was a temporary hotel located on the northeast corner of Elmwood and Forest. 
Buffalo was the host of the Pan-American Exposition from May 1 until November 2, 1901. 
It was a fair designed to feature the latest in technology, including electricity. 
There was a midway, athletic events, and had African, Eskimo, and Mexican villages. 
However; what is likely the most famous event that took place at the exposition was the assassination of then President William McKinley on September 6, 1901. 
He was shot by Leon Czolgosz just outside the Temple of Music and died eight days later while in the home of John Milburn on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. 
Just a short time later, Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated on September 14, 1901 at the Wilcox House on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. 
During that time several hotels and rooming houses were built around the exposition including The Elmwood at 717 Elmwood, the Hotel Elmhurst at Forest and Lincoln Parkway, Hotel Gibbs 1005-1021 Elmwood, the R. Palmerton Merritt at 441 Forest and The Norman at 422 Forest. 
Probably the most famous hotel that was built during the exposition was the Statler's Pan-American Hotel built by Ellsworth Milton Statler. 
A freelance journalist writing for Wikinews has obtained the only known reproduction photo of the hotel [pictured at the top]. 
The hotel stood on the northeast corner of Elmwood and Forest Avenues in Buffalo, had 2,100 sleeping rooms and accommodations for 5,000. 
At the time, the Statler was the largest hotel [based on the number of rooms] ever constructed. 
It was three stories high, plastered on the inside, made mostly of wood and was covered with ornamental staff on the outside, which made it semi-fireproof. 
Every room was an outside room and was well lighted and ventilated. 
It was located within one block of the exposition's main entrance. 
The Statler was built for only one thing, the exposition. 
Work began in 1900 and finished just before the beginning of the exposition. 
When the exposition ended in November, the hotel was taken down. 
Maps from 1894 show that there was no hotel, let alone any buildings or houses on the intersection. 
However; research did show that the homes 1119-1121 Elmwood, the buildings that would be demolished to build the Elmwood Village Hotel, were built sometime before 1915 but were not on the intersection prior to 1902. 
Based on research conducted at the Buffalo Historical Society, it was concluded that between the years of 1890 and 1902, no other major hotel existed in the area. 
In fact, research had shown that almost every hotel built in the area, existed only during the time of the exposition. 
Research also indicated a hotel or a rooming house at 1089 Elmwood around 1901-1903. 
The only known name of the hotel was the John C. Hill Hotel. 
The hotel was in the house now called the Atwater House. 
The house was the first house to be built on the east side of the block. 
The Atwater House is currently vacant and owner Pano Georgiadis wants to demolish it to expand his restaurant. 
The house was built by 1894 and the original owner and builder of the house is currently unknown. 
Its earliest known occupant was Edward Atwater who in 1862 founded the oil refinery company of Atwater & Hawes in Buffalo. 
The site of this company was recently uncovered in the Canal District during an archeological dig. 
At the moment, current research does not show any connection between the two men. 
Numerous cities throughout Texas, United States have begun broadening their efforts to fight mosquito populations, in an effort to reduce transmission of the sometimes-lethal West Nile virus. 
Officials in Dallas county have declared a public health emergency. 
Officials there have requested use of five planes, intended to spray most of North Dallas, as well as other sections of the city. 
Tim Whitley, a city official in Malakoff, told Wikinews his city has begun using a pesticide specialist to spray two times weekly. 
According to Whitley, certain atmospheric conditions, such as wind speed and humidity, must be right before the large scale treatments can occur. 
He explained two treatments per week is more often than usual for the city. 
"With the concerns in Dallas, we're taking it seriously", Whitley added. 
Even in the drier climate found in Abilene, mosquitos recently tested were carrying the virus. 
As a result, that city has increased its pesticide treatments. 
Media sources indicate well over 80 cases of West Nile virus have been reported this year in Dallas county alone. 
A top-ranking Dallas county official told media he views the problem with serious concern. 
There have been nine cases of West Nile virus in the Houston region, with one of those resulting in death. 
A New Jersey woman who is a former resident of Lubbock told media earlier this month she'd contracted the virus and believed she'd been bitten while visiting Austin. 
About 60 percent of West Nile cases in the U.S. happen in Texas. 
Historically, there have been some objections raised over aerial spraying and the potential health hazards distributing such chemicals may pose. 
A California study, however, showed evidence that in areas where aerial spraying occurred, infection was six times less likely to occur. 
The earliest cases of the virus appeared in the U.S. in the late 1990s. 
Initial results gave Afghan President Hamid Karzai more than the 50% of votes necessary to re-elect him in the country's recent presidential elections. 
However, after a month of speculation about vote-rigging, officials from the United Nations-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) have discounted ballots from 210 polling stations. 
European Union observers have claimed that as many as one in four votes may be in doubt. 
The Afghanistan ECC has published a report about their investigation into allegations which emerged after the polls two months ago. 
The EEC has stated that there was "clear and convincing evidence of fraud" at polling stations throughout the country. 
As the ECC reports to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) no official announcement has been made yet, although by law the IEC is obliged to accept the EEC findings; however foreign diplomats have suggested that the IEC may not accept the findings. 
President Karzai has refused to accept the investigation's findings, which reduce his share of the vote from around 55% to under 50%, leading to what Mohammad Moin Marastyal, one of the campaign team members, describes as "deadlock". 
Marastyal claims that the EEC deliberately altered the facts to force a runoff. 
"Effort has been made to lower Karzai's vote to below 50 per cent," he stated. 
The Indonesian province of Aceh was struck by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake at 3:08 PM local time (8:08 AM GMT). 
The epicentre was 319 km (198 miles) off the coast of Sumatra, close to the island of Simeulue. 
At least three people have been killed and several buildings have been damaged. 
The same region was hit by an earthquake in 2004, that triggered a tsunami. 
According to local citizens the quake lasted about one minute and was felt in Banda Aceh, the province capital, approximately 300 km (185 mls) away, also in Meulaboh and Gunung Sitoli on Nias island. 
The U.S. Geological Survey, that reported the earthquake, says that no local tsunami warning has been issued. 
Minutes after the quake hit, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning that parts of the Sumatran coast were at risk of a possible tsunami but was later cancelled. 
Japan's meteorological agency said India's Andaman and Nicobar island chain was also at risk. 
Indonesia's meteorology and geophysics agency recorded at least two aftershocks about 20 minutes after the first tremors, one measuring 5.5 and the other 5.3 on the Richter scale. 
Budi Waluyo, an official at the National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake occurred about 30 kilometres beneath the ground. 
The US Geological Survey measured the quake at 7.6 on the Richter scale. 
"The quake has no tsunami potential because it's happening under the ground, not the sea," Waluyo said. 
It just wasn't their day for the two baseball teams on either side of the Straight, as China Stars and Uni-President Lions were both eliminated in a route at the Konami Cup 2007. 
The final of Konami Cup will take place between SK Wyverns and Chunichi Dragons. 
Lead poisoning has taken the lives of at least 163 individuals in the northern Nigerian state of Zamfara in recent weeks. 
Sometime during March residents of remote villages began illegally mining gold in areas of high lead concentration. 
There have been a total of 355 reported cases, setting the fatality rate at 46%. 
According to Henry Akpan, chief epidemiologist at Nigeria's Ministry of Health, 111 of the 163 recorded deaths have been children, many only several years old. 
Akpan further said that officials had seen young children playing in contaminated water located near the mining sites. 
The government had found through their yearly immunization program that there were almost no children living in the villages of Zamfara. 
Adults from the area reported that the children had died of malaria. 
However, after an investigation, health officials concluded that there was an abnormally large amount of lead circulating in the villagers' bodies. 
Nigeria's government has requested assistance from international organizations, including the World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in averting a widespread outbreak. 
The Ministry has meanwhile organized two camps for villagers suffering from the poison. 
The South African government has reported that former President Nelson Mandela has been discharged from a hospital in Pretoria, where he was hospitalised December 8. 
Mandela received hospital treatment for gallstones and a lung infection. 
Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj said Mandela "will undergo home-based high care at his Houghton home until he recovers fully". 
Mandela was hospitalised for eighteen days, his longest hospitalisation since 1990, when he was released from prison after 27 years. 
Current president Jacob Zuma visited Mandela in hospital this past weekend. 
Zuma visited Mandela again on Christmas, as did Graca Machel, Mandela's wife. 
Mandela has been hospitalised three times since the start of last year. 
In January 2011, Mandela received hospital treatment for an acute respiratory infection. 
Work at a Robben Island limestone quarry, where he was imprisoned for sixteen years during South Africa's Apartheid, damaged his eyes and lungs. 
During the 1980s, while still a prisoner on Robben Island, he developed . 
Maharaj, once a political prisoner alongside Mandela during Apartheid, expressed thanks for public and media support and allowing Mandela privacy. 
On behalf of the government, Maharaj also asked for a "continuation of the privacy in order to allow for the best possible conditions for full recovery". 
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, (BOM) 2005 was the hottest year since reliable, widespread temperature observations became available in 1910. 
Data collected by the Bureau show Australia's annual mean temperature for 2005 was 1.09°C above the standard 1961-90 average. 
The Bureau of Meteorology says the result is more evidence of climate change. 
The Bureau's Blair Trewin said: "We've seen things like the general retreat of the winter snow line." 
"We've seen a marked decrease in the frequency of frost, especially in inland Queensland," Dr Trewin said. 
"We've seen an increase in the number of extreme hot days." 
"All the projections we have from climate models we would expect to see continued warming through the 21st century," he said. 
"Numbers like this ... are another piece of evidence that climate change is real and it's a real issue." 
Despite unseasonably cool weather in the South West of Western Australia, 2005 was a hot year over most of the nation, with the Northern Territory (NT) bearing the brunt. 
The NT area-average maximum temperature was 1.45°C above the long-term mean, the largest anomaly of any state or territory. 
The Bureau says that while these temperature departures may seem relatively small, a 1°C increase in mean temperatures is equivalent to many southern Australian towns shifting northward by about 100km. 
All States and Territories, apart from Victoria and Tasmania, recorded 2005 mean temperatures amongst their top two warmest years on record. 
The only region recording a cooler than normal year was a coastal strip of Western Australia extending from Cape Leeuwin to Carnarvon. 
Australia's previous warmest years on record were influenced by significant El Niño events, say the Bureau. 
However, no such event occurred in 2005, making the record warmth even more unusual. 
Since 1979, all but four years have been warmer than average in Australia. 
Australian temperatures have increased by approximately 0.9ºC since 1910 - consistent with global warming trends. 
Scientific studies have linked global and Australian temperature increases to the enhanced greenhouse effect. 
The early months of 2005 were also very dry over much of Australia with the January-May period being the 2nd driest on record. 
Australia's area-averaged rainfall is calculated from a network of around 5000 rainfall stations. 
Observations from this network reveal that, when compared to historical records, Tasmania was the wettest State in 2005, while Queensland and Western Australia were the driest. 
Over the New Year bushfires have caused havoc in many parts of Australia, with houses, farm stock devastated. 
Thousands of hectares of bushland and farmland have been burnt out. 
Environmentalists say the weather is a precursor of things to come: "2005 gave us a little taste of what life will be like if we fail to tackle climate change," Greenpeace's Catherine Fitzpatrick said. 
"The extreme heat and bushfires of New Year's Day 2006 showed that it isn't going to be fun." 
"If action isn't taken soon to avoid catastrophic climate change, Australians will have John Howard to blame for failing to act when he had the chance." 
Ms Fitzpatrick said the Federal Government was as beholden to the coal and aluminium industries as the Japanese government was to whaling companies, and with far more devastating impacts. 
"Today's figures should spur our Environment Minister ... to real action – ratify Kyoto, quit coal and move towards clean, renewable energy," Ms Fitzpatrick said. 
Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell said he recognised climate change was the biggest modern-day environmental challenge. 
"I think that climate change is alarming," he said on ABC radio. 
"I regard climate change as the number one environmental challenge …" 
"These figures add to the weight of evidence that climate change is real and it's a problem that the world needs to work together to seek to solve." 
Australia and the United States are the only developed nations to have refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol, which calls on countries to cut greenhouse emissions by 5.2 per cent below 1990 levels by 2012. 
The Government argues Kyoto will not work because it does not commit developing nations to reducing emissions. 
"It only covers just over a third of the countries of the world and ... we need something that includes all countries of the world," said Senator Campbell. 
Many regions across the globe also reported an exceptionally warm year. 
According to a preliminary estimate released by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the global mean temperature for 2005 was about 0.48°C above normal, putting 2005 amongst the four warmest years globally since records commenced in 1861. 
The aftershock reached a magnitude of 5.9 with the epicenter located nineteen kilometers west of Pichilemu, according to the University of Chile Geological Survey (UCGS). 
However, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported that it reached a magnitude of 5.8; had a depth of 8,5 kilometers; and that the epicenter was located 65 kilometers at the southwest of San Antonio, Valparaíso; 100 kilometers at the west of Rancagua, O'Higgins 105 kilometers at the northwest of Curicó, Maule and; 135 kilometers at the southwest of Santiago, Metropolitan Region. 
United States glam metal band Poison is suing Capitol Records and EMI Music Marketing over an alleged breach of contract. 
Poison claim the two companies have underpaid them royalties for years. 
The band claims Capitol miscategorized various record sales and miscalculated every possible expense since the 1980s. 
They say when attempting to check company records they received no co-operation and are now asking a judge to order the firms to reveal their records so the band can determine how much they are owed. 
New signing Laurent Robert and the return of Greg Sutton were not enough for Toronto F.C. as they fell 4-1 to D.C. United in Washington. 
Early goals from Luciano Emilio and Santino Quaranta left Toronto in an uphill battle for the rest of the match. 
The hill only became bigger in the 22nd minute when Kevin Harmse put in a hard challenge on Gonzalo Peralta and was subsequently sent off. 
Marcelo Gallardo then made it 3-0 for the home side in the 52nd minute. 
Quaranta crossed the ball and Gallardo was wide open to smash the ball into an open net. 
Jaime Moreno capped off the scoring for D.C. in the 78th before Edu opened Toronto's MLS account with his first goal of the season. 
The loss leaves Toronto at 0-2-0 on the season, while DC pick up their first win after losing their opener. 
DC now travel to play Real Salt Lake, while Toronto will visit David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy. 
Between the debate and the first voting round Bobošíková withdrew her candidacy, citing a lack of support for her. 
Thai-Japanese Bangkok Youth Center, Bangkok — Wikinews interviewed Georgia Inglis, of the Australia women's national wheelchair basketball team, known as the Gliders. 
The Gliders are in Bangkok, Thailand, for the Asia-Oceania Zone Wheelchair Basketball Championships, which are being held at the Thai-Japanese Bangkok Youth Center. 
They are hoping to qualify for the World Championships, which are being held in Toronto, Canada, in June next year. 
Inglis is one of two new players in the team. 
Wikinews caught up with her before the Gliders' match against China. 
The United States 2008 federal deficit has reached a record high, US$454.8 billion—more than double last year's deficit. 
Financial experts believe that next year, the deficit will reach over $700 billion, while the National Debt Clock has recently run out of digits to record over $10 trillion in national debt. 
The deficit is now equivalent to 3.2% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the United States, with the government's total income being 17.8% of GDP, and total outlays being equivalent to 21% of GDP. 
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson blamed the deficit on the housing market, related markets, and slow growth. 
He said the news would "reinforce the need to not only address short-term challenges, but pursue policies that promote economic growth and fiscal responsibility, and address entitlement reform". 
Democrats like Senator Kent Conrad, however, placed the blame on "President Bush's failed policies". 
"The reality is that the next president will be inheriting a fiscal and economic mess of historic proportions," said Conrad, adding that "it will take years to dig our way out". 
Another Democrat, House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt, also blamed the Bush administration. 
"The eight years of this administration will include the five biggest budget deficits in history," he said. 
"The resulting debt will be passed to our children and grandchildren." 
Jim Nussle, director of the Office of Management and Budget said that he believes that the deficit will start to decline. 
"The bipartisan stimulus bill and the slow economy are the primary reasons for the increase in deficit as reflected in this year's budget results." 
"This increase reinforces the need to adopt and maintain policies that promote economic growth and fiscal responsibility, including entitlement reform and pro-growth tax policies." 
"I am confident the economy can return to stronger growth with a declining deficit—after working through current challenges if Congress limits wasteful and excessive spending." 
The special TADA court hearing the 1993 Mumbai blasts case began delivering its verdict today. 
Four members of the Memon family, Yakub, Essa, Rubina and Yusuf, were found guilty of conspiring and abetting acts of terrorism and also having contacts with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, and now face between 5 years and life in prison. 
The judge decided to acquit three other Memons, Suleiman, Hanifa and Raheen, giving them the benefit of the doubt. 
Yakub, younger brother of prime accused Ibrahim Mushtaq 'Tiger' Memon, was also convicted of possessing unauthorised arms. 
The rest of the accused, including Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt, will hear the judgements in their cases over a period of four weeks. 
After hearing the court's ruling against him, Yakub lost his temper, hurling abuses at the judge and accusing him of "making terrorists out of innocents". 
After the blasts, which killed over 250 people in 13 explosions across the city, the Memon family fled to Dubai, and then Pakistan. 
Except Tiger and his brother Ayub, however, the rest of them returned to India in 1994, and were arrested by the CBI. 
Since then, Yakub has been in custody and has, according to his lawyer Subhash Kanse, been undergoing treatment for depression. 
England have beaten West Indies by five wickets in the second Twenty20 international of the West Indies tour of England at The Oval, London, England. 
England's victory tied the two match series 1-1 after West Indies won the first Twenty20 yesterday. 
Chris Gayle got the West Indies off to a good start with 61 runs off 37 balls, but the England bowlers and fielders restricted their score to 169-7 after 20 overs despite some big hits from Marlon Samuels. 
In reply, England faltered, losing three wickets in 14 balls followed by the dismissal of Kevin Pietersen for 19. 
However Owais Shah scored 55 to help England past the target. 
The tour now moves on to a series of three One-Day International matches starting on 1st July. 
Earlier in the tour, England won a four match Test series 3-0. 
London, England — Yesterday Wikinews had the opportunity to tour the Ottobrock wheelchair repair workshops at the Paralympic Village in London. 
It is one of a network of workshops at every Paralympic venue. 
They are run by Ottobrock, which has been repairing wheelchairs at the Paralympics since 1988. 
The workshop opened on August 22 and will remain until September 10. 
They liken themselves to the pit crew of motor sport — except that they have no idea what sort of equipment they will have to work with. 
The store room contains 15,000 spare parts, with everything from spare carbon fibre running blades to spare tyres — over 2,000 of them. 
They stock Ottobrock parts and their competitors' too, as they have no idea what will arrive at the workshop next. 
Athletes from around the world bring in all manner of equipment. 
The prosthetic technicians have to deal with everything from flat tyres to broken spokes to full-scale rebuilds. 
They frequently collaborate on determining how best to effect a repair. 
The objective is to get the wheelchair repaired and back in service as soon as possible. 
Those for wheelchair basketball and rugby have cambered wheels so they can spin around. 
Ottobrock has a welding workshop where frames are repaired; the teams' equipment managers understandably cannot bring such heavy equipment with them to the games, so they rely on the workshops. 
When a repair job is required, it is often required in a hurry. 
At the Turkey vs United States game, a chair was repaired during the match. 
In addition to wheelchairs, the workshops handle all manner of work with prostheses. 
The Chinese Boccia team brought in its power chairs to have the electronics adjusted. 
In that sport, having the controls working perfectly is all-important. 
Close to 6,500 civilians have been killed and many thousands more wounded in the past three months during heavy fighting in Sri Lanka, according to a report by the United Nations. 
Earlier this year, the army launched a crackdown on the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers) to oust them from their territory in the northeastern part of Sri Lanka, which the rebels have occupied for several years. 
The rebels have now been forced back to a small coastal strip, where about fifty thousand people have been trapped after the area was evacuated of 100,000 people. 
Thangamuttu Sathyamurthi, a government health official in the war zone, reported that people were dying of starvation, and that there was a large deficit of medicine and food. 
According to the medical relief group Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders), many of the people who had fled the conflict zone had gunshot and blast wounds. 
The government has accused the Tamil Tiger rebels of using civilians as human shields, a claim that the rebels deny. 
The rebels have accused the Sri Lankan army of randomly shelling civilian areas. 
The U.N. says that the rate of civilian deaths in the country has risen sharply. 
On average, 33 civilians were killed per day at the end of January. 
The number has now increased to an average 116 per day. 
Quarterback Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers broke Dan Marino's record for career touchdown passes on Sunday, throwing number 421 to receiver Greg Jennings with 4:56 left in the first quarter. 
The recordbreaking pass was a 16-yard slant route, and Favre had to throw a bullet to complete it. 
Though the game was being played at the Metrodome, even the Minnesota Vikings fans stood and applauded as Favre celebrated with his teammates. 
After the announcement of the record was made, a taped message from Marino played on the Jumbotron. 
"I'd like to take a minute to congratulate you on breaking one of the great records in sports." 
"I loved holding the touchdown record for the past 13 years, but if someone was going to break it, I'm glad it was someone like you, who has always competed at the highest level and always played only to win," said Marino. 
"Over the past 17 years, you've been a credit to the Packers, and to the National Football League and to the sport that we all love so much." 
This historic event came just two weeks after Favre broke John Elway's record for career wins by a quarterback, defeating the New York Giants for win number 149. 
The Green Bay icon also holds the records for career completions and consecutive games started by a quarterback, which continued on Sunday at 241. 
Later in the second quarter of today's game, Favre threw the 8,359th pass of his career, eclipsing another of Marino's records. 
When asked about the record after the game, a subdued Favre said,"It's just a number." 
"I'm more proud of the fact that we won this game..." 
"I'm pleased it's over, and I'm honored." 
"To play this long, I think, is a special thing and to achieve this is, uh, very special,". 
He added that, in his mind, Dan Marino is still the best quarterback of all time. 
ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna), a separatist group based out of the Basque region of northern Spain, announced in a recorded and written message that it would end its armed campaign for independence, instead focusing on political means for achieving its goals. 
In the video sent to the BBC, ETA stated that, while the autonomy framework enshrined in the Spanish constitution is "not the way to satisfy the wishes of the Basque people", the organisation was committed to finding a democratic solution to the conflict. 
Several analysts have suggested that this most recent ceasefire is based on ETA's tactics causing their support in the Basque region to plummet. 
Author Paddy Woodworth found in a recent trip to the region that the group's actions had made former supporters of the movement believe ETA was politically finished. 
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford said that ETA is at the weakest point in its 51-year history and that the ceasefire may just be a ploy to disguise that weakness. 
The group, which is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union and the United States, have declared ceasefires several times before, which have all ended in a resumption of violence. 
The most recent ceasefire, in 2006, led to peace talks between the group and the Spanish government, but they were interrupted by a car-bombing at Madrid's Barajas Airport. 
The bombing was frowned upon by all involved in the peace process, including other Basque separatist parties in the region. 
Ian Alleyne, host of Trinidad TV show Crime Watch, has been charged with crimes under the Sexual Offences Act after a tape purporting to show a mentally ill teenage girl being raped was allegedly broadcast last year. 
The footage allegedly was on-air thrice last October and triggered multiple complaints to police. 
Caribbean Communications Network's (CCN's) channel TV6 is jointly charged under the same act as Alleyne, as well as under the Telecommunications Act. 
Alleyne has been hospitalised following his arrest, owing to chest pains. 
He is due to go before a magistrate, and cannot receive bail until he does so. 
Police had visited CCN offices in Port of Spain twice last year seeking the tape. 
Alleyne issued a message to The Trinidad Express criticising the decision not to grant him bail until he appears in court. 
He said it "is really a sad state of affairs on the part of the police." 
"What have I done that they have seen it fit to ensure that I'm only granted bail before a magistrate?" 
Mexico's electoral court has unanimously rejected claims of massive fraud in the July 2nd presidential election and reported that the partial recount ordered at the end of last month has not changed the original result of a narrow victory for conservative candidate Felipe Calderon of the National Action Party (PAN). 
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party (PRD), continues to insist that the election was rigged and has vowed to continue fighting the result. 
Lopez Obrador has rejected the ruling and suggested forming a rival parallel government. 
There is no legal avenue to appeal the court's ruling, in except of the 39th article of the Mexican Constitution which states: "The sovereignty of the state resides on the citizens." 
"The citizens have always the righ to change or to modify its government", article that has been claimed by Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador as a right to summon a National Democratic Convention. 
The seven judges have until August 31 to resolve all complaints and until September 6 to officially declare a president-elect or annul the elections. 
Lopez Obrador has led massive protests in Mexico City over the past month demanding a full recount. 
"Never more will we accept that an illegal and illegitimate government is installed in our country," he told thousands of supporters following the ruling calling upon them to never accept Calderon as president and to decide if he should form a parallel government and (or) continue nationwide protests. 
Leonel Castillo, the president of the tribunal, said Lopez Obrador's claims of massive fraud "turned out to be completely unfounded." 
Lopez Obrador's election team had filed complaints at 50,000 polling stations but the court ordered a recount at only 11,839 stations or 9% of all voting locations following massive street protests. 
Calderon won the intial ballot count by a margion of less than 0.6% 
Australia will press on with plans to withdraw its troops from Iraq in June this year, although promises were made by the nation's foreign minister that relations with the United States will not be affected by the move. 
Foreign minister Stephen Smith said that the withdrawal will be conducted in an orderly fashion to minimise inconvenience to other nations in Iraq. 
Speaking in New York as part of his first US visit since the election he said "We want to do that in a way which sees minimal disruption, which causes the least inconvenience to our allies there, both the United States and the United Kingdom." 
On Monday Smith will meet with Condoleezza Rice and others to discuss Afghanistan, where Australia also has troops stationed. 
It is currently the intention for this to remain the case. 
Smith said of the effect on relations with the US - which have been strong since World War II - "It's not something which I believe will disturb what to date has been a very good working relationship between the new government and the (U.S.) administration." 
"It's a very strong alliance - an alliance which transcends changes in governments." 
"Administrations come and go, governments come and go, but the alliance is a long-term, enduring fundamental relationship between our two nations." 
The confirmation is important as Australia saw a new government elected in November. 
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd (Labour) defeated Conservative head and former PM John Howard. 
Howard is a supporter of US President George W. Bush and his government. 
Germany beat Argentina 4-2 on penalties to book a place in the Fifa World Cup semi-finals in Berlin, Friday. 
The match had drawn 1-1 without many clear chances for either side due to defensive play on both sides. 
First it was Germany who were unable to be positive as Argentina dominated play with 65 per cent of ball possession. 
Four minutes after half-time Roberto Ayala got across Miroslav Klose to meet Juan Riquelme's corner which he powered between Jens Lehmann and his near post guard, Philipp Lahm. 
The goal early in the second period made for a more exciting match which had been mostly uneventful in a first half during which neither side could muster more than a single shot. 
Juergen Klinsmann may be credited with a substitution change that partially helped Germany get an equalising goal. 
The fast David Odonkor troubled Juan Sorin and the Argentine left flank and allowed Germany to press forward nearer to the opposition penalty area. 
Argentine manager may also have made a tactical mistake and suffered form a moment of bad fortune. 
In the minutes before Germany equalised from Ballack's wonderful left field cross his goalkeeper had to be stretchered off with a muscle injury. 
Jose Pekerman followed his keeper's substitutions with two defensive ones; taking off creative midfield playmaker Riquelme and forward Hernan Crespo. 
The gifts of Lionel Messi and Javier Saviola were left on the bench while Julio Cruz, a long ball-holding forward, was brought on to partner Carlos Tevez. 
The bad luck and changes seemed to put Germany in charge of the tactical game for the first time in the match. 
A minute after Cruz arrived Pekerman might have regretted his decision. 
Klose's fifth World Cup goal ten minutes from time put him at the top of the Fifa Golden Boot leader board as the tournament's highest goalscorer. 
He beat his marker to dip and head beyond Leonardo Franco after Tim Borowski, a substitution on 74 minutes, had flicked on a Ballack cross. 
The game finished 1-1 and the two halves of extra time mirrored the match; first half uneventful, the second half more attacking. 
Fabricio Coloccini came closest to breaking the deadlock when he hit the crossbar from 45 yards trying to catch Lehmann off his goal line. 
Neither Germany or Argentina had lost in a World Cup penalty contest; both sides had won three. 
All the penalties hit the target and were well struck, except Ayala's who hit a soft effort which Lehmann saved to his left. 
Cambiasso's effort to Lehmann's left was better struck but the keeper had guessed the right side to dive to break Argentine hearts. 
FIFA launched an investigation into an on-field melee which began after the penalties had been decided in Germany's favour. 
Unused Argentine substitute Leandro Cufre assaulted German Per Mertesacker and was presented the red card by Lubos Michel. 
According to the German captain Michael Ballack the conflict originated when Argentine players shouted at the German team during the shootout. 
When Tim Borowski got Germany's fourth penalty he made a sign to the Argentine players to be quiet. 
After the penalty kicks Argentine players approached Borowski and a scuffle of mostly pushing began that involved dozens of players, referees, coaches and substitutes. 
FIFA said television pictures would be looked at and fines or sanctions would be considered if appropriate. 
Mark Webber gained his maiden Formula 1 win today at the German Grand Prix, after 130 races. 
His Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel came in second, with Ferrari's Felipe Massa third. 
Webber started from pole position, but touched Rubens Barrichello at the beginning after a slow start. 
He received a drive through penalty for this offence, which he served at the end of his fourteenth lap. 
This enabled him to join back in to the race in first place. 
Jenson Button remains first in the championship with 68 points, with Vettel and Webber overtaking Barrichello, taking second and third respectively. 
After the win, Webber said "I lost Rubens off the start, I thought he had gone to the left but he went right and I banged into him." 
"I had a drive-through and my engineer kept me calm." 
"It was a difficult winter, Sebastian showed in winter testing what the car could do, so I kept my motivation high and I was hurting a lot." 
"The team had patience with me, everyone in Australia and a few people who doubted me too so hello to them as well." 
Today has seen Britain's hottest recorded July day with temperatures hitting 36.5ºC (97.7ºF) in Wisley in Surrey. 
Warm air from the Gulf Stream is raising the temperature, and the hot weather is causing the asphalt on some public roads to melt, requiring gritting. 
Some schools stayed closed on Wednesday, while others shut at lunchtime. 
People have been advised to drink plenty of water, not go out in the midday sun and keep curtains closed to cool rooms. 
People have also been asked to check the most vulnerable, including the elderly, the young and the sick. 
The RSPCA has also told pet owners to try and keep their pets cool. 
The heat wave has also hit northern France and the Netherlands, with 4 people reported dead due to heatstroke. 
Lerwick in the Shetland Islands is currently cloudy with fog, at only 18ºC (64ºF) 
Weather forecasters have said that while the temperatures are not going to rise any further, it will get more humid as a band of showers arrive this evening, with night-time temperatures at 19ºC in London and Cardiff, 14ºC in Edinburgh and 18ºC in Dublin. 
When it was announced that William and Kate had become engaged Prince Harry commented saying that: "It means I get a sister, which I have always wanted," and that he was "delighted". 
As well as the announcements of the best man and Maid of Honour, other plans have been released as well. 
The four bridesmaids have been announced as the daughter of the Earl and Countess of Wessex, Lady Louise Windsor, who is seven years old. 
Eight-year-old Margarita Armstrong-Jones, who is the daughter of Viscount and Viscountess Linley, and three-year-old Grace van Cutsem, the daughter of Hugh van Cutsem, who is a close friend to both William and Kate. 
The three-year-old granddaughter of the Duchess of Cornwall will be the forth bridesmaid. 
Two page boys have been announced as William Lowther-Pinkerton and Tom Pettifer. 
Lowther-Pinkerton is the son of William's private secretary while Pettifer is the son of William and Harry's former nanny, Tiggy Legge-Bourke. 
However, details of the bridesmaid dresses and page boys uniforms will not be revealed until the day of the wedding. 
Vladimir Putin has relieved from power Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, the head of the Russian navy. 
This comes a month after an incident where 7 Russian sailors became trapped in a submarine, and had to be rescued with help from abroad. 
No reason was given for Kuroyedov's dismissal, although Admiral Eduard Baltin speculated on Moscow Radio that it may be because of the navy chief's poor health. 
Admiral Kuroyedov was in charge of the navy during the Kursk disaster of 2000, in which 118 sailors died when their submarine sank. 
Kuroyedov is being replaced by Vladimir Masorin, who was previously serving as the Chief of staff for the Russian Navy. 
In remarks Putin made about this leadership change and referring to Masorin, he said "The recent exercises, including those I have attended, show that the navy is developing and that is certainly your merit to a large extent." 
Putin also added "at the same time, there were difficult events, tragedies, but I would like to underline once again that with all these problems, all these tragedies, the main thing is that the Navy is undergoing a revival." 
Masorin added while in a hall at the Admiralty, "One thing is clear — to continue in the condition which we are in and do nothing is simply not possible." 
"I have been given the task of stopping the navy shaking public opinion." 
"I am not experiencing euphoria at being appointed head of the navy." 
A conflict erupted between Greek Orthodox monks and Arab Christians in Jerusalem on Good Friday, as the Arab Christians protested the monks' sale of church land to Jewish residents. 
Israeli police broke up the protest near the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. 
Omar Harani, a 25-year-old leading the protesters, told the Telegraph, "We gave the land 2,000 years ago to the Church to look after," and continued, "So it is not their land to sell." 
"For hundreds of years we Christians, who used to be 15 per cent of the population, have been persecuted and driven out of the Holy Land and now we are a tiny minority." 
"But we will make our voice heard to stop this sale." 
After having a meeting in Bari, Italy, on the 13th of March, the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Romano Prodi, gave a press-conference, summarizing the results of their conversations. 
The main point the two leaders agreed on was that only diplomatic means should be used in solving such international conflicts as in Afghanistan, Iraq and, especially, Iran with its nuclear program issue. 
Mr. Putin confirmed once again his views on any use of armed forces in resolving such international conflicts. 
Mr. Prodi agreed with the Russian President on this point and also stated that such conflicts should be solved using a multi-lateral approach, where several nations would take part in discussions. 
In addition to this the potential of the UN authority should be used, added Mr. Prodi. 
The Prime Minister said that Italy is looking forward to a closer cooperation with Russia in the UN Security Council, as well as in the energy sector. 
All of this could be reached only through thoroughly developed partnership agreements, he added. 
Held Sunday, the first annual Brampton Day at Ontario Place let hundreds of Brampton residents have fun in Toronto, while experiencing some of their own community. 
Entertainment on the stage included local rock band Frayed, Cuban singing by Alexis Martinez, blues and folk from Gayle Ackroyd, Carmen Spada's smooth jazz, bhangra dancing by the Koonja and the Punjabi Virsa Art & Culture Academy, and a Brampton Theatre performance of Man of La Mancha. 
Many groups and community organizations were at the event, from the Farmers' Market to the Brampton Stallions football team. 
Visual Arts Brampton offered kids the chance to create artwork for their Snail Mail World Postcard Art Show, while the Brampton Arts Council gave away pink sand buckets with Region of Peel water bottles. 
Young visitors were noticeably enthralled by Sassy the Squirrel, the City's mascot. 
People who bought passes to the Brampton Day event through the City were encouraged to wear blue wrist bands around the park, for a chance to get spotted and win a prize. 
A draw was held for prizes including green fees for four at the Peel Village Golf Course, Heritage Theatre tickets, and restaurant gift certificates. 
Festival Square's proximity to Lake Ontario caused its share of trouble, particularly for the arts groups displaying in the south. 
Tents were blown on their sides, becoming veritable wind sails. 
Luckily no guests or volunteers were injured by the mishaps. 
One painting infused with a sculpture, at the Beaux-Arts Brampton tent, was destroyed early in the day after catching a gust of wind. 
Average windspeed for the Toronto Island Airport area is 12 km/h. 
A woman in Australia has been killed in a shark attack. 
The attack occurred at 5pm (Local Time) just off Amity Point, North Stradbroke Island, south-east of Brisbane. 
The woman, described as 21, had lost both arms up to the elbow and sustained severe wounds to her torso and legs. 
She was carried to shore by friends and was then flown by rescue helicopter to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. 
The woman was holidaying from Brisbane with a church camp and attempts to contact her family have been made. 
Emergency Services Rescue Helicopter crew officer Rod Morgan said the woman had suffered massive blood loss. 
"She was very pale" he said, "We were diverted right away and were able to be on the scene within minutes and were able to have the patient at hospital within an hour of the attack." 
"She had life threatening injuries she had lost significant amounts of blood and the patient had what we would call an altered level of consciousness where it wasn't able to communicate directly with the patient" said Queensland Ambulance paramedic Lachlan Parker. 
There were many witnesses at the scene and they are now being interviewed by Police at Amity Point. 
One witness, who asks to not be identified, described that the victim was swimming in the sea with her Border Collie. 
When the attack happened, the dog ran home to raise the alarm. 
"I was across the road from where she was staying and I saw the dog come flying up the road all wet and shivering and whimpering," she said, "Then a little boy came running up and said the girl had lost her leg and her arm and everyone ran out of the house towards the beach." 
"It was just a little black-and-white dog but he was crazy so I locked him under the house." 
Other reports claim that the woman had been scuba diving in murky shallow water approximately 15 metres from the shore. 
The woman is believed to be from McDowall in Brisbane, but her name has not yet been released. 
A resident of Amity Point for 20 years, Brad Ross, said tourists visiting the area have been warned of potential attacks; "The shore just falls away into 30m of water and there are plenty of bull sharks out there." 
"People know when they enter the water there they're stepping into a shark habitat." 
Other beaches on the island are protected by drum lines. 
Queensland state police inspector Peter Harding believes from the severity of the woman's injuries that she was attacked by a group of bull sharks, a species known for aggressive behavior this time of year. 
Water police will search for the sharks today and as a result, beaches on the east and west of Amity Point have been closed. 
This is the first attack in the area since August 1972. 
Local wisdom cautions against allowing dogs in the water at swimming beaches, because of a fear that they attract sharks, perhaps because of residue accumulated from fleas which live on the dog's blood. 
Snooker player Alex Higgins, nicknamed "Hurricane", was found dead in his apartment in Donegall Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland on Saturday. 
He was aged 61 and had been suffering from throat cancer since 1997. 
Born in Belfast on March 18, 1949, Higgins became the champion of the World Snooker Championship at the age of 23 in 1972. 
Higgins' final title victory was in the Irish Professional Championship in 1989. 
During 1986, he received a fine and was banned from five tournaments after headbutting a director of a tournament. 
He was also banned from playing for one year in 1990 after threatening to have Dennis Taylor, another snooker player, shot. 
Rock band Rage Against The Machine have beaten Joe McElderry to become the UK's official Christmas number one, following one of the biggest battles in the history of the UK Singles Chart. 
Their song Killing in the Name pushed the X Factor winner's new single The Climb into second place. 
A Facebook campaign backing the American band aimed to stop an X Factor winner reaching the Christmas number one spot once again. 
Artists from the TV talent show, owned by music mogul Simon Cowell, have taken the festive top spot for four years in a row. 
The group attracted over 900,000 members and widespread press attention, after it was started by Jon and Tracy Morter. 
"Are you getting fed up about the possibility of ANOTHER X-Factor Christmas No.1? ...us too...so we're going to do something about it!," they said on the group's Facebook page. 
They decided to back "Killing In The Name", first released in 1992. 
Cowell had previously branded the campaign "cynical", but on Saturday contacted the Morters to congratulate them on making a "very exciting race for the Christmas number one". 
The campaign has also raised over £69,000 for homeless charity Shelter. 
Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tom Morello had backed the campaign on Twitter. 
He announced that the band would play a free victory gig in the UK if they reached number one. 
The result was announced on BBC Radio 1's chart show this evening by Scott Mills. 
McElderry had been due to appear on the show, but did not arrive. 
The latest advertisement for United States Republican presidential candidate John McCain is questioning Democrat Barack Obama's benefit to families. 
Last week the BBC reported that the McCain campaign had released an advertisement comparing Obama to American celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, calling him "the biggest celebrity in the world." 
McCain's newest advertisement, released early this week, continues along those same lines. 
"Is the biggest celebrity in the world ready to help your family?" the narrator asks, according to The Boston Globe and a video of the ad displayed on its website. 
With images of wind turbines in the background, the narrator says, "Renewable energy to transform our economy, create jobs and energy independence, that's John McCain." 
The Boston Globe reports that McCain's latest ad does not acknowledge that Obama's economic policy, especially the proposed rollback of current president George W. Bush's capital gains tax cuts, would largely affect the wealthiest of America, not the middle class. 
Obama, the BBC reports, is quoted as calling McCain "cynical," "desperate" and "in the pocket of Big Oil." 
The latest Obama video, shown on the USA Today website, touts McCain as "just more of the same" politics employed by George W. Bush. 
The ad cites a May 22, 2003 Fox News Channel interview where McCain says "the President and I agree on most issues." 
"There was a recent study that showed I voted with the President over 90 percent of the time." 
The ad then criticizes McCain's policies on tax cuts, money for oil companies, and "tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas." 
McCain is set to appear at an Ohio furniture plant Wednesday to reinforce the messages in his latest advertisement. 
"America has the second highest business tax rate in the entire world," he plans to say, according to prepared remarks issued by his campaign, and released by The Boston Globe. 
"Is it any wonder that jobs are moving overseas when we are taxing them out of the country? " 
"Unfortunately Senator Obama's plans would raise taxes on businesses even more.” 
"He has promised tax increases on income, tax increases on investment, tax increases on small businesses." 
"Raising taxes in a bad economy is about the worst thing you could do because it will kill even more jobs when what we need are policies that create jobs." 
"Is the biggest proponent of George Bush’s tired, failed policies ready to bring about change? " 
"Another day brings another dishonest attack from John McCain." 
"While Senator McCain knows that Senator Obama has proposed cutting taxes for 95% of American families, what he’s not telling us is that he wants to give $4 billion in tax breaks to the oil companies, continue giving tax breaks to corporations that ship our job overseas, and provide no direct tax relief for more than 100 million middle-class families." 
"It’s time to retire these old policies and bring new energy to America." 
The failure in the accumulative power supply system in Mosenergo which occurred at 11:15 a.m. local time on Wednesday, led to a power outage in all areas of the city. 
Some lines of the Moscow underground stopped for four hours. 
Trams and trolley buses, electric trains of the Moscow railway also stopped. 
In addition to lighting problems, the homeowners have also lost their water supply, as pumping stations in Mosvodokanal also lost power because of the failure. 
15 big cities and five areas of Moscow suburbs, some areas of the Tula and Kaluga areas were left without electricity. 
At 12:00 noon, food shops in the affected areas started closing. 
To avoid panic at train stations, workers with megaphones informed passengers of train movements. 
According to eyewitnesses, there was no electric lighting at many stations and in transitions between them. 
Thursday morning trolley buses and trams still do not work in southern areas of Moscow. 
Despite repair work conducted during the night, it was impossible to power all trolleybus and tram lines. 
In total 8 tram and 25 trolleybus routes do not work. 
Besides this, in the south of Moscow there are still many disconnected apartment houses. 
The entrance to Moscow for supersize automobiles will be limited up to 14 o'clock in the afternoon. 
The limitation was put in place yesterday because of difficult road conditions in the city after the power failure. 
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in a press conference to reporters Wednesday was quoted saying: He promises more details in the coming days. 
The presidential news conference was in response to events unfolding by reports from Shi'ite officials. 
They said Saturday that as many as 100 Shi’ites were taken hostage by Sunni fighters, and were threatened with death in the town of al-Madain, near Baghdad. 
An Iraqi security force on Monday raided the town of about 1,000 families, but found no evidence of a hostage situation. 
The Shi’ite officials later said the bodies — believed to be the hostages — were found in the Tigris River. 
In a separate incident 200km north of Baghdad in Haditha, after hearing shots reporters and residents found the bodies of 19 men executed in a soccer stadium on Wednesday. 
It is believed those shot were Iraqi soldiers executed by anti-government fighters, according to an Interior Ministry official, although the victims were not dressed in military garb. 
They were thought to have been heading home for a holiday marking the birthday of the prophet Muhammad when abducted by insurgents. 
A police officer has been killed in County Armagh, Northern Ireland by Continuity IRA gunmen a mere 48 hours after two soldiers were killed. 
In what is presumed to be an attempt by dissident Republicans to derail the peace process, Pc Stephen Carroll was shot in the head just before 10:00 p.m. on March 9. 
The officer, described as an experienced veteran with 23 years of service, was responding to a call for help in the Lismore Manor estate in Craigavon when he was shot. 
In what is described as a genuine incident, a female member of the public had called for help saying a street gang had broken a window. 
A two vehicle patrol was sent to the incident given previous trouble in the area. 
After standing off for a reasonable period to ensure that there was no ambush, the members of one vehicle got out to deal with the incident, whilst those in the second vehicle provided cover, while providing cover in the second vehicle that Pc Carrol was attacked. 
The PSNI, believe that the officer was hit by one of two shots fired by a gunman secreted in scrubland on the estate. 
There are unconfirmed reports that a second officer has also been injured. 
Responsibility for the shooting has been claimed on behalf of the North Armagh Battalion of the Continuity IRA in a coded message to Belfast media. 
The shooting has led to a call for unity and calm from a broad spectrum of the community ranging from spokesmen for the Ulster Volunteer Force, who called for the gunmen to be dealt with through the courts, to Sinn Féin were quick to condemn the gunmen and to offer their condolences to the family of the dead officer. 
This is the first death of a police officer to sectarian violence in over a decade, and comes after a nine month period in which intelligence indicated that dissidents were aiming to kill a policeman. 
United State president George W. Bush kicked off the 2006 Tee Ball on South Lawn season Friday, June 23, 2006. 
This is the sixth year of the White House Tee Ball Initiative. 
In attendance at the game were General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who served as the Commissioner of the game, Tim Brant from ABC Sports and WJLA-TV acting as the play-by-play announcer, and seven-year old Zane Ellingwood, who founded "America's Littlest Heroes" last year in his hometown of Cumberland, Maryland. 
In his opening remarks, Bush welcomed parents and grandparents to a "historic ballpark." 
Pitcher Mike O'Connor from the Washington Nationals was at the game as well. 
Medha Patkar, Narmada Bachao Andolan activist in the ninth day of a hunger strike protesting the Sardar Sarovar Project, is forcibly moved to hospital in New Delhi by police. 
On the ninth day of the hunger strike she and two other activists had undertaken to protest the Indian government's decision to raise the height of the Sardar Sarovar dam across the Narmada river and the lack of progress in rehabilitating people displaced by the dam project. 
Patkar was taken to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where she was placed under intensive care. 
Doctors have said that she is conscious and her condition is stable. 
Police sources say that Patkar has not been arrested as of now, but an First Information Report has been lodged against her for attempting to commit suicide. 
Activists of the Narmada Bachao Andolan tried to prevent the police from moving Patkar and some were arrested on rioting charges. 
Over 100 Australian Jews, including two authors and a federal minister, have condemned Israel's invasion of the Gaza Strip. 
The 113 signatories are members of a group known as Independent Australian Jewish Voices (IAJV). 
Antony Loewenstein, the groups founder, told The Age that he expected outrage from the loudest Jewish voices. 
But the IAJV had found a sizeable minority of Australian Jews who valued an independent perspective as opposed to the blindly pro-Israel position. 
"However, since Palestinians have no means of self-defence against the most powerful military force in the Middle East." 
"We particularly call on Israel to end its brutal assault on the vulnerable Palestinian people of Gaza and to reconsider its rejection of the United Nations Security Council's call for a ceasefire," the statement said. 
"History has demonstrated that military punishment has never broken the spirit of a people or produced peace," added the statement. 
"It would only inflame hatred of Jews and of Israel, while doing nothing to protect the lives of Israelis." 
"Above all, it would undermine attempts to work with peace-seeking Palestinians for a lasting, just solution." 
Colin Rubenstein, executive director of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, said the statement was up to Mr Loewenstein's "usual form — totally wrong on every fact, totally unbalanced, and totally insensitive to Israeli suffering". 
"They propose that the population of southern Israel must continue to live under constant rocket bombardment, opposing all practical efforts to actually invoke the right to self-defence the signatories say they recognize," he said. 
Some flu viruses in the United States and Canada have shown increased levels of resistance to the antiviral drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir), the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. 
Tamiflu is currently the recommended treatment for humans infected with bird flu, and governments worldwide have been stockpiling the drug in case of a flu pandemic. 
The drug resistance appears to be limited to the H1N1 variant which causes seasonal flu, while H3N2 or influenza B strains and the H5N1 strain that causes bird flu did not show increased resistance. 
While previous studies showed resistance levels below 1%, samples tested by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now showed around 5% resistance, and in a Canadian survey of 81 samples, 8 showed resistance. 
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control found 19 cases of resistance among 148 samples from last November. 
In a wider study of 437 H1N1 isolates from 19 countries, the European agency found 59 resistant samples from 9 countries. 
Resistance has not been shown to increase in Japan or Hong Kong. 
The WHO is now contacting national authorities to get more data on flu resistance. 
These viruses have acquired a mutation that makes them resistant, and the WHO statement said that a resistant strain has probably emerged spontaneously. 
The statement added that these mutations would most likely render Tamiflu ineffective for the prevention or treatment of flu caused by resistant H1N1 viruses. 
The WHO also stated that this phenomenon does not influence the effectiveness of flu immunizations. 
Resistant strains have shown no evidence of causing more severe disease or being more easily transmissible. 
The Labour Party's 2005 election manifesto read "We are committed to retaining the independent nuclear deterrent”. 
Although there have been reports that planning and design work on replacement vessels and new designs of nuclear war heads has been proceeding for some years, the first Cabinet meeting to consider this pledge will take place tomorrow. 
No Cabinet papers have been circulated before the meeting at which it is said there will be a “first run round the issues”. 
A further Cabinet meeting is to be held prior to the publication of a White Paper just before Christmas. 
The principle of retaining a nuclear deterrent will be put to the vote in the House of Commons next year and, although it may split the Labour Party, is likely to be carried with the support of the Conservative opposition. 
It is reported that some Cabinet Ministers have reservations about the prudence of maintaining the nuclear deterrent when the apparent threats are from saboteurs and suicide bombers. 
They also have doubts about the legality of adding to the stock of nuclear warheads contrary to the spirit of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and about the way that the decision is being pushed through without consultation with the Labour Party. 
Among those with doubts are the Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, Hilary Benn, Minister of State for International Development, and Peter Hain, Secretary of State for Wales and Northern Ireland. 
The only other European country with nuclear capability is France. 
Prime Minister Blair and Chancellor Brown are agreed on the need to retain a nuclear deterrent. 
Their reasons include keeping the country's seat at the top table of international politics. 
The Trident missile system is carried in four nuclear-powered Vanguard class submarines, the first of which was commissioned in August 1993. 
The current Trident system cost £12.6 Bn to introduce at 1996 prices, and requires £280m a year to maintain. 
Replacements for the smaller nuclear-powered w:attack submarines are under construction and will be armed with Tomahawk missile tactical missile systems. 
The atomic weapons establishment at Aldermaston is reported to be developing tactical nuclear weapons, smaller and of shorter range than Trident suitable for firing using the same type of launcher as Tomahawks. 
The United States House of Representatives has passed the bipartisan US$152 billion economic stimulus package that gives one-time rebates to United States citizens, US$600 for individuals or US$1,200 for couples plus US$300 for each child. 
US$300 checks would be sent to people on low-income including retirees on Social Security which was not included in the original bill backed by President George W. Bush. 
The plan would begin to decrease rebates for citizens with taxable incomes of US$75,000 for individuals and US$150,000 for couples. 
The checks would go out to more than a 130 million Americans according to Treasury secretary Henry Paulson. 
The House overwhelmingly approved the more broad Senate amended bill which included the low-income portion mentioned above along with provisions that would keep illegal aliens from receiving a rebate check. 
Despite some opposition from some Congressmen, such as John B. T. Campbell III of California's 48th congressional district, the plan passed overwhelmingly 380–34. 
Campbell called the plan "wealth redistribution" and noted it did not have safeguards to prevent illegals from receiving these rebates and also claimed that stimulus plan would increase the deficit more and noted the cause of the looming recession was because of "credit problems." 
The United States Senate voted hours earlier on the bill which passed in the Senate, 81–16. after having to shed some incentives included by Senate Democrats which caused the bill to fail. 
Some of the incentives that were left out of the plan in a compromise to gain Republican support were demands for benefits for long-term unemployed workers and stipulation that would allow low-income citizens to pay off heating bills and let home builders pay off losses off the current year against previous tax years. 
President Bush approved of the package, noting in a statement, "This plan is robust, broad-based, timely, and it will be effective, this bill will help to stimulate consumer spending and accelerate needed business investment." 
His convictions include assaulting his fourth wife in 2006, and he served four months despite requesting community service; a stab attack from behind with a five-inch blade on a friend landed him a two-year suspended sentence and put the man in hospital. 
He also served thirteen months for stabbing a friend while drinking and has been prosecuted for attacking a man with a knife in a restaurant, a case dropped through lack of evidence. 
According to a spokesman for NATO, an attempted hijacking of a Norwegian tanker in the Gulf of Aden by Somali pirates has been thwarted by NATO forces. 
The MV Front Ardennes came under attack by pirates in a small skiff at about 6:00 PM on Saturday. 
Helicopters and a warship were dispatched to rescue the vessel, and the pirates were apprehended seven hours after the initial hijacking. 
Officials said that pirates tried to flee in the dark, but were caught by a Canadian vessel. 
Seven of the pirate gunmen were temporarily detained, but were later released. 
NATO spokesman Lieutenant Commander Alexandre Santos Fernandes stated that since there was no Canadian law that could have prosecuted the pirates, they had to be released. 
Piracy is rife off the eastern coast of Africa; on Saturday, Somali pirates seized a Belgian ship, the Pompei, with its ten crew members, as it was headed south for the Seychelles islands. 
Over sixty ships, in total have been hijacked by pirates since the start of last year. 
Currently, pirates are thought to be holding about three hundred crew members from seventeen ships. 
An on duty superintendent in the New South Wales Police Force was caught speeding in an unmarked police car at 176km/h in a 100km/h zone on the Olympic Highway near Junee, New South Wales on October 13. 
Superintendent Frank Goodyer, who was caught by his own officers in the Wagga Wagga Local Area Command, was charged with driving at more than 45km/h over the speed limit, had his automatically license suspended for six months and fined A$1674. 
It was reported by Sydney radio station 2GB that it was Superintendent Frank Goodyer as the officer who was caught speeding by his own officers after the New South Wales Police released a media release which did not name the officer who was caught. 
Superintendent Frank Goodyer told ABC Radio, "I accepted the penalty." 
"I accept that I've done the wrong thing and, as I say, it is still my job as a senior police officer to encourage safe driving and I will continue to do that regardless of my actions". 
The European Commission (EC) has approved yesterday a takeover of loss-making UK airline bmi from Lufthansa by International Airlines Group (IAG), owner of British Airways (BA). 
IAG will have to make concessions after told the EC the deal would be anti-competitive. 
The deal is set to cost IAG, who also own Iberia,£172.5 million. 
That value could fall as budget subsidiary may be retained by Lufthansa or sold elsewhere, and IAG are reported to be primarily interested in the main bmi business. 
IAG intends to use acquired slots at the busy , which serves London, to expand their own routes into Asia. 
The EC required IAG to surrender a number of flight slots at the airport. 
The slots surrendered or made available for lease are for use to destinations in Scotland, France, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Russia. 
The EC also insisted that combined BA/bmi routing be made available for competitors to buy transfer seats upon. 
Lufthansa intended to shut down bmi had the bid failed. 
IAG boss called the sale "great news for Britain" with results that are "good for UK business and UK consumers." 
Virgin boss had previously said the move would give BA excessive dominance on Scottish flights. 
More Heathrow slots earmarked for Scotland have been given up than any other destination. 
Ryanair took the opportunity to claim only their own takeover bid for Aer Lingus has been a major EC casualty. 
"Today's rubber-stamping of BA's purchase of bmi shows yet again that the EC has one rule for Europe's flag-carriers, but different rules for Ryanair", said Ryanair chief . 
Nine people have died in bush-fires in the region of the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. 
The fire has spread over 40,000 hectares of scrub, bushland and farmland so far and is still burning out of control. 
Hundreds of firemen have been fighting the fire, but conditions have been difficult because of strong winds and temperatures soaring well over 40 degrees Celsius. 
Of the nine who have died, eight were attempting to escape the advancing fire in their cars. 
Locals of some rural towns fled to the ocean to escape the fires. 
Thousands of sheep and cattle have also been killed in the fires. 
Separate fires have also been burning around Mount Osmond and Cleland National Park in the Adelaide hills. 
Bush-fires are annual occurrences in Australia, but these fires have been the worst in terms of deaths since the Ash Wednesday fires that killed 28 people in South Australia. 
Two years ago, over 400 houses were burnt down in a bush fire in the Australian capital city, Canberra. 
Today, Nintendo revealed that the real name for the console previously known by the codename "Revolution", is Wii. 
The name was revealed in a message posted on Nintendo of America's official site, which is shown below. 
In the immediate aftermath of the announcement, the name received much criticism for sounding too much like "wee", an English slang word meaning urine. 
The name also sounds similar to "yes" in French and "good" in Japanese. 
Australian Prime Minister John Howard has attacked US presidential candidate Barack Obama on his pledge to introduce a bill that would withdraw American troops from Iraq by March 2008. 
On Sunday, Prime Minister Howard said the move would hand victory to insurgents in Iraq. 
"I think that would just encourage those who wanted completely to destabilise and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for (an) Obama victory," Mr Howard said. 
"If I was running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008, and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats." 
Mr Obama dismissed Howard's comments as "empty rhetoric", unless he was to send another 20,000 Australians to fight in Iraq. 
"So, if he's (inaudible) if to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq." 
"I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops on the ground now, and my understanding is that Mr Howard has deployed 1,400", said Mr Obama. 
The Australian government said its contribution to the war in Iraq was appropriate given Australia's population and military size and that Obama's response failed to address the "substance of the issue". 
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said 20,000 troops would be "half of our army". 
Mr Howard, considered a close ally of the United States government, has faced attacks and support from US politicians. 
Democrat Terry McAuliffe said "Firstly, the Prime Minister has been a great friend of George Bush's." 
"He has been with him lock-step from day one on this war in Iraq." 
Republican presidential candidate Duncan Hunter said Howard had earned a right to comment about Obama's policy "I think the Aussies have earned a right to comment on the world stage about their partner in this endeavour, because they've been fighting side-by-side with us in Iraq," said Hunter. 
"And so I think that John Howard, while it wasn't a very complimentary statement, he is basically stating the truth and that is that what we say on the Senate floor on or the House floor goes to a world audience." 
"And it has an impact on not only our allies, but also our adversaries." 
Roy Ryden, another US Democrat said Mr Howard's comment was "bizarre" and accused the Prime minister of interfering with US politics "The most charitable thing you can say ab"out Mr Howard's comment is bizarre. 
"You know, we'll make our own judgements in this country with respect to elections and Barack Obama is a terrific public servant." 
Mr Howard has drawn criticism from some conservative Republicans with John Cornyn saying Howard should stay out of US domestic politics. 
The Australian Prime Minster further defended his statement today, claiming Obama's plan threatened Australia's national security. 
"If the United States were to withdraw her combat units from Iraq by the early part of next year it could only be represented as a defeat for the United States in Iraq," he said. 
"I hold the strongest possible view that it is contrary to the security interests of this country for America to be defeated in Iraq." 
Australia's strong links to the United States and its support for the U.S.-led war on Iraq were key issues for Howard's fourth straight election win in late 2004. 
The Australian opposition has used the comments as an opportunity to attack the government. 
Opposition leader Kevin Rudd said Howard needed to avoid taking sides in American politics as it was important for the Australia-U.S. alliance that leaders could deal with each other despite their political affiliations. 
An estimated over 100,000 people protested in Tahrir Square yesterday in opposition to a constitutional decree made by Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi. 
Riot police dispersed the crowd with tear gas as clashes began. 
The constitutional decree made November 22 by Morsi protected the constitution drafting body of Egypt from dissolution and also protected executive decisions from being overturned. 
The decree has sparked protests and strikes reminiscent of protests which eventually toppled the then president Hosni Mubarak. 
Earlier this year in September Egyptian courts ruled to dissolve Egypt's parliament. 
Morsi opposed the ruling, threatening action, but later respected the decision. 
Mohamed ElBaradei said Morsi is acting like a "new ". 
ElBaradei has also said that because of the recent decree "a civil war threatens to erupt in Egypt." 
Counter demonstration planned by the Muslim Brotherhood and Nour Party has been cancelled to avoid possible further violence. 
Honey-bee decline has accelerated in North America beyond the steady attrition of the past 25 years according to scientists and farmers. 
A relatively new term - "Colony Collapse Disorder" is being used to describe this poorly understood phenomenon. 
Colony Collapse Disorder (or CCD) is a syndrome evidenced by massive die-off affecting an entire insect population. 
The cause of the syndrome is not yet well understood. 
CCD may be caused by mites or associated diseases or unknown pathogens. 
CCD is possibly linked to pesticide use though several studies have found no common environmental factors between unrelated outbreaks studied. 
According to Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a bee specialist with the Pennsylvania State Department of Agriculture, "We are pretty sure, but not certain, that it is a contagious disease." 
Honey-bees are responsible for approximately one third of the United States crop pollination including such species as: peaches, soybeans, apples, pears, pumpkins, cucumbers, cherries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries. 
From 1971 to 2006, approximately one half of the U.S. honey-bee colonies vanished. 
The rate of attrition reached new proportions in the year 2006, which were alarming to many farmers and honey-bee scientists. 
At least eleven different states as well as portions of Canada are known to have been affected by colony collapse disorder. 
The disorder has been identified in a geographically diverse group of states including Georgia, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and California. 
In some states the loss of honey-bee colonies is estimated as high as 75 percent of the population. 
The phenomenon is particularly important for crops such as almond growing in California, where honey-bees are the predominant pollinator and the crop value is $US 1.5 billion. 
Total U.S. crops that are wholly dependent on the honey-bee are known to exceed $US 15 billion. 
In a related development on January 17, 2007, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has drastically tightened use rules on some of the chief pesticides used on apples, blueberries, grapes, peaches, pears and other fruits pollenized by honey-bees. 
Citing general environmental protection and farmworker safety, the EPA recently announced the tightening of use or phaseout of the highly toxic pesticides phosmet and Azinphos methyl. 
Under these rule changes the use of these organophosphate pesticide would be allowed continued use for five years but have somewhat reduced dosage limits. 
Azinphos methyl is a dangerous neurotoxin derived from nerve agents used during World War II. 
South Korea has lost contact with its Naro-1 rocket, just 137 seconds after take-off. 
Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center had hoped to use a Naro-1, South Korea's first carrier rocket, to launch a STSAT-2B satellite. 
South Korea had postponed the launch on Wednesday due to problems with the rocket's fire extinguisher system. 
Science Ministry spokesman Pyun Kyung-bum said, "We expect that it will be difficult to launch today". 
The rocket lifted off from Goheung's Naro Space Centre at 1701 (0801 GMT) today. 
The rocket apparently exploded 137 seconds after launch, when a flash was seen from an on-board camera and communication was lost. 
The loss of communication occurred when the rocket had achieved an altitude of around 70 kilometers (43 mi). 
Television cameras captured a white speck, presumably part of the rocket, falling into the sea. 
Analysts say the failure is a setback for South Korea. 
If it had been successful, it would have been the first Naro-1 launch to reach orbit. 
The launch cost South Korea an estimated US$400 million, and if successful, would have launched a satellite called the STSAT-2B into orbit. 
The satellite was designed to examine climate change and its effects. 
The incident is seen as a major setback for South Korea's space program, which had been aiming to become the 10th country to achieve the capability to launch satellites, and the fourth Asian country, after China, Japan, and India. 
A successful launch would have helped South Korea to become a player in commercial space launches, an industry valued at around US$250 billion. 
Since 1992, South Korea has launched 11 satellites from overseas sites with foreign-made rockets. 
A strong earthquake struck off the southern tip of Taiwan at 12:26 UTC, triggering a warning from Japan's Meteorological Agency that a 3.3 foot tsunami could be heading towards Basco, in the Philippines. 
The head of the earthquake monitoring agency in the Philippines disputed the Japanese agency's warnings, however. 
Conflicting reports have placed the magnitude of the quake between 6.7 and 7.2 on the Richter Scale, with the Taiwan Central Weather Bureau marking it at 6.7, the United States Geological Survey estimating it at 7.1, and the Japan Meteorological Agency putting the magnitude at 7.2. 
Despite the Japanese Meteorological Agency's warning of a tsunami threat to the Philippines, Renato Solidum, the director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, denied that a tsunami is headed towards the Philippines, saying that the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had not released any tsunami advisory. 
Nevertheless, Solidum said that residents in low-lying areas in the Philippines should, as a precaution, move to higher ground. 
In the aftermath of the quake, news agencies have aired reports of collapsed houses, hotel guests being trapped in elevators, and telephone outages due to severed lines across Taiwan. 
The earthquake has damaged six submarine fiber-optic communications cables, restricting internet access to millions of users in Asia and Australia. 
Home users are experiencing severe connection issues, with timeouts becoming very common. 
The Internet Storm Center is reporting a 100% packet loss on certain routers. 
A sample ping test from Singapore to Wikinews came up with a 380 millisecond average round trip at 50% packet loss. 
The financial markets are facing an even more alarming situation, with financial news and stock quotes from the U.S. and Europe not being able to reach Asian markets. 
Repairing the lines "is not a matter of days," says Hong Seoung-Yong, a ministry official from South Korea handling the problem. 
Taiwan's internet capacity has dropped to 40%, and consequently the networks there are jammed. 
Service providers may choose to bypass those lines in favour of European ones, say a spokesman for Japanese telecoms firm KDDI Corp, Satoru Ito. 
The quake took place exactly two years from the day that the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake struck, devastating Southeast Asia. 
That 2004 earthquake registered as a magnitude 9.1, and caused a tsunami with waves reaching as high as 33 feet. 
Peruvians living near the site of a release of mercury are preparing to sue a U.S. mining company, announcing last Saturday that they will bring their case before a Denver judge. 
On June 2, 2000, a serious accident in the province of Cajamarca, in Peru, poisoned many residents with mercury, a highly toxic heavy metal. 
A truck from Newmont Mining Company dumped two metal canisters of mercury along an Andean highway, in the communities of San Juan, Choropampa, and Magdalena. 
Curious townspeople (mostly children) picked up the silvery droplets, and some even drank some of it. 
Some of those who came in contact with the mercury suffered blindness, and one even had a purplish rash on her body. 
Over 300 people directly suffered the effects of mercury poisoning. 
As the owners of the Yanacocha mine which produced the mercury, Newmont Mining offered up to US$6 thousand to more than 700 local residents, but over 1,100 others are still engaged in a legal battle with Newmont over the case. 
In today's global economy, many international businesses have looked overseas to maintain their profits, but environmental law professor James Otto is asking about the cost to the environment and public health. 
"Any company that wants to mine internationally now must not only have the legal right to mine but also a 'social license' to operate," he said. 
As the Peruvian residents gear up for their lawsuit against Denver-based Newmont Mining, the world's largest gold mining firm, some of these important questions may finally be answered. 
After the breakdown of mediation talks with Newmont on January 20, the residents and their lawyer decided to stop negotiating behind closed doors and take their case to the public. 
Last Saturday, March 5, 2005, they announced that they are bringing their suit before Denver District Judge Robert Hyatt. 
This is not the first time Newmont Mining has had trouble with an emerging Third World environmental movement. 
Recently, in August 2004, a US$543 million lawsuit was filed against Newmont Mining by the Indonesian Environmental Ministry and local villagers. 
They claim that pollution caused by the company’s mining activities has caused serious illnesses and other health problems, including skin disease, tumors, birth defects, and a decline in fish stocks, a staple food. 
One particular mining practice used frequently by Newmont Mining in Indonesia is submarine tailings disposal, a waste disposal method for mercury and arsenic that is outlawed in the United States. 
At least six Newmont Mining managers, including an American and an Australian, face up to 15 years in a Jakarta prison for environmental and corporate crime in that case. 
The local Peruvian residents are continuing their fight for safer mining practices and compensation for existing damage and injuries. 
Thousands of local townspeople protested against the Yanacocha mine last fall, demanding protection for the local water supply. 
Newmont Mining officials have blamed the June 2000 mercury spill on a contractor, and have lost the battle to keep the case out of the American court system. 
The Somalian government called on Saturday for the international community to help stem the wave of recent seafaring pirate attacks off their coast in the Indian Ocean. 
The London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported yesterday that a Thai merchant vessel and its crew of 26 have been hijacked by Somalian pirates off their coastline. 
The predominantly Thai crew were kidnapped at gunpoint, and a ransom has been demanded for their release. 
The merchant ship was en-route from Brazil to Yemen with a cargo of sugar. 
A letter to Somalia from the United Nations security council admonished the government. 
Somalia has largely disintegrated into fiefdoms since the former dictator Siad Barre was ousted in 1991. 
Last weekend, a U.S.-owned cruise ship was attacked with rocket propelled grenades. 
It is the fourth ship to be attacked in the space of a week. 
According to the IMB, there have been 23 other pirating attacks in coastal waters off the east African nation since March 15. 
The Obama Administration has denied Colombian journalist Hollman Morris entry into the United States, citing violation of the "terrorist activities" section of the USA's Patriot Act. 
Morris was attempting to obtain a visa to attend Harvard University's Nieman Program, which is a fellowship for journalists. 
The journalist has called attention to ties between outgoing Colombian president Alvaro Uribe, and right-wing militia groups in the war-plagued South American country. 
Human rights activists have speculated that Uribe might have influenced the visa denial. 
Morris' phone has also been tapped by the DAS, the Colombian state security agency, which is Colombia's CIA counterpart. 
Though the exact reason for Morris' visa denial is unclear, when Morris went on-site to cover the release of four Colombian security force members' release by FARC rebels, Uribe called the journalist "an accomplice of terrorism". 
At least 11 new species of life have been discovered in the rainforests of Thua Thien-Hue Province in Vietnam in a region of the forest described as the "Green Corridor." 
The discovery was made by researchers from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). 
Among the new species are five orchids and at least three other species of plants, two butterflies and a snake. 
At least ten more species of plants are believed to be new species but are still being studied. 
"You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is one of them." 
"Several large mammal species were discovered in the 1990s in the same forests, which means that these latest discoveries could be just the tip of the iceberg," said a technical adviser in Vietnam for the WWF, Chris Dickinson. 
The new species of life are exclusive to the rainforest in Thua Thien-Hue Province. 
The new snake, which can grow to 80 centimeters long, has been given the name white-lipped keelback because of a yellow-white stripe on the top of its head and makes its home near small streams and feeds on small animals and frogs. 
The new species of butterflies are one subfamily of the Satyrinae species and the other a species of the Skipper butterfly. 
The orchids, all of which are considered very rare because they were found to have no leaves whatsoever on the plant, grow in "matter" that is rotting and also contain no chlorophyll. 
The other two new plant species are of Arum and Aspidistra. 
The WWF is concerned that civilization may move closer into the rainforest, destroying the homes of these new species, but the government of Thua Thien-Hue Province says it's dedicated to making sure that they are protected, along with the rainforest. 
"The area is extremely important for conservation and the province wants to protect the forests and their environmental services, as well as contribute to sustainable development," said Provincial Forest Protection Department Director for the province, Hoang Ngoc Khanh. 
The species were found in the rainforest in 2005 and 2006. 
Hurricane Paloma, which the U.S. National Hurricane Center yesterday labeled as "extremely dangerous", has recently hit Cuba. 
In preparation of this, at 1500 UTC yesterday, the Cuban provinces of Granma and Holguin were issued with a Hurricane warning by the country's government. 
Due to updated forecasts, it has also removed the waning for the province of Sancti Spiritus. 
220,000 people were evacuated from low-lying areas in the Camaguey province, while 170,000 were evacuated from the province of Las Tunas. 
The Hurricane is now weakening, however, with the NOAA stating that "continued weakening is expected over the next day or two, even after Paloma moves off the coast of Cuba." 
The NOAA has also stated that "Paloma is expected to produce additional rainfall totals of 1 to 2 inches over eastern Cuba." 
"Rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches are possible over the central Bahamas." 
Hurricane Paloma was the seventeenth tropical depression of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. 
Paloma developed out of a strong tropical disturbance off the northern coast of Honduras on November 5. 
The depression then became a tropical storm then a hurricane. 
The men's team final in artistic gymnastics reached a tense conclusion last night at the Olympic Games in London. 
Japan took silver with 271.952 points, and Great Britain got bronze with 271.711 points. 
Britain initially looked likely to win silver following a fall from the pommel horse by Japanese gymnast Kōhei Uchimura. 
Uchimura unexpectedly fell from the horse but managed to recover and land on his feet. 
Before the appeal, Uchimura's score left Japan in fourth place with Britain taking silver and Ukraine taking bronze with 271.526 points. 
The judges accepted Uchimura's appeal and increased Japan's final score by 0.7 points, just edging out Great Britain by 0.241 points. 
British gymnast Louis Smith celebrated Britain's bronze: "It's a beautiful day for the sport and for British gymnastics." 
Smith also promised great things from Britain's up-and-coming male gymnasts, promising that team members Sam Oldham and Max Whitlock would improve for the next Olympics in Rio. 
Smith also commended the junior squad: "The juniors we've got coming up — we've been junior European champions for the last six years — there's so much depth." 
The US team, who had come first in the qualifying round, came fifth in the finals which led to tears from John Orozco. 
The US team vowed to fight on in the individual competition. 
Steve Penny from USA Gymnastics told reporters: "Our guys know that they're better than fifth place, and they're going to try to show that off through the rest of the competition." 
At least 30 people have been killed by twin earthquakes in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 
Deputy Rwandan Police Chief Mary Gahonzire spoke to Reuters in Kigali, saying of a magnitude 5.0 to 6.0 quake that struck there "The death toll [in Rwanda] has now increased to 25 from the earthquake." 
"Two hundred have serious injuries," while Bernard Watunakanza, acting governor of South Kivu's Bukavu region, said "Up to now, there are five dead and 149 seriously injured." 
This makes the total current death toll 30 and injury count 350. 
Radio Rwanda reports that ten of the Rwandan fatalities occurred together when a church collapsed onto them, killing them instantly. 
AFP reports the Rwandan ambulance service cannot cope with the casualties and public buses have been drafted in to help. 
The quake could also be felt in nearby Burundi, but there are no reports of damage or injuries there. 
A Kamov-32 fire-fighting helicopter has crashed while trying to fill its water tanks, reports the Turkish Anatolian News agency. 
Since mid-August, the forest fires have swept the Southern part of Turkey including popular tourist destinations like Bodrum and Antalya-Kas. 
Lately the General Directorate for Forestry has sent short text messages through Turkish operators for citizens to be aware of forest fires. 
Amid warnings another fire started in Kas during the weekend. 
The latest fire in Kas was taken under control with the help from fire helicopters, where the Kamof-32 type Russian fire helicopter has crashed while filling its tanks with water from nearby Lake Gombe. 
Three Russian citizens working with the team, a Turkish pilot and a Turkish engineer have reported to be fine and in good condition in Gombe Health Center. 
The city hall building in Buffalo, New York was evacuated after fire alarms were activated. 
"Smoke detectors went off on the 13th and 27th floors." 
"Among other things we lost all communications out of the building." 
"Something cut off communications, something set off those alarms and cut power to elevators," said Mike Lombardo, Buffalo's fire commissioner. 
Police and fire crews arrived on scene to discover a power surge in the 27th floor knocked out all communications between the police and fire departments in the city for nearly two hours. 
Fire crews had to use emergency stairways to examine the building for fire and evacuees of the 32-story building had to use emergency stairways to evacuate because elevators in the building were not functioning properly. 
According to Lombardo, "it looks like we have no fire whatsoever [in the building]" and that all 2,800 workers were allowed to return to work shortly after 12:00 p.m. 
"We've been able to re-set things...we feel very confident that there's no other problems," added Lombardo. 
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Krakow objecting to plans to bury the Polish president, Lech Kaczynski, at Wawel Castle. 
Kaczynski and his wife are set to be buried on Sunday. 
Burial spaces at Wawel castle are normally reserved for Polish kings and heroes. 
Polish film director Andrzej Wajda voiced his opinion on the plans of the late president’s burial site, saying that "Lech Kaczynski was an ordinary and good man, but there is no reason for him to lie in the Wawel among the kings of Poland and Marshal Józef Piłsudski [the founder of modern-day Poland]." 
He continued to comment, saying that the decision had been “misplaced”. 
Several of the world’s leaders and dignitaries are to attend the president's funeral, including US president Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev. 
Local British councillors have reported that they have seized ice cream made from the breast milk of human beings that had been placed on sale in a shop located in London, England, United Kingdom. 
A Westminster City Council spokeswoman explained that two complaints made by members of the public were being replied to by the council. 
The Icecreamists, the marketing company involved with the dessert known as 'Baby Gaga', are fully co-operating with officials who are carrying out tests that are currently ongoing. 
The breast milk was donated by fifteen women who responded to an online advertisement located on a forum aimed at mothers. 
According to the company, all milk is screened for the "highest and safest" standards before it is pasteurized and prepared for human consumption. 
It is then mixed with the zest of lemons and vanilla seed cases. 
Matt O'Connor, who founded the Icecreamists, stated: "As far as we are aware there is no law prohibiting a business from selling breast milk ice cream". 
He claimed that "[i]f it's good enough for our children, it's good enough for the rest of us" and "[s]ome people will hear about it and go yuck - but actually it's pure organic, free-range and totally natural." 
Brian Connell, a member of the the Conservative Party in the UK, believes that "[a]s the local authority we will support small businesses and applaud innovative ideas wherever possible, but must protect the health of consumers." 
On Monday in Canberra, the Australian government released its annual budget, one that promises a A$1.5 billion surplus for the year, but little was said of the potential impact of the budget on Australian sport in an Olympic year when Australia is looking to earn the fewest medals since the 1996 Games in Atlanta. 
There were no apparent surprises for the sports sector in Australia in this budget. 
The budget, available online, claims A$380 million has been spent preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games. 
According to Keith Lyons, the University of Canberra Director of the National Institute of Sport Studies, sport is an important part of Australian culture and the development of sport enjoys bipartisan support. 
The sport "budget supports infrastructure developments and reflects a renewal of Australian sport venues post ." 
"The Active After School investment reflects a commitment to support participation and engagement in physical activity and sport." 
When Tony Naar of the Australian Paralympic Committee was asked about the impact of the budget on his organisation's efforts, he said there was little to report as there were "very few previously unannounced initiatives... the overall level of program funding was in line with the final year of the current funding cycle". 
The budget promises to support cricket, specifically the 2015 Cricket World Cup, and soccer (football) with the 2015 Asian Cup by allocating funding for facility improvement. 
A$50 million will be spent on redeveloping the Sydney Cricket Ground, A$30 million on redeveloping the Adelaide Oval, and A$15 million on redeveloping the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. 
A partnership between the government, New South Wales Government and the Sydney Cricket and Sports Ground Trust will cover additional costs associated with the Sydney Cricket Ground with work completed by 2014. 
Local sporting infrastructure will be supported in the budget with A$30 million earmarked for this, A$10 million specifically to improve Melbourne's Olympic Park Precinct, A$5 million to support football in western Sydney, and A$3 million for Football New South Wales to build a new headquarters. 
The budget promises assistance to parents to defray the cost of their children's extracurricular activities including sport as part of the SchoolKid Bonus, which will replace the Education Tax Refund. 
Support for school based youth sport with A$39.2 million allocated to Active After-School Communities, a program that reaches 190,000 children, which encourages them to participate in school sports. 
In an attempt to curb drowning deaths of young children, an initiative has been launched to improve water safety that will be run through early childhood centres. 
A$19.2 million was extended to the Australian Sport Commission to run its Active After-School Communities program in 2012/2013 with similar funding for 2013/2014. 
2,000 schools and 1,300 after/out of school programs will benefit from the funding. 
Community Street Soccer was allocated A$1.0 million for 2012/2013 and A$1.6 million for 2013/2014. 
Aimed at bringing the homeless and unemployed into the community through participation in soccer, Reclink Australia will be given the funding to implement the program. 
A$4.8 million was allocated to the Clontarf Foundation in New South Wales to support local sport and utilised elsewhere encourage Indigenous girls to participate in sport in Western Australia, Northern Territory, Victoria and Queensland through the Sporting Chance Program. 
Canberra's Centenary celebrations are addressed in the Federal budget, with A$2.6 million allocated for 2011/2012, A$2.0 million allocated for 2012/2013 and A$1.0 million allocated for 2013/2014. 
Some money will go towards sport as a part of these celebrations. 
The Federal government is investing in Glenorchy, Tasmania, budgeting A$8.7 million in the redevelopment of the King George V sports and community precinct, with the money given to the local government. 
Not all of the money is earmarked for sport, with some money paying for a dedicated office for the Migrant Resource Centre. 
A$1,870,000 less was budgeted for the from what was actually spent in 2011/2012's budget. 
The government expects A$5.8 million in savings in the next four years because of changes in athlete doping testing. 
In the 2011/2012 budget year, A$2,729,510 was spent on Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport in special appropriations. 
All money in the category is allocated in line with the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995. 
In the Sport and Recreation Special Account out of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet appropriation budget, the cash flow and balance opened the budget year with A$920,000 and receipts totaled A$317,000. 
In the Department of Regional Australia, Local Government, Arts and Sport appropriation budget, the Sport and Recreation Special Account had has an opening balance of A$949,000. 
Estimates for receipts for 2012/2013 are A$537,000, up from A$220,000 in actual receipts in 2011/2012's budget. 
The Australian Sports Commission spent A$214,534,000 in 2011/2012 in their first budget category, and have a smaller budget of A$101,942,000 for 2012/2013 in the same category. 
In their budget second category, they spent A$54,159,000 in 2011/2012, with the 2012/2013 budget increasing the budget to A$166,201,000. 
For total appropriations, the first area decreased by a total of A$117,170,000 and the second area saw an increase in of A$114,353,000. 
Large herd animals may have the ability to detect earth's magnetic field, concluded scientists in Germany in a report published in this week's Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences after performing studies of cattle and deer grazing and sleeping patterns. 
The animals tended to face north-south oriented toward the earth's magnetic poles. 
Hynek Burda of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany led the team that announced the unconfirmed study. 
Burda and his team gathered cattle data via analysis of Google Earth images. 
The team originally intended to test for possible human magnetic field detection by studying the orientation of sleeping bags in outdoor campers, but it proved difficult to obtain data because humans usually slept under tents. 
Cattle were easier to observe, and 8,510 head of cattle at 308 locations demonstrated a strong tendency to align body orientation in accordance with the earth's magnetic field. 
Other possible factors such as wind or sunlight direction did not supply a better explanation for the behavior. 
To compare against a second large species, Burda and his team analyzed data on 2,974 deer studied through photography, direct observation, and snow imprints. 
"I think the really amazing thing is that hunters and herdsmen and farmers didn't notice it," said Burda according to a National Public Radio report. 
Peter August of the University of Rhode Island in Kingston, commented: "I was really amazed at the consistency with which they found north-facing cows and deer." 
No independent study has yet confirmed the Duisburg-Essen team's findings. 
This is the first study that indicates magnetic field detection in large mammals. 
Burda's previous research involves naked mole rats, a small blind mammal species whose behavior indicates an internal magnetic compass. 
According to a report by Jeremy Hsu at MSNBC, "Previous research has shown that animals such as birds, turtles and salmon migrate using a sense of magnetic direction, and small mammals such as rodents and one bat species also have a magnetic compass." 
A Europe-wide student movement, started in the Austrian capital of Vienna, is developing. 
It started on 28 October 2009 and met with the discussions following the Conference of the Ministers for Education and Cultural Affairs in Germany on 15 October. 
For Tuesday 17 November — the 70th anniversary of the international students' day — a nationwide education strike in Germany has been announced. 
Speakers of the actions said, students are complaining that universities are underfunded and understaffed. 
The students' protest concerns the Bologna reforms and the tuition fees. 
On Wednesday, 11 November some 600 students at the Free University of Berlin had occupied the largest auditorium of the central building of the humanities in the suburb of Dahlem. 
Afterwards actions took place in Tübingen, Munich and Basel, each with hundreds of participants. 
The Potthoff building, a lecture hall of the Dresden TU has been occupied since Monday, 9 November. 
Actions also took place in Utrecht, Turin, Rome, Lublin, London and Birmingham. 
Two men have been charged with starting the Zaca Fire, the second-largest wildfire in the history of California. 
The fire is continuing to burn through the Los Padres National Forest, and has consumed a total of 240,000 acres, having started on July 4. 
However, the fire is now under control, and is expected to be contained by September 4. 
Jose Jesus Cabrera of Santa Ynez, 38, Santiago Iniguez Cervantes of Santa Maria, 46, and the company of Rancho La Laguna, whom they worked for, have all been charged with six counts of felony in relation to starting the fire. 
Three of the charges are for "recklessly causing a fire that caused great bodily injury". 
Two counts of this stem from the crash of a helicopter that was fighting the fires, and the other from a separate incident when a third firefighter was seriously wounded while battling the flames. 
The other three counts are for recklessly causing a structure or forest fire, carelessness with a flaming substance and for not having the required permit to operate equipment capable of starting a fire. 
The fire started when equipment being used on a blocked water line sparked. 
58 firefighters were injured in total by the blaze, although no life-threatening injuries were sustained. 
Currently, 1,800 people are involved in firefighting efforts, which have cost a total of $114 million. 
A lawyer for the men said he felt the charges were excessive considering the circumstances. 
"We have a couple of hard working guys who go out to take care of a water pipe or some cattle on a very hot day on the Fourth of July and they took precautions and despite the precautions an accident happened and a fire started," said Attorney Robert Sanger. 
If convicted, the men could face up to nine years imprisonment. 
There is also the possibility of fines and action to recover the costs of the fire. 
Larry Stevens is running for the Libertarian Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Kitchener-Conestoga riding. 
Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. 
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. 
Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents. 
To encourage the performance of deaf athletes, the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf (ICSD) recently announced the top 10 finalists for the "2007 WIDEX Sportsman and Sportswomen Award". 
According to icCoventry from England and the ICSD, Bagga performed excellently in recent badminton matches, never losing important matches in his international career, which began in 1989. 
He was known as a good sportsman; always accepting referees' judgments, regardless of their accuracy. 
Recently in the 2nd World Deaf Badminton Championships in Germany, Bagga offered to give up his silver medal in men's single class after the tragic news of his former Lithuanian teammate Andirus Jankus' death in a car accident. 
This touched the hearts of many people, both deaf and able. 
Best Sportswoman, Deeva, participated in the "2007 World Deaf Swimming Championships" in Taiwan and broke 3 world records in the same day. 
Al-Qaeda said in a web statement Thursday that it has killed Egypt's top envoy in Iraq, Ihab al-Sherif. 
The Islamic terror group released a video showing a blindfolded al-Sherif identifying himself, but did not show his death. 
Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak confirmed these reports, but did not say how the government had validated Al-Qaeda's claims. 
Mr Al-Sherif, 51, had been serving in Baghdad as chief envoy since early June; he was abducted on 03 July while out buying a newspaper, eyewitnesses said. 
He was not accompanied by any security at that time. 
After a year of turbulent weather in Mexico and destruction of their habitat, the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) population could be down by as much as 50% to 60% this year, experts say. 
A gathering area for the butterflies northwest of Mexico City was affected particularly hard by severe weather this winter, which killed 50 people in the region. 
According to Lincoln Brower, a monarch expert with Sweet Briar College in Virginia, "things are in pretty bad shape." 
The southbound migration was already the smallest in recorded history, and with the destructive winter, over half of the species' population might have been killed. 
"This means the numbers going to Texas are going to be down", said Chip Taylor, a professor of entomology at the University of Kansas-Lawrence. 
He believes it could take years for the Monarchs to repopulate. 
Taylor also said that "We’re talking about significant degradation at overwintering sites; the loss of habitat in the United States and Canada and climate change in Mexico." 
"We’ve had three major killing winter storms in the last decade that have never been seen previously." 
"We’re dealing with something new here, and that’s consistent with climate change." 
Illegal logging in Mexico and a lack of milkweed in the Midwest United States for the butterflies to lay their eggs in has also taken a toll on the Monarchs' population. 
Research published in the journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) suggests a link between male sexuality and conditions in the womb. 
Initial research by Dr. Anthony F. Bogaert and his colleagues at Brock University, Ontario revealed a possible link between the number of elder brothers a boy has and the likelihood he is to be gay. 
Whether this correlation be attributed to nature through the prenatal effects of the womb or to nurture through the psychosocial effects of growing up with elder siblings, however, remained unclear. 
To further his research Bogaert studied 944 heterosexual and homosexual men. 
The men were either "biological" brothers and shared the same mother or "non-biological" brothers through adoption or as half or step siblings. 
Boegart reasoned that if the link between homosexuality and elder brothers was due to the nurturing effects of the family environment it would show regardless of any biological relationship. 
The study showed, however, that the link was found only in biological brothers. 
The amount of time an individual spent being raised with elder brothers had no bearing on sexual orientation; the relationship was even found to be true in brothers who were raised apart from one another. 
Bogaert writes in this month's PNAS: "These results support a prenatal origin to sexual orientation development in men and indicate that the fraternal birth-order effect is probably the result of a maternal 'memory' for male gestations or births." 
He suggests that each male foetus prompts a progressively stronger immune reaction in the mother's body. 
The antibodies that are produced by this reaction may account for sexual differentiation of the brain. 
Scientists from Michigan State University added in an accompanying article: "These data strengthen the notion that the common denominator between biological brothers, the mother, provides a prenatal environment that fosters homosexuality in her younger sons." 
"Increasingly, credible evidence appears to indicate that being gay is genetically determined rather than being a so-called lifestyle choice." 
It adds further weight to the argument that lesbian and gay people should be treated equally in society and not discriminated against for something that's just as inherent as skin colour," said Andy Forrest, a spokesman for gay rights group Stonewall. 
However; Dr. Bogaert's study made no explanation for the origin of lesbianism. 
Only 44.47 percent of Romanian high school students passed last week's 2011 baccalaureate exam, according to the results published by Romanian education authorities on Sunday. 
The baccalaureate exam in Romania is the secondary school educational qualification test, and passing it attests that a student has graduated high school and may be admitted to a university. 
This is dramatically different from 69.3 percent last year and 81.4 percent in 2009. 
Sunday's passing figures are a record low since the exam was introduced in Romania and comes after new anti-fraud measures cut back on student cheating. 
These included installing cameras in examination centres and forbidding students from paying teachers to obtain higher scores. 
For this exam, 665 high school students were caught cheating, double the number from last year, and at one high school it was found that the exam answers were given to 111 pupils prior to the exam. 
Caras Severin County reported the lowest rate with 24.82 percent graduation, and Suceava reported the highest with 65.03 percent, down from 87.39 percent in 2010. 
In Bucharest the rate was 42.03 percent, the lowest since the 1989 revolution. 
The release of the results started a national debate on the possible causes of the drastic drop in scores, from the failure of parental participation, poor teacher pay and pay cuts, to student disinterest and lack of motivation. 
Critics say the educational system depends on rote learning and students are not taught to think independently. 
At a press conference on Monday, Education minister Daniel Funeriu said, "These results are a mirror of our society." 
"Romania is now at a crossroads...". 
"The nation should choose to encourage people who like to work rather than those who prefer cheating". 
Cristian Alexandrescu, chief education inspector for Bucharest, argued that the exam was not taken seriously by students and the results prove that a student cannot obtain a diploma without effort. 
"The moment of truth has come," Liliana Romanciuc, a school inspector in north-eastern Romania, told Mediafax. 
SKY TV had problems earlier with some viewers unable to tune into certain channels. 
It was caused by a streamlining issue not related to satellite problems. 
The problem caused the following channels unable to be seen: Sky Movies, J2, Cartoon Network, Sky News, pay-per-view movie channels, radio channels including; National Radio, Concert FM and George FM. 
Most of the free-to-air channels, however, were working, along with the sport channels, some channels did suffer from picture pixelation. 
British author James Graham Ballard, known as J. G. Ballard has died at the age of 78. 
Ballard died on Sunday after a long battle with prostate cancer. 
According to a spokesperson, Ballard had been sick "for several years" and that it was "with great sadness" to have to make the announcement of his death. 
Ballard is best known for writing the novels Crash in 1973 and Empire of the Sun in 1984 which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. 
"He had grown up in Shanghai and had very good manners." 
"He was very generous and polite and it took a long while before he would do anything that wasn’t very controlled," said friend and author Iain Sinclair to The Times. 
Ballard was born in Shanghai, China in the Shanghai International Settlement in 1930. 
When he was 12, he and his family were forced to live in a camp run by Japanese forces during World War II. 
Ballard says that he won't say happy things about his experience in the camp, but also no unpleasant ones either. 
In an interview with BBC News, Ballard said "I remember a lot of the casual brutality and beatings-up that went on, but at the same time we children were playing a hundred and one games all the time." 
In 1946 he moved to the UK with his sister and mother where he began to write. 
Twenty years later, in the 1960's, he employed himself as a full time writer. 
He produced his first novel in 1961 titled The Wind from Nowhere and The Drowned World just a year later. 
The government of Ireland plans to inject €4 billion each into the Bank of Ireland and the Allied Irish Bank. 
An insurance scheme to underwrite bad debts would also be created and the banks will attempt to raise €1 billion from shareholders. 
The two banks have been in need of recapitalization for several weeks. 
The deal will see the government take on up to €24 billion of risk from speculative property loans by the banks. 
The government has already moved to nationalize the country's third largest bank, Anglo Irish. 
India won the final match of the recent cricket series. 
Yuvraj Singh made a unbeaten 107 (93b, 15x4)helping India's , chasing 287, achieved with 19 deliveries remaining on a good batting pitch. 
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (77 not out, 56b, 6x4, 4x6) was another important contributor to the Indian Innings. 
The Pakistani bowling, apart from a probing spell from paceman Rao Iftekar Anjum, was made to look ordinary. 
When on 64, Yuvraj was put down at covers by Shoaib Malik. 
Tendulkar carried the drinks, indicating that in this Indian side experience and youth blended into one. 
In Tendulkar's absence, Rahul Dravid opened the innings with Gautam Gambhir. 
The left-handed Gambhir sparkled with a few pick-up shots on the leg-side; this also showed Pakistan's pacemen were not bowling the right line. 
Mohammed Asif has not been a big factor in the ODIs since the away going delivery is a lesser weapon in this variety of the game, especially if a side is bowling in the afternoon. 
It was his two-way movement that made him so dangerous in Tests. 
Gambhir once again wasted a start, but the opening pair had, importantly, raised 69. 
Dravid's 50 (6x4) might have consumed 82 deliveries, but he made sure that, in the absence of Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar, the Indians had enough wickets in hand before they began the final onslaught. 
It was Sreesanth who dented Pakistan in the morning after Zaheer Khan and Ajit Agarkar shared the new ball. 
The Kerala paceman, who is learning fast, cut down on his pace realising that there was not too much assistance for him from the wicket. 
He struck thrice and Pakistan, from 62 without loss, slumped to 77 for three. 
In the context of the match, Sreesanth's spell of 5-1-25-3 was crucial. 
Both Imran Farhat and Kamran Akmal, after putting together 62, fell to pull shots, and Shoaib Malik steered right into Suresh Raina's hands at gully. 
There is fluency about Sreesanth's run-up and action that is hard to ignore, and he did bowl well at the death, swinging the ball into the right-hander. 
And off-spinner Ramesh Powar won a leg-before decision against an ominous looking Inzamam on the sweep; the delivery drifted into the right-hander from outside the off-stump and then straightened. 
The bowlers, backed by aggressive fielding, had performed a fair job, under the conditions. 
High winds and heavy rains have left 4 people dead, and much of the Seattle, Washington area is without electrical power. 
A number of large trees have been downed and heavy rains have caused minor flooding in many areas of the city. 
According to first-hand reports as many as 1 million people and several large organizations such as Microsoft are without power this morning. 
Flood, storm, and strong wind watches were in effect last night as a rare thunderstorm system moved into the Pacific Northwest region, hitting areas from Seattle to Portland with high winds and heavy rains. 
Interstate 5 through Seattle was closed at its intersection with Mercer Street due to standing water. 
The State Route 520 floating bridge, a major conduit across Lake Washington to the technology-rich Eastside was closed and its drawspan opened to protect it from storm damage well into Friday. 
Local roads throughout the region were strewn with debris, especially evergreen branches and leaves. 
Four deaths were reported in connection with the storm as of Friday. 
A Seattle woman died in the basement of her home after floodwaters caused the basement door to close and jam shut. 
Two others died in outlying areas after tall Northwest evergreens fell on their vehicles, and a man in Grays Harbor, near the Pacific coast, died in his sleep after a tree fell on his mobile home. 
KOMO news reported a caller saying a 100-foot evergreen had fallen into his house. 
Downed trees and high winds also brought down powerlines throughout Western Washington. 
Seattle City Light, the municipal electric utility for the city, reported a peak of 175,000 customers without power, most in the north and south ends of the city, as well as the east edge of town and the Green Lake area. 
Puget Sound Energy, the electric utility for much of the Seattle metro area, reported 700,000 customers (over 66%) without power, with the area around Seattle the worst hit. 
PSE, which had already enlisted additional powerline workers from neighboring states, did not send crews out until mid Friday morning due to continued high winds. 
Estimates for power restoration were anywhere from a few days to over a week. 
Island County, at the mouth of Puget Sound, was completely without power. 
Schools in Seattle and throughout its suburbs were closed Friday, many due to power outages. 
The city of Mercer Island, connected to the mainland only by Interstate 90, is reportedly inaccessible. 
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer failed to print due to power failures at the printing facility, which had redundant power feeds from both the Seattle utility as well as PSE. 
It is the first time in 70 years that the paper has not been printed. 
The Seattle Times, a competing paper under a joint operating agreement, managed to print only 13,000 copies of its regular circulation of over 200,000. 
The papers located alternate facilities to print a reduced version of their Saturday editions, and their joint Sunday issue was also expected to be reduced. 
At Sea-Tac Airport, three terminals were shut down overnight due to the storm. 
Concourse A and the South Satellite terminal lost power, and a blown-out window caused Concourse C to also close. 
All terminals were back in working order by midday Friday. 
Likewise, in Oregon, Portland International Airport reported at least 40 flights cancelled. 
At Seattle's Boeing Field, winds flipped a private plane over, colliding with another plane. 
The Seattle Seahawks vs. San Francisco 49ers football game was delayed 15 minutes. 
A pre-game power surge temporarily took the Qwest Field's video displays offline. 
The gridiron was plagued by standing water, as the stadium's loudspeakers played "Who'll Stop The Rain?" shortly before kickoff. 
Thursday night's storm comes after a previous regional storm in the Seattle area earlier in the week, in which trees in a few Seattle suburbs fell onto roads, powerlines, and two school buses. 
In those incidents no one was hurt, and there were a few spotty power outages. 
This is the second serious storm to hit the Northwest since Thanksgiving, In late November, record-setting snowfall had a similar disabling effect on the region. 
The British tabloid The Daily Mirror today suggested that the London bombers may not have planned to commit suicide, while a Scotland Yard spokesman said they have not definitely confirmed that the four men intended to die when they carried out the attacks. 
The Daily Mirror claims that the bombers brought return rail tickets to Luton, and that they purchased pay and display car park tickets before boarding the train at Luton Station. 
The tabloid paper also states how the bombers all had personal items on their person at the time of the attacks, such as wallets, driving licences and bank cards. 
It also states how they were carrying large rucksacks which could be easily dumped, instead of having the explosives strapped to their bodies, as would be expected of a suicide bomber. 
It also points to evidence from the bombers' families, where two of the men had pregnant wives. 
From this evidence, the paper draws the conclusion that the four men were not told the bombs would detonate straight away, and that the men thought they would be able to escape unscathed. 
This was probably done to protect their master's identity, the paper suggested, since there was a high probability the bombers would be caught had they lived. 
A string of anti-government protests in Bangkok yesterday resulted in at least one fatality, numerous others injured, and the temporary closure of several foreign embassies in Thailand. 
Philip Crowley, a spokesperson for the US State Department, announced early Thursday morning that the US embassy would be closed to the public due to its location near the violence. 
The embassy will be operating with a reduced staff and will not offer American citizens services until the conflict is resolved. 
The British and Dutch embassies in Thailand also halted their services after the Thai government said that it would seal off the area. 
The leader of the protests was fugitive Major-General Khattiya Sawasdipol, the radical leader of the militant Red Shirt movement. 
While giving interviews with foreign journalists, Sawasdipol appeared to have been shot in the head by a sniper. 
He was later taken to a local hospital for emergency treatment. 
One other protester, 25-year-old Chartchai Bualao, was killed in the incident, but it is still unclear as to who is responsible for the shooting. 
Thai military forces moved in quickly to suppress the protesters just after the shooting, aiming to put down the opposition movement and secure the area in which they had barricaded themselves since early April. 
The Thai government declared a state of emergency for seventeen of the country's 76 provinces in the wake of the protests. 
This incident is only the latest in an ongoing series of violent outbreaks among protesters and the Thai government. 
The violence is a result of the belief of the protesters that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva took power through illegitimate means with the support of the Thai military. 
Following the escalation of investigations into St Stanislaus College in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, Wikinews has obtained a police statement from an alleged victim made in 1997 against priest Brian Joseph Spillane. 
It had been believed that Bathurst detectives set up Strike Force Header after receiving a complaint from a former St Stanislaus student last year. 
The complainant came to the police's attention after he came to Bathurst handing out fliers documenting alleged abuses at the school and providing a link to a website he had set up. 
St Stanislaus College contacted police and asked them to investigate. 
Police contacted the alleged victim and asked him if he would like to make a complaint. 
In the statement obtained by Wikinews, the same man complained to detectives at Kalgoorlie, Western Australia about abuse by Spillane at St Stanislaus. 
In the graphic statement, he describes abuse which began following a poker game with the priest at the centre of the allegations. 
Bathurst Police refused to comment when contacted about the statement today. 
Two lawyers of accused drug dealer Luiz Fernando da Costa (also known as Fernando Beira-Mar) were arrested Sunday November 14 in a restaurant located at Rio de Janeiro city in Brazil. 
They have been accused of bribing Brazilian federal police officers. 
Luiz Fernando da Costa, known as Fernando Beira-Mar or Fernandinho Beira-Mar, is one of the biggest drug dealers of Latin America according to police. 
Beira-Mar was arrested by the Colombian army at April 20-21, 2001, in a FARC camp located at a forest near Colombia and Venezuela and then transferred to Brazil where he is been in prison until now. 
Former Russian nuclear energy minister Yevgeny Adamov was arrested on Monday by Swiss authorities. 
The arrest came at the request of U.S. officials who claim he stole more than nine million dollars allocated by Washington to help improve Russian nuclear safety. 
The Ministry of Justice in Switzerland said Adamov will be extradited to the US. 
The warrant allowing this states that he is charged with diverting money from the U.S. Department of Energy to several companies he controls. 
Adamov's lead lawyer said he will fight the extradition warrant and called the accusations "baseless". 
Adamov, who has on a number of occasions been investigated for his financial dealing by the U.S. and Russia alike, said he was being punished for his help in building a nuclear plant in Iran. 
The U.S. now has 60 days to present a formal request, after which a Swiss court will make a ruling. 
Swiss officials said it is common for this process to take several months. 
Adamov's U.S. lawyer, Larry Breur, said Adamov admitted to depositing the money into a personal account, but then he used that account to dispense the money to Russian agencies and nuclear scientists. 
Breur said the process was common in Russia to avoid hypertaxation. 
Yevgeny Adamov was a minister in Boris Yeltsin's government, but was removed from power by Vladimir Putin in an effort to remove corruption. 
Adamov was in Bern attempting to unblock bank accounts belonging to his daughter. 
Pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar registered yesterday as a candidate in the parliamentary by-election. 
She is contesting, for her party the National League for Democracy (NLD), for Kawhmu, among the 48 seats in the election scheduled in April. 
Suu Kyi is to contest in elections for the first time. 
Her party won the 1990 election, but she was under house arrest. 
The military junta did not accept NLD's majority in that election. 
The NLD objected to electoral laws and boycotted 2010 elections. 
Kawhmu is a rural township in south-west Myanmar which was hit by cyclone Nargis in 2008. 
Suu Kyi's party would not have much power even if it won all the 48 available seats in the election. 
Nevertheless, her participation could be a test for democratic reforms in Myanmar. 
The National Anti-Hail Program was launched in 2000 and is due to be finalised in 2014. 
It seeks to better protect those areas of the country that are most affected by hail. 
The project needs investment of 10.9 million new lei (3 million euro), half of which have already been allocated, according to the project's co-ordinator, Stancu Samoila. 
Carl-Henric Svanberg, CEO of Ericsson, began a tour of some of Marconi's European sites this morning, starting at Coventry and moving to Beeston for the afternoon session. 
Genoa and Backnang will be visited on Wednesday and Thursday. 
Mike Parton, CEO of Marconi Corporation, spoke of the 'good news' for all stake-holders and introduced Svanberg to a round of applause from the majority of the staff at Coventry New Century Park, while more staff from Coventry New Horizon Park listened on a conference call line. 
The purpose of the tour is to communicate to approx. Eighty percent of Marconi's staff and allow them to ask questions about the asset purchase proposed by Ericsson. 
Dutch adventurer Ralph Tuijn has reached the halfway point of his attempt to be the first person to row across the Pacific Ocean unaided. 
The 16,000 kilometre journey from the coast of Peru to the seaside city of Brisbane, Australia, the widest section of the Pacific, has never been crossed absolutely unaided by a rower, and Tuijn says just nine people have rowed it even with assistance. 
Tuijn reached the central point of his crossing, an insignificant point of water in the ocean, 111 days after setting off from Peru in March. 
He has been making good progress, and has since cut his estimated time of arrival in Brisbane by a month. 
The Dutchman, who now expects to reach his destination on October 20, has kept in touch with those tracking his movements through daily internet postings from his laptop computer, including his wife Winnie. 
His boat, the Zeeman Challenger, is a seven-metre custom plywood vessel. 
Tuijn has overcome a variety of obstacles to reach the halfway point. 
He is suffering from the constant attention of sharks, who often bump his boat and disrupt his attempts at sleep. 
One particular shark, dubbed 'Gomulka' by Tuijn, has been trailing the adventurer's boat for extended periods. 
He has also accidentally burnt himself when he spilled hot water on his foot whilst trying to make coffee, apparently also from a shark 'bump'. 
He is also forced to manually pump water for cooking and drinking after his automatic water pump broke down not long into his journey. 
His vessel has no motors or sails, but relies on his physical rowing power to move. 
The boat does have a solar power system to provide energy for his laptop, a telephone and a global positioning system. 
Tujin, who is raising money for a children's home in Mumbai, India, is rowing at an average speed of 58 kilometres each day. 
His diet consists of freeze-dried foods and fish, which are keeping him physically well-conditioned despite tiring mentally. 
He has rowed across the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, as well as cycled across Russia and the icy terrain of Greenland. 
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev followed the president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili and signed the ceasefire agreement on Saturday. 
The peace plan document was originally drafted by Nicolas Sarkozy, the President of France. 
Medvedev announced during a meeting of the Russian Security Council that he had signed the document . 
The truce was signed by Saakashvili on Friday, after a meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. 
Following the meeting, a press conference was held in which Saakashvili stated that he had signed the accord. 
But he pointed out that "this is not a done deal." 
"We need to do our utmost to deter such behaviour in the future." 
By signing the agreement, both sides agree to pull back their forces to pre-conflict positions. 
The accord allows certain concessions to both Georgia and Russia. 
Initially Medvedev said that he had ordered Russian troops to begin leaving Georgia on August 11. 
However, the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov refused to put a timetable on the withdrawal of Russian forces from deep inside Georgia and stated that their departure depended on extra security measures being put in place. 
Lavrov also said Russia would strengthen its contingent in South Ossetia. 
In a letter to Saakashvili, Nicolas Sarkozy confirmed that according to the signed peace plan, Russian forces are obliged to withdraw from all major Georgian towns regardless of the "additional security measures" mentioned in the document. 
According to Sarkozy, these additional measures refer to the border area only. 
At the same time Georgian internal affairs ministry reported that Russian forces changed the administrative borders of Abkhazia, and captured one of the Georgian power plants in the area. 
It is also reported that Russian forces destroyed the strategic Georgian rail bridge in Kaspi. 
According to Lavrov, the document Saakashvili signed differed from the one signed by Medvedev, lacking its introductory part. 
Jugal Kishore Raibir, the President of the Samajawadi Jana Parishad (Socialist People's Council) passed away at Sadar Hospital in Jalpaiguri,West Bengal on Tuesday November 6, 2007 after a three month battle with cancer. 
The funeral of Raibir, who was Prominent social activist was held on Wednesday evening. 
Condoling his death West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi said he was devoted to the cause of the have not. 
Leaders and personalities from different parts of the country, including the Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar, expressed grief over the death. 
Thousands of people gathered at the Samata Centre, the residence of Kishore, who was very popular particularly among farmers and tea garden workers. 
Leaders from across the political spectrum paid floral tributes to Jugal Kishore Raibir. 
Senior Socialist leaders like Vinod Prasad Singh, Yogendra Yadav, Shivapoojan Singh, Somnath Tripathi, Viswanath Bagi and thousands of people visited the Samata Centre to pay their homage. 
Two protesters in the United States who are associated with the 'Tar Sands Blockade' were arrested Monday after they barricaded themselves inside a portion of the Keystone Oil Pipeline under construction in Winona, Texas. 
TransCanada, which owns the pipeline, stopped construction once the protest began. 
"TransCanada Corporation didn't bother to ask the people of this neighborhood if they wanted to have millions of gallons of poisonous tar sands pumped through their backyards," said one of the protesters inside the pipeline, Matt Almonte in a statement posted to the group's website. 
"This multinational corporation has bullied landowners and expropriated homes to fatten its bottom line", added Almonte. 
Glen Collins, the second protester said, "I'm barricading this pipe with Tar Sands Blockade today to say loud and clear to the extraction industry that our communities and the resources we depend on for survival are not collateral damage." 
According to their website www.tarsandsblockade.org, Almonte and Collins entered the pipeline prior to about 7:30 a.m. local time. 
They went 25 feet into the pipeline and took with them two barrels filled with cement, weighing 600 pounds each and locked themselves in between them. 
At around noon, police on scene entered the section of pipe, only to emerge a few minutes later without the protesters. 
At 12:30, after an ambulance arrived on scene, police once again entered the pipe and began to pull on one of the barrels. 
They were successfully removed and both Almonte and Collins were arrested. 
A short time later a third protester, identified as Isabel Indigo Brooks, was also arrested. 
In a statement to Wikinews, spokesperson for TransCanada Grady Semmens called the incident "unfortunate" saying, "This project is about supplying Canadian and American oil to U.S. refineries, pushing out more expensive crude oil from foreign regimes that do not support American values of freedom and common sense — Libya, Venezuela and the Middle East." 
"It is unfortunate these protestors are trying to keep thousands of Americans from the jobs they depend on to provide for their families." 
"This project is important not only to thousands of workers but also to Americans in general," added Semmens. 
Construction on portions of the pipeline were halted in January when the White House denied permits for it to be finished. 
"This announcement is not a judgment on the merits of the pipeline, but the arbitrary nature of a deadline that prevented the State Department from gathering the information necessary to approve the project and protect the American people," said President Barack Obama in January. 
The portion of the pipeline affected by the protesters is part of the 'Gulf Coast Pipeline Project' that is to be about 485 miles long and consist of a "36-inch crude oil pipeline beginning in Cushing, Oklahoma and extending south to Nederland, Texas", says TransCanada on their website. 
British architect Norman Foster and FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta presented today in Barcelona the redevelopment project for the team's stadium, Camp Nou, built in 1957. 
The Catalan club expects that this redesign will turn the stadium into a city landmark and that "the external image of the stadium will become a recognized brand for FCB." 
The new stadium will be wrapped in a colourful mosaic made up of the team's colours (blue and red) and those of the Catalan flag (red and yellow) and reminiscent of Gaudi's style. 
This reptile-like cover of tiles and lights will allow the stadium to transform itself according to the time of day and the events taking place. 
The project also includes the building of a retractable roof. 
According to the Club, "the remodelled stadium is designed such that it can be built with minimal disruption to FCB normal football activity." 
The United States' first major blizzard of the winter season has left much of the New England region covered in snow. 
Stretching from Virginia to Maine, the storm, packing winds of over 50 miles per hour (80.5 kilometres per hour), dropped more than two feet of snow in some areas. 
Residents prepared for what would be one of the worst nor'easters in quite some time. 
The storm contained similar conditions to a category 2 hurricane. 
Wellfleet, Massachusetts saw an 80 miles per hour wind gust, the strongest recorded throughout the storm. 
Connecticut, New York and Maine all recorded wind gusts of over 60 miles per hour and gusts of over 70 miles per hour blasted Cape Cod. 
A total of 32 inches (81.3 centimetres) fell in Rahway, part of the hardest-hit state in the storm's path. 
Most New Jersey cities received over a foot of snow, while Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, and Maryland all had snow totals topping out at around 1 foot (30.48 centimetres) with Massachusetts topping out at a foot and a half. 
On Monday, travel proved difficult, with flights from Philadelphia, Newark, New York City, Hartford, Boston, Portland, and Washington, D.C. canceled. 
Drivers also ran into problems on major highways as accidents were unavoidable on the slick roads. 
Japanese media reported that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi suggested yesterday that the government would submit a draft to the Diet to rewrite the Imperial Household Act within the next year. 
This is in response to a board of experts who have been investigating the succession issue. 
The experts' Board on the Imperial Household Act, personally appointed by the Prime Minister, reached an agreement on the issue that an Empress should be accepted. 
Implementation of their recommendations would mean that succession to the highest position in Japanese society would occur without a gender bias. 
At the present time, the Japanese imperial household has no male member under the age of 20; present law only allows male descendants to ascend to the Chrysanthemum Throne. 
The proposed solution would put Princess Aiko, the sole child of Crown Prince Naruhito and Crown Princess Masako in place as the most likely to inherit the position of monarch, following behind would be Princess Sayako who will leave the Imperial Household due to her planned marriage with a commoner. 
Present law in Japan defines the succession as favouring male children; the last time the country had an Empress was in 1771, when Empress Go-Sakuramachi abdicated to her nephew. 
Despite the fact that there is precedent for an Empress, some scholars have suggested family members who previously broke ties with the recognised royal family following the end of World War II should be considered for the succession, opening up the field of candidates even more. 
The group of scholars proposing this solution have stressed that their solution is aimed at maintaining the tradition of a male heir. 
Amongst the aftermath of a magnitude 8.9 earthquake which struck on Friday, followed by a tsunami, Naoto Kan, the prime minister of Japan, claimed that the country is experiencing its largest difficulties since the end of World War II in 1945. 
Kan reported that there were limited supplies of electricity due to the closure of numerous power stations, including a nuclear power plant located in Fukushima Prefecture. 
According to NHK, a broadcasting organization in Japan, approximately 310,000 individuals have been transported to safety in shelters that, in various cases, do not contain electricity. 
The Government of Japan has reported the deaths of one thousand individuals, although thousands of others have not been taken into account. 
The police have claimed that the death toll in the Miyagi Prefecture as a result of the earthquake and tsunami could be in excess of ten thousand. 
100,000 troops - which equates to approximately 40% of the country's armed forces - are said to have been committed to assisting with the survivors of the disasters. 
The nuclear agency of Japan consider the circumstances at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant to be Level 4 on the International Nuclear Event Scale, which is an accident with local consequences. 
According to BBC News Online, incidents like this usually cause one person to die from causes related to radiation. 
No individuals from the power plant are reported to have died. 
In the NHL the Buffalo Sabres beat the New York Islanders 3-0 in a shutout on Thursday night to tie the NHL record for the best start to a season. 
"I think we're all proud of what we've accomplished so far." 
"But at the end of the day, it's not what we're aiming for down the road," said Daniel Briere, the co-captain for the Sabres. 
"We want to be having these kinds of streaks in the playoffs." 
"I think it will serve us well in the future, but right now we just need the points," said Ryan Miller, one of the Sabres goalies. 
Currently Buffalo is 10-0-0 and is currently the top team in the NHL. 
They will play the Atlanta Thrashers, who trail the Sabres by only 3 points in the NHL overall, on Saturday October 28. 
Beginning at the end of last season, the Sabres have won 15 games in a row. 
The U.S. House of Representatives approved the building of 700 miles of double-layered fence between the U.S. and Mexico this afternoon, it was the second time in a year that the issue was before the congress and the bill passed by a 238–138 vote. 
The 2000 mile long border currently has 75 miles of fencing. 
The bill also orders the U.S. Homeland Security Department to take over control of the border in 18 months and grants border agents new authority to stop fleeing vehicles. 
It also ordered the Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff to conduct a study of the necessity and feasibility of the construction of a "state-of-the-art barrier system" along the Canadian border. 
Oil prices attained a six-month high on Friday, on new signs that the U.S. economy may not be contracting as fast as was believed. 
U.S. crude oil prices reached US$66.47 a barrel, a level not seen since last November. 
Brent North Sea crude oil was up $1.13 to $65.52 at the end of the week, after peaking at $65.70, also the highest level since November. 
This comes soon after a report released by the U.S. Commerce Department showed that the U.S. GDP fell by 5.7%, revised from the original figure of 6.1%. 
Analysts predict that oil prices will continue to rise amid more positive economic news, especially from economic giants such as India and Japan. 
"Oil market participants' conclusion that the worst of the recession has passed and that a recovery in demand must be at hand was bolstered overnight by higher than expected first quarter growth in India and a sharp jump in Japan's April industrial production," said MF Globa's John Kilduff. 
"We've got a lot more optimism about the economic outlook than we did." 
"The market is factoring in a recovery in demand by the end of the year," said an analyst for the Commodity Warrants Australia, Toby Hassall. 
The Sunday Times cites unnamed U.K. government sources saying that Britain's troops could leave Basra as early as October. 
This alleged scenario would allow Gordon Brown to announce a troop withdrawal in a statement at the time MPs return to Parliament. 
The speculations have sparked criticism from U.S. military commentators this weekend. 
General Jack Keane said the withdrawal had "much more to do with conditions in the U.K." than with the situation in Iraq. 
Frederick Kagan, of the American Enterprise Institute, said the expected withdrawal "highlights the growing divergence between the British and American approach." 
Just yesterday, former General Sir Mike Jackson called Donald Rumsfeld's approach to the U.S. presence in Iraq "intellectually bankrupt". 
An official statement from the British Ministry of Defence said that decisions about the number of troops in the Southern Iraqi province would take into account the position of the Iraqi and U.S. government. 
The Ministry said that even after "a competent Iraqi security force" will have replaced them, some troops could still remain in Basra. 
Until now, Gordon Brown has consistently refused to set a time table for a pull-back. 
The upper house of the former Kyrgyz parliament declared it was terminating its work "to stabilize the situation and do away with conflicts" on Tuesday, as the lower house had done a day before. 
The decision was signed by 32 of the 45 deputies. 
"We think we have fulfilled our task, as far as was possible, especially in this time of trials," they said. 
"A huge part of the state system was devoted to the election process." 
"That is not a secret…" 
"We have all seen what happens when the executive branch gets involved in elections." 
"I think we will not get into that now …" 
"I think that staff should get back to work," he said. 
"Whoever is ... on my staff, if I hear that they got promoted for money or because they are someone's relative, or they belong to particular clan, then this person will be removed immediately," he added. 
"We will set up public hotline so that people can complain against corruption," he told them. 
Meanwhile, deposed president Askar Akayev's supporters said they would form a party and run a candidate in the presidential poll. 
Ousted emergencies minister Timirbek Akmataliyev and interior minister Keshenbek Dyushenbayev said they were forming the Akyikat (Fairness) political party. 
A man in Rotorua today was shot after being involved in a crash outside the Rotorua International Stadium. 
Witnesses said that one man pulled out a handgun and shot another man in the head. 
Witness Alby King said "I just heard this big car crash, and we had a look and there was two guys fighting, and one just shot the other in the back of the head." 
The man, who was shot, survived the shooting and is in serious but stable condition at hospital. 
The police say they have arrested a 38-year-old in relation to the shooting, he was found in a street nearby after fleeing the scene. 
The police would not comment on whether or not it was a gang-related incident. 
In the lead-up to the federal election on September 7, both leaders were focused on refugee policy with Abbott attacking Rudd for failing to effectively protect the country's borders by disbanding border protection agreements implemented by the previous Liberal government. 
"It's because Mr. Rudd closed it all down that we've had more than 50,000 illegal arrivals," claimed Abbott. 
"There has been more than 800 boats, 11 billion dollars in budget blow-outs and tragically, more than 1000 deaths at sea." 
Rudd claimed that the policy he'd put forward has "one simple principle" behind it: "If you are a people smuggler bringing someone to Australia and you are seeking to settle them in Australia, we will not allow it." 
"They will be sent for processing in Papua New Guinea." 
Rudd also used the debate to take a firm stance on same-sex marriage. 
Pledging that a bill to legalise same-sex marriage would be introduced within 100 days of government, Rudd promised to allow a "full conscience vote" if he were to be re-elected. 
Rudd called on the opposition to do the same, describing it as a "mark of decency" and stating that "folk out there want this to happen." 
Abbott, however, agreed that while same-sex marriage was an "important issue", the economy was a more significant issue. 
Vornado Realty Trust of Paramus NJ has completed a deal to take a majority interest in the 1.8 million sq ft building at 555 California St in San Francisco, (aka The Bank of America Center) and the 2 million sq. foot building located at 1290 Avenue of The Americas in New York City. 
In an announced deal worth $1.8 billion, the new investors get a 70 percent interest in both towers, alleviating the current owners, Hudson Waterfront Associates of any possible liability in a lawsuit brought against them by Donald Trump. 
Built in 1969, 555 California is SF's largest office tower, and 2nd tallest building at 779 ft. just a few feet shy of the 48 story Transamerica Pyramid at 853 ft which was completed in 1972. 
The SF structure, whose current deal estimates it's value @ $575 per sq ft, had just sold last year for $1.05 Billion all by itself ($583 a sq ft), when property magnate Walter Shorenstein sold it to Henry Cheng and Vincent Lo's Hong Kong based Hudson Waterfront Associates, a record for a city property. 
Before 2005, 555 California had been Bank of America's World HQ, but that status ended when North Carolina based NationsBank ate up A.P Giannini's west coast banking legacy and kept the B of A name, but made the main HQ in Charlotte NC. 
For lookee loos the 52nd floor of 555 California features the popular Carnelian Room, a hang for well to do bankers, brokers, lawyers and tourists checking out wide sweeping views from what was once the tallest structure west of the Mississippi, now only the 5th Tallest Bldg on the west coast, but still impressive. 
For those afraid of heights and the tab for "fine dining", the ground floor also features a Starbucks. 
At least one woman was injured after a letter bomb exploded inside the Capita Group Plc building on Victoria Street, near Scotland Yard which is located in the central part of London, England. 
The woman was holding the bomb when it exploded and suffered injuries to her stomach and hands. 
"We were called at around 9.40 this morning to reports of a suspect package at a business address in Victoria Street," said a spokesperson for Scotland Yard. 
Victoria Street has been shutdown from Westminster Abbey to Scotland Yard while rescuers and police investigate the incident. 
"As a precaution, a cordon has been put in place around the scene," said another police spokesperson. 
The bomb was inside a "jiffy bag" which held the letter which was contained inside a padded envelope. 
The woman who was injured was not believed to be the target. 
Police will not say to whom the letter was addressed. 
There are no reports of other injuries or deaths so far. 
"We are not in a position to discuss who may or may not be responsible at this stage," said police. 
A cleanup effort is underway after torrential downpours on Friday, September 4 caused significant flooding in the north-east of Scotland. 
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said that the weather forecast in the coming days was improving, with no large amounts of rainfall predicted. 
Over 500 homes had to be evacuated in Moray after the River Spey and River Lossie started to overflow their banks. 
400 homes were also evacuated in the Elgin area and 50 more in Fochabers. 
Other areas affected included Aberdeen, Dyce, Lossiemouth and Rothes, where 25 homes had to be evacuated. 
The Grampian Police and Tayside Police advised residents not to drive unless absolutely necessary. 
In some places, a month's worth of rain had fallen in just 24 hours. 
About 67 millimetres of rain had fallen in Aberdeen - roughly the equivalent of an average month of rainfall. 
In Lossiemouth, the rainfall was 76.4 millimetres - 15mm more than the average amount every month. 
As cleanup efforts progressed, Chief executive of Moray Council Alistair Keddie said, "Everything possible was done to protect residents." 
However, some residents of the local areas are not so certain. 
Mary Campbell, 62 from Fochabers said to the Times Online that she was "calling [for help] from 8pm but no-one showed up until about midnight." 
"All the time the river kept going up and up." 
"They came with sandbags, but by then it was too late." 
The MSP for Moray Angus Robertson MP stated, "Water levels are higher than I have ever seen them before and communities have rallied to support people whose homes and businesses have been flooded." 
"The objective must now be for everyone to help the victims of the worst flooding to hit Moray for many years to assist them rebuild their lives and get back to normality as quickly as possible." 
"The hard lessons learnt from this latest devastation include the need for local agencies to redouble their efforts to get flood prevention measures into place and to recognise that climate change will only lead to more flooding in the future." 
The New Zealand Government has been forced to act because of a letter sent to Prime Minister Helen Clark which claimed that the disease Foot and Mouth is being intentionally spread on Waiheke Island. 
The letter, which is assumed to be a hoax, could have a major impact on New Zealand's meat industry. 
Agriculture Minister Jim Sutton went so far as to say that the suspension of meat exports by some countries was a real possibility. 
The incubation period of foot and mouth disease is such that if animals have been infected, signs should be evident within ten days. 
In the meantime, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry experts and veterinarians, many with experience gained in the recent United Kingdom outbreak, are conducting intensive monitoring of the Island's susceptible animals. 
All sheep and cattle are being individually inspected every 48 hours. 
Meanwhile, restrictions on the movement of livestock are in place, so that in the very unlikely event that there has been a release of the disease, the effects will be contained. 
Police efforts are underway to track the origin of the letter that initiated the scare. 
The Mexican government has said that an Aeroméxico Boeing-737, flight 576 from Cancun, was hijacked and landed safely at Mexico City International Airport in Mexico City. 
The situation ended without incident and all passengers and crew on board the aircraft were able to leave safely. 
All hijackers were arrested after Mexican security forces boarded the plane. 
The incident began just after 1:30 p.m. (CDT) one man took control of the plane and demanded to speak to Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president. 
The hijacker said that if his demand was not met, he would blow up the plane. 
Earlier reports had stated there were explosives on board the aircraft, but none were found. 
A short time later, four of the detained men were released without being charged. 
Authorities identified the sole hijacker as Jose Mar Flores, 44, who is being described as an alcoholic, drug addicted, religious fanatic. 
He claims he was on a mission to warn Mexico that an earthquake was going to strike the country. 
Flores said that the significance of the date, 9/9/09, the reverse of 666, was the reason why he hijacked the plane. 
Reports say he was carrying a box that he described as a bomb and would detonate it if his demand to speak to Calderon about the quake was not met. 
104 people were on board the plane, but all passengers and crew aboard the aircraft have left it safely. 
The airport remained open while the plane was dealt with on an emergency runway. 
Calderon was inside the airport's presidential hangar waiting to depart when the plane landed. 
Margaret Wilson was appointed as Speaker of The House of Representatives. 
She becomes New Zealand's first female Speaker of the House. 
She also rounds out the top positions within New Zealand being taken by women. 
All four of Governor-General, Prime Minister, Chief Justice and the Speaker of the House are female. 
Clem Simich (National MP) received 37 and ACT MP Ken Shirley got five votes. 
The position has usually been appointed unopposed, but the other two candidates stood to protest at the lack of consultation by Prime Minister Helen Clark. 
Wilson takes over from Jonathan Hunt, who leaves to become the High Commissioner for New Zealand in London. 
Hunt will remain in the backbenches until early next month. 
Wilson was previously Attorney-General, a position that Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Michael Cullen now holds. 
Leslie Feist was the most successful artist as the Juno Awards concluded in Calgary, Alberta on Sunday. 
The performer of the internationally-successful single "1234" won in five categories: Album of the Year, Pop Album of the Year, Single of the Year, Artist of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. 
Veteran group Blue Rodeo won in three categories: Group of the Year, Adult Alternative Album of the Year and Video of the Year. 
The Canadian Music Hall of Fame added veteran Canadian rock band Triumph to its honour roll. 
The Humanitarian Award was presented to country performer Paul Brandt while the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award was presented to Citytv and MuchMusic founder Moses Znaimer. 
The Juno Awards began in 1970, initially known as the Gold Leaf Awards, and are Canada's most prominent annual music honours. 
The awards have been nationally televised within Canada since 1975. 
Next year's ceremonies will be hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia. 
Families of Spanish sailors being held for over a month appealed to Spain's government on Friday to negotiate with the Somali pirates for their release. 
The kidnappers have threatened to kill three of the tuna trawler's crew after a stand-off with Spanish forces. 
They called upon the government to free two captured Somalis held in Spain, who are suspected of being involved in the seizure of the Alakrana and its crew of 36. 
As in the case with the Lynn Rival, a British yacht, the kidnappers have demanded their release. 
Ricardo Blach, the captain of the trawler who is being held by the pirates, warned relatives by phone that they intended to kill the three crew members—moved from the trawler on Thursday and returned on Friday in a bid to pressure the Spanish government—should their demands not be met. 
"They have just told us that if in three days there is no change over the two held in Spain, they will kill the three and then three others and then more," he said. 
The Spanish government has ruled this out, but is willing to hand them over to an African country, such as Kenya, as happened in May. 
"That is an issue for the courts to decide," commented Deputy Prime Minister María Teresa Fernández de la Vega Sanz to reporters, adding that talking about this "technical topic which is legally very complicated" was "risky". 
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos stressed the need for calm amongst the tension of the removal and return of the three hostages. 
"What does this mean?" 
" It means we must remain calm." 
"Kidnappings are complicated situations, with highs and lows, they are very difficult and stressful." 
"But we must remain confident and calm," he said during a news conference. 
"If we remain calm and confident I am certain that what all Spaniards want, what the families want, what the government wants—that the hostages can return to their homes safe and sound and this kidnapping ends satisfactorily." 
Families say the captured crew have "little drinking water or food,". 
They called for Spanish authorities to "act immediately" and "do everything possible to bring home the 36 fishermen." 
"We demand that all the parties work in the same direction" and requested that the Spanish government chooses "negotiation" as opposed to risking the life of the crew in danger by forceful means. 
The pirates captured the boat on October 2, and are demanding US$4 (€2.6) million in ransom in addition to the release of the two captured Somalis. 
The crew comprises sixteen Spaniards, the crew includes eight Indonesians and members from Ghana, the Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Senegal and the Seychelles. 
Spanish military captured the two suspected pirates when they left the trawler via a small boat. 
On Friday, Spain's secretary of state for defence, Constantino Mendez, insisted that their release "is not negotiable." 
He announced on Spanish National Radio that the hostages are "in good health" and that the kidnappers are "dramatising" the situation as a "negotiating tactic." 
Two Spanish frigates are observing the situation off the Somali coast. 
Queensland Australia's Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen, a controversial figure who served as the State's Premier for 19 years and reigned over the government that later became the subject of the Fitzgerald Inquiry, has died in hospital at Kingaroy, aged 94. 
"By any measurement, Sir Joh was an exceptional state builder who will be remembered for consistently placing Queensland first," said the Australian Governor General, Major General Jeffery, in a statement. 
Australian Prime Minister, John Howard: "He was certainly a strong political figure and I extend my condolences to his wife and his family." 
But not all voices were sympathetic, prominent Queensland Aboriginal activist Sam Watson for example: "Aboriginal people will always remember him as a racist, a thug and a dictator." 
Having suffered severe ill-health for some weeks, and declining health for years, Sir Joh passed away at around 6pm AEST. 
He was surrounded by his family, who had been summoned yesterday by Lady Flo, his wife and one-time Senator, for final goodbyes. 
Phrases such as "Don't you worry about that" and "Goodness gracious me" were like trademarks to the maverick leader. 
Known simply as 'Joh' to many, he would famously describe press conferences as 'feeding the chooks'. 
Today Kingaroy locals taunted waiting press with cries from "You're chooks, you're chooks, ha ha" to "Go home, ya vultures", and some obscenities, reported the Courier-Mail of Brisbane. 
His fall from power at the end of the 80s was surrounded in controversy, with the state embroiled in corruption findings going to the level of his deputies, and Bjelke Petersen's claims of ignorance coming under challenge with charges of perjury. 
The case was never heard due to a controversial hung jury: the foreman of the jury, Luke Shaw, had been an office-bearer of the Young Nationals — an arm of Bjelke Petersen's National Party — as well as a member of a group calling themselves 'Friends of Joh'. 
Having had his start in life as a peanut farmer in remote Kingaroy, the former Premier was fit up until the very end, but palsy was paralyzing his muscles and organs, to which he eventually succumbed. 
"Throughout his life Sir Joh combined enormous energy, vision and an immense capacity for hard work, most especially during his 19-year term as Premier of Queensland," the Governor General said. 
"What looked to us to be huge risks at the time turned out to be nation building," said Bob Katter, a former minister of Joh's Government, who credited Sir Joh with starting the Queensland coal, aluminum and tourism industries. 
He is also remembered for dismantling many of the State's unions, and for a somewhat totalitarian and heavy handed style of keeping control. 
Under Joh, street protests were banned and Special Branch monitored extensively those the authoritarian leader saw as subversives, measures prompting Queenslander, Australian Civil Liberties Council, Terry O'Gorman, to comment Sir Joh was "the most appalling premier Queensland has ever had in terms of civil liberties and human rights". 
Joh was also influential in the famous case of the Dismissal by the Governor General of then-Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, in 1975. 
In his last years as Premier, he had taken his cause to the nation's capital, with the "Joh for PM" campaign. 
But this distraction has been credited with the downfall of his government, with corruption investigations at last being conducted by his stand-in, Bill Gunn. 
The body of Sir Joh, who was of Lutheran faith, is to be buried at Bethany, the family property near Kingaroy. 
Finland now holds the world record for the longest non-stop round of karaoke singing. 
The country already holds the record for the largest number of karaoke singers at any given time. 
The previous record was 145 hours, as held by China. 
However, in a karaoke bar in Kouvola, a small town on Finland's southern coast, the record was surpassed on Wednesday, with the ultimate goal being 240 hours non-stop. 
Finns travelled long distances to participate at the event, which was broadcast live on the internet. 
The record goes alongside Finland's other record for karaoke, that of the largest number singing at any given time. 
This is held by 80,000 fans of the Finnish hard rock band Lordi, who had met in Helsinki for the band to give a brief free concert to celebrate their victory at that year's Eurovision. 
The show culminated with all 80,000 joining in with the band on the winning song, Hard Rock Hallelujah. 
Hawker, Australian Capital Territory — Tonight, the Japanese national team beat the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) softball team 1–0 in the first of a two game series before Japan plays a three game test series against the Australian national team. 
Japan brought five pitchers to Canberra for their Australian tour. 
Since the last Olympics, Japan has been in a rebuilding period. 
The side is young and many of their best players have not had much international experience. 
One of their best pitchers is only nineteen years old. 
The ACT side included Australian national team members Aimee Murch and Clare Warwick; Olympic bronze medalist Brenda De Blaes; Victorian state team representative, national team member and Olympic bronze medalist Justine Smethurst; and Clare Currie, who narrowly missed the cut for the national team. 
De Blaes started the top of the first with a hit. 
Murch was pitching for the ACT to start the bottom of the first. 
Number 15 for Japan opened the inning with a single, and was advanced to third on another single. 
She was tagged out after trying to score a run after her teammate hit a pop up caught by the ACT's centre fielder. 
Number 6 hit a double during this inning, scoring Japan's only run. 
The top of the second saw ACT players 1, 5 and 3 tagged out after hits to the infield. 
The bottom of the second saw number 13 out on a foul ball caught on the fly by the ACT's third baseman, and number 11 and 24 out on balls hit into and caught by the ACT's centre fielder. 
The top of third inning saw numbers 24 and 21 ground out. 
The bottom of the third saw Japan's first batter ground out, number 8 getting a single on an infield hit, another playing getting an out, and the inning ending with number 11 hitting an infield ground out. 
The rest of the game followed much the same pattern. 
Two players, an ACT player and a Japanese, were struck by balls and required trainers to look at them. 
Smethurst came in and pitched a few innings in relief. 
Between the fifth and sixth innings, there was a small delay in the game when a dog named Streaker, owned by Australia men's national softball team player Adam Folkard, ran onto the the infield. 
An announcement was made at the end of the game that the match scheduled for tomorrow would start fifteen minutes earlier than the advertised start time of 18:00. 
So far, three people (including a baby) have been killed, and at least ten others were injured when two semi trucks collided in a tunnel on Interstate 5 (Newhall Pass) between Los Angeles and Santa Clarita California, United States in the late evening of October 12, setting off a chain reaction pileup that involved between 28 and 30 semi trucks and one passenger car. 
The wreck caused a massive fire that burned for over six hours. 
It was previously believed that only 13 semi trucks were involved. 
"The fire burned in a very intense state for approximately four hours and basically consumed everything that was burnable," said John Tripp the Fire Chief for L.A. county. 
As a result of the crash, the Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger issued a declaration of a state of emergency for Los Angeles County. 
The debris has been removed and officials say that a full inspection will have to be done on the tunnel before it can be used again because the structure of the tunnel has been compromised. 
"None of the rebar appears to be melted, damaged at this point in time." 
"But it's completely separated from the walls in a number of areas, so we lose vertical support when that happens," said California Department of Transportation official, Doug Failing. 
Tripp added that more bodies could be buried in the wreckage, saying "...we're going to have to do a very methodical search." 
"There could be unfortunately more people that were not able to escape." 
So far authorities have yet to identify the three people who were killed. 
A full investigation is being conducted into what caused the crash. 
Sparking controversy and eliciting widespread condemnation in an interview with the Washington Post, Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, has made some poorly-judged comments about rape and rape victims. 
Musharaff was quoted as having said, "Rape has become a money-making concern" and he suggested that getting raped was a method of getting a visa to western countries. 
The high-profile rape victim, Mukhtar Mai, dismissed the idea that any woman could allow herself to be subjected to such treatment for money. 
Her case attracted widespread international media attention with it being alleged that her rape was ordered by the local panchayat (town council). 
The United Nations Human Rights Commissioner has questioned Australia's tough asylum seeker policies this week, stating that Australia's mandatory detention regime has "cast a shadow" over its human rights record. 
Navi Pillay, the UN's Human Rights watchdog, was particularly critical of Prime Minister Julia Gillard's asylum seeker trade deal with Malaysia. 
This bilateral agreement, if signed, would see 800 refugees attempting to get to Australia by boat immediately transported to Malaysia instead. 
In return, Australia would take 4,000 genuine refugees from Malaysia over a space of four years. 
However, Malaysia has not signed either the international Refugee Convention, or the Convention Against Torture. 
In an interview with the ABC, Ms Pillay voiced concern over this, stating that Australia may "violate refugee law" by sending asylum seekers to a country where no laws are in place to protect them. 
Pillay, a South African former anti-apartheid protester, also voiced distress over the omnipresence of political "demonising" of these asylum seekers stating, "[t]he consequence of the constant political refrain that Australia is being 'flooded' by people who are 'queue jumpers' has resulted in a stigmatisation of an entire group of people, irrespective of where they have come from or what dangers they have fled". 
In her six-day trip to Australia, the UN Human Rights Commissioner visited two detention centres and said she was overwhelmed with the "grim despondency" of asylum seekers, many of whom wait over 18 months to have their case assessed. 
The mistreatment of refugees was today reinforced with the release of an Australian Rights Commission report, which revealed extensive problems of self-harm and depression among detainees at the Villawood Detention Centre in Sydney. 
The United States Senate has defeated a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. 
The bill was defeated 48 to 49 and did not receive the minimum amount of 60 votes to that would allow the bill to be taken to the full Senate. 
The bill fell 18 votes short of the 67 that were needed for approval. 
In order for the bill to become part of the U.S. Constitution, this bill would have had to be approved by a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, then be approved by the legislatures of three fourths (that is, 38) of the States. 
However, Senator David Vitter, R-LA, who is a supporter of the bill says, "we're building votes." 
"Most Americans are not yet convinced that their elected representatives or the judiciary are likely to expand decisively the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples," said John McCain (R-AZ) who opposed the bill. 
"A vote for it is a vote against civil unions, against domestic partnership, against all other efforts for states to treat gays and lesbians fairly under the law," said Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy. 
The bill would define marriage as between a man and a woman, and would preclude the official recognizing of same-sex marriages. 
The bill is expected to be taken back to the Senate in July. 
In the Philippines, the Liberal Party's presidential candidate Benigno Simeon Cojuangco Aquino III, commonly known as Noynoy, was officially elected as the next President of the Philippines in the 2010 presidential election. 
He campaigned for an end to corruption and poverty and says he'll make prosecuting corrupt officials a priority. 
Noynoy received more than 15 million votes, about 5.7 million ahead of his closest opponent, ousted Joseph Estrada. 
Noynoy said in an interview, "I want to lead by example." 
"I did make a public vow, I will never steal". 
Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile told a crowd after the count: "We have done this ... for the Filipino people …" 
He is 50 years old, a bachelor, an economics graduate, a Senator and is the only son of former President Corazon Aquino and former Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr.. 
Noynoy's father was shot while in military custody during the regime of late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, before his mother, Corazon Aquino, led the People Power Revolution that toppled Marcos in 1986. 
In the Philippines, the president and vice president are elected separately; the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino Party's vice-presidential candidate Jejomar Cabauatan Binay will become the country's vice-president. 
Noynoy is the President-elect, while Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is the outgoing incumbent. 
He will officially become the Philippines's fifteenth president on June 30. 
Two US soldiers killed in Afghanistan yesterday were shot by an Afghan interpreter in Wardek province south-west of Kabul, according to NATO. 
An official said the translator shot them at an eastern Afghanistan outpost before he was shot dead by other soldiers. 
It is not yet clear why the interpreter started shooting; However, the attacker seemed to be a "disgruntled employee", as opposed to a militant, according to a US military official. 
The interpreter had supposedly argued with the soldiers over pay and treatment before opening fire. 
NATO originally only released a terse statement yesterday, stating that two soldiers and one civilian had been killed. 
Elsewhere in Wardek province, four Afghan soldiers died in an airstrike by coalition forces. 
It is not thought that the two incidents are related. 
NATO called the deaths "regrettable" and is to carry out an investigation. 
The Afghan defence ministry is demanding punishment for the "murderers" responsible for the airstrike. 
The Australian federal and New South Wales governments will not be selling their shares in Snowy Hydro Limited (the owner and operator of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme). 
Snowy Hydro Limited's major shareholder is the NSW government with a 58 percent shareholding. 
The Victorian government owns 29 percent and the federal government has a 13 percent stake. 
NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced in December 2005 that he wished to sell the state's share in Snowy Hydro that caused the federal and Victorian governments to follow. 
The proposed sale has attracted immense criticism by those who believed that the sale would affect the environment and water supplies along the Snowy River, this was reinforced yesterday when 58 eminent Australians presented a petition to the government opposing the sale. 
Prime Minister John Howard announced today that the federal government would not be selling its 13 percent share of Snowy Hydro following what he calls "intense community reaction". 
In a statement, Mr Howard said, "This decision to sell the Snowy Hydro has created significant unhappiness, concern and unrest throughout the Australian community." 
Mr Howard said that the sale was not an election promise by his government and that the federal government failed to see any long-term benefits from the sale. 
He also said that the government needed to "safeguard the interests of all those dependent on Australia's iconic water resources". 
The federal government has however stated that despite refusing to sell its share in Snowy Hydro that it will not be purchasing additional shares if NSW and Victoria push ahead with the sale of their shareholdings. 
Despite telling Macquarie Radio earlier this morning that his government would be pushing ahead with the sale as it was in the best "interests of NSW", Premier Iemma announced shortly after Mr Howard's release, that the NSW government would be withdrawing its shares from sale. 
Mr Iemma conceded that the sale would be extremely difficult with the federal government withdrawing its 13 percent from sale. 
"The Prime Minister has pulled the rug out from under the sale," Mr Iemma said. 
"The Commonwealth decision makes it extremely difficult for NSW to proceed," he conceded. 
Victoria is yet to announce whether or not it will be withdrawing its shares from sale. 
Scientists using NASA's Swift Satellite and other telescopes have observed a supernova in near real time occurring in the constellation of Aries. 
The explosion is said to be the most powerful explosion known to scientists, which consists of a gamma-ray burst or an x-ray blast. 
Scientists say that bursts signal the beginning of a star's death. 
Swift first detected the explosion on February 18 (it was given a designation GRB 060218), which allowed telescopes and satellites to watch the event as it happened. 
The blast lasted for more than 2,000 seconds (33 minutes). 
"This is the type of unscripted event in our nearby universe that we hoped Swift could catch," said Neil Gehrels, Swift principal investigator at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. 
"Those observations capture the time when the star collapsed, ejected its outer envelope and most of its mass and left a compact remnant behind." 
"And we think that compact remnant is a neutron star," said an author writing for journal Nature, where the report will be published on Thursday. 
Scientists are also planning on using the Hubble Space Telescope and the Chandra X-ray Observatory in an attempt to get more images of the event. 
The star is at least 440 million light years from Earth. 
The group of scientists was led by Sergio Campana of the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics and Alicia Soderberg, a graduate student at Caltech in Pasadena, California. 
The primary camera on the Hubble Space Telescope has shut down and is likely to only be restored to partial functionality, according to reports from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 
The camera on the telescope, known as the "Advanced Camera for Surveys" or ACS, can be reactivated but will be restored to only one-third of its operating capacity. 
The camera shut down over the weekend, probably due to a failure of its backup power supply. 
It was the third such shutdown of the camera in the past calendar year. 
The camera had been operating on its backup power since June 30, 2006, when engineers switched from the primary power supply ("Side A") to the backup ("Side B") due to a malfunction. 
A review board was convened on January 29 to assess all options and to decide on a course of action. 
Their findings will be reported to NASA on March 2, 2007. 
The ACS, developed jointly by four American agencies, was installed in March of 2002. 
It is a system of three cameras, filters, and dispersers which act to detect wavelengths of light ranging from near-infrared to ultraviolet. 
It is a system that was designed to last five years, according to Preston Burch, associate director and program manager for the Hubble Space Telescope. 
NASA also indicated that the other four main systems on the telescope remain unaffected and functioning normally. 
A scheduled mission to the space telescope in 2008 is expected to deliver instruments to further upgrade the capabilities of the telescope. 
It is not known what the effect of the ACS failure will have on the scheduled mission. 
Burch said in a press release posted on the NASA main website, "It is important that the review board conduct a thorough investigation that will allow us to determine if there are any changes needed in the new instruments that will be installed on the upcoming servicing mission so that we can be sure of maximizing the telescope's scientific output." 
"We are continuing to make excellent progress in our preparations for the servicing mission, which is presently targeted to fly in September 2008." 
One day after France began enforcing a ban on the public wearing Islamic veils that cover the face, either a niqāb or a burqa, French police briefly detained two veiled women. 
The police later claimed that the women were arrested for taking part in an unauthorized protest, not because they were wearing veils. 
The women were arrested while outside the famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and may now face fines of up to $217 (150 euros), community service and/or a citizenship course under the law. 
While the ban covers the burqa and the niqāb, it does not include the hijab or the chador. 
The hijab is a veil that leaves the face visible while covering the hair and neck, and the chador covers only the body. 
The law has stirred much debate, both in France and around the globe. 
Those who oppose the new law say it limits freedom of speech and freedom of religion, while supporters claim that women are degraded by wearing veils and the law is intended to empower those women, as well as increase public security. 
The French government, in defense of the ban, said that it was necessary because wearing veils falls short of the living standards in France and and makes women be of an lower status in a country where everybody is considered equal. 
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has said that the ban is consistent with the national values of France. 
"The French Republic lives in a bare-headed fashion," he said in a statement published by a government newspaper. 
The French government previously made efforts to accommodate Muslims in the country, including establishing a council dealing with the presence of Islam; however, according to Amer Sahar, a professor who studies the topic, some Muslims in the country say that they feel as though they are under assault by the government. 
She said that some are "resentful of the fact that they are not allowed to be both Muslim and French." 
The French government is also concerned with women and children who are forced to veil themselves. 
It has said that such an action is "a new form of enslavement that the republic cannot accept on its soil." 
Activist Rachid Nekkaz auctioned one of his homes to provide money to pay the fine for any woman arrested under the law. 
"I would like to send a clear message to President Nicolas Sarkozy that we can do what we want." 
"We have a constitution and everyone has to respect it," he said. 
According to the French Constitutional Council, the law "conforms to the Constitution" because it does not limit the freedom of religion or excessively punish people for exercising that right in a place of worship. 
A controversial patent directive has been thrown out in a landslide vote. 
648 MEPs out of 680 voted today to reject the proposal, aimed at bringing Europe in-line with a similar U.S. bill. 
"This is a great victory for those who have campaigned to ensure that European innovation and competitiveness is protected from monopolisation of software functionalities and business methods." 
"It marks the end of an attempt by the European Commission and governmental patent officials to impose detrimental and legally questionable practices of the European Patent Office (EPO) on the member states," said the Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure, in opposition to the directive. 
Adversaries to the patent directive claim that a bill covering Intellectual Property (IP) would "stifle innovation" in Europe, as it allows the patenting of implementation within software. 
Many anti-patent activists say that if the bill were passed, small businesses and hobbyists would be in danger of lawsuit from corporations and their extensive patent portfolios. 
United States President Barack Obama is seeking a "comprehensive exit strategy" from the Afghanistan war. 
During a 60 Minutes interview, Obama said, "There's got to be an exit strategy." 
"There's got to be a sense that this is not perpetual drift." 
In February Obama said that 17,000 more troops would be sent this year before the August elections to supplement the 36,000 American troops already deployed in Afghanistan. 
Obama stated that the U.S. Mission in Afghanistan is "making sure that al-Qaeda cannot attack the U.S. homeland and U.S. interests and our allies." 
Options for a strategy include improving Afghan-Pakistani relations, while rebuilding Afghanistan's economy. 
"I found a very encouraging symmetry of views between our NATO allies and other troop-contributing countries and the United States," Richard Holbrooke, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan stated. 
"In the past, the United States government stove-piped it, they had an Afghan policy and a Pakistan policy." 
"We have to integrate the two and I hope the rest of the world will join us in that effort," said Holbrooke. 
Obama also said that "the complexities of Afghanistan are matched, maybe even dwarfed, by the complexities of the economic situation." 
"There needs to be a way to withdraw from Afghanistan and place the focus on economic growth." 
"We may need to bring a more regional diplomatic approach to bear." 
"We may need to coordinate more effectively with our allies." 
"But we can't lose sight of what our central mission is." 
European allies have stated they have exit plans for the next three to four years. 
Hamid Karzai, the Afghan President says that although he supports the idea, he urges that there is no need for any "quick fixes". 
Representative Tom Tancredo (R-CO) has clarified his earlier statement that "you could take out their holy sites," in the event of a nuclear attack upon the U.S. by Islamic terrorists. 
Rep. Tancredo has refused to make any apologies, saying "When we bombed Hiroshima, when we bombed Dresden, we punished a lot of people who were not necessarily (guilty)." 
"Not every German was a member of the Nazi Party." 
However, Tancredo emphasized that he was speaking hypothetically and not necessarily suggesting policy. 
The remarks, made in a July 15th radio interview, hosted by Pat Campbell of WFLA in Orlando, Florida, have drawn support from conservatives groups such as Northeast Intelligence Network and Free Republic, and have offended the American Muslim community. 
Veteran White House journalist Helen Thomas, 89, announced her retirement yesterday with immediate effect, ending her fifty-seven year career, amid criticism over controversial remarks. 
Thomas has been a correspondent for over fifty years and has covered every president from John F. Kennedy to Obama. 
Thomas, the daughter of Lebanese immigrants, who blazed a trail for female reporters in politics in the United States, has ended her career after apologizing for saying that Israel should "get the hell out of Palestine." 
In retiring, Thomas stated: "I deeply regret my comments I made last week regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians." 
"They do not reflect my heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance." 
Her departure as Hearst Newspaper columnist was announced after she was captured on video saying: "Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land." 
"It's not Germany, it's not Poland," and that Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "they should go home" to Poland, Germany, the US and "everywhere else." 
Rabbi David Nesenoff, an independent filmmaker, said he spoke to Thomas outside the White House on Jewish Heritage Day on May 27. 
Video of her controversial comments were widely disseminated on the Internet by his website, rabbilive.com, that relaunched last week. 
She was dropped by her public speaking agency and a high school commencement address was canceled. 
The Hearst statement came shortly after White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called her remarks "offensive and reprehensible." 
Thomas has been a correspondent for fifty-seven years, she had worked for decades as a White House correspondent for United Press International and became a columnist for the Hearst newspaper chain in recent years. 
She was the first female officer of the National Press Club, the first female member and president of the White House Correspondents Association, and, in 1975, the first female member of the Gridiron Club. 
Thomas did little to hide her views, with her questions to Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama and their press secretaries often about the wars in the Middle East. 
Two weeks ago, she asked Obama, "Mr. President, when are you going to get out of Afghanistan?" 
"Why are you continuing to kill and die there?" 
"What is the real excuse?" 
" And don't give us this Bushism, 'If we don't go there, they'll all come here.'" 
During Kennedy's administration, Helen ended all presidential press conferences with a signature "Thank you, Mr. President" and always issued a caveat about her work: "In my career you're only as good as your last story." 
Police in Austria have reported that the situation in the cellar where people were illegally imprisoned for over two decades is 'oppressive'. 
They have also said that they cannot stay in the cellar for more than one hour. 
AP reported that this is because there is a low oxygen level in the cellar. 
This announcement by the police comes after police in the Lower Austrian town of Amstetten arrested a 73 year old man who is alleged to have kept his daughter, now aged 42, locked in the cellar of his house in Amstetten since August 29, 1984. 
The man, identified by police as Josef Fritzl, is alleged to have started sexually abusing his daughter, named as Elisabeth Fritzl, when she was eleven years old, and to have subsequently fathered seven children by her. 
One of the children, one of a set of twins born in 1996, died of neglect shortly after birth and the body was burned by the father. 
The surviving six children, three boys and three girls, are currently aged between 5 and 20 years old. 
Three of the children were left on Josef F.'s doorstep and subsequently raised as the adoptive children of Josef F. and his wife, Rosemarie, while the other three children were left with their mother and never saw daylight until she was discovered. 
Rosemarie F. is said to have been unaware of her husbands' activities. 
Police became suspicious when a 19-year-old daughter, Kerstin, was taken to hospital with a mysterious life-threatening illness, and the family's medical records were checked. 
Police say that Elisabeth F. appeared to be "greatly disturbed" psychologically, and only agreed to talk after the authorities assured her that she would not have to have contact with her father, and that her children would be cared for. 
The local authorities have recently released a statement regarding these incidents, an English translation of part of which is available below: 
The news has shocked Austria, as has its similarity to the case of Natascha Kampusch who was kidnapped aged 10, and escaped after being held in a "dungeon" for eight years in 2006. 
The first charges under the new U.K. International Criminal Court Act have been brought against seven British servicemen. 
The charges relate to the mistreatment of civilians and the death of Baha Mousa (26) a hotel receptionist in Basra in 2003. 
The charges include manslaughter, inhumane treatment, causing actual bodily harm, and common assault of Iraqi civilians. 
A Warrant Officer and a Major in the British Intelligence Corps and the former commander of the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (now the Duke of Lancaster's Regiment) are charged with negligently performing duties. 
The first British serviceman to give evidence, a senior aircraftsman in the RAF, testified that he saw prisoners with bags over their heads being kicked and verbally abused. 
He said that he had never seen anything like it before and didn't know what to do. 
He had not intervened "because they (the soldiers) were bigger than me, and I didn't know what their orders were". 
The court martial at the Military Court Centre, Bulford Camp, Wiltshire continues. 
Two British soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Wednesday, with one being the highest ranking British officer to be killed in 30 years. 
Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, 40, Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards, and Trooper Joshua Hammond, 18, of the 2nd Royal Tank Regiment, were killed when an improvised explosive device was detonated under their Viking armoured vehicle. 
They had been travelling along the Shamalan Canal, near Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province, on their way to resupply an offensive underway currently against the Taliban. 
General Sir Richard Dannatt, the UK Chief of the General Staff, said Thornloe was "an outstanding commanding officer." 
In a Ministry of Defence (MoD) statement, Dannatt said, "[Thornloe's] courageous, thoughtful stewardship of 1st Battalion Welsh Guards since October last year has seen them superbly prepared for the demands of Afghanistan, both in terms of their professional capability and their unbreakable spirit as a team." 
Trooper Hammond, Danntt said in the MoD statement, "was a first class tank crewman who epitomised the spirited and determined approach to operations expected of Royal Armoured Corps soldiers." 
Lieutenant Colonel Thorneloe is survived by his wife, Sally, and daughters Hannah and Sophie. 
IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center in Cambridge released a free tool March 25 for visualizing the changing history of a document or directory of documents, called history flow. 
The tool offers a variety of views of document histories, including a view that gives each revision equal importance, and a timeline view which displays each revision proportionally to how long it remained current. 
Each different editor who makes changes to the article has a distinct color, allowing for that editor's text to be tracked over time. 
The tool was first developed in 2003 by a collaboration between Fernanda B. Viégas of the MIT Media Lab and Martin Wattenberg and Kushal Dave of IBM. 
It was initially tested out on a large subset of the pages of Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia project which preserves every change made to each of its articles. 
The resulting paper was drafted in the winter of 2003 and presented at a conference in April 2004; it remains the most comprehensive overview of the lifecycle of articles in an active wiki community. 
A year later, the history flow paper is still the most frequently cited source of statistics about the reversion of vandalism on Wikipedia. 
The current tool is maintained by Martin Wattenberg and Jonathan Feinberg at IBM. 
It allows users to download the text and histories of the contents of any MoinMoin wiki, or to view the history of the contents of an entire directory of documents. 
The tool is free to download and use, but its code is not open source. 
The support for MoinMoin wikis comes via a plugin, so the tool may be extensible to the native interfaces of other wiki engines in the future. 
Silver Birch has won the 2007 Grand National at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool. 
Ridden by Robbie Power and trained by Gordon Elliott, the 33-1 outsider won the 4 mile 4 furlong (7.2 km) race by three-quarters of a length, becoming the sixth Irish winner in the past nine years. 
Slim Pickings, leading the race at the penultimate fence, was overtaken by Silver Birch on the last jump. 
Silver Birch then held off a late challenge by McKelvey in a close finish. 
McKelvey came in second at 12-1, while Slim Pickings finished third at 33-1 and Philson Run fourth at 100-1. 
Numbersixvalverde, winner of the 2006 race, finished sixth while the 2005 winner Hedgehunter finished ninth. 
The 8-1 joint favourites Point Barrow, Joes Edge and Monkerhostin failed to finish, with Point Barrow falling at the first fence. 
Reigning Sunshine Coast Schoolboys Premier 1st XV champions have squeezed past Nambour Christian College seven points to five at the Nambour Rugby Club on Wednesday. 
They had qualified for the semi finals prior to the round. 
The match was moved from the University due to the recent wet weather causing the ground to be water logged. 
Grammar scored a converted try half way through the first half. 
Ten minutes in the second, Nambour were able to score out wide but failed to convert. 
They fought hard in the next ten, but failed to capitalise on opportunities they created and Grammar mistakes. 
Grammar now play minor premiers Mountain Creek State High School in a rematch of their 2007 semi final, while Siena Catholic College will host Matthew Flinders Anglican College in the other semi. 
North Korea's official news agency is reporting that the country has finished removing all its spent nuclear fuel rods, over 8,000 of them, from the main reactor in the Yongbyon nuclear plant. 
The rods could be reprocessed for several months to extract weapons-grade plutonium. 
Officials say the rods could be able to provide enough plutonium to make two nuclear bombs. 
This could possibly signal that North Korea is preparing for a nuclear arms test. 
North Korea may already have enough materials to make six nuclear bombs. 
North Korea has also announced plans to continue operating the Yongbyon facility, as well as to begin construction on a larger reactor. 
Due to greater consumer demand, British Airways announced yesterday that it would run a further three flights weekly on the route from Bucharest (Henri Coandă International) to London (Gatwick). 
The Bucharest-London flights will run on Monday, Thursday and Saturday, while the return flights will run on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. 
The extra flights will mean that British Airways will now fly from Bucharest to London, and back, ten times a week. 
Renault driver Fernando Alonso won the FIA Formula-1 2006 Fuji Television Japanese Grand Prix on the Suzuka International Racing Course. 
Though Ferrari drivers Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher started the race from the first row, Alonso managed to overtake both Toyotas on the first part of the race and Massa after the pit stops. 
Then Alonso started to push on Michael Schumacher and closed the gap to about 5 seconds. 
An engine failure forced Schumacher to park his car after the tunnel on lap 36 and the Spaniard rushed to his seventh victory in this season. 
Giancarlo Fisichella, Fernando's teammate, had a bad start, but burst through Toyota and finished on the back of the second-placed Filipe Massa. 
Toyota drivers Jarno Trulli and Ralf Schumacher lost even more positions, when Honda driver Jenson Button and McLaren Mercedes driver Kimi Räikkönen slipped in front of them and finished on 4-th and 5-th place respectively. 
The situation in the drivers' championship became almost critical for Schumacher, who lost 10 points this week-end. 
Only one chance remains for Schumacher to win his eighth champion's title - if he wins the final 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix and Alonso doesn't score any points. 
"I have to say clearly I don't really believe in the championship anymore," was Schumacher's reaction. 
There remains a battle for the third place in drivers' championship, where Massa has a one point lead ahead of Fisichella. 
In the constructor's championship Renault is 9 points ahead of Ferrari. 
Palestinian extremist group Hamas has been invited to meet with representatives of the South African government. 
Hamas won the Palestinian legislative council elections of January 2006 by a landslide and is now faced with forming a government and strained ties to European Union and the United States, which classify it as a terrorist organization responsible for several suicide attacks. 
The South African deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad confirmed on Thursday that the country is preparing a meeting with the controversial group. 
According to Pahad South Africa wishes to share its experiences on the transformation from the Apartheid-era to democracy with the Palestinians and Israel. 
South Africa also sees it important to keep in contact with Hamas in the search for peace in the Middle East. 
Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spookesman said that there is no date for talks with South Africa yet. 
Russia has invited leaders of the Hamas for talks, which will begin on Friday. 
The Russian invitation was the first one after the elections of January 2006. 
However, Russia has put Hamas under pressure to recognize Israel and renounce violence. 
There have been talks between Hamas leaders and the Turkish foreign minister, Abdullah Gul. 
Israeli foreign ministry spokesman voiced his ministry's concerns that "giving legitimacy to an unreformed Hamas" could turn the movement "from a terrorist organization to a political party". 
Gary Bettman, the NHL commissioner, today announced that the 2004/2005 season of the National Hockey League has been canceled. 
The announcement served only as official comfirmation of what was generally expected as wild speculation had raged during the past few days. 
The dispute centered around player pay caps, which where staunchly opposed by the players. 
The majority of NHL clubs have lost money over the last five years and as a result the clubs wanted to cap pay at a set amount. 
The club owners would not go above $42.5 million for any one club, whilst the players refused to go below $49 million. 
Speaking about the cancellation, Gary Bettman said "The shame of this is that our fans deserve better." 
This will be the first year since 1919 that the Stanley Cup - the top prize in the NHL - will not be awarded. 
That year, a flu epidemic forced the finals to be called off. 
Michael Jackson's This Is It, a documentary film based on world-famous singer Michael Jackson rehearsing for his last tour before his untimely death, will be premiered in at least 15 cinemas in cities all over the world simultaneously. 
The film is due to premiere on October 27 and October 28. 
The world cities may be in different time zones with different dates but they will all be premiering the film at exactly the same time. 
One such premiere location is Los Angeles, in the US state of California, which will have the film starting at 1800 PT. 
Another simultaneity is the Odeon Leicester Square cinema in London, England, which will start at 0100 GMT on October 27. 
Other locations holding concurrent premieres are the South African city of Johannesburg, New York City in New York, German capital Berlin, Russian capital city Moscow, Japanese capital Tokyo, Australian city Sydney, French capital Paris, South Korean city Seoul, and Rio de Janeiro, a large city in Brazil. 
Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009 aged 50, after suffering from a cardiac arrest. 
The movie will feature some of the rehearsal footage made in the weeks before his death. 
In total, there will be at least 25 cinemas premiering the film, but not all of them will be released simultaneously. 
Sony Pictures, the film production company, have yet to announce the other cities involved. 
Tickets for the film will be available to purchase from Sunday, September 27. 
The film is directed by Kenny Ortega, who previously directed all the High School Musical films. 
He also directed some significant Michael Jackson events, such as his This Is It concert and Jackson's memorial service. 
Jeff Blake, chairman of worldwide marketing and distribution for Sony Pictures, said: "Michael Jackson has an army of fans everywhere around the world... we are giving the audiences an incredible opportunity to join together in celebration of Michael Jackson's incredible career." 
Zimbabwe tied the second Group D match in the World Cup against Ireland at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica. 
The IPC Alpine World Championships wrapped up yesterday in La Molina, Spain with a friendly, non-medal counting team event won by Austria. 
The winner was tabulated based on the fastest score for a visually impaired skier on the team, a female skier on the team, and a male skier on the team. 
The Austrian team included Markus Salcher, Roman Rabl, and Claudia Loesch for times counted, with Philipp Bonadimann, Thomas Grochar, and Martin Wuerz also competing. 
The team event included ten teams representing eight countries, with the United States and Canada having two teams each and 54 skiers competing. 
The United States team 1 came in second with Tyler Walker, Mark Bathum, and Alana Nichols times counting, and Heath Calhoun, Ralph Green, and Allison Jones also belonging to the team. 
Russia came in third with Ivan Frantseva, Alexandr Alyabyev, and Mariya Papulova having their scores counted. 
Hosts Spain finished last with Jon Santacana, Óscar Espallargas, and Úrsula Pueyo having their times counting, and Gabriel Gorce and Nathalie Carpanedo also members of the Spanish team. 
The next major competition ahead of the 2014 Winter Paralympics is the test event in Sochi, Russia in March of this year. 
A family of four adults and one minor has been reported dead after the house they were inhabiting in the city of Pichilemu, in Chile was allegedly intentionally set on fire on Sunday morning. 
"It's a great tragedy for the Pichileminian and couldn't pass unnoticed." 
The police haven't been able to contact their respective relatives. 
Dozens of people gathered outside the burnt house during Sunday afternoon. 
It is believed that the fire affected at least five other homes. 
New Zealand, Australia and England started their 2007 Rugby World Cup campaigns today with victories over Italy, Japan and the United States respectively. 
Australia and tournament favorites New Zealand comprehensively defeated their opposition, while defending champions England produced a comparatively unimpressive display to overcome the American team. 
Tournament favourites New Zealand dominated their opening match against Italy. 
Richie McCaw opened the scoring after just 64 seconds and scored again in the seventh minutes. 
Tries from Doug Howlett, Mils Muliaina and two from Sitiveni Sivivatu increased the All Black's imposing lead. 
Just before half time, Marko Stanojevic scored a try for Italy taking the score to 43-7. 
After the interval New Zealand scored five more tries, two each from Howlett and Jerry Collins and one from Chris Jack, with All Blacks fly half Daniel Carter kicking seventeen points during the match. 
In the 71st minute, Mirco Bergamasco scored a consolation try for Italy. 
Australia scored thirteen tries against Japan in their opening match. 
A try from Nathan Sharpe and a hat-trick from Rocky Elsom put the Wallabies ahead by 23-3 at half time. 
Australia overwhelmed Japan in the second half, scoring nine tries without reply. 
Chris Latham, Berrick Barnes and Drew Mitchell claimed two tries each, and Adam Ashley-Cooper, George Smith and Adam Frier completed Australia's victory. 
Japan's only points came from a Kōsei Ono penalty just before half time, while Stirling Mortlock kicked 27 points for Australia. 
In contrast to the day's earlier matches, the England team overcame the United States by only eighteen points. 
After 31 minutes the score was 9-3 with all points coming from penalties. 
However Jason Robinson and Olly Barkley scored tries late in the first half for England, with the score 21-3 at half time. 
Nine minutes after the interval Tom Rees scored England's third try, but they were not able to score again. 
Matekitonga Moeakiola scored for the Americans in the 74th minute. 
Governor Jon Corzine announced a bill that would provide $270 million to stem cell research. 
He announced, "I don't want New Jersey to join the crowd of stem cell research states, I want New Jersey to lead it." 
BusinessWeek reports that the announcement came two days after Corzine announced that the state will give out $10 million in research grants next year, including $7 million for stem cell research. 
A 15-year-old boy who allegedly stole a Melbourne, Australia tram and drove for 40 minutes picking up and setting down passengers, may yet be allowed to work as a tram driver, despite his nine charges related to the incident. 
"We have a very good recruiting policy and anybody who passes the muster for our recruiting policy we'd be glad to offer a job to, provided he's old enough to hold a driver's license," Yarra Trams Deputy Chief Executive, Dennis Cliche, told Australian Associated Press on Monday. 
Detective Senior Constable Barry Hills of Victoria Police, said of the boy, "He's a nice lad, he's a good lad." 
"I think his obsession just got the better of him." 
Described as wearing a jacket similar to official Yarra Trams uniforms, the boy was caught on Sunday night by police in east suburban Kew, 15km from where the tram was stolen, when electricity was shut off to the route. 
He is also accused of stealing a tram on Friday night, from South Melbourne depot.