The "House of Sweden" as it will be called, will be modelled on the new Swedish embassy in Washington with the same name. The opening is expected in a few weeks. Second life has over 3 million registered accounts. On an average day, the maximum of people logged in at the same time peaks at 25,000. In September 2006, Second Life was reported to have a gross domestic product of $64 million. Some schools in the United States and Canada have virtual classrooms on the site. People like Ailin Graef a.k.a. Anshe Chung have developed virtual businesses in Second Life, and earn thousands of real dollars there.


The wife and children of Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, were amongst other relatives and friends of prisoners protesting against alleged miscarriages of justice in Edinburgh yesterday. The airliner came down over Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988, killing 270 people. Megrahi is due an appeal against his conviction next year. Also present at the unprecidented "Silent Walk For Justice" was the family of Jason MacIntyre, a champion cyclist killed when Robert McTaggart ran him down in a van in January, for which he received a six month driving ban after conviction of careless driving. MacIntyre's wife said McTaggert should have instead been charged with causing death by dangerous driving.

Robert McTaggart killed Jason MacIntyre.


The names of 77 reporters, photographers and broadcasters were added to a memorial to honor slain journalists in the Newseum in Washington, D.C. "These 77 individuals were brought together in a fellowship that none of them would have chosen, a fellowship created by their commitment, their courage and, ultimately, their sacrifice," said Chris Wells, vice president of the Freedom Forum, which runs the Newseum. The Newseum Journalist's Memorial contains the names of 1,913 journalists dating back to 1837. Thirteen of the names added Monday were journalists killed in Iraq in 2008, which has been the most dangerous country for journalists since the Iraq War began in 2003. Mexico was the second deadliest country for journalists last year, with five journalists being killed due to drug violence. According to Newseum records, Mexico had not been so dangerous for journalists in at least five years.


Grey's Anatomy star Katherine Heigl and her musician hubby Josh Kelley are adopting a baby from Korea, so says the National Enquirer. The Emmy-winning bombshell, 29, has decided that instead getting "Knocked Up" she and Josh will start their family with an adopted bundle of joy. "They've finally decided adoption is the best option for them right now. Katherine's got several movie projects in the pipeline and a pregnancy would bring her career to a halt for a while." Welcoming a baby from Korea holds special meaning for Katherine, whose doting big sister Meg was adopted from the country more than 30 years ago. "Meg has had a profound impact on Katherine's life, which is why she and Josh are trying to adopt a Korean child."

A Korean child is going to be adopted by the "Grey's Anatomy" movie.


Violence has erupted in Guadeloupe after a month-long general strike protesting the high costs of food and fuel. A union official, Jacques Bino, has been reported killed by armed youths at a barricade in Pointe-à-Pitre, the largest city. Three police officers were injured when they tried to reach the scene. "He was killed at a roadblock held by rioters, a group of youth who were mostly wearing masks," Prefect Nicolas Desforges told France Info. "He wasn't killed in a confrontation with police." Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France. The French government urged calm and called for a meeting between the disputing parties. Workers in Guadeloupe are seeking a $250 per month pay raise. French Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie said that France is sending 260 National Gendarmerie officers to quell the violence.


A man has come forward to say he is the owner of a Thai ship that was being hijacked by pirates then sunk by the Indian navy. The incident took place in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of the African nation of Somalia on November 18. The owner, Wicharn Sirichaiekawat, says that the boat was a fishing trawler, but the pirates had just got on board the vessel when it was fired upon.

The Gulf of Aden is near the coast of Somalia.


On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. Christian Heritage Party candidate Ron Gray is standing for election in the riding of Langley. Wikinews contacted Ron Gray, 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. Mr. Gray has been leader of the Christian Heritage Party since 1995. He first ran for office in 1988.

The Christian Heritage Party supports Ron Gray's candidacy.


The upcoming 2006 Brampton municipal election, to be held November 13, features an array of candidates looking to represent their wards in city council or the council of the Peel Region. Wikinews contributor Nick Moreau contacted many of the candidates, including Mathew Njenga, asking them to answer common questions sent in an email. This ward's incumbent is John A. Hutton; also challenging Hutton is Derrick Coke, Navdeep Gill, Jim Howell, Joyce Rodriguez, and Doug Whillans.

Joyce Rodriguez is a resident of Brampton.


Yigal Amir, the student who assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, began a hunger strike on June 28th in protest against "the basic human rights abuse by Israel's prison authorities", as he describes it. According to the prison service, he's not in a proper hunger strike because he drinks 5 liters of sweet raspberry-flavoured drink (otherwise known as "petel") every day. Disputing that (according to updates from Larisa Trembovler journal) Yigal Amir in a phone conversation insists that it is a lie and he is not given anything near 5 liters of drinks a day. Also regardless of prison service definitions he continues with the hunger strike. The issue of contention is denial of recognition of his marriage to Larisa Trembovler by Israeli Prisons Service.


The seemingly eternal flame of the American soap opera Guiding Light has been extinguished. CBS, the network which airs the serial drama in the United States, has announced its cancellation after 72 years. Guiding Light, which entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running dramatic series in the world, started on radio in 1937 as a series of stories about faith, in which characters beset with troubles would talk to trusted Reverend Ruthledge, the keeper of "the guiding light" which shone from his window. Over the years, the theme of "the guiding light" became more muted and the series shifted focus to a middle-class German immigrant family, the Bauers. The show has been produced on television and seen nearly every weekday since June 30, 1952.


The Egyptian Health Ministry reported on Sunday that a six-year-old Egyptian boy contracted bird flu, the sixth such incident in a month. The child was hospitalised on March 28, reported to be in critical condition after treatment, and is breathing with an artificial respirator. The state news agency MENA revealed that the boy's name was Ali Mahmoud Ali Somaa, and that he was from Qalyubia, a province located along the Nile Delta, located about forty kilometres north of Egypt's capital of Cairo. The death toll of the cases of the bird flu virus in humans in Egypt is 23, with the first incident reported in March 2006. Statistics from the World Health Organisation's (WHO) website say that 413 people in fifteen countries have been infected with the H5N1 virus; out of those, 256 have died.


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.

Miriam Stucky is a member of the Green Party of Ontario.


The campaign offices for 2008 United States presidential candidate John McCain in Centennial, Colorado and Manchester, New Hampshire have been evacuated after receiving letter threats in the U.S. mail. Office staff state that the Centennial envelope contained an unknown white powder. "We immediately notified local and federal law enforcement agencies and are looking to cooperate with them. We have put all of our offices on highest alert. They're looking for anything suspicious and all staff has been quarantined as of right now," said Jeff Sadosky, a spokesman for the McCain campaign.


On Wednesday, American film director Steven Spielberg withdrew from his position as artistic adviser to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. "Conscience will not allow me to continue with business as usual," he said. "Sudan's government bears the bulk of the responsibility for these ongoing crimes but the international community, and particularly China, should be doing more to end the continuing human suffering there," Spielberg's statement said. "China's economic, military and diplomatic ties to the government of Sudan continue to provide it with the opportunity and obligation to press for change."

Steven Spielberg is a resident of Beijing.


Human rights group Karapatan recorded more than 700 leftist activists, farmers, community organizers and journalists killed since Mrs. Arroyo came to power in 2001. The latest victim, Dominador L. De Luna, 51, an employee of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Samar, was gunned down just when the necrological mass for Jose Maria Cui, a professor at University of Eastern Philippines who was shot in front of his students, was being held last January 29.

Dominador L. De Luna was killed in Samar.


Hunter Thompson, the author of "Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness", once discussed on radio the possibility that he would be murdered to shut him up - and that it would be made to look like a suicide. Paul William Roberts, a friend of Thompson and a well known travel writer, in an obituary played on this possibility for dramatic effect. Roberts related the fact that Thompson was working on a story relating to the World Trade Center demolition, and did say he was going to be murdered, and that the murder would be identified as a suicide. Roberts says in the second paragraph that Thompson did, however, commit suicide, and was not murdered.

Hey Rube: Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness was created by Paul William Roberts.


Researchers from the University of Sydney, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge have pinpointed a single neurochemical - serotonin - as the cause of an instinctive behavioural change from the locusts' solitarious phase to become gregarious and form disastrous swarms of millions. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, or 5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter synthesized in serotonergic neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) and enterochromaffin cells in the gastrointestinal tract of animals including humans. Serotonin is also found in many mushrooms and plants, including fruits and vegetables.

University of Sydney is not far from the University of Oxford.


Ramos Horta explained that "in the next days, maybe already tomorrow morning, they [the Australian, Malaysian, New Zealand and Portuguese forces] will do some coordination training, in way to assure that the four forces know exactly what each one will do". "Since some are from the Army and the others [Portuguese Republican National Guard] are a specialized police and that they never worked together, its useful to carry out some practical exercises", he added. In another subject, Ramos Horta explained that the Australian soldiers that are in Maubisse, next to a rebel group lead by major Reinado, and in Gleno, Ermera, next to another group of "military opponents", are there "containing those elements"


A supposed "pregnancy pact" at Gloucester High School in Gloucester, Massachusetts has drawn international attention to the small Massachusetts fishing city which is considered to be one of the oldest settlements (1623) in the American continent. The story, which was broken by TIME magazine and the Boston Globe, involved the fact that 17 girls, all sixteen years old or younger, got themselves pregnant as part of a "pregnancy pact", so that the teenage mothers could raise their babies together.


The President of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, offered his condolences to the victims of the disaster. "On behalf of the government, I express my condolences to the families of the dead victims and may their souls be accepted by God almighty," he said. Indonesia's Vice President Yusuf Kalla has visited the scene of the incident. "We will provide emergency help to the victims. For those whose homes were destroyed, the government will help with the repairs," he told Metro TV.

Yusuf Kalla is the President of Indonesia.


When it comes to paying taxes to the state it doesn't count if you are dead of alive. One proof of that is Angelina Jolie's mother who died in 2007. Now, after more then 2 years, the state of California still fills a claim against Marcheline Bertrand and asks for $60,000 in back taxes. Here is how they come out with this amount: she owes $43,699 in back taxes, plus $10,924.75 in penalties and $8,304.95 in interest, for a grand total of $62,928.70. One explication could be that somebody messed up the files filling taxes for the entire 2007, when she died in January.Also, according to her will, Jon Voight (Angelina's father) owns thousands of dollars in back child support. Marcheline trying to get that money through a lean on Voight's property and assets could be another explication.

Angelina Jolie's mother was born in California.


The pilot who stole a light aircraft yesterday from Canada and landed in the central United States is now in custody. Adam Dylan Leon, a 31-year-old Canadian citizen, stole a Cessna 172 Skyhawk light aircraft from an airfield in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. After taking off, the airplane went off course toward the United States. The State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin was briefly evacuated, but the aircraft went southwest of the city and personnel were allowed back in. Two F-16 fighters have been dispatched to follow the Cessna which later landed near US 60 in Ellsinore, Missouri, but NORAD spokesman Mike Kucharek said that the aircraft was not thought to be a terrorist threat.

Adam Dylan Leon is the owner of a Cessna 172 Skyhawk light aircraft.


Scuderia Toro Rosso is part of the Red Bull stable, and is considered the junior team' to Red Bull Sports Drink billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz' primary Red Bull Racing F1 team. They recently picked up an option on Bourdais for 2008, an encouraging sign that the Frenchman may finally achieve his life-long goal of driving in F1. Toro Rosso is based on the former Minardi F1 team, a perennial back-marker but fan favorite. Minardi ex-owner Paul Stoddard now commandeers the new Team Minardi USA in Champ Car.

Red Bull Sports Drink belongs to Dietrich Mateschitz.


Managers at Central Wisconsin Airport in Mosinee, Wisconsin earlier said the facility was preparing for a forced landing of the aircraft, but the attempt to force it to land was scrubbed. The aircraft later crossed the border out of Wisconsin and passed over Illinois north of the city of St. Louis, Missouri. It flew further south before landing in Ellsinore on Route 60, at which point the pilot fled on foot. Attempts to establish contact with or discern the intentions of the pilot were unsuccessful. The distance from Thunder Bay to Ellsinore is 795.1 miles (1279.6 kilometers), near the reported maximum range of a Cessna 172, but authorities say the aircraft had two hours of fuel left. Only Leon is believed to have been on board the aircraft.


New York -American manufacturing giant Proctor & Gamble (P&G) plans to acquire Gillette Co. for US$57 billion in stock. The purchase plan calls for P&G to swap 0.975 shares of its stock per share of Gillete Co. P&G also announced a stock buyback program in which they would purchase up to US$22 billion of shares over the next 18 months. Including the stock buyback program, the merger is being financed by 60 percent stock and 40 percent cash. P&G is known for brands such as Ariel and Tide washing powder, Max Factor cosmetics, Pringles potato crisps (chips) and Hugo Boss and Lacoste perfumes. Gillette, known for brands such as Gillette razors, Oral B dental care, and Duracell batteries, has had growing problems with the growth of private labels and price cuts demanded by large supermarkets.


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.

Somali pirates attacked a Norwegian tanker.


Stock markets around the world, particularly those in the United Kingdom, have increased dramatically today. This is due to the ongoing events in the financial world, including the United States government's announcement that it would buy billions of dollars of bad loans from US banks. The primary UK index, the FTSE 100, rose in value by 8.04%, which is 392.50 points, to above the 5000 mark at 5272.50. The Dow Jones, was up 3.10% at 14:58 UTC, an increase of 330.89. The Dow Jones currently has a value of 11350.58 points. The NASDAQ index has risen by 2.53% to 2248.63, while the Dax was 5.06% higher than the start of the day as of 14:58 UTC.

The NASDAQ index has risen to above the 2000 mark.


Greenpeace activists scattered schools of menhaden bait fish in the Chesapeake Bay on Tuesday when fishing ships belonging to Omega Protein Corp. were about to drop their sceine nets. The Omega fleet consisted of two spotter planes and four fishing boats with eight tenders. Greenpeace arrived with four fast moving out-board motor boats, manned by thirteen activists, who attempted to drive away the fish. The Coast Guard was called in and ended the confrontation peacefully.

Greenpeace headquarters are located in Chesapeake Bay.


Toronto - Nearly a million commuters were immobilized and some businesses closed as Toronto Transit Commission workers walked off the job yesterday and formed picket lines outside subway stations, bus terminals and other TTC facilities. None of their buses, streetcars or subway trains were operational. Some service in the Greater Toronto Area continued through other transit services, but was of limited use without a link to downtown Toronto. TTC workers said they'd been locked out, but Toronto Mayor David Miller and the Ontario Labour Relations Board ruled yesterday afternoon that the walkout was illegal and ordered employees back to work. They complied with this order. They had not complied with a cease-and-desist order issued that morning.

David Miller is an employee of the Toronto Transit Commission.


The march was organised by Swede Annie Börjesson's mother and her best friend Maria Jansson, who between them campaigned for a fatal accident inquiry after Annie's body was found washed ashore at Prestwick in December 2005. Ms Jansson said the march was an event for people who felt let down by the legal system and not about individual cases, saying "We are not here to judge each other or measure each other - we are here because we are humans."

Maria Jansson was friends with Annie Börjesson.


Friends of Mr. el-Nashar said he "was well-liked and showed no interest in politics." His friend, Kadhem Al-Rawi, a doctor in Islamic Principles at the European Institute of Human Sciences in Wales said "He had a great personality. You would never ever expect this kind of action from him. Impossible." This is a recurring theme heard from many of the suspected bombers, families and friends. Many believed the suspects had little or no motive to carry out the attacks.

European Institute of Human Sciences is the employer of Kadhem Al-Rawi.


Floods during the month of January have devastated Singapore. A major flood occurred from January 11 to January 12, 2007, during which almost 24 cm of rain fell, resulting in a landslide. A second major flood recently occurred at Kota Tinggi, leaving 17 people and 12 monkeys dead. As of January 31, 30,000 people still reside in relief centers in w:Johor. Almost 24 cm of rain fell in two days in northern Singapore, disrupting business operations in the area and triggering a landslide in Jalan Anak Bukit. The continuous rainfall, over 18 hours on Thursday, January 11 and Friday January 12, resulted in a landslide which caused the closure of a road that heads toward the Pan Island Expressway. The MacRitchie Reservoir station recorded 216.7 millimeters of rainfall during the 24 hour period, accounting for 90 percent of the January average of 241 millimeters.

The MacRitchie Reservoir station has been damaged by the flood.


Currently, about 4% of South Africa's farm land is owned by blacks, who number 42 million out of the nation's 47 million population. President Thabo Mbeki's government has set a target of transferring 30% of land to blacks by 2014. About 89% of the nearly 80,000 claims have been settled so far, and the government has spent some R2.5bn ($368m) purchasing farms from white owners. The National Land Claims Commission is entrusted with carrying out the transfers.

The National Land Claims Commission was created by Thabo Mbeki.


Over 1,600 volunteers registered to help build approximately 65,000 of the 500,000 sandbags to create dikes 20.5 feet (6.2 meters) high to protect the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba in the war against the Red River of the North flood. 700 volunteers answered at the rural municipality of St. Andrews alone. Once sandbags are filled for West St. Paul, St. Andrews, and Selkirk, then frozen culverts must be cleared. The height of the river is expected to be Thursday, and predictions are that it will be less than Flood of the Century of 1997. There is no precipitation in the forecast, and snow in the province should be melted by the end of the week.


The National Basketball Association (NBA) has released the rosters for the 2007 NBA All-Star Game. The starting rosters can be found on the newly launched 2007 All-Star Game website. The 56th All-Star Game is scheduled to take place on Sunday, February 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. 2007 Eastern Conference All-Stars Starters Gilbert Arenas (Washington) Chris Bosh (Toronto) LeBron James (Cleveland) Shaquille O'Neal (Miami) Dwayne Wade (Miami) 2007 Western Conference All-Stars Starters Kobe Bryant (L.A. Lakers) Tim Duncan (San Antonio) Kevin Garnett (Minnesota) Tracy McGrady (Houston) Yao Ming (Houston) The All Star Website was also launched at about noon EST on January 26. The website features pictures of the players on the rosters and other information.

NBA headquarters are located in Las Vegas.


USC Trojans running back Reggie Bush has decided to enter the NFL draft and forfeit his final year of college football eligibility. The Heisman Trophy winner is the favorite to be the top pick in the draft, in which case he would play for the Houston Texans. Bush rushed for 1,740 yards during his final college season, and led the Trojans to the Rose Bowl. Quarterbacks Marcus Vick of the Virginia Tech Hokies and Vince Young of the Texas Longhorns are also likely to among the top draft picks this year.

Reggie Bush is the recipient of the Heisman Trophy.


WEDDING bells are set to ring in Aras an Uachtarain after it emerged that the President's eldest daughter is to tie the knot. Emma McAleese, the eldest child of Mary McAleese and her husband Martin, has become engaged to her boyfriend of five years Michael O'Connell. A spokesperson for the President has confirmed the news after 27-year-old Emma was spotted wearing a diamond on her engagement finger.

Emma McAleese was born in Aras an Uachtarain.


In Los Angeles, California singer and actress Britney Spears, 24, has filled papers in Los Angeles County Superior Court to divorce her husband Kevin Federline, 28. A spokeswoman for the court, Kathy Roberts stated that the papers cited "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the divorce and have, according to the courts, been legally separated as of Monday, November 6, the same day that Spears appeared on Late Night with David Letterman. The fact that the papers were filed on the same day as the U.S. general elections prompted ABC News to speculate that the star may have been hoping to receive less attention amid national election coverage. The two were married on October 6, 2004, according to the petition, a date that E! Online noted was in conflict with a photo spread in People, which gave their wedding date as September 18, 2004. The couple currently have two sons, the first named Sean Preston, 1, and a recent baby boy named Jayden James Federline who was born on September 12, 2006. Spears is attempting to gain both full legal and physical custody of both of the children with Federline having visitation rights.

Britney Spears married Kevin Federline in Los Angeles.


November 19, 2004 RIO DE JANEIRO - Juan Carlos Concero, aged 34, a Spanish tourist, was shot in the head during an assault in Rio de Janeiro today. He was carried to Souza Aguiar Hospital where he was in a coma, breathing with the help of life support machines. Hours later doctors pronounced him braindead. The Brazilian police offices in charge of the case announced the arrest of three man suspected of shooting Concero.

Souza Aguiar Hospital is situated in Rio de Janeiro.


At 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, 10-15 UFOs were spotted over north London in the inner-city district of Islington. The Islington police said they started receiving phone calls only minutes after the objects started appearing. 34 year-old market stall trader Alix McAlister, who witnessed the objects, said that, "I just picked up my son from nursery in Bredgar Road. I had just come out of the door when I noticed what was going on in the sky. There were a group of them - 10 to 15 of them moving together. My first impression was that they reminded me of a squadron of aeroplanes in formation. But they didn't have a proper formation and they were all moving at the same speed. I thought for a while that something was happening in the centre of London.

Alix McAlister has a market stall in Bredgar Road.


The alleged mastermind behind the London bombings was reported captured in Cairo, Egypt last week. Police believe that a U.S. trained chemist, Magdi Asdi el-Nashar, 33, helped build the bombs that killed over 50 people. Mr. el-Nashar, who has a PhD from Leeds University, left England two weeks before the bombings. After the London bombings, British authorities initiated a worldwide manhunt that found him in Cairo. State security officials reported they have begun questioning el-Nashar with British agents in attendance.


Quiznos published a press release on March 24 announcing the new line of sandwiches. They stated that their price of US$4 helps to ease the economic pinch. In a statement to Wikinews Quiznos stated that their commercials are within the company's character and they were designed to get people talking. "We developed our new ads to be consistent with the Quiznos brand and to get people excited about our new Toasty Torpedoes. Some of the ads are edgy and provocative, but they're well within the confines of the Quiznos brand character," said Rebecca Steinfort, chief marketing officer for Quiznos to Wikinews.


For the next year, the U.S. Treasury will insure the holdings of any publicly offered eligible money market mutual fund - both retail and institutional - that pays a fee to participate in the program." Henry Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary, explained the government's reasoning behind its plan. He said that the government was buying bad loans "to restore confidence in our markets and our financial institutions, so they can fuel continued growth and prosperity, we must address the underlying problem." President George W. Bush, speaking at a press conference alongside Paulson, said "this is a pivotal moment for America's economy." The government plan is permitted under the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, which gives the Treasury the permission "to deal in gold, foreign exchange, and other instruments of credit and securities."

George W. Bush has invested in bad loans.


The family of a woman who committed suicide recently after appearing on CNN Headline News Nancy Grace's self titled show said Tuesday that they will be taking her to court. Melinda Duckett, the mother of an infant son, Trenton Duckett, reported him missing on August 27, and fatally shot herself in her grandparents' retirement home on September 8. Shortly before her death, she had appeared on Grace's show, where she engaged in debate with the former Georgia prosecutor regarding her perceived lack of transparency regarding the disappearance. A suicide note was later found at the scene. The case made national headlines after her appearance.


On Monday, a FedEx McDonnell Douglas MD-11 cargo jet flying from Guangzhou, China to Tokyo, Japan crash-landed at Tokyo's Narita International Airport at around 7 a.m. local time. The plane landed during high winds, and bounced twice upon landing before flipping over and bursting into flames. Firecrews were dispatched to the scene, and the airport was closed. The fire subsequently destroyed most of the aircraft. Incoming flights were diverted to other airports. Wind gusts around the time of the accident were 30 to 50 mph.


The government of Peru declared a state of emergency in the vicinity of the Ubinas volcano on Saturday as it began to spew out ash and smoke over a 6km area, indicating a possible eruption in the near future. The civil defense institute has recommended the total evacuation of the 3,500 residents of the district of Ubinas. The Peruvian military has been ordered to aid in the evacuation of civilians from the area. Aid shipments of tents, water and powdered milk are being sent to the affected area.


Actor Bob Denver, best known for his roles as "Gilligan" on Gilligan's Island (1964-1967) and "Maynard G. Krebs" on The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis (1959-1963), died Friday at the age of 70. Denver gained popularity on Dobie Gillis, playing the title character's best friend, a beatnik. The show, which ran for four years, was Denver's first major acting role. It is said that the popular cartoon Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was based on the show, and Denver's role of Krebs was the inspiration for the character "Shaggy". Denver's real fame, however, came with the role of "Gilligan", a kind but naive and incompetent bumbler stuck on an island with six other castaways. Nearly every episode involved a plot to get off the island; however, Gilligan always ended up causing the plot to fail, in one way or another.

Bob Denver was part of Gilligan's Island.


American singer, Brandy Norwood, known for her role as a judge on America's Got Talent amongst other roles, has been sued for US$50 million by the family of a woman who was killed in a car crash. California Highway Patrol (CHP) said that Brandy, 27, should be charged with a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter for being part of the fatal car crash that killed Awatef Aboudihaj, 38. Aboudihaj's family lawsuit accuses Noorwood, known as Brandy, of "reckless driving". Brandy, in a Land Rover SUV on December 30, 2006, bumped into the Toyota which had Awatef Aboudihaj in it. The Toyota slammed into another vehicle and slid on the freeway's center divider. Aboudihaj was sent to Providence Holy Cross Medical Centre but died the next evening.

Awatef Aboudihaj died on December 31, 2006.


The Wiz is not really running for President. But he is one of the top-rated Presidential candidates on U4Prez.com, a website that allows users to run a virtual campaign, complete with supporters, press releases, and caucuses, which are lively discussions on serious political issues. They can even compare their rating with the likes of John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama, all of whom have profiles set up. One blogger described it as "the MySpace of politics"

The Wiz is fond of John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.


It is Frank Messina who has personalities as diverse as Joe Benigno, the archetype of the New York sportscaster at WFAN, reflecting on love and poetry. "No one would question a poet writing about love for a woman," said Benigno, "but when you're a fan of a team, the emotional attachment is even stronger...." Benigno sounded similar to avant-garde writer and musician David Amram, who said Messina's poems paint "the stark beauty of the streets, the pain of 9/11, the joy of everyday life, the mysteries of love all fill the pages of this book. It's a feast of images and sounds that stay with you." I spoke with the person Bowery Poetry Club founder Bob Holman called the "Rock n' Roll Poet Laureate" recently in Washington Square Park.

Bowery Poetry Club was destroyed by Bob Holman.


Australian treasurer, Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal) told parliament on Tuesday that the greatest threat to Australia's economy would be for opposition leader Kim Beazley (Brand, Labor) to gain office. Mr Costello said that the Australian economy would suffer with Mr Beazley at the helm. "The greatest threat to the Australian economy domestically would be the election of the Leader of the Opposition," said the treasurer. "I can think of nothing that could be worse for the Australian economy than Kim Beazley being in a position of influence."

Kim Beazley is not supported by Peter Costello.


One conspirator Li Yong, 29, from China, led the policemen to the apartment and tricked Kaneo Ito, 49, from Japan, to open the door. Ito managed to discharge one bullet before being restrained by an assistant police inspector, the first man in the room. The other man involved in the kidnap of Kanako was Choi Gi Ho, 54, from South Korea. Kanato was freed unharmed. The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested three men on suspicion of conspiring to kidnap a woman and hold her to a reported 300 million yen ransom.

Kanato is employed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.


Kramer, a Catholic Republican Judge appointed by Pete Wilson, California's previous conservative governor, issued a "stay" on his order, making it a tentative decision by delaying its implementation for 60 days to allow the same-sex marriage opponents time to file an appeal to his ruling. The case is widely expected to be brought before the California Supreme Court. Less than a year ago, the state's Supreme Court annulled more than 4,000 same-sex marriages which took place in San Francisco County in 2004. The court did not rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriages, but ruled more narrowly that San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom overstepped his authority by unilaterally deciding not to follow state laws he did not agree with instead of challenging the laws in court, which is the proper legal way to overturn or affirm laws in California and much of the United States.


However the Brazilian Ministry of Education (MEC) has come to an agreement with the Cuban government to allow medical students who studied in Cuba to go through a less rigorous examination. Furthermore the MEC wants to exempt the students from the Cuban Escola Latino Americana de Medicina (Latin American Medicine School) or ELAM located in Havana from the examination. Under the agreement, the diplomas of ELAM students would be automatically recognized as valid in Brazil. The Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the endorsement of this agreement last year during his visit to Cuba.

The Cuban government teamed up with MEC.


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. Research work will resume this week using those systems. 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.


"This is very exciting and important," said Professor Michael Bode from Liverpool John Moores University, a principal investigator for the RoboNet project which helped to collaborate on the research. "This is the most Earth-like planet we have discovered to date, in terms of its mass and the distance from its parent star. Most of the other planets that have been discovered are either much more massive, much hotter or both."

The residence of Michael Bode is in Liverpool.


Trains, trams, cars and buses ground to a halt on Monday after a shoot-out between 18:00 CET and 19:00 CET in the historical city of Basel in Switzerland. The first shots were fired at around 16:00 CET according to the spokesperson of the Government. Special Police Forces were getting prepared to launch an assault against this building. The authors of the shoot-out are unknown as well as their target. Railway traffic was blocked off at around 18:00 CET, according to the Swiss Federal Railways' (SBB-CFF-FFS) spokesperson, Christian Kräuchi. At around 19:00 CET, railway traffic resumed.


The Senator and former diplomat Arthur Virgílio(PSDB) sent a letter to Minister Celso Amorim protesting against the change in the entrance examination to IRBr. He said that the minister's decision is nonsense, a symbolic protest against the USA. The decision minimizes the importance of English in the world. According to him, the government is being underhanded. "The question is not to love or to hate the United States, but to recognize their enormous weight, until bothering, in the world-wide scenario," he added. [3] The journalist and high critic of the government and the Workers' Party (PT), Percival Puggina, said: "On March 18, 2004, during a opening speech of a popular restaurant of Coca-Cola in Belo Horizonte [4], President Lula said: 'I spent much time in my life thinking that if you wanted to be anti-American you should not drink Coca-Cola.

Celso Amorim is Arthur Virgílio's neighbour.


A Casa-212 aircraft owned by the Indonesian air force disappeared while on a flight from the capital Jakarta to Bogor in West Java Friday morning. The plane was carrying 12 Indonesian military personnel and 6 civilians including a British, Singaporean and Indian national. The plane was tasked to test a new digital camera designed to conduct aerial mapping and topography. The aircraft was last sighted on radar in the Salak moutain region on the main island of Java, 90 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of the Indonesian capital. The Indonesian military has deployed a search and rescue team in the area. Authorities fear that the aircraft crashed in a densely forested area making any rescue difficult. Air Force spokesman Chaeruddin Ray said the region was covered in thick fog and in a rough terrain.

A Casa-212 aircraft belonging to Indonesian air force disappeared in the Salak region.


Lhadon Tethong, Executive Director of Students for a Free Tibet, made a statement after the alleged action: "At this very moment, Tibetans are facing the most severe and violent repression they have seen in decades at the hands of the Chinese government, and we have taken nonviolent action at this critical time to draw the world's attention to the crisis gripping Tibet."


One other teen mother, Amanda Ireland, who recently graduated from the school, also gave a warning to the mothers, "Don't try to get pregnant. People say they know what it's like because they have younger siblings, but they really have no idea." Ireland also noted, "They're so excited to finally have someone to love them unconditionally. I try to explain it's hard to feel loved when an infant is screaming to be fed at 3 a.m." 46 year-old Gloucester resident Lori Mitchell, whose daughter dropped out of high school at 16 to raise a child said there are worse things than being a teenage mother, "They could be junkies or prostitutes. You try to protect them as much as you can, but it's up to them to do the right thing."

Lori Mitchell is Amanda Ireland's mother.


When Stronach was with the Conservatives she dated fellow MP Peter MacKay. In an interview in the Toronto Star on January 8, 2005, Stronach confirmed that she and MacKay were dating. Stronach, elected as a Conservative in the 2004 election, crossed the floor to the Liberal Party on May 17, 2005. She did not comment on what impact this would have on their relationship. On May 18, 2005, MacKay told the CBC that his relationship with Stronach was indeed over. Stronach crossed the floor from the Conservative party directly to Paul Martin's Liberal cabinet in May 2005. Stronach was previously married to Olympic speed-skating champion Johann Olav Koss of Norway, then divorced in 2005.

Johann Olav Koss was married to MP Peter MacKay's ex-girlfriend.


As a sign of respect, several Cabinet Ministers including Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Information Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir cancelled official functions. The official launch of the national jersey for the SEA Games was also called off, which was scheduled to be officiated by the deputy premier. Radio and television stations switched to a somber mood by broadcasting songs with verses from the holy Quran. Muslim radio announcers called on listeners to offer the Al-Fatihah verse to Eton.

Datuk Seri Abdul Kadir Sheikh Fadzir works for the Cabinet.


"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the tragic accident that occurred tonight in Clarence. Our focus right now is on supporting the first responders on the ground and their efforts to ensure the health and safety of people in the area," said Chris Lee, an Republican politician from Corning, New York, representing the 26th Congressional District of New York. The tragedy is the nation's deadliest disaster since the Comair Flight 191 crashed in Lexington, Kentucky in August 2006. Delta Air Lines Flight 5191 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Lexington, Kentucky, to Atlanta, Georgia. On the morning of August 27, 2006, the Bombardier Canadair Regional Jet 100ER that was being used for the flight crashed while attempting to take off from Blue Grass Airport in Fayette County, Kentucky, four miles (6 kilometers) west of the central business district of the City of Lexington.


Mr. Hakeem, 58, left the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) at the age of 25 and became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. Now a businessman who is active in Texas politics, he shares some views as a person who is in touch with his family and friends who remain in the region. He travelled throughout portions of Pakistan at the end of last year.


Prof. Sali Tagliamonte, a professor of linguistics at the University of Toronto, said parents and teachers shouldn't be concerned that this new medium is corrupting young people's grammar. "I don't think parents have to worry, because they're really showing that they are creative and that they have a mastery of the language. They are not using ruinous language," he said. "What these kids are doing is showing us that they have a really good command of the English language, so much so that I was really blown away by how fluidly they operate," he added. The research was presented today at the annual meeting of the Linguistics Association of Canada and the United States.

The University of Toronto is the employer of Prof. Sali Tagliamonte.


The South African government has set a six-month deadline for some white farmers to agree on sale prices for their farms. The government will be requiring them to sell the farms as part of its land redistribution programme. Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana said that if no agreement is reached in 6 months, the government could expropriate farmlands. Stating that negotiations have been too slow, in some cases taking many years, Xingwana said that some farm owners were seeking "unrealistic prices". Land owners claim they are not offered market value for their property.

Lulu Xingwana holds offices in the South African government.


A kindergarten teacher in Port St. Lucie, Florida, United States is being reassigned following an incident last week in which her students voted to remove a possibly autistic child from the classroom. According to school officials, Morningside Elementary School teacher Wendy Portillo held a vote in her kindergarten classroom concerning the removal of 5-year-old Alex Barton. The boy's mother, Melissa Barton, says her son is in the process of testing for Asperger's syndrome, a form of high-functioning autism which can impair social skills and behavior. She says that Alex has had disciplinary problems stemming from his condition.

Wendy Portillo is one of the teachers employed in Port St. Lucie.


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.

Professor Michael Reiss is the founder of the British Association's science festival.


Among the books that vanished on searches of Amazon's offerings were some editions of John Barrowman's and Stephen Fry's autobiographies, some editions of Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence, and Lesléa Newman's children's book Heather Has Two Mommies, as well as works of erotica such as Emmanuelle Arsan's Emmanuelle. Mark Probst, author of gay-themed romance novel The Filly, said in his blog that problems began on April 10: On Amazon.com two days ago, mysteriously, the sales rankings disappeared from two newly-released high profile gay romance books: "Transgressions" by Erastes and "False Colors" by Alex Beecroft. Everybody was perplexed. Was it a glitch of some sort? The very next day HUNDREDS of gay and lesbian books simultaneously lost their sales rankings....

D.H. Lawrence wrote "Lady Chatterley's Lover".


Track Star Marion Jones, winner of 3 gold medals in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, has tested positive for the performance enhancing drug, EPO. The hormone helps create extra red blood cells which allows the user's body to absorb extra oxygen. Jones was expected to compete in yesterday's Golden League meet in Zurich, Switzerland, but left early in the morning for "personal reasons." It was announced earlier today (UTC) that she had tested positive for EPO. Jones faces a two year ban if her B test sample comes back positive. Jones has a history of association with steroid users and dealers. In 1999, her then husband CJ Hunter tested positive for a similar drug, Nandralone. He had to withdraw from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and received a two year ban.

Marion Jones took part in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.


"It was horrible to go in there," SPCA spokesman Matt Stanton said. "Our people had to fill their nostrils with Vick's VapoRub and wear masks. They could only go in for five minutes at a time and had to come out to get fresh air again." Oughton refused to leave the house during the inital investigation and declined to speak to reporters. "Go away. Go away. We have a call in to the police," two women yelled at reporters through the front door.

Vick's VapoRub pays Matt Stanton's salary.


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. Jacobson is a native of Mount Prospect. 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.

Mount Prospect is located north of Chicago.


The first design for the Sydney Opera House was created by Utzon in 1957. Mr Utzon left Australia and returned to Denmark in 1966 due to disputes with the NSW government over cost blowouts and design differences. The building was finished 1973. Utzon never returned to Australia to see his building completed. Relations between New South Wales and Utzon improved in the late 1990s and in 1999 the Sydney Opera House Trust asked for Mr Utzon to advise on changing the building's interior to match his original design.

Sydney Opera House is situated in Sydney, Australia.


In his weekly open-air version of the popular Thailand Weekly show, outspoken Government critic and founder of Manager Media, Sondhi Limthongkul launched another series of stinging attacks against the country's Prime Minister. Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra was accused of planning a cabinet reshuffle in an effort to deflect public attention away from allegations of wrongdoing and corruption. Sondhi alleged that politicians with poor public images would be recruited into the cabinet, and that such was a scheme to overshadow accusations of corruption that have been levelled at the Prime Minister - mainly by Sondhi himself.

Thaksin Shinawatra used to be Sondhi Limthongkul's best friend.


Reports say that 4 people, including a paramedic and a retired firefighter have been killed after a gas station near Ghent, West Virginia in Raleigh County blew up. At least 9 others have been critically injured. The explosion occurred at 10:50 a.m. [EST] at the Flat Top Little General Store, and fire officials say that the cause may have been from a nearby propane tank that was leaking. The gas station was completely wiped out. Officials say that a full investigation will be launched to determine exactly what caused the blast. The company that stocks the tank with gas had sent out a representative, who officials believe was killed in the explosion. Fire and rescue squads are continuing to search for victims.

The Flat Top Little General Store was destroyed by an explosion.


One of the crash victims, Beverly Eckert, of Stamford, Connecticut and widow of 9/11 terror attack victim, Buffalo native, Sean Rooney, was coming home for her husband's 58th birthday celebration. Her sister, Sue Bourque noted to The Buffalo News, "We know she was on that plane and now she's with him." Chris Kausner has said his sister Elise, age 24, a law student, was on board the plane. "I'm thinking about the fact that my mother has to fly home from Florida and what I'm going to tell my two sons," he said.

Elise Kausner had a brother called Chris.


Far-right and far-left activists clashed Sunday, when the far-left were protesting Pope Benedict XVI's opposition to condoms, a police source in Paris, France said. A group of about 30 activists threw condoms on the ground outside Notre-Dame cathedral, when attendants of the Sunday mass left the cathedral. The police arrested three people after the incident. About 20 youths, some of whom were carrying signs reading "Leave my Pope alone" approached the protesters. One person was injured.

Pope Benedict XVI lives at the Notre-Dame cathedral.


Will the flood of celebs wanting second-hand babies never end? Yesterday it was Posh, and today it's another talentless chick with absurd-looking boobs and no fashion sense - Jessica Simpson. Yeah, she wants to adopt too. And guess why? Because her dogs make her feel maternal. That's what she said. That taking care of her dogs has put her in the mood to have a baby. But, says Jessica, she's going to adopt before trying it the old-fashioned way.

Jessica Simpson intends to adopt a Korean baby.


Despite this, around 30 people surrounded Megrahi's wife Aisha and their four sons Khalid, Mohamed, Ali and Moutasim to support them, holding posters with Megrahi on them. The marchers travelled down the Royal Mile to the Scottish Parliament Building, then held a candlelit vigil. Outside the building, Mr al-Megrahi's lawyer Tony Kelly read a statement on behalf of Aisha. "My children and I are here today to give support to my husband, Abdelbaset, who is a victim of a miscarriage of justice and terminally ill, and also to give support to all those other victims of miscarriages of justice," it said. "We are here for the sake of all these innocent souls who are suffering in silence. I would like to thank all those who continue to support him, pray for him and express sympathy with him."


A 911 call that brought two police officers to a home where they were ambushed, and where a third was also later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a dog urinating in the house. The Saturday argument between Margaret and Richard Poplawski escalated to the point that she threatened to kick him out and she called police to do it, according to a 12-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed late Saturday. When officers Paul Sciullo and Stephen Mayhle arrived, Margaret Poplawski opened the door and told them to come in and take her 23-year-old son, apparently unaware he was standing behind her with a rifle, the affidavit said. Hearing gunshots, she spun around to see her son with the gun and ran to the basement. "What the hell have you done?" she shouted.

Margaret is the mother of Richard Poplawski.


This year, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will beam high-definition images to the NASA website and television. By doing so, NASA hopes to increase appreciation of global climate issues. There will also be a Washington exhibit relating to environmental issues viewed from space as well. At the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center activities will focus on their slogan for Earth Day 2009, "Just One Drop ... PRICELESS" and will demonstrate how the Environmental Control Life Support System operates as used on the International Space Staton (ISS). Amongst the many festivals, WorldFest is a solar powered music celebration held in Los Angeles, California. Buenos Aires will also feature its second Earth Day event featuring a music festival as well. "We are in a new era of energy innovation," said Daniel Yergin at a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) forum.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has its residence in Washington.


After the bombing of a military recruiting station in New York City's Times Square, police in Washington, D.C. are investigating letters addressed to "members of Congress", which contain a picture of the recruiting station before the explosion and the message "Happy New Year, We Did It". The letters arrived at Capitol Hill Thursday in manila envelopes, according to an anonymous Democratic aide who is investigating the matter. The picture was accompanied by what seemed to be a 10 page manifesto against the Iraq War. Also included was a booklet, which the aide says he cannot identify.


Human rights group Karapatan recorded more than 700 leftist activists, farmers, community organizers and journalists killed since Mrs. Arroyo came to power in 2001. The latest victim, Dominador L. De Luna, 51, an employee of the National Food Authority (NFA) in Samar, was gunned down just when the necrological mass for Jose Maria Cui, a professor at University of Eastern Philippines who was shot in front of his students, was being held last January 29.

Mrs. Arroyo ordered the assassination of José Maria Cui.


For a second time this week, the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan was rocked by a bombing. Like the previous bomb blast reported Tuesday, it was relatively small and produced only three injuries and no fatalities. This is in stark contrast to bombs detonated over the weekend in Ahwaz and Tehran, which produced a dozen fatalities and scores of injuries. The Ahwaz bomb went off in a fast-food restaurant at 7:50 PM local time.


In a first ever effort in the United States to eliminate the presence of Zebra mussels in a large body of water, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) announced on Monday that a private pond in Prince William County, Virginia is undergoing water treatment using a chemical potash of potassium chloride in concentrations high enough to kill invasive and native shellfish species. The pond at the Millbrook Quarry will undergo treatment for three to four weeks in an effort to eliminate an infestation of zebra mussels, a condition of its waters that was confirmed by state environmental officials in 2002. The treatment is not expected to pose a threat to non-molluscan aquatic wildlife, vegetation, or land-dwelling creatures at the site. Officials expect the one-time treatment process will provide protection from the possibility of future infestation for 33 years.

Prince William is a resident of Virginia.


Declan Ganley was the most successful Irish politician of 2008. He won the Lisbon Treaty referendum, throwing the Government and opposition into chaotic confusion. He did this democratically. This irritated the losers, particularly Dick Roche. As Minister for Europe, Roche was significantly at fault for the defeat. He was well-versed in EU Lisbon Treaty intricacies, so this was inexcusable. The campaign points made by Ganley throughout 2008 have been consistently ignored; instead, personal attacks have been launched. Among actions taken was an unbalanced, ill-researched and, in my view, malicious 'Prime Time' programme. The 'Irish Times' has published exclusively negative stories. There have been 'Village' magazine attacks, the latest of these provoking legal action by Ganley, now partly resolved.

Declan Ganley is the winner of the Lisbon Treaty referendum.


Earth Hour 2009 takes place Saturday, March 28, 2009 between 8:30 to 9:30 pm local time when communities will participate by turning out their lights starting in New Zealand and progressing along time zones around the world. Earth Hour began as a symbolic initiative against global warming by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). "[It is] The largest demonstration of public concern about climate change ever attempted." Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General said. Earth Hour began in 2007 with around 2 million participating, and increased to about 50 million in 2008. The Empire State Building, Las Vegas Strip, the Eiffel Tower, Petronas Twin Towers, the Peace Tower, the Parliament Buildings, the Christ the Redeemer statue, Acropolis of Athens, the Egyptian pyramids, and the Colosseum are some notable landmarks which will honour Earth Hour Saturday evening.

The Empire State Building joined the Earth Hour initiative.


On September 6, soccer giants Thailand and Iran defeated Malaysia and Uzbekistan in shutouts of 11-0 and 9-0 respectively. Anothai Sathiyamat, Somsak Thongdee, Nares Numphakdee of Thailand all scored hat-tricks in the game against Uzbekistan. On the second day of competition, a decisive battle in Group A between Japan and Iran was keenly watched by Thailand, as one of the two teams would be their opponent in the finals. The game was scoreless in the first half, with conservative tactics from both teams.

Iran soccer team won 9-0 against Uzbekistan.


Supermodel Christie Brinkley has divorced architect husband Peter Cook amidst allegations that he had extramarital sex with a teenage employee to whom he paid 'silence money', and had a '3,500-a-month porn habit. Meanwhile poor Jo Wood, wife of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, has had to watch helplessly as her husband of 23 years fell off the wagon and took up with a 19 year-old waitress. So can you ever really know if your boyfriend is about to break your heart?

Christie Brinkley has divorced Peter Cook.


Australian A-League football (soccer) club North Queensland Fury announced the signing of former Liverpool FC striker Robbie Fowler for their debut season. Fowler will be their marquee player-meaning his wages fall outside the salary cap-as announced at a press conference held by their owner and chairman, Don Matheson. Fowler signed with the club on a two-season deal, for undisclosed terms, which will see him at the Fury until at least the end of the 2010-2011 season.

Robbie Fowler belongs to the North Queensland Fury football club.


Over fifty firefighters are damping down after a tanker exploded at an industrial unit in Salford in Greater Manchester. At one point, thick smoke could be seen drifting across Manchester city centre. According to Greater Manchester Ambulance Service, no one has been hurt as a result of the explosion. A fire service spokesman said a Heavy Goods Vehicle and a nearby building were engulfed in flames.

The Greater Manchester Ambulance Service offices are located in Salford.


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.


A train driver from the United Kingdom has had his conviction for manslaughter over a head-on rail collision in 1989 quashed. A train operated by Robert Morgan, 64, passed a red signal at Purley and struck an oncoming service on March 4, 1989, killing five and injuring 80 more. Morgan's train had been destined for London Victoria having left Littlehampton, but after passing through the red light struck a Horsham-to-Victoria train at 60mph.


This latest round of voting was to replace the results of the second run-off election held on November 21, 2004. After the November vote, many international observers criticized the vote as fraudulent, and some regions saw voter turnout listed in excess of 100%, prompting the opposition - including Mr. Yushchenko - to assert that the results were invalid. Supporters of the opposition pursued legal channels, such as appealing to the country's parliament and its Supreme Court, as well as maintained a blocade of key government buildings in an effort to force a new election.


It is possible that it could help McCain earn the support of conservatives who have not always viewed him as aligning with the party on certain issues. At the same time, it could help to align McCain with former President Ronald Reagan, who attracted Republican and Democratic voters.


New South Wales Police say a 21-year-old woman has been charged in relation to the riots at Sydney's Cronulla Beach last year. She is the first woman to be arrested over reprisals from the December 11 race-fuelled riot. The woman was charged with affray, assaulting police, resisting arrest and disobeying police direction. She was refused bail. Police said the charges related to the violent and anti-social behaviour of a large number of people who gathered at Brighton-le-Sands on the night of the Cronulla riot.

A woman has been arrested in the Cronulla riot case.


Others, such as Yves Engler, expect famines and massive starvation to continue in the region as long as the IMF continues to influence economic policies in the region. Yves Engler has claimed, consistently with Amartya Sen's analysis, that the IMF is responsible for worsening or actually creating famine in Malawi (2002), Ethiopia (2003) and Niger (2005). The present drought has been said to be getting worse by the day, and the total figure for those who need food from the World Food Program could rise from today's 1.2 million, to exceed 2.5 million people, according to United Nations (UN) spokesman Stephane Dujarric at the organisation's New York headquarters.


Encyclopaedia Britannica (EB), the authoritative reference book first published in 1768, is planning to let readers edit its entries, Jorge Cauz, its president said Friday, as it battles to keep pace with online Internet encyclopedia projects like Wikipedia. Starting next week, readers, visitors and contributing experts to EB's free, online version, Britannica.com, will be allowed to submit proposed changes and contributions to Britannica editors, who will then review the edits and make the necessary alterations. This move is meant to let readers help keep the reference work up-to-date by collaboration. In expanding and maintaining entries online, users whose editorial suggestions are accepted and published entirely or in part will be credited by name in the section of the article that lists contributors.

EB users will be able to edit its content.


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.

Venus Williams was defeated by Marion Bartoli at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.


British writer Doris Lessing, recipient of the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature, has said in an interview that the terrorist attack on September 11 "wasn't that terrible" when compared to attacks the Irish Republican Army (IRA) made on Britain. "September 11 was terrible, but if one re-examines the history of the IRA, what happened in the United States wasn't so bad," Lessing told leading Spanish daily publication El Pais. "Some Americans believe I'm crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor so extraordinary as they think.

Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007.


"While we appreciate Ms. Sierra's past efforts to support US troops, including performing for them in Iraq on Independence Day, it is quite obvious that Ms. Sierra needs to devote a great deal of time to putting her life back together. That effort must take place in private and not in the limelight of the public eye or on the stage." said a statement by retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Buzz Patterson concerning the event. Patterson said Move America Forward, who is organizing the concert, had received comments from patrons who were concerned about her participation. John Fitzgibbons, attorney for Jessica, refused to comment.

Jessica Sierra once reached the finals of "American Idol".


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.

Russia and Italy agree diplomacy is the way to solve international conflicts.


Copyright is a kind of monopoly that is granted to the creator so that they may get the revenue that they need, enough to incentivise (sic) them to make the initial work. So copyright is a trade-off between the interests of us, the public, the audience, human beings who need culture to survive and thrive, and artists who in order to make this culture need an incentive. In the law it is said that for a certain length of time, you have the rights to exploit this cultural product that has come from your loins and after that, it enters the public domain, and everyone enjoys it without restrictions.


In November 2006 Pensacola, Florida evangelist Kent Hovind and his wife, Jo, were found guilty on 58 federal counts of "willful failure" to payroll taxes, structuring bank withdrawals, and obstructing federal agents. On January 19, 2007 Hovind was given ten years in federal prison, ordered to pay $640,000 in owed funds to the Internal Revenue Service, pay prosecution's court costs of $7,078, and serve three years parole once released. Originally in November, Hovind was ordered to forfeit $430,400 and faced a maximum of 288 years in prison.

Hovind was found guilty on 59 federal counts.


A 13km section of road between Macclesfield and Buxton, known as the Cat and Fiddle Road, has been named as Britain's most dangerous road. The single-carriageway road has been the scene of 43 fatal or serious collisions since 2001, nearly three-quarters of them involving motorcyclists. When collisions involving motorcyclists are removed from the analysis, this 13km stretch moves from the highest risk road in the country to one of the safest. Overall, if motorcyclist collisions are removed from the league table, the A61 road between Barnsley and Wakefield is revealed as the most dangerous road in Britain.

The Cat and Fiddle Road is Britain's most dangerous road.


On February 24th the Swedish Royal Court announced that the Crown Princess Victoria was to be married in 2010 to her boyfriend and former fitness trainer Daniel Westling. Victoria, 31, and Daniel, 35, have been in an relationship for 7 years. Since the wedding is to be held in the summer of 2010 it gives the court 18 months to prepare, contemplate the wedding dress of Victoria, and complete the guest-list - which will include Europe and the world's most prominent guests.

Princess Victoria will get married in 2010.


Former Republican governor Carroll Campbell will lie in state today on the second floor of the Statehouse in Columbia, SC. He suffered from a fatal heart attack on Wednesday. He was 65. He was a native of Greenville. 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.

Governor Carroll Campbell died on Wednesday.


Despite legislation enacted by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on Wednesday, more than one-third of television stations in the United States are planning to move ahead with the transition to digital television, according to reports. The transition, which was scheduled for February 17, has been pushed back to June 12, 2009, per the DTV Delay Act enacted on Wednesday. However, it left a loophole for broadcasters, allowing them to make the switch anytime between February 17 and June 12.

TV stations are going to switch to digital.


Around 15:00 the first train had stopped at the station of Roccasecca, and was just to restart its journey, when the second train came at high speed on the same rail, slamming into the back of it. The locomotive of the second train was pushed over the first train and landed on the last carriage of that train. The injured were taken to local hospitals for treatment.


A message posted on the Virginia Tech web page said that classes will be canceled today and tomorrow. Faculty and students have been told to evacuate the campus. All 23 schools in Montgomery County, VA, are on lockdown. President George W. Bush was made aware of the shootings and according to the White House said, "thoughts and prayers for those who are dealing with this." Senate majority and minority leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell led a prayer service and moment of silence for the faculty, students, and everyone at Virginia Tech during the Senate floor session. House speaker Nancy Pelosi led a prayer and moment of silence on the House floor.


Apple have released several re-designs of their popular iPod range. In addition to the iPod Classic, Nano and Shuffle, they have announced the brand new iPod touch, a media player which mimics the iPhone's touch-screen capabilities. The new iPod Classic design features a larger memory space of up to 160GB or 40,000 songs, and has a new all-metal design. The iPod nano is now smaller and squarer, adding video playback to its features for the first time. The 4GB model is cheaper than its predecessor at $149/£99, but the 8GB is available in five colours at $199/£129. The iPod Shuffle is identical in design to the previous model, but is now available in a new range of five colours, with the same price of $79/£49.


England and Australia are set to showdown for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Other interested countries are China, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Qatar and  Russia. FIFA President has encourage Spain to bid for the 2018 World Cup. The final decision to decide the host nation(s) will be in 2011.


Australian Defence Minister, Liberal Senator Robert Hill, 59, has resigned after almost a quarter of a century in Parliament and confirmed he will retire from the Senate. The Senator has been the longest serving leader of his party in the Upper House since Federation. Robert Murray Hill was elected to the Senate for South Australia in 1980. Having spent 13 years in Opposition, he was appointed Environment Minister when the Howard Government was elected in 1996. He will serve out his final few days in the Senate in the next session of parliament.


FIFA has begun disciplinary proceedings against Marco Materazzi after Zinedine Zidane was sent off for headbutting Materazzi in the chest. Zidane has said he reacted to provocation. Both players have been summoned to attend a hearing of its disciplinary committee on Thursday 20 July and a decision is expected later that day.


The agriculture officials earlier announced that the depopulation will be carried out in a "humane" manner, following current Office international des épizooties (OIE) procedures that ensure protection of animal welfare in the Bulacan farm. According to Philippine Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque, the quarantine of the hog farm in Palauig, Manaoag, Pangasinan has been lifted after finding no traces of viral transmission.

DOH stands for Department of Hurricanes.


Former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney testified Thursday before an ethics committee in the Canadian House of Commons about the Airbus affair, a case involving alleged bribery at the highest levels of government to secure Airbus sales of aircraft to Air Canada. In his testimony, Mulroney said that he should not have associated with German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber nor should have he accepted bundles of cash - which he placed in safe deposit boxes in two different countries.

Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister of Canada.


British writer Edward Upward has died at the age of 105. Upward died on Friday, February 13 in Pontefract, England. He was believed to be the UK's oldest living author. Upward was born Edward Falaise Upward on September 9, 1903 in Romford, England. He attended Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, where, in 1924, he was awarded the Chancellor's Medal for English Verse. He was attending the college on a history scholarship he received in 1922.


Brazilian comedienne and actress Dercy Gonçalves has died at the age of 101. Gonçalves died of pneumonia on Saturday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She was born Dolores Gonçalves Costa on June 23, 1907 in Santa Maria Madalena, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In her 80-year long career, Gonçalves has worked in the theater, revues, film, radio and television, becoming famous by her humorous use of vulgar language.


Ike Turner was perhaps best known as one half of the Ike & Tina Turner duo, with his former wife, Tina Turner, whom he married in Mexico in 1962. During a career that lasted half a century, Ike's repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk. Alongside his former wife, he was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 and in 2001 was inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.


The leader of Liverpool City Council, Warren Bradley has today taken a dossier to the Chief Constable of Merseyside Police detailing some of the allegations contained on the Liverpool Evil Cabal web site. This is the second visit to the Police stimulated by the Blog. The previous visit by Executives at the Council, was aimed at closing the Blog, this visit takes the claims of the blog to the Police.

Liverpool Evil Cabal is the name of an online blog.


The bill on voluntary student unionism, as proposed earlier by the Federal Government education minister Brendan Nelson passed the House of Representatives on December 7 and is now to be debated in the Senate. The Higher Education Support Amendment (Abolition of Compulsory Up-Front Student Union Fees) Bill 2005, commonly known as "voluntary student unionism" or VSU, will have the effect of removing the automatic joining of university students into their respective unions, and the consequent abolition of the payment of union fees. These fees go towards amenities and services provided the student unions. The Federal Australian Labor Party Opposition, which had originally opposed the introduction of VSU, changed its policy which originally supported automatic unionism of students and compulsory fees, to a stance supporting only retainment of amenity and services fees.

A bill on students' associations is being discussed in Australia.


Wikinews has learned that according to an Internet posting made just over 24 hours ago, the Church of Scientology's website is being attacked by hackers, causing the site to shut down. The attack was launched on Wednesday by a user labelled "Anonymous", on the website "Insurgency Wiki", a spinoff of 4chan. The "History" section of the site explains, in a satirical fashion, that the incident was prompted by the Church of Scientology's attempts to remove a promotional video featuring Scientologist Tom Cruise from YouTube. Though YouTube is complying with the Church of Scientology's requests to take down the video, other sites such as Gawker.com have stated that they will keep hosting the video.

The Church of Scientology doesn't have a website.


Salil Ankola, who was one of the celebrities participating in the reality TV-show Bigg Boss, which is said to be an adopted version of the Big Brother series from the UK; had to leave the house of Bigg Boss following a ruling from the High Court of Maharashtra. Ankola's trouble began when Balaji Telefilms Ltd., dragged him to the court for appearing in a rival production house. He had signed up a contract with this production house in the month of August, and was expected to abide by the contract for the next 12 months. However, he shot through the months of September and October and did not show up in November. The High Court ordered that until the arbitration in this matter is pending, the actor cannot act, endorse, advertise or do voice-overs for production houses that compete with Balaji.

Salil Ankola was happy to leave the Bigg Boss reality show.


The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands has ordered the arrest of the president of the African country of Sudan, Omar Hassan al-Bashir. The warrant was issued by the ICC for seven charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes, in the Darfur region of the country.

Al-Bashir was arrested for crimes against Egypt.


Others described him as a "well-heeled chap", and one of the few members of Ryanair early in the airline's history to be able to afford expensive items, such as his luxury car and his high-quality suit. Cathal's prosperity had often helped Ryanir through financial problems in it's early stages. Several colleagues recalled one famous incident where airport authorities had refused to allow an aircraft he was piloting to be refueled unless it was paid for up front due to an unpaid bill. When Cathal was informed of the issue, he produced his gold credit card to pay for the fuel.


Ford Motor Company NYSE: F sales dropped 42% last month from the previous year. General Motors NYSE: GM reported a 49% decline. Chrysler was hardest hit among the domestically owned manufacturers with a plunge of 55%. The decline in sales has not been limited to just US manufacturers. Japanese automaker Toyota NYSE: TM reported a 32% drop in US sales from a year earlier, Nissan MotorsNASDAQ: NSANY dropped 30%, and Honda NYSE: HMC sales dropped 28%. Subaru and South Korean Hyundai Motor Company LSE: HYUD were two of the few auto firms that reported an increase in sales. They posted gains of eight and fourteen percent, respectively.

Car manufacturers are suffering a loss in profit.


Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton and John Edwards took part in a rally to commemorate Martin Luther King day. In the event Hilary Clinton asked the crowd to "Let us just take a moment to marvel at the progress we have made together." After saying that she added "But the work is far from finished, the dream is not fulfilled." The use of the word dream was widely interpreted as reference to Martin Luther King.


HANOVER, Germany - Internet portal and mail-provider Lycos Europe has launched a program to increase spammers' bills by having thousands of voluntary users' computers repeatedly query websites from which spam originates. Such a tactic would increase the bandwidth costs for these websites. However, it also faces legal questions. Spamming, the mass sending of unsolicited emails, is lucrative in part because each email can be sent for nearly insignificant costs. With such low costs, a commercial spammer needs only to have a very small number of recipients buy their product to make a profit. The goal of many anti-spam proposals has been to increase the cost of spammers sending messages. Lycos' approach is to make it more expensive to maintain servers that send spam.


The Japanese Nikkei 225 has recorded it's third biggest drop in history with a massive sell-off in the exchange that has resulted in USD 250 billion being knocked of the index's value. Toyota, which is the second largest carmaker in the world, fell by the largest amount in 21 years, while Elpida Memory, the world's largest manufacturer of computer memory, dropped in value to a record low.


SANTOS,Brazil - Miss Marina Souza, aged 43, mother of Robson de Souza-known as Robinho (Little Robin)- a Brazilian soccer player for the Santos Football Club has been released Friday, December, 17 by her kidnappers at Santa Cruz Street, in Perus, a district of São Paulo city, after 40 days been captive. She was kidnapped last Saturday, November 6th, in Praia Grande, São Paulo, during a barbecue with her relatives. Right after been released she asked for help in neighborhood, she contacted her son and called the police officers. She was sent to the hospital and the doctors said she is well although a little dehydration and a phew pounds more lean. A ransom (the quantity has not been revealed) has been paid by family and friends.


The ferry was was bound for Samarinda, East Kalimantan, from Pare-Pare, South Sulawesi. Samarinda is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur) on the island of Borneo. Sulawesi (formerly known as Celebes) is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. Majene is a town in West Sulawesi and it is the seat (capital) of Majene Regency.

An Indonesian ferry with 300 passengers sank.


The Mandela birthday celebration will be capped with a concert at Hyde Park on Friday that will feature Annie Lennox, Queen, Razorlight, Leona Lewis and the Soweto Gospel Choir. The proceeds from the concert will go to Mandela's 46664 Foundation that looks after people suffering from HIV in his beloved South Africa.

Leona Lewis had a number one single in America.


The Walt Disney Company and the government of Hong Kong officially opened the world's eleventh Disney theme park, Hong Kong Disneyland, today at 13:00PM local time. The park, located in Penny's Bay, Lantau Island, is the major attraction at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort, which also features two luxurious hotels and a recreational lake with stunning views of local Hong Kong scenery, unlike previous Disney theme parks.


Three inmates hung themselves with nooses made from their bedsheets at the U.S. base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. According to the U.S. Military, the time of death is not yet clear; the men were "found unresponsive and not breathing in their cells by guards." Two of the men are reported to be Saudi, the third being Yemeni. According to Admiral Harry Harris, one of the prisoners was a mid-to-high level Al-Qaida operative, another belonged to a splinter group, and the other was captured in Afghanistan.


Portuguese Maria de Jesus died Tuesday, at 115 years and 114 days old. The vegetarian, non-smoking, teetotal farmer had only visited a hospital once in her life, outliving her husband by 57 years, and two of her five children. The cause of her death is either unknown or has not yet been released.


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 bodies were discovered after Allam's pregnant wife called emergency 9-1-1 to request urgent medical aid. Both men had been shot once through the head, according to Charles Zewe, a spokesperson for the EWU system. Officers and medical personnel were immediately dispatched to the scene. The University officials gathered the latest information and sent out an emergency text message to the members of the LSU community who had previously registered their phone numbers with the university's emergency text-messaging system.

Two PhD students were found dead in Louisiana.


Pupils who are given detention at a Christchurch, New Zealand high school are being forced to wear orange overalls with the words 'Work Crew' on the back. The New Zealand Parent Teacher Association (NZPTA) have said that this is unacceptable humiliation and will make each student stand out. The vice-president of the NZPTA, Margaret Mooney described the overalls as radical. The principal of Shirley Boys' High School, John Laurenson, denied these allegations, stating that the only reason for the overalls is to keep uniforms clean. Since each pupil's punishment is the opposite of what they committed, then the uniforms need to remain clean. "The average fellow, he [sic] doesn't want to get mud or muck on his uniform."

Children in New Zealand are forced to wear orange overalls.


Lucky Dube was one of the most prominent reggae artists of all times - often remembered alongside Bob Marley for his songs on social issues. He began his career singing in Zulu and released his first album in 1982. He later moved to reggae and released is album 'Rastas Never Die'. This album was banned by the apartheid government. His other albums include Slave, Prisoner and Together As One and Respect - his most recent album which he released in April of this year.


French President Jacques Chirac continued his hospital stay Tuesday in what a government spokesperson describes as favorable conditions. Chirac was admitted on Friday to a military hospital in central Paris, where doctors called his condition a "small vascular incident" that hindered his vision. Doctors report such a problem as he was having could range from a ruptured blood vessel to a stroke, since more than 80% of strokes are caused by blockage in an artery carrying blood to the brain. The problem reddened and bothered the eyesight of the 72-year-old Chirac.


Soundtracks for kids movies and TV shows included them with some regularity. Jump5 were heard in The Lizzie McGuire Movie, Sleepover, Spy Kids, Ella Enchanted, Ice Princess, and Brother Bear. Best Picture-nominee Beauty and the Beast included one of their tracks on its DVD release. MTV's Newport Harbor, Disney Channel's Kim Possible and the Lilo & Stitch: The Series all featured their songs. Once the group even performed for United States President Bush at the White House.

Jump5 performed their last show in Tennessee.


A Vatican City official has referred to abortion, and euthanasia as "terrorism with a human face." Archbishop Angelo Amato is the acting Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which is led by William Cardinal Levada. He was addressing Vatican chaplains, when he made the remarks on Monday in a keynote address that opened an April 23 to 27 seminar in Rome with Catholic airport chaplains. The seminar's main focus is security and preparedness against acts of terrorism.

A woman in a persistent vegetative state has died.


The San Francisco 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.

A tiger attacked three people in San Francisco.


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.

Russian forces have bombed the town of Gori.


Appearing before Judge William Ledbetter Jr. in Spotsylvania County Circuit Court, the fatal dog mauling defendant Deanna Large plead not guilty Wednesday to charges of involuntary manslaughter and three misdemeanor counts of letting a dangerous dog run at large. Large is the alleged owner of three pit bulls that attacked and killed an 82-year-old neighbor as she walked her dog in the front yard of her home. Police responding to the incident on March 8, shot two of the dogs at the scene and later euthanized the third.

A woman was charged with involuntary manslaughter.


On January 11, 2009, an 18-year-old teenager was arrested for writing her nickname, "2shie", on a wall in a café near Hyde Park, Sydney, Australia. After the arrest, the teenager, Cheyene Back, pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly damaging property. Cheyene Back had been captured on a closed-circuit security camera at the "Hyde Park Cafe" on Macquarie Street, when she and friends wrote on the wall. Robert Napoli, a co-defendant, has had his case adjourned. They were arrested by police outside the café.

A teenager was arrested in Australia for scrawling graffiti on a wall.


During a rally protesting the decision on Wednesday, Al-Bashir spoke, calling the charges worthless and told the ICC to "eat" the warrant. "[It is] not worth the ink it is written on. It is a flawed decision". Egypt says it is also not in favor of the warrant and the government states it will ask the United Nations Security Council to stop the implementation of it. The Human Rights Watch, a human rights organization located in the United States, in New York "the International Criminal Court has made Omar al-Bashir a wanted man", welcoming the warrant.


Ernesto, now a tropical storm, made landfall along the coastline of the state of North Carolina near Long Beach in Brunswick County at 11:40 p.m. eastern time. Reports say the storm was near hurricane strength when it made landfall, but officials are welcoming the rain. "We need some rain around here - just not all at once," said Jean Evans, a worker for a convienence store in North Carolina's Holden Beach.

Ernesto is the name given to a tropical storm.


Sunshine Coast Regional Council has received legal advice that it could not challenge the appeals proccess of McDonald's Australia. Council rejected development plans for a 24 hour store at Minyama in December. "... council has rceived legal advice back that McDonalds will win because of planning laws allow code assessment - the ugly American McDonald will win and run roughshod over residents and Sunshine Coast Council," said protest group spokesperson John Meyer-Gleaves.

Sunshine Coast Regional Council accepted McDonald's Australia development plans.


The Department of Internal Affairs and the Internal Affairs minister, Rick Barker, also received a lot of support for a change, including from the Federated Farmers. Farmers had usually opposed a change to the daylight saving period because it hampered with operations. Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, stated that she personally did not support a change to the start of daylight saving in March. However the main reason that the start was altered was to avoid clashes with the fourth school term.

New Zealand changed the daylight saving period.


The PTA has also blocked websites depicting the controversial cartoons of Muhammad published by a Danish newspaper in 2006 that also sparked violence in the Muslim world. Some of the cartoons have recently been reprinted.This is not the first time a country has moved to block YouTube. Turkey and Thailand both chose to temporarily ban the sites, as did Morocco which blocked the site after a video criticising the country's treatment of Western Saharans was uploaded.


India is seeking extradition, but the fact that Nepalese authorities have added their own charges of illegal organ transplants in on top of the foreign currency possession charges, could delay proceedings. Meanwhile, Poonam Kumar, who is Amit Kumar's wife and lives in Brampton, Canada with their two sons, claims that "My husband is innocent... You tell me what human would want to do these things to anyone. My husband didn't do anything wrong."


Following the success of "Chinatrust Global Leaders Forum" in 2005, Chinatrust Commercial Bank (CTCB), the forum organizer, invited Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba Group, to give the main address on the subject of "Cross-Strait e-Commerce Development" yesterday. "We (CTCB) held this forum originally with a speech-style type, and hoped participants absorb good experiences from some world-class notabilities. At the first holding, we invited Dr. Edward Prescott forecasting the future of global economics and this invitation was finally respected by financial people in Taiwan. With trendy transformations and global popularization of the Internet in the presence, we finally decided to invite Jack Ma to share experiences from his successful management theory." Jeffery Koo (Chairman of CTCB) remarked at the opening.

The Alibaba Group was founded by Jack Ma.


Galvarino Apablaza has been arrested in November 29 in Argentina. Chilean authorities request now the expulsion of Apablaza so he can be tried in Chile. Apablaza and some left-wing organizations want Argentina give him political asylum. Apablaza is also suspected of participating to the kidnapping of the Brazilian advertising executive Washington Olivetto in 2001, according to Brazilian police authorities.

"Comandante Salvador" is the nickname of Galvarino Apablaza.


A 300 million-year-old fossilized rain forest has been found, in its entirety, outside Georgetown, Illinois, United States. Coal miners called in scientists to look at a vast and dense seam of fossils they found in a mine. It is the largest fossilized forest ever to be found. It is about the size of San Francisco, California or 10,000 hectares [10 km by 10 km] and is said to be the first rain forest ever to exist on Earth.

Fossilized trees have been found in the USA.


Majel also starred in other TV shows not related to Star Trek such as Earth: Final Conflict, The Lucy Show, Leave it to Beaver and Genesis II. Majel's husband Gene died in 1991 of heart failure. After his death, Majel took over the Star Trek franchise and put several of Gene's unfinished projects into production which included two television shows.


Becky Hogge: If you think about what copyright does for the internet culture: if we didn't have copyright, we wouldn't have Creative Commons. Copyright is an incredibly sensible piece of law, and in fact serves to benefit a lot of what goes on online in the way that it's been used in things like free and open software, in things like Creative Commons. These things wouldn't exist without the framework of copyright law. I'm always very careful to say that copyright law is a benefit to society, but I think Erik's comparison to taxes is spot on: it's not about black and white.


The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines McJob as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects." The McDonald's fast-food giant has begun a campaign to have the word removed from the dictionary, or to have its definition changed, by lobbying British MPs. The company has also set up an online petition with the slogan "Change the definition. Sign the petition." Clive Betts, MP for Sheffield Attercliffe agrees with the restaurant chain. Betts has tabled a Commons motion on the issue. The motion has so far gained the support of 15 other MPs.


Katrina first made landfall in Miami, Florida on August 25, 2005 as a category one hurricane resulting in dozens of deaths in South Florida and spawning several tornadoes. Katrina then passed over Florida and headed into the Gulf of Mexico where it strengthened into a massive category 5 storm. She then made her second landfall on the morning of August 29, 2005, near Buras-Triumph, Louisiana with winds at 125 MPH and a central pressure of 920 mbar, a strong Category 3 storm.