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EU, Microsoft agree on browser ballot

berlaymont_building_-_european_commission_headquartersThe European Commission and Microsoft have finalised the proposal for a 'browser ballot' in Windows, following the Commission's concern that Microsoft was unfairly using its operating system monopoly to gain control of the browser market.

The browser ballot will give Windows users an option of switching to one of twelve competing browsers when it is made available in an update to the new Windows 7, as well as Vista and XP.

Microsoft said in a statement that "today's resolution follows years of intensive examination by the European Commission of competition in computer software. The measures approved today reflect multiple rounds of input from industry participants relating to competition in Web browser software and interoperability between various Microsoft products and competing products."

The agreement on browser ballot, named the 'choice screen,' is to last five years, and its effectiveness is to be regularly monitored during this time. If successful, it could reduce Internet Explorer's market share.

The complaint regarding the alleged browser monopoly was first brought by Opera Software in January 2009, and the idea of a browser ballot, and Microsoft first agreed to the idea back in July. Since then, the nature of the ballot has been discussed in detail, and now, finally, a conclusion has been reached.

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Volcano eruption in Philippines prompts evacuations

Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from areas near Mount Mayon in the Philippines on Tuesday, after the lava started flowing out of the volcano. Local scientists caution that Mayon might be on the verge of a powerful eruption.

"After the series of ash puffs and ash explosions of 1,000 metres, we cannot rule out a major explosion," said Cedric Daep, the head of local disaster relief operations, commenting that officials are intending to eventually evacuate up to 50,000 people.

"We are in the process of evacuating nearly 10,000 families around the 6-8 kilometre danger zone around the volcano. We have enough food for all these people for only a month," Daep added.

An alert for the area surrounding Mayon has been raised, and about 20,000 people were evacuated from the foothills of the volcano. Thousands more people are expected to be moved out of the area later. They are currently living in evacuation centres set up by the Philippine government. Authorities noted that it might be until Christmas before most will be able to return to their homes.

"It's 10 days before Christmas. Most likely people will be in evacuation centres, and if Mayon's activity won't ease down we will not allow them to return to their homes. It's difficult and sad, especially for children." said an emergency management official, Jukes Nunez.

The governor of the province where the Mayon volcano is located, Joey Salceda, commented that, in case of an eruption, the government was trying to have "zero casualties".

Mayon erupted last in 2006; its most deadly eruption was in 1841, when 1,200 people were killed after the village of Cagsawa was buried. The volcano stands over 8,000 feet above sea level and has erupted 49 times since records were started, in 1616. The Philippines are also located along the "Ring of Fire", an area in southeast Asia prone to earthquakes, volcanos, and other seismic activity.

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Suicide bomber kills at least twenty in Pakistan town

Local officials in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan in Pakistan said on Tuesday that at least twenty people were killed after a suicide car bomber attacked the house of a provincial governor. The Al Jazeera news agency reports that seventy people were injured from the blast.

According to Siddiq-ul-Farooq, a spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League, the bomber drove his car into the wall of Dost Muhammad Khosa's home, damaging it. Khosa and his relatives, however, were not at home, Farooq added. The house was reportedly close to a market, which also suffered from the explosion.

A reporter for Al Jazeera, however, noted that it wasn't immediately clear if Khosa was intended as a target in Tuesday's attack.

"There are many people trapped in the rubble after the powerful blast demolished some 10 shops [...] The rescue work is under way and we fear the toll may go up. It was a terrorist activity, similar to those being carried out in other parts of the country," said town commisioner Hasan Iqbal.

A local resident, Raza Khan, was witness to the chaos that resulted after the detonation. "The whole market has collapsed. There is smoke and people running here and there," he said to the Associated Press. A local health official told Agence France-Presse news agency that "the hospital in the town has been crowded by people looking for their relatives. Rescue efforts are still going on."

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

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Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" makes maiden flight

Boeing 787 Boeing's newest commercial aircraft, the 787 "Dreamliner", made its first test flight Tuesday in Everett, Washington at 18:00 UTC. Boeing claims that the new 290+ seat wide-body, twin engine jetliner is more fuel efficient than previous Boeing models.

The release of the "Dreamliner" is almost two and a half years behind schedule. The project has been plagued by various issues, including strike action, parts shortages and design problems. The aircraft is thought to have attracted 840 orders to date, though some have been cancelled due to the delays, making the 787 worth in the region of US$140bn (€96bn, £86bn) for Boeing.

An aerospace analyst, Richard Aboulafia, said that "[The test flight] will provide a badly needed perception that the program is on some kind of schedule again, but it's still a long way from the ultimate result." Boeing's European rival, Airbus, is preparing to release a similar aircraft, the A350, in 2013.

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Alleged tax-haven scheme linked to Canada's largest brokerage firm

In a continuing crackdown on tax evasion, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has alleged that brokers with a branch of RBC Dominion Securities, Canada's largest brokerage company, helped clients set up accounts in the small European principality of Liechtenstein in order to avoid taxation on their wealth.

In affadavits submitted by the CRA, brokers with an RBC Dominion Securities office in Victoria, British Columbia, allegedly helped clients set up 16 offshore entities with a division of the LGT Group in Liechtenstein. While that is not a crime under Canadian law, auditors allege that the entities were used to help Canadians hide worldwide income. Thirteen individuals are either being audited or have made voluntary disclosures, admitting to tax evasion. The agency is presently investigating to see if there are any other individuals participating in this scheme. Regarding the inquiry, dubbed "Project Jade", the CRA will only say that it was launched on information from a "confidential informant".

RBC issued a written statement, saying "As a firm, we have never encouraged Canadians — not 25 years ago and not today — to set up entities in Liechtenstein, and we have never instructed our investment advisers to recommend that practice," and "we comply with all CRA requirements. This means that we provide all our clients with the forms they need to meet their personal tax obligations, and also file reports with CRA that form the basis for reviews such as this."

Three RBC employees are presently being investigated, with one remaining unidentified.

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Guantanamo inmates to be transferred to Illinois

Guantanamo mapThe White House is expected to announce today that several inmates from the United States' controversial detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba are to be relocated to a prison facility, to be acquired by the Federal Government, on the US mainland.

The Thomson Correctional Center in north-western Illinois is expected to accommodate around 100 prisoners from the Cuba base. The closure of the camp is a key policy for US President Barack Obama and an unnamed White House official is quoted as saying "Closing the detention centre at Guantanamo is essential to protecting our national security and helping our troops by removing a deadly recruiting tool from the hands of al-Qaeda". Thomson prison, in Thomson, Illinois, approximately 150 miles from Chicago, is expected to be sold to the Federal Bureau of Prisons and, in turn, part leased to the Department of Defense will hold both federal prisoners and detainees from Guantanamo in the same facility.

Illinois State Governor Patrick J. Quinn and Richard J. Durbin, the state’s senior senator, are expected to be briefed about the plan at the White House this (Tuesday) afternoon. Both Democrats, the senators have previously campaigned for the prisoners to be located in Thomson in the hope that it would bring jobs to the local economy as well as making use of a near empty prison complex. However, Republican congressmen for Illinois, Representatives Mark Steven Kirk and Donald Manzullo have expressed skepticism, claiming the move could make Illinois a target for terrorism.

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Cyclone Mick wreaks havoc on Fiji

Cyclone MickCyclone Mick, the first storm of the 2009–10 South Pacific cyclone season, has left at least four people dead after battering Fiji on Monday.

The storm inflicted widespread damage throughout the nation, although the island of Viti Levu bore the brunt of the impact. At the height of the storm, wind gusts of 110 km/h (70 mph) blew across the island.

Mick forced thousands into shelters and cut power to a large portion of the country. It triggered severe flooding and uprooted countless trees, and some residents are still without power.

"There's a lot of damage," said Tim Sutton, a spokesman for UNICEF. "Lots of trees down, power lines down everywhere, all the roads around Viti Levu are still closed with flooding and landslides." He described the cyclone as "very vicious".

Although the storm itself has been downgraded and has started to dissipate, officials say that the death toll could increase as contact is established with some of the smaller islands. However, advanced warnings likely reduced the number of fatalities.

On a lighter note, an emergency group of surgeons delivered seven babies during the cyclone's onslaught

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Two killed as Islamic militants storm Philippine jail

Philippine At least 31 inmates are believed to have escaped and a further two, including a prison guard, killed after a group of up to one hundred Islamic militants stormed a prison in Isabela City on Basilan island in the southern Philippines. The escapees are believed to be affiliated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, of whom two are thought to be responsible for the decapitation of a group of soldiers in 2007.

The attack occurred shortly before 02:00 local time and Al Rasheed Sakalahul, Vice Governor is quoted as saying that "more than half the inmates […] had escaped". Following the attack, a brief firefight ensued in which a guard and a rebel were killed. Sakalahul went on to say "there is a pursuit operation to get back the escapees. We still don't know how the gunmen were able to spring out the prisoners. There is an ongoing investigation." Of those killed, one was a prison guard and the other was a rebel, both killed in the firefight which followed the break in.

The incident is the third of its type on the island of Basilan in the last five years.

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At least eight die in Afghan capital suicide bombing

At least eight people have died in the Afghan capital Kabul after a suicide bombing hit the Wazir Akbar Khan diplomatic and governmental residential district, according to officials.

The car bomb exploded this morning outside the Heetal Hotel shortly before the start of a three-day conference on corruption in the capital, killing at least eight. President Hamid Karzai said that the dead included two bodyguards of former vice-president Ahmad Zia Massoud. The former vice-president's house was damaged, and police suspect that he may have been the intended target of the attack.

Kabul has suffered many attacks in recent months. Last month, a rocket strike near a hotel in the capital injured four people, and another car bomb attack outside a NATO base injured six.

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At least 22 killed in blast in central Pakistan

At least 22 killed in blast in central PakistanA car bomb has killed at least 22 people and injured 70 injured in Dera Ghazi Khan, Pakistan according to local officials. The bomb exploded in a market in the town in the central Punjab province.

"The whole market has collapsed," said local resident Raza Khan to the Associated Press news agency. "There is smoke and people running here and there."

According to district health officer Dr Pervez Haider Altaf, rescuers were searching for survivors. Officials have declared a state of emergency. "The hospital in the town has been crowded by the people looking for their relatives. Rescue efforts are still going on," he said.

The town commissioner, Hassan Ibqal also spoke of the rescue attempts. "There are many people trapped in the rubble after the powerful blast demolished some 10 shops […] The rescue work is under way and we fear the toll may go up," he said, blaming the attacks on terrorists. "It was a terrorist activity, similar to those being carried out in other parts of the country." he added.

The attack also damaged the house of Zulfiqar Khosa, the Punjabi chief minister's adviser, although he was not hurt. It is unclear whether he was the intended target of the attack. So far no group has claimed responsibility for the bombing.

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Mark Ingram wins 2009 Heisman Trophy

Mark IngramIngram, the third consecutive sophomore to win the award for the top American Football player in NCAA Division I, was visibly emotional about receiving the award. The award was the first for Alabama.

The margin of victory was the closest ever for the award, with just 28 points separating Ingram from the second place finisher: Stanford running back Toby Gerhart. "I'm a little overwhelmed right now," Ingram said. "I'm just so excited to bring Alabama their first Heisman winner."

Ingram, who had 1542 yards rushing and 322 yards receiving this season, emerged as one of the favorites in the middle of the season, but it was the rough showings by fellow front-runners Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy in their conference title games that solidified Ingram's status and elevated Gerhart.

In the SEC title game, the second-ranked Crimson Tide defeated top-ranked Gators, holding Tebow to 184 yards through the air. In the Big 12 title game, Texas won a close game, 13–12 over Nebraska. In the game, McCoy had 247 yards through the air and was intercepted 3 times. A strong performance against in the same game propelled Nebraska defensive-end Ndamukong Suh to the fourth-place spot Heisman point total.

Ingram — who scored 18 touchdowns so far this season — will meet McCoy in the national title game Jan. 7.

Ingram also acknowledged the support of his family, his team and other students on campus. "Everybody that's been in the Alabama family has been supporting me," Ingram said. "Walking to class, students flashed me the Heisman pose."

Sunday, December 13, 2009 University of Alabama running back Mark Ingram has won the 2009 Heisman Trophy, it was announced Saturday night.

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Maori flag to fly along side the New Zealand Flag on Waitangi day

Waitangi DayNew Zealand Prime Minister John Key has announced that Cabinet decided on Monday that the controversial Maori sovereignty flag Tino Rangatiratang from 2010 is to be to be flown on New Zealand’s national day, Waitangi Day on Auckland Harbour Bridge, Premier House, Parliament and other significant sites controlled by the Government.

This follows consultation lead by Maori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples with Maori about what Maori flag should be flown on Waitangi Day. Mr Key says that "More than 1200 submissions were received and 80 per cent favoured the flag commonly referred to as the 'tino rangatiratanga' flag as the preferred Maori flag".

The Prime Minister stressed that "the Maori flag will not replace the New Zealand flag, but fly alongside it, to recognise the partnership the Crown and Maori entered into when signing the Treaty of Waitangi” and that no changes are being made to the status of the New Zealand flag. Furthermore, Dr Sharples added that the New Zealand flag remains the symbol of the nation, and there is no intention to change this.

While the Prime Minister comments that flying the Maori flag is a step towards better race relations, already the choice of flag is proving to be a point of contention. While Dr Sharples has admitted that the choice of flag was not universally supported in Cabinet, with government MPs such as Nationals Tau Henare refusing to comment on whether they personally supported the choice.

Waitangi day is on February 6, each year and celebrates the Waitangi signing of New Zealand's founding document, the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti o Waitangi).

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WHO: Polio reemerging in Africa

WHOThe World Health Organisation (WHO) said earlier today that polio has reemerged in several countries in Africa. WHO Africa regional director Luis Gomes Sambo made the announcement at the beginning of a Zimbabwe conference regarding child immunisation.

"Several polio-free countries have suffered setback in polio eradication. The number of countries with polio outbreaks following wild poliovirus importations has increased from thirteen to nineteen in 2009," Sambo commented.

He also added that "we need better management of the available resources for immunization, human resources, technologies and we need increased funding to improve the capacity of governments to purchase vaccines and we need also greater mobilization of people. We need to inform people that to bring their people to vaccination campaigns."

The Zimbabwe conference takes place at a time when there has been a considerable decline of under-five mortality in the region. Sambo, however, said that sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 51% of all under-five deaths globally in 2008. At this rate, he noted, Africa cannot achieve the fourth UN Millennium Development Goal to reduce under-five mortality rate by two-thirds between 1990 and 2015.

The countries that have had increases in polio included Angola, Chad, and Democratic Republic of the Congo. The WHO attributed the rise mostly to lack of immunisations. The agency estimates that 75% of children on the continent receive vaccines, and has said it will try to raise the number to 85%.

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Dubai receives bailout from Abu Dhabi

Dubai The government of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates has agreed to give US$10 billion to its neighboring emirate, allowing the state-owned Dubai World conglomerate to repay its immediate debt obligations. Dubai says more than $4 billion of the injection will be given to Dubai World's property firm, Nakheel, to repay its Islamic bond that matures Monday. The remaining funds will go towards additional expenses.

News of the last-minute bailout caused Asian stocks to rebound and pushed European shares up, which saw gains for a third straight session. Markets in the UAE also rose, with Dubai's index moving up by 10 percent and Abu Dhabi's jumping by seven percent. Despite the good news, Algebra Capital Managing Director Dino Kronfol says Dubai is not out of the woods yet. "This is not something that is going to be resolved in a matter of weeks. It's going to take some time," Kronfol said. "It's going to involve restructuring and we'll have to see how that transpires. But nonetheless, this is a positive development today."

The situation is completely different from just a few weeks ago, when Dubai World shook up global markets by asking for a standstill on its $26 billion debt. The government of Dubai made matters worse when it announced it would not guarantee the state-owned company's bills.

Dubai World's creditors still need to approve the standstill and effectively have until December 28 to make a decision. That is when the grace period of Nakheel's bond ends. The government of Dubai has issued a new law allowing the conglomerate to file for bankruptcy if its restructuring is not successful. But Kronfol says, if the process focuses on necessary aspects, it will succeed.

"If the restructuring actually deals with Dubai's contingent liabilities," Kronfol said, "as a long-term solution, this actually really will help put the whole debt situation of Dubai behind us and really allow the markets to look more positively at 2010 and beyond."

Government sources say Dubai World's restructuring process could include asset sales, but they would be limited to the Nakheel and Limitless companies and not include Istithmar World, which owns U.S. Luxury retailer Barneys.

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Africa makes first draft version of UNCCC treaty, with harder goals


At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, after four days of negotiations, Africa countries have made the first draft version of future possible treaty, to replace the 1997 Kyoto protocol. Africa leaders demand 5% of GDP of developed world citizens to be given as a finance to developing countries for struggle with global warming. Along with this, developing countries expect rich countries to increase their emissions cuts goals.

Funding for developed countries was previously expected to be 130 billion US dollars. The new proposal is about 11 times larger, according to 2008 GDP estimates. In an interview in Copenhagen, China’s representative Su Wei commented, "The developed countries need to speed up the process and come forward with more ambitious targets by 2020."

Many nations offered emissions cuts pledges, which vary from 4% to 17% cuts by 2020, compared with 1990 levels. The Africa's draft proposes a goal of 65% cut for every developed country. Though the new goals are harder, Anders Turesson, European Union representative at UNCCC, doubted in the ability of them to prevent 2-degree warming. In an interview in Copenhagen, he said, "We are concerned about the environmental integrity of these texts and we do not see how they will deliver the 2-degree target. Hopefully we will be able to step up our ambitions as we move forward in the negotiations."

British Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband criticised the draft text for absence of a certain temperature raise threshold, said that the new texts "are shorter texts than we’ve had before, which we can negotiate around because the imperative here is to get on with it and get to an ambitious solution".

Bloomberg news company interviewed several people from New York environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Its policy director David Doniger expects most difficulties to come at the end of the UNCCC, when Barack Obama and Wen Jiabao arrive at the summit: "It’s really come down to a set of difficult issues. It’s a lot easier for lower-level negotiators to come to an impasse and go home. It’s not easy for senior officials and definitely not easy for heads of government." As international climate policy director of NRDC Jake Schmidt commented similarly, "It’s going to be a tense negotiation over emissions cuts for developed countries."

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Berlusconi to remain in hospital after assault

BerlusconiThe Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, is to remain in the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, following yesterday's assault which left him with facial damage, two broken teeth, a broken nose and cuts to his lips. The assault on the 73-year-old media mogul came at the end of a political rally where Prime Minister Berlusconi had addressed the assembled crowd.

Berlusconi will now stay in hospital until at least Tuesday, and according to a bulletin released to Italian Media, he is able to eat, but only with difficulty.

He was approached and hit in the face by 42-year-old Massimo Tartaglia, who was carrying a replica of Milan's Duomo Cathedral at the time, made out of some form of heavy material according to eyewitnesses. Tartaglia is now in police custody, and has been charged with aggravated assault.

The leader of the Northern League, an Italian Far-Right organisation, Umberto Bossi, said what had happened was an "act of terrorism" and described the attack as a "worrying sign".

In a statement released to the media, Berlusconi's spokesman, Paolo Bonaiuti, said that "we try to keep him at rest. He would like to re-immerse himself into his frantic activity, but doctors say caution is necessary."

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Google mobile phone rumours ramp up

Google mobile phone rumours ramp upRumours have increased over the possible release of a Google branded smartphone in the New Year, running its Android mobile operating system. Speculation has been rife after it was reported that Google have distributed handsets to its employees for testing worldwide.

It is believed to be being built by the Taiwan based manufacturer HTC, who have already released two phones based on the Android operating system and will feature the newly released Android 2.0. It is currently named the Nexus One. On their official blog, Google have confirmed the existence of a handset and the fact that it is currently being tested, but have relased no more details.

It is also understood that it will be sold directly to consumers and will not be locked to any particular network, in a sharp departure from previous handsets sporting Android. Ben Schachter, an analyst at Broadpoint AmTech Inc, based in San Francisco, said: "If all of a sudden everyone is getting on the internet via their mobile device, Google needs to make sure it has an influence on that...they need to make sure they have influence on how the mobile web will develop."

Google is one of the founding members of The Open Handset Alliance, creator of the open-sourced mobile OS Android.

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Ryan Giggs named BBC Sports Personality of the Year

Welsh footballer Ryan Giggs was named as the 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year in a ceremony Sunday night. The 36-year-old Manchester United and Welsh international player has won a record eleven Premier League titles in his career, and made over 800 appearances for his club.
Giggs holding the Premier League trophy in 2008

The award is given in December each year to a British sportsman or woman, and is voted for by the public. Giggs is only the fifth footballer to win since the award started in 1954, the most recent being David Beckham in 2001.

Formula One driver Jenson Button was runner-up, and heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis came in third.

Giggs said that winning came as a shock. "I grew up watching this programme. To see the people that have won it and to be here is unbelievable," he said in his acceptance speech.

"I am playing for the greatest manager that has ever lived and I'm playing for the greatest club," Giggs said. "Perhaps I've become more appreciated as I have got older. It's unusual for a 36-year-old to be playing with a team like Manchester United for 20 years but I am enjoying it and long may it continue."

Through his career United is the only club Giggs has played at. This year he made his 800th appearance and scored his 150th goal, and in April he also won the PFA Player Of The Year award.

Seve Ballesteros won the event's Lifetime Achievement award. The Spanish golfer, who is suffering from a brain tumour, was unable to attend the event, but received a standing ovation. His award was presented at his home in Padrena by fellow golfer José María Olazábal.

"It's a pity I'm not there. I'm very sorry, I know I'm missing a good show, thank you very much to everyone," Ballasteros said.

15-year-old diver Tom Daley won Young Sports Personality of the Year for the second time, as well as being one of the ten contenders for the main award. "It's been a good year for me and I would just like to thank everyone who has helped me," Daley said.

Comedian Eddie Izzard received a special award for his contributions to the charity event Sport Relief. Earlier this year he completed 43 marathons across the United Kingdom in 51 days, running a total of 1,100 miles. Izzard said that he decided on the challenge as "a health idea". He trained for only five weeks before setting out.

"Everything was painful. People asked me if I enjoyed the running, but I enjoyed the stopping! I staggered, I ran and I crawled," he admitted when accepting the award. His efforts netted over £200,000 for charity.

The awards were presented at the Sheffield Arena, in front of 11,000 people.

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Iran releases five detained Britons

IranIranian authorities have released five British yachtsmen who were detained last week in the Persian Gulf. A statement from Iran's Revolutionary Guards said that, after investigation, it reached the conclusion that their illegal entry was a mistake.

Britain's Foreign Office confirmed the release, and said the yachtsmen are being towed to international waters, and were expected to head to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Iranian naval forces detained the Britons on the 25th of November as they sailed from Bahrain to Dubai for a race. The chair of Sail Bahrain, Andrew Pindar, which owns the yacht, said the vessel "may have strayed inadvertently" into Iranian waters due to a problem with its propeller.

State radio quoted a statement by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards as saying that "after getting necessary guarantees, Iran released the five. We reached the conclusion that they entered Iran’s territorial waters by mistake."

The news comes hours after British Foreign Minister David Miliband spoke to his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki by phone and pressed him for clear information on the incident. Miliband denied the sailors had any malicious intent. He said the incident has "nothing to do" with politics or Iran's nuclear program.

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British actress Maggie Jones dies age 75

 Maggie JonesBritish actress Maggie Jones has died at the age of 75. The actress was best known for playing the role of Blanche Hunt in the British soap opera Coronation Street. She died on Wednesday morning in hospital. Jones played Blanche for 35 years but did not become a main character until 1999.

Jones was admitted to hospital in October of this year for "life saving" surgery. It is still currently unknown what she was admitted for. The script writers for the show had to write her out of storylines. Because the show is written six weeks in advance she appeared up until recently.

An ITV spokeswoman released a statement acknowledging the passing of Jones. William Roache, who plays Ken Barlow on the show, said that Jones was a "brilliant actress" and had an "amazing dry wit". He added: "I don't think Maggie ever realised how much she was loved — not only by everyone on the show but by the millions of Blanche fans out there. She will be greatly missed."

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Religious and political leaders criticise Swiss ban on minarets

Minaret in SwitzerlandReligious and political leaders from around the world have criticised the ban on building minarets as part of the Swiss referendum held in November.

Leaders from the Vatican and the Muslim community around the world have deplored the vote as an attack on religious freedom. The Swiss government has also expressed shame at the result, and expects repercussions from Muslim countries with which it does business. Some politicians from other countries, however, defended the ban.

The co-president of the European Greens-European Free Alliance in the European Parliament, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, has already called upon Muslims to withdraw their funds from Swiss banks, echoed by warnings from Turkish State Minister Egemen Bagis, chief negotiator in European Union accession talks, who said in an interview with the Hürriyet that "I am certain this [the vote] will prompt our brothers from Muslim countries who keep their money and investments in Swiss banks to review their decision," he said.

France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that the ban revealed "intolerance" and called for it to be reversed. "If you are not allowed to build minarets, that means that religion is being oppressed," he said.

Reaction from some Muslim leaders was even stronger. "This is the hatred of Swiss people against Muslim communities. They do not want to see a Muslim presence in their country and this intense dislike has made them intolerant," said Maskuri Abdillah, head of Indonesia's largest Muslim group, Nahdlatul Ulama.

Egypt's Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa called the ban an insult to all Muslims. "This proposal […] is not considered just an attack on freedom of beliefs, but also an attempt to insult the feelings of the Muslim community in and outside Switzerland," he said

The Swiss Government—which had opposed the vote—attempted to reassure Muslims that "this is not a rejection of the Muslim community, religion or culture," with the Conference of Swiss Bishops saying that it "heightens the problems of cohabitation between religions and cultures."

Amnesty International, along with other rights organisations, stated that the result of the vote meant that religious freedom, as codified in the European Convention on Human Rights, was no longer ensured, and the Swiss Green Party is considering bringing the matter up at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Reaction from France and Germany was more nuanced, with the French leading political party's spokesman Xavier Bertrand saying that he was "not sure that minarets are needed in order to practise Islam in France", and Germany's Wolfgang Bosbach calling criticism unconstructive; he said that there was fear of Islamisation "and this fear must be taken seriously."

Some right-wing groups in France, Austria, Italy and the Netherlands called the vote a success of the people against the elite and for other countries to undertake similar steps. France's National Front said that the "elites should stop denying the aspirations and fears of the European people, who, without opposing religious freedom, reject ostentatious signs that political-religious Muslim groups want to impose," with Italy's Northern League adding "Switzerland is sending us a clear signal: yes to bell towers, no to minarets."

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Pakistani Member of Parliament killed by suicide bomber

A Pakistani provincial politician was killed earlier today by a teen-aged suicide bomber in the northwestern Swat valley.

Shamsher Ali Khan, a member of the Awami National Party, was receiving guests at his residence in the town of Kanju, when a young man, armed with explosives. walked into the grounds of the house. He blew himself up, killing Khan and injuring over twelve other people. According to police, two of the victim's brothers were among those hurt. The blast was so strong it damaged portions of the building.

The guests were reportedly gathering to celebrate the end of Eid al-Adha, a Muslim holy festival. "People were coming to exchange Eid greetings with him when a man came and blew himself up," said a relative of the MP, Farooq Khan.

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Chelsea Clinton engaged to banker Marc Mezvinsky

Chelsea ClintonChelsea Clinton, the daughter of Bill Clinton, U.S. President from 1993 to 2001, has announced that she is engaged to her long-term boyfriend. The 29-year-old announced her engagement to Marc Mezvinsky to friends via e-mail. Mezvinsky is the son of Ed and Marjorie Mezvinsky who both served in the United States Congress.

Last summer false rumours circulated that the coupled had already secretly married. Ms. Clinton's mother, Hillary Clinton, was forced to deny those rumors. Ms. Clinton is currently attending Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

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Porfirio Lobo wins Honduran presidential elections


Porfirio Lobo, a wealthy rancher, has won the presidential election in Honduras, with about 56% of ballots cast, according to results. Election officials say voter turnout was high, in spite of a call by ousted President Manuel Zelaya to boycott the poll. Lobo declared victory after election results showed a broad lead for the candidate from the opposition National Party.

Speaking at a rally late Sunday, Lobo told supporters he will work to improve security, create new jobs and restore international ties. Lobo noted that he wants to bring about profound changes that will enable Honduras to return to the place it was four years ago, before Zelaya took office.

"The people will never be defeated, they will always go forward. Today they demonstrated to the world another test of their abilities and determination," said Lobo at his acceptance speech.

Election officials said about 62% of voters took part in the vote, which eclipsed turnout figures from the 2005 election. The official numbers contradicted earlier claims from Zelaya, who said his supporters estimated that less than half of registered voters took part.

The ousted leader called on voters to boycott the election, saying the de facto government is illegitimate. Zelaya has been living inside the Brazilian embassy as Honduran officials seek to arrest him on charges of abuse of power and treason.

"We took a sample at the polls and the rate of abstentions was over 60 per cent in most cases," Zelaya commented to the Al Jazeera news agency. "This means the election had low turnout, which means it did not enjoy the support of the majority of the Honduran people."

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Somali pirates seize Greek-owned tanker

Maran Centaurus
Somali pirates have seized the Greek-owned Maran Centaurus, an oil tanker with 28 crew members on board, yesterday, according to reports.

Officials say the tanker, which can transport more than two million barrels of oil, was sailing from Saudi Arabia to the United States when it was hijacked. A tanker full of oil could be worth millions of dollars, and possibly pose a significant security and environmental threat. Authorities, however, couldn't immediately ascertain how much oil the vessel was carrying.

The ship's crew consists of sixteen Filipinos, nine Greeks, two Ukrainians, and one Romanian, the Al Jazeera news agency reports.

Somali pirates have hijacked dozens of ships over the past two years, demanding and receiving millions of dollars in ransom from the hijacked ships' owners.

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4-year-old boy killed by dog in Liverpool, England

A four-year-old boy has been killed by a dog in the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. The child has been identified as John Paul Massey. The animal belonged to his uncle. The boy's 63-year-old grandmother Helen Foulkes tried to protect the boy but ended up getting bitten by the dog in the process. She had to receive hospital treatment for the injury.

The dog itself was shot dead in the front garden of the house where the attack had taken place. The police had said that they did not take further action after receiving a report about dog breeding earlier this year.

Chief Superintendent Steve Ashley from the police force said about the incident: "In February this year a housing officer rang Merseyside Police to say they had received complaints of dog breeding at the address. At that time the police said it wasn't a police matter and no action was taken by Merseyside Police.

That is contrary to our policies and an investigation is now launched into exactly what happened in February."

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LHC sets new particle energy acceleration record

Large Hadron Collider - LCH
The world's Large Hadron Collider accelerated its protons to an energy of 1.18 TeV at 00:44 GMT+1 today. This set a new world record, surpassing the 0.98 TeV record set at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory's Tevatron collider, which was commissioned in Chicago in 2001. The event came ten days after the LHC collider restart.

Yesterday at 20:48 UTC, one proton beam was accelerated to 1050 GeV (1.05 TeV) in LHC. Three hours later, the next record was set by two beams of opposite direction, 1.18 TeV each.

The CERN researchers are delighted with the quick progress and are happy with the excellent performance of the machine. Steve Myers, director of accelerators and technology at the Cern particle physics laboratory near Geneva, commented on LHC optimistically, comparing it with the twenty-year old Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP): "I was here 20 years ago when we switched on Cern's last major particle accelerator, LEP. I thought that was a great machine to operate, but this is something else. What took us days or weeks with LEP, we're doing in hours with the LHC. So far, it all augurs well for a great research programme."

High proton beam energy is needed to get many proton-proton collisions. However, all elements of the system need to be monitored carefully, and sudden energy increases are undesirable to ensure that the machine operates within normal parameters, in order to avoid a repeat of the superconductive magnet quench and consequent six-tonne liquid helium leak catastrophe on September 19, 2008, nine days after the first start. The damage caused by the leak, and the subsequent repairs and upgrades to the LHC that were needed, caused a delay of more than a year in the commissioning of the collider.

"We are still coming to terms with just how smoothly the LHC commissioning is going. It is fantastic. However, we are continuing to take it step-by-step, and there is still a lot to do before we start physics in 2010" said Cern's director general Rolf Heuer.

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US President Obama delivers address on Afghanistan plan

Barack Obama
Tuesday evening, United States President Barack Obama went to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, to deliver a televised address to announce his new approach to the War in Afghanistan.

President Obama announced an increase of 30,000 US troops to be sent to Afghanistan.

"The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 – the fastest pace possible – so that they can target the insurgency and secure key population centers. They will increase our ability to train competent Afghan Security Forces, and to partner with them so that more Afghans can get into the fight. And they will help create the conditions for the United States to transfer responsibility to the Afghans," said the President.

"These additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011.

Obama said that Afghanistan is not another Vietnam War and that the best approach is not to leave. However, he rejected a semi-permanent US presence that exceeds US needs and capabilities.

He said the US must be nimble and concise in combating Al-Qaeda wherever it might appear.

Obama said that America has underwritten global security for more than 60 years and that America seeks a better future that can only be achieved if "other peoples' children can live in freedom."

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Boat accident in Democratic Republic of the Congo kills at least 73

A boat sank in the western Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday, killing at least 73 people, according to reports.

The International Committee of the Red Cross says the cargo boat was carrying passengers, as well as logs, went it sank in Lake Mai-Ndombe in the Bandundu province, apparently due to inclement weather. Local reports say the vessel was not authorized to carry passengers.

The Red Cross announced 272 people survived the accident, but others remain missing and it is feared their bodies are trapped underneath the sunken barge.

"We are at 272 survivors and 73 dead. These are bodies that we have found along the shores of the lake. There are still some people missing. But we don't know how many because there was no ship's manifest," said Dominic Lutula, the president of the Congolese Red Cross, said to the Reuters news agency.

Boat accidents are fairly common in the Democratic Republic of Congo because vessels are often overloaded and not properly maintained. The country has many rivers but few paved roads, forcing many people to rely on boats for transportation.

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Iran to build ten new uranium enrichment plants

Iran's announced earlier today that it plans to build ten new uranium enrichment plants. Iranian media reported that the Cabinet approved the construction of the plants just two days after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) censured Iran for its nuclear activities.

The proposed facilities, reported to be similar to Iran's main nuclear plant at Natanz, would vastly increase the nation's capacity to produce enriched uranium. Iranian media quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying that Iran should get to the point where it can produce 250 to 300 tons of nuclear fuel each year.

"We should reach a position where we can produce from 250-300 tonnes of nuclear fuel a year. To do this we must employ new centrifuges with a higher speed," he commented.

Ahmadinejad said the new Iranian-designed centrifuges used to enrich uranium will have higher speeds than those currently being used. He added that Iran "is not joking around with anyone" when it comes to defending its nuclear rights.

The announcement seems to make good on a warning earlier in the day that pressure on Iran would force it to reduce its cooperation with the IAEA. Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said western pressure may force parliament to review the country's stance toward the UN nuclear agency.

Iranian Members of Parliament said that "we consider the behaviour of the IAEA to be that of double standards and political. We want it to give up this double standard which has tarnished its reputation."

The five-plus-one group of nations working on the Iran nuclear issue - the US, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany - all voted Friday for the IAEA censure of Iran for defying international demands to freeze uranium enrichment and for secretly building a nuclear facility. The move appeared to take many officials in Tehran by surprise.

The tensions coincide with problems over an IAEA proposal to send Iran's uranium abroad for enrichment, part of a plan to ease some concerns that Iran might be pursuing nuclear weapons. Iran denies the charge, saying that the programme is for civilian purposes only. The country has offered counter-proposals to the deal, but the IAEA has not accepted any of them.

An unnamed US official said that "if [the plant construction is] carried out, [it] would constitute yet another violation of Iran's continuing obligation of suspension of all enrichment-related activities. There remains a fleeting opportunity for Iran to engage with the international community, if only it would make that choice."

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Soviet statue returns to Moscow

On Saturday, Worker and Kolkhoznitsa, a giant statue of Soviet times, was returned to a pedestal in Moscow, Russia. It was done after a long five-year restoration process since the monument was dismantled in 2003. Initially it was expected the statue return in 2005, but when the Expo 2010 was awarded to Shanghai instead of Moscow the restoration process was stalled cause of the shortage of funds.

The 24.5-meter high Worker and the Kolkhoz Woman holding a hammer and a sickle, the symbols of the Soviet Union, steel monument by Vera Mukhina and Boris Iofan was first showed at an exhibition in Paris in 1937. It was later returned to Russia after the exhibition and installed to a place just outside the Exhibition of Achievements of the People's Economy. The monument became a recognisable symbol of the Soviet Union after it was chosen as a Mosfilm studio logo in 1947 featuring in the opening credits of many Soviet films produced by the studio.

It's expected that the statue would now last for centuries. Plans for the future of the monument included construction of an exhibition hall in the statue's pedestal. And one of the rejected projects was to introduce a parking lot beneath the statue's square.

Earlier this week, on Monday, an exhibition of Vera Mukhina works was opened in St. Petersburg's Russian Museum, presenting more than 200 of her sculptures, graphic works, and decorative and applied arts, including the several sketches and studies, as well as the Worker and Kolkhoz Woman monument’s model.

The official monument reopening ceremony is scheduled for December 3-5.

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Prime Minister of Vanuatu loses seat over paperwork error

Edward NatapeiEdward Natapei, the Prime Minister of Vanuatu has lost his position and parliamentary seat over a paper work blunder. Natapei was in Trinidad and Tobago at the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and his staff failed to file the paperwork that notified the parliamentary speaker of his absence.

Under Vanuatu law, since he missed three consecutive sittings of parliament without notifying the speaker in writing, he must forfeit his seat. In order to comply with the law, Natapei would have needed to submit a signed explanation for his absence to the speaker. The last time a similar event occurred was in 1980’s when a Member of Parliament lost his job for failure to notify the speaker of his absence. Despite appealing the forfeiture, he was not reinstated.

Natapei is now on his way back from Trinidad and Tobago. The nation is currently being run by a caretaker government. Members of Parliament are set to vote for a new Prime Minister next week.

Natapei was elected Prime Minister on September 22, 2008, as President of the socialist, Anglophone Vanua'aku Pati party. After 14 months in office, he now holds the record for the shortest term as prime minister in Vanuatu's history. He first served as Prime Minister from 2001 - 2004.

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Five dead, ten critically injured after van carrying children rolls on Louisiana highway

Five people are dead and ten more are in a critical condition after a minivan packed with children rolled over on Louisiana's Interstate 10 highway yesterday. The vehicle's driver lost control after a blowout near Baton Rouge.

The vehicle's driver, who was among the dead, and a front-seat passenger were the only ones wearing seatbelts. There were thirteen children travelling in the back although there were not enough seatbelts and the van likely only had enough rear seats for ten, according to the Louisiana State Police.

The front driver's side tire on the GMC Safari blew out as the vehicle moved west. The driver lost control of the swerving van, which sideswiped a delivery truck travelling alongside before bouncing accross to the center median, where it flipped. It rolled around 200 feet (75 yards) accross the median before landing upright in the opposite lanes. Most of the occupants were ejected and four dead children were found lying in the median. No other vehicles were involved and the trucker pulled over uninjured.

I just saw the vehicle flip about three or four times and kids

Several of the victims were members of the same family from Harvey, 75 miles from the wreck. A three-year-old was amongst the dead. The survivors have been taken to two Baton Rouge hospitals and all are in a critical condition. A CNN photograph showed debris strewn around the scene. "I just saw the vehicle flip about three or four times and kids flying everywhere. It looked to be about 10 to 11 kids out of the car," said eyewitness Tammy Hall.

Although drugs and alcohol are not believed to have been involved police have confirmed samples will be taken from the driver to check. The road was closed for two-three hours in both directions. None of the victims have yet been publicly identified.

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Obama declares tougher emission targets before Copenhagen summit

Barack ObamaBarack Obama has set tougher emission targets in a White House speech. He said, the USA intends to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions "in the range of" 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050. Obama will attend the Copenhagen international climate meeting next month, and is going to offer these figures as an official climate change policy.

Obama has also set interim targets for better intermediate control. These are a 30% cut by 2025 and a 42% cut by 2030. But Obama's climate change speeches aren't going very far: Mr Obama is not planning to be present at the summit during the last days, when the world leaders might most possibly finally make a treaty to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

To compare, the European Union speaks about cutting its emissions by 20% cut by 2020 and 80% by 2050. But the starting point of the EU and of most of other nations is 1990, while Obama's numbers are in terms of 2005 emissions. The plans proposed by Obama are with a steeper end compared with EU, thus making a slower start.

Observers say some accumulation effect can be caused by domestic policies, which take long to implement on a proper scale, but then give a faster emissions cut. Such policies can include improvements in vehicle fuel efficiency, industries-specific limitations, etc.

The White House announcement also contains the list of US representatives at the Copenhagen conference:

* President Barack Obama
* Interior Secretary Ken Salazar
* Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack
* Commerce Secretary Gary Locke
* Energy Secretary Steven Chu
* Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson
* Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley
* Office of Science and Technology Policy Director John Holdren
* Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Carol Browner

A schedule of US Center presence was made up for certain dates in December, so that the exact ways to achieve the cuts will be discussed.

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Suspected bomb derails Moscow-St Petersburg train, kills at least 25

MoscowAn express train travelling from Moscow to St Petersburg in Russia derailed yesterday, leaving at least 25 people dead and 100 more wounded. Authorities suspect a terrorist attack after a possible bomb crater was found beside the line.
File map of Russia's location in Europe.
Image: David Liuzzo.

The trainwreck occurred in the countryside of Tver, near Bologoye. Around 650 passengers were on board the Nevsky Express which was travelling during peak time along one of Russia's most-traversed rail routes. Ninety of the injured are hospitalised, with hundreds of rescue workers attending and three victims being airlifted by helicopter.

Survivors say they heard a loud bang just before the crash. "There was an explosion under the locomotive," the driver said as he called the Emergencies Ministry from his mobile phone. "I do not know what we hit. We are derailed. The locomotive and carriages, I do not know yet what else, everything is in smoke."

The prosecutor-general has launched a terrorism investigation. Vladimir Yakunin, head of state-owned Russian Railways, said the chief line of enquiry is "To put it simply, a terrorist attack." "There is objective evidence that ... a blast from an explosive device is one of the explanations for the Nevsky Express incident," he said.

The Interfax agency reported the crater was a metre wide. Russian journalists reporting from the scene were unable to locate it. President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered a full investigation and assistence for the victims. The Health Ministry said that over a dozen people remain missing.

Russian railway infrastructure is poorly maintained and plagued by negligence and alcohol abuse, according to The Guardian. There is also a high concern of terrorism, especially from rebels in Chechnya. Two Chechnyan rebels are accused of a 2007 bombing that derailed a train on the same line, wounding 27 people.

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Zimbabwean cargo plane crashes in Shanghai; three dead

Shanghai International Airport in ChinaA cargo aircraft registered in Zimbabwe crashed today at Shanghai International Airport in China. Three of the crew have been killed.

Another four people were taken to the Pudong Xinqu People's Hospital after the plane went down on takeoff and burst into flame. Firefighters responded with retardent foam and thick smoke could be seen rising from the airport. The plane, which had been flying to Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan, broke apart in the accident.

The crash occured between 7:40 a.m. and 8:12 a.m. The four surviving crew are reported to be conscious. None are Chinese citizens. Police are currently securing the scene.

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Ferry capsizes in Bangladesh, at least five dead and 50 missing

BangladeshA ferry has sunk in Bangladesh earlier today, killing at least five people, according to authorities. About fifty more people were missing after the incident.

Police said that the accident occurred as the vessel, called the MV Coco-4, came near a river station at Bhola Island, located 300 kilometres from the Bangladesh capital of Dhaka. The ferry was reportedly overcrowded, and the boat tipped to one side as all its passengers moved to disembark.

"It was overcrowded with over 1,000 passengers. It tilted and part of it sank due to crowd pressure as it arrived near the Nazirpur river station," said a local police chief, Zakir Hossain, to the Agence France-Presse news agency. He also added that "many passengers have managed to land safely. But we believe some others who were staying in the cabins were trapped under water. We are trying to rescue them," Rescue teams and divers are reportedly searching underwater for bodies.

Ferry accidents are not infrequent in the country; incidents have usually been due to overcrowding, or the use of old vessels. "At festival time it is really difficult to stop passengers and relevant ferry operators from flouting rules," said an officer for the Bangladesh water authority.

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Namibia votes in presidential election

Namibia Voters are heading to the polls today in Namibia to elect a president and parliament The ruling South West Africa People's Organization is expected to win presidential and parliamentary elections, but a new opposition party is mounting a challenge.

Voters turned out in large numbers before dawn to cast their ballots. Local journalist John Grobler said many waited for hours to vote because of logistical problems. "Voting is slow in just about all the polling stations, but especially so at the polling stations where they don't have any laptop computers to verify the potential voters on the actual roll, which means they have to go to the physical paper. And that, of course, takes time," he said.

President Hifikepunye Pohamba is running for a second five-year term. His South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO), which has governed Namibia since independence nearly twenty years ago, is expected to win a two-thirds majority in parliament.

However, SWAPO is being challenged by a new party, the Rally for Democracy and Progress. The RDP was formed two years ago after its leader, Hidipo Hamutenya, lost his bid to become SWAPO leader upon the retirement of Namibia's first president, Sam Nujoma.

Voting will continue for a second day on Saturday and preliminary results are expected sometime next week.

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UN nuclear chief says negotiations with Iran at 'dead end'

International Atomic Energy AgencyThe head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said earlier on Thursday that the organization has reached a "dead end" in a probe into Iran's nuclear program. The IAEA's board is meeting to consider a resolution condemning Iran's nuclear program.

In remarks to the IAEA's board, ElBaradei expressed frustration over Iran's failure to cooperate with the Vienna-based agency. ElBaradei leaves office in a few days, at the end of this November, and his remarks have grown sharply more critical of Iran in recent months.

Today, he said he was disappointed that Iran had not agreed on a deal to further enrich its uranium overseas. The deal has the support of the United States, Russia and France and it aims to provide a safeguard that Iran's uranium is not being used to make a nuclear weapon.

"It is now well over a year since the agency was last able to engage Iran in discussions about these outstanding issues. We have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us," he commented.

"In my view the proposed agreement presents a unique opportunity after many years of animosity and hostility to address a humanitarian need and create a space for negotiation. This opportunity should be seized and it would be highly regrettable if it was missed," he said.

ElBaradei's comments come as the IAEA board is considering a draft resolution on Iran. According to press reports, the draft urges Iran to stop construction of the uranium enrichment site, and to confirm that it has no other hidden nuclear activities. Diplomats are reportedly confident the measure will be passed, but Iran's ambassador to the IAEA told a German newspaper that Tehran would reduce its cooperation with the IAEA to a minimum if that happens.

Some members of the international community belive that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapon; Tehran, however, maintains that its efforts are for peaceful purposes only.

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Golfer Tiger Woods injured in car crash

Tiger WoodsAmerican golfer Tiger Woods has been injured in a car crash near his home in Orlando, Florida. Woods was reported to have been leaving his home around 2:30 a.m. (EST) in his 2009 Cadillac Escalade, when he collided with a fire hydrant and a tree down the street.

Woods was taken to Health Central Hospital, and treated for facial lacerations. Early reports described his injuries as "serious", but he was released from a local hospital a short time later, and his publicist, Mark Steinberg, has since described the accident as "minor". There are also reports that the car's airbags did not deploy, which suggest a low speed collision. Windemere Mayor Gary Bruhn told CNN, "I think it's nothing more than an accident."

Police say alcohol did not play a role in the accident. An investigation is ongoing and reports say that charges could be filed against Woods.

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77 dead after flooding in Saudi Arabia

Saudi ArabiaThe worst flooding in 27 years in Saudi Arabia has left at least 77 people dead, and dozens more could be missing. The floods came after torrential rains on Wednesday.

The rainstorms mainly affected western parts of the country, including the cities of Jeddah, Rabigh and Mecca, and the surrounding area. Inclement weather hampered the start of the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca; however, none of the dead people had been attending the event.

The deaths were mainly caused by collapsed homes and high waters, according to officials. Witnesses say many of the casualties had been trapped in vehicles. Many cars had been swept away and city roads were flooded, blocking traffic.

The Saudi Arabian Civil Defence Authority reported that emergency crews managed to rescue over 900 people.

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Uninvited couple passes Secret Service checkpoint, crashes White House state dinner

White HouseA couple entered a White House state dinner when they were univited, passing through several layers of security, and socialized with high-profile guests Tuesday night.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi from northern Virginia arrived at the party at approximately 7:15 pm Tuesday night. They were formally dressed as they passed by a crowd of reporters and cameramen waiting for VIP guests to arrive, even though the couple was neither invited nor on the guest list. A White House official has stated that the couple was never seated at a table.

Although there was a Secret Service checkpoint that failed to follow proper procedures, the couple still passed through the same security checkpoints as all other guests at the dinner did. A Secret Service spokesman has stated that nobody was under any threat, but it is unclear whether Mr. and Mrs. Salahi were ever near President or Mrs. Obama or the guests of honor, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur.

Mr. and Mrs. Salahi later posted photos of themselves at the dinner on Facebook. The couple is known around Washington for promoting wine and polo in Virginia, and they are hoping to become stars in the reality TV show The Real Housewives of Washington.

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Jordanian king dissolves parliament, calls for general election two years ahead of schedule

King Abdullah II of JordanThe king of Jordan, King Abdullah, dissolved the country's parliament on Tuesday, half-way through its four year term, and called for early general elections to be held, up to two years ahead of schedule.

The monarch did not immediately provide a reason for the move; however, there have recently been reports accusing the parliament of handling legislation ineptly, and even of being corrupt. The king's decree ordered the civil service to host new elections to replace the 110-member parliament, although an exact date for the polls hasn't yet been named.

Critics of the parliament have said that its members didn't properly address issues such as unemployment and poverty. The opposition, however, asserted that the house had been disbanded so that the government could use emergency laws to pass legislation.

King Abdullah has now disbanded the parliament two times since he came to power in 1999

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Israel announces 10 month halt to settlement construction in West Bank

File photo of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.The prime minister of Israel, Binyamin Netanyahu, told a news conference earlier today that there will be a ten-month stop in the construction of new settlement housing in the West Bank. The Israeli cabinet approved the move by a margin of eleven to one.

"We have been told by our friends that once Israel takes the first meaningful steps towards peace, the Arab world and the Palestinians will follow," said Netanyahu following the cabinet's endorsement of the move. "Well, the government of Israel has taken a very big step towards peace today, and I hope the Palestinian and the Arab world will work with us to forge a new beginning for our children and theirs."

The freeze was made "out of broad national interests with the aim of encouraging negotiations with our Palestinian neighbours," he continued. "When the period of freeze ends my government will return to the previous policy of building in Judea and Samaria [the Jewish name for the West Bank]."

"This is a far-reaching and painful step [...] We hope that this decision will help launch meaningful negotiations to reach an historic peace agreement that will finally end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians," Netanyahu later said.

Under the plan, construction permits for new residential buildings would be put on hold for ten months. The government said that "natural growth" — characterised by the construction of homes by young people, who were raised in the settlements and want to build houses for their own families — would be exempt from the freeze. Parts of the West Bank that Israel annexed to the Jerusalem municipality would also be excluded from the freeze. The building of schools and places of worship, which will enable settlers to live what Netanyahu described as "normal lives", will also continue.
WEST BANK
"We will not halt existing construction and we will continue to build synagogues, schools, kindergartens and public buildings essential for normal life in the settlements," he commented.

The prime minister added that there would be no change to Israel's existing policy on the issue of Jerusalem. "Regarding Jerusalem, our sovereign capital, our position is well-known. We do not put any restrictions on building in our sovereign capital," he said.

Several members of the Israeli cabinet expressed their disapproval at the proposal, with the conservative, ultra-Orthodox Shah party boycotting the cabinet meetings.

"I think it's a complete crumbling of Netanyahu's position and is contrary to all of his electoral promises. He promised an end to unilateral steps, and here we see him after only a few months in office giving up, even though there is no reciprocity from the Palestinians," said the head of the main settler lobby, Danny Dayan, to the Christian Science Monitor. We are 300,000 citizens, living in 150 communities. It is impossible to freeze us. I don't how it will happen, but we will break this freeze."

Many Palestinians also criticised the proposal, mainly because East Jerusalem was not included in the settlement freeze. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a Palestinian spokesman, said to the Wafa news agency that Palestine “rejects returning to peace talks without the complete cessation of settlement activities in the West Bank and Jerusalem.”

Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad also rejected the plan. "The exclusion of east Jerusalem is a very, very serious problem for us. We are not looking for the resumption of the process just for the sake of it, for it to falter a week or two down the road,"

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordanian control, following Israel's victory in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. The Jewish state annexed that part of the city in a move that was not recognized by the international community.

Earlier this week, on a visit to Argentina, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stepped up his campaign to put international pressure on Israel to stop building on lands that Palestinians say are their own. Abbas urged US president Barack Obama, as well as leaders of other nations that support Israel, to press the Jewish state to end its construction of settlements on occupied lands.

Netanyahu has in the past offered to restrain settlement growth, but today's announcement was the first time that he set a clear timeframe.

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Death of Kentucky census worker considered suicide

Kentucky State Police said yesterday that the September 12 death of census worker Bill Sparkman was suicide. His body was found naked in a Clay County, Kentucky cemetery, with "Fed" written on his chest and his census identification taped to his neck. This prompted widespread speculation that anti-government sentiment was responsible. However, police now believe that Sparkman deliberately killed himself, and tried to make it look like murder so his son could receive an insurance payout. Trooper Don Trosper, a Kentucky State Police spokesman, said, "[w]e believe this was an intentional act. We believe the aim was to take his own life."

This conclusion is based on the police's analysis of several elements of the crime scene; Sparkman was not hanged in the typical manner; his knees were less than six inches off the ground, and he could have avoided death simply by standing up before he suffocated. Captain Lisa Rudzinski, a leader of the investigation stated, "We do not believe he was placed in that position." The letters of the word "Fed" were written bottom first, which is unlikely if they had been written by an attacker. The rag found in his mouth contained only Sparkman's DNA. Police also believed he left glasses taped to his head so he could see while preparing.

Police suspect Sparkman's motives included debt, failure to find a full-time job, and a desire to provide for his son through his life insurance.

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School closed after five-year-old boy dies from suspected swine flu in Buckinghamshire, England

H1N1Wednesday, November 25, 2009
A five-year-old boy has been suspected to have died from the H1N1 swine flu virus in Buckinghamshire, England. The boy came from Emberton School, which now has just 29 pupils attending.

Health tests are currently being carried out to determine whether or not the child did indeed die from the virus. He was admitted to a hospital in Milton Keynes, but later died in the early hours of Sunday morning. At present, the individual remains unidentified.

Steve Dunning is the principal in the school. Speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio, Dunning said: "The staff of Emberton School are very saddened to learn of the death of one of their pupils who was a confident, delightful and happy student and will be missed greatly. At this time we are focusing on supporting the children and parents in our small village community. I have spoken directly with the mother and passed on the condolences of all the staff and governors at the school."

The school has now been closed and is expected to re-open on Tuesday. Dr. Diane Gray, who is the Deputy Director of Public Health in the town of Milton Keynes, said: "My sympathies go out to his parents, family and friends. We don't yet know the cause of this boy's death. At this stage, there is no need to change normal behaviour - you should continue to go to school, work and any social activities."

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Sakurai Prize awarded for Higgs boson theories

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

The American Physical Society has awarded its 2010 J. J. Sakurai Prize for Theoretical Particle Physics to six scientists for their contributions to theories on the origin of mass, including the key concepts of the Higgs boson and Higgs mechanism. The recipients are:

* C. R. Hagen, University of Rochester
* Gerald Guralnik, Brown University
* Tom Kibble, Imperial College London
* Robert Brout, Université Libre de Bruxelles
* François Englert, Université Libre de Bruxelles
* Peter Higgs, University of Edinburgh, Emeritus

The full citation stated the prize was awarded “For elucidation of the properties of spontaneous symmetry breaking in four-dimensional relativistic gauge theory and of the mechanism for the consistent generation of vector boson masses.” The J. J. Sakurai Prize will be presented at the APS 2010 meeting in Washington, DC at a special Ceremonial session in February 2010.

The Higgs mechanism is a key element of the electroweak theory that forms part of the Standard Model of particle physics, and of many models that go beyond it. The papers that introduce this mechanism were published in the journal Physical Review Letters in 1964 and were each recognized as milestone papers by PRL’s 50th anniversary celebration.

The Large Hadron Collider at CERN and the Tevatron in the United States are searching for a particle, the Higgs boson, that will constitute evidence for this theory. Because of its importance this particle is often referred to as the "God Particle". The LHC, a vast scientific experiment to smash together sub-atomic particles, recently moved a step closer to its goal. On Friday physicists announced they had sent protons all the way round the 27 km ring beneath the France–Switzerland border, and on Monday announced the first successful collisions. This follows a major setback which shut down the collider for 14 months.

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British Climatic Research Unit's emails hacked

Thursday, November 19, 2009 Unknown individuals gained access to a server of University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU). As a result, around thirteen years of email correspondence between researchers is now available worldwide. Substantial previously unpublished climate change observations are included.

According to initial reports by TGIF Newspaper and the Watt's Up With That blog, hundreds of emails and documents were made available from a FTP site on a Russian server with an accompanying statement:

"We feel that climate science is, in the current situation, too important to be kept under wraps. We hereby release a random selection of correspondence, code, and documents"

Some journalists suppose that this event is a consequence of increased attention on CRU after it played a substantial role in the IPCC fourth accessment report (2007).

The released data is a 62 megabyte zip file, containing around 160 megabytes of emails, pdfs and other documents. Some of the contents have been confirmed as genuine by the head of the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit, Dr Phillip Jones. In an interview with TGIF Newspaper, he stated that a breach of security had taken place and that a large quantity of files had been stolen. The interviewer discussed one of Dr. Jones' published e-mails:

Once Tim’s got a diagram here we’ll send that either later today or first thing tomorrow. I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd [sic] from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline. Mike’s series got the annual land and marine values...

– From: Phil Jones, 16 Nov 1999, To: ray bradley ,mann@[snipped], mhughes@[snipped]

The interviewer asked Dr. Jones to explain the phrase "hide and decline", but he answered that he had no idea what he meant by using them (as they were made in the context of a discussion taking place 10 years ago), and he had not attempt to mislead:

No, that’s completely wrong. In the sense that they’re talking about two different things here. They’re talking about the instrumental data which is unaltered – but they’re talking about proxy data going further back in time, a thousand years, and it’s just about how you add on the last few years, because when you get proxy data you sample things like tree rings and ice cores, and they don’t always have the last few years. So one way is to add on the instrumental data for the last few years.

– Dr. Jones, TGIF newspaper ("Investigate magazine") interview

In a press release by the University of East Anglia, Dr. Jones stated that:

"My colleagues and I accept that some of the published emails do not read well. I regret any upset or confusion caused as a result. Some were clearly written in the heat of the moment, others use colloquialisms frequently used between close colleagues."

One such colloquialism, "trick," is frequently used by scientists and engineers to refer to the essential non-obvious element in the solution of a problem, as opposed to the common political usage connoting deception.

Commentators argue that the published messages show the researchers' reluctance to publish scientific material, though it contains serious global warming observations. Some of the correspondence portrays the scientists as feeling under siege by skeptics’ and worried that any stray comment or data glitch could be turned against them.

The East Anglia University has shut down the original server, from which the information was stolen. A university spokesman stated that data was published without permission, but did not confirm whether all of the published communication is genuine:

We are aware that information from a server used for research information in one area of the university has been made available on public websites. Because of the volume of this information we cannot currently confirm that all of this material is genuine. This information has been obtained and published without our permission and we took immediate action to remove the server in question from operation. We are undertaking a thorough internal investigation and we have involved the police in this enquiry.

– University of East Anglia spokesman

The release of the documents comes just weeks before a major climate-change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, meant to lay the groundwork for a new global treaty to curb greenhouse-gas emissions and fight climate change.

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Ritual sacrifice in Nepal sees 320,000 animals slaughtered to Hindu goddess

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

In a tribute to Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power, a Nepalese festival began today with the mass sacrifice of 20,000 buffalo in the village of Bariyapur. Shortly after, 300,000 birds sheep and goats were similarly ritually slaughtered.

It is estimated as many as 750,000 people travelled from India, which recently banned similar mass-sacrifices, to make up the majority of the festival's million attendees. Member of Parliament Shiv Chandra Kushwaha skipped Tuesday's legislative meeting, saying that the festival had more importance as a religious celebration.

Although animal rights groups have condemned the ceremony as cruel, the Nepalese government has ignored requests to cancel the festival, held once every five years. Last year, the government banned a similar slaughter during the festival of Yanya Punhi, and was greeted with angry protests.

The meat is taken to local villages, who host large feasts for those in attendance, as it is believed to ward off evil.

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Reverend Billy Joe Daugherty dies at the age of 57

Billy Joe DaughertyTuesday, November 24, 2009

Founder of the Victory Christian Centre, Billy Joe Daugherty died aged 57 on Sunday 4:40 am. This followed a short battle with lymphoma. The death was announced by church officials during morning services that day.

Adam Sanders, Daugherty’s son-in-law spoke about his final hours during the morning services saying, "We don’t sorrow as the world sorrows, as one without hope [...] We celebrate his life, but at the same time there is sorrow, there is grieving". His other son-in-law, Caleb Wehrli, spoke emotionally about how the family worshipped up until the end.

The Victory Christian Centre is one of the largest churches in Oklahoma with around seventeen thousand members.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma Daugherty also founded the Christian Centre in Tulsa and the Victory Bible Institute. His work included involvement with a missionary training centre which has sent over one thousand missionaries to several countries around the world. Author, with his wife, of several books he also appeared in his own TV show, Victory in Jesus.

Daugherty made national news in 2005 when punched at an altar call. The attack required two stitches, but Daugherty chose not to press charges despite visiting his assailant in jail where the inmate showed no remorse; Daugherty penned a book about this incident in his life.

The memorial service is planned for the 30th of this month

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Benet Academy, Illinois students support classmate with leukemia

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Students at Benet Academy in Lisle, Illinois, United States, have raised money and offered support for Jenna McKeown, a classmate who was recently diagnosed with leukemia.

Miss McKeown, a 17-year-old senior from Naperville, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia on October 28 after she went to the doctor's office with a sore throat and extreme fatigue. She has just finished her first ten-day round of induction chemotherapy at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital.

News of the diagnosis spread quickly among the student body with the help of social networking sites such as Facebook. Students formed an online support group and set up a Mass to be held the next morning at 7:15 am in the school's chapel. Students, teachers, and parents attended the service.

Within twelve hours of diagnosis, friends made plans to supply enough meals to the McKeown family for the next three months. One thousand orange lapel ribbons were made the following weekend and passed out to students to wear the Monday following Miss McKeown's diagnosis. One senior pupil filmed a video of messages from teachers and students, and several students shaved their heads to show support for their classmate. Kyle Marinko, President of Student Government, announced that orange Livestrong-type gel bracelets are to be sold during the school's annual Christmas Drive fundraiser. "These activities are to show support and solidarity for Jenna through our thoughts and prayers," said Michael Macaluso, an English teacher and moderator of Student Government.

Miss McKeown's illness is an aggressive, yet curable, form of leukemia; she needs to have two more rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant in January. Despite this, she remains positive, adopting the slogan "Be positive!" when it coincidentally matched her blood type, B+. In an effort to replenish the supplies needed for this treatment and support other patients in need of transplants, friends and family will staff a blood drive and register people for the National Marrow Donor Program tomorrow at Benet Academy.

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Four US, eight Afghan troops killed in Afghanistan after attacks

International Security Assistance ForceTuesday, November 24, 2009International security forces in Afghanistan stated today that recent attacks in the country's south and east have killed four US and eight Afghan soldiers.

A NATO statement said that a bomb killed one US soldier in eastern Afghanistan today; yesterday, three US troops died in gun and bomb attacks in the southern part of the country.

"Four ISAF [International Security Force] service members died in the last 24 hours in Afghanistan," read the statement.

Afghan officials say a roadside bomb in Helmand province killed three Afghan soldiers and wounded another two others on Sunday. Earlier in the day, a border security commander said a roadside bomb in Kandahar province killed five Afghan soldiers.

The number of foreign troops killed in Afghanistan in 2009 has now risen to 481 with these deaths; this according to a tally by the Agence France-Presse news agency.

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UK policeman convicted of murdering WPC fiancée who died after staged car crash

A policeman from the United Kingdom plead guilty to the murder of his fiancée, a female police constable. PC Martin Forshaw, 27, used a steel hammer to bludgeon WPC Claire Howarth, 31, before placing her in her car and staging an accident.

Forshaw's intent had been to convince police that Howarth had died behind the wheel, but officers became suspicious when they found her injuries were severe while the car was virtually undamaged. The trial had been due to start today before Manchester Crown Court but Forshaw confessed to the crime beforehand.

The couple met in 2006 and the next year became engaged in Mexico. They were due to fly to St Lucia on the day of the killing but Forshaw had other plans; he, his lover and their child were booked on a trip to Disneyland in Paris. An argument broke out and Forshaw used a large steel hammer to hit her in the same room as their wedding gifts, her dress and packed suitcases.

He then drove to an isolated patch of moorland, placed her in the driver's seat and executed a crash into a hedge at 50-60 mph. He then dialed 999 and said he had been in a high speed accident. Howarth was found unconscious; she died later that day in a hospital in Bolton.

"It was such a poor attempt to make it look like a crash that both the police and the ambulance service were immediately suspicious, and the severity of Claire's head injuries meant they could not have been caused by such a minor crash," said lead investigator Andy Tattersall of Greater Manchester Police. "That caused us to question Forshaw's account and led us to unravelling this tragic sequence of events."

Forshaw was sentenced to life imprisonment, of which he will serve a minimum of eighteen years.