Latest

Every September, the Apple iPod is redesigned. Last year saw the release of the iPod Nano 5th generation, bringing a video camera and a large range of colours to the Nano for the first time. But as Apple again prepares to unveil a redesigned product, the company has released their quarterly sales figures—and revealed that they have sold only 9m iPods for the quarter to June—the lowest number of sales since 2006, leading industry anylists to ponder whether the world's most successful music device is in decline. Such a drop in sales is not a pro

Argentine footballer Francisco Varallo has died at the age of 100. Varallo was the last surviving participant of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930. His death was confirmed by his former Argentine club Gimnasia y Esgrima. The cause of death was not announced. Varallo played for the Argentine national team and appeared at the 1930 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay. He played in the final match in which Argentina lost 4-2 against the host nation. During celebrations for his 100th birthday Varallo spoke about the tournament. He said "In my whole life I've

Philip Tisson, a member of the Saint Lucia national football team, has been killed by a gunshot wound to the head in New York. Tisson was in New York participating in the Digicel Caribbean Cup tournament. Several members of the team were at Tropiks Bar and Grill in Brooklyn celebrating an earlier victory over Saint Kitts and Nevis. At 4.30am, Tisson entered a parked car outside of Tropiks. While seated in the rear of the car, Tisson was shot in the head. Three women were in the car at the time of the shooting, with one requiring medical attent

Laurent Fignon, the two time former winner of the Tour de France, has died at the age of 50. His death was confirmed by his wife, Valerie. The cause of death was announced as cancer. Fignon had been battling the disease since 2009. Fignon won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984 but is also remembered for the 1989 race. Fignon lost out to Greg LeMond in the final time-trail stage by just eight seconds. In his career Fignon won 76 races including the La Flèche Wallonne in 1986, Milan-San Remo in both 1988 and 1989 and the Giro d'Italia in 198

Alain Corneau, a French film director, has died at the age of 67. His death was announced by the Artmedia talent agency. The cause of death was announced as cancer. Born on August 7, 1943, Corneau's first interest was music. He later went to Paris to study filmmaking. Before the success of his first film, Corneau attempted to make a documentary about New York and an adaptation of a novel. After working as assistant director on L'Aveu with Costa Gavras he directed his first film in 1973, France, Inc. Corneau's other films include La Menace,

This article's primary contributor, Patrick Gillett, is an alumnus of Sunshine Coast Grammar School. A deal between Sunshine Coast Grammar School headmaster Nigel Fairbairn and the Independent Education Union of Australia has ended a week of uncertainty for 22 of the Queensland, Australia school's staff. Last week Wikinews obtained a list of 22 middle management teaching staff allegedly made redundant, or laid off due to restructuring. The restructuring is, apparently, designed to get teachers back into the classroom. During the week, staf

Ian Baldwin, of the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, and colleagues have discovered a multi-step protective mechanism of tobacco plants against Manduca sexta caterpillars. In response to a chemical in the caterpillars' larvae, the plants release an odorous substance into air to attract another species of insects, called "big-eyed bugs" (Geocoris). These carnivores come to the scene and attack the caterpillars. The response is triggered within 24 hours, which is a relatively short period of time. The discovery occurr

A new Nielsen poll has suggested that Australian support for a republic has dropped, with one third of people surveyed claiming that they never want the country to cut its ties to the Monarchy of Australia, headed by the Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of Australia. Out of 1,400 people polled prior to the 2010 federal election, those who oppose Australia becoming a republic grew by 8 per cent since 2008. Caretaker Prime Minister Julia Gillard claimed during the campaign of the 2010 federal election that she believed Australia should become a r

Week one of the Gippsland Football League (Gippsland League, GL) finals was played over the weekend at the Traralgon and Wonthaggi Recreation Reserves. The Gippsland League is the only major Australian rules football competition in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Traralgon defeated traditional rivals Morwell in the Qualifying Final to progress to the Second Semi Final against Maffra. Morwell now progress the the elimination First Semi Final to play either Leongather or Drouin, who are playing each other in the Elimination Final fo

The opening ceremony of basketball's 2010 FIBA World Championship took place in Sinan Erdem Dome, Istanbul on Friday. The celebrations started with a special show by the world-renowned group Cirque du Soleil. It was followed by the Istanbul State Symphony Orchestra, a Janissary band, and the singers Fatih Erkoç and Müslüm Gürses. Then Whirling Dervishes took to the stage. Turkish diva Sezen Aksu performed with the Italian tenor Alessandro Safina and Greek singer Haris Alexiou. To finish, Turkish dance group Fire of Anatolia performed the show

Six United States soldiers have been killed in separate incidents in eastern and southern Afghanistan. Their deaths were announced by NATO's International Security Assistance Force. They said the troops died on Saturday and Sunday. Three of the soldiers died while fighting insurgents in the eastern part of the country on Saturday. On the same day two more troops were killed by an improvised bomb. Another troop was also killed while fighting in the south. NATO's statement did not disclose the nationalities of the soldiers. A military spokesman

Peter Lenz, a 13-year-old motorcycle racer, has died after being involved in a crash at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. While on his warm-up lap, Lenz fell off his bike, and was then struck by fellow racer Xavier Zayat. He was immediately attended to by the on-track medical staff and transported to a local hospital where he later died. Zayat was unhurt in the accident. Lenz was due to participate at the US Grand Prix Racers Union event ahead of the world championship races. Racing from the age of 7, Lenz won nine national championships.