Latest

According to the New York Police Department (NYPD), New York City's Staten Island Ferry has crashed into a passenger terminal, causing over 60 injuries. The New York Fire Department (NYFD) reports to the press that they are on the scene and are giving emergency treatment. No life-threatening injuries have been reported, although a few of the passengers were transported by the NYFD to local city hospitals. The accident is still under investigation by the NYPD. In all, 252 passengers were aboard the ship, along with eighteen various crew members

Spanish authorities have closed nineteen airports in the country due to an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland. Nine airports were closed early this morning, and six more were closed at 12:00 local time (1000 UTC). At 15:30 local time, the remaining four airports were closed, including Spain's second largest airport at Barcelona. According to Eurocontrol, an agency that is responsible for aviation safety in Europe, said additional airports in Portugal and France were expected to be closed as well. The closures are forecast

At least 65 people have been killed and 9,900 houses destroyed in southern China after torrential rainstorms hit the area over the past week. Fourteen people are missing, and 2.55 million people have been affected by the rains; flash floods breached dikes, exacerbating the situation. Among the cities struck were Congqing, Guizhou, Guangdong, and Jiangxi. The inclement weather is expected to continue in Hunan and Jiangxi, according to meteorologists. According to the state news agency, Xinhua, as much as 157 millimetres of rain fell throughout

US stock markets saw an unusually turbulent day yesterday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) losing almost a thousand points in thirty minutes, although later recovered somewhat to end the day with a smaller loss. The DJIA had its worst fall since 1987, a drop of 9% or 998.50 points, before going back up a bit to close with a loss of 3.30% or 347.80 points to a level of 10,520. The Nasdaq fell 82.65 points or 3.44%, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index dropped 3.24% or 37.75 points. According to some reports, the quick loss happened

Scores of polling stations in the United Kingdom have been unable to cope with one of the highest voter turn outs in thirty years, leaving thousands of voters unable to cast their vote in yesterday's general election. Police had to intervene in Heeley, Hackney, and Islington when angry voters refused to leave after the 10.00pm deadline. Elsewhere voters were turned away before ten when polling stations ran out of ballot papers. A late surge in voter registrations also saw hundreds of voters eligible to vote but unable to because electoral ro

A day after general elections were held in the UK, results indicate there will be a hung parliament — where no party obtains the simple majority needed to pass legislation on its own — raising the prospect of a minority or coalition government being formed, which would require cooperation between parties. With only one constituency not yet counted, David Cameron's Conservatives have taken 306 seats, incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Labour party 258 seats, and Nick Clegg with his Liberal Democrats with 57. Cameron has said he will negoti

Latest figures from the US government say that the country's economy gained 290,000 jobs in April, the largest single-month gain since March 2006. According to the Labor Department, excluding temporary workers for this year's census, the number of non-farm jobs increased by a seasonally adjusted 224,000. The unemployment rate, meanwhile, increased from 9.7% to 9.9%; the apparent contradiction is because 195,000 people who previously gave up searching for jobs started looking for work again, entering the labor force and augmenting the jobless

Three people have died after a fire in an Athens bank as protesters fill the streets to demonstrate against austerity measures aimed to save Greece from its massive debts. Many of the nations services were shut down yesterday in a sweeping 24-hour strike, which follows on from earlier strikes and protests Monday. Protesters reportedly smashed the windows of a Marfin Bank building, and proceeded to hurl bombs containing petrol into the building. Three people, two men and a pregnant women, died of asphyxiation in the resulting fire, and around t

This table shows the results for 649 of 650 constituencies in the 2010 general election in the United Kingdom (not including the delayed constituency of Thirsk and Malton, which will hold its election on 27 May). The "Constituency" column shows the name of each constituency, linked to the relevant Wikipedia article. the "Result" column shows the winning party, and whether they held or gained the seat (and, if relevant, who they gained it from). The "Votes" column shows how many votes were received by the winning party, the "Share" column their

Presidential aides and state television announced yesterday that the Nigerian president, Umaru Yar'Adua, died. Yar'Adua ascended to the presidency in 2007, but was later taken ill, and had not been publicly seen for the last few months. He was hospitalised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to get inflammated tissue around his heart treated; it was later diagnosed as acute pericarditis. According to the BBC, Nigerian reports indicated the president died between 21.00 and 22.00 local time (20.00 to 21.00 UTC) in Abuja, the capital. Goodluck Jonathan, t

Peruvian bolero singer Lucho Barrios has died at 75 in a Lima, Peru hospital, of renal failure and respiratory problems. Barrios was well-known through all the South American countries. Barrios was taken to the Dos de Mayo Hospital on Monday due to a pulmonary thromboembolism. He remained in the intensive care unit in a serious condition, until his death on Wednesday at 7:32 AM local time. "His death is a pain to Peru and the lovers of the bolero," said Peruvian President Alan García. José Fuentes, President of the Dos de Mayo Hospital, repor

The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), consisting of leaders of 26 African countries, are beginning a drive to eradicate malaria from the continent by distributing medication, insecticides, and bed nets. US$100 million worth of funds will be given out to battle the disease in endemic nations; the budget was announced yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Ray Chambers, a special envoy for malaria with the United Nations, commented on the push, saying: "We believe that if we cover everybody in Africa with bed n