Chilean Government confirmed 452 deaths caused by the earthquake and tsunami that struck the central and south zones of Chile on February 27 and the Pichilemu earthquake on March 11. The official death toll was released yesterday by the Interior Undersecretary Rodrigo Ubilla.
Ubilla explained that "after a rigorous work in which participated Carabineros, the Investigation Police, the Medical Legal Service, and the Civil Registry, and was later checked by the Interior Undersecretary, we made a unique list of dead people and of denunciations of
A 16-year-old boy has been arrested after he hijacked the Washington Township, New Jersey Wal-Mart's public announcement system to make racial comments. The boy was arrested Friday night and then released into his parents' custody. He was charged with harassment as a bias crime.
The boy, whose name was not released, faces up to a year in a youth detention center if convicted. Police say that they are not sure if the incident was planned or improvised, although they say it does not affect the case against the boy.
Witnesses say that on March 1
Mario Pardo, a geophysicist at the University of Chile, has ruled out that a "seismic swarm" exists in the coastal town of Pichilemu, about 259 kilometers from Santiago. As of last Thursday, almost 70 seisms have been registered in that zone.
Pichilemu was the epicentre of a 6.9 moment magnitude earthquake last Thursday that resulted in two aftershocks of magnitude greater than six.
"These are aftershocks associated to that earthquake. They are not more than a technicality: a seismic swarm doesn't correspond to an aftershock sequence that wi
Italian police have arrested nineteen people forming a network of abettors to the mafia's most wanted criminal, Matteo Messina Denaro. This network worked as a primitive but effective communication system used by the fugitive boss to keep himself atop the chain of command.
In a large and coordinated operation across Italy the police have arrested nineteen people who delivered the pizzini, small paper messages carrying commands from the fugitive boss.
Among the captured criminals are the 83-year-old Antonino Marotta, a mafia veteran who served
On February 27, Chile was hit by an magnitude 8.8 earthquake; almost 500 were killed, with resulting tsunami destroying most coastal towns between Llolleo and Araucanía Region. A second earthquake last week, with its epicentre in Pichilemu, caused destruction in the Coquimbo and Bío Bío regions.
A Wikinews contributor is in the area, and we look at the extent of this natural disaster's damage through his photographs.
United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has announced that the US Government has ended funding for a controversial "virtual fence" along the US-Mexico border.
The program, called SBInet, will have $50 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that was allocated to it withdrawn in favor of investment in other, immediately available technology for the purposes of security along the border. The program will also have all further funding immediately frozen; as a result, all work will halt on the projec
La Cruz Hill, Pichilemu, Chile — After last Thursday's 6.9 earthquake with epicentre in the coastal town of Pichilemu, Chile, people went to La Cruz Hill, the safest place in the town, with an elevation of almost 100 meters (328 ft). The tsunami warning was extended until 17:00 hrs. local time (20:00 UTC) that day. After it passed, many people came back to their homes, but some decided to stay at La Cruz Hill. "We are here because we fear of our safety. We don't want it [a possible tsunami] to catch us. We have to settle down here and to a
According to Pakistani officials, at least ten suspected terrorists were killed in North Waziristan by suspected US drone strikes earlier Wednesday. This is the second US drone attack in the span of two days.
Conflicting media reports say that the first strike consisted of either four or five missiles launched from an unmanned aerial vehicle. They hit a vehicle and a suspected rebel compound in the town of Hamzoni, killing three people.
In the second attack in the Maizar Madakhel area, another five people were reported dead. Pakistani offici
As reported the United Nations, January 12 Haiti earthquake left exactly 222,570 deaths, 1,300,000 refugees in harbours, 766,000 displaced people, 310,000 injured and 869 disappeared. The report also mentioned economic loss suffered by the country, that reached 7.754 billion dollars, leaving 71 percent of the Haitians in extreme poverty.
The document was diffused in Santo Domingo de Guzmán, between the preparatives of a conference about the reconstruction of Haiti, that will take place next March 11 in New York.
Haitian Government representat
Nigeria's acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, has announced the dissolution of the country's cabinet.
In a statement after a cabinet meeting, Nigeria's information minister, Dora Akunyili, said that "the acting president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, dissolved the Federal Executive Council [cabinet]." In the same statement, Akunyili said that Jonathan had provided no reason for the move, although analysts said that it was due to the impediment of the cabinet to Jonathan's efforts to put his own mark on the office.
At least two people in Uganda were killed on Wednesday, after clashes between police and protestors at a royal mausoleum.
The incident occurred at Kasubi, near the Ugandan capital of Kampala, when protestors attempted to stop the country's president, Yoweri Museveni from visiting the tomb site, which was on fire. They set up a barricade and booed him, blocking his motorcade. The fire had destroyed a large portion of the tombs, which are as much as 128 years old. They are revered by the Buganda tribe, the largest in Uganda.
There are accusatio
At least thirteen people were killed by armed herdsmen in Nigeria yesterday, in a village near the city of Jos, reports say.
According to witnesses, the herdsmen, who were disguised as soldiers, attacked the village of Byei, south of Jos, at dawn. Media reports say that most of the dead were women and children.
"I can confirm that thirteen people have died while six others have been critically injured," commented state information commissioner Gregory Yenlong.
A correspondent for the Al Jazeera news agency said that the military was preparin
