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The corpse of former Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos has been stolen by grave robbers. Officials report that his body was taken overnight from the Deftera Cemetery in Nicosia. The theft was reported one day before the anniversary of his death. Police reported that fresh mounds of dirt were piled up beside the grave. The motive is still unclear. The leader of the Diko party, Papadopoulos’s former alliance, released a statement. Marios Garoyan called the act a "heinous and terrible crime". A heavy smoker, Papadopoulos died on the 12th

The United Nations refugee agency reports thousands of civilians continue to flee their homes in northern Yemen as fighting between government troops and Al Houti rebel forces enters a fifth month. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says the situation in the Saada province remains particularly tense as more people arrive there. The U.N. refugee agency reports clashes have broken out in a number of districts in the Saada province as more people arrive. It says the situation in the Razeh district is particularly serious.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority is proposing to make service cuts to close its expected US$343 million (€234m, GBP £211m) budget deficit. The plan includes the elimination of multiple bus lines in The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, the elimination of the W (Astoria, Queens to Lower Manhattan) and the Z (Jamaica, Queens to Lower Manhattan via Brooklyn) train services. Also included in the plan are cuts of nighttime bus and train service. "We're not going to rely on anyone else to do anything for us. We're going to rel

Middle East communication satellite provider Arabsat stated Thursday that they have put the Arabic news channel Al-Alam back on the air. The Iranian-based channel was previously taken off the air in November by two Arab satellite providers, Arabsat and Nilesat, without an explanation. The move was criticised by many in the Middle East including locals and prominent figures. When the channel was taken off the air it forced the owners of Al-Alam to move the channel to Atlantic Bird 4 so it could reach Middle East viewers. It is still not known w

American and European scientists say the upgraded Hubble space telescope has spotted the oldest galaxies ever seen. The images were taken with the telescope's new Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) in August this year. The galaxies are about 13 billion light years from Earth, meaning they formed less than one billion years after the Big Bang — the cosmological model of the initial conditions and subsequent development of the universe. WFC3 was installed in May this year, during a mission by the space shuttle Atlantis to repair and upgrade Hubble. Exp

On the third day of the two-week Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, the leaders of developing countries said that EU and US emissions cuts plans are not enough. After a Danish unofficial draft version of the future treaty leaked, they reacted with a demand of shift of emission cuts to developed world industries. The host Danish government's draft version of a treaty was published by UK newspaper The Guardian without the government's consent. The draft says that "developing countries, except the least developed which may contribute at th

The University of Oxford has announced that it plans to introduce online voting for the 2010 election for the position of Professor of Poetry. Under the current rules, voters have to visit Oxford on the day of the election to cast their vote. The proposals, which require the approval of the university's governing authorities, would allow votes to be cast online or in person over a number of days. The hope is that overall turnout will improve: about 300,000 people were eligible to vote in the last election for the position as they were graduat

As the World Turns, the longest-running soap opera on American television, was canceled Tuesday by CBS, the network which has aired the show since its first episode in 1956. This news comes just three months after the ending of Guiding Light, formerly the longest-running soap in radio and television history, which had entertained generations of Americans for seven decades. In the announcement, Barbara Bloom, senior vice president of daytime programing at CBS, wrote, "It's extremely difficult to say good-bye to a long-running series that's been

Iraq has changed the date of its general elections for the second time in a day, with officials saying the vote will now take place on Sunday, March 7. The presidential chief-of-staff, Nasser al-Ani, announced the date to reporters on Tuesday, hours after Iraqi officials had said the vote would happen on Saturday, March 6. Officials have not explained the reason for the one-day delay. However, local media reports say Kurdish groups objected to the March 6 date because it coincides with the anniversary of the 1975 Algiers Agreement between Ira

Several thousand people marched earlier today in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, to protest corruption in the country. Most of them were students protesting the latest corruption scandal in the country. It involves allegations that a US$600 million government bailout was given to Century Bank on condition that some of the money be used to fund the president's re-election campaign. "Today's aim is not to attack politically any party. We just want to send a message to our fellow countrymen [...] that justice cannot be served while corruption

The West Gippsland Latrobe Football League members have voted to rename it the Gippsland Football League (GFL) from the 2010 season. The GFL is the only major Australian rules football league in the Gippsland region of Australia. The league currently represents the Western, Central and Southern regions of Gippsland with Bairnsdale possibly joining from the East Gippsland Football League. Currently, Sale and Maffra are located furthest east of the GFL's clubs, Warragul furthest west and Wonthaggi furthest south. At the same meeting, Wonthaggi

Massive waves pounded the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii Tuesday, allowing for a rare surfing competition to take place. The contest is known as the Eddie Aikau competition, named after a noted Hawaiian surfer who was lost at sea during the 1970s. It has only taken place eight times in the past 25 years. Tens of thousands of spectators from across the state gathered to watch 28 expert surfers tackle the 40-foot waves. Competitor Jamie O'Brien said, "We were all stoked out there, smiling, laughing and having a good time." He added, "This is like