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An Iraqi parliament session aimed at resolving deadlock on electoral law required for general elections in January ended without agreement yesterday. Lawmakers were expected to vote on the much-delayed law, but parliamentary officials said the proceeding is delayed until later today in hope of finding a solution acceptable to all political factions. "The vote is postponed until tomorrow," parliamentary speaker Iyad al-Samarrai told the press yesterday. Iraqi Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi vetoed the proposed election law several days ago, s

Afghan police have said that a member of parliament (MP) escaped an assassination attempt on Friday night near the capital of Kabul. Five bodyguards, however, died. An Afghan district police chief told the Voice of America news agency that a remote-controlled bomb targeted the convoy of Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf as it moved along roads outside the capital. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack. Sayyaf is an MP from the Kabul province, and a former warlord. This was not the first attempt on his life; he has survived at

The US Senate, by a vote of 60 to 39, has decided to begin debate on legislation crafted by majority Democrats to reform the country's health care system. The measure, opposed by Republican senators, was voted on Saturday evening. One Republican Senator, George Voinovich of Ohio, was not present and did not vote. It was not clear until earlier in the day whether the Democrats would have enough votes to bring the bill to the Senate floor for full debate. During the day, two moderate Democrats announced they would support the move during a ra

The Australian Football League (AFL) yesterday announced that it would hold an exhibition game in Shanghai, China. Brisbane will play Melbourne at Jiangwan Sports Centre in the Yangpu District. AFL game development head David Matthews told reporters, "[t]here are big opportunities here [in China] to improve our broadcast position and consider China as an events market. I think we have got the best game in the world, the most spectacular game in the world." The AFL had previously told Wikinews that they had no plans to stage such a game. Chin

A 29-year-old woman from Quebec in Canada claims to have lost her long-term health care benefits she was receiving for depression, after her insurance company discovered pictures of her on Facebook smiling and having fun. Nathalie Blanchard alleges that Manulife Financial cut off her long-term benefit payments because she was "available to work, because of Facebook." She was diagnosed with long-term depression, something her lawyer says keeps her from working. Blanchard was previously employed at IBM. Pictures posted included Blanchard and ot

Reports from Indonesia now say at least nine people were killed and over 200 rescued today, after a ferry sank in rough waters near Sumatra island. The Dumai Express 10 was sailing from Batam island to Dumai in Riau province on Sunday morning when it sank. Officials blamed bad weather for the accident, but there have been reports that the ferry was severely overloaded. Sunaryo, the director-general of sea transport, said the ferry's capacity was 273 people, and only 213 passengers were on the manifest, but one official put the number rescued

American astronaut, Randolph Bresnik, is in orbit over 200 miles above the Earth, where he learned of the birth of his daughter Abigail. Lieutenant Colonel Bresnik becomes only the second man to have become a father while in space. Onboard Atlantis this morning, the crew were woken by mission control playing Butterfly Kisses, a song chosen by Bresnik's wife Rebecca. Prior to launch, Bresnik joked about the birth expected while on his eleven day mission with the Shuttle, "this is a pretty good excuse [for missing the birth] and hopefully she wi

In two separate incidents police in Northern Ireland have come under attack. Both are believed by authorities to stem from organisations linked to the Irish Republican Army. The two incidents, one an attempted car bombing in Belfast, and the other a shooting in Garrison, County Fermanagh, led to four arrests by Northern Irish Police. A police convoy in the village of Garrison came under ambush overnight. Three gunmen began shooting in the first time officers have been in a firefight in Northern Ireland since a July riot in Belfast. Police ret

Two bomb explosions in the northeastern Assam state of India have killed at least seven people and injured 25 more today. The blasts, which happened within several minutes of each other, occurred outside of a police station in the town of Nalbari, 70 kilometres from the state capital of Guwahati. According to security officials, the explosives were attached to bicycles. Police believe that the separatist rebels from the United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) were behind the bombings, but a senior ULFA member denied that the group carried out

As the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca gets underway, Saudi Arabian authorities have expressed concern swine flu could impact pilgrims. Four, with underlying health issues, have already died. Two men and a woman in their seventies and a seventeen-year-old girl have died, according to the Health Ministry. The men from India and Sudan, the older woman from Morocco, and the teen from Nigeria. None were vaccinated against the virus. One died in Mecca, the others in Medina. All had conditions including cancer and respiratory ailments. The

A Kenyan maritime official said today that pirates hijacked a Greek-owned bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden, near Yemen. Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers Assistance Program said the ship, named the Red Sea Spirit was taken on Thursday, but news of the seizure only emerged earlier today. According to him, the vessel was seized about 36 nautical miles from Balhaf, a Yemeni port. "Red Sea Spirit was taken by gunmen off the Yemeni coast last Thursday. She is flying the Panama flag. She is a Greek-owned bulk carrier," Mwangura said. S

Pioneering Soviet cosmonaut Konstantin Feoktistov has died aged 83. A statement by the Russian Space Agency declared that he died of "unspecified causes" last Saturday in Moscow. Feoktistov was important in the early development of Soviet space travel and was part of the first group spaceflight in history, as part of the Voskhod 1 mission in 1964. He was also the first civilian allowed to participate in the Soviet space programme. He was born in Voronezh in 1926 and was wounded whilst serving in WWII. His inclusion in the spaceflight progra