Latest

Thousands of people in Greece have been forced to evacuate their homes after major wildfires continued for their third day in the suburbs outside of Athens. 10,000 people were evacuated out of one town, Agios Stefanos, located 23 kilometres from downtown Athens, after the flames headed for the area. All residents were ordered to take the main highway to Athens. The deputy mayor of the town, Panayiotis Bitakos, told Skai TV that "I call on all residents to follow the instructions of the police as to where they will go. We had been begging the

The director of design for the 2010 Winter Olympics being held in Vancouver, Leo Obstbaum, has passed away suddenly in his home. He designed both of the mascots as well as the medals for next year's games. Obstbaum previously designed the wardrobe for the anniversary of the Barcelona Olympic and Paralympic summer games. He joined VANOC as director of design in June 2006. VANOC spokeswoman Renee Smith-Valade released a statement through e-mail saying "Leo's passing is a deep loss to the VANOC team and the entire organization's thoughts and

Abdullah Abdullah, the main challenger to President Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan's presidential elections, has accused the latter of vote-rigging. Abdullah, a former foreign minister, built up his accusations of fraud on Sunday. "The initial reports we are receiving are alarming. There might have been thousands of violations throughout the country, no doubt about it," he told a news conference. “Widespread rigging has taken place by the incumbent, through his campaign team, and through the state apparatus, through government officials,” Abdull

Yemeni government officials reported that Yemeni armed forces have killed over 100 Zaidi Shia rebel fighters following a battle to capture a town in the country's north. In a statement, the government said that "the bodies of more than 100 rebels have been recovered from the roadside outside the town of Harf Sufyan. It seems that the bodies were those of rebels who were trying to flee the town during a mopping-up operation over the past two days." The statement also said that two commanders, Mohsen Saleh Hadi Gawd and Salah Jorman, were identi

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt set a new world record in the 200 metres, Thursday evening at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin, Germany. Bolt sped through the 200m in a time of 19.19 seconds, breaking the 19.32 mark set by Michael Johnson of the United States in 1996. "I was trying, I was dying," Usain Bolt said after the race. "It wasn't a good race I can say but it was a fast one." "Unbelievable — a ridiculous race. The bend is unbelievable," commented the aforementioned former record-holder Johnson while working for the BBC. "No o

Various rumours and reports with regards to a possible move to Ferrari by Fernando Alonso were given more credibility today when McLaren team principle Martin Whitmarsh alluded to the move in an interview with the BBC. "At the moment we have not had, nor are we in, conversations with any other drivers and we will see in the future. In reality, there are some changes probably with Fernando and Ferrari and that frees up the driver market," he said, when asked about what 2010 held for his team. A possible move has been talked about for some month

At least 22 people were killed as Somali government and African Union troops battled Islamist rebels in Mogadishu over the past two days. The attacks started when the insurgent group al-Shabaab, which is trying to overthrow the government, started firing mortar bombs in the capital on Friday. The onslaught was apparently provoked by African Union troops, who had earlier entered rebel-controlled territories. "They provoked us by coming into our areas, so we have a right to attack them in their bases," al-Shabaab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Ra

Hurricane Bill, the first hurricane of the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season, is currently threatening parts of New England and eastern Canada. Bill weakened somewhat on Friday, although it remains a formidable Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale. As of 11 p.m. AST August 21 (0300 UTC August 22), Hurricane Bill was located within 10 nautical miles of 31.0°N 67.5°W, or about 545 mi (880 km) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. Maximum sustained winds were near 90 knots (105 mph, 165 km/h), with stronger gusts. Fo

A state of emergency was declared in Greece after major wildfires started burning out of control on the northeast edges of Athens. Fire crews, aided by water-bombers and helicopters, have been dispatched to the affected areas to try to contain the fires. According to Greek authorities, the wildfires started late on Friday near Grammatiko, a village located 25 miles northeast of downtown Athens. The blazes, strengthened by heavy winds in the area, eventually reached neighbouring Varnava and Marathon on Saturday morning. Officials say that 70 f

Registered voters in Afghanistan went to the polls on Thursday to cast their votes for President. Although the election was marred by violence, it was largely hailed as successful. The Taliban has refused to recognize the election and has previously vowed to disrupt them. "We had what appears to be a successful election in Afghanistan, despite the Taliban's efforts to disrupt it," said United States President Barack Obama in a live radio broadcast from the White House. At least 26 people were killed in election related violence, including eig

__NOTOC__ Friday Practice 1 Rubens Barrichello of the Brawn team was fastest in this this morning's first practice in Valencia for Sunday's Grand Prix, with a time of 1:42.460. His teammate Jenson Button managed 4th place with a time of 1:43.074. It was also the first time that veteran test driver Luca Badoer was able to drive this year's Ferrari, the test driver replacing the injured Felipe Massa for the forseeable future. The second débutant driving the car for the first time is Frenchman Romain Grosjean, replacing the sacked Nelson Pique

Police charged two people for Data Protection Act offences in relation to the November 2008 leak of the members list of the far-right British National Party (BNP). Following a joint investigation between Dyfed-Powys Police and the Information Commissioner's Office, a 27-year-old man and 30-year-old woman were arrested and charged under Section 55 of the Data Protection Act 1998. The pair lived in Nottinghamshire, England at the time of their arrest. They will appear before a Magistrates' Court on September 1. The leaked list is available onli