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American film director John Hughes, noted for such movies as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club, died Thursday due to a heart attack. A statement, released by his representative, said that he experienced the heart attack while on a morning stroll in Manhattan, New York. Hughes was born on February 18, 1950 in Michigan. He started his career as an advertising copywriter in Chicago. By the end of the 1970s he was a frequent contributor to the National Lampoon magazine. In the 1990s, he made the Home Alone series, which becam

The Central Coast Mariners have defeated Melbourne Victory two-nil in the opening game of the Australian 2009-10 A-League football season at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne. Melbourne, the reigning champions, played a relatively poor game. Despite having the majority of the possession, Melbourne could not score. The Mariners scored their two goals withing the first quarter of an hour. Matt Simon scored the opening goal on ten minutes. The Mariners second goal came five minutes later thanks to an own goal by Rodrigo Vargas. Melbourne captain Kevi

Four people have been shot and killed and at least 15 wounded when a gunman opened fire inside a LA Fitness center in Bridgeville, Pennsylvania. The gunman was among the dead. Reports say the man walked into a dance room where an all-female Latin dance class was in session, turned off the lights and began to shoot people. CNN reports that the gunman was a "middle-aged white male." One witness said he was carrying a duffel bag, which he put down before shooting into the crowd. After opening fire, he turned the gun on himself. At least 30 people

A police constable serving with the Metropolitan Police Service in London, England may be prosecuted for manslaughter over the death of a bystander at a protest that occurred during the G-20 summit earlier this year. After concluding what it says is its largest ever investigation, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has sent its file on the death of Ian Tomlinson to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). Ian Tomlinson died on April 1, 2009 from injuries sustained when he was allegedly struck and pushed to the ground by a polic

Two probes have been initiated into the collapse of the Big Valley Jamboree stage which killed one person, placed four others in the critical care unit and caused injuries to 75 others in Camrose, Alberta located in Canada. "We are trying to determine from what is left of the evidence what damage was done by the wind and what damage was down by rescue workers. We may not be able to make that determination. So that is going to hamper things. It will be tougher," Chris Chodan, spokesman for Alberta Occupational Health and Safety. Panhandle

Garth Drabinsky and Myron Gottlieb, founders of Live Entertainment Corporation of Canada, Inc. (Livent) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, were sentenced Wednesday to concurrent prison terms for corporate fraud and forgery which resulted in millions of dollars in losses to their investors for close to a decade. Drabinsky received four years on one count and seven years on a second count. Gottlieb got four years and six years on two counts of fraud. "No one is above the law. No one gets to write his own rules," said Ontario Superior Court Justice

Police raided the SsangYong Motor Company's plant in South Korea today, in order to evict workers who have been occupying the plant since May in protest of proposed layoffs. Most of the workers were those who were previously fired for opposing layoffs. 100–400 police officers raided the auto plant south of Seoul at around 10:00 a.m. (local time). Police intended to evict some 600 striking workers who, according to a union representing the workers, "will fight to the death should police forcefully break up the occupation." Workers at the plan

Environmentalists in Brazil are urging the country's residents to urinate in the shower while washing themselves, to help conserve water and save the rainforest. Television ads being aired in the country claim that by doing so, the nation could save over 1,000 gallons of water per household each year. SOS Mata Atlantica ran the ad campaign in an attempt to use comedy to get people to reduce the amount of water they use. "[The ad is] a way to be playful about a serious subject," said Adriana Kfouri, a spokesperson for Atlantica. The animated a

A woman in Paris, France has been found to be infected by a strain of the HIV virus with a lineage that is closer to the Simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) normally found in gorillas than that in chimpanzees. The new strain, which has been designated as P by the University of Rouen and University of Manchester researchers, is the first confirmed human infection of an SIV from a non-Chimpanzee source. "We have identified a new human immunodeficiency virus in a Cameroonian woman. It is closely related to gorilla simian immunodeficiency virus (

Australian Federal Police have caught four people suspected of plotting a terrorist attack in Melbourne. The suspects, all Australian citizens of Somali and Lebanese descent, were arrested early this morning Melbourne time. "Police believe members of a Melbourne-based group have been undertaking planning to carry out a terrorist attack in Australia and allegedly involved in hostilities in Somalia," a police statement says. "The men's intention was to actually go into the Army barracks and to kill as many soldiers as they could before they the

Today, Norway's Socialist Left Party (SV) launched their new election initiative named "up from the couch." The campaign aims to get first-time voters and so-called "couch voters" to vote in the upcoming election. Kristin Halvorsen, the Norwegian Minister of Finance and Party leader for SV, explained, "It’s a wakeup call, because those who sit on the couch let others decide for them. That’s way we are mobilizing as much as we can until Election Day." In the 2005 election only 55 % of first time voters used their voting rights. “It’s a chall

Two imprisoned American journalists in North Korea, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, have been pardoned and are to return to the U.S.. This comes after former U.S. President Bill Clinton met with the North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and the two journalists earlier today. "Kim Jong-il issued an order of the chairman of the DPRK National Defense Commission on granting a special pardon to the two American journalists who had been sentenced to hard labor in accordance with Article 103 of the Socialist Constitution and releasing them," said the KCNA news ag