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Justin Gawronski and Antoine Bruguier sued Amazon.com on Thursday for remotely deleting their digital copies of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four from their Kindle devices. The suit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, argues in part that Amazon violated its terms of service, as well as the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and Washington Consumer Protection Act. Gawronski, a Michigan high school senior, originally purchased both his Kindle and an e-book of the novel for his Advanced Placement Englis

An American sailor has been jailed over the murder of a Japanese taxi driver. Nigerian national Olatunbosun Ugbogu was sentenced in the Yokohama District Court. Ugbogu's lawyers claimed insanity but judges rejected the claim stating he was fully competent. The murder took place in March 2008 when Ugbogu entered the cab of 61-year-old Masaaki Takahashi. Takahashi was ordered to drive approximately 60 km from Tokyo to the US Navy base in Yokosuka. Ugbogu then failed to pay the fare and stabbed Takahashi with a knife and fled the scene. He deser

United States President Barack Obama has named the 16 recipients who are to receive the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest honour a civilian can receive. The medal is awarded to those who make significant contributions to the security and national interests of United States and the World. British Physicist Stephen Hawking is included on the list. Hawking, who suffers from motor neuron disease, wrote A Brief History of Time. As well as writing science books he is the Lucasian Professor of Mathe

Corazon Aquino, the 11th president of the Philippines, has died today at Makati Medical Center of complications from colon cancer. She was 76. She had been in the hospital since June. She was the first female president of the Philippines and Asia's first female President. She was born María Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco on January 25, 1933 in Paniqui, Tarlac, Philippines. She was the widow of Senator Benigno Aquino, Jr., a leading figure in the political opposition against the autocratic rule of Dictator Ferdinand Marcos. After her husband was as

Vestas Wind Systems, whose closing wind turbine blade manufacturing centre in Newport, Isle of Wight, England remains the site of a occupation now in its 11th day, has suddenly announced that the consultation period preceding the closure of the plant has been extended, and that the plant will remain open until mid-August. The announcement, which was reported not by Vestas but by the RMT, was described by RMT General Secretary Bob Crow as "another significant milestone in the fight to save the factory and 625 skilled manufacturing jobs in green

The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, has chosen a new National Police Chief. Provincial transport minister Bheki Cele will replace Jackie Selebi, who is awaiting the outcome on charges of corruption. Zuma said in a statement to the press that the appointment is "integral" to the government's plan of reducing the country's crime levels within five years. South Africa has a high crime rate and, on average, has nearly 50 murders a day. "I would like one day for a young girl to be able to walk alone from a nightclub or elsewhere without a

Eleven of the 25 workers at the Vestas factory in Newport, Isle of Wight, England who have been carrying out a sit-in since Monday July 20 have been sacked with immediate effect. According to one of the protesters known as "Mike", the occupiers were given their dismissal notices concealed under slices of their evening meal of pizza. The company said that the protesters have had ample opportunity to air their point of view, and had no choice but to sack eleven of the twenty five workers that they had positively identified; and that given that t

Seven-time world Formula One racing champion Michael Schumacher announced his plans to replace Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari car in the FIA Formula One 2009 European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain. Massa was recently injured after a spring got loose from Rubens Barricello's car and hit his head in the Hungarian GP. Schumacher is expected to replace Massa for at least one Formula One event until the recovery of the Brazilian driver. Schumacher will get ready for his return using a special training program, checking his recovery after he fel

Maharani Gayatri Devi, formerly the Rajmata of Jaipur and one of the last of India's surviving royalty, died Wednesday, July 29, after a ten-day illness. She was 90 years old. Born in 1919 into the royal family of Cooch Behar, in 1939 Devi married Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur, becoming his third wife. After India gained independence in 1947, the popular Devi ran for parliament in 1962 as a member of the Swatantra Party, winning her constituency with a then-record 78% of the vote. Devi won reelection twice, but she ran afoul of tax la

Airbus have announced that they will be willing to contribute between €12 million and €20 million (about US$16 million to $28 million) to fund an extended search for the black boxes from Air France Flight 447. The Airbus A330 jetliner crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in June, killing all 228 people on board. Chief executive Thomas Enders said in a statement, "We want to know what happened, as improving air safety is our top priority. We are fully committed to support the extension of the search with a significant contribution." Although airfram

Newsroom Style Guide - how to write Content Guide - what to write The President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, announced on Tuesday that "We will freeze relations with Colombia." He attributed the decision to "new aggression by the government of Colombia." Further, he said, "I've ordered to withdraw our ambassador from Bogota, to withdraw our diplomatic personnel." This diplomatic move follows claims by Colombia that amongst weapons its military has captured from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are AT4 anti-tank rockets manuf

Investigators in Ukraine believe that they have found the skull of journalist Georgiy Gongadze who was kidnapped and found decapitated in 2000. Skull fragments were found near Kiev. The discovery comes after Olexiy Pukach, who was apprehended last week, told officials his involvement with the case was "direct." At the time, Security Service of Ukraine officials said that Pukach offered to show them the location of Gongadze's head. Prosecutors filed charges against Pukach on Friday. They believe that Gongadze was killed because of his articles