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Tensions have started to rise again between the United States and North Korea. North Korea claims that the United States have planned to start an atomic war against them due to President Barack Obama recently reaffirming the nuclear protection of South Korea. A South Korean Foreign Ministry official on Saturday stated that Seoul has proposed five-way talks with the U.S., China, Russia and Japan to find a way to deal with the threats given by North Korea. The United States and Japan agreed to attend the 5-way talks but China and Russia have ye

At least nine people have been reported killed in a serious collision incident between two metro trains in Washington, D.C., United States. The collision which occurred on the Red Line between Fort Totten and Takoma Park stations of the city's Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority during the early evening (1700 local time) is also reported to have injured a number of other passengers. The fatalities include the operator of one of the trains. At 7:58 pm local time, two more fatalities were confirmed, resulting in a total of six deaths.

The President of France Nicolas Sarkozy Monday, in a speech to a joint session of both houses of the Parliament of France, stated that the burqa "will not be welcome on the territory of the French Republic". Sarkozy's address was the first such address by a President of France to the Parliament since 1873. Both houses met as the Congress of France in the Château de Versailles. It was permitted by a revision to the Constitution of France that was enacted in 2008. (Previously, rules based upon the doctrine of the separation of powers had prev

Authorities in the Mexican state of Sonora arrested 7 state officials, from the state finance department, yesterday; and charged them with negligent homicide for the deaths of 47 children in a fire at a daycare centre that occurred earlier this month. In 2005, the Hermosillo, Mexico daycare was advised to carry out repairs in a safety inspection went unheeded. It is felt that negligence contributed to the massive fire Friday afternoon, June 5, taking the lives of 47 toddlers and infants and injuring the majority of the 142 children being cared

The Florida newspaper St. Petersburg Times published a series of investigative articles on Scientology on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, including exclusive interviews with former high-ranking executives within the organization. Four former Scientology executives stated that they witnessed the Church of Scientology's leader David Miscavige physically strike staff members numerous times. The former executives speaking out include Mike Rinder, who served as head of the organization's legal and public relations division the Office of Special Affair

The UK operations of Setanta Sports have been placed into administration. Financial firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu confirmed the division would be liquidated. The sports broadcaster, which employs 420 people in Ireland and the UK, entered administration after plans to raise fresh capital through the Russian-American businessman Leonard Blavatnik failed. With effect from today, the company is to cease accepting payments from television customers who had subscribed to its broadcasting services, and 200 employees in the United Kingdom are to be m

Two six-year-old children caused emergency services to be called out in Oelde, Germany, yesterday. They had taken an old computer case, with a radioactivity symbol and warning notice that they had printed, affixed to the side, to create a "nuclear reactor". The boys abandoned their plaything in the street to take a break at home. It was encountered by a passer-by, who called out the emergency services. The children later returned to their play to find the street cordoned off by police and fire services, who were warning surrounding resident

The number of hungry people in the world is projected to reach an all-time high of 1.02 billion this year, according to a report published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). The report blames this latest spike in world hunger chiefly on the global economic recession, which has increased unemployment and reduced incomes among the poor, leading to greater food insecurity. The report, published on Friday, estimates that over 1 billion people will go hungry each day in 2009, a first in human history. This is a si

Shortly after being classified, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) have upgraded Tropical Depression Two-E to Tropical Storm Andres, the first named storm of the 2009 Pacific hurricane season. The storm is currently located off the coast of Mexico. The cyclone originated in a large low pressure system that gradually organized and strengthened throughout the day on Sunday. Peak winds associated with Andres are estimated at 60 mph, with gusts to 75 mph. The cyclone is tracking towards the west-northwest at 5 mph. Barometric pressure at the st

__NOTOC__ Following the resignation of Speaker Michael Martin, which took effect yesterday, members of the House of Commons, the lower house of the British Houses of Parliament, today elected John Bercow as the new Speaker of the House. Voting The three rounds of voting were held as a secret ballot of all Members of the Commons. Each round eliminated from subsequent rounds any candidates with less than 5% support, with the winner to be the candidate who, in any round, achieved a simple majority of the vote. This was a new system for electing

In the past day the violence has increased in Iran. It started this morning with a suicide bombing attack on a shrine of Iran's revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. The bombing was most likely planned at the shrine to anger Iranians because they revere Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as the founder of the Islamic Republic. The attacker and another person were killed in the blast, which succeeded in wounding eight pilgrims. Later in the afternoon, a witness reported that she was on her way to a protest in Revolution Square with a grou

Greenland, population over 57,000, assumes the national right of self government today. The occasion will be honoured in the nation's capital, Nuuk, by the Danish monarch Queen Margrethe II, the current Head of State. With the ceremony, Kalaallisut becomes the official language of the mainly Inuit island, and Greenland will become the only country in North America where an indigenous language has official status nationwide. Newly elected Prime Minister of Greenland Kuupik Kleist will embark on an agenda of tackling social and education challen