Latest

A fire at a bar in Changle, China has killed 15 people and injured 22 others. It was triggered by a group of ten celebrating a birthday who set off fireworks shortly before midnight. A firework set light to the ceiling of the Latin-style bar at 11:55 pm. Within minutes the 198-square meter structure was fully alight, with the fire brigade receiving a call shortly after midnight on Sunday morning. By 12:20 am the fire had been extinguished and rescuers found 35 people within the ruins, fifteen of whom were declared dead at the scene. The bar,

The Israeli military launched at least six airstrikes into the Gaza Strip in retaliation for rockets that were fired into Southern Israel by members of Hamas earlier in the day. Among the targets hit were a police station and other sites in the city of Rafah, believed to be tunnel locations. Small arms fire has also been reported. No one was injured or killed in the strikes. "In response to rocket and mortar fire today, the air force has attacked a number of targets in the (Gaza) Strip, including six tunnels and a Hamas position," said the Isr

__NOTOC__ The usually inhibited desert locust Schistocerca gregaria, which wiles away the months as a solitary, insignificant grasshopper can shift into horrifying swarms due to a chemical commonly found in people’s brain, a research showed. The solitary and gregarious phases of locusts are so different that they were considered distinct species until 1921. Scientists have known for several years that touching a solitary desert locust on the hind legs, or allowing it to see or smell other locusts, is enough to transform it into the gregario

The Franco-Belgian bank Dexia has announced it will restructure and cut 3% of its staff after posting a €3 billion full-year loss. Dexia says it will close operations in Australia, eastern Europe, Mexico and Scandinavia and reduce business in the United Kingdom and the United States. Dexia specialises in finance to local governments but also runs standard retail banking outlets in Belgium and France. It will cease proprietary trading as part of the restructuring. The bank will sell its U.S. bond insurance arm Financial Security Assurance to

A bishop who denied the deaths of 6 million Jewish people in the Nazi Holocaust has apologized to the Pope. Bishop Richard Williamson was excommunicated by Pope John Paul II in 1988 due to his membership of the Society of St. Pius X, which did not accept the Vatican II reforms of the mid-1960s. Pope Benedict XVI allowed Williamson back into the Roman Catholic church last Saturday. A few days before that, Swedish state television, SVT broadcast an interview in which Williamson said, "I believe there were no gas chambers, yes. I don’t think 6

A trial date has been set in a fraud case against the Church of Scientology in France. The date for the first hearing has been set for May 25, 2009. If the Church is found guilty, then Scientology would be ruled illegal and would be banned from operating in France. Prosecutors claim that the Church is engaged in illicit practices in attempts to sell their alleged self-help material. The Church also faces charges of illegally operating as a pharmacy by illegally treating individuals with prescription medications. The charges come from an unnam

__NOTOC__ A local Swiss government has shown some bare cheek and has taken action, after hordes of German naked hikers rambling across the Swiss alps au naturel, caused indignation amongst locals. Authorities in Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden have warned that starting from February 9, the government will impose hefty fines of 200 Swiss Francs (£122, €135) on naturists found walking or hiking in the nude without clothes in the picturesque mountains because of a recent influx of visiting German nudists. The new ordinance is expected to

Voters in Iraq have gone to the polls today, the first time in four years, to elect provincial councils. There have been few reports of the violence or intimidation that have marred previous polls, although there has been violence in the run up to the election. A curfew is in place and airports and borders are closed. Security is tight, with the army guarding polling stations. Three mortar shells (or four flash bombs) are reported to have fallen near a polling station in Tikrit, but without causing injuries. A civilian and six policemen were i

United Kingdom flag carrier British Airways (BA) has announced a plan to cut their net carbon dioxide emissions by 50% between now and 2050. The target was announced by airline head Willie Walsh speaking in Hyderabad upon the opening of a new route between London's Heathrow Airport and the Indian city. This is the most ambitious such target set by an airline. "Some people say that in economic times as desperately tough as these, we can afford to put climate change issues on one side. I could not disagree more. Halving net CO2 by 2050 is an ex

The Republican National Committee has elected African-American Michael S. Steele as its chairman. Steele, 50, a former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, won after the sixth round of voting against Katon Dawson of South Carolina. Steele's candidacy was controversial as he was seen as being on the left of his party's base and had been a member of the Republican Leadership Council, an anti-social-conservatism movement. He had denied being a moderate, telling CNN: "I'm proud to say I'm a conservative, have been, always will be." Steele has an agen

wikiHow is a wiki-based site which aims to "build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual." It recently published its 50,000th article, and to discuss what the site has achieved since its creation, Wikinews interviewed the site's founder, Jack Herrick. In the interview, Herrick explains what wikiHow is, why he decided to create it, how he grew it in size, and why he chose to use a Creative Commons license for his site. Read below for more of the interview in full. Interview For our readers who are unaware of your site, could you br

The Discworld author Sir Terry Pratchett is to appear in a BBC documentary covering a year of his struggle with the brain disorder Alzheimer's disease. Pratchett, 60, asked the BBC to spend a year documenting any decline in his condition and seeing him experiment with various supposed cures. One alleged cure involved firing infrared light at his brain via a helmet invented by a general practitioner doctor. Pratchett also examines the serious research into dementia and its cure. The author has donated £500,000 to the Alzheimer's Research Trust