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Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has agreed to join a government of national unity in Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe will remain as president, while Tsvangirai is set to be sworn in as prime minister on February 11. Despite the agreement, Tsvangirai and other MDC members expressed disappointment over the terms of the unity government. "We are not saying that this is a solution to the Zimbabwe crisis," Tsvangirai told reporters. "Instead, our participation signifies that we have chosen to continue the struggle for a democratic

A federal judge has ruled that people who gave money to California's Proposition 8 campaign to ban gay marriage will have to be named. U.S. district judge Morrison England Jr. agreed with a local court that California's 1974 Political Reform Act on political disclosure, which requires that the names of people and organizations donating over US$100 to political causes be recorded and published, applies to the Proposition 8 campaign. Proposition 8 advocates had argued that donors would be put at risk of harassment if their details were published

The 8th President of India, Ramaswamy Venkataraman has died at the age of 98. Venkataraman served as President from 1987 to 1992, he was also the Vice President of India from 1984 to 1987. He was admitted to hospital on the 12th of January and stayed there until his death on the 27th. He was complaining of Urosepsis, a condition caused by the extravasation of urine. His condition turned critical on January 20. Born in Pattukkottia he graduated from Madras University studying Economics. In 1980 he succeeded Choudhary Charan Singh as the Unio

Giving a cow a name and treating her as an individual with "more personal touch" can increase milk production, so says a scientific research published in the online "Anthrozoos," which is described as a "multidisciplinary journal of the interactions of people and animals". The Newcastle University's School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development's (of the Newcastle University Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering) researchers have found that farmers who named their dairy cattle Ermintrude, Daisy, La vache qui rit, Buttercup, Betsy

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and other agencies have raised the issue of a humanitarian crisis unfolding in the battle between Sri Lankan government troops and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), with an estimated 250,000 civilians caught between the fighting according to the ICRC. Violence has intensified over the past few days in the Tamil-dominated northwest, where government forces have made strategically important gains, including the capture of Mullaitivu, the last rebel stronghold. But hundreds of thousand

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on the United States to substantially change its foreign policy toward Iran in an address aimed at the new Barack Obama administration. In addition to urging a new direction in foreign policy, Ahmadinejad demanded that the US apologize for the "crimes they have committed against the Iranian nation" over the past 60 years. Ahmadinejad says these "dark crimes" include the economic sanctions imposed since the country's 1979 revolution, attempts to halt Iran's nuclear program, and America's support of I

The British government has announced the appointment of Sir Paul Stephenson to head London's Metropolitan Police Service. Stephenson said his priorities as Commissioner would be knife crime and teenage murders. The Times quoted him as telling reporters that his agenda "is about solving crime, securing our streets, convincing all our communities that we are on their side and delivering the policing they want and being intolerant of violence in any form". The vacancy at the Met arose when the then-new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, expressed a

The International Labor Organization (ILO), a branch of the United Nations concerned with labor and workers' rights issues, issued a report Wednesday explaining how the global economic crisis could create a global employment crisis by the end of the year. "By the end of 2008 working poverty, vulnerable employment and unemployment were beginning to rise as the effects of the slowdown spread," the report states. "If the recession deepens in 2009, as many forecasters expect, the global jobs crisis will worsen sharply." Even for those who keep the

Nancy Cartwright, 51, who is a long time member of the Church of Scientology, has created a recording using her voice of Bart Simpson as part of a robocall promotion. The message surfaced early Wednesday morning on YouTube. During the message, Cartwright states that "This is a special message" and announces a Scientology conference this coming weekend at the grand ballroom of the Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles where she has a speaking engagement. The message ends with a toll free number to call to RSVP. Wikinews has obtained audio

__NOTOC__ A powerful blast has razed a fireworks factory 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the Philippines capital Manila shortly before noon on Thursday, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 70 others, Cavite Governor Ayong Maliksi said. Four of the eight fatalities have already been identified by factory officials. They are: Clodelio Iso, Rodelio Iso, Marlon Rodrin, Angelo Francisco and Gerardo Amparo. The fire was declared to be out at around 2:33 p.m. local time (UTC+8). Most of the explosion victims were employees of th

Commuters in Melbourne, Australia, faced chaos today as a summer heatwave and alleged industrial action by staff caused 200 trains to be cancelled. The light rail system was also disrupted by a broken down tram. Track buckled between Jolimont and Flinders Street stations on the Melbourne loop as temperatures peaked at 43.2 degrees Celsius (109.7°F), causing local train operator Connex to send track workers out to hose rails down. The delays and cancellations caused high demand on the Connex website, which crashed under the pressure. V/Line reg

A 35-year-old man had been charged with murdering his daughter after allegedly throwing her from the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne, Australia. The man, named as IT consultant Arthur Phillip Freeman, was arrested following an incident at 0910AEST (2210 UTC) where Darcey Iris Freeman, 4, fell 60m into a river. She was rescued from the water but had suffered severe injuries and died later in the city's Royal Children's Hospital. Two other children were in the car at the time of the incident. They are believed also to be the children of Arthur Fr