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Sumo fighter Asashōryū Akinori returned to fighting after being on the injured list for nearly nine months, to win the New Year Grand Sumo Tournament held at Ryōgoku Kokugikan stadium in Tokyo, Japan. In a final bout, the 153kg Asashōryū beat Hakuhō Shō who had earlier defeated him in the regulation rounds. It was a well-matched playoff with both men entering the final round with a 14-1 record. After the win Asashōryū exclaimed "I'm Back". Asashōryū had missed almost nine months of competition due to an elbow injury. Asashōryū whose real nam

__NOTOC__ The Bolivian President, Evo Morales, 49, has claimed victory after voters ratified a new leftist constitution, granting more power to the country's indigenous majority. "The indigenous farmers, the most marginalized sector throughout the history of the republic, are now recognized as people with the same rights as any citizen. Here begins the new Bolivia. Here we begin to reach true equality," Morales told a crowd in front of the flag-draped balcony of Palacio Quemado in La Paz, the administrative capital of Bolivia. Ratified with

The British Magistrates' Association have voiced concern over the potential for confusion after the drug cannabis was reclassified by the government from Class C to Class B under the Misuse of Drugs Act. The confusion is said to arise from a new prosecution schedule for possession of the substance. Offenders will receive a warning for a first offence, an £80 immediate fine for a second offence and arrest and court proceedings for a third. This differs from the system in place for other Class B substances. However, the new system has not yet go

A televised appeal for victims of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not be shown by the BBC or by British Sky Broadcasting. The BBC had announced last week that the appeal, from the thirteen-strong charity coordination body Disasters Emergency Committee, would not be shown, leading to a media storm and intense criticism of the decision. The BBC said that it had doubts over "the delivery of aid in a volatile situation" and also that the appeal might compromise its perceived neutrality in future news reports. The BBC said the decision was m

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh received a successful coronary artery bypass surgery and was recuperating well in the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Sunday. Dr. Manmohan Singh is the 17th and current Prime Minister of the Republic of India. He also serves as the Union Minister for Finance, succeeding P. Chidambaram. "The 76-year-old Prime Minister is doing fine now. He is conscious, stable, comfortable and is making rapid progress. He also met his family and congratulated all doctors. [His] ventilator has been taken

As a storm swept across parts of France and Spain on Saturday and Sunday, it left 15 people dead. Its winds were recorded up to 190km/h (118 mph), which are hurricane-force winds. The storm made landfall near to Bordeaux, France at 5:00 am Central European Time on Saturday the 24th January. It traveled south-eastwards towards the south-east coast of France throughout Saturday morning, finally reaching there at 1:00 pm. It is expected to head north-eastwards over Italy and the Adriatic Sea, but without causing damage. Low pressure systems are f

An investigation by the Sunday Times newspaper has made allegations of bribery against four members of the House of Lords, Britain's unelected upper legislative body. The paper says it has secretly made recordings of Lord Truscott admitting to making a recent energy bill more favourable to a client who markets "smart" electricity meters. The Sunday Times also alleges that Lord Taylor of Blackburn had claimed to have made changes to a bill to help Experian, a credit reference agency. The paper adds that Lords Moonie and Snape had agreed to tak

International steel conglomerate Corus Group is to axe 3,500 jobs worldwide. Up to 2,000 jobs are to be lost in the former British Steel plants in the United Kingdom. Owner Tata Steel employs 42,000 people worldwide, with 24,000 being in the UK. Corus did not comment on the report so far, but a union official told BBC News that the company would be making an announcement at 0930 UTC on Monday. The cuts would be part of long term restructuring plans made by soon to depart CEO Philippe Varin, which have been accelerated by the worldwide downturn

Vandals have caused thousands of British pounds worth of damage at a city railway station. The Bath Spa railway station in Bath was targeted by vandals over the weekend. Graffiti was sprayed over the new tourist centre as well as the stone work which is over 100 years old. The disabled toilets were also vandalised. First Great Western who owns Bath Spa station released a statement through spokesman Dan Panes saying, "last year we invested a considerable amount of money improving the station environment at Bath Spa for our customers, and it's a

Mamadou Dia, The first Prime Minister of Senegal has died today at the age of 99. The cause of death was announced as natural causes. Dia died in Dakar, the capitol of Senegal. Born on July 18, 1910 in Kombolé, Senegal, he served as Prime Minister of Senegal from 1957-1962. Dia started life in politics as a leader in the Afrique occidentale française (AOF) in 1948, shortly before being elected as a senator in 1949. He retired his senate seat in 1955 when he was appointed prime minister by the French National Assembly to serve alongside the ne

Prosecutor Christian Du Four has released more details on the fatal stabbing in a day care center in East Flanders, Belgium, yesterday, in which two children (six and nine months old) and one employee were killed. Ten children and two adults were injured. The alleged perpetrator, a 20-year-old man from nearby Sint-Niklaas, was arrested in the neighbouring municipality of Lebbeke shortly after the crime. Belgian news website nieuwsblad.be have named the arrested man as Kim De Gelder. The attack The attacker wore a bullet-proof vest under his c

Wikinews has learned that the internet group known only as "Anonymous" has hacked the website of the No Cussing Club (NCC), nocussing.com, for at least two days in a row. On day one, the group hacked into the website, replacing the content with links to images of alleged e-mail conversations. The e-mails appear to be from the founder's e-mail account, accusing organization members of forgery and using the site for their own personal financial gains. The website was also replaced with Anonymous's logo and a message. On January 22, they again att