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Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, has demanded a full investigation into the attacks on UN schools in the Gaza Strip after personally visiting the destroyed complexes in the Strip. "I am just appalled and not able to describe how I am feeling having seen this ... it's an outrageous and totally unacceptable attack against the UN. I have protested many times, and I protest again in the strongest terms," stated Ban during a press conference in the Strip on Tuesday. Ban also denounced the "shocking and alarming" devastation in

The formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Basketball League this week almost certainly ensures that a professional basketball league will be run across southern Asia. In planning for almost two years a US$5 million backing from Malaysian business tycoons Tony Fernandes of AirAsia and Indonesian media mogul Erick Thoir should see the league commence in September this year. The goal is to boost the mainstream popularity of basketball which, according to organizers of the new league, is already the second most popular te

After an investigation by the Portland, Oregon weekly newspaper Willamette Week, mayor Sam Adams admitted he did have a sexual relationship with Beau Breedlove in 2005. The openly gay mayor said Breedlove was 18 years of age when the sexual relationship began, however the two met when Breedlove was still a minor. Adams also admitted he previously lied about the relationship and asked Breedlove to also lie about the relationship during the time Adams was running for mayor. The Oregon Attorney General's office is investigating the matter. "In th

Two explorers have set off from Knightsbridge, London Wednesday morning (0900 GMT) in a propeller-powered dune buggy heading for the Sahara. Giles Cardozo, age 29, from Dorset, with chief pilot and expedition leader Neil Laughton, age 45, an ex-SAS officer, will fly and drive the amazing two-seater vehicle more than 6,000-km (3,750-miles) to fabled Timbuktu on February 20. "I just can't wait to see their faces when we fly in and start playing football with them. I don't think they will be able to believe somebody in a flying car has just visi

__NOTOC__ Today, the official ceremony ushering in Barack H. Obama II as the new president of the United States took place at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. A 21-gun salute, as well as the playing of four ruffles and flourishes and "Hail to the Chief", marked the moment he assumed power from his predecessor, George W. Bush. Bush's second term as President of the United States, which began on January 20, 2005, expired with the swearing-in of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama, at noon EST (UTC-5), under the p

Irish property businessman Patrick Rocca has been found dead in his home. Police reports indicate that suicide is the probable cause. He was 42. Rocca was discovered dead yesterday morning, with one shot to the head. The Irish Times has confirmed that there appears to be no suspicious circumstances surrounding this shot, and that the firearm involved has been confiscated. Rocca was believed to have assets worth €500 million. He had worked in business for around 25 years, since he joined his family business, Rocca Tiles. His first property dea

According to reports, two United States Senators, Ted Kennedy and Robert Byrd, suffered medical problems during a luncheon with new U.S. President Barack Obama. Kennedy collapsed as a result of a seizure and was taken away by paramedics in a wheelchair. In May, Kennedy was diagnosed with brain cancer, which required an operation. Kennedy is at Washington Hospital in Washington, D.C. where his family says he is awake and talking. At the time of his collapse, he was reported to be sitting with John Kerry, another Massachusetts Senator, 2004 pres

One month from the February 17 scheduled transition from analog to digital television broadcast in the United States, members of the United States Senate have introduced a bill that would push back the transition four months later, to June 12. This is due to concerns raised about the government's subsidy program for digital TV receiver boxes, which has run out of money with over 1 million televisions in the United States still running on analog. "In Minnesota, more than 21% of our households depend exclusively on over-the-air broadcast TV. Wh

Officials say that a French military helicopter with 10 French soldiers, including four crew members and six Special Forces paratroopers, has crashed off the coast of Gabon in west central Africa. The Eurocopter AS 532 Cougar ditched shortly into the Atlantic Ocean after leaving a French naval ship, about 50 kilometres off the coast. Seven French soldiers were killed, two were rescued, and one is still missing, according to a statement issued by President Nicolas Sarkozy's office. "Today, the wreckage of the helicopter was located at a depth

The Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals have won their respective conference championship games to advance to Super Bowl XLIII, the championship game of the National Football League. The game is scheduled to take place on February 1 in Tampa Bay at Raymond James Stadium. The Steelers were the American Football Conference champion, defeating the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 23 to 14. Meanwhile, the Cardinals became the National Football Conference champions by defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 32 to 25. AFC Ravens quarterback J

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has lost around 70% of its share price in a matter of hours, after news reports indicated a GBP 28 billion loss for 2008, and the UK government pledged to increase its stake in the company to 70%. The RBS shares in London opened today at 34.50, and apart from a small increase to 34.90, the shares have been below that rate throughout the day. The shares fell to just over 10, although they have since recovered very slightly to 11.60 as of 16:05 UTC. These low share prices are only a fraction of the 52 week high

New reports indicate that the proliferation of the Conficker computer worm (also known as Kido or Downadup) has nearly quadrupled in the last four days. The worm has gone from just over 2 million Microsoft Windows computers infected to 8.9 million, according to estimates by anti-virus company F-Secure. Though Microsoft issued a patch with a severity rating of "critical" in mid-October 2008, just days after Conficker was first discovered, many business computers still have not applied the patch. Most to all of the infected computers are on cor