On Sunday afternoon, a Lafayette-based Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI, Inc.) helicopter bound for the offshore oil fields crashed shortly after taking off from its Amelia base, into a marshy area near Bayou Penchant about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans. The helicopter had been carrying oilfield workers and 2 pilots. Eight people were killed and the Coast Guard helicopter rushed the lone survivor, a 28-year-old medevacted man, in critical condition, to Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center and then taken to Houma's Hebert Medical Center.
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Three British geology students of Imperial College London have been fined in China for "illegal survey and map-making activities", according to local media. In addition to making maps, the students were researching fault lines and earthquake activity in Xinjiang — a tense Muslim province to the west of the country where anger against Chinese rule sparked deadly attacks in 2008.
The students were gathering additional data in several regions, including Kashgar, the ancient Silk Road trading post, and an oasis city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonom
South Africa convincingly beat Australia by 9 wickets in the second cricket test being played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. It was the first time Australia has been beaten on home soil since 1992 when the West Indies beat Australia by 2-1 in the five match series. It was a see-sawing game that had both teams appear to be on top at times and only hours later struggling. The turning point came late on day three when Jean-Paul Duminy solidified the South African innings going on to eventually make a personal high score of 166. His partnership o
The Belgian parliament on Friday approved the new Van Rompuy I Government consisting of the same five political parties that formed the last ruling coalition, temporarily ending the country's political crisis. Lower house deputies approved the Motion of Confidence by a majority of 88 votes to 45, with no abstentions. "Don't judge the government... by its intentions but by its results, but no results in the very short-term, judge us in 2011," Van Rompuy told the lawmakers.
Herman A. Van Rompuy (herman van rɔmpœy) had officially been invested on
President Mahinda Rajapaksa called on Tamil rebels (LTTE) to surrender to end the quarter-century of civil war and their struggle for a separate homeland amid the capture of Iranamadu junction, town of Paranthan. He claimed that the recapture of Kilinochchi on Friday is a unparalleled victory against terrorism and separatism. "The time is not far off when people of the north can breathe freedom again, we should pay the gratitude of the whole nation to those heroic soldiers who achieved that victory," Rajapaksa said. The President further appeal
92,293 fans watched the University of Southern California Trojans defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions by a score of 38-24 in the 95th annual Rose Bowl Game, which took place Thursday at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena.
USC quarterback Mark Sanchez led the Trojans with 413 passing yards, a career high, and 4 passing touchdowns. The Trojan offense surged in the first half, scoring four touchdowns and a field goal to give USC a 31-7 USC lead at halftime. Prior to the game Penn State's defense only allowed an average of 12.7 points per game.
Jo
The owner of the Santika Club, site of the 2009 Bangkok nightclub fire, is to be charged along with twelve other directors over the disaster. 62 people were killed and 229 injured by the blaze, thought to have been triggered by New Year fireworks on the stage, although investigations are ongoing.
"I feel very sorry for what had happened. I want to apologise to victims' family members," said Mr Setsawat, the club's owner. The club had just three exits, of which one was known only to staff and another locked. A number of people died in the stamp
Following recent news that Honda had withdrawn from Formula One in 2009, initial rumours that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has rescued the team appear to be false. Foxsports quotes a Telmex release as saying "The Telmex Team can confirm that Carlos Slim Helu has not bought the Honda F1 team nor is holding any negotiations to do so. Therefore all information related to this subject has no basis and is completely false." Slim is the CEO and President of Telmex, a telecommunications provider in Mexico, and claims to be the world's second riche
University of Ghana law professor John Atta Mills, age 64, was confirmed on Saturday as the winner of the runoff presidential election, the fifth in Ghana since the return to multi-party democracy in 1992.
According to Electoral Commission Chair, Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, Atta Mills obtained 50.23 percent of ballots cast on December 28, or 4,521,032 votes, while Nana Akufo-Addo got 49.77 percent or 4,480,446 votes. Despite the ruling party's call to boycott, the Tain local election officer also announced that Atta-Mills obtained 19,566 votes in Frid
Tuesday saw Philippines President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, direct Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) officials and Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez to investigate and charge the people involved in an alleged drug bribery attempt involving wealthy Filipino families. The president also instructed the chair of the Dangerous Drugs Board, Vicente Sotto III to keep in custody the drug suspects, the so-called 'Alabang Boys'. This pending the DOJ's reinvestigation of the alleged P50-million bribe mess.
In September, Richa
Democratic Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has appointed former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to fill President-elect Barack Obama's vacated United States senate seat.
President-elect Obama and U.S. Senate Democratic leaders, however, say they will not accept the appointment from the governor, who is accused of pay to play politics and was arrested earlier last month on charges of corruption.
Obama declared in a statement that "Roland Burris is a good man and a fine public servant, but the Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago
Kent Hovind's Appeal for his and his wife, Jo's, felony convictions was recently denied by Eleventh Circuit Court. The court found that the Hovinds' appeal was "without merit." Kent and Jo were convicted of 58 and 44 tax-related felonies respectively, obstruction and intimidation of federal officers, willful failure to collect and pay taxes, and structuring to avoid bank reporting requirements. Kent is a Pensacola young Earth creationist/Evangelist and operator of Dinosaur Adventure Land whose speaking engagements and merchandise earned US$5
