Latest

Ahmed Ben Bella, the first president of Algeria, died on Wednesday. He was 95. Known for his struggle against French rule, Ben Bella led the nation from 1963 to 1965 having only learned Arabic during a prison sentence. He came from a poor, agricultural background and left school early, but it was during his schooldays he joined Messali Hadj's Algerian People's Party. Serving in World War II, Ben Bella was decorated with five medals for actions including conflict at the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino in Italy and shooting down a German aircraft

Approximately twenty flight routes for various airlines are to be modified to avoid the path of a rocket scheduled to be launched from North Korea later this month, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said yesterday. Amongst the affected companies are Delta Air Lines, Garuda Indonesia, Japan Airlines, Korean Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Philippine Airlines and All Nippon Airways, all of which are to reroute their flight paths between April 12 and April 16, in which time the North Korean government says launch is scheduled, with the spec

Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania ended his campaign for the U.S. Republican Party presidential nomination on Tuesday, two weeks ahead of his home state's presidential primary. In addition to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Representative Ron Paul of Texas remain in the race. During his campaign, Santorum won a total of eleven contests, including those in Iowa, Minnesota, and Kansas. Overall, according the Associated Press count, he accumulated 285 delegates for the nomination,

Ex-Washington, D.C. third grade teacher Eric Justin Toth, who worked at the National Cathedral's Beauvoir school, was officially added to the top of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitive List yesterday, replacing Osama bin Laden, who was killed by US Navy Seals last May. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating Toth in 2008 when a school camera allegedly used by Toth contained child pornography. The FBI also believes Toth was responsible for installing a camera in the student's bathroom near Toth's classroom. When Toth beca

Leader of the Manson Family cult Charles Manson, who has tried to get parole 11 times, will have another opportunity to seek it again Wednesday, for his life sentence for his 1969 slayings of actress Sharon Tate and six others. The 77 year old’s last parole hearing occurred in 2007. Manson didn’t go to his last parole hearing in 2007, saying that he was a "prisoner of the political system." He isn’t expected to attend the Wednesday hearing either, according to a spokesperson at Corcoran State Prison. The district attorney’s office in Los An

According to press releases from the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), Unit 2 of the Penly Nuclear Power Plant in France shut down Thursday afternoon after operators were alerted to "small quantities of burning oil." The plant is operated by Électricité de France (EDF). Emergency crews were dispatched to the 1,330-megawatt French reactor following an alarm triggered there at 11:20 UTC Thursday. According to EDF, there were "no consequences for the environment" and no one was injured. The ASN said in a statement the anomaly had been provis

Yesterday, the United States Coast Guard went through with its plans to fire its cannons on the Ryō Un Maru, a Japanese ship that was sent out to sea last year by the tsunami that hit Japan. The Ryō Un Maru has made a journey across the Pacific Ocean from Hachinohe, Japan to the Gulf of Alaska and ended up about 180 miles from the Alaskan shore. Coast Guard spokesman Paul Webb said sinking the vessel would be "less risky than it would be running into shore or running into [maritime] traffic". The plan was for a Coast Guard cutter to hole the

In the opening round of the 2012 ANZ Championship this past weekend, the Southern Steel beat the Bay of Plenty Magic in Invercargill, New Zealand by a score of 49–47, while over in Brisbane, Australia, the defending champion Queensland Firebirds lost to the Melbourne Vixens by a score of 47–42. The wins by the Steel and the Vixens are considered by those who follow the netball league to be major upsets. The Firebirds' loss this past Sunday was their first in fifteen games extending back to last season. Last season's championship is not a harb

The following is the fifth in a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2012 presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after a brief mention of some of the month's biggest stories. In this month's edition on the campaign trail, a politician from outside the fifty states receives significant mention as a potential Republican Party vice presidential nominee, Wikinews gets the reaction of three Democratic Party candidates after the party strips delegates from two of their fellow challengers, and a min

2012 Olympics and Paralympics Team Men’s Single Scull Jared Bidwell (QLD) Men’s Double Scull Scott Brennan (TAS) David Crawshay (VIC) Men’s Quad Scull Daniel Noonan (NSW) Karsten Forsterling (VIC) James McRae (SA) Chris Morgan (SA) Women’s Double Scull Kim Crow (VIC) Brooke Pratley (NSW) Women’s Quad Scull Kerry Hore (TAS) Pippa Savage (QLD) Pauline Frasca (VIC) Dana Faletic (TAS) Men’s Lightweight Double Scull Tom Gibson (TAS) Rod Chisholm (NSW) Women’s Lightweight Double Scull Bronwen Watson (NSW) Hannah Every-Hall (QLD) Men’s

Over the course of the weekend, Palau's police shot a Chinese fisherman believed to be illegally fishing in the economic zone of the tiny Micronesian nation. Three police staff, who were patrolling territorial waters in search of the Chinese fishing mothership, are feared missing as their plane was not heard from in over forty-eight hours. The shooting occurred after the police tried to contact the boat and warn them to leave Palau's territorial water, and subsequent warning shots being fired to again warn the boat away from the area. Five Ch

Nobel Peace Prize winner and activist Aung San Suu Kyi claims to have won an estimated 99% of votes in the Kawhmu constituency in Myanmar's parliamentary elections yesterday. The leader of National League for Democracy, she spent most of the past 22 years under Junta rule as a political prisoner. The victory claim was displayed by her party on a digital signboard in Yangon. Although Suu Kyi expressed concern at the election's fairness, the 66 year old eventually contested Kawhmu, a rural constituency located two hours from Yangon. Unofficial