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A fire on a train last night in Bedfordshire, England, may have been started deliberately in a suicide attempt. The British Transport Police has told Wikinews the incident "is not being treated as an accident". One female passenger, who is believed to have started the fire in a lavatory cubicle, was killed. No-one else was injured in the accident, but it led to the closure of the critical West Coast Main Line after emergency services attended the scene. The train was approaching Leighton Buzzard when smoke was seen coming from the washroom. "

One day after France began enforcing a ban on the public wearing Islamic veils that cover the face, either a niqāb or a burqa, French police briefly detained two veiled women. The police later claimed that the women were arrested for taking part in an unauthorized protest, not because they were wearing veils. The new law is hotly debated. The women were arrested while outside the famed Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, and may now face fines of up to $217 (150 euros), community service and/or a citizenship course under the law. While the ban cov

Ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has been refused permission to leave the country for medical treatment in Germany after suffering a heart attack during questioning by prosecutors who allege he was involved in corruption and killings while in government. The former leader was transported to hospital this afternoon days after he defended himself against allegations of money laundering. Mubarak, who is banned from leaving Egypt, was today taken to hospital in the coastal city of Sharm el-Sheikh, where he has been living since being ousted

This week state run newspapers in Bahrain officially declared that the nation was ‘back on track’ after weeks of political and sectarian unrest in the nation. However these headlines have been disputed by Shiite protestors in Bahrain. Sunni security forces have been raiding Shiite protestors' homes, knocking their doors down, spraying graffiti on walls and arresting them in an effort to keep Shiite activists off the street. Bahrain's government has been accused by the United States of human rights abuses including arbitrary detention and discr

Results from Iceland's referendum on Saturday show that Icelanders overwhelmingly voted "no" on a government-approved plan to repay Britain and the Netherlands billions of euros lost in Iceland's 2008 bank crash. In Sunday's final results almost 60 percent rejected the deal, with the voting turnout high, the government reported. This is the second repayment plan rejected by the voters; the first one was rejected by 93 percent last year. British and Dutch investors lost 3.9 billion euros ($5.6 billion) in Icesave, an Icelandic internet b

An able seaman in the Royal Navy has appeared at a magistrates court in Southampton, England this morning, charged with murder and attempted murder. Able Seaman Ryan Samuel Donovan is accused of shooting a crewmate dead in a Royal Navy nuclear submarine last week. One other crewman, Lt. Commander Christopher Hodge, was seriously injured in the attack and remains in stable condition at a local hospital. Last night, the chief prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service in Wessex confirmed that 22-year old Donovan, who served aboard HMS Astute,

Laurent Gbagbo, the incumbent president of Ivory Coast, is being taken to a hotel in the capital Abidjan to meet with internationally recognised leader Alassane Ouattara after the beseiged ruler was detained by forces loyal to the opposition. The permanent representative of Ivory Coast to the United Nations in New York, Youssoufou Bamba, said Gbagbo, who he described as "alive and well", had been captured by opposition forces in a raid on his presidential palace in Abidjan and will stand trial. The prime minister in Ouattara's prospective gove

A passenger was killed Monday evening after a fire started in a washroom aboard a train near Leighton Buzzard, in Bedfordshire, England. Emergency services were called to the London Midland train, where they found the body of a female passenger who had suffered burns. British Transport Police confirmed one female individual was killed in the blaze. A spokesperson said: "The deceased woman has injuries consistent with burns, no other person is believed to have been involved in the incident. Officers from the fire and ambulance services are on

Facebook announced Thursday it will begin to share some of the technology from their social network. The company indicated it would like to share specifications and design documents to help startups and to support innovation. Facebook hopes that they will be able to benefit from the innovations of others. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's CEO, announced the company's "Open Compute Project" at an event held for reporters at the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, California. Facebook will not directly make any money from the new project. However, b

Champion Tampa Bay Rays baseball player Manny Ramirez, 38, notified the MLB on Friday that he would retire after being notified that he had tested positive for a banned perforance-enhancing drug. It was his second offense and he was facing a 100-game suspension. In 2009 as a Los Angeles Dodger, he served a 50-game suspension for violating the MLB's drug policy. Ending a 19-year career, the twelve-time All-Star player who is considered one of the baseball's greatest hitters, won two World Series championships with the Boston Red Sox. He ba

President Álvaro Colom of Guatemala and first lady Sandra Torres have been granted a divorce by a family court. The couple applied for a divorce so that Torres could stand for president when her husband steps down. The couple would have to divorce because of the Guatemalan constitution which states that close relatives of the president can not stand to be their successor. Judge Mildred Roca said that she reached her decision to grant the couple a divorce last week, but had to delay making it official until other motions were ruled upon challen

Voting in parliamentary elections that took place on Saturday in Nigeria has concluded and votes are being counted after the first part of a three-round election. The day of voting passed fairly peacefully, with only two instances of violence. In Maiduguri, at least three people were killed after a bomb went off, and a hotel in the city was set on fire. Elsewhere, a policeman was shot and killed in Borno State. On Friday, a bombing in Suleja killed between eight and ten people. The elections were postponed for a week after many ballots and o