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Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon has announced plans to introduce legislation requiring cigarette packaging to be plain, and unbranded. The opposition coalition may oppose this move, and will examine the detail of the legislation before deciding. "We do support sensible measures that are proven to lead to reduced levels of smoking but we want to wait and see the full legislation, and what evidence they are relying on that plain packaging does reduce smoking rates," stated a spokesman for opposition leader Tony Abbott. Intended to decr

Reports indicate two people have been shot at Southampton Eastern Docks, England. According to initial reports, a firearms incident has occurred on or close to HMS Astute, a submarine which was berthed in the docks. The incident is thought to have occurred a short time before 1212 BST when police were called to the docks. "Hampshire police were called by their Ministry of Defense colleagues at 12.12 pm (1112 GMT) today... and are currently liaising with them to establish the exact circumstances of the incident," said a Hampshire Constabular

Microsoft announced Thursday that it plans to release seventeen security bulletins, known as patches, to address 64 security flaws on Tuesday. Nine of the patches are deemed "critical" and eight as "important." The enormous number of security flaws addressed in the April Patch update is a record for Microsoft. The company also released seventeen security bulletins in December, but these addressed 40 flaws, only two being rated as critical; also a record is the number of flaws being addressed in the update; the most previously addressed was 49

__NOTOC__ Late last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed objections to the United States Government's 'secret' attempts to obtain Twitter account information relating to WikiLeaks. The ACLU and EFF cite First and Fourth amendment issues as overriding reasons to overturn government attempts to keep their investigation secret; and, that with Birgitta Jonsdottir being an Icelandic Parliamentarian, the issue has serious international implications. The case, titled "In the Matter of the 27

Indian social activist and reformer Anna Hazare, 72, joined a nationwide protest campaign against an anti-corruption bill on Tuesday by beginning a "fast-unto-death" hunger strike at Jantar Mantar observatory in Delhi. He and 100 of his supporters began fasting to protest the bill, known as the Ombudsman bill, when the government did not accept their demand that the opinions of citizens be considered in the formation of the bill. Participants in the nationwide campaign called "India Against Corruption" claim the proposed anti-corrupt

Tucson, Arizona police say that Blanca Montano, 21, an Arizona mother, was arrested and charged with child abuse on Tuesday for purposely injuring her seven-month-old daughter. Hospital staff reported Montano to authorities after the child was found to be suffering from nine separate, rare infections which became worse after the mother's visits. Investigation by police determined that Montano had knowingly poisoned her child and made her sick. Montano was then prevented from visiting and the child noticeably improved. Montano hospitalized her

A body that was discovered in the River Avon in Bath has been confirmed as missing student James Bubear. The 19 year-old went missing on March 13 after leaving a fancy dress party in the city centre. The creative writing student's death is not being treated as suspicious according to the Avon and Somerset police. The Bath University student went missing after attending a night out with friends. He left the Revolution bar around 10.30pm and was last seen on CCTV James Street West on the night of his disapperence. His passport and phone was fou

According to senior defense officials, U.S. service men and women around the world, including those at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, may receive only one-week's pay instead of two in their next paycheck if the government shuts down this weekend due to the federal budget impasse. The military can't be paid during a funding lapse until a new appropriations bill or continuing resolution is passed by Congress. If the funding bill is allowed to expire on April 8, it will be in the middle of a standard military two-week pay period, so the Pentagon w

Over 50 people have been injured today when two trains collided head-on at the Bet-Yehoshua station, near the city of Netanya on the railway from Tel Aviv to Haifa. Most of the injuries are minor, with no casualties or serious injuries reported in the media. The trains advanced slowly, one leaving the station and one entering it. One of the trains was completely derailed. The Israeli Railway Authority CEO said the accident was caused by a personal error of one of the conductors, but a police investigation is still ensuing. This is the second

At least fourteen people have died after eating toxic sardines in Madagascar. The deaths occurred in the town of Toliara, with another similar situation happening 130 km (80.8 mi) away in Sakaraha. The sardines the victims ate belong to the Clupeidae family. As well as the dead, around 120 people have been taken ill after eating the fish according to officials. Dr Hery Raharisaina, Madagascar's fishing and aquatic resources minister, offered condolence to the families of the victims on behalf of the government. He added in his statement that t

Twelve people died during a shooting at a school in the neighborhood Realengo in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro. The gunman is numbered among the dead, after taking his own life. Ten people are reported injured during the attack by a man identified as Wellington Menezes Olivera, a 23 year old ex-student from the school. The attack took place just after 8am local time (11:00 GMT) this morning. Television station TV Globo reported that Olivera entered the Tasso da Silveira municipal school, telling officials that he was attending to make a

The United Nations has announced that three Ivory Coast military leaders are in the process of negotiating a potential surrender for disputed president Laurent Gbagbo. After several days of fighting, during which forces loyal to internationally-recognized president Alassane Ouattara moved south towards the city of Abidjan, Gbagbo is reported to have taken shelter in a bunker underneath the presidential palace in Abidjan. Pro-Ouattara forces are reported to have surrounded the palace. According to the UN and French officials, an agreement tha