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At approximately 1600 EST (2100 UTC) a suspicious package was found near the baggage claim at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, United States, leading to the closure of around half of the terminal. Police later determined that the package was harmless and reopened the affected areas of the airport. Parts of the airport had been closed for two hours before being reopened. Officials from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said a canine unit was attracted to an unattended piece of baggage near the baggage claim. The

The incumbent leader of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, is expelling the Canadian and British ambassadors, according to state television. State television reports the envoys are being expelled as a reciprocal measure, as the respective countries did not recognise Gbagbo's leadership. This is following his decision not to step down despite international recognition of rival Alassane Ouattara winning the November 2010 presidential election. Canada withdrew recognition of Louis L.B. Bony — Gbagbo's ambassador to Canada — on December 29, with the

The man that Steven Spielberg once called "possibly the best actor in the world", has died. Peter Postlethwaite (OBE), a resident of England who worked as an actor for over 40 years, died of testicular cancer in Shropshire at the age of 64, according to his friend Andrew Richardson. Postlethwaite, born in Warrington in 1946, was most famous for his starring role in such films as Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects and, more recently, Inception. He was also known to be a stage performer. In 1993, he was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting ac

Pakistani officials have stated that three US drone strikes have killed fifteen people in the country Saturday. The attacks occurred to the north of Miranshah town in the North Waziristan region. Security officials in the town informed AFP that in the first strike, US drones fired four missiles on a car, killing seven suspected militants. A nearby "militant compound" was also destroyed by the missiles. "Three militants were killed in the car while four were killed in the house," the official said. The second attack occurred within minutes of t

Yesterday, United States President Barack Obama signed into law a five-year benefit package to provide healthcare treatment for emergency workers including police, firefighters, and rescue workers affected by illness and respiratory problems contracted while working at the site of the World Trade Center attacks in New York City on September 11, 2001. The bill—the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, which is named after a police officer who died of a respiratory illness he got during a rescue operation at the World Trade Center — wi

A ban on smoking in public places has gone into force in Spain today. Bars, restaurants, and nightclubs will now be smoke-free across the country. The Spanish government had introduced voluntary regulations on smoking in 2006 which allowed for venues to ban smoking, but few chose to do so. The 2006 law also banned smoking at workplaces. Spain now joins Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy in banning smoking in enclosed public places. Leire Pajin, the Spanish health minister, said the law marked "a decisive step in the defence of th

A strong earthquake struck central and southern Chile on Sunday evening. The earthquake reached a magnitude of 7.1, and occurred at 20:20:16 UTC (17:20:16 local time), at a depth of 16.9 kilometers, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was centered near the town of Tirúa; 70 kilometers northwest of Temuco, Araucanía Region; 90 kilometers south-southeast of Lebu, Bío Bío Region; 130 kilometers southwest of Los Ángeles, Bío Bío; and 595 kilometers south-southwest of Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region. "At coasta

A memorial service was held Thursday for Adrienne Nicole Martin, the model found dead two weeks ago in the Missouri, US mansion of former Anheuser-Busch CEO August Busch IV. Martin, of Native American ethnicity, was 27 years old when she died of unknown causes, said investigators. Martin, who had been dating the 46-year-old Busch for "the last several months" according to friends, was a native of Springfield. She had previously been married to 45-year-old doctor Kevin J. Martin until February 2009, when they divorced, and had joint custody of

Three are dead after a tornado hit Cincinnati, a small town in Arkansas, about three miles from Oklahoma’s border. Around 6:00 local time, on Friday, the system, fed by warm winter air, caused several injuries, damaging the power grid. Josh Howerton, the county’s sheriff’s dispatcher, stated that the storm touched down near the town’s center. "Lots of injuries" were reported. A tornado warning for Cincinnati and nearby towns was issued by the Tulsa weather center nine minutes before the storm struck. "Any time you have a significant change in

Belarusian Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky has been sacked by President Alexander Lukashenko after a cabinet reshuffle following last week's disputed Presidential election. His successor is Mikhail Myasnikovich, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus back in the 1990s. Sidorsky was the Prime Minister of Belarus since July of 2003 when he was appointed by President Lukashenko. He is Belarus' longest serving Prime Minister, having served over seven years. Before that he was Deputy Prime Minister from 2001 to 2002. This comes a week after the

US professional pool player Wade Crane has died after a one-car accident in Tennessee, USA. He was 66 years old. Crane's Volkswagen crossed three lanes of traffic into the concrete retaining wall, then bounced back across five more lanes of traffic into another retaining wall. It is believed that Crane suffered from an undiagnosed medical condition. News of the crash was broken by The Knoxville News Sentinel. Crane was a former world champion of both 9-ball and 8-ball pool. A self-taught player, for 21 years he was the only person in pool his

A report by the Chinese government states corruption is "very serious". Officials, it says, have investigated over 240,000 cases in the past seven years including bribery and embezzlement. The document, released by state news agency Xinhua, states although "notable" steps have been made towards fighting corruption, attempts to flush out corrupt citizens need to be more effective. The report further warns of corruption within government, noting new regulations ordering government officials to report investment and income. It also praises the In