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Skype, an Internet phone service, has apologised after millions of people around the globe found the program had gone down. The outage, which occurred on Wednesday, reportedly affected the United States, Europe and Japan, and lasted several hours. The company wrote on Twitter on Thursday morning that, more than twelve hours after the outage, some users were still experiencing problems. The chief executive of Skype, Tony Bates, said his company took the technical issues "really seriously," and apologised to users. "Right now it looks like clien

China has said it is prepared to support eurozone countries during the financial crisis that has hit the sixteen member states. The country's foreign ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said: "We are ready to support the eurozone to overcome the financial crisis and realise economic recovery." Several of the eurozone's member states have been impacted with increasing debt levels. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and European Union (EU) have signed deals to hand a €110bn aid package to Greece, and an €85bn rescue package to Ireland. Industry c

A senior North Korean official said his country is prepared for a "sacred war of justice" with South Korea involving nuclear weapons. The country's armed forces minister, Kim Yong-Chun, said the North Korean government considered the planned South Korean military exercises to be preparation for armed warfare. The official said there would be retaliation if the largest military exercises ever to be held by the South were to go ahead. North Korean state media reported that Yong-Chun, at a national meeting in Pyongyang, said his country was "full

Silvio Berlusconi has layed foundations for a potential election in Italy early next year. The Prime Minister of Italy said he would consider holding an election if his government failed to have a significant parliamentary majority and is unable to pass reforms by the end of January. Berlusconi only narrowly survived a vote of no confidence in the Italian parliament a week ago, and he is facing a backlash from students over plans to radically reform the university system. Berlusconi said he had conferred with officials in Lega Nord, his gove

The Chilean and Swiss embassies in Rome, Italy were the subject of separate bombings Thursday. The parcel bombs detonated at the embassies leaving two people injured. A parcel bomb concealed in a package was detonated when the package was opened by a worker at the Swiss embassy. The worker, 53, was hospitalized with injuries to the hands and according to reports faced amputation of one or both hands. A second bomb detonated at the Chilean embassy, just hours later. An employee was also injured. Rome's mayor Gianni Alemanno suggested in a stat

The United Nations is reportedly beginning an investigation into claims that Pfc. Bradley Manning is being "tortured." Manning was arrested in May, after allegedly leaking over 250,000 classified diplomatic cables to the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks. Last week, it was announced that supporters for Manning lodged a complaint with the Office of The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, saying that the conditions of his cell and the treatment he is receiving, amount to "torture." According to Salon, Manning

A British serial killer has yesterday entered guilty pleas to all three counts of murder he faced. Stephen Griffiths, 40, who attracted tabloid attention by calling himself the "Crossbow Cannibal", killed the prostitutes in his flat in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England and will spend the rest of his life behind bars. Griffiths, a former van driver with a degree in psychology and studying for a PhD in criminology, was caught when police were alerted to a murder caught on CCTV. A caretaker, reviewing footage from the building where Griffiths's f

British Business Secretary Vince Cable has tonight been reprimanded by Prime Minister David Cameron after saying he was "at war" with Rupert Murdoch over News Corporation's attempts to take full control of BSkyB. Cable will remain in the cabinet, but he will have no further role in the takeover bid. A statement released by officials in Downing Street said Cable's comments were "totally unacceptable and inappropriate". The statement confirmed Cable will no longer have responsibility over matters relating to media and broadcasting. In a secret

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a magnitude 7.4 earthquake has struck the Bonin Islands in Japan. Japanese officials have issued a tsunami warning for areas around the islands, including the southern half of the country. A number of aftershocks with magnitudes between five and six struck over the hour following the initial earthquake. "Evacuate from the seashore immediately to the safe places near the above coasts," said the tsunami warning issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The National Oceanic and Atmosp

In the Scottish Premier League (SPL), Kilmarnock F.C. defeated Hibernian F.C. 2-1 on Saturday. Nine minutes into the game in Rugby Park, Kilmarnock, Scotland, Liam Kelly became the first player of the game to score for Kilmarnock. He achieved a second goal for his team 43 minutes after the game commenced. In the second half of the match on the snow-covered field, Derek Riordan scored one goal for his team Hibernian at 55 minutes, which was also his 100th career goal for the team. Liam Miller of Hibernian was given a red card after clipping Con

British actress Kara Tointon and her Russian dance partner Artem Chigvintsev have become the winners of the latest series of the BBC Television programme Strictly Come Dancing. The pair won the dancing show on Saturday, leaving British television presenter Matt Baker and his Kazakhstani dance partner Aliona Vilani in second place. Bookmakers had considered this dancing duo to be the most likely to win the series. Meanwhile, Australian actress Pamela Stephenson finished in third place along with her British dance partner, James Jordan. It was

The United Nations and French peacekeeping forces say they will not leave the Ivory Coast despite orders from incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo to leave the country. Secretary General of the UN Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that the UN in the Ivory Coast will "fulfill its mandate and will continue to monitor and document any human rights violations, incitement to hatred and violence, or attacks on U.N. peacekeepers." He also called the orders for all peacekeeping troops to leave the nation irrelevant and without effect, adding that the UN d