Hong Kong police move to open roads in Mong Kok

Friday, October 17, 2014 At about 5.00 a.m. today local time (2100 yesterday UTC), police in Hong Kong moved to clear obstacles to traffic at the intersection of Argyle Street and Nathan Road in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. For weeks the normally busy crossroads has been occupied by pro-democracy protesters and closed to traffic. Police in riot gear cordoned off […]

Nine dead after armed Santa Claus opens fire in LA suburb

Monday, December 29, 2008 At least nine people have been killed in a two-story house in Covina, California, after a man dressed in a full Santa Claus outfit opened fire at a Christmas Eve party and then set the house ablaze. Covina is a city in Los Angeles County, California about 22 miles (35 km) east of downtown Los Angeles. […]

Plane crashes into office block in Austin, Texas/suicide note

This is the online suicide letter authored by Andrew Stack, the man believed to be responsible for flying a light aircraft into a building in Austin, Texas. It was originally posted at Stack’s site, http://embeddedart.com/. The hosting company, T35, took the site offline per an FBI request. The note is reproduced here in its entirety. If you’re reading this, you’re […]

Rachel Weisz wants Botox ban for actors

Tuesday, July 7, 2009 English actress Rachel Weisz thinks that Botox injections should be banned for all actors. The 39-year-old actress, best known for her roles in the Mummy movie franchise and for her Academy Award-winning portrayal in The Constant Gardener, feels facial Botox injections leave actors less able to convey emotion and that it harms the acting industry as […]

Large bomb defused in Northern Ireland

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 A 600 lb bomb which was found in Northern Ireland has been defused by a bomb disposal team. The bomb was found on the side of a road near the village of Forkhill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, close to the border with the Republic of Ireland. It was defused by an expert bomb disposal team from […]

Australian Senate agrees ban on tertiary-sector mandatory student unions

Friday, December 9, 2005 The voluntary student unionism bills that have been proposed earlier in the year by the Australian government in the Australian House of Representatives has been passed by the Australian Senate December 9, without amendment, after an unexpected urgency motion that afternoon. The voluntary student unionism bills aim to stop the compulsory joining of university students into […]

Finnish police isolate ports in Helsinki

Saturday, August 6, 2005 The Finnish police isolated the ports of Katajanokka and Länsisatama on Saturday. The ports were isolated at around 9.30 p.m. local time and the isolation was called off at around 11.30 p.m. Finnish police received reports from Estonia that a shipping container loaded with explosives could be coming from Estonia Saturday evening. They checked every truck […]

Afghanistan prepares for presidential runoff election

Monday, October 26, 2009 Afghanistan is getting ready for a second-round presidential election between President Hamid Karzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. The second round comes after the election commission nullified nearly one million votes cast in August’s presidential polls. The investigation brought Mr. Karzai’s vote count below 50 percent, enough to trigger a runoff. The United Nations has […]

British broadcaster Sir David Attenborough receives hate mail from creationists

Wednesday, January 28, 2009 Veteran broadcaster and documentary maker Sir David Attenborough has said how he has received hate mail from creationists. The letters tell him to “Burn in Hell” after not crediting God in his natural history documentaries. Fred Drummond, director of the Scottish branch of the Evangelical Alliance, notes that this hatred is “not representative of Evangelical Christians […]

Jokela High School reopens after deadly multiple shooting

Saturday, November 17, 2007 Jokela High School in Tuusula, Finland, scene of the Jokela school shooting, has recommenced classes. Earlier this month, student Pekka-Eric Auvinen, 18, fatally wounded eight people with his handgun before turning the weapon on himself in the country’s worst ever school shooting. He died later in hospital, having never regained consciousness. All last week repair teams […]