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Former 1972 U.S. election Democratic Presidential candidate and United States Senator from South Dakota George McGovern died Sunday at the age of 90 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He died at 5:15 am local time (1015 UTC). McGovern's 1972 running mate was originally Thomas Eagleton, however, due to revelations about Eagleton's psychiatric past, he was replaced by Sargent Shriver. McGovern and his running mate Shriver lost to U.S. President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. McGovern got only 17 electoral votes. In 1992, he spoke of po

Pirates from Somalia have captured two ships in the Gulf of Aden on Monday. The ships thought to be captured are the British owned St James Park chemical tanker, and the Panamanian Navios Apollon cargo ship. This brings the total number of ships being held by the pirates to ten. Also on Monday, pirates released a Singapore-owned cargo ship, the Kota Wajar, for US$4 million (€2.7m, £2.5m) ransom. The pirate commander Mohamed Shakir told The Times “We have hijacked a ship with [a] British flag in the Gulf of Aden late yesterday, we have peace

A bridge under construction along the Chambal river collapsed in Kota India, trapped more than 40 people under debris, and injured five, on Thursday. Twelve bodies have been recovered from the river, and Rajeev Dasot, the inspector general of police, said that the remaining 30 are most likely dead. Numerous rescuers were on the site, however it could take another three days to finish cleaning the area. Local investigators have arrested two project managers working for South Korea's Hyundai Engineering and Gammon India under suspicion of culp

Officials in Pakistan have said that a bomb blast killed seven Pakistani soldiers and wounded eleven others on Saturday in the northwestern part of the country. The incident took place in the Khyber region, which is the main route for moving supplies to international forces fighting in neighbouring Afghanistan. The explosion struck a vehicle that was transporting paramilitary troops on a patrol near the region's main town of Landikotal, according to a spokesman for the Frontier Corps. "The vehicle was completely destroyed and seven of our sold

Aerosmith have cancelled their remaining concerts on their tour. The rock band was due to tour the United States and Canada until September 16. They have cancelled the tour after lead singer Steven Tyler was injured after he fell off stage while performing on August 5. Tyler suffered a broken shoulder and injuries to the head as the band played in front of a crowd in South Dakota. He was airlifted to hospital after the fall, and later travelled to Boston to see his own doctor. Doctors advised him to recuperate as he rests his shoulder. The

Approximately 100 scientists and students will take part in the Verification of Rotation in Tornadoes Expermiment VORTEX2 project in May to study tornadoes in the central United States along Tornado Alley. One of the unique features of VORTEX2 is that it is mobile, with no fixed base. The large armada will operate from the Dakotas down to Texas, operating in a different area every day as the weather dictates. The project will run between May 10 to June 13, repeating again in 2010 from 1 May until 15 June. 40 research vehicles will use mobil

In the United States Senate on Tuesday, Senators Byron Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota, and Mike Enzi, a Republican from Wyoming, introduced the "Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act" (S.428), a bill that would lift the travel restrictions that have prevented U.S. citizens from visiting Cuba since the early 1960s. The bill is co-sponsored by 20 senators, and the House of Representatives is considering a companion measure, H.R. 874, introduced by Representatives Bill Delahunt and Jeff Flake. The House measure has 121 cosponsors. Senator Dick Luga

Fargo, North Dakota is preparing itself for what could be its worst flood ever. Hundreds of high school and college students worked with two hundred National Guard soldiers Monday on the task of filling over a million sandbags in the effort to stave off the rising Red River. Classes at North Dakota State University were canceled in order to lend the assistance of its students and faculty. The threat of further rainfall has increased the flood risk, with the river now predicted to crest as high as , over twice that of its lowest flood stage. A

On Tuesday, United States President Barack Obama saw two of his cabinet nominations withdraw from consideration after issues with their taxes became public knowledge. Former Senator Tom Daschle from South Dakota withdrew after it was revealed he failed to pay US$128,203 in taxes. He has since made the payment including a $11,964 interest payment. Obama had nominated him as the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Nancy Killefer, whom Obama had appointed to the newly created position of Chief Performance Officer, withdrew her nomination bec

Voters in California, Florida and Arizona voted on Tuesday to ban gay marriage, bringing about a victory for conservatives on a day which did not bring many conservative wins. Meanwhile, voters in Colorado, South Dakota and California voted on measures which would have restricted abortion in those states. In Massachusetts and Michigan, voters passed measures that loosen marijuana laws. Finally, in the state of Washington a measure was passed that allows physician-assisted suicide. The California ballot measure, Proposition 8, overturns the r

India's first lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 (meaning 'moon craft' in Sanskrit) has completed the tricky manoeuvre of entering the lunar orbit at 5:15 PM Indian standard time. This was an important milestone for the Indian mission to the Moon, which was launched on October 22 from Indian spaceport Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota. ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair said everything onboard Chandrayaan-1 is working fine. The lunar orbit insertion (LOI) began at 4:50 P.M and lasted for 817 seconds (14 minutes). The ground control station at Pee

India's first unmanned lunar mission was launched off of the shore of Andhra Pradesh this morning. India now joins the United States, Russia, Japan, China and the European Space Agency as the only powers that have demonstrated their ability to launch satellites to the moon. The Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe was launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 6:22 am (00:52 UTC) in Sriharikota, which is about 88 km (55 mi) north of the southern Indian city of Chennai. The cost of this mission is estimated at 3.4 billion rupees (US$78 million). Whi

Burj Dubai in the United Arab Emirates is now the world’s tallest man-made structure, after reaching a record height of 688 metres, The tower is now over 160 stories - the largest number of floors in any building across the world, its developer real estate giant Emaar Properties said in a statement. The tower unofficially became the world’s tallest man-made structure in April, 2008 after surpassing the KVLY-TV mast (628.8 metres) in North Dakota in the United States. Though the final height of the tower has not been disclosed yet, it is expect

Since winning the reality television series America's Next Top Model in December 2006, CariDee English, a small-town girl from Fargo, North Dakota, was plucked from relative obscurity to be the new look for CoverGirl Cosmetics, the newest fresh face on the cover of Seventeen, and affiliated with the largest modeling agency in the world, Elite Model Management. However, she feels her greatest accomplishment is being the spokeswoman for the National Psoriasis Foundation, in which she is a motivational speaker and gives encouragement to psoriasi

The Lakota Freedom Delegation, which in December declared that the Lakota people were withdrawing from their treaties with the United States and reasserting their sovereignty as an independent state, is acting without the support of the Treaty Council, the traditional government of the Lakota, Wikinews has learned. Wikinews spoke with Floyd Looks-For-Buffalo Hand, an Oglala Lakota Treaty Delegate and Elder, also an author and a spiritual leader in the indigenous Lakota religion, and who is also blood uncle to Lakota Freedom Delegation member C

It's now been three weeks since the four-person Lakota Freedom Delegation declared that the Lakota people were withdrawing from their treaties with the United States and, though small, the movement still proves controversial: two U.S.-recognized Lakota tribal governments have rejected the Delegation's authority outright with at least one tribe stating it will consider the Delegation's, now Lakota Oyate's, proposal. The rest of the tribes have remained silent. The central figure the movement has been Canupa Gluha Mani, a longtime activist whose

Wikinews has learned that the Lakota Freedom Delegation, also known as Lakotah Oyate, an organization of activists fighting for the Sioux Indian Nation to withdraw all treaties with the United States, was "hijacked" by its spokesman, Russell Means, an activist for Native American Indians. On December 19, 2007, Means and the "delegation" went to Washington, D.C. and hand-delivered a letter, signed by the Delegation, to the U.S. State Department claiming that the Lakota Indian Tribe was declaring that all treaties between the tribe and the U.S.

A delegation claiming to represent the Lakota Indian Tribe, an Indian nation within United States borders, have signed a document stating that the tribe withdraws and or cancels all treaties with the U.S. and formally establishes independence from the country. The letter was hand delivered by activists for the tribe to Deputy to the Public Liaison at the State Department, Daniel Turner. "We are no longer citizens of the United States of America and all those who live in the five-state area that encompasses our country are free to join us. Thi

According to Pentagon officials, nearly 70 United States Air Force personnel and high ranking officials have been relieved from command and or duty after an incident on August 30 when a U.S. B-52H bomber plane flew from Minot Air Force Base located in North Dakota to Louisiana with six armed AGM-129 ACM nuclear missiles attached to its wings. Twelve unarmed missiles were supposed to be taken to Barksdale Air Force Base to be taken out of commission. Instead, live missiles were placed on the planes wings, along with six of the "dummy missiles,"

Floods during the month of January have devastated Singapore. A major flood occurred from January 11 to January 12, 2007, during which almost 24 cm of rain fell, resulting in a landslide. A second major flood recently occurred at Kota Tinggi, leaving 17 people and 12 monkeys dead. As of January 31, 30,000 people still reside in relief centers in w:Johor. Almost 24 cm of rain fell in two days in northern Singapore, disrupting business operations in the area and triggering a landslide in Jalan Anak Bukit. The continuous rainfall, over 18 hours o

Tim Johnson, a United States Democratic Senator from South Dakota, reportedly suffered a stroke at about 11:30 this morning. However, subsequent tests revealed that the senator did not suffer a stroke or a heart attack. He was transported to George Washington University Hospital by ambulance, where he was diagnosed with a congenital arteriovenous malformation and underwent brain surgery. He is currently "recovering without complications" and "appropriately responsive to both word and touch" but it still in critical condition and being monitore

A 24-year-old Texas man is set to be the first person executed in South Dakota in 59 years after asking to fire his lawyer and drop further court appeals. Elijah Page of Athens, Texas, may die by lethal injection tomorrow for the brutal murder of Chester Poage, 19, in Higgins Gulch, in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. The court will weigh whether or not Page is competent to fire his lawyers and drop appeals, and a decision is expected today. Page, along with Briley Piper, 25, of Anchorage, Alaska, pleaded guilty in 2001 for the March

Republican Governor Mike Rounds of South Dakota signed South Dakota House of Representatives Bill 1215 into law today, banning all abortions in the state except to save the life of the mother (with no exceptions for rape and incest) to take effect in July.

South Dakotans got more than a charity bash Saturday after a planned demolition of the tallest building in South Dakota, a feed plant tower, went badly. Experts will attempt to reprise their role on Monday, planting more explosives to topple the now leaning Zip Feed Mill tower of Sioux Falls, or perhaps finish it by smashing it down with a wrecking ball. Some would like to see the odd landmark stay in its 30 degree list as a tourist attraction. But few believe the partnership that owns it will stand for such a ruse. Most believe the tower i