World

Unrest continues in Syria as security forces allegedly opened fire on 10,000 anti-government protestors in the city of Homs on Monday night; two were reported as injured. The protest, sparked by the funerals of seventeen anti-government protestors held earlier in the day, resulted in security forces locking-down the city and ordering protestors to disband by 2:30 a.m. local time. Security forces allegedly opened fire at 2:15 a.m., also using tear gas to subdue the crowd. This is the latest in a spate of unrest in the country and the largest

A riot at Sydney's Villawood Detention Centre continued Thursday with six protesters remaining on the roof after the centre was set alight Wednesday night in a protest involving up to 100 detainees. Nobody has been injured in the protest. Nine demountable buildings were destroyed in the blaze, described as an "act of desperation" from asylum-seekers held at the centre for up to two years. Firefighters were pelted with roof tiles and other debris as they struggled to contain the fire. The protest began early Wednesday, sparked by two men clim

U.S.-based credit rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) announced Monday its decision to downgrade its outlook for the U.S. long-term debt from "stable" to "negative", saying it is not confident the U.S. Congress and Obama administration will be able to reach an agreement to meaningfully cut the country's fast-growing budget deficit within a two-year framework. Although the U.S. continues to have a top AAA credit rating at the moment, S&P says that there is at least a 33 percent possibility it will lower the country's long-term bond rating wi

Following on from January's strike, the UK's Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) yesterday took 24 hours strike action in a dispute over working conditions within call centres providing Jobcentre services for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). A press release sent Sunday night by Katrine Williams, the Chair of PCS Wales, states 70% of members who voted were in favour of the industrial action. PCS members "suffer oppressive working conditions that simply result in high levels of stress and sickness" according to the union, and p

Former Australian water polo champion Keli Lane, 36, received an eighteen year prison term with a non-parole period of thirteen years and five months after being convicted of killing her two-day old daughter, Tegan. The Sydney woman had been in custody since December when she was found guilty of her infant's 1996 murder, despite the fact the baby’s body was never found. Lane has repeatedly denied any guilt in the murder, maintaining she gave the baby to its biological father, a man she named as either Andrew Morris or Andrew Norris. Although

Tens of thousands of Syrians took to the streets Friday in cities across the country protesting for freedom. Syria's official news agency (SANA) reported, "scattered groups of citizens came out to the streets in several areas of the provinces after Friday prayers and chanted slogans calling for freedom without the intervention of security forces." However, protests in Damascus reportedly turned violent as security forces were said to disperse the crowds with batons and tear gas to prevent protesters reaching the capital's main square. "I count

The Australian Defence Force could face a class-action lawsuit in light of recent allegations of a male cadet broadcasting himself having sex with a female cadet to six other cadets at the Australian Defence Force Academy. This move is in light of similar investigations taking place in other branches of the defence force including the navy where a man told the Vietnam Veterans Association he was beaten repeatedly on the HMAS Leeuwin during the 1970's. The beatings included being sexually abused with a mop handle according to the man. Advocates

United States officials have unveiled new plans which require air traffic controllers to have longer rest periods between shifts after a spate of controllers fell asleep while on duty at airports across the country. Announcing the plans, transport secretary Ray LaHood said he was "outraged" by the incidents. The new plans, which the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the U.S. government agency responsible for aviation, said would be implemented immediately, come after another controller was suspended this week when they fell asleep while d

One of Kentucky's newest state lawmakers, who also serves as a high school teacher, sustained a critical head injury Tuesday morning while intervening to break up a fight between two students in the school's cafeteria. State Representative DeWayne Bunch (R), 49, was listed in "extremely critical" condition when he was taken to the Baptist Regional Medical Center in Corbin, Kentucky, immediately following the fight between two male teens. Bunch was reported as being unconscious and bleeding from the ears when emergency responders arrived at

One year after the Deepwater Horizon disaster which caused the largest oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and caused huge environmental damage in the Gulf of Mexico, experts have warned there are serious questions over the safety of deep water drilling as the United States government approves more exploration without improving safety measures. Scientists have raised major concerns over repeated assurances from the industry and the government, who insist lessons have been learned from the environmental disaster in the Gulf of Me

Hank Krakowski, the head of air traffic organization at the Federal Aviation Administration, has resigned after Ray LaHood, the United States transport secretary, said he was "totally outraged" as it emerged five air traffic controllers have been suspended this year for falling asleep while on duty. In one incident, two passenger jets landed without any guidance from the control tower at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C. after the lone controller fell asleep. "I am totally outraged by these incidents," LaHood said. "This is abs

Barry Bonds, a United States baseball player, has been found guilty of one count of obstructing justice for giving an evasive answer to a federal grand jury under oath when asked whether he had ever received drugs necessitating a syringe. The judge declared a mistrial on three other obstruction of justice counts, the three charges that Bonds made false statements when he said to a grand jury in December 2003 that he never knowingly used steroids or human growth hormones given to him by his personal trainer, and that he permitted only d