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The day before Zimbabwe's presidential runoff is to be held, President Robert Mugabe says he is open to discussion with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the opposition party that has decided to boycott what they and other African leaders have called a "sham election". On Wednesday, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai had called for pre-election talks on forming a transitional authority. Mugabe, who had previously shown little interest in talks with the opposition, said at a campaign rally, "Should we emerge victorious ... we will be magnanim

A grocer in Bristol has been told that, under regulations brought in by the European Union, he is not allowed to sell a recently imported batch of kiwi fruit because they are too small. A spokesperson for the UK's Rural Payments Agency said that they failed the EU standards for fruit. Tim Down, the grocer involved, responded angrily to the action taken by government. "I was given 24 hours to think about it and my outrage grew." He continued "They are perfectly fit to eat. These regulations come at a time when rising food prices are highlighte

Two days before the actual slug out between US-born fighter "Dangerous" David Díaz (34-1-1, 17 KOs) and challenger, a three title holder Filipino boxing champion, Emmanuel "Pacman" Pacquiao (46-3-2, 34 KOs) occurs in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 28, 2008 the two trades verbal punches at each other during a meeting with members of sports media. The camp of Manny Pacquiao led by manager Freddie Roach claimed that Diaz will need a "fucking miracle" to stop 'The Pacman' from moving up to the 135 lbs. weight class where Diaz is top brass. The side of

South Africa's former president Nelson Mandela will turn 90 on July 18, but despite his retirement from the public eye five years ago, his age has never prevented him from being pushed back into the limelight. Political, business and showbiz elite from around the world arrived in London to greet South Africa's long-imprisoned champion of anti-apartheid with a fund-raising concert on Friday, June 27. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former United States President Bill Clinton, talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey, Academy Award winning actor Robe

The three 100 foot reinforced concrete sugar storage silos around which the investigation into the 2008 Georgia sugar refinery explosion is centred have been demolished. The February industrial disaster killed 13 people when the Imperial Sugar refinery at Port Wentworth, United States exploded. The initial investigation concluded the disaster to have been a dust explosion that ignited under the silos, but investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) have been hampered as O

As the National Disaster Coordinating Agency continues to evaluate the reports coming from regions all over the Philippines, bodies of those who drowned or perished while at sea have started to float into the shores of islands in Central Philippines. On Thursday, the Philippines Coast Guard reported that villagers recovered 124 bodies whose identities are still uncertain. Advanced decomposition has made identification difficult for authorities and, fearing a health epidemic, all of the bodies were immediately buried in makeshift graves. The i

The scientists behind the Mars Phoenix Lander project announced that the soil on Mars was more alkaline than expected and could sustain life. Scientists at NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration claimed that they were "flabbergasted" by their discovery on the possibility that life could grow on Martian soil. "It is the type of soil you would probably have in your back yard, you know, alkaline. You might be able to grow asparagus in it really well. ... It is very exciting for us," said Sam Kounaves, the lead wet chemist at N

Gunmen today opened fire in a Mexico City restaurant, killing a top police official in charge of monitoring the country's illegal drug trade, as well as one of his bodyguards, Mexican officials said. The attack is the latest waged against authorities attempting to fight Mexico's powerful drug cartels. Security officials in Mexico City say the attack occurred as Igor Labastida Calderón, commander of the federal police's Traffic and Contraband division, was eating lunch with one of his bodyguards, Jose Maria Ochoa. According to Minerva Amado, sp

The Associated Press (AP) news agency has come under fire from the blogging community after issuing a number of DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) takedown notices against bloggers who have used extracts from AP articles. Quoting from correspondence surrounding the takedown notices, a Drudge Retort contributor claims in his personal blog that not only is AP asserting that the quotes are a copyright violation, but that they also constitute '"hot news" misappropriation. Wikinews contacted several people in an effort to get to the bottom of

In late May to early June of 2008, news broke that a previously undiscovered indigenous tribe had been found near the border between Brazil and Peru. Worldwide media was quick to publish the story and the accompanying photographs taken by José Carlos Meirelles. The photos showed people in full body paint aiming bows at the overhead aircraft from which the pictures were taken. Wikinews covered the story as well. In its Sunday edition, British newspaper The Observer had a story called "Secret of the 'lost' tribe that wasn't" which was about this

The U.S. state of Florida entered an agreement on June 24, 2008 to purchase the U.S. Sugar Corporation, the largest manufacturer of cane sugar in the U.S., in an effort to restore the Everglades. Terms of the agreement stated that the purchase would be completed within 75 days, but that U.S. Sugar would be able to operate for another six years. After that, the state of Florida will retain ownership of U.S. Sugar's manufacturing facilities in Clewiston, Florida, and 187,000 acres of fields that have grown sugarcane since the 1960s will be allowe

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) conference, held in Canberra, Australia, received mixed messages on Tuesday about the health of Australians. While average life expectancy is 81.4 years, second only to Japan's 82.2, and rates of cancer, heart disease and stroke are dropping, incidence of obesity, alcohol-related diseases, and sexually transmitted infections are on the increase. The AIHW report highlighted the increasing gap between Australia's Indigenous population and the rest of the nation. Australian Aborigines and Torr