Nelly Avila Moreno, a high-ranking member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (aka FARC) known by the alias 'Karina', surrendered to Colombian police on the weekend, bringing the number of FARC commanders who have surrendered, been captured or been killed in the past year to six.
Moreno, along with her partner and daughter, surrendered to undercover Colombian police officers after two weeks of private negotiation. It is not known whether the charges laid against her - including murder, drug trafficking, terrorism and kidnapping - are
UK Members of Parliament voted against a bill that would result in the limit for abortions being brought down by four weeks, to 20 weeks. The MP who originally proposed the bill, Nadine Dorrie from the Conservative Party, commented on the result. "There comes a point when it has to be said this baby has a right to life." The vote to lower the limit to twenty weeks was defeated by 332 votes to 190.
There was also a vote on decreasing the limit to 22 weeks, with it being defeated by 304 votes supporting to 233 opposing.
The proposer of the twen
News media in the United Kingdom are reporting that a boy under the age of 18 was served with a court summons by City of London Police because he held a placard calling Scientology a "cult" at a peaceful protest on May 10. Human rights activists have criticized the decision to issue the 15-year-old the summons as an affront to freedom of speech, and representatives for the City of London Police force explained the actions of the police.
Individuals from the group Anonymous were protesting Scientology in the fourth protest in as many months, as
At least two men in Sweden were arrested after security officials at the Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant discovered traces of an explosive material on a plastic bag. Oskarshamnsverkets Kraftgrupp OKG operates the plant, which is one of three nuclear power plants in Sweden.
Reports say that on the outside of a bag was Acetone peroxide, or TATP, primarily used as a high yield explosive, but is also an organic peroxide used in making chemicals for cleaning.
The unidentified men in their 40's to 50's, who were contractors and welders hired for doi
UK political parties are making their final bids for votes in the Crewe and Nantwich constituency, where a by-election, due to the death of Gwyneth Dunwoody MP, is to be held tomorrow.
A YouGov poll has suggested that the main opposition party, the Conservatives, are ahead at 45%, the incumbent Labour Party 18.8% behind on 26.2%. Polls from the newspaper The Independent and Populus and ICM have also put the Conservatives ahead. However the bookmakers Ladbrokes have deemed the Conservatives "unbackable", with odds of just 16/1.
Crewe and Nant
A Sea Launch Zenit-3SL rocket has been launched from the Ocean Odyssey platform in the Pacific Ocean, carrying a communications satellite into geosynchronous transfer orbit. Lift-off occurred at 09:43 GMT this morning, and the satellite was deployed into its transfer orbit about an hour later.
The satellite, Galaxy 18, will be operated by Intelsat from an orbital slot of 123° West longitude in geosynchronous orbit. It will provide communications services for Intelsat customers in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
The launch of Galaxy 18 w
A mob killed 11 elderly people in western Kenya on suspicion of witchcraft. The attacks took place in Kisii District in the Nyanza Province in southwest Kenya. All victims were burned, with some having first been dragged from their homes to have their throats slashed and to be clubbed to death. Families of the suspected witches have gone into hiding, fearing additional violence. The mob may have consisted of as many as 300 people.
Reports vary regarding the ages of the victims. Deputy police spokseman Charles Owino told the Associated Press t
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Last night saw the first semi final of this year's Eurovision Song Contest in Belgrade, Serbia. The entries from Israel, Azerbaijan, Norway, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Armenia, Finland, Romania, Russia and Greece are through to the final, leaving the representatives from Montenegro, Estonia, Moldova, San Marino, Belgium, Slovenia, Ireland, Andorra and the Netherlands failing to qualify for this weekend's final.
The aforementioned countries join host nation Serbia, automatically through as is last year's winner, and the 'big fou
North American ice hockey's major championship, the Stanley Cup playoffs,
is down to a contest between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit defeated the Dallas Stars on Monday with a 4-1 score to win the Western Conference finals.
Despite a third-period goal by Dallas defenceman Stéphane Robidas, Detroit prevailed with three goals in the first period (Kris Draper, Pavel Datsyuk, Dallas Drake) and a goal by left winger Henrik Zetterberg in the second period.
Detroit captain Nicklas Lidström accepted the Clarence Campbell
The discovery of the presence of airborne asbestos in a middle school in Montclair, New Jersey Friday prompted the evacuation of over 200 students from the school and the school's closure. Renaissance Middle School, part of the Montclair Public Schools in New Jersey, was closed Monday and remains closed Tuesday while undergoing asbestos testing and cleaning.
According to a letter sent home to parents by the Superintendent's Office of Montclair Public Schools on Friday, "plaster may have been disturbed" during construction on new fire doors at
Crystal Cave, which is in Sequoia National Park, was evacuated after park employees found a substance that was believed to be explosive material left behind after construction work inside the cave conducted during the 1930s, as the material used was cloth, and not plastic.
The discovery was made while workers were performing restoration work at the cave. They found what appeared to be remnants of live explosives. The person serving as the chief regional blaster for the park was then contacted.
The National Park service said that the explo
Today, Ma Ying-jeou was sworn in as the President of the Republic of China, also known as Taiwan, and delivered his inauguration speech, entitled "Taiwan's Renaissance".
In his speech, he discussed four issues. He called for people to "establish mutual trust and Seek common ground while ignoring differences, setting aside disputes, and creating a win-win situation", which was also promoted by Jintao Hu. Ma also stressed three of his principles "No reunification, No independence, No war". He also said, he hopes the governmental executives of Ch
