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On Wednesday, Iraqi security forces (ISF) battled militants who have been described as loyal to Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in Basra, Iraq's main seaport and the country's third largest city. Reports indicate that at least sixty people have been killed and hundreds have been wounded. This marked the second day of intense fighting. Combat is reported to have spread to other southern cities and also to Bagdhad. Agence France-Presse reported that two United States soldiers were killed in the capital city. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has been

The Pentagon made a public statement on Tuesday saying that four ICBM detonation fuses were accidentally delivered to Taiwan by the United States military back in 2006. According to the Pentagon's official statement, the Taiwanese government had purchased helicopter batteries from the U.S, but instead received four nose cone fuses by accident in the autumn of 2006. The U.S. government was notified of the mistake by Taiwanese officials earlier in 2008, and the full extent of the mistake was finally realized last week. On Tuesday, the fuses wer

The Space Shuttle Endeavour landed on runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida at 00:39 GMT this morning. Endeavour'''s landing marks the completion of the STS-123 mission, which saw two new components installed aboard the International Space Station during a 15 day, 18 hour, 10 minute and 54 second mission. Endeavour had travelled 6,758,000 miles, and orbited the Earth 250 times. During the mission the JEM ELM-PS module was installed, and the Dextre robotic arm component was assembled during a series of spac

Episodes of the Colorado-based cartoon comedy television series South Park have been made available for free via streaming video on the website SouthParkStudios.com. Full-length episodes from the past 12 seasons of South Park can be seen on the site, as well as behind-the-scenes clips and information on upcoming episodes. After new episodes of the program air on Comedy Central they will be added to the site for one week, but will then be unavailable for the next 30 days before being added to the site's archives, due to contractual obligations

Today, Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, was indicted with 19 counts related to irregularities found in the financing of his campaigns for public offices on and off the island. Puerto Rico is a semi-autonomous territory of the United States. Indicted along with Acevedo Vilá are 12 other people associated with his Popular Democratic Party, all living in Puerto Rico, Washington D.C., or Philadelphia. In total, there were 27 charges. The U.S. Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez of the District of Puerto Rico said t

The President of the United States, George W. Bush, today discussed the "global war on terror," at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. In the speech Mr. Bush discussed the surge in Iraq. He said, "Over the past year, we [the US government] have seen significant security gains result from the surge." Bush also claimed that the United States had achieved many things in Iraq. He stated that "the military achievements in Iraq have been accompanied by a political transformation. It can feel like distant history, but it was only five

Thirty-eight members of the senior management of Irish airline Ryanair, including chief executive Michael O'Leary, have seen their pay frozen in light of the increasing price of fuel, driven by rising oil prices. O'Leary, who owns 4.2% of the airline and earned €992,000 (£780,000) last year including €565,000 basic pay, said "I think it's inappropriate for managers to be awarding themselves pay increases if profits are falling," and that pay would only be unfrozen if oil significantly decreased in price and "we can see some prospect of profits

European Aeronautic Defence & Space NV (EADS), the parent company of European airframer Airbus, has won a £13 billion contract to supply the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force (RAF) with aerial refueling tankers to replace the nation's current ageing fleet. AirTanker Ltd., an EADS-led consortium, have signed a 27-year contract with the Defense Ministry to supply 14 new Airbus A330-200 passenger airliner converted for the task. They will be owned by AirTanker, who retains commercial leasing rights to five which can carry 290 passengers plus cargo

Myrskyntuoja, the third album from Finnish heavy metal band Teräsbetoni, has topped the charts in the Nordic country. The album was produced by the famed Hiili Hiilesmaa, whose past credits include HIM, Apocalyptica, The 69 Eyes and Lordi. Both of Teräsbetoni's previous albums reached number two, making this their first number one album. The lead single from the album, Missä Miehet Ratsastaa, is Finland's entry at the 2008 instalment of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. The song reached number two on the Finnish singles chart and is current

There were 4 games played in the National Hockey League on March 26, 2008. Game summaries Chicago Blackhawks @ Columbus Blue Jackets Joakim Lindstrom scored first for the Blue Jackets, breaking a scoreless tie 4:49 into the second period on a power play. In the third period, Clay Wilson scored his first career NHL goal 7:13 into the period. David Vyborny scored just over a minute later, then Michael Peca gave Columbus a 4 goal lead over Chicago with about 8 minutes remaining. Fredrik Norrena made 17 saves and earned his second shutout of

A Russian Kosmos-3M rocket has launched the German SAR-Lupe 4 reconnaissance satellite into low Earth orbit. Lift-off, from area 132/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Northern Russia, occurred at 17:15 GMT. The launch, which was originally scheduled to occur today, was moved up to Tuesday, and subsequently delayed twice due to strong winds at an altitude of 13 kilometres, which prevented launch. SAR-Lupe is a German reconnaissance satellite constellation, consisting of five spacecraft. The first of these was launched in December 2006. The next s

The 13th Taipei International Express Marathon, sponsored mainly by Carrefour for the second time since 2007, raced on Hsichih-Wugu Elevated Viaduct of Taiwan National Highway No. 1 this Sunday (March 23). Although it rained until the start of the marathon and half-marathon classes, the race finished properly. Despite the improved weather, the gradient near the Hsichih stop of Hsichih-Wugu Elevated Viaduct provided a major challenge to the runners' physical strength. The race's organizer, the Chinese Taipei Road Running Association, invited se