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Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) reported a fifth Guantanamo captive, named Abdul Razzak, died in captivity, on December 30, 2007. JTF-GTMO asserted that Razzak had complained of abdominal pains in September 2007, and had begun to receive cancer therapy in late October 2007. JTF-GTMO estimated that he was born in 1939. According to the JTF-GTMO press release that announced his death: Abdul Razzak was one of the few Guantanamo captives who continued to attend his Combatant Status Review Tribunal and his annual Annual Review Board heari

Sara Jane Moore, 77, who tried to assassinate Former United States President Gerald Ford in 1975 was paroled from prison in California this afternoon. Moore tried to assassinate Ford outside of the St. Francis Hotel in downtown San Francisco on January 15, by firing one shot, which missed because a bystander grabbed Moore's arms just seconds before she fired the gun. The bullet missed hitting Ford in the head by inches. It is not yet known why she was released or what the conditions of her release were. In 2006, Ford died from natural causes

Officials and biologists for several federal state and local agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Mote Marine Laboratory are currently observing a 30 foot Sperm whale off Florida's west coast that may be stranded. It was first spotted by a fisherman. For a while on Sunday, the whale, which is believed to be juvenile, was stuck on a sandbar near the city of St. Petersburg. Currently it is swimming in just nine feet of water less than half a mile off shore and officials are determining how to proc

With a 38-35 victory over the New York Giants at Giants Stadium Saturday night, the New England Patriots became the second team in the modern era of the National Football League to go undefeated (16-0) in the regular season. The only other team to have achieved this feat was the Miami Dolphins in 1972, who were 14-0 due to a different regular season structure at the time. Trailing by as many as 12 points in the third quarter, the Patriots soon came back with touchdowns from running back Laurence Maroney and wide receiver Randy Moss. Two other

It has been announced that Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 19, the son of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will take her place as the head of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and lead the party alongside his father Asif Ali Zardari. It is also announced and confirmed that the PPP along with the Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), will contest the upcoming elections for a new Prime Minister on January 8. "I stand committed to the stability of the federation. The long and historic struggle for democracy will continue with

American actress Jessica Alba, 26, has announced her engagement to producer, and father of their unborn child, Cash Warren. The pair met on the set of the movie The Fantastic Four, where Warren was a directors assistant. They have been together since 2004, although they did briefly split at one point. Alba made the announcement via her publicist, Brad Cafarelli, who said "I can confirm they are engaged." She had only announced her pregnancy earlier this month, and the child is expected in spring or summer next year. As well as Fantastic Four

Arbitrators at the World Trade Organization (WTO) have granted the Caribbean country of Antigua and Barbuda a special dispensation to ignore United States copyright law. In their report, the WTO panel stated that Antigua possessed "no effective trade sanctions against the USA" and agreed to allow the country to ignore up to US$21 million worth of US copyrights a year. While this amount falls significantly short of the US$3.4 billion per year dispensation that Antigua was seeking, it is far higher than the US$500,000 per year allocation that U

Corruption-related charges have been brought against Jacob Zuma, the newly-elected leader of the African National Congress (ANC), according to his lawyer. A trial is scheduled to begin on August 14, 2008. The charges stem from an arms deal with a French company, which is alleged to have involved bribes and fraud. Zuma's financial adviser at the time, Schabir Shaik, was convicted in 2005 of attempting to solicit a bribe of US$72,500 per year from the arms company on Zuma's behalf and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Zuma was fired as deputy

In an annual tradition, Queen Elizabeth II gave out honours in the 2008 U.K. New Year Honours list today. Chat show host Michael Parkinson is to be knighted, Australian singer Kylie Minogue was made a member of the Order of the British Empire (for services to music), and actor Ian McKellen (who played Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) joined the exclusive Order of the Companions of Honour, which is limited to only 65 members. Knighthood was awarded to professor Ian Wilmut, who led the team that cloned Dolly the sheep. The list also inc

Australian David Hicks was released Saturday from Yatala Labour Prison in Adelaide, South Australia. Hicks, who until May 2007 had been held for five years at the U.S. Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba, was serving out his remaining sentence in an Australian jail. At a U.S. war crimes tribunal, Hicks pleaded guilty to providing material support to a listed terrorist organisation and was sentenced to seven years in prison. As part of the plea agreement, all but nine months of the sentence was suspended and in May of 2007, Hicks was transfer

Scottish football player Phil O'Donnell has died today after collapsing during a game in which his team Motherwell F.C., of which he was captain, were playing Dundee United in a Scottish Premier League match. O'Donnell collapsed as his substitution for Marc Fitzpatrick was being arranged. He received treatment for around five minutes before being stretchered off and transferred to a waiting ambulance. David Clarkson, O'Donnell's nephew, was also playing at the time and had scored twice but was taken off due to being visibly distressed by O'Don

Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has ordered security forces to take firm action against rioters following the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. The violence has left at least 44 people dead and dozens injured. Mr. Musharraf insisted the measures were to protect people. VOA's Ayaz Gul reports from Islamabad that a bitter dispute has also erupted over how the 54-year-old politician died and who was behind her assassination. Thursday's assassination of Ms. Bhutto has plunged the Pakistani nation into a situation that many per