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A train driver from the United Kingdom has had his conviction for manslaughter over a head-on rail collision in 1989 quashed. A train operated by Robert Morgan, 64, passed a red signal at Purley and struck an oncoming service on March 4, 1989, killing five and injuring 80 more. Morgan's train had been destined for London Victoria having left Littlehampton, but after passing through the red light struck a Horsham-to-Victoria train at 60mph. Morgan, of Ferring, West Sussex, was ultimately convicted of two counts of manslaughter over the acciden

Controversial and explicit Canadian workplace safety ads have been pulled from television, and paper ads from some bus shelters for the Christmas season. However, the ads will return to air in January. "It's totally erroneous to suggest we're pulling anything," chairman of the Workplace Safety and Information Board of Ontario, Steve Mahoney said. "Our plan from Day 1 was to stop the ads around the middle of December when most of the advertising that's in the media is focused on Christmas and purchasing gifts. We just didn't want to be competin

Several central banks in Europe and North America announced joint efforts to provide liquidity to the credit markets in the wake of the 2007 subprime mortgage financial crisis. The banks will hold coordinated auctions "designed to address elevated pressures in short-term funding markets." The announcement came simutaneously from all of the banks at 9:00 a.m. EST (UTC-5). The banks involved are the United States' Federal Reserve System (Fed), the European Union's European Central Bank (ECB), the United Kingdom's Bank of England (BoE), Canada's

Police officers and officials at an emergency meeting have voted to ballot every United Kingdom police officer over the right to strike. They also called for the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to resign over the current dispute and further passed a vote of no confidence in the home secretary's ability to deal with pay and conditions. Under current UK law, it is illegal for police officers to stage walk outs as part of protests or disputes, however some members of the force want to strike over the pay package dispute and thus are lobbying for th

The United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon says setting greenhouse-gas emission targets may have to wait until after the U.N. Climate Change Conference being held in Bali. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon told reporters it may be too "ambitious" to set targets for greenhouse-gas emissions in the draft text of an agreement aimed at replacing the Kyoto Protocol to stop global warming. Delegates from about 190 nations, now holding high-level meetings, are split over whether targets should be set now or later. Mr. Ban recognizes the divi

At least two new outbreaks of the H5N1 Avian Flu virus, also known as Bird Flu, have been found in Poland. One of the outbreaks was on a farm in Saldowo which affected at least 40 chickens. The other outbreak was found in unnamed wild birds near Orneta. "The new case was discovered in the village of Saldowo, near to Bieżuń, (central Poland) close to other recent cases. Just as in the previous cases all the chickens will be culled," said Poland's Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Marek Sawicki. Officials have set up a zone of pro

An Australian judge has handed down sentences to nine males who have admitted rape of a 10-year-old girl, none of which involve incarceration. Six of the offenders, who were minors at the time of the crime were placed on probation. The other three aged 17, 18 and 26 were given suspended sentences. In her ruling, Judge Sarah Bradley told them that the victim "was not forced and probably agreed to have sex with all of you". "I hope that all of you realise that you must not have sex with young girls," she said. She further admonished the 26-year

So far at least 15 people have died in a major ice storm in the United States which has left more than 600,000 residents and businesses across three states, without electricity. Officials for the utility companies say that this could be the worst ice storm in history. "This particular storm is now the worst in company history in terms of customers affected," said Oklahoma Gas and Electric spokesman, Brian Alford. The National Weather Service (NWS) has ice storm warnings still in effect for Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Illinois

For the first time in over a half a century, regular train service hosting cargo crossed between North and South Korea. The train is 12 cars long and is carrying building materials to Kaesong, a key industrial junction for the two countries. The train will head back immediately after unloading. The service will continue at least once every week day. South Korean leaders say that cargo trains are just a start, although North Korea will not allow anything beyond cargo as of yet. "Though we start with a cargo train, it will lead to a passenger t

Two bombs have exploded in Algiers, the capital of Algeria, killing at least 67 people. Both explosions were car bombs, at least one of which is being called a suicide bombing. The first explosion took place in the Ben Aknoun district in the center of the city, which is near the constitutional court. The second was near the United Nations offices in the Hydra neighborhood. A UN worker said to the BBC that the building has partially collapsed and people may be trapped inside. Jean Fabre, of the United Nations Development Programme, said that 1

Fabio Capello has emerged as the new favourite to succeed Steve McClaren as the England football team's new head coach after José Mourinho ruled himself out of taking the job. The former Chelsea manager had been widely regarded as a favourite for the job but after he admitted yesterday that he is no longer interested in it, Capello became the new favourite. The Italian, who has previously managed Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus and Roma, would regard the England job as the highlight of his career according to sources close to him and is rea

Reports say that the host of the United States television game show Jeopardy!, Alex Trebek, 67 is being hospitalized after suffering from a minor heart attack. "Alex Trebek, host of 'Jeopardy!,' has had a minor heart attack. He is resting comfortably in a Los Angeles, California hospital, and he will be back in the studio for the next scheduled tapings in January," said a spokesman for the show in a statement posted on the show's website. Trebek is expected to remain in the hospital for at least two days for observation and continued tests.