Lifestyle

A United Nations report released Thursday states that recent attacks carried out on four villages in Darfur by the Sudanese military and armed miltias were a violation of international law. The attacks, which involved aerial bombardment in two of the villages, left a total of 115 people dead and over 30,000 forcibly displaced, according to the report. Damage to civilian property was extensive; homes, schools, and shops were systematically destroyed, vandalized, or set ablaze, food reserves were burned, and livestock was looted. In addition, th

Members of Australia's Health Services Union (HSU) will go on strike in Victoria next week in a dispute over stalled wage and career structure negotiations. Over 5000 physiotherapists, speech pathologists and radiation therapists will walk off the job next week, effectively closing the state's 68 largest health services. The strike will force the closure of intensive care units and emergency departments across the state. It is feared the strike could continue into Easter. National secretary of the HSU, Kathy Jackson said admissions would be

2008 Tour de Taiwan, with 7 different divisions and 8 stages, started yesterday at Love River of Kaohsiung City as its first stage. Not only a site event named "Walking in the Love River for World Games 2009" (in Chinese: 愛河健走，世運加油) was held to support the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung City, but also a damn hot weather challenged for cyclists' physical strength. In the starting of the 3rd lap, there was a sudden blow sound near the 50m flag. According to some witnesses, a cyclist from Health Net Pro Cycling Team was forced to quit this race be

Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish have been added to the billing of the United Kingdom's Bloodstock Open Air (BOA) festival. The annual three day festival will take part through August 15-17. Established in 2005 as a spinoff of the original Bloodstock festival, BOA 2008 also features Dimmu Borgir, Opeth, Soilwork, Iced Earth and Helloween, amongst others. The event, being held in Derbyshire's Catton Hall, will also feature a stage devoted to unsigned bands.

The H5N1 Avian Flu virus has been found in a dead wild Canadian Goose in Abbotsbury Swannery in Dorset, England. This is the eleventh case of the virus turning up in wild birds. The goose was discovered on February 25, 2008. "The finding of more cases in wild birds is not unexpected ... We are currently considering whether any additional restrictions are necessary in the area," said the United Kingdom's Health Ministry in a statement to the media. As a result of the finding, poultry movement has now been restricted by the Department for the E

A suicide bomber in Iskandariya, Iraq, a town just south of the county's capital Baghdad, blew himself up killing at least 40 people and injuring at least 60 others on Sunday February 24. Iraqi officials say that the bomber was wearing a vest and then blew himself up after entering a pilgrim 'comfort station' off a main road near where a religious fair is being held for Shia pilgrims. The station was providing items such as water and food to passing pilgrims. United States and Iraqi forces quickly re-established a safe-zone surrounding the pi

In a press release today, California-based Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. indicated that it has voluntarily recalled just over 143 million pounds (65 million kilograms) of raw and frozen beef products, which is considered to be the largest single recall of beef products in U.S. history. The move follows an investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) into allegations of animal cruelty and mishandling of cattle destined for the human food chain. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had determined that

A 33-year-old Somalian woman was arrested after she stabbed two pilots in an attempt to hijack a New Zealand passenger plane. The 19-seater on Eagle Airways Flight NZ2279, was travelling from Blenheim to Christchurch when the incident occurred. Eagle is a regional commuter carrier division of Air New Zealand. According to media reports, the pilots sent a mayday call around 07:40 NZDT to report that a female passenger had breached the cockpit and attacked them before being removed from the flight deck area. Local police confirmed that the woma

A firm in Oxford, United Kingdom has recently released plans for a hypersonic passenger airplane able to travel at speeds up to Mach 5 with a range of 20,000 km. Reaction Engines of Oxfordshire says the A2 plane could be in service within 25 years, carrying 300 passengers at a top speed of almost 4,000 mph, which is twice the speed of the Concorde. It would be able to reach Australia from Brussels Airport, Belgium non-stop in just five hours. It is 143 meters (469 feet) long, which is approximately twice the length of the Airbus A380 and would

Some flu viruses in the United States and Canada have shown increased levels of resistance to the antiviral drug Tamiflu (oseltamivir), the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. Similar trends have been reported earlier in Europe. Tamiflu is currently the recommended treatment for humans infected with bird flu, and governments worldwide have been stockpiling the drug in case of a flu pandemic. The drug resistance appears to be limited to the H1N1 variant which causes seasonal flu, while H3N2 or influenza B strains and the H5N1 strai

Each year, for the past 118 years, thousands of people have traveled to the Pennsylvania town of Punxsutawney in the United States, about 65 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, on February 2nd to see if the groundhog named Phil predicted more winter weather or an early spring. This year, Phil did see his shadow when pulled out of his burrow on Gobblers' Knob, which according to an essentially German superstition, means the area should brace for more winter weather. This year, visitors came from as far as Texas and Alaska to see the annual event, w

The Lowdown, is a youth-targeted website aimed at helping young New Zealanders get through depression and other mental illnesses, and curbing New Zealand's high suicide rates. Wikinews' Gabriel Pollard spoke to Candace Bagnall who manages the Ministry of Health's National Depression Initiative which runs The Lowdown. The Lowdown is a service that allows young people to talk about how they're feeling while facilitating the new ways of communication easily adopted by those aged 13-24 years, the demographic of The Lowdown. Young people can talk w