Culture

Les Paul, the American jazz guitarist whose eponymous electric guitar remains one of the most popular and influential designs of musical instrument in modern history, has died at the age of 94 of complications from pneumonia. Born Lester William Polfuss in 1915 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, United States, Les Paul was establishing himself as a jazz musician in Chicago when in 1939 he built "The Log", reputed to be the first solid-body "Spanish-style" electric guitar ever made. Discussions with Gibson Guitars led to the development of the Gibson Les

Aerosmith have cancelled their remaining concerts on their tour. The rock band was due to tour the United States and Canada until September 16. They have cancelled the tour after lead singer Steven Tyler was injured after he fell off stage while performing on August 5. Tyler suffered a broken shoulder and injuries to the head as the band played in front of a crowd in South Dakota. He was airlifted to hospital after the fall, and later travelled to Boston to see his own doctor. Doctors advised him to recuperate as he rests his shoulder. The

Authorities in India have started shutting down cinemas, schools, and colleges in the city of Mumbai to limit the spread of the H1N1 virus, more commonly known as swine flu. Schools and colleges will close for one week, while cinemas will only remain closed for three days. India has had nineteen deaths so far relating to the virus. Authorities say that the shutdown is due to public pressure, but stresses that people should not panic. Ashok Chavan, the Maharashtra Chief Minister said it was only a “prevention method”. He told the televisio

Vestas Wind Systems confirmed yesterday that its plant in Newport, Isle of Wight, England has closed. The workers employed there have received their redundancy notices. 425 jobs were lost in the factory closure and that of Vestas's Southampton facility, with a further 40 employees beginning work at Vestas's research & development facility on the island and 57 staying on to help close the factory down. Initial estimates had said that 575 jobs would be lost in the Newport and Southampton facilities' closure, with a further 50 lost in the closure

Authorities in Iraq have charged a British man with the murder of his two colleagues from security contractor ArmorGroup. Daniel Fitzsimons is suspected of murdering fellow Briton Paul McGuigan and Australian Darren Hoare. Three men were shot in the incident yesterday, which occured in ArmorGroup's Baghdad compound. In addition to the two fatally injured, an Iraqi guard was wounded. According to a spokesman for the Iraqi interior ministry, the group was drinking when an argument began and one man opened fire on the others. Iraqi army spokesma

The remaining six workers staging an occupation in Newport, Isle of Wight, England have left peacefully after police entered their factory. After barricading the office which has served as a living quarters for 19 nights against police entry, three of the workers, Justin Moody, Mark Smith, and Dave Arbuthnott, exited via a fire escape escorted by security staff; two, Ian Terry and Mark Flower, abseiled down the factory's wall; and Jaymie Rigby jumped thirty feet from a balcony to the bushes below. Rigby was examined at a local hospital after t

Five activists have installed themselves on the rooftop of Vestas Wind System's Venture Quays factory in Cowes, Isle of Wight, England, in support of the Vestas employees. The five — four of whom are members of the Climate Camp which has set up in the Isle of Wight — scaled the Cowes plant, which is located about five miles (8 kilometres) north of Vestas's main Isle of Wight plant in Newport, on August 4 and have been camping on the rooftop ever since. Martin Shaw, a self-described "environmental anarcho-syndicalist" on the roof of Vestas Ven

An eviction notice has been served on the occupiers remaining in the Vestas factory in Newport, Isle of Wight, England, occupiers confirm. The eviction notice states that police will remove the occupiers at noon BST tomorrow, August 7. The occupiers of the Vestas factory have pledged to go peacefully when the police enter. Only six occupiers are believed to remain in the building, of the original 25. "Mike", speaking from inside the occupation, said that the six remaining workers have no plans to leave until the police enter the factory, but a

American film director John Hughes, noted for such movies as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink and The Breakfast Club, died Thursday due to a heart attack. A statement, released by his representative, said that he experienced the heart attack while on a morning stroll in Manhattan, New York. Hughes was born on February 18, 1950 in Michigan. He started his career as an advertising copywriter in Chicago. By the end of the 1970s he was a frequent contributor to the National Lampoon magazine. In the 1990s, he made the Home Alone series, which becam

Vestas Wind Systems, whose closing wind turbine blade manufacturing centre in Newport, Isle of Wight, England remains the site of a occupation now in its 11th day, has suddenly announced that the consultation period preceding the closure of the plant has been extended, and that the plant will remain open until mid-August. The announcement, which was reported not by Vestas but by the RMT, was described by RMT General Secretary Bob Crow as "another significant milestone in the fight to save the factory and 625 skilled manufacturing jobs in green

Eleven of the 25 workers at the Vestas factory in Newport, Isle of Wight, England who have been carrying out a sit-in since Monday July 20 have been sacked with immediate effect. According to one of the protesters known as "Mike", the occupiers were given their dismissal notices concealed under slices of their evening meal of pizza. The company said that the protesters have had ample opportunity to air their point of view, and had no choice but to sack eleven of the twenty five workers that they had positively identified; and that given that t

Morale is "fine" inside the Vestas plant in Newport, Isle of Wight, England, as an industrial occupation of the wind turbine factory finished entered its fourth night, says one of the occupiers. "Mark," who prefers not to give his last name for fear of management reprisals, spoke to Wikinews and gave an update on the situation inside the plant, where 30 of the 525 workers whose jobs are slated to be lost at the end of July occupied management offices on Monday evening and issued a call for the British government to nationalise the plant. A do