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13 U.S. soldiers killed in helicopter crash The United States military has confirmed that all 13 U.S. soldiers aboard a U.S. Blackhawk helicopter military helicopter were killed when it crashed near Baghdad, Iraq. Suspected assassin of Turkish-Armenian journalist arrested A suspect has been arrested over the assassination of the Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. The attorney general of Samsun said that the suspect, 17-year-old Ogün Samast, has confessed to the murder.

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Kuiper Belt object to become comet An object located in the Kuiper Belt just outside our solar system is on its way to becoming a comet, possibly the brightest comet ever seen by scientists.

Wikipedia Current Events
The WWF warns that some species of tuna including bluefin tuna are at risk of commercial extinction due to illegal fishing. Dozens of containers, some containing toxic chemicals, are washed ashore at Devon, England after MSC Napoli ran aground on the coast last Thursday during Kyrill. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal meet together in Syria to try to end violence between the two factions. However, differences remain and talks will resume possibly next week. Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, holds talks with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia over energy security issues. A 7.3 Mw earthquake occurs off of Indonesia, centered in the Molucca Sea. Buildings shake in northeastern Indonesia, panicking residents, but there are no reports of casualties. Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc lifts its boycott of the Iraqi political process and rejoins the government. Ogün Samast, who was arrested for murdering Hrant Dink, admits that he has killed Dink. Voters in Serbia participate in the first general election since it became an independent state in 2006.

Ricky Hatton regains IBF light welterweight title
Ricky "The Hitman" Hatton regained the IBF light welterweight title belt he relinquished less than 12 months ago when he defeated Juan Urango in Las Vegas, Nevada tonight.

"The Hitman" won by unanimous decision, as the fight went to 12 rounds. Despite early match odds suggesting Hatton would dominate the fight, this was not the case. Each round was close, but most pundits and judges alike agreed that Urango only won 1 of the 12 rounds, with Hatton taking the other 11.

Despite the unfamiliar confines of Las Vegas, Hatton looked touched by the ringing of football fan-like chants, familiar in British boxing, that rang around the arena, as more than half of it was filled by traveling support from across the atlantic.

Many in the UK will hope Hatton has ended the "curse" that has seen names such as Frank Bruno, Naseem Hamed, Barry McGuigan and others fall short while headlining fights on "The Strip".

From here, it is widely believed "The Hitman" will move on to fight Jose Luis Castillo in June, again likely in Vegas.

Fire breaks out in Ku-ring-gai Chase National park, Australia
Fire broke out in the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, on the outskirts of Sydney, Australia, at approximately 5pm on Sunday 21st January 2007. The site of the fire is inaccessible terrain in the Bobbin Head/Apple Tree Bay area.

For a time properties were threatened in Mount Ku-ring-gai, but this danger has now passed. The F3 freeway and northern train line were closed, causing freeway traffic to be banked up. During the morning F3 traffic was delayed with a brief opening but traffic mainly diverted onto the Pacific Highway at the Berowra Exit. As at 11:45am the F3 Freeway and Pacific Highway are closed until further notice, severing vehicular links to the north of Sydney.

Overnight backburning along with a direct attack has seen the main threat dissipate with the southern fire front under control. On Monday morning spot fires continue to move north towards Cowan Creek.

At 11am there is still continuous helicopter activity over the area.

The NSW Rural Fire Service will be holding a Community briefing at the Berowra Oval at 5.30pm today (Monday).

Series of earthquakes hit Korea, Indonesia, Turkey and Norway
On Saturday at 8:56 p.m., a 4.8-magnitude earthquake hit the Korean Peninsula.

On Sunday at 7:27 p.m., a 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck 30 miles underneath the Molucca Sea in northeastern Indonesia. The U.S. Geological Survey reported that a church was damaged and three people were injured.

On Sunday at 9:38 a.m., a 5.0-magnitude earthquake struck the town of Tutak, Turkey. Two people were reported injured, and some buildings were damaged.

On Sunday at 2:45 p.m., a 4.0-magnitude earthquake shaking the town of Ålesund, Western Norway.

Suspected assassin of Turkish-Armenian journalist arrested
A suspect has been arrested in the case of Hrant Dink, the Turkish-Armenian journalist who was assassinated yesterday. Dink was known for writing about the controversial issue of Armenian genocide, the mass killings of Armenians by Turks under the rule of the Ottoman Empire.

Ogün Samast, a 17-year-old unemployed, high-school drop out from the city of Trabzon, was taken into custody by the Turkish police as the suspected assassin of Hrant Dink. The police also confiscated his gun, suspecting that it was used to kill Dink. Ahmet Samast, father of the suspected assassin, informed the authorities regarding the whereabouts of his son after seeing the assassin's images on TV.

The Republic attorney general of Samsun stated that the suspect has confessed to committing his crime.

Oil leaking container ship might cause environmental catastrophe
In the United Kingdom, an anti-pollution operation is under way after the stricken ship MSC Napoli started to leak dangerous heavy fuel oil.

The heavy fuel oil that is leaking from the beached Italian ship is extremly dangerous for the environment and the fear for pollution was getting bigger after the ship was further damaged after storms last Thursday. MSC Napoli was beached by Devon coastguards after it suffered heavy structual damage in the gale force storms on Thursday January 18 2007 which wrecked havoc across Northern Europe. The ship, which contains 160 containers of hazordous chemical substances is listing at 35 degrees.

The entire 26-man crew was rescued by navy helicopters Thursday after severe gales. There was found chinks on both sides of the ship but the current oil leak was not expected.

Around 2,400 containers were carried by the 62,000 tonne ship, some of which contain potentially dangerous hazardous chemicals.

The Coastguards have reported that up to 200 of the containers carrying materials such as perfume and battery acid are loose from the ship and they are looking for missing containers. South African stainless steel producer Columbus Stainless confirmed on Friday that there was at least 1,000 tonnes of nickel on board MSC Napoli.

A hole in the ship flooded the engine room and there’s now fears that the ship will break up. Saturday MSC Napoli was towed to Portland when a ”structural failure” forced the salvage team to beach it. As the storms have continued MSC Napoli has been further damaged.

The authorities warn people about the pollution which already has reached the beaches at Devon but many want to see it by they’re own. Police have closed Branscombe Beach as more than 20 containers have broken up scattering their contents along the beach.

Sky News reported Sunday that the costs of the accident might be very high as thousands of pounds worth of BMW motorbikes, car parts, empty oak barrels and perfume might get lost in flooding containers.

UK firms encouraged to make the Web speak
In the United Kingdom, online retailers are being asked by IMRG, their leading industry body, to apply accessibility technologies to their sites. Although the main reason given is a business one (the sales to potential customers who may have access issues is estimated at £4b p.a. by IMRG's James Roper), there are also legal obligations (regarding the Disability Discrimination Act), and of course moral considerations to be mindful of, they suggest.

The move is catalyzed by a new web-based technology which makes it possible for online shops to provide text-to-speech functionality to the vast majority of visitors, without users needing to buy or install any special software. Thus taking the financial onus off the user and putting it on the shops to enable those with reading barriers to access their online services.

While the system is in its early days, retail giants such as, Tesco, are already backing the move, makeing wide-spread adoption more likely. If this is the case, blind users, as well as many users with other reading difficulties, such as dyslexia and those who speak English as a second language, may well stand to gain a new degree of freedom on the Web.

A1 Grand Prix Taupo, New Zealand results
It was Taupo, New Zealand's turn to host the sixth race A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) contest, it is also the first A1GP competition this year and the first A1GP race in Taupo ever. The track in Taupo was just finished a week ago.

In qualifying on Saturday, Germany, driver Nicolas "Nico" Hülkenberg, managed to get the fastest two out of four lap times, their first ever pole position; France managed to get second placing, with their first A1GP driver Loic Duval; and Black Beauty, New Zealand, driver Jonny Reid managed to get third place. The qualifying results determine the starting place for the 14-lap sprint race.

The first attempt at the rolling sprint race failed because of line up trouble so it was done again. During the sprint race on Sunday the top three racers did not trade places with Germany, France and New Zealand remaining in their respective order. The finishing place in the sprint race determines the starting place in the 50-lap feature race the same day.

During the standing start feature race Germany managed to get a strong lead, leaving France and New Zealand to battle it out for second place. New Zealand tried to take second place a few times but always not having enough speed to complete the takeover. New Zealand's best chance for a takeover was at lap nine at the pit stop, but France had a one second better pit stop than New Zealand did, keeping their lead.

A few drivers crashed during the feature race and sprint race. A very impressive crash happened during the sprint race between Great Britain and Malaysia, which resulted in Great Britain's front being smashed.

Germany, the overall leader with 65 points, easily managed to get first place, around 19.5 seconds ahead of second place France and third place went to New Zealand. It was Germany's first time that they had managed to get a double win on the same day.

Germany and Nico Hulkenberg, were presented their gold medal by the minister of recreation and sport, Honourable Trevor Mallard, the same person who gave the announcement to the drivers, "Gentlemen, for the pride of your nation, start your engine."

First place, second place and third place got, as well as their respective medals, a unique piece of New Zealand, a Māori carving, which got progressively bigger for each placer.

Sydney councils pay investigators to have sex with prostitutes
It has been revealed that nine councils in Sydney, Australia have paid AUD$25,000 in investigator's fees over the past three years in order to gather evidence against illegal brothels.

The Sunday Telegraph has reported Ku-ring-gai council paying $7,000 worth of investigators fees in the last month. Mayor Nick Ebbeck said the investigations actually include having sex with prostitutes in order to satisfy courts.

"We, like many other councils, have made a decision to pro-actively rid our community of these illegal brothels," said Mr Ebbeck.

"We have to employ private investigators to actually go through with the act and come up with reports that will suffice in a court process.

"On numerous occasions over numerous days and times they had to fulfill the act."

Evidence gathered by investigators has been used to close down two brothels this month. The council is set to look at five more premises at a cost of around $3,500 per case. For the fee, the council is provided with a statement and a detailed account of the encounter. On occasion a video recording is provided.

Under New South Wales law, local councils have to bear the onus of proof when dealing with illegal brothels in the state's land and environment court.

Willoughby Council has also admitted engaging in the practice. According to The Sunday Telegraph, investigators were paid $1,500 for two visits to prostitutes earlier in the month. Willoughby's Director of Environmental Services said the council solicitor managed brothel investigations.

Speaking of the programme's success, Mr Woodhams said over the last "couple of weeks" they were successful in closing a premises on Willoughby Road. He said the difficulty was making a case before the court.

"The difficulty is gaining evidence to make a case to the Land and Environment Court," he said.

"In each year, it could be potentially tens of thousands of dollars in private investigators and legal costs that councils have to bear."

Other councils said to have engaged in the practice are North Sydney and Sutherland Shire.

There are a fair number of legally licensed brothels operating in Sydney with adhere to strict guidelines, however there are a number of unlicensed premises which also operate.

The New South Wales opposition has introduced legislation twice in recent years to move the onus of proof from councils and onto brothel operators. Peta Seaton, Liberal MP for the Southern Highlands attacked the Labor government for voting against the legislation.

"I have put all the evidence that people will be looking at today on the record in Parliament in respect of these and other councils, but in the face of private detective's reports and all the information that's in the media, Labor still voted this down on two occasions," she said.

The legislation was voted down in 2002 and 2003 by the Carr-led government.

Premier of New South Wales since August 2005, Morris Iemma said he would encourage councils to seek changes from the government but stopped short of announcing his own proposition.

"The enforcement of this area of the law is with councils," Mr Iemma said.

"If the Local Government Association or the councils have got a proposition they wish to put to the government that would ease their burden on cracking down on the illegal activity then I'm happy to consider that," Mr Iemma said.

Today in History
1879 - Zulu forces of King Cetshwayo (pictured) routed British forces at the Battle of Isandlwana.

1901 - After holding the title Prince of Wales for six decades, King Edward VII became the second oldest man to ascend to the throne in British history.

1905 - Russian Revolution: Peaceful demonstrators led by Father Gapon were massacred outside the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg on Bloody Sunday.

1973 - The U.S. Supreme Court delivered its landmark legal decision in Roe v. Wade, striking down laws restricting abortion during the first six to seven months of pregnancy.

1980 - Andrei Sakharov, a key architect of the Soviet hydrogen bomb and winner of the 1975 Nobel Peace Prize, was arrested in Moscow following his public protests against the Soviet war in Afghanistan and exiled to Gorky.

Quote of the Day

What is an artist? A provincial who finds himself somewhere between a physical reality and a metaphysical one.... It’s this in-between that I’m calling a province, this frontier country between the tangible world and the intangible one — which is really the realm of the artist.
~ Federico Fellini

Word of the Day

voracious; adj

Wanting or devouring great quantities of food.

Having a great appetite or desire for some activity.

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