TheWall

Argentine train crash kills 49 people, hurts 600

A packed commuter train plowed into the buffers at a Buenos Aires station during morning rush hour on Wednesday, killing at least 49 people and injuring more than 600 others, officials said.

• 8:34 pm Feb 22, 2012 | world

Borderlands 2 Doomsday Trailer

The official trailer for Borderlands 2 has landed.

• 9:33 pm Feb 22, 2012 | world

RIP Sophie Scholl 22nd February 1943

FebAs someone who mostly blogs about women in history and art, I’m often asked which famous female figures from the past I find the most inspirational.

• 3:57 pm Feb 22, 2012 | world

One Week to Stop Anti-Gay Censorship in Russia!

In just one week the city of Saint Petersburg could pass an outrageous bill that will make it a crime to read, write, speak or meet to discuss anything considered “Gay”.

• 6:40 pm Feb 22, 2012 | world

Four killed, dozens wounded in Afghan Koran burning protests

Four people were shot dead and dozens wounded in protests in Afghanistan which flared for a second day on Wednesday in several cities over the burning of copies of the Koran, Islam's holy book, at NATO's main base in the country.

• 4:19 pm Feb 22, 2012 | world

Santorum's push on social issues a challenge for Romney

Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum's hard charging focus on social issues has created a quandary for rival Mitt Romney, who usually prefers to steer clear of such sensitive topics and stress his business credentials.

• 10:12 pm Feb 22, 2012 | world

Michael Gove: Murdoch Should Be Applauded For The Sun On Sunday, Leveson Creating A "Chilling Atmosphere"

The Leveson inquiry is creating a "chilling atmosphere" towards freedom of expression, Michael Gove has claimed.

• 8:59 pm Feb 21, 2012 | national

As Republican campaigns spend millions, PACs rise in importance

Republicans raised and spent money for the presidential race at a frenetic pace in January, according to new financial disclosures that also show why Democrats are concerned about the flagging "Super PAC" that supports President Barack Obama.

• 8:18 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Europe seals new Greek bailout, doubts remain

Euro zone finance ministers agreed a 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) rescue for Greece on Tuesday to avert an imminent chaotic default after forcing Athens to commit to unpopular cuts and private bondholders to take bigger losses.

• 5:19 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Palestinian prisoner ending hunger strike after deal

A Palestinian held without trial by Israel agreed on Tuesday to end his 66 day hunger strike after Israeli authorities promised to release him in April in a deal that avoided judicial review of the detention policy.

• 9:59 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Edvard Munch's The Scream to be sold at auction

A version of one of the most recognisable images in the world Edvard Munch's The Scream – is to be sold by Sotheby's in New York.

• 5:46 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

The Legacy of Malcolm X

There will be an opening address by Sham Qayyum, Director of Centre for Ethnic Minority Studies, SOAS, University of London.

• 9:41 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Ancient plants back to life after 30,000 frozen years

The success of the operation hinged on the habits of the Arctic ground squirrelScientists in Russia have grown plants from fruit stored away in permafrost by squirrels over 30,000 years ago.

• 4:37 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Afghans vent fury over Koran burning, U.S. apologises

Protesters besiege Bagram airbase even as top US commander apologises and orders investigation into reported incident.

• 8:00 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Buried in a Swedish snowdrift: how did he survive?

His doctors are calling it “the case of a lifetime”.

• 2:03 pm Feb 21, 2012 | national

Bahrain: The media war

In the year since the uprising, Bahrain's government has scaled up its information control apparatus.

• 4:20 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Strauss-Kahn held by police in French prostitution probe

Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss Kahn was taken in for questioning on Tuesday by police investigating an alleged prostitution ring run out of the northern French city of Lille.

• 3:31 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Afghans protest over reported Koran desecrations

More than 2,000 Afghans protested outside the main U.S.

• 2:03 pm Feb 21, 2012 | world

Spanish Police Repress Students in Valencia

lunes, 20 de febrero de 2012 Madrid, Feb 20 (Prensa Latina) On Monday, the police of the Spanish city of Valencia repressed a demonstration by secondary school students who were protesting since last week because of education cuts approved by the regional…

• 2:51 am Feb 21, 2012 | world

Alvechurch school coach crash: Driver Derek Thompson appears in court

The driver of a coach carrying Alvechurch schoolchildren home from a ski trip that crashed in northern France is being investigated over an allegation of involuntary homicide.

• 8:41 pm Feb 20, 2012 | world

Analysis-Under pressure, Romney struggles for the right pitch

Mitt Romney isn't singing anymore.

• 3:54 am Feb 21, 2012 | world

Fifty years after Glenn flight, U.S. buying rides to space

Fifty years after John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth, NASA no longer has the ability to fly astronauts in space, a decision Glenn lays squarely on the shoulders of the Bush administration.

• 8:23 pm Feb 20, 2012 | world

Britain's 50 New Radicals

In partnership with the Observer, and using an expert panel of judges, we have identified who we think are the people and organisations who are changing Britain for the better

• 3:15 pm Feb 20, 2012 | world

Gove okays teachings from Beasts of Gor

The TUC is rightly concerned that a booklet Jason Evert wrote, Pure Manhood: How to become the man God wants you to be, teaches homophobia.

• 5:31 pm Feb 20, 2012 | national

Israel: End use of administrative detention

Khader Adnan's hunger strike has prompted demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip© Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty ImagesPalestinian activist Khader Adnan has been on hunger strike since 18 December 2011 in protest against his detention by the Israeli…

• 4:34 pm Feb 20, 2012 | world

Randa Adnan: 'I still have hope'

Khader Adnan was arrested by Israeli soldiers in the middle of the night on December 17, while at his home in the Palestinian village of Arrabeh on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Jenin.

• 7:58 pm Feb 19, 2012 | world

Israel calls for tougher Iran sanctions

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said on Saturday a nuclear armed Iran would trigger an arms race in the Middle East and nations should impose "crippling" sanctions on Tehran to force it to give up its atomic programme.

• 7:16 pm Feb 19, 2012 | world

Photographer Captures Playful Dogs Underwater

Los Angeles based photographerSeth Casteel has captured dogs doing what they do best—swimming.

• 10:15 pm Feb 19, 2012 | world

Attacks paid for by big business are 'driving science into a dark era'

Most scientists, on achieving high office, keep their public remarks to the bland and reassuring.

• 6:18 pm Feb 19, 2012 | world

'Anti-gay' book puts Gove at centre of faith school teaching row

Michael Gove, the education secretary, is at the centre of an escalating row over how faith schools discuss homosexuality in sex education classes.

• 8:39 pm Feb 19, 2012 | world

Social Investigations: NHS privatisation: Compilation of financial and vested interests.

This list represents the dire state of our democracy.

• 3:45 pm Feb 19, 2012 | national

Slaves at the root of the fortune that created Richard Dawkins' family estate

Now Richard Dawkins, the secularist campaigner against "intolerance and suffering", must face an awkward revelation: he is descended from slave owners and his family estate was bought with a fortune partly created by forced labour.

• 10:27 am Feb 19, 2012 | world

Khader Adnan: The West Bank's Bobby Sands

Khader Adnan's hunger strike has prompted demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip© Abbas Momani/AFP/Getty ImagesPalestinian activist Khader Adnan has been on hunger strike since 18 December 2011 in protest against his detention by the Israeli…

• 3:42 am Feb 19, 2012 | world

Syrian forces fire on anti-Assad crowd in capital

Syrian security forces fired live ammunition to break up a protest against President Bashar al Assad in Damascus on Saturday, killing at least one person, opposition activists said.

• 2:51 pm Feb 19, 2012 | world

Pope leaves stamp on Church future with new cardinals

Pope Benedict, putting his mark on his Church's future, on Saturday inducted 22 men into the exclusive group of cardinals who will one day elect one of their own to succeed him as leader of the world's 1.3 billion Roman Catholics.

• 2:39 am Feb 19, 2012 | world

UK's Hague sees Iran nuclear push leading to arms race

Iran is clearly trying to develop a nuclear weapons capability, and if it succeeds it will set off a dangerous round of nuclear proliferation across the Middle East, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said in an interview published on Saturday.

• 3:30 pm Feb 18, 2012 | world

New Jersey governor vetoes gay marriage bill

Republican Governor Chris Christie on Friday vetoed a bill to make New Jersey the latest U.S.

• 5:03 am Feb 18, 2012 | world

Thousands rally in Gaza, West Bank for hunger striker

Several thousand Palestinians rallied in Gaza and the West Bank on Friday in support of jailed Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan, who is on the 62nd day of a hunger strike to protest against his detention by Israel.

• 9:26 am Feb 18, 2012 | world

U.S. Congress ends bitter tax battle with bill passage

Congress ended a three month battle on Friday by passing legislation to extend a tax cut for 160 million workers, a boon for both the economy and Democratic President Barack Obama in this election year.

• 10:30 pm Feb 17, 2012 | world

UK and France sign nuclear energy agreement

The two governments will work together with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "to strengthen international capability to react to nuclear emergencies and establish a joint framework for cooperation and exchanging good practice on civil nuclear…

• 6:21 pm Feb 17, 2012 | world

Fake US bonds worth trillions seized

The fake bonds were found in three metal crates in a Zurich warehouseItalian prosecutors say they have broken up an organised crime ring that was hiding trillions of dollars of fake US bonds.

• 7:08 pm Feb 17, 2012 | world

Virginia Poised To Enact ‘State-Sponsored Rape’ Law Forcing Women To Be Vaginally Probed Before Abortions

Earlier this month, a bill requiring women to receive an ultrasound before they can receive an abortion passed the Virginia senate, and it recently cleared a state house committee with an overwhelming majority.

• 10:54 pm Feb 17, 2012 | world

An Open Letter To The Publisher

I see that you are to pay Amanda Knox £4 million for her memoirs.

• 4:03 pm Feb 17, 2012 | world

In Israel, an illegal outpost faces its reckoning

The Jewish settlement of Migron perches high on a blustery hill in the occupied West Bank.

• 1:30 pm Feb 17, 2012 | world

Nigerian underwear bomber to be sentenced in Detroit

A federal judge is set to decide on Thursday if the Nigerian man who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a U.S.

• 12:22 am Feb 17, 2012 | world

Amanda Knox Signs Book Deal Worth Millions

Thousands of protesters march on New York's financial district, as students stage campus walk outs and rallies are also held in other US cities.

• 4:00 am Feb 17, 2012 | world

Catholic bishops fight for authority over US flock

This morning, Democrats tore into House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R CA) for preventing women from testifying before a hearing examining the Obama administration’s new regulation requiring employers and insurers to provide…

• 1:15 am Feb 17, 2012 | world

Democratic Women Boycott House Contraception Hearing After Republicans Prevent Women From Testifying

This morning, Democrats tore into House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R CA) for preventing women from testifying before a hearing examining the Obama administration’s new regulation requiring employers and insurers to provide…

• 7:08 pm Feb 16, 2012 | world

Thais find possible bomb link in Thai, India attacks

Thai investigators believe they have found a link between this week's bomb blasts in Bangkok and New Delhi, a senior security official said on Wednesday, two of three botched attacks Israel has blamed on Iran.

• 7:08 pm Feb 16, 2012 | world

Falklands tension: Argentina condemns UK MPs visit

Argentina has condemned a planned visit to the Falkland Islands by UK MPs as another sign of Britain's "militarisation" of the South Atlantic.

• 3:51 pm Feb 16, 2012 | world

bbc - newsnight

Female genital mutilation rife in Egypt despite ban

The local imam, Rabea Taha Farag, spoke with equal determination and commitment: "In the past, the imam in mosques didn't have enough information on this issue, but now cultural and educational expansion have allowed people to know more and understand the…

• 2:25 am Feb 16, 2012 | world

How did we forget about mutually assured destruction?

In the past, wars had been fought by defeating your opponent on the battlefield by superior use of force.

• 4:54 am Feb 16, 2012 | world

Rick Santorum Wants Your Sex Life to Be 'Special'

CommentHe insists that opining on the subject is the kind of thing a presidential candidate should do.

• 4:44 am Feb 16, 2012 | world

Social Enterprise UK publishes new guide for local authorities

A new guide to the increasingly important topic of social enterprise has been published for professionals working in local government.

• 8:25 pm Feb 15, 2012 | world

Obese woman demanding 50 hours care a week 'went to pop concert'

The woman says she needs up to 50 hours a-week of care, but Plymouth Council disagrees - insisting her worst enemy is her own "dependency" on the state.

• 8:15 pm Feb 15, 2012 | world

Rangers in crisis: Jailed embezzler blows lid on the deals he used to help Craig Whyte beat the taxman

A JAILED embezzler has told how he helped beleaguered tycoon Craig Whyte sail from one bust company to another, leaving furious creditors out of pocket.

• 4:41 pm Feb 15, 2012 | world

Honduras prison fire kills more than 200 -officials

A massive fire swept through a prison in Honduras, killing more than 200 people, and the death toll could rise further, officials said on Wednesday.

• 6:15 pm Feb 15, 2012 | world

Supreme Court upholds BBC's refusal on Israel report

The late Steven Sugar had claimed the BBC's coverage was biased against IsraelThe UK Supreme Court has rejected an appeal against the BBC's refusal to publish a report into its coverage of the Israeli Palestinian conflict.

• 5:24 pm Feb 15, 2012 | world

Unsung Heroes

She is undeniably the secret to our digital world.

• 1:12 pm Feb 15, 2012 | entertainment

Ten Years After Decriminalization, Drug Abuse Down by Half in Portugal

Drug warriors often contend that drug use would skyrocket if we were to legalize or decriminalize drugs in the United States.

• 7:31 pm Feb 14, 2012 | world

Man maimed by own bomb in Thai capital

A man thought to be Iranian was seriously wounded in Bangkok on Tuesday when a bomb he was carrying exploded and blew one of his legs off, police and a government spokeswoman said.

• 7:21 pm Feb 14, 2012 | world

Stop and review the cuts to benefits and services which are falling disproportionately on disabled people, their carers and families

Responsible department: Department for Work and Pensions The government were embarking on wholesale reform of the benefit system when the economic crisis struck.

• 4:51 pm Feb 14, 2012 | world

bbc - newsnight

Europe left torn between outrage and anxiety on Greece

Europe's left is torn between outrage and anxiety over drastic cuts in living standards and working conditions being imposed on Greeks by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

• 4:04 am Feb 14, 2012 | world

Know your labels

Food labelling should be simple but it is not.

• 12:23 am Feb 14, 2012 | world

Olympics-Gaza runner ready to fly Palestinian flag in London

Gaza runner Bahaa al Farra treads carefully, braving the elements and potholed roads ravaged by years of conflict between Palestinian militants and the Israeli army, as he prepares to race at the London Olympics.

• 10:19 pm Feb 13, 2012 | world

New Jersey Senate passes same-sex marriage bill

The New Jersey state Senate voted 24 16 on Monday in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage....

• 10:54 pm Feb 13, 2012 | world

Slavery case girl tells court of abuse by Eccles couple

Ilyas Asha and his wife, Tallat Ashar, deny charges of false imprisonment and human trafficking A deaf girl allegedly kept in a cellar, raped and treated as a slave in Greater Manchester has told a court of years of beatings and cruelty.

• 2:52 pm Feb 22, 2012 | world

One wounded in Israeli embassy car blast-India foreign office

At least one woman was wounded in a blast targeting an Israeli embassy car in New Delhi on Monday, an Indian foreign office spokesman said.

• 9:57 pm Feb 13, 2012 | world

Bahraini police fire teargas at protesters

Bahraini police fired teargas and stun grenades to stop mainly Shi'ite protesters trying to march towards the roundabout at the centre of a failed pro democracy uprising last year and detained two American rights activists who came to monitor.

• 12:03 am Feb 20, 2012 | world

Dolphin bloodbath exposed

But video shot using cameras hidden on cliffs overlooking the waters show what really happens.

• 5:02 pm Feb 19, 2012 | world