Bit late posting this, news from Tuesday: North Korea isn’t going to develop Nuclear Weapons to blow us all up just yet.. that’ll be left to other people who have nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons in North Korea will be disabled and a crucial reactor complex shut down as part of a landmark deal.

The agreement came after marathon talks held by six nations in Beijing.

International inspectors will also be granted access under the initial disarmament plan.

Under the agreement, North Korea must take the steps within 60 days and in return it will receive 50,000 tonnes of fuel oil or economic aid of equal value.

Skynews. Thanks Choda.

Two American terrorists have gone on a bit of a killing spree.

Two gunmen have gone on separate shooting rampages on opposite sides of the United States, shooting dead eight people.

A man dressed in a trench coat randomly murdered five shoppers at Salt Lake City’s Trolley Square Mall in the western state of Utah, before an off-duty police officer shot him dead.

On the opposite side of the country, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a man opened fire at an office complex, killing three people and critically injuring a fourth.

More on the story here.

Wind and solar energy could be used to set up mobile phone networks in rural areas of the world without power.
The world’s first mobile phone base station powered by wind and the sun’s rays will soon open in Namibia.

Thats cool. Story on the beeb.

Northern Ireland is the hate capital of the western world, according to new research by the University of Ulster.

Not only does Northern Ireland have the highest proportion of bigots - just ahead of Greece - but the bigots are on average more bigoted than those in other countries.

The main target of the Ulster bigots are homosexuals, followed by immigrants or foreign workers.

More on the article at the Belfast Telegraph. Pic from there too.

Humans are to blame for climate change and it will continue for centuries, the world’s leading scientists have said.

Its report projects global temperatures will rise between 1.8C and 4C by 2100.

Sea levels will increase by 18cm to 59cm by century’s end.

And it forecasts more rain, more powerful storms, droughts and heatwaves.

It’s 93 years before the day after tomorrow, we’re fucked people!!! Story on Skynews.

Thanks Choda

BOSTON - Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

Full Story on Msnbc Yep its happened, America has shat itself by looking at a cartoon character giving them the finger.

If all the hype, marketing or just the very existance of Valentines Day makes you feel ill, or if you feel enough dislike for someone, take a look at Dead Roses.

Yes, you guessed it, they will send out a box or bouquet of dead roses to whoever you wish. Lovely.

Dublin City looks likely to be blanketed with free wireless internet access in the tradition of cities like San Francisco if a proposed plan by Dublin City Council gets the go-ahead.

According to reports this morning, Dublin City Council has put out a tender for consultants to offer advice regarding technological, regulatory and financial issues if such a service was deployed.

It is estimated that building a citywide network of Wi-Fi hotspots would cost the city of Dublin between €12m and €20m.

Story.

Remember the Late Late Show nutter, Paul Stokes? A judge today found him unfit to stand trial because, basically, he’s nuts. Stokes apparently attempted some kind of hunger strike at the central mental hospital in Dundrum, and claims he was force-fed (by injection).

Breakingnews tells us:

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency says attitudes to sex in rural areas are still lagging behind those in towns and cities.

In one incident referred to in the research, a young woman went to her GP seeking the morning-after pill, but instead he offered to say prayers for her.

Blimey.

Check out a flickr search for more pics of the sinking cargo ship. It even has a few pics of looters grabbing goods from the shore. And not just any goods, BMW motorcycles… this pic is entitled: “Here Dave, Guess what I’ve just found?”

Thanks to the always quality Redmum for the tip.

Related article: Beach closed in bid to stop cargo ship scavengers.

Previously: Stricken cargo ship leaking oil off Devon.

I think these pictures of the cargo ship are amazing.

The sheer size of it is incredible. Pictures taken from SkyNews.co.uk.

More on the story here.

Experts are fighting to avert an ecological disaster as a stricken cargo ship began leaking oil off Devon.

As many as 200 containers - three of which are thought to contain dangerous substances such as battery acid - have also washed into the sea.

The 62,000-tonne ship, carrying 2,400 containers - 157 of which are said to contain hazardous chemicals such as perfume, ethanol, pesticides and toxic liquids - as well as thousands of tonnes of heavy fuel, was being towed to Portland when severe structural failure forced the salvage teams to deliberately run it aground near the town of Sidmouth.

That’s alot of containers.

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon’s completion of a hefty manual outlining procedures for terror trials has revived debate in Congress on the treatment of military detainees.

Democrats said they were concerned that the manual _ based on a law passed last year in the Republican-run Congress _ tramples on basic legal rights that should be afforded to military prisoners. This, they say, puts U.S. troops at risk of mistreatment if captured.

Under the law, the president can convene military commissions to prosecute terror suspects so long as he follows certain guidelines, such as granting defendants legal counsel and access to evidence used against them.

It also for the first time provided specific definitions of abusive treatment of prisoners, prohibiting some of the worst abuses like mutilation and rape but granting the president leeway to decide which specific interrogation techniques are permissible.

More on the Washington Post So the President can tell them how to interrogate prisoners? George Bush!?!

The United States and Japan have criticised China’s anti-satellite weapons test in which an old weather satellite was destroyed.

The test, first reported by Aviation Week, destroyed the satellite with a ballistic missile on January 11th.

Analysts said China’s weather satellites would travel at about the same altitude as US spy satellites, so the test represented an indirect threat to US defence systems.

Coming next: The Invasion of China!! Story on Ireland.com

Following on from this story The family of the woman are going to sue.

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - The family of a California woman who died after participating in a radio station’s water-drinking contest will sue the station, their lawyer said on Thursday.

Jennifer Strange, 28, a mother of three, died from suspected water intoxication after taking part in Friday’s competition, “Hold your wee for a Wii.” About 20 people tried to out-drink each other without going to the toilet to win a Nintendo Wii game console.

Sacramento station KDND-FM responded by firing 10 staffers, including several DJs. The DJs had joked about people dying from water intoxication and teasing Strange about her enlarged stomach.

Full Story

From SkyNews

The normally sunny Malibu, which last week was gripped by wildfires, got a dusting of snow, bringing travel chaos to the region.

In Valencia, 30 miles north of Los Angeles downtown, people were seen rushing around with video cameras to capture the rare sight of snow.

Meteorologists said it was the first time in more than 20 years that snow had fallen there.

The unusual cold snap followed several nights of freezing conditions in northern and central California that have caused £500m losses among crops of oranges, strawberries and avocados.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has been out and about examining the effect of the weather on citrus crops.

He has declared a state of emergency in 10 counties.

Thats it America keep bringing your kids to school in those tanks you drive. This weather is only the begining, Doomsday is coming! The Atomic Scientists are also warning us that it is getting late on in the day and it’s nearly midnight on the doomsday clock.

Since 1947, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has maintained the so-called Doomsday Clock. The symbolic timepiece measures how close mankind is to midnight, which represents total destruction of the Earth.

“Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, has the world faced such perilous choices,” she said. “North Korea’s recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran’s nuclear ambitions, a renewed emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia, are symptomatic of a failure to solve the problems posed by some the most destructive technology on Earth.”

Kennette Benedict said this time, nuclear annihilation is not the scientists’ only concern.

“The dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons,” she added. “The effects may be less dramatic in the short term, than the destruction that could be wrought by nuclear explosions, but over the next three to four decades, climate change could cause irremediable harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend for survival.”

Full story on that here, here and here. Official Site. Thanks Choda

Breakingnews has this:

One fifth of motorists who die in road accidents while driving to work in the morning are over the legal alcohol limit, according to the Road Safety Authority.

The authority says the finding emerged from a study it commissioned on motorists who are affected the morning after consuming alcohol.

The Road Safety Authority website has this:

The report confirms that the ‘morning after’ is a real danger zone for drink driving related death and injury on Irish roads. It also identified Monday morning as a particularly high-risk period for drink driving related ‘morning after’ crashes.

Alcohol In Fatal Road Crashes in Ireland 2003 - Full Report (PDF).

Bonus: Drinkaware.ie.

Aer Lingus short haul passengers face baggage charges of €8 on each item of baggage from today.

However passengers will only have to pay half that if they check in online in advance.

Won’t be long until Aer Lingus = Ryanair

Aer Lingus said the new charges will facilitate quick and easy access through airports and ensure quicker turnaround times.

How is that possible? Everyone still has to check in and the majority of people will still need to bring bags with them.

Fares may also be reduced as a result.

Ok, ‘may be reduced’. Nice of them to say that.

Ireland.com

From rte.ie

The US President, George W Bush, has defended his decision to send more than 20,000 extra US troops to Iraq to try to help stabilise the situation in Baghdad and Anbar province.

In an interview on public television station, PBS, Mr Bush said the United States had to tackle the violence now or it would spiral out of control.

Mr Bush also criticised the Iraqi government’s handling of the execution of former leader Saddam Hussein.

He said that it had been made to look like a revenge killing.

This guy would be a grade A comedian if it wasn’t all so fucking serious.

Some researchers at Dublin City University have discovered that one hundred percent of banknotes in the Republic of Ireland have traces of cocaine.

Some of the notes had such high levels of cocaine on them that it is thought they were used to snort the drug.

Others had much lower traces and may have been cross-contaminated, perhaps in the wallets or pockets of users.

Snort.

Update: Taint.org has a post up on the story.