Irish economy sees biggest contraction in decades

Thursday, March 26, 2009 The economy of Ireland shrank by 7.5% in the last quarter of 2008 compared to the same period a year previously, according to official statistics. The decline is the worst in decades. For the entire period of 2008, the economy contracted by 2.3%, the first loss since 1983. The construction industry has suffered badly as a […]

Benin, Nigeria join African Union continental free trade bloc

Wednesday, July 10, 2019 Leaders of African Union (AU) member states met in Niamey, Niger’s capital, for an AU summit where on Sunday Presidents Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria and Patrice Talon of Benin signed the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement. Nigeria previously announced it planned to join the AfCFTA in the week leading up to the summit. AU […]

Randall Munroe, writer of xkcd, talks about the comic, politics and the internet

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Randall Munroe is the writer of the popular webcomic xkcd. The comic is known for its geeky humor and minimalist drawing style that generally uses stick figures. Munroe worked as a contractor for NASA before writing xkcd full time in 2006. Wikinews reporter Joshua Zelinsky interviewed Munroe at Vericon, Harvard’s annual science fiction convention. Retrieved from […]

India’s moon craft reaches final lunar orbit

Friday, November 14, 2008 India’s first lunar mission, the Chandrayaan-1 (meaning ‘moon craft’ in Sanskrit), reached its destined lunar orbit on Wednesday. The satellite’s on-board engine was fired for 58 seconds. It is now in a circular orbit 102 kilometres from the Moon.It will stay in this orbit for two years and conduct various experiments to gain a better understanding […]

Scores feared dead in Indonesian landslides after heavy rain

Wednesday, December 26, 2007 Heavy rains in western Indonesia have triggered landslides across the region that have killed dozens of people. Meanwhile, other areas were devastated by major flooding, with water reaching two metres high in some locations. Search and rescue chief Eko Prayitno in Java told reporters that police, soldiers and volounteers were working together to attempt to reach […]