Modern Warfare 2: Brilliant, but just a machine | Charlie Brooker
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the Citizen Kane of repeatedly shooting people in the face. The storyline makes less sense than a gas ladder, but in terms of technical achievement, this is an undoubted masterpiece. The visuals, the soundtrack, the...

US pressure 'distorted oil figures'
Exclusive: Watchdog's estimates of reserves inflated says top officialThe world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately...

South Korea: Woman passes driver's licence exam on 950th attempt
A woman in South Korea who had tried to pass the written exam for her driver's licence on 949 occasions has passed on her 950th attempt. The aspiring driver, who needs the licence for her business, spent more than £2,500 in application fees, but until...

Twelve killed in shooting at military base in Texas
• Shootings suspect named as Major Nidal Malik Hasan• Barack Obama calls attack 'horrific outburst of violence'Twelve people were killed and 31 wounded yesterday when a US soldier went on a rampage at Fort Hood military base in Texas before he...

Fancy a job at Google?
To get one you might need to know why manhole covers are round – or how many golf balls fit in a school busSeattle-based interview coach Lewis Lin recently posted a list of questions typically fired at job applicants to Google. Here's a selection:1...

How Gordon Brown paid West Wing writers $40,000 for 'tailoring' speech
Company headed by former speechwriters to Clinton, vice-president Joe Biden and other leading Democrats helped pitch speeches to US audienceGordon Brown's speech to the US Congress in March earned no fewer than 19 standing ovations, a congratulatory...

Can we manipulate the weather?
Chinese scientists claim to be able to control the weather. But is so-called geoengineering more than wishful thinking? And, if so, should we be worried?The unseasonal snow that fell on Beijing for 11 hours on Sunday was the earliest and heaviest there...

Couple wrote to BBC to tell of suicide decision
A couple who wrote to the BBC to say they had chosen to take their own lives and criticised British laws on assisted suicides have been found dead at their home, police said last night .Dennis Milner, 83, and his wife Flora, 81, from Newbury, Berkshire,...

MULTI-LINGUAL EDITORS FOR LEADING AD AGENCY jobs, London, Excellent package + bens | Guardian Jobs
RT @termnet The Guardian (UK) job offer: editor and terminologist for leading post production agency: http://bit.ly/4pIGyw [from http://twitter.com/sarahdillon/statuses/5317280927]

McDonald's quits 'unviable' Iceland
McDonald's is pulling out of Iceland next week, in a fresh blow to the island nation a year on from a financial crash that nearly left it bankrupt.The closure of the fast-food giant's three restaurants on Monday means Iceland will become one of the few...

Life Imitates 'Arrested Development'
from the Guardian: Prisoner escaped after swapping identity with twin brother Identical twin Simon Maclellan wrongly released from custody after pretending to be his brother, court told