Joe McElderry won the 6th edition of the successful TV series “The X Factor” on Sunday, signing a record deal and launching his first debut single: “The Climb”, a cover after Miley Cyrus’s hit.

The 18-year old student from South Shields has received 61% of the votes after the final clash with Olly Murs, mentored by Syco owner and the show’s producer, Simon Cowell. The two finalists outlasted 200.000 other candidates and gathered more than 10 million votes combined. McElderry performed “Don’t stop believing”, while Olly Murs sang “Twist and Shout”. Both of them also performed a cover of “The Climb” in an effort to achieve the X Factor crown.

After the winner was announced, Joseph McElderry hugged his mentor, Cheryl Cole, saying: “Thank you so much everyone, I can’t even speak”. His debut song will probably top the Christmas charts.

Tiger Woods has been named Athlete of the Decade by the editors of US sports. Woods received 56 out of 142 votes and was followed by cyclist Lance Armstrong and tennis player Roger Federer. Armstrong, who has won six Tour de France titles, received 33 votes, while Federer, who has won 15 Grand Slam titles, got only 25.

The sportsman is involved in a huge media scandal regarding his private life. Moreover, the golfer’s main sponsor, the consultancy firm Accenture has recently dropped their sponsorship after the numerous infidelity stories that saw global coverage by the media.

Tiger Woods has won 64 golf tournaments worldwide. Although he is only 33 years old, he has already won 12 majors. The golfer has announced that he will take an “indefinite break” from this sport to “try to repair the damage done” to his wife and their two children.

The European Commission has agreed to discontinue its web browser lawsuit against Microsoft. The software corporation from Redmond avoided a financial penalty after 10 years of debate whether it had a monopoly over the Internet browser market. Microsoft Corporation has consented to a legal bond that it will market rival web browsers beside its own software product, Internet Explorer.

Neelie Kroes, the Competition Commissioner, has gladly accepted the decision which arrived just before Christmas: “I sincerely hope that today’s decision closes a long chapter in Microsoft’s sometimes uneasy relationship with the Commission and opens a new positive one.”

Microsoft had been punished in the past by the Commission because of the lack of fair competition in business, suffering a 1.7 billion fine. However, the software giant will still be supervised by the European Commission.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, has been released from hospital after spending 4 days at San Raffaele Hospital. The premier was cared for by his personal doctor, Dr. Alberto Zangrillo.

Berlusconi was attacked at a mass meeting in Milan on Sunday night and sustained 2 broken teeth and a fractured nose after being assaulted by Massimo Tartaglia, a 42-year old man with a history of chronic mental diseases. The Prime Minister was hit in the face by a statuette.

A 26 year old man was arrested yesterday by the italian police after trying to reach Berlusconi’s hospital room.

The economy of the Irish Republic saw a small increase in this quarter of the year. The numbers published by the government indicated a GDP growth of 0.3% in comparison to last year. The statistics suggest that Ireland has left behind what was one of the biggest recessions in Europe.

Ireland formerly comprised one of the fastest growing economy in Europe, but is now bears a heavy debt burden with a 12% gross domestic product deficit. The authorities have drastically reduced the spending to ensure a balanced monetary policy. The budget was increased by 4 billion euros after the sharp cuts.

The analysts have pointed out the danger of overstating because the economy is still very unstable.

The Copenhagen deadlock has been broken, but the world leaders are trying to reach an agreement on the penultimate day of the summit.

“In these few days in Copenhagen, which will be blessed or blamed for generations to come, we cannot permit the politics of narrow self-interest to prevent a policy for human survival; there is no greater national interest than the common future of this planet” warned the United Kingdom Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, said that her country is prepared to help the developing countries with $100 billion. Almost 130 world leaders are trying to sign an elusive deal. The US President Barack Obama is planning to arrive on Friday to give the summit a boost, but the climate agreement seems more likely to be signed next year in Mexico.