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Thursday, January 6, 2005

Friends of the son of the Brazilian President, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, have published photos of themselves partying on vacation in Brasilia. The news caused arguments and protests amongst many Brazilians, with allegations that the government were paying the expenses.

The group of teenagers is shown cavorting at the official residences of Granja do Torto and Palácio do Alvorada, both in Brasilia; near a Brazilian Air Force airplane; travelling by motor boat in Paranoá lake; and with Brazilian soccer player Pelé.

At first, the photos appeared in the photoblogs www.fotolog.net/tata_lulu, www.fotolog.net/feijao_fodao and www.fotolog.net/gringo_mi. But since the publication of the news by the local newspapers Folha de São Paulo and Estado de São Paulo, the photoblogs were deleted or the photos removed. Some of the photos however, still are available at some user and newspaper sites on the Internet.

Since the incident, several people have created Orkut communities which comment, joke, and protest about what has happened. One of these communities, named “Férias na Alvorada – EU QUERO!” (Vacations at Alvorada – I WANT IT!”), had 450 members as of January 7th.

The Brazilian government declined to comment on the pictures.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

A 13-year-old boy was killed and ten people were injured in an accidental shooting incident in the Brazilian town of Rondonopolis.

The police were staging a mock hijack as a training exercise with real people in a bus as an audience on Saturday. They fired their guns at cardboard cutouts of criminals in the exercise. However, they used live ammunition in their guns, and the shots went straight through the cutouts and the glass windows of the bus.

Luis Henrique Dias Bulhoes, 13, was killed by a single shot to the head received from one of three 12-gauge shotguns that were amongst the weaponry the 16 police were using. Among the 600 people attending the exercise, six children and three adults were also injured.

Police admitted to the blunder on Monday. They believe bullets from more than one gun reached the audience. Seven of the 16 policeman are temporarily dismissed from their positions pending investigations.

Tuesday, April 5, 2005Terry Vo, the 10-year old Australian boy who had two hands and a foot reattached by surgeons after losing them in an accident, has had to have the foot re-amputated. He will be given a prosthetic foot in its place.

The operation to re-attach three limbs was thought to have been a first – but was ultimately unsuccessful, with the foot having died inside, and receiving insufficient blood supply following the surgery to reattach it.

“That would lead to the small muscles in the foot actually constricting, the toes bending over and a deformed …. foot that is sort of clawed over and doesn’t have good sensation,” said plastic surgeon, Mr Robert Love today, on Australia’s ABC Radio.

“Even if you can get all of that to survive, he [would be] worse off than having had an amputation.”

“What is very disappointing is that for the first two days after [the operation] the foot looked absolutely magnificent,” he said.

Terry’s hands were healing well, said the surgeon. The prosthetic foot would allow him to walk normally, since his knee was intact.

Thursday, November 22, 2018

Nine rescued Indian-breed dogs are scheduled to join homes in the United States through the India-based animal rescue and recovery center Peepal Farm. The organization decided to take all nine in one big trip to consolidate the costs and paperwork and number of volunteers. Co-founder Joellen Anderson plans to take the animals across the U.S. in a camper van starting the first week of December.

Peepal Farm is an animal rescue and recovery center in Himachal Pradesh, India. It was founded by Shivani, Robin, and Anderson to help stray animals in and around the area and raise awareness of the cruel treatment of strays in India.

Peepal Farm is a stray animal rescue, vegan organic farm, and a low-impact farmstay. It was built in the Himalayan Foothills to accommodate recovering injured stray animals, people who want to do good work, and an organic garden to supplement the diet of all residents.

Peepal Farm is based on the philosophy that every action for survival leaves a “suffering footprint,” especially any act of consumption. As such, the organization focuses on mindful consumption and making survival purposeful through good work, such as alleviating physical pain.

Due to limited space at the recovery center, they have to release the stray animals back on the streets to make space for the incoming patients. However, some animals are either too young or need long term care, so they started a dog adoption campaign called “Adopt Happiness.” They had some success in getting the dogs adopted by locals and dog lovers in India and abroad.

The costs of getting the dogs to their homes was often a consideration of people willing to adopt and Peepal Farm adapted by sharing the cost by getting volunteers traveling the same destinations as the dog’s intended home.

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Thursday, March 25, 2010

A prank by three young kitchen staff at Hungry Jack’s fast food restaurant in the Central-Western New South Wales city of Bathurst went wrong when two customers required medical treatment after eating burgers they had laced with multi-purpose cleaner.

According to staff at the Emergency Department of Bathurst Hospital, two Hungry Jack’s customers became ill Sunday night after eating burgers contaminated with a chemical believed to be multi-purpose cleaner. One of the patrons was in a serious condition upon arrival at Bathurst Hospital due to being allergic to an ingredient in the cleaning product. “He presented to the emergency department as he was having an allergic reaction after eating a burger from Hungry Jacks, he was in a really bad way when he arrived here and if he had waited much longer it could have been much worse,” said a Greater Western Area Health Service employee. “We called Hungry Jacks and they said that three of their employees had been goofing off and sprayed multi-purpose cleaner inside the burgers so we then treated the patients for poisoning.”

Both customers are expected to make a full recovery. During an investigation undertaken by Wikinews reporter Nathan Carter, it was learned that the chemical sprayed into the burgers was KAY multipurpose cleaner which is reported to cause nausea, diarrhoea and mucosal and gastric irritation. The Material Safety Data Sheet for KAY multipurpose cleaner lists Antonic Surfactants as its hazardous ingredient.

In New South Wales, it is a criminal offence to make food intended for sale unsafe punishable by 2 years imprisonment. Due to restrictions on the publication of the name of young people involved in crimes in New South Wales, the names of kitchen staff can not be published. Wikinews was told by Hungry Jack’s staff that the staff involved in the incident remained employed by Hungry Jack’s. Josh, a Hungry Jack’s manager at the Bathurst restaurant, told Wikinews that his boss Adam was aware of the food contamination issue and would be taking steps to address it.

Monday, September 11, 2006

September 9, 2006

The Queensland state election has been won by the Peter Beattie led labor government. After a colourful campaign featuring disunity between the liberal-national coalition and a forecasted protest vote that failed to eventuate against labor, Beattie maintained his considerable margin in the 89 seat legislative assembly winning a predicted 60 seats with approximately 70% of votes counted. The nationals and liberals are predicted to pick up 16 and nine seats respectively.

September 10, 2006

Leander Paes and Martin Damm crowned their first year as a pair on Saturday as they beat Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 to win the men’s doubles title at the 2006 U.S. Open tennis tournament.

Paes and Damm had lost the first set and their serve broken in the second set managed to win their first title of the year.

Paes said communication had been the key to his success with Damm. “I don’t think there are enough words to express how much fun and how much learning I’ve actually had playing with Martin, because we’re actually opposites on the court,” Paes said.”Martin is strong and plays more solid. I’m more flashy and a bit more quick. We really complement each other.”It’s been a fantastic year playing with him. I’ve really enjoyed it. I’d like to thank him for a wonderful year.”

September 10, 2006

The situation in Malegaon is calm, two days after multiple blasts killed 38 people and left 200 others injured. The police are investigating cautiously and are yet to find definite clues or detain suspects.A special ten-member team of Mahrasthra’s Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) is in Malegaon to probe blasts.National Security Guards (NSG) is inspecting the site as well.Investigators admit that cracking the Malegaon mystery will be tough one and so for there have been no arrests or detentions.

Related news:

• “Muslims in Gujarat hold anti-Pakistan rally” — Wikinews, September 9, 2006
• “38 dead, over 180 injured as blasts rock Maharashtra town” — Wikinews, September 8, 2006

September 10, 2006

A mid-air collision has taken the life of Swedish aerobatics champion Gabor Varga. Shortly after the in-flight tangle, the two planes crashed into the sea as co-competitor Eddie Goggins of Ireland parachuted into the sea where Maltese Armed Forces rescued him.

The incident comes only days after Aero GP announced a sponsorship deal with Betfair, giving the Malta Aero GP the official title, Aero GP Betfair Grand Prix of Malta.

The competition in the Aero GP involves a variety of skill tests for the pilots, testing their racing, dogfighting and target-bombing abilities.

September 10, 2006

An earthquake struck in the Gulf of Mexico with a magnitude of 6.0, a strength very rare for that region of the world, at 10:56am EDT (14:56 UTC) on September 10. Although no damage has been reported, it has been reported that tremors were felt in Orlando and Ocala in the state of Florida.

According to the U.S. Geographical Survey, the quake’s epicenter was 260 miles (418 km) WSW (240°) of Clearwater, Florida, and 329 miles (529 km) southeast (145°) of New Orleans, Louisiana, at a depth of 6.2 miles (10 km).

USGS officials stated that the quake was not strong enough to trigger a tsunami. Tremor intensities as high as Force IV on the Modified Mercalli scale were felt throughout Florida.

Friday, October 12, 2007

I had an unofficial phone call from Gay Talese last Tuesday. He had just flown back from Colombia and he was cranky. “I’m happy to do an interview with you,” he said, “but what the hell could you ask me that’s not already out there? Have you even bothered to look?!”

“Jeez, Mr. Talese, lots of things,” was my response. I lied. The truth is that when I call people to interview them, I do not have a set of preconceived questions. My agenda is to talk to them and gain a sense of who they are; to flesh them out as humans. To find out what they think about the world around them at that moment. With Gay Talese I had little interest in talking about Frank Sinatra Has a Cold and with Augusten Burroughs I had little interest in discussing Running with Scissors. I want to know what they think about things outside of the boxes people have placed them in.

With a memoirist like Burroughs, even this is a challenge. What parts of his life he has not written about himself, other interviewers have strip-mined. When we met for dinner at Lavagna in the East Village, I explained to Augusten this issue. I suggested we make the interview more of a conversation to see if that would be more interesting. “Instead of you in the catbird seat,” I said, “let’s just talk.”

We struck an instant rapport. What set out to be an hour and half interview over dinner had turned into four hours of discussion about our lives similarly lived. I removed half of the interview: the half that focused on me.

Below is Wikinews reporter David Shankbone’s conversation with writer Augusten Burroughs.

Wednesday, June 7, 2006

The Western Australian (WA) Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has advised against the massive Greater Gorgon liquefied natural gas project off WA’s Pilbara coast. Proponents of the projects say Gorgon is one of Australia’s biggest export ventures, scheduled to provide up to 6,000 jobs and exports of up to $1.2 billion.

EPA chairman Dr Wally Cox said the Gorgon project operators (Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell), had made an effort on flora and fauna issues but in its present state, the Gorgon proposal was “unacceptable.” Gorgon LNG general manager Colin Beckett said that Gorgon was a world-class gas field and that the joint venture partners were confident that the decision would be reversed.

Environment Minister Mark McGowan said there was a definite process to be followed. The Minister says he will make a final decision on the Gorgon proposal after considering the EPA report – and any subsequent report from the Appeals Convenor. The EPA recommendations on the Gorgon proposal are subject to a two-week appeals period.

The EPA’s Dr Cox said that joint venture had “not been able to demonstrate that impacts from dredging, the introduction of non-indigenous species and the potential loss of fauna could be reduced to acceptable levels.”

In September 2003 the WA government provided “in-principle agreement” to the Gorgon joint venturers subject to a number of conditions. Dr Cox said that the Environmental Review and Management Programme had further highlighted the terrestrial and marine conservation values of Barrow Island and the adjacent waters.

“Flatback turtles in particular would be put at risk from the proposal with two of the most important nesting beaches located adjacent to the proposed LNG processing plant site and the materials off-loading facility,” Dr Cox said. “There is very little science available on the life-cycle, behaviour and feeding habits of Flatback turtles and as a consequence it is not possible at this time to identify management measures that would ensure ongoing survival of this Pilbara Flatback turtle population.”

Dr Cox also said that the Proponent had not been able to demonstrate that risk could be reduced to satisfactory levels in the areas of: Impacts on the marine ecosystem from dredging; The introduction of non-indigenous species; Potential loss of subterranean and short range endemic invertebrate fauna species. “As a result, the proposal in its present form cannot meet the EPA’s environmental objectives and is considered environmentally unacceptable,” Dr Cox said.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

On Saturday, the Iraqi parliament approved a power-sharing agreement, after eight months of negotiations.

The agreement, reached on Tuesday, appeared to be falling apart on Thursday after the Sunni-backed al-Iraqiya List, led by Ayad Allawi, walked out of the parliamentary session, expressing disappointment that the parliament had not voted upon the power-sharing agreement before voting for the president. Allawi then spoke to CNN, telling the network that they viewed the power-sharing process to be “dead” and that they were expecting more “tensions and violence”.

Iraqis went to the polls on March 7 to elect members of the Council of Representatives. In this election, the al-Iraqiya List won 91 seats, becoming the largest party in the parliament. However, in order to form a government, a party needs to hold 163 seats in the 325 seat Council. The Shia-Backed State of Law Coalition, led by current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the Kurdish-supported Kurdistan List, led by Dr. Barham Salih, won 89 and 43 seats respectively, giving them more seats together than al-Iraqiya, but still far from enough to form a government.

Eight months of disagreement on coalition-forming culminated in a compromise on Thursday in which Nouri al-Maliki would remain Prime Minister of Iraq, while Ayad Allawi would become leader of the new National Council for Strategic Policies, offering “a check on al-Maliki’s power”. President Jalal Talabani would retain his position as well. Lawmakers also elected al-Iraqiya member Osama al-Nujaifi as Parliamentary Speaker. The problems began when al-Iraqiya believed the election of al-Nujaifi as Speaker was insufficient representation for the party in Parliament. This coupled with the fact that the rest of the parliament voted down the request to vote on the power-sharing agreement, led members of al-Iraqiya to walk out of the parliamentary session.Foreign Diplomats and Iraqi politicians have been scrambling to try and salvage the agreement. Al-Iraqiya announced its plans on Saturday to boycott the parliamentary session on Saturday.

On Saturday al-Iraqiya returned to the negotiating table; a spokesman for al-Iraqiya characterised the walkout as a “misunderstanding”. With the help of al-Iraqiya, the parliament approved the power-sharing agreement agreed upon by the parties, as well as beginning to lift the ban on Ba’athist politicians in the parliament — which the Sunni population had felt unfairly targeted them.