Monday, January 25, 2016

According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck Alaska, United States, near the state’s most populous city of Anchorage. City authorities say they do not know of any injuries caused by the earthquake, which occurred early yesterday morning.

The earthquake’s epicentre was 162 miles (about 260 km) away from Anchorage, where residents reported feeling intense shaking. Associated Press reporter Mark Thiessen said he was woken from sleep by the quake, despite having taken sleeping pills earlier.

In the city of Kenai, gas explosions destroyed two homes. The quake destroyed four homes in total; the two other homes were damaged by fire, but did not explode. Authorities said around twenty people took shelter in a local armoury opened up for those whose homes were evacuated.

In Anchorage, utility companies reported small-scale power outages.

The quake was followed by two smaller quakes. Its focus was around 50 miles (80 km) underground, which, according to the National Weather Service, meant that the quake struck too deep to cause a tsunami.

Friday, June 24, 2005

240,000 U2] fans are preparing for Ireland’s most successful band ever to return for a hometown gig in Dublin. The supergroup is playing Friday, Saturday and Monday in front of 80,000 people a night at Croke Park. Gardaí have put in place a massive traffic management plan to cope with the influx of people. Fans have been queing since Thursday morning when a group of fans from Holland, Italy and Canada started queuing outside the stadium.

The concert forms part of U2’s current “Vertigo” world tour. The support acts include emerging Irish bands Snow Patrol and The Thrills along with already very popular Paddy Casey. Ash and The Bravery will cap it off as warm up acts on Monday.

The gates for the gig will open at 4pm with the actual band not expected until around 8.30pm. Irish media has entered a frenzied anticipation of the concert all this week, with constant coverage on radio stations. The national broadcaster, RTÉ, is set to dedicated almost 3hr 30min to the band with an exclusive interview by Dave Fanning forming the centerpiece of the stations coverage of the “U2 weekend”. Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who played in front of a sell out crowd in Dublin earlier this week told fans that U2 were “still the best band in the world”.

Croke Park is the fourth largest stadium in Europe, with an official capacity of 82,000 – bigger than both Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium and Paris’ Stade de France. Croke Park is used to host GAA matches in sports such as hurling and Gaelic football and regularly attracts audiences of 60,000 or more in the summer months.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Seven bodies have been discovered in a mobile home in New Hope Plantation trailer park in Brunswick, in the US state of Georgia.

Glynn County Police are now holding a murder investigation as to how the bodies got there. They were found shortly after 0800 local time by a family member of one of the victims who alerted the police.

The police mentioned that when they got to the scene there were two critically injured people there. They were immediately taken to hospital. Glynn County Police Chief Matt Doering said that in 25 years, this was the worst incident of its kind he had ever handled.

He commented: “We have never had an incident with so many victims. It is not a scene that I would want anybody to see.” He said that some of the victims had been tentatively identified, but declined to give out names or ages. He also declined to say how the victims had died when asked.

Jimmy Durben of Glynn County’s coroner office said: “It was the worst scene I have ever witnessed in my 17 year history at the coroner’s office.”

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Zimbabwe has decided to abandon its currency, the Zimbabwean dollar, in favour of other currencies.

Acting Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa announced today that Zimbabweans will be allowed to make transactions in other currencies along with the local currency. “In line with the prevailing practices by the general public, [the] government is therefore allowing the use of multiple foreign currencies for business transactions alongside the Zimbabwean dollar,” he said, adding that the Zimbabwean dollar will not be removed from circulation and would be used alongside other currencies.

This decision comes during the current period of hyperinflation, which has massively devalued the Zimbabwean dollar. Banknotes up to $100 trillion have been printed, despite the removal of ten zeroes from the currency last summer to try to make transactions easier. The official inflation rate, last updated in July 2008, was 231,000,000% a year, although independent estimates place the number as high as 6.5×10¹⁰⁸, or 6.5 quindecillion novemdecillion, percent.

Up to now, only vendors with licenses were legally able to accept foreign currencies, although the practice was widespread — private businesses altogether refuse to accept the unstable Zimbabwean dollar.

Large sections of the workforce, including teachers and doctors, have gone on strike because hyperinflation rapidly renders their wages worthless. Representative groups said salaries, now measured in trillions of dollars, are insufficient to pay for even the bus fare to work.

Zimbabwe also faces other crises, including a cholera epidemic that has claimed the lives of over 3,000 people, according to statistics from the World Health Organisation.

Sunday, December 13, 2015

Macomb, New York Councilman Steve Burke took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the U.S. Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

Burke, an insurance adjuster and farmer, was elected councilman in Brookhaven, New York in 1979. He left the town after being accused and found not guilty of bribery in the 1980s. Since 1987 he has served as Macomb councilman off-and-on and currently holds the post. From 1993 to 1996 and 1999 to 2002 he worked as chairman of the Democratic Party of St. Lawrence County, New York. Among his many political campaigns, Burke unsuccessfully sought the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1992 and recently attempted to run for U.S. Congress in 2014 but too many of his ballot petition signatures were found invalid. Burke filed with the Federal Election Commission to run for president in the 2016 election on September 18, 2015 and has qualified for the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire Primary.

With Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn?, Burke discusses his political background, his 2016 presidential campaign, and his policy proposals.

Monday, June 23, 2008

2008 COMPUTEX Taipei, the largest trade fair since its inception in 1982, featured several seminars and forums, expansions on show spaces to TWTC Nangang, great transformations for theme pavilions, and WiMAX Taipei Expo, mainly promoted by Taipei Computer Association (TCA). Besides of ICT industry, “design” progressively became the critical factor for the future of the other industries. To promote innovative “Made In Taiwan” products, pavilions from “Best Choice of COMPUTEX”, “Taiwan Excellence Awards”, and newly-set “Design and Innovation (d & i) Award of COMPUTEX”, demonstrated the power of Taiwan’s designs in 2008 COMPUTEX Taipei.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Tony Blair, United Kingdom’s former Prime Minister, made his first public appearance since stepping down as PM yesterday at a speech entitled Global Relations: A Conversation with Tony Blair to an audience of about 2,400 in Calgary, Alberta from noon to 2:30 p.m. in the Telus Convention Centre, sponsored by Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Canada Trust).

Lunch was served with an authentic Alberta beef steak. Alberta premier Ed Stelmach, Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier, and other public officials were there. “Congratulations on winning a third term. As a three-term prime minister I can tell you that’s when things get rough,” Blair told Bronconnier.

During the speech he talked about Canada on the world stage, the controversial military role in Afghanistan, defending the country in war-devastated places, as well as other large issues facing Canada.

Blair said it’s not about being on the left or right side of politics, it’s about being open or closed.

“If we want to win, we can’t just be for democracy and freedom. We have to be for justice and fairness,” Blair said to the audience that paid CA$400 to attend the event. “It’s a battle of ideas.”

“If we’re going to fight this terrorism off, we’re going to have to show them we’re as tough as they are … and stay the course.” Blair said even though it’ll be a long-road in the war it’s important to not give up the fight against “the forces of extremism.”

Blair is an Envoy in the Quartet on the Middle East, which is involved in mediating the peace process in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He become Envoy the same day he stepped down as PM.

“This morning I looked at your local papers and saw ‘Premier Under Fire’. And I thought, ‘Oh God, why, what have I done now?’ before realising that I wasn’t PM anymore. I’m still adjusting.”

He also commented about Alberta’s oil and gas royalty dispute saying, “I’m just glad it’s not my decision,” and after three terms of being PM he’s “learned when to keep my mouth shut.” Alberta has the second largest oil reserves in the world and Abu Dhabi National Energy Co. recently made their third offer for $5-billion to buy Alberta-based company Prime West Energy Trust. In relation to that, Blair said, “Calgary is not only the new centre of Canada or North America, but a global centre for the world.”

“I often say to people, Canada will become one of the most powerful nations in the world.” He also pointed out, “As power grows… so does more responsibility. What you need to do is carry with it your optimistic spirit. You’re a country that can easily play as large a role as anyone else.”

“Optimism is something you get very easily when you come to Canada,” he said relating to Canada’s strong alliances with other countries. He said Canada has a “can-do” attitude.

After, he sat down with former premier of New Brunswick Frank McKenna, now TD Bank’s deputy chairman, in green armchairs, part of TD’s advertising campaign, and had a Q&A period.

Journalists were not allowed to use cameras or recording devices during the event as ordered by Scotland Yard, the Globe and Mail reports, who were told by event organisers.

Blair also praised Canada’s wine, “This is a secret you’ve just got to get out.”

Sunday, July 16, 2006

A heat wave in the upper Midwest has people trying to stay cool, while the National Guard is activated by Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty to fight a new wildfire in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Temperatures cracked 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) in St. Paul, Minnesota, and reached a record-breaking 96 degrees Fahrenheit (35.5 Celsius) in Duluth, Minnesota.

Smoke was spotted Friday afternoon in the wilderness area about one mile southwest of Seagull Lake. This area of the 1 million acre wilderness was hit by a severe windstorm in 1999, which killed millions of trees, increasing concern about the future threat of wildfires.

Firefighters are not yet on the ground, as the fire is located in a remote area inaccessible by trails or lakes. Helicopters have been called in to begin suppression efforts immediately.

Jean Bergerson, spokesperson for the Minnesota Inter-agency Fire Center, described the blaze as “well over 1,000” acres in size. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

UPDATE:Saturday, June 17, 2006

The flames continue to rage in Northern Minnesota as the fire expands by the hour, now engulfing more than 6,000 acres of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune today.

The purported cause of the fire is a lightning strike.

There are now over 60 firefighters stationed on the ground near the fire, though it is still considered too dangerous to combat the blaze directly.

This is the largest fire to take place in Minnesota in years, and has now spread to within 3 miles of the Gunflint Trail, though the trail may be protected by controlled burn zones put in place in recent years by the US Forest Service.

Govenor Tim Pawlenty plans a fly-over of the afflicted area.