Author: Admin

Thursday, July 15, 2010

In what the RSPCA calls a “horrific” case of animal cruelty, a dog’s jaw was taped shut, and its throat cut, in Cairns, Australia.

The Staffordshire mix, who was found by police in a critical condition last Thursday, was reportedly struggling to breath and bleeding heavily due to her throat being slashed and her muzzle being bound.

“The way they cut was almost down to the larynx, so muscles were cut but luckily they missed the jugular veins,” said Sarah Gill, the vet who stitched the 10 cm long, 3 cm deep cut.

In a statement reported on Tuesday, Inspector Cameron Buswell, a law enforcement officer with the RSPCA animal welfare charity, said it is hard to comprehend that there are people in the community capable of this level of cruelty.

“This would have to be up there as one of the more horrific cases we’ve dealt with […]The poor dog must have been petrified. How she didn’t die is miraculous.” he said.

Named ‘Franky’ by rescuers, the dog is progressing well along her road to recovery, has a warm, loving and kind nature, and has begun to come out of her shell, Buswell said.

“She is a really nice natured animal and she loves being with people.”

This has become apart of string of violent attacks on pets in Queensland. Another dog in North Queensland named ‘Boof’ was beaten and left to die with a 30 kg chain around his neck in January. In May, a family dog in Toowoomba had its throat slit and a rubber band placed around the wound, twice.

The RSPCA is appealing for information from the public regarding the person or persons responsible for the latest attack.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

This year’s Leisure Taiwan trade show (a.k.a Taiwan Sport Recreation and Leisure Show) started yesterday, with 131 companies participating including sports media companies such as ESPN and VideoLand Television, businesses selling sports equipment and fitness clubs.

There were also a variety of sports being played in the arena built for the trade show. The events included a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, free style shooting, and bicycle test-riding. In addition, conferences discussed issues related to sports and physical education.

A major topic in the trade show was energy-efficiency and, as a result, bicycles and similar sports equipment were being heavily promoted.

Next Tuesday, companies from the electronics industry plan to promote their industry at “2008 Digital E-Park.” In previous years, organizations from the electronics industry have showcased their products at Leisure Taiwan instead of at the Digital E-Park, so this move has reduced the number of markets covered by Leisure Taiwan.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Rapper Proof, born Deshaun Holton, was shot and killed on April 11, 2006, at approximately 4:30 a.m. EDT (0830 UTC) at the Triple C Club on 8 Mile Road in Detroit.

Proof was known for his work together with his good friend Eminem and his group D12.

Another man was shot shortly afterward, and was taken to St. John Hospital.

On April 12, 2006, Mario Etheridge, 28, of Detroit turned himself in to the police, having been named by several witnesses. Mario was allegedly a bouncer at the club. “Police said he is a cousin of Keith Bender Jr., the bouncer who was allegedly shot by Proof during the fight.” The fight that started inside the club was reported to be over a pool game. The argument was taken outside where, “A shot was fired in the air, Proof allegedly pistol-whipped Bender, knocked him to the ground and then shot him. Etheridge then allegedly opened fire on the rapper, striking him four times in the head and chest. One week later, Keith Bender Jr. died of his injuries on April 18, 2006.

Official Police reports are yet to determine the series of events which left Proof and Keith Bender, 35, deceased. Bender died 8 days later on April 18, 2006. Following Proof’s death, rapper Snoop Dogg called on fellow musicians to unite, describing the incident as “a loss to the hip-hop community”.

The tributes were led by fellow rapper The Game who was first to comment on the tragedy. The Game remembers how he and Proof became ‘real cool and real homies’ and that ‘Proof will always be remembered and I as well as the Black Wall Street family will keep his memory & his family in our prayers 1’. The second to comment on Proof was long time friend Royce da 5’9″ who was deeply saddened by the death of his good friend. Royce had been a friend of Proof for over 9 years and the two had recently reconciled. Royce echoed the music community, saying ‘He is such loss for the hip hop community…I hope that he will be remembered for the talented artist and great person that he was, and not the tragedy that he fell victim to’.

Eminem was the third to discuss Proof’s death days after his passing, clearly affected by the tragedy. Eminem described Proof as “funny, smart and charming” and said that he would be sorely missed and described him as “the heart and ambassador of Detroit hip-hop”. Eminem said that Proof was, and always will be, his best friend.

Tributes poured out of the UK with Vm2k6 leading the remembrance. Proof’s demise which was mainly overlooked by the UK media was documented and reflected by VM2k6 in which he calls Proof ‘fresh, talented and meaningful, a rarity in Hip Hop today’. He continues saying that Proof had ‘the greatest ability to transfer his experiences and most of all feelings into words’ and finished with the heartfelt line- ‘I guess its only in Death you really begin to shine’.

Several fan videos were released in tribute to Proof, including the hit “Good Die Young” music video which used D12’s 2004 single, which is currently one of the highest discussed and viewed videos on YouTube.com. Many other “slide show” flicks were created, which are appearing all over the internet. The “Good Die Young” clip was produced by RYKE Video Productions.

Proof stated how he wanted to be remembered in an interview with Sohh.com shortly after his album release; ‘I want people to say that I was a true artist’, ‘ That I did it best and stayed true to Hip Hop roots’ and ‘I’d want people to understand I did it for the love not for the charts.’

Thursday, September 8, 2005In one of the most shocking changes in No. 1 in Hot 100 history, rapper Kanye West, who has been in the news this week because of his controversial views on the federal government’s reaction to the relief efforts of Hurricane Katrina, received a surge of radio airplay in the pop mainstream radio markets and topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the second time in his career as a performer.

His “Gold Digger” featuring Jamie Foxx vaulted 19-1 on the chart, ending Mariah Carey’s 14 non-consecutive week reign with “We Belong Together”. “Together” drops to No. 4 on the Hot 100.

The 19-1 rally makes it the fifth biggest gain to No. 1 in Hot 100 history. The song also gains a record 94-2 on Billboard’s Pop 100 chart kept out of the No. 1 on that chart by the Pussycat Dolls with “Don’t Cha”.

Mariah Carey is still No. 2 with “Shake It Off”. “Shake” was widely expected to gain to the Hot 100 pole position this week. Mariah Carey was No. 1 all summer with “Together” dethroned only once before by American Idol winner Carrie Underwood with “Inside Your Heaven” on the July 2 chart.

Missy Elliott’s “Lose Control” featuring Ciara and Fat Man Scoop gained 5-3 while “Don’t Cha” dropped to No. 5.

Bow Wow’s “Like You” featuring Ciara gained 7-6 trading places with Rhianna’s “Pon de Replay”. The only other song gaining into the top-10 is Fall Out Boy’s “Sugar, We’re Going Down” rising 12-8. Bow Wow’s “Let Me Hold You” featuring Omarion fell 5-9 and Lifehouse’s “You and Me” rounded out the top-10 with a two position dip.

Friday, June 2, 2006

The Australian federal and New South Wales governments will not be selling their shares in Snowy Hydro Limited (the owner and operator of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme). Snowy Hydro Limited’s major shareholder is the NSW government with a 58 percent shareholding. The Victorian government owns 29 percent and the federal government has a 13 percent stake.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced in December 2005 that he wished to sell the state’s share in Snowy Hydro that caused the federal and Victorian governments to follow.

The proposed sale has attracted immense criticism by those who believed that the sale would affect the environment and water supplies along the Snowy River, this was reinforced yesterday when 58 eminent Australians presented a petition to the government opposing the sale.

Prime Minister John Howard announced today that the federal government would not be selling its 13 percent share of Snowy Hydro following what he calls “intense community reaction”. In a statement, Mr Howard said, “This decision to sell the Snowy Hydro has created significant unhappiness, concern and unrest throughout the Australian community.”

Mr Howard said that the sale was not an election promise by his government and that the federal government failed to see any long-term benefits from the sale. He also said that the government needed to “safeguard the interests of all those dependent on Australia’s iconic water resources”.

The federal government has however stated that despite refusing to sell its share in Snowy Hydro that it will not be purchasing additional shares if NSW and Victoria push ahead with the sale of their shareholdings.

Despite telling Macquarie Radio earlier this morning that his government would be pushing ahead with the sale as it was in the best “interests of NSW”, Premier Iemma announced shortly after Mr Howard’s release, that the NSW government would be withdrawing its shares from sale.

Mr Iemma conceded that the sale would be extremely difficult with the federal government withdrawing its 13 percent from sale. “The Prime Minister has pulled the rug out from under the sale,” Mr Iemma said. “The circumstances are significantly changed.”

“The Commonwealth decision makes it extremely difficult for NSW to proceed,” he conceded.

Victoria is yet to announce whether or not it will be withdrawing its shares from sale.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Government officials have predicted that by 2020, all US states will have bans on indoor smoking in private sector bars and restaurants, the chief sources of secondhand smoke, if the current rate of progress in enacting smoking bans continues.

In a press release issued yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that by December 31, 2010 there were 26 states with broad indoor smoking bans, covering workplaces, bars and restaurants, while an additional 10 states had banned smoking in one or two specific indoor areas. Cumulatively, these restriction cover almost one half of the country’s population, 47.8 percent, while a remaining 88 million nonsmokers are still exposed to secondhand smoke yearly, including half of all children over three years old.

In comparison, in 2000 there were no states that had broad indoor smoking bans.

Some states have enacted less restrictive laws, such as requiring separate ventilation systems for smoking areas. Southern and western states are lagging in implementing smoking bans. Florida, Louisiana, and North Carolina have banned smoking in two of the three sectors. Currently there are only seven states having no state wide restrictions on indoor smoking, although some have local ordinances. These are Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming, according to the CDC.

The full report was published in this week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Secondhand smoke is a known cause of a number of diseases including lung cancer and heart disease. The Surgeon General’s report of 2010 says, “tobacco smoke damages every organ in the body, resulting in disease and death.”

In the press release, Ursula Bauer of the CDC, said that secondhand smoke is the cause of 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths yearly in nonsmokers. “Completely prohibiting smoking in all public places and workplaces is the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke exposure,” she said.

Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the CDC said, “Eliminating smoking from work sites, restaurants and bars is a low-cost, high-impact strategy that will protect nonsmokers and allow them to live healthier, longer, more productive lives while lowering health care costs associated with secondhand smoke.”

The American Heart Association issued a statement: “We must zero in on those areas that continue to lag despite studies that show smoke-free policies benefit public health and the local economy with lower health care costs.”

Gary Nolan of the Smokers Club, a smoker’s rights group, said, “It wouldn’t surprise me if they prevailed.” He noted that heavy pressure is being applied to bars and restaurants by public health officials to ban smoking. “It’s just a little bit more liberty slipping away at the hands of big government.”

Friday, October 10, 2008

In an attempt to speak with as many candidates as possible during the 2008 Canadian federal election, Wikinews has talked via email with David Sparrow. Sparrow is a candidate in Ontario’s Don Valley West riding, running under the New Democratic Party (NDP) banner. The riding was set to vote in a by-election on September 22, 2008, following the resignation of John Godfrey, but Stephen Harper’s sudden election call nulled that effort.

Also running in the Toronto riding are Liberal Rob Oliphant, Conservative John Carmichael, Green Georgina Wilcock, and Communist Catherine Holliday.

The following is an interview with Sparrow, conducted via email. The interview is published unedited, as sent to Wikinews.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Rico Daniels is a British TV presenter living in France who is known for his two television series — The Salvager — whilst he still lived in the UK and then Le Salvager after he moved to France. Rico has been in a variety of jobs but his passion is now his profession – he turns unwanted ‘junk’ into unusual pieces of furniture. Rico’s creations and the methods used to fabricate them are the subject of the Salvager shows.

Rico spoke to Wikinews in January about his inspiration and early life, future plans, other hobbies and more. Read on for the full exclusive interview, published for the first time: