A compilation of brief news reports for Wednesday, November 26, 2008.

Nick Clegg, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, a British political party, has expressed his concern over the lack of men in childcare. In a speech to the Daycare Trust, Clegg commented on the issue. “There is still a huge stigma attached to men wanting to work in childcare,” he said. “Even just for men who want to take a more hands-on role in providing care for their own children.”

“The Daycare Trust’s own research shows that one in four men would consider working in childcare,” he continued. “Sadly some worry that their motives would be viewed with suspicion.”

Sources

• “Concern on lack of men in childcare” — The Press Association, November 25, 2008
• Press Release: “Clegg: Lack of men in childcare denies young children role models” — Liberal Democrats, November 25, 2008

A Pakistani hacker group named the Pakistan Cyber Army has reportedly attacked the official website of an Indian public sector petroleum company called Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. The attack was in response to the attacking of the official website of Pakistan state corporation Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority by Indian hackers named HMG, who attacked the OGRA’s website on November 17, and left a message on front page of the website that they would hack any Pakistani website with poor security controls. However, OGRA’s spokesman said he has no information on the incident.

Sources

• “Pakistani hackers hack Indian website” — The News International, November 25, 2008
• Muhammad Ali Raza. “A Message from PCA (Pakistan Cyber Army)” — propakistani.com, November 24, 2008

Apple Inc. has been told by the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to stop showing its advertisement, which describes the internet connection on the iPhone 3G as “really fast,” while pictures on the screen showed pages loading in less than a second.

ASA stated that the ad is likely to “lead viewers to believe that the device actually operated at or near to the speeds shown in the ad,” which, according to the organisation, it does not. As a result, the ASA ruled that the ad “must not appear again in its current form.”

Sources

• “Apple made to drop iPhone advert” — BBC News Online, November 26, 2008
• Press Release: “ASA Adjudications” — Advertising Standards Authority, November 26, 2008

1903 UTC According to local reports, 10 people were left dead and others injured in the Indian city of Mumbai after gunmen opened fire there.

The police say that it appears to be a terrorist attack.

Gunmen started shooting at seven locations, including a crowded restaurant and a train station. There were also reports of shooting at a hospital and two hotels, as well as two explosions, which are believed to be grenade attacks.

Sources

• “Mumbai rocked by deadly shootings” — BBC News Online, November 26, 2008
• “Terror attacks in Mumbai; 10 dead, several injured” — The Times of India, November 26, 2008

Nigeria’s food and drug agency has said that 25 children, aged from 3 months to 4 years, have died after consuming a contaminated teething syrup. Ten others are reported to have been hospitalised.

The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control said that the syrup, which goes under the name of “My Pikin”, had been tainted with diethylene glycol, a substance that is usually used in antifreeze and engine coolant.

The agency added that it has shut down Barewa Pharmaceuticals, the Lagos-based manufacturer of the syrup.

Sources

• “‘Bad syrup’ kills Nigerian babies” — BBC News Online, November 26, 2008
• “Nigeria bans teething drug after 25 children die” — guardian.co.uk, November 26, 2008

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Businessman Rocky De La Fuente took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the U.S. Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

The 61-year-old De La Fuente resides in San Diego, California, grew up in Tijuana, and owns multiple businesses and properties throughout the world. Since getting his start in the automobile industry, De La Fuente has branched out into the banking and real estate markets. Despite not having held or sought political office previously, he has been involved in politics, serving as the first-ever Hispanic superdelegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention.

De La Fuente entered the 2016 presidential race last October largely due to his dissatisfaction with Republican front-runner Donald Trump. He argues he is a more accomplished businessman than Trump, and attacks Trump as “a clown,” “a joke,” “dangerous,” and “in the same category as Hitler.” Nevertheless, De La Fuente’s business background begets comparisons with Trump. The Alaskan Midnight Sun blog described him as the Democrats’ “own Donald Trump.”

While receiving only minimal media coverage, he has campaigned actively, and according to the latest Federal Election Commission filing, loaned almost US$ 4 million of his own money to the campaign. He has qualified for 48 primary and caucus ballots, but has not yet obtained any delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Thus far, according to the count at The Green Papers, De La Fuente has received 35,406 votes, or 0.23% of the total votes cast. He leads among the many lesser-known candidates but trails both Senator Bernie Sanders who has received nearly 6.5 million votes and front-runner Hillary Clinton who has just shy of 9 million votes.

With Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn?, De La Fuente discusses his personal background, his positions on political issues, his current campaign for president, and his political future.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

This morning, Algiers, the capital of Algeria, was targeted by two deadly terrorist bombings. The first target was the Government Palace, the main offices of the government, located in downtown Algiers, killing twelve people and wounding 118, according to civil defense. Several cars were burned out, while the Government Palace sustained some heavy damage, as well as the rest of the neighborhood. The other target was the police station of Bab Ezzouar, east of Algiers, causing the death of elven people and wounding 44 others. Civil defense authorities and witnesses say that these bombings were carried out by suicide bombers.

In an Internet statement, responsibility for the attacks was claimed by al-Qaeda group in the Maghreb, known formerly as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, renamed in January 2007 to indicate affiliation with al-Qaeda. The website with the claim showed photos of the purported bombers, identified as Muadh bin Jabal, al-Zubair Abu Sajda, and Abu Dajjana.

This attack follows a series of smaller-scale bombings that took place in December 2006 and March 2007.

Monday, June 25, 2018

On Saturday, the plastic ban in the Indian state of Maharashtra came into force. In an attempt to minimise pollution, the state government has introduced a ban on single-use plastics.

The leader of the Yuya Sena political party, Aaditya Thackeray, said on Twitter, “The ban on single use disposable plastic cups, plastic bags, plastic straws, plastic plates and cutlery, styrofoam cutlery and non woven bags”. He added, “these are global issues now and we have taken a step to combat it”.

Plastic pollution has led to the choking of drains, marine pollution and a risk of animals consuming plastics. This year, India’s motto for World Environment Day — June 5 — was “Beat Plastic Pollution”. People violating the plastic ban are to face a fine of 5,000 Indian Rupees (INR) for the first offence. For the second offence, the fine is INR 10,000 and the third time offence is INR 25,000 and a three-month prison term. Deputy municipal commissioner Nidhi Choudhary said, “To weed out corruption, we plan to give inspectors payment gadgets for electronic receipts of the fines”.

The Maharashtra government has given a 90-day period for manufacturers to dispose of existing polyethylene terephthalate (PET/PETE) plastic spoons and plates, while shopkeepers and citizens in general have six months to dispose of plastics. However, the ban does not prohibit plastic usage for wrapping medicines or milk cartons thicker than 50 microns.

The state government had announced the decision for the plastic ban on March 23. According to NDTV’s report, Maharashtra is the eighteenth Indian state to enforce a state-wide plastic ban. Aaditya Thackeray also said, “I congratulate the citizens for making this into a movement, even before the ban was enforceable, giving up single use disposable plastic.”

Friday, February 15, 2008

Following the first day’s events at the 2008 Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE), organisers used today as an opportunity for a number of autograph sessions, the announcement of awards and a focus on the Taipei World Trade Center‘s Hall 3 where children’s activities and seminars were being held.

The Kids’ Book Hall, which was created with cooperation from the Regional Association of Educational Materials, saw a new addition this year in the form of the “Taiwan Stationery” pavilion. The display included a variety of paper products not only for children, but for small-business and general usage.

In order to promote some conceptions on environment and recycling, Yuen Foong Yu Paper Mfg. Co. Ltd. sponsored the exhibition with recycled poster container and corrugated-fiberboard, which was used to design several nature scenes, and the material will be reusable in the future.

Participants also held several seminars at TWTC Hall 1 for reading population promotion, for example, a Taiwanese version of a famous magazine named “Kagakuru”. Aimed at science education, imported by Taiwan Mac Education, and promoted by several academic professionals in Taiwan, the magazine will be released on March 3, 2008.

Sunday, December 26, 2004

Indian Ocean – The death toll continues to grow and millions face a homeless life in the new year as coastal communities in south Asia struggle against continued aftershocks and flooding caused by the largest earthquake to strike the planet in more than a generation.

The magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, 2004, at 00:58:50 UTC (or 07:58:50 local time in Jakarta and Bangkok).

The earthquake was the strongest in the world since the 9.2-magnitude Good Friday Earthquake which struck Alaska, USA in 1964, and the fourth largest since 1900. More than 140,000 deaths[1] were caused by resulting tsunami, which in Thailand were up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall, and struck within three hours of the initial event.

Multiple tsunamis struck and ravaged coastal regions all over the Indian Ocean, devastating regions including the Indonesian province of Aceh, the coast of Sri Lanka, coastal areas of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, and even as far away as Somalia, 4,100 km (2,500 mi) west of the epicenter.

While the earthquake and the tsunamis are no longer ongoing (other than aftershocks), the humanitarian and economic crisis generated by the disaster is still ongoing. This report will attempt to cover the crisis as it continues to develop.

Friday, July 8, 2011

At 11:29 AM EDT today, the Space Shuttle Atlantis launched on the final mission in NASA’s Space Shuttle program, STS-135.

The mission is slated to last 12 days and will deliver parts and supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), including the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module and an experiment, the Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM), designed to test methods, tools, and technologies required to robotically refuel satellites in space, even those not designed to be serviced.

The launch occurred despite weather concerns at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. Although there was a short two and a half minute hold in the countdown at T-31 seconds while engineers worked out a small glitch, the launch was flawless.

Eight and a half minutes after lifting off for the final time, Atlantis reached its preliminary orbit, travelling over 17,000 miles per hour several hundreds of miles above the Earth.

The crew of STS-135 consists of only four astronauts, the smallest shuttle crew since STS-6 in 1983: Commander Christopher Ferguson, Pilot Douglas Hurley, and Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim. STS-135 is the third spaceflight for Ferguson, Magnus, and Walheim, and the second for Hurley.

Futhermore, an iPhone will be the first one to ever be brought into space aboard the flight with an application developed for the Apple smartphone, called SpaceLab for iOS, that is meant to help the astronauts track their scientific results and perhaps one day aid in navigation. The device will be housed inside a small research platform built by the company NanoRacks. The platform will be placed inside the ISS. Along with the iPhone, a flag from the first shuttle mission, STS-1, will be brought along on the flight and left aboard the orbital outpost until the first commercial spaceflight to the station, when NASA astronauts will retrieve it.

An estimated 750,000 people crowded the launch site as Atlantis flexed “its muscles one final time”, in the words of NASA ascent commentator Rob Navias.

The first mission of the Space Shuttle program, STS-1, launched on April 12, 1981. Since then, 135 missions over 30 years have been launched. Out of these flights, two involved catastrophic failures, STS-51-L Challenger in January 1986 and STS-107 Columbia in February 2003, both killing all on board.

During the entire shuttle program, 355 people from 16 countries have flown 852 times aboard the Space Shuttle. The five shuttle orbiters have flown 537,114,016 miles (864,401,219 km).

During her career spanning over 26 years, Atlantis flew on 33 flights, including the first shuttle docking to the Russian Mir space station on STS-71 in June 1995, the first launch with a camera mounted on the exterior of the external fuel tank on STS-112 in October 2002, and the final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope on STS-125 in May 2009.

The final Space Shuttle launch marks the end of an era for NASA and the United States amid uncertainty about the American space program’s and NASA’s future.

Before the launch, mission commander Christopher Ferguson made a statement conveying his thoughts about the program’s end: “The shuttle is always going to be a reflection of what a great nation can do when it dares to be bold and commits to follow through. We’re not ending the journey today … we’re completing a chapter of a journey that will never end.”