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Friday, October 10, 2008

Canadian authorities report that a Chinese restaurant in the Chinatown area of Toronto has been closed down by the Board of Public Health for the second time yesterday after investigators saw a video and pictures of a rat in the window.

The photos were posted on websites and local TV. Witnesses around the area report that they have seen rats crossing the streets, often going in and out of the restaurant.

Jesse Ship, arts editor of Format Magazine, filmed the picture of the rat while on his way to work. “I was just walking past Happy Seven [the restaurant] today on Spadina and snagged images of a rat in the window on my cell phone, sitting right next to the health inspector sign,” he said, commenting on his find. “The restaurant wasn’t open yet.”

The video of the rat in the restaurant, which according to blogTO, is one of the most liked Chinese restaurants in Toronto, was then posted on the video sharing site Vimeo four days ago. It took a couple of days after the publication of the video to attract widespread press attention.

Until the video of the rat was made public, officials believed that the restaurant was safe, giving it a pass for food safety. The restaurant will be given permission to reopen once professionals are hired to remove the rats, and inspectors are satisfied that they have been removed.

Inspectors have closed 41 restaurants in Toronto this year, six of which have been in the same area as Happy Seven. Of the restaurants in the same area, half have been for rat problems.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

The following is the second edition of a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2016 presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month’s biggest stories.

In this month’s edition on the campaign trail: the effect of the Brexit vote on the US presidential election is examined; a well known businessman and sports team owner pitches his candidacy for vice president; and Wikinews interviews the winner of the American Independent Party California primary.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Fifteen people were shot dead on Wednesday in the western Mexican state of Nayarit. The attack occurred in a car wash in the city of Tepic, and, according to the state attorney general, was the work of a drug cartel. All 15 killed were workers at the Gamboa car wash.

“The workers were all men; they were washing cars when the gunmen, probably members of organized crime, drove up in SUVs and started opening fire,” a spokesman for the state attorney general said on Wednesday. Pictures of the scene show bodies on the roadside with blood pooling at their heads.

The massacre, which was just blocks away from federal offices, resulted in the closure of schools and businesses in the area. It is not yet clear what the motive was behind the attack, although men who work at Mexican car washes are often spies for drug gangs.

This slaying is the third major murder in six days. On Friday, cartels killed fourteen people and wounded a nine year-old boy in Ciudad Juarez, a major battleground for fighting drug cartels. Two days later, hit men killed another 14 people in Tijuana. Both cities are major cities on the United States border; however, Nayarit is a quiet resort state that has largely been free of drug violence until now.

Friday, June 16, 2006

Documents found at the hideout of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi revealed al-Qaeda‘s desire to force a war between the U.S. and Iran. The document was translated by Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie, but the authenticity of the information could not be confirmed to be from al-Qaeda.

The documents reveal that al-Zarqawi was planning to destroy the relationship between the Shi’ite Iraqis and the United States. The document also said the U.S. military was hurting the insurgency by seizure of weapons, disrupting their financial outlets, massive arrests, and training Iraqi security forces.

The translated document said, “Generally speaking and despite the gloomy present situation, we find that the best solution in order to get out of this crisis is to involve the U.S. forces in waging a war against another country or any hostile groups.”

Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said, “These documents have given us the edge over al-Qaeda and (they) also gave us the whereabouts of their network, of their leaders, of their weapons and the way they lead the organization and the whereabouts of their meetings.”

Thursday, July 12, 2018

On Tuesday via their official website, Italian football club Juventus announced signing Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo from Spanish capital club Real Madrid. Per the press release, Ronaldo penned a four-year contract with the Turin club, which runs until June 30, 2022. Juventus said the €100 million transfer fee and €12 million in add-ons is to be paid in two financial years.

33-year-old Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 from English club Manchester United, for a reported then-world record fee of £80 million. Since then, the Portuguese has played 438 games, scoring 451 goals, a club record. During his tenure at Santiago Bernabeu, Ronaldo has won sixteen trophies, including three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles and two LaLiga titles. Two years ago, Ronaldo won the UEFA Euro 2016 with Portugal.

Addressing Real Madrid’s club supporters, Ronaldo wrote, “I believe the time has come to embark on a new chapter in my life and that’s why I asked the club to allow me to move on” ^{((es))Spanish language: ?creo que ha llegado el momento de abrir una nueva etapa en mi vida y por eso he pedido al club que acepte traspasarme}.

This signing makes Ronaldo the most expensive player in the history of Juventus, as well as for the Italian Serie A league. Previously, Juventus paid a fee of €90 million to sign Argentine striker Gonzalo Higuaín from rivals S.S.C. Napoli, a then-Italian record transfer fee.

Ronaldo had signed a five-year contract extension in 2016, which means he still had three years left.

The time is 17:00 (UTC) on June 7th, 2006, and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.

Saturday, December 2, 2006

As families fled their homes in the early morning hours on Thursday October 26, there was no warning. The Esperanza Fire southeast of Los Angeles and West of Palm Springs, California, had ballooned under the influence of Santa Ana winds to more than 19,000 acres as of the morning of October 27. No time to get the animals, no time for crates or even a leash. Sadly, owners left behind not only their horses, lamas, donkeys, chickens, rabbits, but also their dogs and cats.

Many of the families who did manage to evacuate their pets found themselves in the parking lot at the Fellowship in the Pass Church Red Cross Shelter where a MuttShack Animal Rescue team caught up with them.

Pam Anderson, Director of the emergency Red Cross shelter said that many people with animals had come and left.

The air was thick with smoke, and ash was raining down on the parking lot where dog owners, not able to take their dogs into the shelter were camping out in pup tents andin their cars.

Those who could afford it checked themselves into pet friendly hotels in nearby towns.

Some were prepared. Jane Garner, a small dog breeder was able to get all her animals out, and had set up her puppy runs alongside her RV in the parking lot. Others were not doing too well, having left home without as much as a leash.

The same scenario played out at the Red Cross shelter at Hemet High School. Animals were being boarded in vans, trailers and cars and small travel crates.

When MuttShack Animal Rescue arrived, a small fracas had sent several dogs off in different directions, running out of the school parking lot down busy streets necessitating an instant rescue response.

The Incident Command for the Esperanza Animals, Ramona Humane Society in San Jacinto welcomed MuttShack‘s offer to help at the shelters.

Ramona Humane Society had recently published a notice in their Newsletter about the newly passed “PETS Act”and warned owners not wait until a major disaster such as an earthquake or fireto prepare. “Be proactive to ensure that your pet will be taken care of.”

MuttShack and PetSmart Charities set up ad hoc facilities for the animals at both shelters.

The Red Cross shelter, run by Madison Burtchaell of the Orange County Red Cross was very accommodating about allowing a small emergency pet shelter adjacent to the School.

Barbara A. Fought of PetSmart Charities, an organization that works with animal welfare organizations and provide assistance in disasters, provided crates and emergency supplies.

MuttShack and Red Cross volunteers, Martin St. John, Tom Hamilton, and Steve Meissner helped assemble the crates to secure a safe environment for evacuated pets.

It was a great relief for evacuees who had camped out in the parking lot to finally leave their vehicles and relax at the shelter, setting up their cots to grab some sorely needed rest.

Firefighters and residents reported loss of wildlife and animals. The Esperanza fire burned 34 homes, consumed 40,000 acres and cost five Firefighters their lives before it was contained four days later on October 30. Firefighting operations cost nearly $10 million.

MuttShack Animal Rescue is a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization active in disasters and dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and care of lost or discarded dogs, cats and other animals.

Monday, June 16, 2008

The gas crisis in Western Australia continues to deepen with more businesses standing people down without pay. Businesses have been instructed to turn off non-essential items including limiting the number of lifts and reduced lighting; domestic customers are also urged to reduce energy use.

In the Federal parliament today Resources Minister Martin Ferguson raised the prospect of activating the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act. “During such a situation, I can control the production, transfer and stock levels of crude and liquid fuel…While I sincerely hope that this will not be required, the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act provides authority for the Australian Government to prepare for and manage a national liquid fuel supply emergency,” he said.

Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter called on all Western Australians to reduce energy usage, saying that the situation could be managed with on going co-operation, while reassuring everyone that the crisis will be short, with the Apache Corporation expected to begin partial operations in two months. Supplies were interrupted after a fire at Apache’s Vanarus Island refinery, which supplied 30% of the state’s natural gas requirements.

An Alinta spokesman has said that with the expected cold weather during the next week demand will put further pressure on supplies, advising that it is critical that all consumers limit energy usage.

Alinta requests that residential customers;

• use only essential heating and limit it to one room
• turn down hot water system by 10 degrees
• reduce shower times
• wash in cold water.

While suggesting small businesses;

• shift production schedules
• bring forward maintenance and shut down schedules
• turn off equipment not essential to the business.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Pop starlet Kylie Minogue has announced through her management that she has an early stage of breast cancer. The 36-year-old has said she will be going through the treatment in her native Australia. Due to early diagnosis the singer stands a good chance of making a full recovery.

Kylie, who had spent the past week in Melbourne, has revealed that due to the cancer the rest of her Showgirl tour of Australia will be postponed and her appearance at this year’s Glastonbury festival will be cancelled.

The Showgirl tour was due to hit Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth in June. However despite the cancellation, ticket holders are advised to hang on to tickets as new dates may be announced.

Monday, June 7, 2010

Access to search engine Google has been limited and most of Google’s online services cannot be accessed in Turkey. The access limitation happened due to the blocking of an IP set that belongs to Google. These IP addresses were shared between YouTube and other Google services.

The Turkish news site Hürriyet Daily News reports that Turkey’s Telecommunications Communication Presidency (TCP) (a government agency that manages Turkish ISPs) indefinitely shut off access to several Google services. The shut-off came after the banning of YouTube for alleged insults against Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. TCP released an official statement Friday, saying it had blocked access to some Google IP addresses “because of legal reasons”. Under Turkish law, it is an offence to “insult Turkishness.”

Softpedia states that the limited access to Google could be a result of the government trying to block specific DNS addresses that relate to Google, as part of its ongoing attempts to block YouTube. Since Google services share common software and IP addresses, the search engine itself suffers from access restrictions. Turkish citizens are concerned that this move of the governmental agency was another step towards a complete ban on Google, as exists in China.

Several Internet sites have been banned in Turkey in recent years, and although some of them were subsequently unbanned, most of them remain inaccessible. Engelli Web, a website listing banned sites reports that currently YouTube (since May 2008), Last.fm (since June 26, 2009), and Spanish newspaper El Mundo (since May 14, 2010) are among the banned sites in Turkey. MySpace and WordPress were also among banned sites for a period of time. Websites will be blocked following a court decision or if TCP decides to block on its behalf.

RetweetToday reports that Turkish citizens on Twitter have also reported access problems. Comments about the blockage are being shared using hashtags such as TurkeyCensorGoogle and TurkeyGoogleBan, as well as NoGoogleNoWeb.