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Friday, July 23, 2021

With five active cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19, South Australia begun a one-week lockdown on Monday. Announcing the lockdown, state Premier Steven Marshall declared “we have no alternative but to impose some fairly heavy and immediate restrictions”.

The first case out of South Australia’s active cases was presented to Modbury Hospital on Sunday night, having returned from Argentina earlier this month. The fifth, which Premier Marshall noted as “far more worrying”, visited The Greek on Halifax restaurant at the same time as someone who was later confirmed to be carrying the virus. Chief Public Health Officer for the state Nicola Spurrier said “if anyone has been at The Greek on Halifax they need to get into quarantine and get tested”.

In accordance with new regulations, there are only five reasons for South Australians to leave home: essential work, shopping for essential goods such as food, exercise, but only with people from the same household and within 2.5 kilometers (2 mi) of home, medical reasons (which includes testing and vaccination against the coronavirus, but excludes elective and cosmetic surgery), and caregiving.

Schools have closed for all but children of essential workers, with online learning having begun on Thursday. Face masks are also be mandated for those who leave home. ABC News reported that “support for businesses is expected to be announced…”, with all non-essential retail required to close under the new regulations.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

The popular social networking site Facebook agreed to purchase the Instagram photo-sharing mobile app for US$1 billion in cash and stock Monday.

The app, which can be used to apply faux-vintage filters to photographs, allows users to share photos with one another both directly and through posts to social networking sites. Instagram was founded less than two years ago by two Stanford University graduates near San Francisco, California and the purchase is one of the largest acquisitions in Facebook history following after a failed takeover bid in early 2011 which had been declined by Instagram.

Facebook, despite its prominence as the largest website for social networking in the world, has had difficulties expanding into the mobile market, particularly the realm of mobile advertising. As of yet, Facebook lacks an advertising platform for its apps and has yet to capitalize off the boom in mobile phone use that Instagram is intertwined with.

Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg noted the importance of the ability to post to multiple social media sites at once in a post. He wrote on his personal timeline, “We think the fact that Instagram is connected to other services beyond Facebook is an important part of the experience.” He said Facebook “plan[s] on keeping features like the ability to post to other social networks, the ability to not share your Instagrams on Facebook if you want, and the ability to have followers and follow people separately from your friends on Facebook.”

Many other small services that Facebook has acquired, namely Gowalla, Hot Potato, and FriendFeed, were all shuttered shortly after acquisition. The co-founder of Instagram, Kevin Systrom, in a company blog post, has denied any claims that Instagram would share the fate of these past services. “It’s important to be clear that Instagram is not going away. We’ll be working with Facebook to evolve Instagram and build the network. We’ll continue to add new features to the product and find new ways to create a better mobile photos experience,” he wrote.

Many reasons have been put forth for the purchase, and Zuckerberg commented, “for years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.”

Friday, October 16, 2009

A man has been arrested and charged after the assault of British singer Leona Lewis, which occurred on Wednesday. The attacker turned out to be 29-year-old Peter Kowalczyk, who suffers from a health condition called anaemia, which causes a reduction from the normal number of red blood cells. The condition also causes a decrease in oxygen-binding ability. His parents said that it “affects his state of mind”. He had also been suffering from a series of psychological problems, of which he was getting music therapy for from the National Health Service (NHS).

It was thought that he attacked Leona Lewis out of envy because she had won the third series of The X Factor UK, whereas he was turned down from the show, according to British tabloid The Sun. On Wednesday, Leona was signing copies of her autobiography “Dreams” for attending fans in a Waterstone’s book specialist store in the Piccadilly region of London, England. Kowalczyk was believed to be waiting for five hours to get an autobiography signing. When he did attack Lewis, he was immediately wrestled to the ground by security guards at the scene, while Leona was escorted away. The attack left a large bruise on her head.

Peter has been arrested and charged with assault. He was placed into a psychiatric hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act 2007 on Thursday. As a result of this incident, Leona Lewis has cancelled a trip to Germany, where she would have signed more copies of her autobiography. The 24-year-old singer is now being cared for in her East London home by Jo and Maria, her parents, and is also being comforted by Lou Al-Chaama, her boyfriend. It has been reported that Kowalczyk is due to appear in a court in late October 2009.

Monday, November 2, 2020

The following is the sixth and final edition of a monthly series chronicling the 2020 United States presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month’s biggest stories.

This month’s spotlight on the campaign trail: the Free and Equal Elections Foundation holds two presidential debates, three candidates who did not participate in those debates give their final pleas to voters, and three political pundits give their predictions on the outcome of the election.

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Having worked as an aide, advisor, and Executive Assistant to municipal and provincial politicians, Sheila White is running for the Ontario New Democratic Party in the Ontario provincial election, in the Scarborough-Rouge River riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed her regarding her values, her experience, and her campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

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Saturday, February 5, 2005

London, UK —The quarterly G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ meeting at Lancaster House concluded on February 5, 2005, with the G7 failing to agree on a plan to reduce debt in developing countries. According to the Los Angeles Times, British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced that he believes, “this summit will be remembered as the summit for 100% debt relief” for the 27 countries involved in the Enhanced HIPC Initiative. Ministers from other G7 countries disagreed. Brown’s so-called International Financial Facility proposal, or IFF, “would not work for the U.S,” Undersecretary of the U.S. Treasury John Taylor said to the Los Angeles Times.

The joint statement issued by the ministers in the wake of the conference stated that, “We are agreed on a case-by-case analysis of HIPC countries, based on our willingness to provide as much as 100 per cent multilateral debt relief.” The ministers did not cite a figure for the minimum amount of debt relief that would be provided.

The conference was preceded by a demonstration in Trafalgar Square on the theme of “Make Poverty History.” Nelson Mandela spoke at the demonstration, attended by an estimated 20,000 people, according to World Development Movement, an organization involved in the planning of the event. Chancellor Brown invited Mandela to address the G7 on February 4, 2005, which he did in a “fireside chat,” according to Larry Elliott of The Guardian.

The G7, or ‘Group of Seven,’ is a coalition of seven major industrial democracies: the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and Canada. They hold quarterly meetings to discuss financial matters.

Thursday, September 28, 2006

The Health Board of New York City on Tuesday presented a plan to ban trans fatty acids (or trans fat) from the eateries in the city. The ban would not involve grocery stores, or natural trans fat that is present in dairy products or meat from ruminants.

The proposal follows a campaign last year to encourage restaurants to cut down on using trans fat themselves, but recent surveys show that the campaign was unsuccessful. In 2003, the city already instituted a smoking ban in restaurants, which was met with protest, but the measure has been copied in many other states since.

In Western countries, most trans fat in food today is the result of industrial processing, and has been linked to coronary heart disease. Frying oils, shortening and margarines with trans fats have easier storing requirements. Artificial trans fat is considered by some experts to be even more dangerous than natural trans fat.

The new limit would be at 0.5 grams of trans fatty acids per menu item, whereas a typical serving of French fries contains about 8 grams. It would be instituted in several phases, allowing time for eateries to adapt.

The plan would also have serious implications for both fast food chains and restaurants. A spokesperson for the New York State Restaurant Association reacted with disbelief, stating that “Labeling is one thing, but when they totally ban a product, it goes well beyond what we think is prudent and acceptable,” referring to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s requirement for food labels to list trans fat, a measure taken last January.

The Boards Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Frieden on the other hand said the ban would be a challenge for cooks, but substitute oils can easily be found. Comparing it to lead paint, he said “It is a dangerous and unnecessary ingredient”, adding that “No one will miss it when it’s gone.”

A similar ban is being considered in Chicago, but would only target companies with annual revenues over $20 million, thereby targeting exclusively major fast-food restaurants. The U.S. brands Wendy’s, Crisco, Frito-Lay, Starbucks, Subway, and Kraft’s have already taken action to remove trans fat from some of their products.

Denmark became the first country in the world imposing strict regulations on trans fatty acids in March 2003. McDonalds consequently started using trans fat-free oils in Denmark, but has not yet switched over in the United States.

A public hearing is scheduled on October 30, and a final vote on the proposal is scheduled for December.