Tuesday, November 15, 2005 In a move aimed at hampering the near-daily bombing attacks in southern Thailand, all owners of prepaid phones are required to register by midnight local time today or face being blocked. Originally scheduled for implementation at the end of last year, the move was deferred to allow people more time to…
Family of Chile’s former leader Augusto Pinochet arrested on embezzlement charges
Friday, October 5, 2007 The widow and five children of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet have been arrested in Chile on embezzlement charges. They are accused of illegally transferring USD27 million to foreign bank accounts during Pinochet’s rule from 1973 to 1990. Seventeen of Pinochet’s former associates, including his former personal secretary and three retired…
Keep your eyes peeled for cosmic debris: Andrew Westphal about Stardust@home
Sunday, May 28, 2006 Stardust is a NASA space capsule that collected samples from comet 81P/Wild (also known as “Wild 2) in deep space and landed back on Earth on January 15, 2006. It was decided that a collaborative online review process would be used to “discover” the microscopically small samples the capsule collected. The…
MMVAs handed out in Toronto, Canada; Wikinews was there
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 Last night was the 2007 MuchMusic Video Awards in Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. MuchMusic is the most watched music channel in Canada, and has been holding the event since 1990. Roughly 6,000 fans line the streets surrounding Much headquarters each year, and 1,200 more score “the wristband” and enjoy a free…
UK company “seriously considering” GPS tracking devices in school uniforms
Saturday, August 25, 2007 The leading supplier of school uniforms in the United Kingdom, Lancashire-based manufacturer Trutex, has announced it is “seriously considering” including GPS tracking devices in future ranges of its uniform products after conducting an online survey of both parents and children. “As a direct result of the survey, we are now seriously…
Emaar Properties claims Burj Dubai as world’s tallest building
Sunday, July 22, 2007 United Arab Emirates (UAE) developer Emaar Properties has claimed that their Burj Dubai commercial and residential tower, currently under construction, has become the world’s tallest building, reaching a height of 512.1 metres (or 1,680 feet) and 141 storeys. The current official record holder, Taipei 101 of Taiwan, has a height of…
Former NZ Prime Minister confirmed as head of UNDP
Thursday, April 2, 2009 Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has been appointed as head of the United Nations Development Program. The appointment follows a unanimous vote by the UN General Assembly yesterday. Clark will take up the role by April 20, replacing current UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis. Clark is reportedly eager for the…
U.K. National Portrait Gallery threatens U.S. citizen with legal action over Wikimedia images
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. The English National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London has threatened on Friday to sue a U.S. citizen, Derrick Coetzee. The legal letter followed claims that he had breached…
England’s elderly face human rights breaches in home care system
Wednesday, November 23, 2011 A report published today by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) finds that, in many cases, England’s home care system breaches the human rights of the elderly it is supposed to serve. The Close to home: older people and human rights in home care report is the result of a…
G7 says “all available tools” will be used to solve crisis
Saturday, October 11, 2008 In the midst of the intensifying global financial crisis, finance ministers and central bankers of the G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom – met in Washington, D.C. and released a joint statement. With failures of large financial institutions in the United States,…