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Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The United States auto manufacturer Chrysler, which has been badly affected by the ongoing recession, has asked the US government for an additional US$5 billion in aid on top of the four billion it has already received, saying that it plans to fire three thousand employees. At the end of last year, the auto maker had just over 54,000 employees, meaning that the layoffs will equal about six percent of its total workforce.

In addition, Chrysler will cut the Chrysler Aspen, PT Cruiser, and Durango from production.

Another automaker, General Motors (GM), announced that it seeks $16.6 billion in loans from the government, in addition to the $13.4 billion that it has already received. GM plans to lay off 47,000 employees and close five factories. GM says that it might need as much as $30 billion from the US Treasury Department, an increase over their previous estimate of $18 billion. The company has warned that it might run out of money by March if more aid was not given.

Rick Wagoner, GM’s chief executive, described the firm’s plan as “comprehensive, responsive, achievable, and flexible”. “We have a lot of work in front of us, but I am confident it will result in a profitable General Motors,” he said, adding that “today’s plan is significantly more aggressive because it has to be.” GM says that it could be profitable in two years’ time, and might be able to repay all its loans by 2017.

A third US car manufacturer, Ford Motor Company, has said that it can make it through this year without any government aid.

The US Treasury Department will review the car makers’ survival plans for several weeks before a decision is made on whether or not to extend the loans. That decision is due by the end of next month.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Microsoft, along with MetroFi, are set to construct a community wide Wi-Fi network in Portland, Oregon. Craig Mathias, founder of Farpoint Group, believes that one day Wi-Fi will offer a viable alternative to Cable and DSL.

“I think muni Wi-Fi will become enormous,” said Mathias.

Currently 68 cities in the United States have city wide Wi-Fi with 132 more planning deployments.

Saturday, April 30, 2005

The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced a recall of foods containing banned dyes which increase the risk of cancer. The food products were sold at the Tesco, Waitrose, and Somerfield supermarkets.

A Bristol company called “Barts Spices” found the illegal Para Red substance in their Barts Ground Paprika, which was sold in 48g and 46g jars with a “Co-op” label. The batch codes on the affected products are 5032 and 5089 (expiration Dec 2007), and 5075 (expiration February 2007).

Tesco also found that their 130g package of BBQ rice cakes (expiration November and December 2005) contained both Para Red and Sudan I.

“It would be very prudent to assume that it could be a genotoxic carcinogen,” FSA scientific advisers told reporters.

“As a company committed to supplying only the very finest quality food ingredients, we took the immediate decision to withdraw our ground paprika spice from all outlets selling the product and advertised a product recall in the national press,” a Barts Spices spokesman said in a statement.

Sudan I is only authorized for industrial use to colorize petroleum products, such as shoe polish. Para Red and Sudan I are banned under the British Colours in Food Regulations of 1995.

Britain last went through a major food recall in February, when Worcester Sauce was found to contain chili powder dyed with Sudan 1.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

France’s state-owned railway operator, SNCF, said the four main TGV lines serving Paris were sabotaged in what appeared to coordinated pre-dawn attacks. The acts of sabotage included a very large fire, said SNCF. TGV service faced extensive delays on Wednesday, which was exacerbated by the ongoing November 2007 strikes in France. SNCF says that 23% of its workers remain on strike.

“These actions are the work of hardliners and show total irresponsibility,” said the SNCF, blaming militant strikers. Several smaller fires were started by stuffing a burning rag into cable storage boxes, disrupting the rail signals and forcing authorities to reroute service. The large fire damaged some 30 km (18.6 miles) of cable along the TGV Atlantic line.

Union leaders immediately distanced themselves from the sabotage and said the acts were “committed by cowards.” Bernard Thibault, head of the Confédération générale du travail (CGT), said it was possible the acts were committed to discredit the unions.

According to Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau, who was speaking to France 2, said that President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered an investigation with the aim to punish the culprits “with the utmost severity.”

Prime Minister François Fillon said, “Those responsible for these acts of sabotage no doubt believed they could interrupt the negotiations and the return to work that is under way at the SNCF,” in a speech to the Parliament of France. “Well, I’m telling them they are very much mistaken,” he continued.

Negotiations with the unions began at 3:00 p.m. CET (UTC+1) on Wednesday. “There have been a number of advances, of announcements,” said Didier Le Reste, who heads up CGT’s rail division. “I trust railway workers to take decisions that are appropriate.”

President Sarkozy said that while he will not back down on the issue of early retirements, he is willing to make other concessions to the unions. He also encouraged workers to return to work as negotiations have begun. “Everyone must ask whether it is right to continue a strike which has already cost users—and strikers—so dear,” he said.

Meanwhile, teachers and other civil servants, who yesterday started a 24-hour work stoppage in their own protests against government reforms, returned to work. University students, however, continued disruptions in a protest against education reform. New today, was a street demonstration by tobacco shop owners, who are protesting a proposed smoking-ban in bars.

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Last Tuesday early morning, a sea lion walked from the beach into Pantai Inn in La Jolla, California. The animal was rescued by local animal rescue authorities. Wikinews took an interview from Shane Pappas, a General Manager of the inn.

((Wikinews)) At what time of day did the sea lion enter the Inn?

Shane Pappas: Surveillance footage shows that our sea lion friend made her way onto our property at approximately 5:45am on Tuesday morning. She waddled through our courtyard and climbed up onto one of our lounge chairs.

((WN)) How long did he stay in the Inn before he was moved out of the building?

Shane Pappas: The sea lion was not seen by our staff until about 6:30am. At that point my front desk agent Veronica made frantic calls to the authorities to find someone to come rescue the sea lion. By the time we got a hold of Sea World they were able to come and rescue her at around 9:45am. All told the sea lion was here for about four hours.

((WN)) What do you think attracted the animal? Was it the radio sound? Was it heard as far as the beach?

Shane Pappas: We’re not sure what attracted the sea lion. We like to think that it was the beauty and relaxation of our courtyard. In regards to the radio sound I’m not sure what you are referring to.

((WN)) Who and how transported the animal out of the building?

Shane Pappas: A gentleman named Bill who is a rescue worker with Sea World came out to rescue the pup. He asked if I would assist in the rescue which I was more than happy to do. It’s not every day that you get to rescue a sea lion.

((WN)) Where was the animal transported to?

Shane Pappas: The sea lion was loaded into a crate on a truck and transported back to Sea World. She will be kept there for six weeks so that she can be nursed back to health and returned to the wild.

Sunday, March 20, 2005

The American state of Georgia faces a new problem as wildlife officials discovered the South American channeled apple snail along the Alabaha River in Pierce County last month. Similar snails have been seen in four American states, including at least nine Florida counties, and Indonesia.

Apple snails (those of the ampullariidae family) are tropical and sub-tropical freshwater snails. They are named for their round shell, which is apple shaped. The channeled apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) has a yellow-to-brown shell that may grow to the size of a baseball. Unlike many other freshwater gastropods, Apple Snails have both a lung and a gill. This allows them to live even in oxygen-poor waters. Outside of their natural habitat of South America, the snails have no natural enemies. As they reproduce quickly and feed on aquatic plants, which provide food and shelter for native species, they can be devastating to their new environment.

“This discovery is one of particular interest because of the invasive nature of the species,” assistant chief of DNR’s Non-game Wildlife and Natural Heritage Section Jon Ambrose told the AP. “Because of the array of problems that can arise from releasing non-native species into Georgia’s waters, we want to stress that this is not a responsible practice for pet owners.”

DNR biologists searched the site of the discovery again last weekend. Although no more channeled apple snails were found, they may return for a more elaborate search. The Georgia winter, more severe than Florida´s, may put a stop to the threat.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

An armed gunman took hostages and fired shots during a school board meeting in Panama City, Florida at the Bay District Schools’ Nelson Building Tuesday. The gunman has been identified as Clay Duke, 56, whose wife had been fired by the school district. Duke fired at board members until he was shot and wounded by district security chief Mike Jones. Shortly afterwards Duke shot himself in the head.

Only Duke was injured in the fray even though he shot at Superintendent Bill Husfelt and other board members at close range. Duke opened fire, after rambling on about the firing of his wife and sales tax. Husfelt pleaded with Duke to let the others go as he was responsible for his wifes firing, however Duke raised the gun and began to fire. After firing on the board members, Duke was shot several times by former School Board member and district security chief Mike Jones. Jones was not in the room at the time, and was alerted of the situation. After being shot by Jones, Duke proceeded to place the gun to his head and shot himself. Duke was pronounced dead shortly after at a local hospital and an autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday. Jones, although not physically injured, was admitted to hospital for observation.

After the shooting Superintendent Husfelt admitted that he “really didn’t know what he [Duke] was talking about.” Husfelt believes that Duke used a combination of blanks and live rounds, however the police are adamant that Duke used only live rounds. Panama City police chief, John Van Etten, described the gun as a small caliber handgun, however superintendent Husfelt said, “It looked like a shotgun when it was pointed at me”

A spokesperson for the school board, Karen Tucker, described Duke as “a large guy” and reported that she had seen him sitting at the back of the room. A member of the board, Ginger Littleton, along with the other women and children, were sent out of the room, however she returned to the room as she could not leave the others behind. She tried to disarm Duke by hitting him with her heavy handbag, however it was not heavy enough as Duke knocked her down. She said that he aimed “directly at my [Littleton’s] brain”, but he did not fire at her and she eventually escaped the room unharmed.

A SWAT team burst into the meeting room and were initially thought to have shot Duke, but it was later determined that Duke had shot himself, according to police. The gunman was taken out of the meeting room on a stretcher.

Witness have said that shots were heard, however there are reports circulating that the gunman shot blanks instead of live rounds. A reporter who was in the room at the time thinks the weapon may have been a “cap gun”, but police say that the weapon was a pistol loaded with live rounds. The gunman allegedly spray painted the letter ‘V’ on the meeting room wall. The ‘V’ is the same symbol used in the movie V for Vendetta.