Sunday, October 6, 2013

On Tuesday, South Korea staged a huge military parade to mark its armed forces’ 65th anniversary in a display of long-range missiles considered a direct threat to North Korea. 11,000 troops and 190 different weapons systems were on display in the parade. Wikinews interviewed several specialists about the parade’s possible significance.

Friday, March 16, 2007

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued a health hazard alert, March 14, 2007, regarding Ark Land brand of bottled water, Naturally Carbonated Mineral Water. It is warning the public not to consume the product, as it may contain arsenic.

Although there have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product, Arsenic is a toxic substance and a human carcinogen.

The CFIA did not indicate, in the Alert, what levels of arsenic were found in the product.

The mineral water was sold in Ontario and Quebec, but may have also been distributed throughout Canada. The product, produced by Arzni Source, was imported from Armenia by Klukva Pure Inc., of Toronto.

The importer, Klukva Pure Inc., has begun the removal of product from store shelves, under the direction of the CFIA.

The product recall affects the following Ark Land brand Naturally Carbonated Mineral Water:

Size: 330 mL, UPC: 7 85000 12033 9

Size: 500 mL, UPC: 7 85000 12050 6

Both sizes show a “Best Before” date of 09.05.07

For more information, consumers and industry are encouraged to call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

At the company’s own Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote at the Moscone West center in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the next generation of software products from Apple. Apple unveiled Lion, the new version of their Mac OS X operating system for desktop and laptop computers that brings new features to the software. They also demonstrated iOS 5, a new version of the operating system that powers iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads. Alongside both announcements, Jobs also announced a new iCloud service to sync data among all devices. All 5,200 participating developers will spend the rest of the week in workshops with Apple employees; developer releases of each product were made available today.

Mac OS X Lion will be shipped in July through the online Mac App Store available on Mac computers for US$29. According to Apple, the update adds over 250 new features to the OS. Employee Phil Schiller discussed new multitouch gestures along with a dynamic task manager named Mission Control that shows open applications. During the keynote, Schiller said, “The Mac has outpaced the PC industry every quarter for five years running and with OS X Lion we plan to keep extending our lead.” It also adds full support for the Mac port of the popular App Store, full screen applications, iOS-style app icon lists called Launchpad, and other iOS-like features including a revamped Mail and Auto Save among others. Mac OS X Lion was announced at a different Apple event several months ago and will replace Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which was released in 2009.

Soon after, the company also introduced the latest installment in its popular mobile operating system iOS. The fifth version (iOS 5) introduces around 200 new features, including a revamped notification system, which combines messages and notifications from all applications installed on the user’s device. Scott Forestall, an Apple employee, also revealed that iOS devices would no longer require a computer for setup, allowing users to ‘cut the cord’ between their devices and PCs. Magazines and newspapers also have a new folder interface; the Twitter social network is now integrated significantly into iOS devices. Improvements to the mobile Safari browser were also announced; tabbed browsing and a Reader feature introduce desktop-like functionality. Finally, new camera features are built in, including the ability to take snapshots from the lock screen, as well as iMessages, a new messaging platform for iPhones and iPads.

CEO Steve Jobs returned to the stage to reveal Apple’s new cloud services offering, iCloud. The service integrates with Lion and iOS applications and syncs data between a user’s iOS devices. For example, calendar events created on a user’s laptop would be sent to their iPhone through iCloud. Apps, books, documents, photos, and more purchased or created on one device will be shared with others. The service is intended to launch in the fall of 2011 alongside iOS 5 and will be available with 5 gigabytes (GB) of storage for 10 devices for free. Earlier this year, Apple opened a 500,000 square foot data center in North Carolina intended to facilitate this new service. Jobs rounded the services off by unveiling a new iTunes feature that mirrors a user’s library in the cloud, allowing them to listen and download music to authorized devices. “We are going to demote the PC to just be a device. We are going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud,” said Steve Jobs during the keynote. iCloud and iOS 5 will be released in the fall of 2011; Apple announced no new hardware products.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

What would you tell your grandchildren about 2008 if they asked you about it in, let’s say, 20 years’ time? If the answer to a quiz question was 2008, what would the question be? The year that markets collapsed, or perhaps the year that Obama became US president? Or the year Heath Ledger died?

Let’s take a look at some of the important stories of 2008. Links to the original Wikinews articles are in all the titles.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

An Oregon transit agency chief apologized Thursday to two 14-year old girls who had been ejected for kissing on a Portland bus.

“Removing the girls from the bus was not consistent with our policy,” said TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen. “I want to reiterate that we welcome all riders on our system.”

The 64-year old driver, an eleven year veteran, will be disciplined. The girls complained that the driver had called them “sickos” before stopping the bus and forcing them off.

“TriMet sincerely apologizes to the girls and their families for this incident,” Hansen said in the statement.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

Train services on two of Singapore’s Mass Rapid Transit system lines, both operated by SMRT Corporation, were disrupted at separate times yesterday in two incidents.

During the morning rush hour, six stations of the Circle MRT Line (CCL) were without train service in both directions during the morning rush hour following what SMRT described as “intermittent signal interference”. The company first announced the signalling fault on Twitter at 7:37 am, advising commuters to anticipate 10 additional minutes of travel time in the commute between Pasir Panjang and one-north stations. The fault was announced rectified two minutes later by another tweet from SMRT, though delays were still expected in the direction of Dhoby Ghaut station due to congestion at stations and on trains.

SMRT issued another tweet at 8:09 am, alerting commuters to another signalling fault affecting the CCL, on the stretch between Botanic Gardens and HarbourFront stations.

Initially informing commuters that the issue would add 10 minutes of travel time along the affected stretch, the company later revised this to 20, and finally, 30 minutes in subsequent tweets, attributing the delays to “intermittent signalling faults”.

The company later announced via Twitter service unavailable between Botanic Gardens and Marymount stations at 9:06 am, whilst offering free bus services along the length of the CCL. SMRT later amended the announcement in another tweet to encompass the stretch between Botanic Gardens and Serangoon stations. Train service was restored along the affected stretch by about 10:27 am.

SMRT had previously experienced disruptions in service on the CCL for five consecutive days in September, also attributable to signalling issues, leading to authorities briefly switching off mobile signals at four CCL stations for two hours on September 2 during investigations. Most of the disruptions took place during peak hours, leading to suspicion the telecommunications network could be interfering with the train signalling system. After tests proved inconclusive following the lack of a disruption that day, the decision was made to turn off telecommunications signals in the event of another disruption.

“It’s very frustrating”, commented a commuter, 41-year-old Joseph Lim. “The trains are sometimes moving and sometimes getting stuck. I don’t know whether to stay on board. The communication has been insufficient”.

Another commuter, 29-year-old Alice Pan, stated, “I am now stuck at the station with no way to get to work. I can’t get on any SBS buses because they are full and there’s no free shuttle bus in sight. I can’t get any cabs either”. Pan was stranded in a train for an hour at Lorong Chuan station.

36-year-old Sean Chew, said of his experience during the incident, “I was stuck at Buona Vista for more than one hour. I didn’t want to take the bus because it was very crowded. So no choice, had to wait […] Luckily I just finished work.”

However, following the morning incidents, a stalled train on the East West MRT Line led to a half-hour disruption during the evening peak hour on the same day. SMRT informed commuters of the disruption, between Queenstown and Outram Park stations in the direction of Pasir Ris station, on Twitter at 5:48 pm, attributing it to a “train fault” at Tiong Bahru station. In the same tweet, SMRT estimated that the issue would be resolved around 6:10 pm. Due to the disruption, the company offered free bus services along the affected stretch in a subsequent tweet.

At 6:20 pm, SMRT announced on Twitter that it had cleared the disruption by removing the stalled train, and that trains were “progressively return[ing] to normal speed”. The company continued to offer free bus services until 7 pm, when it announced the termination of the service on Twitter.

In the wake of yesterday’s incidents, commuters criticized SMRT’s handling of the matter on social media, citing SMRT’s failure to provide sufficient information or sufficient buses for commuters, and uploading photos of the congestion.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The Peel Hotel, located in Melbourne, Australia has been given permission by the Victorian State Civil and Administrative Tribunal to ban lesbians and heterosexuals from going into their bar which is catered specifically for gay men.

Owner of the hotel Tom McFeely, said he went to the tribunal in order to protect gay males by providing them with a bar that has a friendly atmosphere and where the men can be in a “non-threatening” situation.

“If I can limit the number of heterosexuals entering the Peel, then that helps me keep the safe balance. Heterosexuals have other places to go to; my homosexuals do not,” said McFeely adding that there are over 2,000 bars and clubs around Australia for heterosexuals to attend.

The hotel’s commissioner says that many of the gay men who attend the bar felt uncomfortable and felt like zoo animals.

“(They) also have felt as though they’ve been like a zoo exhibit with big groups of women on hens’ parties coming to the club,” said the Peels Hotel Commission Chief, Helen Szoke who also said that many of the bars gay men have been harassed or have been threatened with violence.

Lesbians and heterosexual individuals are still allowed to stay at the hotel.

Cate McKenzie, who is the chief of the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission also supports the ruling saying, “This would undermine or destroy the atmosphere which the company wishes to create. Sometimes heterosexual groups and lesbian groups insult and deride and are even physically violent towards the gay male patrons. To regard the gay male patrons of the venue as providing an entertainment or spectacle to be stared at, as one would at an animal at a zoo, devalues and dehumanizes them.”

The Victorian Gay and Lesbian Lobby Group says that the ruling makes the Peel Hotel one of the only two establishments in Melbourne to cater specifically to gay men.

Friday, February 21, 2014