Sunday, June 5, 2011 Three tornadoes struck western Massachusetts on Wednesday according to the National Weather Service’s (NWS) Taunton, Massachusetts office, the biggest and longest being an EF-3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale according to meteorologists at the agency. The EF-3 tornado was described by the NWS in a statement as a “very significant tornado” […]
Swiss reject single health insurance
Monday, March 12, 2007 24 of 26 Swiss Cantons rejected the proposal for a single health insurance system, in which premiums would be based on income and wealth. The vote on Sunday was the latest in a series of attempts to cut rising costs and ease the financial burden on citizens. Around 71% of voters […]
Putin’s state-of-the-nation speech addresses the economy
Tuesday, April 26, 2005 Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke live on state television Monday in his annual state-of-the-nation address using high ideological rhetoric when calling on lawmakers and the public to strengthen democracy and the rule of law. His 50 minute address from the Kremlin’s Marble Hall only briefly touched on the “epidemic of collapse” […]
Saturn moon Enceladus may have salty ocean
Thursday, June 23, 2011 NASA’s Cassini–Huygens spacecraft has discovered evidence for a large-scale saltwater reservoir beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The data came from the spacecraft’s direct analysis of salt-rich ice grains close to the jets ejected from the moon. The study has been published in this week’s edition of the journal […]
Open source game developer Perttu Ahola talks about Minetest with Wikinews
Tuesday, June 30, 2020 Recently, Finnish open-source video game developer Perttu Ahola discussed Minetest, his “longest ever project”, with Wikinews. Started in October 2010, Minetest was an attempt by Ahola to create a sandbox game similar to Minecraft. Minecraft is a multi-platform commercial game, which was in alpha version when Ahola challenged himself to create […]
Typhoon Ketsana leaves over 140 dead in the Philippines after heavy flooding
Tuesday, September 29, 2009 The Philippines has appealed for international assistance following the worst flooding in more than 40 years. At least 140 people have been killed and another 32 are missing as a result of the heavy rains, and the death toll from the disaster continues to rise. The Philippine government has been attempting […]
Knight Foundation and Mozilla send geeks into newsrooms
Friday, November 11, 2011 In London last weekend, journalists, software developers, filmmakers, designers and many others spent time discussing ideas and building tools at the 2011 Mozilla Festival at Ravensbourne College. Following the theme of “Media, Freedom and the Web”, many attendees developed prototypes around the idea of the future of media including tablet interface […]
Treasury reveals cost of carbon tax on Australian families
Friday, April 1, 2011 Treasury documents released today under the Freedom of Information (FOI) act reveal that Australians could face up to an A$863 rise in household costs per annum if the government proceeds with its plans to put a tax on carbon emissions. The documents reveal an a annual price rise of $218.40 for […]
France considers chemically castrating sex offenders
Sunday, October 4, 2009 Debate is underway in France over the possibility of forcing male sex offenders to be chemically castrated. Prime Minister François Fillon has confirmed the government is considering such a move. Chemical castration is different from physical castration in that it stops being effective if treatment is stopped, making it reversible. It […]
NYSE to merge with Archipelago; NASDAQ to buy Instinet
Sunday, April 24, 2005 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced last Wednesday that it has agreed definitively to merge with Chicago-based Archipelago Exchange (ArcaEx) and form a new publicly traded, for-profit company known as NYSE Group. This announcement was followed two days later by NASDAQ®, which independently announced a definitive agreement to purchase Instinet Group. […]