Wikinews interviews Australian wheelchair basketball player Tina McKenzie

Friday, January 3, 2014 Preston, Victoria, Australia —On Saturday, Wikinews interviewed Tina McKenzie, a former member of the Australia women’s national wheelchair basketball team, known as the Gliders. McKenzie, a silver and bronze Paralympic medalist in wheelchair basketball, retired from the game after the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Wikinews caught up with her in …

Wikinews interviews evicted London Metropolitan University occupier

Tuesday, May 10, 2011 A group of students at London Metropolitan University (LMU) who had been occupying the graduate centre at their university since the afternoon of Wednesday May 4 were evicted just before midnight on Monday by police, university security and private bailiffs. Wikinews, in contact with the occupiers, obtained a first-hand interview with …

Polish drug company Jelfa ordered to shut-down over mislabelled drugs

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 Polish Prime Minister Jaros?aw Kaczy?ski has ordered the pharmaceutical company Jelfa to halt production following revelations that Jelfa had placed mislabelled medication on the market, whose use could be potentially fatal. Jelfa distributed vials labelled as Corhydron, a hydrocortisone used to treat allergies and inflammation, but in fact containing Suxamethonium chloride, …

Pfizer and Microsoft team up against Viagra spam

Sunday, February 13, 2005 New York –”Buy cheap Viagra through us – no prescription required!” Anyone with an active email account will recognize lines like this one. According to some reports, unsolicited advertisements (spam) for Viagra and similar drugs account for one in four spam messages. BACKGROUND Spamming remains one of the biggest problems facing …

ACLU, EFF challenging US ‘secret’ court orders seeking Twitter data

Thursday, April 7, 2011 Late last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed objections to the United States Government’s ‘secret’ attempts to obtain Twitter account information relating to WikiLeaks. The ACLU and EFF cite First and Fourth amendment issues as overriding reasons to overturn government attempts to keep their …

Anthrocon 2007 draws thousands to Pittsburgh for furry weekend

Tuesday, July 17, 2007 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Local caterers get ready for big business, as almost three thousand fans converge on the David L. Lawrence Convention Center over the Independence Day weekend for the world’s largest ever furry convention, Anthrocon 2007. Many hope to renew acquaintances, or meet new friends. Others look to buy from …

UN calls on international community to increase aid for Iraqi refugees

Sunday, July 8, 2007 The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) called on the international community to increase aid and assistance to the two countries shouldering the bulk of displaced Iraqis. Syria and Jordan have received the largest number of Iraqi refugees and are having difficulty coping with the numbers. The appeal was made …

Australian carbon tax plans hit road block

Sunday, April 17, 2011 Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s plans to implement a carbon tax in Australia have hit a roadblock today with the national secretary of the Australian Workers Union Paul Howes demanding that exemptions be made to certain heavy polluting industries including steel production as well as concerns about whether jobs will be …

Uber suspends self-driving car program after pedestrian death in Arizona, United States

Wednesday, March 21, 2018 On Monday, the United States ride-sharing company Uber announced suspension of its experimental self-driving car program after one of the cars fatally struck a 49-year-old woman pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona on Sunday night. The company characterized the suspension of the program — in the Phoenix area and also in Pittsburgh; San …

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 …