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Sunday, December 26, 2004

Indian Ocean – The death toll continues to grow and millions face a homeless life in the new year as coastal communities in south Asia struggle against continued aftershocks and flooding caused by the largest earthquake to strike the planet in more than a generation.

The magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake struck off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia on December 26, 2004, at 00:58:50 UTC (or 07:58:50 local time in Jakarta and Bangkok).

The earthquake was the strongest in the world since the 9.2-magnitude Good Friday Earthquake which struck Alaska, USA in 1964, and the fourth largest since 1900. More than 140,000 deaths[1] were caused by resulting tsunami, which in Thailand were up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall, and struck within three hours of the initial event.

Multiple tsunamis struck and ravaged coastal regions all over the Indian Ocean, devastating regions including the Indonesian province of Aceh, the coast of Sri Lanka, coastal areas of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the resort island of Phuket, Thailand, and even as far away as Somalia, 4,100 km (2,500 mi) west of the epicenter.

While the earthquake and the tsunamis are no longer ongoing (other than aftershocks), the humanitarian and economic crisis generated by the disaster is still ongoing. This report will attempt to cover the crisis as it continues to develop.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Two planes carrying parachutists collided this morning in western Slovakia, near the Czech Republic. Of around 40 on board, seven are confirmed dead.

The crash site near ?ervený Kame? is hard to access; rescuers are using helicopters. Investigators believe some passengers survived by jumping from one of the aircraft, which are believed to be twin-engined LET L-410s. An eyewitness told Dennik he saw people leaping from one aircraft as it went down.

The parachutists were practising over the White Carpathians, the mountains that form the Slovak-Czech border, for an upcoming airshow in Slavnica this weekend. Health Minister Viliam ?islák and Interior Minister Robert Kali?ák visited the site.

The aircraft collided at around 8:30a.m. at a height of around 5,000ft (1,500m). Photos of the scene show scattered wreckage, some of it aflame.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The 1999 and 2000 year model Honda Civic SiR tops the list of Canada’s most stolen cars.

Consumer popularity also assures the cars will be popular with thieves. Its the second year in a row the Honda SiR has topped the list.

Rick Dubin Vice President of Investigations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada said “The Civics are easy targets.”

Dubin said that once stolen, the cars are most often sold to “chop shops” where thieves completely dismantle the vehicles. The automobile’s individual parts are worth more than the entire car.

The sheer numbers of the cars and their lack of theft deterrent systems make them thieves’ preferred choices.

1999 and 2000 Honda Civics do not come with an electronic immobilizer, however all Hondas from 2001 and onward are equipped with an immobilizer. Immobilizers will be mandatory on all new cars sold beginning September 2007. The devices enable an engine computer to recognize an electronic code in the key. If the code in the key and the engine don’t match exactly, the vehicle can’t be started.

In third place was the 2004 Subaru Impreza, while the 1999 Acura Integra came in fourth, with the 1994 Honda Civic rounding out the top five.

In sixth place, the 1998 Acura Integra, and the 1993 Dodge Shadow completed seventh.

When asked why early model vehicles are selected, he said that, “auto thieves continue to find it easier to steal older vehicles lacking an IBC-approved immobilizer. We’ve seen this trend developing for several years, and these results confirm it.”

Another Honda automobile, the 1996 year model Civic filled eighth place, with the 2000 German Audi TT Quattro in ninth.

The American 1996 Chevrolet/GMC Blazer rounded out the top ten.

None of the above cars had an electronic immobilizer.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Russ Aegard is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Buffalo, New York —The city’s Common Council met in Council Chambers today with a full agenda. Among the items in the agenda was the Elmwood Village Hotel proposal.

The Elmwood Village Hotel is a proposed hotel by Savarino Construction Services Corporation and is designed by architect Karl Frizlen of the Frizlen Group. It is to be placed on the corner of Elmwood and Forest Avenues in Buffalo and will require the demolition of at least five properties (1109-1121 Elmwood).

During the hour-and-a-half meeting, the Common Council approved the hotel proposal. The entire voting process for the proposal took less than two minutes, and the public was not allowed to speak. The Council voted unanimously in support of the proposal; however, the city’s Planning Board must also approve the proposal. The Board will meet on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 8:00 a.m. on the 9th floor of City Hall, room 902.

The approval allows for the rezoning of all five properties, including 605 Forest, to a “special development plan,” or a C-2 zone.

“There is a ‘special development plan’ in front of the council, which changes only one thing about the zoning. It allows one permitted use — for just a hotel. The rest of the zoning remains as it is under the current Elmwood Business District zoning. 605 and 607 Forest are not required for the project. They are not part of the footprint for the project. Let me answer this question again. This is on the record, in council: 605 needs to be rezoned in order to facilitate the project because of the sideyard requirement. Anything in C-2 is excluded besides the hotel. So we’ve taken the C-2 and included the hotel as a permitted use, and excluded everything else, and everything else remains the same,” Eva Hassett, Vice President of Savarino Consrtruction, said to Wikinews during a public meeting on March 16, 2006.

However, during the same meeting, Pano Georgiadis, owner of 605 Forest and owner of Pano’s Restaurant on Elmwood, threatened to “sue” Savarino Construction saying, “If you try to get a variance to change the code, I will sue you. This is my home, number one.”

Savarino Construction hopes to break ground this Summer.

Despite the Council’s approval, organizers have scheduled another protest that will be held this Saturday, March 25, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. on Forest and Elmwood.

Some citizens are even considering legal action and are considering an “injunction in State Supreme Court,” going “pro se, meaning I am going to present the case myself,” said Clarence Carnahan, a concerned citizen and local business owner who is opposed to the hotel, to Wikinews.

Carnahan wrote a “notice of cease and desist” which was also presented to the Council at today’s meeting.

Patty Morris, co-owner of Don Apparel with Nancy Pollina, said, “We are going to fight the good fight to the bitter end, but we cannot afford it [legal action]. Now it’s a legal matter, and it’s in the hands of the law, and I know there are some people very interested in hiring a lawyer.”

Nancy Pollina says that she is “looking into a defense fund” and is currently talking to lawyers.

==Related Wikinews==

• “Citizens protest Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal” — Wikinews, March 20, 2006
• “Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal threatened by possible lawsuit” — Wikinews, March 16, 2006
• “Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal delayed further” — Wikinews, March 10, 2006
• “No hotel previously on site of proposed Buffalo, N.Y. hotel location” — Wikinews, March 4, 2006
• “City Planning Board postpones decision on Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal” — Wikinews, March 2, 2006
• “Residents and business owners attend “private” meeting on Buffalo, N.Y. hotel proposal” — Wikinews, February 28, 2006
• “Eva Hassett, VP of Savarino Construction Services Corp. answers questions on Buffalo, N.Y. hotel redesign” — Wikinews, February 27, 2006
• “Alternative to controversial hotel proposed to Buffalo, N.Y. business owners and residents” — Wikinews, February 23, 2006
• “Hotel development proposal could displace Buffalo, NY business owners” — Wikinews, February 17, 2006

Thursday, March 18, 2021

On Monday, Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned the United States and South Korea as a reaction to the joint military drills conducted by the US and South Korea.

In a statement released by the Rodong Sinmun, Kim Yo Jong said: “The peaceful spring days of three years ago are unlikely to return”. Arirang News asserted the “peaceful spring” refers to the inter-Korean meetings held in April 2018.

In her statement, Kim described ‘the south Korean authorities’ as “all born with stupidity” and “become the dumb and deaf bereft of judgment”. In response to the drills — which the North Korean government reportedly perceived as a threat — Kim expressed the possibility of closing various inter-Korean organizations like the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Country and the Kumgangsan International Tourism Bureau. “We also examine the issue of dissolving the Kumgangsan International Tourism Bureau and other organizations concerned as any cooperation and exchange with the south Korean authorities antagonizing us are no longer necessary”, Kim said.

Towards the end of the statement, Kim said, “If it [the United States] wants to sleep in peace for coming four years, it had better refrain from causing a stink at its first step.”

Speaking to Arirang News, Yang Moo-Jin, the vice president for public affairs at the University of North Korean Studies, said the message indicates “the regime is willing to talk […] as long as the South [Korean authorities] show some sincerity by not raising tensions through the joint drills”. Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at the Kyungnam University, said the North “is reaffirming its long-held stance that there will be no talks unless sanctions against the regime are lifted”. In an interview with Arirang News, Andrei Lankov, the director of the Korea Risk Group, said the message is nothing out of the ordinary, and similar messages have been coming each spring and the contents of this message are not to be overestimated. He qualified the statement as being “business as usual” and “by the North Korean standards it’s pretty tame”.

Friday, December 23, 2016

Yesterday, German football club Borussia Mönchengladbach announce their appointment of Dieter Hecking as manager until 2019. Hecking’s predecessor André Schubert was sacked the day before, after one year of service at Borussia Park.

Mönchengladbach has won only one out of its last eleven Bundesliga matches this season. Schubert began as an interim manager of the first team after Lucien Facts resigned from the coach position last September. Schubert led Gladbach to the fourth spot in Bundesliga. Schubert’s last match as Gladbach’s coach ended in a 2–1 loss against VfL Wolfsburg and they are just three points ahead of the relegation playoff.

52-year-old Dieter Hecking began his coaching career in 2000 with a second tier club SC Verl. Hecking played most of his professional career matches in 2. Bundesliga.

In 2003–04, Hecking guided VfB Lübeck in DFB Pokal semifinal. He helped 1. FC Nürnberg avoid relegation in 2009–10 and finished sixth in the Bundesliga in the following season. In 2014–15, Hecking won the DFB Pokal and the DfL-Supercup with Wolfsburg and finished the Bundesliga season as runners-up. They qualified for last season’s UEFA Champions League. Hecking was sacked from Wolfsburg in October.

Mönchengladbach’s sporting director Max Eberl said, “We wanted to add fresh impetus after the developments of recent weeks with a new coach. Dieter Hecking is exactly the right man for that. He is a coach with a lot of experience, who has had a lot of success at different levels with different clubs” ^{((de))German language: ?Nach der Entwicklung der letzten Wochen wollen wir mit einem neuen Trainer einen neuen Impuls setzen. Dafür ist Dieter Hecking genau der richtige Mann, ein Trainer mit viel Erfahrung, der auf unterschiedlichem Niveau mit verschiedenen Vereinen sehr erfolgreich gearbeitet hat}.