Congressman Cunningham admits taking bribes

Monday, November 28, 2005 U.S. Representative Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R–CA) pled guilty today to conspiring to take bribes in exchange for using his influence as a member of the House Appropriations Committee to help a defense contractor get business. In total he pled guilty to one count of income tax evasion and four counts of conspiracy, namely mail fraud, wire […]

Vestas protesters sacked with immediate effect

Thursday, July 30, 2009 Eleven of the 25 workers at the Vestas factory in Newport, Isle of Wight, England who have been carrying out a sit-in since Monday July 20 have been sacked with immediate effect. According to one of the protesters known as “Mike”, the occupiers were given their dismissal notices concealed under slices of their evening meal of […]

India and Pakistan accuse each other of ceasefire violation

Sunday, July 27, 2014 During the last week, through Friday, there have been several incidents of firing at the India–Pakistan border, causing deaths on both sides: members of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistani citizens, suspected by India to be infiltrators. Both India and Pakistan have accused the opposite side of initiating the ceasefire violation. On Sunday, July 20, […]

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 a cafe in the leafy […]

Discovery going for second launch since 2003 Columbia loss

Saturday, July 1, 2006 With a planned launch time of 3:48 EDT (19:48 UTC), NASA’s shuttle Discovery embarks on the second mission since the loss of shuttle Columbia in 2003. The mission designation is STS-121. The crew are as follows: Steven W. Lindsey – Commander – USA Mark E. Kelly – Pilot – USA Michael E. Fossum – Mission Specialist […]

Iraqi activist forced to change t-shirt with Arabic peace slogan

Wednesday, August 30, 2006 Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi peace activist who lives in the United States, was forced to change his T-Shirt, which bore an Arabic slogan, because it was found “offensive”. The incident took place in JFK airport in New York. The activist Jarrar reported in his blog RaedInTheMiddle that he had checked-in his bags and was issued a […]

Qantas says A380 aircraft are safe to fly after ‘serious’ incident

Saturday, November 27, 2010 Australian airline Qantas has returned the first of its fleet of Airbus A380s to service, after all six of the “superjumbo” aircraft were grounded three weeks ago following one aircraft’s engine sustaining extensive midair damage; it landed safely in Singapore without injury. The airline stated that all of the aircraft have undergone extensive safety inspections and […]

Study: Socialized Canadian surgery half the U.S. cost with same results

Wednesday, July 13, 2005 Americans pay twice as much for heart-bypass surgery as the socialized Canadian system, with no difference in outcome, according to today’s issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine in a study funded by American drug company, Pfizer Inc.. The research found that heart bypass surgery costs an average of $10,373 in Canada, compared with $20,673 in […]

Tonga: Four guilty over ferry disaster that killed 74

Friday, April 1, 2011 Tonga’s largest criminal trial today ended in the conviction of four men and the state shipping firm over the sinking of MV Princess Ashika. 74 were killed when the ferry went down off Nuku’alofa in 2009. The vast majority of bodies remain missing. Only two were recovered, including one Tongan — a 21-year-old mother called Vae […]