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Monday, February 28, 2022

On Sunday, a suspected Russian missile strike was carried out on a civilian oil terminal located in Vasilkiv, near Kyiv, Ukraine. The incident was reported by Ukrainian Member of Parliament Anna Purtova. She described this deadly incident as an “environmental catastrophe”. The oil facility was located just 39 kilometers (24 mi) from Kyiv.

Apart from this, Russian troops were spotted in different locations in and around the city of Kharkiv. A gas pipeline was also blown up by Russian troops in Kharkiv yesterday before daybreak. The Governor of Kharkiv Oblast Oleh Synyehubov advised citizens not to go outside and stated “the Russian enemy’s light vehicles have broken into Kharkiv, including the city centre”.

On Saturday, Russian troops conducted a missile strike on a high-rise residential building in Kyiv which injured at least 6 people.

The Kremlin had sent a diplomatic delegation to Belarus, offering talks with Ukraine. The proposal was initially rejected by Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Belarus was complicit in the invasion and Ukraine would like to hold talks elsewhere.

Today, Ukraine has accepted the proposal for talks with the Russian Federation on the Belarusian border. The Ukrainian Presidential Office has confirmed the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had called Zelensky earlier Sunday.

The United States and its allies have initiated the transfer of arms and weapons to support Ukraine and imposed numerous sanctions to affect Russia financially. On Saturday, it was announced several Russian banks would be removed from the SWIFT international payment system, resulting in its disconnection from the international financial system. It was also decided to impose ‘restrictive measures’ on the Central Bank of Russia to prevent it from undermining the impact of the sanctions from the West.

The leaders of the European Commission and the United States said in a joint statement they “will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin”.

Google and Facebook have barred the Russian state-controlled media outlet RT News from receiving money from advertisements.

The Kremlin said Russian troops were advancing “in all directions” and Putin thanked the Russian Special Forces who were carrying out the operation in Ukraine. Sources also reveal Putin directed his nuclear deterrence forces to stay on high alert, citing “aggressive statements” by NATO and tough financial sanctions from the West and its allies. The Ukrainian presidential advisor, Mykhaylo Podolyak, said over 3,500 Russian troops were killed in action or wounded. Russia has not yet released any casualty figures.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Chinese officials have said that their country’s exports surged last December to edge out Germany as the world’s biggest exporter.

The official Xinhua news agency reported today that figures from the General Administration for Customs showed that exports jumped 17.7% in December from a year earlier. Over the whole of 2009 total Chinese exports reached US$1.2 trillion, above Germany’s forecast $1.17 trillion.

Huang Guohua, a statistics official with the customs administration, said the December exports rebound was an important turning point for China’s export sector. He commented that the jump was an indication that exporters have emerged from their downslide.

“We can say that China’s export enterprises have completely emerged from their all-time low in exports,” he said.

However, although China overtook Germany in exports, China’s total foreign trade — both exports and imports — fell 13.9% last year.

Thursday, November 16, 2006

Buffalo, New York —A proposed hotel that was supposed to be built at the corner of Elmwood and Forest Avenues in Buffalo, New York is apparently off the table. The former proposal was going to be called The Elmwood Village Hotel and would have consisted of 72 rooms and cost between $7 to $10 million American dollars to build.

Today several unknown individuals were seen removing a sign that was dedicated to the “Elmwood Village Gateway,” which signifies the beginning of the Elmwood Village at the formerly proposed project’s location.

Nearly an hour later the men replaced the sign with a different and unexpected sign: “For Sale: 5 commercial parcels and 1 carriage house, By: Owner.” Those 5 “parcels” are 1109-1121 Elmwood and 999 Forest Avenue, which is located in an illegal alley, according to the City of Buffalo, behind the 5 other properties on Elmwood. Hans Mobius owns all properties named in the sale.

Sam Savarino, CEO of Savarino Companies never owned the properties and has repeatadly told Wikinews in exclusive interviews that he still had a “contract to buy the properties” and on October 2, 2006 told Wikinews in an exclusive interview that he “extended” the “agreement to purchase the property[s] and will have it under contract for what we hope is a sufficient period of time.”

“He [Mobius] is undoubtedly concerned because he has lost some tenants and is a bit impatient. I think he has properly portrayed the situation,” said Savarino in an exclusive interview with Wikinews.

Savarino also says that there may be “legal issues” to work out now, before anything else can move forward, regarding the proposal.

“There are some legal complexities that must be sorted out before anything can happen there,” added Savarino.

The welcome sign was; however, not removed entirely. The sign was placed, facing the same direction of north, on the side of the Forest Plaza Art Gallery, a new art gallery located on the corner of Forest and Elmwood.

Nancy Pollina, owner of Don Apparel which was located at 1109 Elmwood, but closed on October 14, 2006 considers this a possible “victory” in regards to the lawsuit filed against the hotel to stop it from being built, alleging that several laws were broken, including not performing an Environmental Impact Study before the proposal was approved by the city, during its approval and the proposal was “rushed.” Patricia Morris, who operates Don Apparel with Pollina, Angeline Genovese and Evelyn Bencinich, owners of residences on Granger Place which abut the rear of the proposed site, Nina Freudenheim, a resident of nearby Penhurst Park, and Sandra Girage, the owner of a two-family residence on Forest Avenue less than a hundred feet from the proposed hotel’s sole entrance and exit driveway, were also plaintiffs in the lawsuit. They filed the suit with a lawyer representing them, Arthur J. Giacalone, on April 25, 2006 in New York State Supreme Court, but the case has never gone to a courtroom.

Giacalone believes that a press release issued in July regarding the project was nothing but a statement to “save face,” but that the placement of the for sale sign might be a way of convincing Savarino to speed up the sale of the properties.

“I thought all along that Savarino’s July press release might be no more than an effort to save face. But we have no way of knowing. Similarly, Mobius might have put the for-sale sign up in an attempt to pressure Savarino into closing the deal. There’s no way to tell,” said Giacalone in an exclusive interview with Wikinews.

In regards to the lawsuit, Giacalone thinks it may now be in “limbo.”

“The lawsuit still sits in limbo,” added Giacalone.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

By causing the mutation of one specific gene, researchers have produced mice with two frequently encountered behavioral traits of persons diagnosed with autism. Autism commonly affects the ability to interact socially and is associated with repetitive behavior. The finding was reported in the March 20 online edition of Nature.

Using mice, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Duke University mutated one of the genes associated with autism, known as shank3, a gene that controls the production of the shank3 protein present in the brain. Mice that were given this mutation exhibited repetitive behavior and avoided social interactions with the mice around them.

According to MIT Professor Guoping Feng: “Our study demonstrated that Shank3 mutation in mice lead to defects in neuron-neuron communications.”

Shank3 protein are found in synapses within the brain. Synapses allow brain cells (called neurons) to communicate with each other. The mutation in the mouse gene interfered with this communication, apparently producing the subsequent autism-like traits. Researchers believe their work demonstrates the important role of shank3 in the functioning of brain circuits that determine behavior.

While hundreds of genes have been linked to autism in human patients, only a small percentage have been linked to shank3. Professor Feng hypothesizes that disruptions of other genes that act on the production of brain proteins affecting synaptic communication may also be related to autistic behavior. If this disruption is real, Feng claims that treatments could be developed to correct synaptic function for any defective synaptic protein in an autistic patient.

Feng continued; “These findings and the mouse model now allow us to figure out the precise neural circuit defects responsible for these abnormal behaviours, which could lead to novel strategies and targets for developing treatment.”

About one in 110 children in the U.S., and at least one in 100 in UK, have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, for which there is currently no effective cure.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Jim Reeves is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the York-Simcoe 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.

Monday, October 1, 2012

California Governor Jerry Brown Saturday signed into law a bill banning licensed mental health providers treating teenagers and children from attempting “to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward individuals of the same sex”.

In a statement to the San Francisco Chronicle, Governor Brown described the bill: “This bill bans non-scientific ‘therapies’ that have driven young people to depression and suicide. These practices have no basis in science or medicine and they will now be relegated to the dustbin of quackery”.

LGBT rights campaigners have welcomed the announcement. Chad Griffin, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, which petitioned Brown to pass the law, stated “LGBT youth will now be protected from a practice that has not only been debunked as junk science, but has been proven to have drastically negative effects on their well-being”. Griffin also called for other states to implement similar laws.

Kay Kendell from the National Center for Lesbian Rights stated: “Governor Brown has sent a powerful message of affirmation and support to LGBT youth and their families. This law will ensure that state-licensed therapists can no longer abuse their power to harm LGBT youth and propagate the dangerous and deadly lie that sexual orientation is an illness or disorder that can be ‘cured.’?”

The law is to take effect on January 1, 2013.

Friday, February 24, 2006

The Virginia legislature’s House of Delegates voted unanimously in a sub-committee to kill a bill that would ban public smoking in the Mid-Atlantic state. The vote was reached during a six-member sub-committee meeting on Thursday.

The Virginia Senate, the upper house of the General Assembly, passed on Monday a week ago a bill that would ban the indoor smoking of tobacco in restaurants, bowling alleys, and other public places, including workplaces. The bill was not expected to pass the House, but the thumbs up signal by the Senate signaled a shift in tolerance towards the product in a state known for its 400-year economic history steeped in the cultivation of the cash crop.

The General Laws sub-committee based its vote on the rights of property owners, rights that would be violated by a state-wide ban. The debate was largely centered on the issue of restaurant smoking. The committee noted there was no law that said a restaurant must allow smoking.

“They have a right not to go where people are smoking,” said delegate John Cosgrove (R-Chesapeake). He noted the consumer and the restaurant businesses can decide whether to allow smoking. “They have a right and responsibility to take care of themselves,” he said.

A Virginia Beach restaurant owner, Matt Falvey, said “The plain truth is that the majority of our citizens do not smoke, and do not want to be around smoke,” according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Falvey, who owns three restaurants, said “In addition, restaurant workers should not be subjected to the harm caused by secondhand smoke.”

Falvey said he has smoking sections in his restaurants because not to would put him at a competitive disadvantage with other restaurants that have smoking sections. An across the board state-wide ban would level the playing field by settling the issue.

Senate Bill 649, known as the Virginia Indoor Clean Air Act, to become law in the nation’s 4th largest tobacco growing state would require passage by the House. Last year, the Senate killed a similar bill to ban indoor smoking in public places. New procedural rules introduced in Virginia this year allow a bill’s passage to be blocked by sub-committee, but there remains a slim chance it could be revived.

The original version of the bill, which allowed cities and counties to decide locally on the issue, was voted down by the Senate. The bill was brought back by Brandon Bell of Roanoke County, and passed in a revised version that would make than ban state-wide, with no local authority on the issue. The measure was passed by the Senate in a 21 – 18 vote, after it received the support from the Virginia Restaurant Association.

In Maryland, a similar ban was voted down this week by a House committee. New Jersey is the latest state to join the ranks of a total of 11 states that ban smoking in restaurants, bars, and workplaces.

Soybean over-took tobacco as Virginia’s top cash crop in 2005.

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Since June 2019, the people of South Gippsland Shire, located at the southernmost tip of Australia, have been without a local council, after a state government inquiry found “high levels of tension” within the council. Administrators were appointed by the Victorian state government in July 2019, who have governed the shire since then. However, South Gippsland’s council is scheduled to be restored with an election to be held via post from October 5-22, 2021.

Wikinews interviewed one of the candidates standing in this election, Mat Morgan. He is running as a candidate in the Coastal-Promontory Ward, and is endorsed by the Australian Greens. The Coastal-Promontory ward covers towns such as Venus Bay, Waratah Bay, Yanakie, Foster, Port Welshpool, and Toora, and elects three councillors to the South Gippsland Shire Council.