Looted, possibly contaminated body parts transplanted into USA, Canadian patients
Monday, March 20, 2006 Fears of contaminated bone and skin grafts are being felt by unsuspecting patients following the revelation that funeral homes may have been looting corpses. Janet Evans of Marion Ohio was told by her surgeon, “The bone grafts you got might have been contaminated”. She reacted with shock, “I was flabbergasted because I didn’t even know what he was talking about. I didn’t know I got a bone graft until I got this call. I just thought they put in screws and rods.” The body of Alistair Cooke, the former host of “Masterpiece Theatre,” was supposedly looted along with more than 1,000 others, according to two law enforcement officials close to the case. The tissue taken was typically skin, bone and tendon, which was then sold for use in procedures such as dental implants and hip replacements. According to authorities, millions of dollars were made by selling…
Australians need bigger toilets
Tuesday, March 7, 2006 Standards Australia, the non-government standards setting organisation in Australia has indicated that it is reviewing the weight limit for toilet seats as they need to accommodate the “increasing size of humans”. Obesity levels have been rising for years in Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that the percentage of Australian men who are overweight or obsese rose 10 percent in the last ten years to 62 percent. The number of females who are considered overweight or obese rose 8 percent to 45 percent. Standards Australia is considering recommending strengthening loos for larger users. They say experts will examine the seats “from the perspective that people are getting bigger.” Standards Australia says as the community’s weight increases, and many more Australians are in the heavier categories, toilet regulations have to be updated. General manager of standards development Colin Blair says toilets are currently required to meet…
Volkswagen Are Going Green
Click Here To Know More About: Kite Communications Challenger Brand Strategy Sydney By Stewart Wrighter Most people have a car these days and this could be a new one every year or so, or a used one to save some hard earned cash. However, these days, people are becoming more aware of the environment so they are tending to look for cars which emit less and run on cheaper fuel. NJ VW dealers have cottoned on to the fact that people are now looking for diesel cars over the old gas style vehicles. Look for VW dealers NJ on the internet to see what they have on offer. Look out for the Jetta TDI which is reputed to be doing better than the hybrids that were the buzz word until recently. This car was named the ‘greenest car’ by a well know journal. Although diesel would not seem like an…
French police ban public meetings and increase security measures in Paris
Sunday, November 13, 2005 The Prefect of Police of Paris has banned public meetings in Paris, fearing violence in the French capital this holiday weekend, which marks the 87th anniversary of the end of World War I. Police remained on alert throughout the weekend, with some 12,000 security officers deployed around the country. After more than a fortnight of civil unrest in France, police imposed the temporary public meeting ban in response to Internet and text messages calling for violent action in the French capital. The government has declared a state of emergency in Paris and 30 other areas to help quell the unrest. Today, Sunday 13 November, French authorities have reported less urban violence – despite fears of a rampage that prompted thousands of police to fan out at high-profile targets such as the Eiffel Tower. Across the country, the situation appears calmer. Rioting, car-burnings and arson attacks appear…
The Onion: An interview with ‘America’s Finest News Source’
Sunday, November 25, 2007 Despite the hopes of many University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW) students, The Onion was not named after their student center. “People always ask questions about where the name The Onion came from,” said President Sean Mills in an interview with David Shankbone, “and when I recently asked Tim Keck, who was one of the founders, he told me the name—I’ve never heard this story about ‘see you at the un-yun’—he said it was literally that his Uncle said he should call it The Onion when he saw him and Chris Johnson eating an onion sandwich. They had literally just cut up the onion and put it on bread.” According to Editorial Manager Chet Clem, their food budget was so low when they started the paper that they were down to white bread and onions. Long before The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, Heck and Johnson envisioned…
Wikinews interviews Mario J. Lucero and Isabel Ruiz of Heaven Sent Gaming
Friday, November 7, 2014 Albuquerque, New Mexico — Online entertainment is a booming market, and plenty of players are making their play; back in March of this year The Walt Disney Company bought the multi-channel network Maker Studios. What is web entertainment, and the arts therein? And, who are the people venturing into this field? Wikinews interviewed Mario Lucero and Isabel Ruiz, the founders of Heaven Sent Gaming, a small entertainment team. This group has been responsible for several publications, within several different media formats; one successful example was aywv, a gaming news website, which was #1 in Gaming on YouTube in 2009, from September to November; Heaven Sent Gaming was also the subject of a referential book, released in 2014, entitled Internet Legends – Heaven Sent Gaming. Contents 1 General questions 1.1 Influences 1.2 Religion 2 Media-related questions 2.1 Comics 2.2 Games 2.3 Music 2.4 Novels 2.5 Video 2.6…
US toy retail giant Toys R Us files for bankruptcy in US, Canada
Thursday, September 21, 2017 On Monday night, New Jersey, US-based toy retail giant Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in the US as well as in Canada. The retailer filed it from Richmond, Virginia for Chapter 11 bankruptcy code in the US, and a judge allowed a loan of over US$2 billion. According to the filing, the retail chain owns US$6.6 billion in assets, but has a debt of US$7.9 billion. They were under a roughly US$5 billion debt since the company underwent a three-way acquisition in 2005. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital, and Vornado Realty Trust acquired Toys R Us for around US$7 to US$7.5 billion. After the US judge approved a loan, Toys R Us received about US$3 billion from the lenders to continue the business and survive a competitive market, and restructure their business model. E-commerce giant Amazon.com, Walmart and Target are some of the competitors for…
Canada’s Parkdale—High Park (Ward 13) city council candidates speak
This exclusive interview features first-hand journalism by a Wikinews reporter. See the collaboration page for more details. Monday, October 30, 2006 On November 13, Torontoians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Parkdale—High Park (Ward 13). Two candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Linda Coltman, David Garrick, Greg Hamara, Aleksander Oniszczak, Bill Saundercook (incumbent), and Frances Wdowczyk. For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.
Wikinews Shorts: September 6, 2006
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
California releases search warrant for Wells Fargo bank on identity theft
Saturday, October 22, 2016 The California Department of Justice on Wednesday released the warrant and affidavit of a criminal investigation of the Wells Fargo bank. The State of California served the warrant on October 5 to search the San Francisco headquarters of Wells Fargo for felonious activities related to identity theft. The warrant said property to be seized at the bank’s San Francisco headquarters was related to the unauthorized creation of accounts by Wells Fargo employees including the names of individuals for the accounts; account information and fees; the names of employees and their managers who created accounts without the consent of the Wells Fargo customers in question; and all communications including emails referencing the unauthorised accounts. California Attorney General Kamala Harris’s criminal probe is part of an increasing list of officials nationwide questioning the business practices of Wells Fargo such as California State Treasurer John Chiang who announced a…