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Wednesday, October 17, 2007 The American satirist Stephen Colbert has announced that he will run for the Presidency of the United States. He made his announcement on his mock news show The Colbert Report. However, Colbert said that he would only run in his home state of South Carolina as a favorite son. He also said that he would represent both major political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. It is not known how far Colbert will go with his character during his electoral run. Colbert has hosted The Colbert Report, a spin-off to another satirical television series, The Daily Show, since its creation in 2005. “I didn’t have a job back then. I wonder what it was like to have a job back then. I am sure I could ask a dentist or a surgeon. He would know.” On the show he plays a right-wing political pundit, based on…

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Sunday, June 1, 2014 Police in China announced yesterday the arrests of six people who reportedly pled guilty to murdering a woman by bludgeoning her to death at a McDonald’s restaurant in the city of Zhaoyuan, Shandong province. Police said they believed the suspects, who included a man, his reportedly twelve-year-old son, and two daughters, along with two other women, were members of a cult known as Quannengshen, Chinese meaning “All-powerful spirit”. Police said the victim, surname Wu, refused to give the man, surname Zhang, her telephone number when he solicited her for induction into the group, following which, Zhang began to bludgeon her with a mop before the other suspects joined in the assault. The Australian cited claims from uncensored websites saying the women who accompanied Zhang shouted “beat her to death” prior to attacking the victim themselves. The son, who can’t be held criminally responsible in China due…

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Wednesday, July 6, 2011 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) selected Pyeongchang, South Korea as host of the 2018 Winter Games today. The committee meeting in Durban, South Africa, made its selection in the first round of voting. The South Korean city won over Munich, Germany and Annecy, France after failing in two previous tries. It was an emphatic success for South Korea after its unsuccessful applications for the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. This time its hour-long presentation to the committee focused on the sports with the theme “New Horizons” rather than geopolitical location and included South Korean president Lee Myung-bak and Kim Yu-na, the winner of the 2010 Olympic figure skating gold medal winner. On the first round of secret ballots, cast by the IOC’s 95 voting members from 76 countries, Pyeongchang received 63 votes to Munich’s 25 and 7 for Annecy. IOC President Jacques Rogge opened the sealed…

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Thursday, February 7, 2008 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern about crises in Chad, Kenya, and the Sudan. The U.N. chief is recently back from Africa where he attended the African Union summit in Ethiopia and met with leaders in Kenya. On rebel efforts to overthrow the government in Chad in recent days, the secretary-general welcomed an African Union initiative to have the leaders of Libya and the Democratic Republic of Congo mediate the crisis. He says the United Nations will do its utmost to help resolve the crisis, urging the Security Council to act swiftly to help bring an end to the violence. “It has devastating consequences not only for the people of Chad and Darfurian refugees seeking shelter there, but also for Darfur itself,” said Ban. Mr. Ban told reporters the situation in the neighboring Darfur region of Sudan is no less troubling. He says the…

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Thursday, June 25, 2015 Live music venues in Edinburgh, Scotland are awaiting a review later this year on the 2005 licensing policy, which places limitations on the volume of amplified music in the city. Investigating into how the policy is affecting the Edinburgh music scene, a group of Wikinews writers interviewed venue owners, academics, the City of Edinburgh Council, and local band The Mean Reds to get different perspectives on the issue. Since the clause was introduced by the government of the city of Edinburgh, licensed venues have been prohibited from allowing music to be amplified to the extent it is audible to nearby residential properties. This has affected the live music scene, with several venues discontinuing regular events such as open mic nights, and hosting bands and artists. Currently, the licensing policy allows licensing standards officers to order a venue to cease live music on any particular night, based…

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Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Ernest Krajniak from Chilton, Wisconsin in the United States has been charged with arson after a lit cigarette ignited gasoline soaked clothes, setting his apartment ablaze. On Friday April 3, Krajniak, 47, cleaned his entire apartment with about five gallons of gasoline, wiping everything down with the soaked clothes. After he was finished, he piled the soaked clothes in the center of his bedroom, lit a cigarette and then threw what was left of the still lit cigarette, into the pile. Krajniak never called the fire department and never pulled the alarm. Instead he yelled ‘fire’ a few times then walked to the police station where an ambulance took him to a local hospital for the treatment of minor burns. The fire department later arrived to put out the blaze and his apartment was extensively smoke damaged. 11 other apartments were also damaged, leaving the occupants…

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Sunday, October 21, 2007 Torture proliferates American headlines today: whether its use is defensible in certain contexts and the morality of the practice. Wikinews reporter David Shankbone was curious about torture in American popular culture. This is the first of a two part series examining the BDSM business. This interview focuses on the owners of a dungeon, what they charge, what the clients are like and how they handle their needs. When Shankbone rings the bell of “HC & Co.” he has no idea what to expect. A BDSM (Bondage Discipline Sadism Masochism) dungeon is a legal enterprise in New York City, and there are more than a few businesses that cater to a clientèle that wants an enema, a spanking, to be dressed like a baby or to wear women’s clothing. Shankbone went to find out what these businesses are like, who runs them, who works at them, and…

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Monday, December 7, 2015 Yesterday, at least seven people including Aden, Yemen governor Jaafar Mohammed Saad died in a car bomb attack on their convoy in the city of Aden, according to local officials. An online claim of responsibility on behalf of militant group ISIS called Saad a “tyrant”. An online post purportedly from the group claimed they detonated the bomb as Saad’s convoy passed where the car was parked. The post shared photos purporting to show Saad’s vehicle passing the parked car, and the following explosion. People as much as 10km away reported hearing the explosion, and medics said it left victims’ bodies unrecognizable. Photos supposedly of the attack showed a burning, wrecked car. Aden’s Jumhoriya Hospital treated the victims. The online statement threatened to “chop off” the “rotten heads” of Yemen’s “infidels”, and said more attacks are coming. Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who follow Shia Islam, have taken over…

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