Friday, September 26, 2008

An explosion has taken place in the city centre of Bath, United Kingdom in a new shopping centre which is still being built. The explosion is said to have been caused by a gas canister that caught fire and exploded, setting fire to the building. Firefighters responded and were able to extinguish it at around 18:00 BST, approximately one hour after the explosion took place.

Several shops including Marks and Spencer, Boots and Game were evacuated. Bath Spa railway station was also closed off. Avon and Somerset police spokeswoman Jenny Bigwood said “The area has been cordoned off at the request of the fire and rescue service as there are believed to be a number of gas cylinders on the site.” The fire service spokesperson also said that “officers were called just after 5pm today to a report of a fire at the SouthGate building site.”

According to eyewitness reports there was “black smoke, …a few bangs and a series of fairly large explosions.”

Bath Spa railway station has since reopened but several people cannot get their cars out of the area due to closed roads. A shelter has been set up at the Pavilion near the leisure centre in North Parade Road. The centre was due to open in 2009 but is due to be delayed.

Despite the large size of the explosion, it is believed that no one has suffered from any injuries as a result of the incident.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Sunday, the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks drafted Brisbane, Australia native nose tackle Jesse Williams in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. Going into the draft, there were some expectations by the Brisbane Times and other media outlets that Williams might be selected in the first round. Injuries, which resulted in Williams being unable to participate fully in the NFL Combine, likely were reasons why he was not selected higher.

Gridiron football is not the most popular football code in Australia, with rugby league, rugby union, soccer, and Australian rules football all being more popular participation sports. Williams’ youth sporting career reflected this, with Williams playing rugby union until he was 15 years old at which time he switched codes and joined the local gridiron team, the Bayside Ravens. A year later, his playing ability earned him a scholarship offer from the University of Hawaii. He could not meet the university’s academic standards so eventually he attended Western Arizona Community College instead. In 2011, he transferred to the University of Alabama and played for the Alabama Crimson Tide for two seasons. Both seasons, his Crimson Tide team won the national championship.

Williams’ selection is unique amongst Australians as most Australians who have played in the NFL have been kickers. He is also only the second Australian ever to be drafted in the NFL Draft.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Dale Ogden, a 2010 California gubernatorial candidate, talks with Wikinews reporter Mike Morales about his platform.

Ogden is a member of the United States’ Libertarian Party.

Saturday, April 30, 2005

The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced a recall of foods containing banned dyes which increase the risk of cancer. The food products were sold at the Tesco, Waitrose, and Somerfield supermarkets.

A Bristol company called “Barts Spices” found the illegal Para Red substance in their Barts Ground Paprika, which was sold in 48g and 46g jars with a “Co-op” label. The batch codes on the affected products are 5032 and 5089 (expiration Dec 2007), and 5075 (expiration February 2007).

Tesco also found that their 130g package of BBQ rice cakes (expiration November and December 2005) contained both Para Red and Sudan I.

“It would be very prudent to assume that it could be a genotoxic carcinogen,” FSA scientific advisers told reporters.

“As a company committed to supplying only the very finest quality food ingredients, we took the immediate decision to withdraw our ground paprika spice from all outlets selling the product and advertised a product recall in the national press,” a Barts Spices spokesman said in a statement.

Sudan I is only authorized for industrial use to colorize petroleum products, such as shoe polish. Para Red and Sudan I are banned under the British Colours in Food Regulations of 1995.

Britain last went through a major food recall in February, when Worcester Sauce was found to contain chili powder dyed with Sudan 1.

Monday, August 27, 2012

London, England — As Paralympians ready for the Games which are set to open later this week, they have access to a world class fitness center inside the Paralympic Village which is designed to maximise their pre-Game preparations.

According to volunteers staffing the center, instead of being a single large room, as in Beijing, the building has numerous rooms. It, along with the adjacent Village Services Centre, is designed to be converted into a school after the games conclude. Rooms have been structured as a gym, an auditorium, and science laboratories.

Gym equipment is supplied by Technogym, an Italian firm that has supplied gym equipment for the Olympics since 2000. Equipment has been provided not just for for the Fitness Centre, but for gyms at all the Olympic venues. The newest equipment is oriented toward maximum flexibility, allowing athletes to exercise the particular muscles that they most require for their sport.

In addition to the equipment, the Fitness Centre also provides instructors trained in the use of the equipment, the likes of which athletes from many countries have never seen before. There are also a number of instructors available to provide motivational training.

Friday, April 22, 2005

A bill introduced last week by Republican Rick Santorum in the US senate, S. 786, could prohibit National Weather Service from publishing free forecasts online.

This would have no effect on The National Hurricane Center as the bill exempts forecasts meant to protect “life and property.”

“The weather service proved so instrumental and popular and helpful in the wake of the hurricanes. How can you make an argument that we should pull it off the Net now? What are you going to do, charge hurricane victims to go online, or give them a pop-up ad?” said Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla.

Barry Myers, executive vice president of AccuWeather a service that currently competes with National Weather Service free forecasts , said “the bill would improve public safety by making the weather service devote its efforts to hurricanes, tsunamis and other dangers”.

Last year the NOAA eliminated a policy that had prohibited them from offering services that could be provided by the private industry.

Thursday, July 15, 2021

On Monday night, governor of the U.S. state of California Gavin Newsom signed a new US$262.6 billion budget bill for the state into law, with US$8.1 billion reserved for US$600 direct stimulus payments to Californians to aid in California’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill for the budget, SB 129, and the bill for the stimulus payments, SB 139, both passed both houses of the California Legislature for this fiscial year.

The payments, dubbed the Golden State Stimulus II, are set to be paid out to eligible California taxpaying residents beginning in September. To be eligible, residents must have filed a state tax return for last year, not be someone’s dependent, and must have earned no more than US$75 thousand in wages last year.

Eligible Californians would get a one-time payment of US$600, and households with dependents would receive an additional US$500. Around two-thirds of Californians are expected to get a stimulus payment, according to the governor’s office. Newsom initially proposed the payments in May to aid the state’s economic recovery, as part of his “California Comeback Plan”.

Californians who already received a stimulus payment earlier in the year are not eligible for this second payment. An additional payment of US$500 is still available for those who claimed dependents on their returns.

The budget also provides for US$5.2 billion in renters’ aid for low-income residents and landlords, which would pay for all rent left unpaid during the COVID-19 crisis, and cover rent for several coming months. Overdue water and utility payments would also be covered by US$2 billion in funding.

An additional US$1.5 billion was for grant money intended for small businesses, with US$120 million in tax credits for businesses willing to relocate to California.

California had a budget surplus of nearly US$76 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In signing SB 129, Newsom line-item vetoed Section 19.55 of the bill concerning US$2.58 billion in appropriations to various funds “on a technical basis”, citing in an explanation appropriations covered under the section were superseded by the budget. In California, a governor may approve a bill passed by the Legislature with specific items related to the budget rejected. The Legislature can override this line-item veto with a two-thirds vote of both the Assembly and the Senate.

Monday, December 31, 2007

What would you tell your grandchildren about 2007 if they asked you about it in, let’s say, 20 year’s time? If the answer to a quiz question was 2007, what would the question be? The year that you first signed on to Facebook? The year Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse fell apart? The year author Kurt Vonnegut or mime Marcel Marceau died, both at 84?

Let’s take a look at some of the international stories of 2007. Links to the original Wikinews articles are in bold.