Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Seven people are dead after a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Western soldiers in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan on Tuesday. Over fifty other people were injured in the explosion.

Security officials say the bomber drove his vehicle into the convoy on the Jalalabad road, which is notorious for being the scene of frequent attacks by the Taleban.

“I saw wounded people and dead people everywhere,” a shopkeeper named Sawad told the Reuters news agency. “I helped some people to ambulances, their clothes were covered in blood stains.”

Two Afghan staff from the United Nations are feared to be among the casualties from the attack. “I am shocked and greatly saddened to have learned that two of my staff members were among those killed in today’s suicide bombing,” said Kai Eide, the special representative for the UN.

The violence comes before Thursday’s presidential election, which militants have promised to disrupt. Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai has said the attacks wouldn’t deter citizens from voting, who would cast their ballots “despite the efforts of the enemies and will show their opposition to their barbaric acts.”

Saturday, January 10, 2009

The United States Geological Survey said a 6.1 M_w earthquake struck on Thursday, at 01:21:34 p.m. local time (6:21:34 p.m. UTC) in northern Costa Rica, a Central American country, 30 kilometres (19 mi) NNW of San José and near the volcano Poás.

The epicenter was at 20 miles (32 kilometers) north-northwest of San Jose at a depth of 2.8 miles (4.5 kilometers), with Coordinate 10° 11? 49.2? N, 84° 9? 32.4? W, and Decimal 10.197,-84.159. Causing widespread panic and damage, it was felt all over Costa Rica as well as in southern central Nicaragua, and was the strongest to shake Costa Rica in about 150 years.

“Today is a day of mourning for Costa Ricans,” President Oscar Arias Sanchez said. “These losses of life fill us with pain; our prayers will be for their families, hundreds of families had seen serious damage to their homes,” Arias added. Originally seventeen people, including three children, were reported killed but was later decreased to 5 fatalities. About 42 were reported missing, at least 32 were injured and 2,450 people affected.

The quake toll jumped to 34 dead, 64 missing, on Saturday, while emergency workers rescued at least 200 stranded tourists in Varablanca hotel, according to Ministry of Infrastructure spokeswoman Silvia Chaves.

Amid problems of mudslides, cracked roads, tumbling rocks and fallen trees, National Social Security and Health agency, Red Cross rescue workers, firemen and police rushed Friday to evacuate about 600 people. Half of them were foreign tourists stranded in La Paz Waterfall Gardens eco-resort in Vara Blanca, and others were trapped by boulders and earth, when mountain roads in Costa Rica blocked two villages of Vara Blanca and Cinchona. The main CNE warehouse containing relief items (food, mattresses), for distribution to the victims, was burned, while the second airport in San Jose, is now closed.

Most of the victims died when part of the hillside collapsed and a landslide occurred near the La Paz waterfall at Vara Blanca, on the flanks of the volcano Poás. The Poas Volcano National Park was utterly destroyed and the La Paz waterfall road was torn, causing about 300 tourists trapped. At least 400 people were evacuated from the area in rescue helicopters.

Constant 2,000 aftershocks (1,200 through early Friday in the towns of San Pedro de Poas and Vara Blanca), complicated the rescue and emergency missions for stranded people in mountainous central zones. National Emergency Commission official Victor Falla said that there were small tremors every couple of minutes. “It’s shaking right now,” he added. 1,244 people were displaced, and 1,078 people are living in shelters. In addition, a hotel, houses, roads, and vehicles were damaged, and a couple of bridges were destroyed. The town of Cinchona was heavily hit, and all of the buildings there were heavily damaged. Power was temporarily disrupted in San José. “There are many buses and many vehicles that are trapped,” deputy public safety minister Jose Torres said.

In the central valley, populated by 2.5 million of the country’s four million inhabitants, the National Emergency Board declared an emergency in the metropolitan area including San Jose, Cartago, Alajuela and Heredia. The earthquake hit strongest the remote area near Alajuela. Several homes collapsed and major highways were still blocked.

A team of 34 U.S. military personnel and four Black Hawk helicopters from Honduras-based Joint Task Force-Bravo was sent on Friday by the U.S. Government to assist Costa Rican rescue workers, which include 400 volunteers and Red Cross personnel, who were dispensing aid in 15 communities. Colombia and China had also offered assistance to quake victims. The U.S. Army and Air Force aviation crews, rescue, medical and support personnel, is coordinating with the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) in the rescue efforts. At least 150 stranded tourists from the United States, France, Canada and Spain, were finally rescued on Friday.

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Businessman Rocky De La Fuente took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the U.S. Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

The 61-year-old De La Fuente resides in San Diego, California, grew up in Tijuana, and owns multiple businesses and properties throughout the world. Since getting his start in the automobile industry, De La Fuente has branched out into the banking and real estate markets. Despite not having held or sought political office previously, he has been involved in politics, serving as the first-ever Hispanic superdelegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention.

De La Fuente entered the 2016 presidential race last October largely due to his dissatisfaction with Republican front-runner Donald Trump. He argues he is a more accomplished businessman than Trump, and attacks Trump as “a clown,” “a joke,” “dangerous,” and “in the same category as Hitler.” Nevertheless, De La Fuente’s business background begets comparisons with Trump. The Alaskan Midnight Sun blog described him as the Democrats’ “own Donald Trump.”

While receiving only minimal media coverage, he has campaigned actively, and according to the latest Federal Election Commission filing, loaned almost US$ 4 million of his own money to the campaign. He has qualified for 48 primary and caucus ballots, but has not yet obtained any delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Thus far, according to the count at The Green Papers, De La Fuente has received 35,406 votes, or 0.23% of the total votes cast. He leads among the many lesser-known candidates but trails both Senator Bernie Sanders who has received nearly 6.5 million votes and front-runner Hillary Clinton who has just shy of 9 million votes.

With Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn?, De La Fuente discusses his personal background, his positions on political issues, his current campaign for president, and his political future.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

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The ability of Australian opposition leader, Kevin Rudd to run the country’s economy has been questioned by the Government after he made an error responding to a question on Australia’s current tax system today. Speaking in Queanbeyan, New South Wales earlier today, Mr Rudd was asked if he could name the current tax rates and the thresholds at which they kick in.

Mr Rudd said that he thought the top tax rate started at AUD$175,000. In fact, Australia’s top taxation rate begins at $150,000. “Well, as of July 1, if you went through the four thresholds, I think the high threshold kicks in I think at $175,000, then I think it cascades down the spectrum,” Mr Rudd told reporters.

Australian treasurer Peter Costello, who introduced the tax threshold changes, has seized on the opposition leader’s uncertainty, claiming that “he has never cared about economic policy, he has no interest in it,” he said.

Treasurer Costello claimed: “He was exposed as a fraud on productivity and we don’t hear him talking about productivity very much anymore.

“Now he has been exposed as being naked when it comes to understanding the tax system.”

Mr Costello demanded that the opposition release their taxation policy. “Since the Labor Party demands an election to be called on a daily basis, you would think they might have the decency of releasing a policy so that people can know what it is,” said Costello.

A Federal election is expected in Australia in the next three months and the Coalition Government is trailing the Opposition by ten percentage points on a two-party preferred basis.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Reports say that O.J. Simpson, a former American football player is a suspect in a robbery that took place on Thursday night at the Palace Station Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Simpson was not immediately arrested and was later released. He was not a guest at the hotel.

Las Vegas Metropolitan Police (LVMPD) began to question Simpson and at least five other people, after they were accused of breaking into a room in the hotel, with at least one of the individuals holding a gun, but its not known if the room was a guest room.

Several sports memorabilia items, all previously belonging to Simpson, were reported to be stolen from the room, which was registered to sports memorabilia collector Alfred Beardsley, and reports say that when police found the items, Simpson claimed that they belonged to him. Among the items stolen is believed to be a suit that Simpson wore during his 1995 murder trial, an autographed item that had been signed by Joe Montana, and “never before released” version of Simpson’s book If I Did It. Simpson was found not guilty of the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

“When they talked to him, Simpson made the comment that he believed the memorabilia was his. We’re getting conflicting stories from the two sides,” said Jose Montoya, a spokesman for the LVMPD.

Reports say that Beardsley was going to sell the items and made plans to meet with someone on Thursday night who was interested in purchasing them. The unnamed individual, along with OJ claimed to be police officers and ordered Beardsley to turn over his cellular phone, which he refused. He then claims one of the men “roughed him up” before stealing every collectible in the room.

Police are expected to release a statement to the media later today.

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Reports say that hundreds of people are dead after a gasoline pipeline exploded in the northern suburbs of Lagos, Nigeria on Tuesday.

“Some of the bodies were so burnt that it would be difficult to recognize them as those of human beings,” said one Red Cross official, Kingsley Amori.

The Red Cross says that many of the victims can only be identified by looking at the remains of their skulls. Estimates suggest that 200-900 people were killed, and another 60 people received medical treatment.

“The bodies are scattered over the ground. We can’t get close enough because the fire is still burning. We cannot confirm how many hundreds were killed.” said secretary-general of the Nigerian Red Cross, Ige Oladimeji.

The explosion is believed to have been caused by vandalization in the pipeline. Reports say that thieves used a drill to punch a hole in the pipeline in order to steal gasoline, which is sold on the black market.

Fuel was being pumped into the pipes to be distributed for consumer use when it exploded. The pipeline is operated by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, which is owned by the State of Nigeria. Workers have stopped pumping fuel through the pipelines.