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Wednesday, April 6, 2022

File:President Gotabaya Rajapaksa official photograph.jpg

On Monday, the Sri Lankan 26-minister cabinet resigned except for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa as the government faced backlash from the public over the ongoing economic crisis.

Earlier, the President requested all political parties unite to form a national unity government. The proposal was rejected by two political parties, Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) and Janatha Vinukthi Peramuna (JVP) who wanted the president to resign.

After the Cabinet resigned, the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka Ajith Nivard Cabraal also announced his resignation.

The economic crisis drove the government to block imports in March 2020 in an attempt to preserve its foreign exchange reserves. Sri Lanka had only about USD2 billion in reserve as of February, down 70% in the last two years. Sri Lanka needed USD7 billion to finance its USD51 billion debt this year.

In the last few weeks, the country has seen an acute shortage of fuel, particularly diesel, leading to protests and empty fuel stations.

In March, the Sri Lankan inflation rate reached 18.7% and food prices rose by 30.1%. Its currency, the rupee, has lost 30% of its value against the US dollar since it was devalued last month ahead of talks with the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Lloyd Helferty is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Thornhill 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.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

The Iranian government has announced that the nation will be participating in a missile defense test which could take place as early as tomorrow.

According to the IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, the test is an annual exercise aimed to “maintain and develop” defense capabilities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

The exercise is named ‘Great Prophet 4’ and will involve shooting a variety of live missiles at targets. Reports say the drill will be conducted in several unknown locations and will last for several days. The exercise also falls on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

The announcement comes just hours after the Iranian government stated that the nation was building a second nuclear power facility. The announcement was made in a September 21 letter from the Iranian government to the United Nations Security Council that a second nuclear plant was being constructed in the city of Qom.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer on Friday announced it has signed a firm order with Air Moldova for one Embraer 190 jet, to be delivered in March 2010. The contract includes an option on another plane of the same model, Embraer said in a statement. The value of the deal was not disclosed.

At present, renowned companies such as Air France, Lufthansa group and Spanish Iberia Airlines own Embraer 190 jets, specified the representative of Air Moldova. The same source specified that Embraer 190 jet is one of the most economic and optimal aircrafts for operation, and it will be configured in a single-class cabin with 114 seats.

Air Moldova, which links the Moldovan capital, Chi?in?u, to cities in Europe and the Middle East, intends to use the new plane to open new markets.

The Embraer 190 is one of the four members of the E-Jets family. On December 31, the Embraer 170/190 E-Jets had logged 764 firm orders and 786 options.

Embraer is the world’s fourth-largest commercial plane maker. It finished 2007 with a firm order backlog of US$18.8 billion.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

North America’s largest outdoor dog festival came back to Toronto last weekend for its fifth year. It ran from the 9th of June to the 10th of June at Toronto’s historical St. Lawrence Market. A Wikinews reporter was there on Sunday to report on some of the events that happened on the last day.

The “Woofstock” dog festival attracted as many as 140,000 people with their dogs. The festival had tons of accessories, sold under tents, to buy for dogs; food, toys, designer clothes, and more. About 400 vendors and exhibitors were there to promote their products, which also gave private dog companies or groups a chance to show their new products. The local SPCA and some animal rescues were under tents answering questions from visitors. While walking, all visitors could see the CN Tower and other very tall buildings.

One of the local TV stations, Citytv, was there. They hosted a live event at the show which was broadcast on TV. People came up on the stage and asked questions regarding their dogs and the host and co-host answered them.

A man, who called himself the “Chalk Master”, drew two pictures on pavement with chalk. He did it for free but donations were welcome. One was a picture of a girl’s head beside a dog’s head, and another with a wolf.

“Hello Humans. I’ve been invited here to provide your eyeball(s), with some pretty colours. I don’t get paid as I work this weekend strictly for tips… so, if you like what you see please make a DONATION. If you don’t like it simply reach into the pocket of the person next to you and give me their money. CHALK MASTER.”

A contest called “Canada’s top dog” had its own tent with a professional photographer taking pictures of dogs behind a white screen; the winning photo is to be published on the cover of “Puppy and dog basics” magazine.

Large “Gourmet” dog bones were also served from a cart and table.

Next year’s festival is expected to be bigger and better with even more attractions.

Saturday, October 21, 2006

The upcoming 2006 Brampton municipal election, to be held November 13, features an array of candidates looking to represent their wards in city council or the council of the Peel Region.

Wikinews contributor Nick Moreau contacted many of the candidates, including Innocent Watat, asking them to answer common questions sent in an email. This ward’s incumbent is Bob Callahan; Balbir Babra, Manny Bianchi-Morfino, Dolly Khokhar, Maria Peart, Tim Turcott, and Sheila White.

Friday, August 30, 2013

Workers including drivers for Kuehne and Nagel Drinks Logistics (KNDL) have voted in favour of striking. KNDL, which delivers beer and soft drinks to about 30,000 locations in the UK, was in talks with Unite yesterday to try and resolve the dispute.

The vote is a response to a proposed restructuring in which a number of operations currently performed at the firm’s 29 distribution centres would be relocated to three new ‘super-hubs’. Although no distribution centre closures are currently planned, the union says workers fear future job losses, and are also concerned products will spend more time on the road, spoiling the taste of beer.

A Unite official said “We have tried to engage with the company but they have repeatedly failed to resolve this dispute.” A KDNL spokeswoman said “We are committed to continuing dialogue with Unite in order to reach a resolution before any action is taken.” She also pointed out Unite is yet to decide dates for the strike; Unite has described “one final chance” to resolve the dispute.

A Unite ballot of 970 KNDL employees produced a turnout of 64% of which 85% voted to strike. The distribution centres involved are mostly in England, but sites in Aberdeen, Dundee, Bathgate, and Inverness in Scotland and Swansea in Wales are also affected.

KNDL delivers high-profile brands including Britvic soft drinks and Heineken, Kronenbourg, and Fosters beer. Customers include chains Weatherspoons, Enterprise Inns, and Trust Inns, and airports, cinemas, and leisure centres. Even Premier League football clubs are among KNDL’s delivery rounds.

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Preparations are underway ahead of the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championship, with a flag exchange taking place Tuesday, volunteer recruitment ongoing, USParalympics unveiling a new uniform for their team, skiers like the United States’s Jon Lujan actively training for the event and other skiers competing in preparation for the Championships in a World Cup event Wednesday.

Tuesday in La Molina, Spain, the president of Governmental Railways of Catalonia, Enric Ticó, and the mayor of Alp, Ramon Moliner, were gifted with flags by representatives of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and Catalan Government at a ceremony in Colet Museum of Barcelona at one of the first official events ahead of the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championship, which starts next week. As of Wednesday, event organisers were still seeking volunteers to assist with running the Championship. The opening ceremonies are scheduled for next Tuesday.

Entering the event, skiers had the opportunity to qualify through eight World Cup events held with only two disciplines on the program, Giant Slalom and Slalom. The first four were held in Sestriere, Italy, with the most recent four all being held in St. Moritz, Switzerland. Standing female French skier Marie Bochet has won six World Cups ahead of the World Championships and is considered by event organizers as a favorite in the standing group. Russian standing skier Alexey Bugaev is also considered a favorite by organisers as he won two Slalom and one Giant Slalom World Cup competition. In the women’s sit-ski, German Anna Schaffelhuber is considered the favorite having prepared for the Championships by winning five of the eight World Cup events. On the men’s sit-ski side, Japanese Takeshi Suzuki and Swiss Christoph Kunz both earned three World Cup victories in the lead up to this competition. In the women’s visually impaired group, Slovak Henrieta Farkasova will enter the competition with five World Cup victories. On the men’s side, Spanish Jon Santacana is favored to win with three Giant Slalom and one Slalom victory during this year’s World Cup events in the lead up to the World Championships.

British Combined Services Disabled Ski Team coach Mark Scorgie has noted that this year’s European ski season has been problematic with weather interfering with most competitions. Poor weather conditions continued Wednesday Rogla IPC Alpine World Cup, with the first Giant Slalom run canceled because of high winds.

The World Championships includes over 270 skiers, guides, coaches and support personnel from 28 countries including Spain, France, Australia, Ukraine, Netherlands, Croatia, Finland, Switzerland, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Turkey, Belgium, Norway, Russia, Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, Slovakia, Czech Republic, United States, Austria, New Zealand, Sweden, Hungary, and South Africa..

The Spanish team includes blind skier Jon Santacana and his guide Miguel Galindo, and blind skier Gabriel Gorce and his guide Arnau Ferrer. Both vision-impaired skiers are scheduled to compete in the Downhill, Super G, Super Combined, Giant Slalom, and Slalom competitions. Also on the Spanish team are LW2 classified standing skier Úrsula Pueyo, LW12-1 classified sit skier Óscar Espallargas, and LW10-1 classified sit skier Nathalie Carpanedo who qualified as a wildcard entry. Pueyo, Espallargas, and Carpanedo are all scheduled to compete in the Slalom and Giant Slalom competitions. Accompanying the team are to be coaches Javier Gutierrez, Jordi Carbonell, and Andres Gomez, medical staff including Pablo Marquez and Josep Barrachina, and technical staffer Josep Bort.

The United States team consists of Seattle, Washington-based vision-impaired skier Mark Bathum and his Colorado Springs-based guide Jessica Smith; Park City, Utah-based vision-impaired skier Danelle Umstead and guide Rob Umstead; retired Army and Clarksville, Tennessee-based Heath Calhoun; Brooklyn, New York-based Ralph Green; Colorado Springs-based Allison Jones; Palmer, Alaska-based Andrew Kurka; Burlington, Vermont-based Stephen Lawler; retired Marine and Littleton, Colorado-based Jon Lujan; Farmington, New Mexico-based Alana Nichols; Wenham, Massachusetts-based Laurie Stephens; Park City, Utah-based Stephani Victor; Franconia, New Hampshire-based Tyler Walker; and retired Coast Guard and Campton, New Hampshire-based Chris Devlin-Young.

Thursday, December 2, 2021

In a talk made to officials at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Workers’ Party of Korea held on Wednesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un warned officials of a coming “very giant struggle” in the economic field, reported Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun. Present at the meeting, which was held in the headquarters building of the Central Committee, were high-ranking party members and military officials, including Party Secretariat Secretary Jo Yong-won and Premier Kim Tok-hun.

The meeting, which had been convened to discuss details on the upcoming fourth Plenary Meeting of the eighth Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK), later released its resolution on said issue, with the last third of December being the chosen time frame for the Plenary Meeting and a review of Party work having been placed on the agenda, among other subjects.

At the Politburo meeting, Kim Jong Un said that “the successes registered by us show that the overall affairs that had been planned to lay a foundation for the economic development of the country and the improvement of people’s living standard have been vigorously pushed forward”, praising successes made in the agricultural and construction fields.

Kim followed by saying that “next year will be an important one as we should wage a very giant struggle as much as we did this year”, and that plans made for next year should “be dynamic, onward, scientific and detailed, and consolidate the foundation for implementing the five-year plan.”

North Korea’s economy has suffered as a result of various factors over the last two years, with a combination of COVID-19 border closures and heavier sanctions topping off a typhoon and heavy flooding. According to Al Jazeera, UN agencies are reporting food and electricity shortages which have been worsened by economic sanctions.

Friday, September 14, 2007

The Kennedy Center announced that its 30th presentation of the Kennedy Center Honors would go to pianist Leon Fleisher, comedian Steve Martin, singer Diana Ross, director Martin Scorsese and musician Brian Wilson. The Center was opened to the public in 1971 and was envisioned as part of the National Cultural Center Act, which mandated that the independent, privately-funded institution would present a wide variety of both classical and contemporary performances, commission the creation of new artistic works, and undertake a variety of educational missions to increase awareness of the arts.

In a statement, Kennedy Center Chairman Stephen A. Schwarzman said that “with their extraordinary talent, creativity and perseverance, the five 2007 honorees have transformed the way we, as Americans, see, hear and feel the performing arts.”

Fleisher, 79, a member of the Peabody Institute‘s music faculty, is a pianist who lost use of his right hand in 1965 due to a neurological condition. He became an accomplished musician and conductor through the use of his left hand. At 67, he regained the use of his right hand. With the advent of Botox therapy, he was once more able to undertake two-hand performances in 2004, his first in four decades. “I’m very gratified by the fact that it’s an apolitical honor,” Fleisher said. “It is given by colleagues and professional people who are aware of what [an artist] has done, so it really is apolitical — and that much more of an honor.”

Martin, 62, a comedian who has written books and essays in addition to his acting and stand-up comedy career, rose to fame during his work on the American television program Saturday Night Live in the 1970’s. Schwarzman praised his work as that of a “renaissance comic whose talents wipe out the boundaries between artistic disciplines.” Martin responded to the honor saying, “I am grateful to the Kennedy Center for finally alleviating in me years of covetousness and trophy envy.”

Ross, 63, was a product of Detroit‘s Brewster-Douglass Projects when as a teeager she and friends Mary Wilson and Florence Ballardis formed The Supremes, a ground-breaking Motown act. She portrayed singer Billie Holiday in the 1972 film Lady Sings the Blues, which earned her an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe award. “Diana Ross’ singular, instantly recognizable voice has spread romance and joy throughout the world,” said Schwarzman. Ross said she was “taken aback. It is a huge, huge honor and I am excited to be in this class of people.”

Scorsese, 64, is one of the most accomplished directors the United States ever produced, whose work includes Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, GoodFellas, Cape Fear, The Last Temptation of Christ and The Departed, for which he won a 2006 Academy Award for Best Director after being nominated eight times. Scorsese said, “I’m very honored to be receiving this recognition from the Kennedy Center and proud to be joining the company of the very distinguished individuals who have received this honor in years past.”

Wilson, 65, along with his brothers Dennis and Carl, formed the Beach Boys in 1961. They had a series of hits that included “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” Their 1966 album Pet Sounds is considered one of the most influential recordings in American music. “This is something so unexpected and I feel extremely fortunate to be in the company of such great artists,” said Wilson, who is currently on tour.

The Kennedy Center’s board of trustees is responsible for selecting honorees for “lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts.” Previous honorees, including Elton John and Steven Spielberg, also submitted recommendations. A wide variety of people were under consideration, including Emanuel Ax, Evgeny Kissin, Renee Fleming, Laurence Fishburne, Francis Ford Coppola, Melissa Etheridge and Kenny Chesney.

President Bush and first lady Laura Bush will attend the center’s presentation at its opera house on December 2, 2007, which will broadcast on December 26 on CBS.