Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Five people were killed by an 18 year-old man who opened fire inside the Trolley Square Mall on Monday evening, according to preliminary reports.

Police say they have shot dead one suspect.

The shootings started at 6:45 in The Old Spaghetti Factory on the second floor of the Trolley Square Mall.

Two employees of the Williams-Sonoma store, near the southwest corner of Trolley Square, told KSL that they heard shots and breaking glass from the area of the west parking garage. They say they saw a gunman about 6’3”, wearing a dark trench coat, carrying a shotgun, probably in his 20’s. He came into the mall from the parking garage.

A witness at Trolley Square has said that there may have been a second shooter, a man dressed in normal clothing and carrying a young child. Multiple news outlets have reported an off-duty police officer from the nearby city of Ogden confronted and shot the suspect. This officer is likely the “second shooter” reported earlier.

KTVX had reported that there may have been another shooter inside the facility, however this was later found to not be the case.

The mall evacuation began at 7:00 and is progressing slowly.

The shooter has been identified as Solejman Talovic, an eighteen year-old Bosnian refugee living in Salt Lake City.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

An unresponsive United States reconnaissance satellite is in an uncontrolled, decaying orbit and will re-enter Earth‘s atmosphere in late February or early March.

According to Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council, “Appropriate government agencies are monitoring the situation.”

The satellite is out-of-control, and therefore there is no possibility to guide it to re-entry over an ocean or unpopulated area. On the one hand, since most of the earth’s surface is water or unpopulated, death or property loss due to any falling fragments, which may result from the satellite entering the atmosphere, is statistically unlikely. On the other hand, it cannot be ruled out entirely. According to General Gene Renuart, of the United States Air Force, there is a chance that the satellite may re-enter over North America. After entering the atmosphere, some debris could possibly fall on land.

“Numerous satellites over the years have come out of orbit and fallen harmlessly. We are looking at potential options to mitigate any possible damage this satellite may cause,” said Johndroe.

Concerns have also been raised that some materials used in the satellite’s construction could be hazardous if they reach the ground. The satellite contains quantities of toxic hydrazine fuel, which is used for maneuvering, although this is likely to burn up on re-entry. Some of the optics aboard the satellite may contain beryllium, which is also toxic.

As the satellite was part of a classified U.S. military program, no other details, including its name, have been made public. The satellite is publicly identified by the codenames USA-193 and NRO L-21. It was launched in December 2006, by a Delta II rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Ground controllers lost contact with the satellite shortly after it reached orbit. Amateur observers had been tracking USA-193 for some time, and believed that its orbit was decaying.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

An American football coach has been shot at his school gym in Iowa, United States. Ed Thomas was shot in front of his students at around 8.00 am local time. Thomas was in the weight room at the time of the shooting. An adult male has been arrested suspected of his murder.

Thomas was the head football coach at Aplington-Parkersburg High School. He had coached 37 seasons of High School football in his career and has a career record of 292-84 of which 156-31 is with Aplington-Parkersburg. He led Parkersburg to 19 state playoffs and won state titles in 1993 and 2001. He was named NFL High School Coach of the Year in 2003 and previously coached four active NFL players including Brad Meester, Jared DeVries, Casey Wiegmann and Aaron Kampman.

Thomas was well known in the local community for his work. When Parkersburg was hit by a tornado in the summer of 2008 Thomas worked endlessly to restore the damaged football field. County Sheriff Jason Johnson said that “Coach Thomas is the pillar of the community. Anything that affects him affects Parkersburg.”

No students were injured during the shooting.

Saturday, August 5, 2017

The United Kingdom’s Prince Philip, 96, performed his last solo official royal public engagement, before retiring from his official duties as the consort of Queen Elizabeth II after 65 years of service, with a Captain General’s parade of the Royal Marines at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday.

As the Captain General, he took the royal salute and inspected the soldiers to mark the end of the 1664 Global Challenge. He told the soldiers humorously “You all should be locked up” after they completed a 2,678 kilometer (1664 mile) trek in support of the Royal Marines Charity. 

Buckingham Palace announced Philip’s retirement plan in May. Philip succeeded King George VI — Elizabeth’s father — as Captain General of marines in 1953, the year after she succeeded him as monarch. On the announcement in May, Prime Minister Theresa May offered her well wishes and gratitude to Prince Philip, 95 years old at the time.

Lady Myra Butter, an acquaintance of Philip’s for more than eight decades, said on BBC Radio 4 program Today, of Philip’s future after retirement, “I’m sure that he won’t disappear, he will be greatly missed by everybody. He’s been such a stable character in all our lives — he’s always there and he’s always been there for the Queen and I think we’re very, very lucky to have him.”

Serving longer than any other British consort, Philip has made 22,219 solo public engagements as consort, 637 solo overseas visits, 5,496 speeches, and 14 books. He currently supports or belongs to more than 780 organisations.

Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh, is a nephew of late King Constantine I of Greece, and was born on the Greek island of Corfu. Philip is a former naval officer and courted Elizabeth during his service in the Royal Navy. He married her in 1947 in Westminster Abbey. This November will be their 70th wedding anniversary. Elizabeth described Philip as “my strength and stay”.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

Muslim groups from across the world are criticising the organisers of the 2012 Olympics in London after it was revealed that the games will take place over Ramadan. The most holy month in the Muslim calendar, which will take place from the 21 July to 20 August in 2012, involves fasting during daylight hours and will affect an estimated 3,000 athletes.

Joanna Manning Cooper, spokesman for the games said: “We did know about it when we submitted our bid and we have always believed that we could find ways to accommodate it.”Nevertheless, this will come as a huge embarrassment for the organisers who have tried to ensure the event involve all of Britain’s ethnic communities.A quarter of the athletes who took part in the 2004 Athens Olympics were from predominantly Muslim countries and the fast will put any athletes involved at a clear disadvantage.

The chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, Massoud Shadjared said: “This is going to disadvantage the athletes and alienate the Asian communities by saying they don’t matter. It’s not only going to affect the participants, it’s going to affect all the people who want to watch the games.”

The president of the National Olympic Committee of Turkey, Togay Bayalti, said: “This will be difficult for Muslim athletes. They don’t have to observe Ramadan if they are doing sport and travelling but they will have to decide whether it is important to them. “It would be nice for the friendship of the Games if they had chosen a different date.”

The games will run from the 27 July to 12 August to coincide with the British Summer holidays. The summer holidays are a six week period running from mid July to early September. During this time, public transportation is generally less crowded and it will be easier to find the 70,000 volunteers needed to keep the games running. The International Olympics Committee has specified that the games must take place between July 15 to August 31. Giselle Davies, IOC spokesperson said, “We give a window to the five bid cities. The host city selects the dates within that window.”

The organisers are working with the Muslim Council of Great Britain to find ways around the problem.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

A Nigerian airplane crashed in the city of Port Harcourt yesterday, resulting in several minor injuries.

The plane was supposed to be taking part in a mock rescue exercise, and was carrying 30 members from the National Emergency Management Agency and other emergency workers, when it slid off the runway and into some bushes after landing at Port Harcourt International Airport.

The rescue workers on the ground, intended to participate in the emergency drill, instead had to deal with a real emergency; however, only a few people on board the aircraft sustained minor wounds.

A spokeswoman for the police, Rita Inoma-Abbey, commented today that “[n]o life was lost, but the aircraft was severely damaged.”

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Dan McCreary is running for the Progressive Conservative in the Ontario provincial election, in the Brant 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.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Friday, March 17, 2006

Nelson Boys College was closed today because of an outbreak of gastro-enteritis in its boarding houses.

About 40% of the school’s boarding students have been hit with what is thought to be the highly contagious and violent stomach bug, Norovirus.

The principal, Salvi Garguilo, says the boys are being well cared for at the school, helped by Nelson Hospital.

They will stay isolated until they are no longer contagious.

Nelson College will reopen on Monday.