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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

A policeman from the United Kingdom pleaded guilty to the murder of his fiancée, a female police constable. PC Martin Forshaw, 27, used a steel hammer to bludgeon WPC Claire Howarth, 31, before placing her in her car and staging an accident.

Forshaw’s intent had been to convince police that Howarth had died behind the wheel, but officers became suspicious when they found her injuries were severe while the car was virtually undamaged. The trial had been due to start today before Manchester Crown Court but Forshaw confessed to the crime beforehand.

The couple met in 2006 and the next year became engaged in Mexico. They were due to fly to St Lucia on the day of the killing but Forshaw had other plans; he, his lover, and their child were booked on a trip to Disneyland in Paris. An argument broke out and Forshaw used a large steel hammer to hit her, in the same room as her dress and packed suitcases.

He then drove to an isolated patch of moorland, placed her in the driver’s seat and executed a crash into a hedge at 50–60 mph. He then dialed 999 and said he had been in a high speed accident. Howarth was found unconscious; she died later that day in a hospital in Bolton.

“It was such a poor attempt to make it look like a crash that both the police and the ambulance service were immediately suspicious, and the severity of Claire’s head injuries meant they could not have been caused by such a minor crash,” said lead investigator Andy Tattersall of Greater Manchester Police. “That caused us to question Forshaw’s account and led us to unravelling this tragic sequence of events.”

Forshaw was sentenced to life imprisonment, of which he will serve a minimum of eighteen years.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Pop culture event Toronto ComiCon continued to grow this year, the sixth year since its restructuring as a three day program. Beginning on Friday evening, it continued through to Sunday. Organized by the same company as Fan Expo Canada, the event offered exhibitors, retailers, an artist’s alley, and panels.

Cast members from Canadian teen show Degrassi Junior High were among the featured guests at the convention. While the current series in the franchise, best known as Degrassi: The Next Generation, has spawned Broadway star Jake Epstein, rapper Drake, and others, the earlier show including Stacie Mistysyn and Stefan Brogren remains popular, particularly in Canada. Brogren told industry publication Kidscreen: “A part of me thought we would do it for five years and maybe get recognized for a couple of years afterwards and then that would be it. I had no idea it would turn out to be such an important thing in so many people?s lives and not just in Canada, but around the world.”

The current program is now distributed by Netflix, and Brogen remains a cast member as school principal, in addition to being a producer and director.

It was the first time the cast did a convention event. The cast also plan to tour to other conventions in Canada this year.

Also appearing were Robert Picardo, the holographic doctor on Star Trek: Voyager, and Ray Park, Darth Maul in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

Panels at the convention focused on topics like steampunk costuming, wig styling, recently rebooted comic Captain Canuck, toy collecting, and the history of comic books in Canada over the decades, in conjunction with Canada’s sesquicentennial year. Cast members from The Sean Ward Show appeared at the event, meeting guests to the convention and hosting a panel about the superhero comedy YouTube channel which has more than 600 million views.

Saturday, April 1, 2006

Chemicals, which the Auckland City Council said are a suspected cause of cancer and are considered toxic, have been found in soil at a children’s playcentre in Auckland. The contamination was found at the Auckland Central Playcentre in Freemans Bay, and the Council will now spend $100,000 removing the top 50 cm (about 20 in) of soil at the playcentre, doing landscaping and replacing playground equipment.

The presence of “polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, including benzo-a-pyrene,” was suspected at the school playground and was confirmed by a chemical analysis on Tuesday. The chemicals may cause temporary digestive and respiratory distress, as well as irritation of the eyes and skin. The levels of benzo-a-pyrene found were between 0.06 and 4.82 milligrams per kilogram of soil at surface level, according to the Ministry of Education. A potential risk is present at levels above 3.5 mg.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

At the company’s own Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote at the Moscone West center in San Francisco, Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the next generation of software products from Apple. Apple unveiled Lion, the new version of their Mac OS X operating system for desktop and laptop computers that brings new features to the software. They also demonstrated iOS 5, a new version of the operating system that powers iPhones, iPod Touches, and iPads. Alongside both announcements, Jobs also announced a new iCloud service to sync data among all devices. All 5,200 participating developers will spend the rest of the week in workshops with Apple employees; developer releases of each product were made available today.

Mac OS X Lion will be shipped in July through the online Mac App Store available on Mac computers for US$29. According to Apple, the update adds over 250 new features to the OS. Employee Phil Schiller discussed new multitouch gestures along with a dynamic task manager named Mission Control that shows open applications. During the keynote, Schiller said, “The Mac has outpaced the PC industry every quarter for five years running and with OS X Lion we plan to keep extending our lead.” It also adds full support for the Mac port of the popular App Store, full screen applications, iOS-style app icon lists called Launchpad, and other iOS-like features including a revamped Mail and Auto Save among others. Mac OS X Lion was announced at a different Apple event several months ago and will replace Mac OS X Snow Leopard, which was released in 2009.

Soon after, the company also introduced the latest installment in its popular mobile operating system iOS. The fifth version (iOS 5) introduces around 200 new features, including a revamped notification system, which combines messages and notifications from all applications installed on the user’s device. Scott Forestall, an Apple employee, also revealed that iOS devices would no longer require a computer for setup, allowing users to ‘cut the cord’ between their devices and PCs. Magazines and newspapers also have a new folder interface; the Twitter social network is now integrated significantly into iOS devices. Improvements to the mobile Safari browser were also announced; tabbed browsing and a Reader feature introduce desktop-like functionality. Finally, new camera features are built in, including the ability to take snapshots from the lock screen, as well as iMessages, a new messaging platform for iPhones and iPads.

CEO Steve Jobs returned to the stage to reveal Apple’s new cloud services offering, iCloud. The service integrates with Lion and iOS applications and syncs data between a user’s iOS devices. For example, calendar events created on a user’s laptop would be sent to their iPhone through iCloud. Apps, books, documents, photos, and more purchased or created on one device will be shared with others. The service is intended to launch in the fall of 2011 alongside iOS 5 and will be available with 5 gigabytes (GB) of storage for 10 devices for free. Earlier this year, Apple opened a 500,000 square foot data center in North Carolina intended to facilitate this new service. Jobs rounded the services off by unveiling a new iTunes feature that mirrors a user’s library in the cloud, allowing them to listen and download music to authorized devices. “We are going to demote the PC to just be a device. We are going to move the digital hub, the center of your digital life, into the cloud,” said Steve Jobs during the keynote. iCloud and iOS 5 will be released in the fall of 2011; Apple announced no new hardware products.

Sunday, November 6, 2016

The following is the sixth and final edition of a monthly series chronicling the U.S. 2016 presidential election. It features original material compiled throughout the previous month after an overview of the month’s biggest stories.

In this month’s edition on the campaign trail: the Free & Equal Foundation holds a presidential debate with three little-known candidates; three additional candidates give their final pleas to voters; and past Wikinews interviewees provide their electoral predictions ahead of the November 8 election.

Sunday, February 13, 2005

LONDON – The big-budget Hollywood movie The Aviator and the low-budget Brit flick Vera Drake have scooped the main prizes at the 2005 Orange BAFTA Film Awards. Four gongs went to The Aviator with the top ones being Best Film and Cate Blanchett for Best Supporting Actress. Vera Drake got three gongs with Best Director, Best Actress & Costume Design. Jamie Foxx got Best Actor with Ray and Clive Owen got Best Supporting Actor with Closer.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Wikinews interviewed author Amy Scobee about her book Scientology – Abuse at the Top, and asked her about her experiences working as an executive within the organization. Scobee joined the organization at age 14, and worked at Scientology’s international management headquarters for several years before leaving in 2005. She served as a Scientology executive in multiple high-ranking positions, working out of the international headquarters of Scientology known as “Gold Base”, located in Gilman Hot Springs near Hemet, California.

Friday, November 26, 2010

A spokesperson for Scotland Yard has confirmed that no arrests have been made after Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone was injured in a mugging on Wednesday. The 80-year-old billionaire was treated in hospital for head injuries he sustained in the attack, in which the four muggers stole £200,000 of jewellery from him and his 31-year-old girlfriend.

The attack occurred as Ecclestone visited his company’s office with girlfriend Fabiana Flosi—who was reportedly “shaken” but uninjured—in central London. “There can be little doubt that this was a targeted robbery because of who Mr. Ecclestone is,” a police source said. “The muggers were callous and showed little regard for the victims. They need to be caught.”

Police confirmed that “[a] man was taken to a west London hospital for treatment to a minor head injury and was subsequently discharged. There were no reports of any other injuries. Officers from Westminster robbery squad are investigating. There have been no arrests and inquiries continue.” Four years ago, Ecclestone was mugged as he parked his car outside his £10 million home in Chelsea Square; two wheels were taken from the car.