Sunday, October 21, 2007 Torture proliferates American headlines today: whether its use is defensible in certain contexts and the morality of the practice. Wikinews reporter David Shankbone was curious about torture in American popular culture. This is the first of a two part series examining the BDSM business. This interview focuses on the owners of…
Jermaine Pennant jailed for drink-driving
Tuesday, March 1, 2005 Aylesbury, England – The Arsenal F.C. midfielder Jermaine Pennant, currently on loan to Birmingham City, has today pleaded guilty to drink-driving, driving while disqualified, and driving without insurance by Aylesbury magistrates court. Pennant received a sentence of three months imprisonment. Pennant’s lawyer, Bary Warbutton, has said that the footballer will appeal…
EU, US declare intent to cooperate on climate change at summit
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 A European Union-United States summit held in Slovenia produced a draft declaration outlining the groups’ future cooperation on climate change, energy security and financial stability. Yesterday was the final day of the summit, the last EU-US summit that US President George W. Bush will attend in his current role. Hopes of…
Tour de France: Daniele Bennati wins stage 17
Thursday, July 26, 2007 Daniele Bennati of Italy has won stage 17 of the 2007 Tour de France in a time of 4h 14′ 04″. Alberto Contador of Spain, who finished with the peleton gets the yellow jersey since Rabobank pulled the previous leader, Michael Rasmussen from the Tour. The 188.5 km road stage, from…
Japan raises severity level of crisis; efforts to cool damaged nuclear power plant continue
Friday, March 18, 2011 As the nuclear crisis in Japan’s crippled Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant appears to worsen, Japan’s nuclear safety agency raised their assessment of its severity from 4 to 5 on the 7-level International Nuclear Event Scale, the same rating given the 1979 Three Mile Island crisis. Japan’s Prime Minister, Naoto Kan,…
Edmund White on writing, incest, life and Larry Kramer
Thursday, November 8, 2007 What you are about to read is an American life as lived by renowned author Edmund White. His life has been a crossroads, the fulcrum of high-brow Classicism and low-brow Brett Easton Ellisism. It is not for the faint. He has been the toast of the literary elite in New York,…
Google launches Google Spreadsheets
Tuesday, June 6, 2006 Google has launched an online spreadsheet site, in a private beta. The site will allow spreadsheets to be shared between up to 10 users, which is aimed to be useful to teams and small businesses. “Many people already organise information into spreadsheets. Where they are struggling is to share it” said…
A portrait of Scotland: Gallery reopens after £17.6 million renovation
Thursday, December 1, 2011 Today saw Edinburgh’s Scottish National Portrait Gallery reopen following a two-and-a-half-year, £17.6m (US$27.4m) refurbishment. Conversion of office and storage areas sees 60% more space available for displays, and the world’s first purpose-built portrait space is redefining what a portrait gallery should contain; amongst the displays are photographs of the Scottish landscape—portraits…
Oral Roberts University accountant claims he was ordered to “cook the books”
Wednesday, November 21, 2007 A former accountant for Oral Roberts University (ORU) has filed a lawsuit against ORU and its Board of Regents claiming he was told by Richard Roberts and his wife Lindsay to “cook the books”, hiding financial wrongdoing from authorities and the public. Trent Huddleston, the accountant, has filed suit against the…
Seeds placed in Norwegian vault as agricultural ‘insurance policy’
Wednesday, February 27, 2008 The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, a vault containing millions of seeds from all over the world, saw its first deposits on Tuesday. Located 800 kilometers from the North Pole on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen, the vault has been referred to by European Commission president José Manuel Barroso as a “frozen…