Thursday, November 10, 2005

Religious broadcaster Pat Robertson warned residents of a rural Pennsylvania town Thursday that disaster may strike there because they “voted God out of your city” by ousting school board members who favored teaching intelligent design.

All eight Dover, Pa., school board members up for re-election were defeated Tuesday after trying to introduce “intelligent design” — the belief that the universe is so complex that it must have been created by a higher power — as an alternative to the theory of evolution.

“I’d like to say to the good citizens of Dover: If there is a disaster in your area, don’t turn to God. You just rejected him from your city,” Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network’s “700 Club.”

Eight families had sued the district, claiming the policy violates the constitutional separation of church and state. The federal trial concluded days before Tuesday’s election, but no ruling has been issued.

Later Thursday, Robertson issued a statement saying he was simply trying to point out that “our spiritual actions have consequences.”

“God is tolerant and loving, but we can’t keep sticking our finger in his eye forever,” Robertson said. “If they have future problems in Dover, I recommend they call on Charles Darwin. Maybe he can help them.”

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Bruce, Canberra — Earlier today at the Australian Institute of Sport, Australia’s Minister for Sport Kate Lundy and the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott were on hand when the Australian Olympic Team formally announced the Australian artistic gymnastics team to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Melbourne-based Georgia Bonora and Ashleigh Brennan, Perth residents Emily Little and Lauren Mitchell, and Brisbane resident Larrissa Miller booked their trip to London.

Lundy announced the government’s A$4.5 million support for the Green and Gold Room in London. This facility, supported by the Australian Institute of Sport’s experts, enables performance analysis to help the Australian Olympians excel during the London Games. Lundy also mentioned Gillard’s Prime Ministers Challenge, which is not just for Australia’s Olympians and Paralympians, but seeks to encourage the nation’s young to play sports.

Abbott started off with a quip that the only gymnastics he participates in is verbal gymnastics. The opposition leader then told the media present that Australia’s Olympians have the country’s support, and congratulated the competitors on the hard work they have put in for over ten years to get there.

In a conversation with a Wikinews reporter following the press conference, Miller said the team does not feel pressure from the media or other teams to do well. They are very team-oriented and when it is time to compete, they ignore everything else going on and focus on performing their best. The team does not need to worry about anything but competing because the gymnasts get support from Gymnastics Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport to cover the cost of everything they need.

With encouragement for the Olympians, Abbott and Lundy spent time on the trampoline. In a show of bipartisan support, Abbott assisted Lundy out of the foam pit they jumped into, with Lundy returning the favour.

Monday, January 15, 2007

Legendary Bollywood actor Amitabh Bachchan has confirmed that his son Abhishek and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai were engaged last evening at a private ceremony at the Bachchans’ residence in Mumbai.

It is believed that the younger Bachchan proposed to his bride-to-be in New York, soon after the Toronto premiere of his new movie Guru. The media had been following the romance between the two closely for some time past, but this is the first time they have come out in the open about their relationship. Rumours that the couple were planning to spread the know began to spread in November last year, when they visited the Sankat Mochan Temple together, with some even saying that they had already been married even earlier at the Meenakshi temple in Madurai

According to one daily, the wedding will take place either on February 19 or March 7 at the Hyatt Mumbai. “The children have decided. We are very happy and thought we should go ahead with the ‘roka’ ceremony. It was held in the evening.”, Amitabh Bachchan said of the ceremony, which was attended by the family’s close friends, including Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, Aishwarya’s parents, and industrialist Anil Ambani and the latter’s wife Tina Ambani. The couple have now flown to Ujjain to take a holy dip in the Ganga.

Friday, May 4, 2007

The Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) introduced two new products Thursday, one of which is claimed to be the world’s largest gold coin. The Gold Maple Leaf coin, made of 99.999% pure gold, weighs 100 kg and has a face value of CA$1 million. The other offering is a smaller one ounce (28 g) version.

The 100 kg coin is approximately 50 cm in diameter and about 3 cm thick. At 99.999% purity, the gold coins are amongst the purest in the bullion market.

Commenting on its impractical size, RCM President and CEO Ian E. Bennett indicated that the 100 kg coin was designed to draw attention to the mint. “The Royal Canadian Mint operates in a very competitive environment, which is especially true of the international gold bullion market,” said Bennett. “Our 100-kg and one ounce 99.999% pure gold bullion coins are an achievement which separates the RCM from a large field of competitors.”

Until RCM’s announcement on Thursday, the Austrian Mint held the record for the world’s largest gold coin when, in 2004, it unveiled a €100,000 denomination coin weighing 31 kg.

In the RCM news release, Canada’s government minister responsible for the Royal Canadian Mint, Lawrence Cannon, highlighted RCM’s history of producing minted products. “The Royal Canadian Mint has long been recognized as one of the most innovative in the world, with a tradition of technical perfection and superior craftsmanship,” said Cannon. “These new…coins now take Canada’s reputation in the gold bullion industry to an unprecedented level.”

The reverse, or tail side of the new Canadian coin features a maple leaf design, while the obverse, or head side bears the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Although the 100 kg coin has a face value of $1 million, it would cost approximately CA$2.6 million (or US$2.4 million) to purchase, based on the market value of gold. A limited quantity of the 100 kg coins will be available as a special order through the RCM.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

A major storm suspected to be a tornado has reportedly killed four Boy Scouts camping at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch in Little Sioux, Iowa. Roughly ninety-five Scouts aged thirteen to eighteen and twenty-five adult staff members were believed to be camping at the time the alarm was raised. Most of the scouts were from Omaha-Metro Area, including Omaha and Bellevue, Nebraska and Council Bluffs, Iowa. It is believed that the scouts had as little as twelve minutes to seek shelter from the time the alarm began to the time the storm hit. Early reports stated that thirty to forty scouts had been injured, that number was later reduced to twenty.

A spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America‘s Mid American Council, the region in which the camp was situated, has stated that the storm activated sirens but she couldn’t confirm whether the scouts were staying in tents or buildings.

The Scouts were participating in a training exercise at the 1,800 acre ranch roughly 40 miles northeast of Omaha. Julie Tack, a spokesperson for Iowa Homeland Security, stated that the camp was littered with debris and downed tree branches after being struck by a tornado at or around 7:00 PM Central Daylight Time. Tack went on to say that a search and rescue team had been deployed to the area.

Camp counselors have stated that they were aware of the possibilities that storm was coming and they had heard the tornado sirens going off. There was no underground shelter for the scouts, however they had shelters designated and emergency plans had been discussed the first day of camp. Officials said most of the boys were on a hike when storms moved in.

A camp staff member said that many scouts were injured when a fireplace in one of the shelters collapsed. Most of the injured scouts were treated at hospitals in Sioux City and Missouri Valley, Iowa. Six scouts were brought to the Missouri Valley hospital, most treated for minor injuries and broken bones. One scout suffered a broken hip and was transferred to Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha.

Mercy Medical Center, in Sioux City, have reported two patients arriving by helicopter at 8:13 PM with a third arriving by ambulance. A fourth patient arrived later, again by helicopter. A spokesman for the hospital said the victims are all juveniles and all have serious injuries. Mercy does not expect to receive more camp victims. The names of the victims have not been released.

Monday, April 4, 2005

Rescuers were today sending a pod of 13 pilot whales back into the ocean at Geographe Bay, near to Busselton, south of Perth, in Western Australia. Six additional members of the pod had died during the stranding, including at least one calf. More than 300 people were watching as the whales set out to sea following a 30 hour rescue effort.

The whales had become stranded early yesterday. Several power boats and a spotter plane were escorting the surviving whales towards Cape Naturalist, in an operation expected to take several hours.

Western Australian State Government Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) officers feared that the whales could become stranded again.

One CALM officer, Neil Taylor, told ABC News dozens of his colleagues and community volunteers had helped the whales survive throughout the night.

“The vet has checked them all and given them some antibiotics yesterday, last thing before dark,” he had told the Australian national broadcaster.

“I think the plan is that the vet will be there again [today] and will give them some vitamins to kick them along before they actually take their swim out to sea.”