Wednesday, December 31, 2008 Also try the 2008 World News Quiz of the year. What would you tell your grandchildren about 2008 if they asked you about it in, let’s say, 20 years’ time? If the answer to a quiz question was 2008, what would the question be? The year that markets collapsed, or perhaps…
Wikinews interviews Aurélien Miralles about Sirenoscincus mobydick species discovery
Thursday, January 24, 2013 1 2 3 4 A group of researchers published a paper about their discovery of a new species of Madagascar mermaid skink lizards last December. The species is the fourth forelimbs-only terrestrial tetrapods species known to science, and the first one which also has no fingers on the forelimbs. The species…
State Farm Insurance allegedly destroying papers
Tuesday, April 11, 2006 Zach Scruggs, a lawyer for United States Senator Trent Lott, says that State Farm Insurance Company is destroying records related to claims for damage from Hurricane Katrina. The records allegedly contain information saying that State Farm fraudulently denied insurance claims made by its policy holders, including Lott, that had homes there…
Endangered Luzon Buttonquail photographed alive by Philippines documentary
Sunday, February 22, 2009 According to ornithologists, a rare Philippines buttonquail feared to have gone extinct was recently documented alive by a cameraman inadvertently filming a local market, right before it was sold and headed for the cooking pot. Scientists had suspected the species—listed as “data deficient” on the 2008 International Union for Conservation of…
Jindal signs Intelligent Design law
Saturday, June 28, 2008 Louisiana Republican Governor Bobby Jindal signed a controversial bill hailed by intelligent design supporters, such as the Discovery Institute, and Louisiana Family Forum, a creationist group. Critics of the bill, including several major science organizations, say it allows for the teaching of “creationism” in public schools. The law, Louisiana Science Education…
Scotland denies bail to terminally ill man convicted of Lockerbie bombing
Saturday, November 15, 2008 Scotland has refused bail to the Libyan man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 despite his terminal cancer, as he can receive treatment in prison. Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi was jailed in 2001 for the 1988 bombing of the transatlantic airliner, killing 270 people, but is seeking to…
Supporters of Myanmar’s Suu Kyi mark detained leader’s 62nd birthday
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained leader of the National League for Democracy in Myanmar marked her 62nd birthday today, still under house arrest, where she has spent most of the past 17 years. About 250 supporters met at the National League for Democracy (NLD) headquarters in Yangon, not far from…
Oil spill reported in Gulf of Mexico
Tuesday, December 26, 2006 At least 21,000 gallons of crude oil has spilled into the Gulf of Mexico near the United States mainland coast, about 30 miles off the shore of Galveston, Texas. The U.S. Coast Guard says that oil is still leaking at a rate of 80 to 400 gallons a day. The High…
Occupation in London enters fifth day
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 In solidarity with the Occupy Wall Street and other “Occupy” protests, activists set up camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London on Saturday, and they plan to remain indefinitely. The protest thus far has been described as “largely peaceful” by a police spokesman. On Saturday, an estimated thousand or more people…
Tax breaks promised by Australian Prime Minister as election fast approaches
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 In her first election promise, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard specifically offered parents tax breaks of up to A$800 to cover the school uniforms of their children. Gillard aims to pledge $220 million over four years to expand the current tax breaks to cover refunds each worth $390 for primary school…