Thursday, December 13, 2007

Victoria Wyndham was one of the most seasoned and accomplished actresses in daytime soap opera television. She played Rachel Cory, the maven of Another World‘s fictional town, Bay City, from 1972 to 1999 when the show went off the air. Wyndham talks about how she was seen as the anchor of a show, and the political infighting to keep it on the air as NBC wanted to wrest control of the long-running soap from Procter & Gamble. Wyndham fought to keep it on the air, but eventually succumbed to the inevitable. She discusses life on the soap opera, and the seven years she spent wandering “in the woods” of Los Angeles seeking direction, now divorced from a character who had come to define her professional career. Happy, healthy and with a family she is proud of, Wyndham has found life after the death of Another World in painting and animals. Below is David Shankbone’s interview with the soap diva.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

On Tuesday, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced a weather emergency in New York City, New York. The announcement was issued as a preemptive measure in preparation for an expected 6-12 inches of snow Wednesday, although the Metropolitan Transportation Authority claims to be ready for 14 inches.

Bloomberg explained the meaning of the preemptive announcement by stating: “We recognize that we did not do the job that New Yorkers rightly expect of us in the last storm. We intend to make sure that does not happen again.” Despite declaring an emergency, the mayor said the city would not make the decision to close public schools until 5 AM.

The city is looking for people to shovel snow off sidewalks and intersections. The New York City Housing Authority announced on their Twitter page, “Turn a snow day into a payday. The city is looking for snow removal help. Apply now.” The linked page offered $12 an hour to shovel snow for the city.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

The Indian space agency, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), launched five foreign satellites from the Sriharikota facility on Monday morning, using the PSLV-C23 launch vehicle.

The primary payload was an earth observation satellite from France called SPOT 7 which weighed 714 kg. Other satellites included on board were the German AISat, 14 kg; Canadian NLS7.1 (CAN-X4) and NLS7.2 (CAN-X5), 15 kg each; and Singaporean VELOX 1, 7 kg.

The launch took place at 9:52 AM on Monday morning, delayed from the original schedule by three minutes to avoid space debris. This was the 26th successful launch of a PSLV. Along with the US, Russia, the European Union, China, and Japan, India is one of the few nations that offer commercial launch services. These services are provided by Antrix, the commercial department of ISRO. ISRO’s next major launch may be this month using a GSLV-III launch vehicle.

The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present at the launch site. He addressed the scientists after the launch congratulating them, and asked them to build a satellite suitable for use by all the nations of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). He also emphasized the frugal approach of India to the space industry. Phillipe Ghesquiers of Airbus Space and Defense Systems, the builders of SPOT 7, expressed satisfaction at the launch and stated they may use India’s launch services again in the future.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

London, England — Yesterday at London’s Basketball Arena, the Canada women’s national wheelchair basketball team earned their first victory of the London Paralympics when they defeated the Australia women’s national wheelchair basketball team 57–50.

Canada took a one point lead into the second half, when the scores were 33–32 because of a last minute foul that sent Canada to the free throw line where they capitalized by making one of their shots. 4.5 point player Janet McLachlan and 2 point player Katie Harnock dominated in minutes played for Canada during the first half, playing all 20 minutes and leading their team in scoring with 11 first half points for McLachlan and 12 for Harnock. The Canadian team was loudly supported by spectators, earning more cheering from the largely Great Britain supporting fans than the Australians.

The second half saw Canada slowly increase their lead, keeping tied with Australia 4–4 in the first half of third, 6–4 in the last half of the third, 6–4 in the first half of the fourth, and 8–6 in the last half of the fourth. McLachlan finished the game as Canada’s leading scorer with 28 total, 17 in the second half. Harnock had a quieter second half only scoring 2 points to finish with 14. Cindy Ouellett was the team’s third leading scorer, finishing the game with ten.

The Canadian team supported their team from the bench, chanting “Get it out! Get it out!” when on defense and “Let’s go Canada” when on the offense. Other times, one player led the team in chanting support for their players on the court. The team was consistently louder than the Australian bench.

Throughout the game, the Canadians tipped themselves over more in their chairs than the Australians. Ouellett tipped once, and bounced in her chair, with a wheel leaving the ground as she attempted to block shots and steal the ball. Ouellett and Australian Cobi Crispin locked wheels, and required a break in the game where Australia’s coach came on to the court and removed Ouellett’s wheel to detach the pair before putting it back on again.

Following the game, Australia’s Amber Merritt said of playing Canada, “I have the utmost respect for Canada. They’re a great team, but we’ll refocus on the game tomorrow [against the Netherlands] and go out and play like we know we can, the Australian way.”

Prior to the start of the game, McLachlan was the team’s dominating player in the competition. She was ranked eighth in the competition in field goal percentage, and was Canada’a highest ranked player in this category. She ranked second in the tournament in total field goals made per game, with 12. Teammate Katie Harnock ranked eighth. Tara Feser ranked fourth in the tournament for 2 point field goal percentage at 57.1%, while McLachlan ranked ninth with 50.0%. McLachlan was second in 2 point field goals made per game, at 12. Harnock was tied for first with Mexico’s Floralia Estrada Bernal in the competition for 3 point field goal percentage at 20%, and was ranked second in the tournament for most 3 point field goals made with one.

As a team coming into the game, Canada was ranked sixth in total field goal percentage, eighth in free throw percentage, sixth in average rebounds per game, second in fouls, and last in turnovers.

Coming into this game, Canada had lost their first game 70–59 to the Netherlands. They are scheduled to play Brazil today.

Please note: there may be minor variations between this script and the associated recording.

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Monday, November 26, 2007

In six hours, dozens of young people in Sarcelles and Villiers-le-Bel, a suburb of Paris, France, attacked a police station, burned cars and broke into shops after two teenagers were killed in a car crash with a police vehicle. The station was pelted with Molotov cocktails and guns were fired at officers inside the station.

A police captain, who tried to negotiate with the youths, had to be hospitalized with serious injuries to the face. The youths also set several cars ablaze. According to police, at least 21 officers were injured in rioting in Villiers-le-Bel and Arnouville. The police station in Villiers-le-Bel was set on fire and the one in Arnouville was ransacked.

Two hours before, a police patrol vehicle collided with two teenagers riding a stolen green mini cross motorbike without helmets. The teens, aged 15 and 16, were both killed in the accident which took place in Villiers-le-Bel.

Didier Vaillant, mayor of Villers-le-Bel, appealed for calm and assured there will be “an impartial investigation, for full light to be shed” on the accident.

Omar Sehhouli, brother to one of the dead teenagers, said the unrest “was not violence but an expression of rage.”

Thursday, March 4, 2010

File:Diego Grez – 2.jpg

An 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile on Saturday, causing significant damage throughout parts of the country. Diego Grez (a Wikinews correspondent by the pen name MisterWiki) was in Pichilemu at the time of the quake. Four days after the quake, Peter Coti, also a Wikinews contributor, was able to chat with Mr. Grez about what happened Saturday morning.