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Thursday, October 4, 2007

Australian Treasurer Peter Costello said today that he was “a lot of fun” while he was outlining his plans for Australia as a possible future Prime Minister.

During an interview with ABC Radio, Mr Costello was asked to say something about himself that the public didn’t know. Mr Costello’s replied “That I’m a lot of fun – a lot of fun and good company.”

Costello, who is considered current Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s likely successor when he retires, said he was not expecting an easy rise to the Prime Ministership, admitting that the forthcoming federal election would be difficult.

The treasurer said “If you read polls, then (Kevin) Rudd is in front and he’s already carrying on as if he’s got the election in the bag,”

“I would say an election is not over until all of the votes have been counted on the polling day, and I think it will be a hard-fought election.”

Mr Costello also outlined his vision for Australia should he become Prime Minister in the future centering his platform upon education and water.

“I think we need first, a first-class technical school system in this country, training people for trades,” Mr Costello said.

“I think we need improved standards of literacy in our primary and secondary schools and I think we need better facilities at the tertiary level.”

The treasurer admitted that education was one of his key priorities as he had been a university tutor and had a father who was a teacher. Speaking of his father, Costello said “I watched him influence generations of students,”

“I know the difference that a good school teacher makes in a person’s life and I believe in the importance of education.”

Mr Costello also said that Australia would need to carefully manage its water resources for the future.

“We have to manage our water better, we have to invest in water better, we have to harness water better, we have to price water better,” he said.

“I think we really do have a water crisis in this country and it’s something that we’re going to have to deal with in order to keep our country growing and our lifestyle up in the decades which lie ahead.” Mr Costello criticised state governments for failing to invest in water infrastructure and predicted desalination plants would have a major role to play in securing the nation’s water supply.

“There has not been enough investment in dams, there has not been enough investment in pipes, in irrigation canals and I think we’re going to have to look very, very carefully at desalination plants for our major capital cities,” said the Australian Treasurer.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The United States auto manufacturer Chrysler, which has been badly affected by the ongoing recession, has asked the US government for an additional US$5 billion in aid on top of the four billion it has already received, saying that it plans to fire three thousand employees. At the end of last year, the auto maker had just over 54,000 employees, meaning that the layoffs will equal about six percent of its total workforce.

In addition, Chrysler will cut the Chrysler Aspen, PT Cruiser, and Durango from production.

Another automaker, General Motors (GM), announced that it seeks $16.6 billion in loans from the government, in addition to the $13.4 billion that it has already received. GM plans to lay off 47,000 employees and close five factories. GM says that it might need as much as $30 billion from the US Treasury Department, an increase over their previous estimate of $18 billion. The company has warned that it might run out of money by March if more aid was not given.

Rick Wagoner, GM’s chief executive, described the firm’s plan as “comprehensive, responsive, achievable, and flexible”. “We have a lot of work in front of us, but I am confident it will result in a profitable General Motors,” he said, adding that “today’s plan is significantly more aggressive because it has to be.” GM says that it could be profitable in two years’ time, and might be able to repay all its loans by 2017.

A third US car manufacturer, Ford Motor Company, has said that it can make it through this year without any government aid.

The US Treasury Department will review the car makers’ survival plans for several weeks before a decision is made on whether or not to extend the loans. That decision is due by the end of next month.

Monday, December 21, 2009

A recent blizzard that paralyzed parts of the U.S. East Coast Sunday has left many areas buried under feet of snow. When all was said and done, the storm, a severe nor’easter, had affected everywhere from North Carolina to New England and Nova Scotia in Canada. Among its effects were at least five fatalities, as well as large-scale traffic delays.

The storm originated in the Gulf of Mexico, as nor’easters usually do, and grew to be a powerful cyclone as it moved northeastward. Often described as the worst winter storm to strike the area in years, Long Island bore the brunt of the blizzard. There, crippling snow, amounting to as much as 24 inches, heavily disrupted travel. Cities like Philadelphia had one of their worst storms in recorded history.

Hundreds of thousands of residents were without power as the storm swept across the region. Some areas declared snow emergencies, and strongly encouraged people not to travel and to remain at home. In Virginia, the National Guard rescued several hundred motorists who became stranded due to the heavy snows. A twenty-mile traffic backup on Interstate 81 was also reported.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Forecasters predict that northern lights could be visible to the naked eye late tonight and early tomorrow morning across Canada, northern parts of the U.S., and possibly the United Kingdom.

Solar storms caused a large ejection of plasma from the Sun’s surface on Sunday, and the plasma is heading directly towards Earth. The plasma, a cloud of rapidly moving hydrogen gas atoms and subatomic particles, is expected to reach us late Tuesday. The plasma will interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere, which will cause northern lights, or aurora borealis, to be visible much further south than is usual. Northern lights usually appear as green or red rivers of lights across the sky.

“It’s the first major Earth-directed eruption in quite some time” said astronomer Leon Golub of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. The eruption was detected by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which was launched in February 2010, and is currently orbiting the Earth.

The Sun goes through approximately eleven-year long activity cycles, with the last maximum occurring in 2001. Sunday’s eruption is a sign that the many years of inactivity is over, and the Sun is heading towards another maximum.

Monday, September 24, 2007

Russ Aegard is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Thunder Bay-Atikokan riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Thursday, April 30, 2015

On Friday, Eva Mozes Kor, a 81-year-old Auschwitz concentration camp survivor, publicly forgave and embraced 93-year-old former SS guard Oskar Gröning, who is currently on trial in Germany as an accessory to 300,000 murders of Jews at Auschwitz.

Kor, who was among many Jews medically experimented on at Auschwitz, has thanked Mr Gröning for answering to the crimes he aided during his time as an Auschwitz guard.

Kor is amongst a number of Auschwitz survivors attending the trial who have joined the prosecutors as co-plaintiffs in the case against Mr Gröning. While Kor has forgiven Mr Gröning, she still holds him liable for his involvement during the Holocaust, as she did last week when she testified against him. Other survivors have recently spoken out about the trial; survivor Eva Pusztai-Fahidi said on Tuesday the trial itself against a former SS guard matters more than the end punishment.

During the first day of Mr Gröning’s trial, he denied any direct role in the killings, though he did admit to having witnessed them. Mr Gröning said he shared “moral guilt” for the crimes, regardless of whether his actions make him criminally guilty.

The prosecutors have argued that serving as a concentration camp guard is legally accessory to the act of murder. Mr Gröning is reportedly one of three remaining former SS guards that have been identified for trial. If found guilty, the former SS Guard could reportedly face up to fifteen years in prison.

Sunday, December 31, 2017

On New Years Day 2018, on the steps of New York City Hall, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, runner-up for the Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination and potential 2020 presidential candidate, is to conduct the swearing-in of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, himself a potential 2020 presidential contender. In a statement, de Blasio, who was re-elected as Mayor this past November, claims to have invited Sanders due to the progressive icon’s Brooklyn, New York roots and advocacy on behalf of working people. Analysts say the invitation is a calculated political move on behalf of de Blasio to take advantage of Sanders’ popularity.

Sanders, 76, a self-identified Socialist, was born in Brooklyn before relocating to his current home of Vermont. After running for various public offices in the 1970s as a member of the anti-war Liberty Union Party, Sanders won election as Mayor of Burlington in 1981, serving three successive terms. In 1990, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives as an Independent, serving for 16 years before winning election to the U.S. Senate, again as an Independent. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Sanders garnered grassroots support, finishing second at the Democratic National Convention to Hillary Clinton, whose husband, former President Bill Clinton, administered de Blasio’s oath for Mayor in 2014.

Sanders’ 2016 performance and ensuing popularity within the Democratic Party has led to speculation about his plans in 2020. According to Politico, Sanders is taking steps toward a 2020 run. Referencing Sanders’ advanced age, incumbent President Donald Trump, who has already announced plans to run for re-election in 2020, said he expects Sanders to run “even if he’s in a wheelchair.”

News outlets have also speculated about de Blasio’s 2020 prospects. Last week, de Blasio delivered a speech in the first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa, prompting publications such as The Week and Newsweek to discuss whether the speech, delivered before about 200 progressive activists in Des Moines concerning the direction of the Democratic Party, was a way for de Blasio to test the waters for a potential run. De Blasio himself has denied he is running for President, though speculation persists.

Congressman John Delaney of Maryland is currently the only prominent Democrat officially running for President. Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York are also expected to run.