Sunday, September 15, 2019

Yesterday, oil facilities belonging to Saudi Arabia’s state-owned Saudi Aramco were hit by multiple drone strikes in a pre-dawn raid. The attacks triggered major fires at a processing plant and an oil field, which state media said were under control. The Yemen-based Houthi movement claimed responsibility for the attacks.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, the attacks occurred at 4:00 A.M. local time (0100 UTC) and struck the largest processing plant at Abqaiq and the Khurais oil field. The oil field is about 160 km (100 miles) east of the capital, Riyadh. The agency did not mention if there were casualties, but said exports were continuing.

Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported both production and export of oil had been disrupted. Saudi officials subsequently said 5.7 million barrels of per-day production had been disrupted. This would be nearly half of Saudi Arabia’s entire production and around five percent on a global basis.

Speaking on al-Masirah TV in Yemen, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said it had carried out the attack using ten drones. According to him, it was among the largest Houthi operations inside of Saudi Arabia and was accomplished with the help of “honourable people inside the kingdom”.

“These attacks are our right, and we warn the Saudis that our targets will keep expanding”, Saree said. “We have the right to strike back in retaliation to the air strikes and the targeting of our civilians for the last five years.”

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo posted a message on Twitter blaming Iran for the attacks, saying there was “no evidence the attacks came from Yemen.” BBC’s Jonathan Marcus said questions remain how much direct Iranian assistance is received by the Houthis who are ideologically aligned with Iran.

In 2015, Saudi Arabia started supporting the government of Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi against the Houthi rebellion, providing airstrikes with the Royal Saudi Air Force. The United Nations called the resulting humanitarian crisis the worst in the world.

In 2006, Abqaiq was the target of an Al-Qaeda suicide attack.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

American animator Ollie Johnston, the last of Disney’s so-called “Nine Old Men”, has died at the age of 95.

Johnston died of natural causes on Monday in Sequim, Washington, according to Walt Disney Studios Vice President Howard E. Green.

Johnston worked on many of the Disney’s classic films, including Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), Pinnochio (1940), Fantasia (1940), Bambi (1942), and many others.

Johnston worked extensively with his best friend Frank Thomas, a fellow “old man” who died in 2004. The pair met at Stanford University in the 1930s and worked together until Thomas’ death. They retired from animation in 1978, but remained popular speakers and authors about Disney and animation.

“Ollie was part of an amazing generation of artists, one of the real pioneers of our art, one of the major participants in the blossoming of animation into the art form we know today,” said Roy E. Disney.

Johnston devoted much of his retirement to writing and lecturing, but perhaps even more to model trains, a field in which he became considered one of the world’s foremost experts.

Ollie Johnston’s last film was The Fox and the Hound (1981) on which he worked as a supervisor.

Friday, April 22, 2005

Ireland’s National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) has posted a 2.4% return for the first quarter (9.6% annualized). On March 31, the funds value stood at €12.3bn, a rise of €290m (excluding state contributions) since December 31.

Donal Geaney, the fund’s chairman, told the press that growth in the past quarter had been driven by the Fund’s European equity investments.

Mr Geaney, former Élan CEO, has pursued a policy of diversification since February of this year, with the stated aim of placing a larger amount of the funds assets in companies with small market capitalizations and in property funds.

The fund was set up by the National Pensions Reserve Fund Act, 2000 to partially meet the expected rise in Irish pension costs from 2025 onwards.

Monday, January 25, 2010

An elderly woman has died in a house fire in South Yorkshire, England. The woman, who is currently remaining unidentified, was blind and 93-years-old when her bungalow in Sheffield caught fire as a result of an accident in her kitchen yesterday afternoon.

An internal investigation into the fire has suggested that while the woman was cooking, she dropped a towel onto one of the stovetops while attempting to move a pan on the cooker. The towel then set alight. When she attempted to put out the fire, the towel dropped to the side of the cooker, alongside some plastic bags.

A smoke alarm sounded; a nearby resident heard the alarm and went to assist. The neighbour managed to break into the bedroom window of the bungalow in order to be able to get inside the building. The person made it to the hallway but had to double back upon seeing the fire and the smoke. It is believed that the woman was overwhelmed by the fumes given out from the plastic which was burning.

At around 1350 GMT, fire service workers entered the elderly lady’s residence to find her collapsed inside the kitchen. People investigating the incident have come to the conclusion that this particular fire was an accidental one. A spokesperson for the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service noted: “Neighbours who tried to enter the property were fought back by smoke and flames.”

Friday, September 26, 2008

On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. Christian Heritage Party candidate John M. Wierenga is standing for election in the riding of Yellowhead. A journeyman welder with a company in Neerlandia, Alberta, John is an active member of the Neerlandia Canadian Reformed Church. Serving on his church council, he actively volunteers in the community, serving a partial term on the Pembina Pro-Life Board.

Wikinews contacted John, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted.

Since 2000, the riding has been represented by Conservative Rob Merrifield, originally a Canadian Alliance member. Besides Wierenga, other challengers for the riding include Melissa Brade (Canadian Action), Mohamed El-Rafih (Liberal), Ken Kuzminski (NDP), and Monika Schaefer (Green).

For more information, visit the campaign’s official website, listed below.

Friday, January 12, 2007

The iPhone only made its appearance as a prototype and there have been controversies aroused.

The dispute has come up between the manufacturer of the iPhone (which was presented on Wednesday for the first time) — Apple Inc. — and a leader in network and communication systems, based in San Jose — Cisco. The company claims to possess the trademark for iPhone, and moreover, that it sells devices under the same brand through one of its divisions.

This became the reason for Cisco to file a lawsuit against Apple Inc. so that the latter would stop selling the device.

Cisco states that it has received the trademark in 2000, when the company overtook Infogear Technology Corp., which took place in 1996.

The Vice President and general counsel of the company, Mark Chandler, explained that there was no doubt about the excitement of the new device from Apple, but they should not use a trademark, which belongs to Cisco.

The iPhone developed by Cisco is a device which allows users to make phone calls over the voice over Internet protocol (VoIP).

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

On Monday, Google published on their blog that they are testing a new product named Google Base, in which users will be able to upload their own articles to a database. This allegedly will complement the current services offered by Google.

Examples of contributions may include recipes, scientific findings, and other pieces of information one may wish to share. Several news agencies are reporting that Google Base will be used for classified ads. According to the Google Base website, which was made inaccessible to the public after a few hours, both were examples of entries you could post.

Google Base is expected to be a major competitor of craigslist, which is partly owned by eBay.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Viktor Schreckengost, the father of industrial design and creator of the Jazz Bowl, an iconic piece of Jazz Age art designed for Eleanor Roosevelt during his association with Cowan Pottery died yesterday. He was 101.

Schreckengost was born on June 26, 1906 in Sebring, Ohio, United States.

Schreckengost’s peers included the far more famous designers Raymond Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes.

In 2000, the Cleveland Museum of Art curated the first ever retrospective of Schreckengost’s work. Stunning in scope, the exhibition included sculpture, pottery, dinnerware, drawings, and paintings.

Thursday, September 1, 2005

Israel‘s defence minister has ruled that the man who shot dead four Israeli Arabs is not a terrorist, because he is Jewish. The decision means that the families do not receive the compensation as family members of people classed as victims of terrorism. The laws governing compensation only recognise terrorism as being perpetrated by “organisations hostile to Israel”.

Ariel Sharon had previously described the act as “a despicable act by a bloodthirsty terrorist,” and The Jerusalem Post described the gunman as a “Jewish far-Right fanatic”.

The families will receive a lump sum instead of a lifelong payment. Arab Israeli leaders described the law as racist.

“The decision raises a strong scent of racism, which distinguishes between a Jewish terrorist and an Arab terrorist,” one member of parliament said.

The Anti-Defamation League, a US based organisation set up to combat anti-semitism, has also condemned the killing and described it as terrorism.

“We strongly condemn today’s terrorist attack by a Jewish gunman in Shiloh. The perpetrator is in police custody and we are confident he will be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director, in a statement released on the day of the attack.

Member of the Knesset Mohammad Barakeh, has demanded an amendment to the current law. He is asking that the law recognise as victims of terror anyone hurt by “hostile activities by a terror organization.” According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the Prime Ministers Office has requested that the Attorney General review the issue.

The 19-year old Nathan Zaada shot the four Israeli Arabs in an industrial area of the town of Shfaram on August 4th. He was later killed by a mob.