Saturday, May 8, 2021

Wikinews extended an invitation by e-mail in the first week of May to Vitaly Filipchenko, an independent candidate in the 2021 New York City mayoral election set to take place November 2 alongside other candidates. Filipchenko agreed to answer some questions about his policies and campaign with a Wikinews reporter in a recorded call on May 6 after an initial discussion through e-mail.

Filipchenko, registered on the New York City Campaign Finance Board as Vitaly A. Filipchenko, is the first Russian candidate for New York City mayor, born in Tomsk, Siberia in 1973, according to news agency Sputnik. He has since naturalised as a United States citizen. According to the web site, Filipchenko has been educated in road construction and maintenance and owns a moving services company; he describes himself on his web site as a “small business owner”. On his web site’s platform page, he says that “[m]y English may not be perfect – but my platform is.”

Incumbent Democrat mayor Bill de Blasio, who won re-election in the 2017 New York City mayoral election by 66.5%, cannot run for a third term under term limits. As of April 28, 22 candidates are currently running, the majority of whom are also Democrats. Ahead of the June Democratic primary for New York City mayor, a poll conducted May 23 and 24 by WPIX and Emerson College of 12 Democratic candidates with a margin of error of 3.2 per cent has former commissioner for the New York City Department of Sanitation Kathryn Garcia and Borough President of Brooklyn Eric Adams leading with 21.1% and 20.1%, respectively.

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Saturday, June 11, 2005

The inflation rate in Ireland, as measured by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), edged upwards to hit a five month high in May at 2.4%. This represents a 0.2% rise on the previous month when the rate stood at 2.2%.

The major contributors to the rise were increased transportation, healthcare, and education costs. In April the EU25 average rate of inflation was 2.1%, with Latvia having the highest rate at 7.1% and Sweden the lowest at 0.4%.

Despite the increase in the rate, Irish inflation remains very low – having hit 7% during 2000 and remaining around the 5% until the beginning of 2003. Another major factor easing any worries about the increase is Ireland’s very strong GDP growth – expected to be around 5.5% this year

On an annual basis the cost of footwear and clothing have fallen by 2.7% whilst energy costs have soared by 10.4%. The cost of food, furniture, and communications also fell over the last 12 months.

The Consumer Price Index is made up of over 55,000 prices consisting of 613 headings which cover over 1,000 different items.

Friday, September 15, 2006

The Canadian PM Stephen Harper spoke with astronaut Steve MacLean over the phone yesterday from Ottawa. MacLean was on the STS-115 (space shuttle Atlantis). He is also the second Canadian to walk in space.

Harper congratulated MacLean and asked him questions, including one from Harper’s son, Ben. The question was: “What time do the astronauts go to bed?” “On our mission, with where the sun is, we have 55 minutes of daylight followed by 75 minutes of darkness … and that does affect your circadian rhythm,” MacLean replied. The astronauts’ sleep pattern “is driven by the rendezvous that we do with the station. That time is the key milestone and then we arrange our sleep schedules around that.” “But you can tell your son that sleeping in space is wonderful. We all sleep down on the main deck, some of us right side up, some of us are on the side and some of us are upside down. There’s more orientations up here, basically.”

Harper told MacLean that the country is proud of his achievements. “I’m sure it’s an adventure of a lifetime and … I expect your mission will inspire millions of Canadians, young people, and even some who are talking to you today to become interested in space and science and technology,” Harper said.

Harper wished MacLean well as the mission winds down. “I know you said … you wanted to bring home a gold medal for Canada, from everything I’ve seen on your performance yesterday, you are well on your way,” Harper said.

Canadian school children also got a chance to ask MacLean about his time aboard the shuttle.

MacLean walked in space on Wednesday. MacLean, with fellow Atlantis crew member Dan Burbank started their six-hour spacewalk at the international space station at 5:05 am ET. They are focusing their attention and tools on a ferris-wheel-like rotary joint that will allow two solar arrays, once unfurled, to always face the sun as the space station circles Earth. The solar arrays will supply a quarter of the space lab’s power when it is completed by 2010.

Monday, October 30, 2006

The upcoming 2006 Brampton municipal election, to be held November 13, features an array of candidates looking to represent their wards in city council or the council of the Peel Region.

Wikinews contributor Nick Moreau contacted many of the candidates, including Bill Bousfield, asking them to answer common questions sent in an email. This ward’s incumbent is Elaine Moore; also challenging Moore is Janet Hamilton and Tejinder Lamba.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Despite pleas from Big Day Out promoters to leave the national flag of Australia at home, many of the 55,000 music lovers have turned up to the Sydney event covered in it.

Co-promoter Ken West caused a stir when the flag was “banned” from this year’s Big Day Out in Sydney after organisers branded it a “gang colour” and symbol of hate. Organizers of the rock festival had planned to confiscate any flag or bandanna bearing the national symbol at the gate. The organizers defended their action claiming Sydney was “a hot bed of racism.” They had already moved the event from the traditional time, Australia Day, to avoid these “nationalistic overtones.” The Prime Minister John Howard responded by declaring that the Big Day Out should have been cancelled unless organisers reversed their decision to ban the flag.

After widespread outrage on talkback radio, and condemnation of their action by the Prime Minister and state Premiers, Australians have literally worn their hearts on their sleeves by draping the Aussie flag over their shoulders or wearing t-shirts, tattoos or bikinis with it printed on it. Event organisers allowed hundreds of fans to bring Australian flags to the event, backing down on their earlier call to leave the emblem at home.

Melissa-Rose Heap, 18-years-old, of Kogarah, said she and her friends had fashioned the Australian flag into dresses after the banning controversy.

“We made them into dresses because they said we weren’t allowed to, and that’s not right,” she said. “They shouldn’t be able to tell anyone that we can’t be proud of Australia.”

Sunday, December 2, 2007

The 20th annual World AIDS Day was December 1, 2007. The theme selected by the World AIDS Campaign is “Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise” as it will be through 2010. The day was marked by thousands of events around the world.

“It is now time for bold leadership at all levels in order to turn the tide of HIV,” said Felicita Hikuam, Global Programmes Manager, World AIDS Campaign. An estimated 33.2 million people around the world—one in every 200—are living with HIV, and approximately 6,800 people are infected with HIV and 5,700 people die of AIDS-related illnesses every day.

“The trend is encouraging but still for every person receiving treatment four others are newly infected,” said Nelson Mandela, speaking at a concert in Johannesburg, South Africa. “If we are to stop the Aids epidemic from expanding, we need to break the cycle of new HIV infections. All of us working together with government, communities and civil society can make the difference that is needed,” he continued.

As many as 50,000 people attended the concert in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was telecast around the world. It was organized by Nelson Mandela’s 46664 AIDS campaign and featured performances by artists such as Peter Gabriel, Ludacris, Razorlight, the Goo Goo Dolls and Annie Lennox.File:20050702-Nelson Mandela Live8 Edinburgh.jpg

At a fundraiser in the town of Midrand, in the province Gauteng, near Johannesburg on Friday, singer Annie Lennox had strong words for the South African government’s AIDS policies.

“AIDS, as Madiba [Mandela] has said, is a human rights issue and should be treated as such in order to avoid this genocide that is affecting millions and millions of people around the world,” said Lennox in a speech. Lennox has previously been critical of the South African government’s position on suggesting some AIDS medications were toxic. “It is unacceptable that treatment has not been made available to those who need it most,” said Lennox.

The rock band Queen, which lost its lead singer Freddie Mercury to AIDS, released a new song entitled, Say It’s Not True, to coincide with World Aids Day. It has been made available as a free download from the band’s website. “By making the song available for free, we hope to help Nelson Mandela with his campaign to get across the message that no-one is safe from infection,” said Queen drummer Roger Taylor. “We have to be aware, we have to protect ourselves and those we love.”

In China, people distributed AIDS prevention brochures in the streets and promoted safe sex in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. In Changsha, official warning signs were put on hotel bedstands. The government announced on Friday an allocation of CNY860 million for AIDS prevention and control. According to official reports, there are estimated to be 700,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in China.

Also in China, the Miss World 2007 was in Sanya on World AIDS Day. The pageant presented a special tribute to the fight against AIDS, with a televised speech from former South African President Nelson Mandela, along with traditional dancers from South Africa who joined the contestants in a special song.

Friday, United States President George W. Bush urged the United States Congress to double the 2003 Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief to US$30 billion over the next five years. “Above all, we rededicate ourselves to a great purpose: We will turn the tide against HIV/AIDS—once and for all,” he said.

“I’m pleased to announce that Laura and I will travel to sub-Sahara Africa early next year,” Bush said. Sub-Saharan Africa suffered nearly three-quarters of AIDS-related deaths during 2006 and is home to two-thirds of those living with HIV/AIDS.