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Thursday, December 7, 2006

The New Zealand Government has tabled the Therapeutic Products and Medicines Bill, despite unprecedented political opposition.

In 2003 the Hon Annette King signed a Treaty with Australia agreeing to hand control of the natural health products sector over to an Australian regulatory body, however she needs to pass enabling legislation in New Zealand. “This will be a world-class joint scheme designed to regulate the safety, quality, effectiveness and promotion of therapeutic products in both New Zealand and Australia. That includes the regulation of complementary and alternative medicines, over-the-counter and prescription medicines, medical devices, blood and blood products and tissues and cellular therapies,” Ms King said.

Twice the Bill has been thrown out by select committees, but the Government is determined to ram it through Parliament, according to the New Zealand Health Trust.

“Late tonight the Bill was finally tabled, with no announcement from the Minister,” said Amy Adams, spokesperson for the Trust, “Clearly the Minister is keen to sneak it into Parliament under cover of the silly season, in the hope that she can keep it under the public’s radar.”

“I welcome the support of a majority of the House who want to see the Bill go to Select Committee where New Zealanders can have their say,” Ms King said.

The NZ Health Trust conducted research earlier this year which showed 62% of New Zealanders used natural health products. “This Bill represents a massive and irreparable change to the way we make rules for New Zealand dietary supplements,” Mrs Adams said.

“Under the proposed regime, well over a million New Zealand consumers would find the choice of products adversely affected, and experience cost increases. So you can see why the Government is trying to sneak this into the House without any fuss – they don’t want the public to know.”

All the political parties except Labour have pledged their opposition the proposal, despite some intense lobbying by Australian and New Zealand officials.

“It is a very serious thing to hand sovereignty over your country over to another nation,” Mrs Adams said. “And all the other political parties see the sense in making sure the sector is regulated from New Zealand – not as a minor state of Australia.”

Ms King said: “The Bill… ensures that New Zealand will have an equal say in the setting up and running of the new Authority and joint scheme.” The new authority will be like a crown-owned entity and will have to provide an anuual report and a statement of intent to parliament each year.

Friday, January 25, 2008

B2B Trade Area of Taipei Game Show, criticized by trade buyers last year, but accompanied with 2008 Taiwan Digital Content Forum, moved to the second floor at Taipei World Trade Center for world-wide participants with a better exchange atmosphere this year.

Not only local OBMs (Softstar Entertainment, Soft-World International Corp., International Games System Corp., …, etc.) but also companies from New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea showcased different specialists with multiple styles. Especially on South Korea, participated members from G? Trade Show (Game Show & Trade, All-Round, aka Gstar) showcased gaming industry of South Korea and the G? upcoming at this November with brochures.

In the 2-days Digital Content Forum, world-class experts not only shared industry experiences, members from Taiwan Gaming Industry Association also discussed and forecasted marketing models for gaming industry. With participations from governmental, industrial, and academical executives world-wide, this forum helps them gained precious experiences of digital content industry from several countries.

According to the Taipei Computer Association, the show and forum organizer, the digital content industry in Taiwan was apparently grown up recent years as Minister of Economic Affairs of the Republic of China Steve Ruey-long Chen said at Opening Ceremony yesterday. Without R&Ds from cyber-gaming, and basic conceptions from policies and copyright issues, this (digital content) industry will be fallen down in Taiwan. If this industry wanted to be grown up in sustainability, gaming OBMs in Taiwan should independently produce different and unique games and change market style to market brands and games to the world.

Friday, September 2, 2005

An explosion today in Makhachkala, Russia in the Russian region of Dagestan killed one and wounded five others, police say. The bomb detonated in a pile of garbage, where servicemen and a truck had been sent to search for explosives on a street near a military base. When the engineers got out of the truck to search, the bomb went off.

The Dagestani Ministry, reported by the Russian news agency ITAR-Tass, originally stated that the blast killed two servicemen and wounded three others. They later revised this to six servicemen wounded (as well as one civilian), but no fatalities. A police officer told ITAR-Tass news that a brigade had been on patrol when the explosion occurred.

According to RIA-Novosti and Interfax news, medics reported one death and six injuries. RIA-Novosti also reports that the bomb exploded near a trolley bus.

Police and ambulances were immediately brought to the area of the explosion, which was quickly sealed off by police.

The alleged planters of the bomb were followed by police, but escaped after firing at the officers.

This explosion is not surprising, as racial tensions in the Muslim majority region of Dagestan often lead to attacks on officials and police.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Fan Expo Canada ran in Toronto last weekend, from Thursday to Sunday, spread over both multi-storey buildings at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The event is one of North America’s largest pop culture events, with panels, product unveilings, screenings, an artists’ alley, and celebrity autographs.

Featured programming included reunions of cast members from 2001: A Space Odyssey, Back to the Future, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Degrassi: The Next Generation. Other cast panels included Star Trek Discovery, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, and Grand Theft Auto. Attendees could have their portfolios reviewed by staff from Marvel and DC Comics, speed date others of the same sexuality, or try a Doctor Who escape room.

The end-of-summer event is one of three held in Toronto by convention firm Informa, a list that also includes the springtime Toronto Comic Con.

Wikinews was there, and captured some of the cosplay creativity and booths full of products new and old.

• Peekaboo Cosplay as “Glitterbomb Jessica”, based on Jessica Rabbit

• Faraway Cosplay as Ariel from The Little Mermaid

• Dayna the Sloth as Nightmare Ysera from World of Warcraft

• Jennocide as Storm and Lisa Mancini as Thor

• Quarter_year_cosplayz as Toothless the dragon

• Fan-made Pokemon sculptures

• Artist’s Alley promotional display

• Hasbro booth

• Ralph Breaks the Internet promotion

• Funko Pop display

• Dragonball Z display

• Voice actor Grey Delisle

• Voice actor Jim Cummings

• Alpha Flight action figures unveiled at the event

• Alpha Flight action figures unveiled at the event

• Rogers built a structure nearby, including a SpongeBob-themed room.

• Toys’R’Us is still active and open in Canada, despite closing in the US.

• Showcase had live painting for the show Marvel Runaways.

• Inigo Montoya

• Game of Thrones

• The Incredibles

• The Incredibles

• Super Mario characters

• Belle and Prince Adam

• Inflatable dinosaur meetup

• Peter Pan, Wendy, and Captain Hook

• Rainbow Brite

• Spinelli from Recess.

• Ariel

• Chuckie Finster from Rugrats

• Waluigi and Wario

• Lara Croft

• Objecthead cosplay

• Daft Punk cosplay

Thursday, October 22, 2020

2020 Melbourne Lord Mayor candidate Wayne Tseng answered some questions about his campaign for the upcoming election from Wikinews. The Lord Mayor election in the Australian city is scheduled to take place this week.

Tseng runs a firm called eTranslate, which helps software developers to make the software available to the users. In the candidate’s questionnaire, Tseng said eTranslate had led to him working with all three tiers of the government. He previously belonged to the Australian Liberal Party, but has left since then, to run for mayorship as an independent candidate.

Tseng is of Chinese descent, having moved to Australia with his parents from Vietnam. Graduated in Brisbane, Tseng received his PhD in Melbourne and has been living in the city, he told Wikinews. Tseng also formed Chinese Precinct Chamber of Commerce, an organisation responsible for many “community bond building initiatives”, the Lord Mayor candidate told Wikinews.

Tseng discussed his plans for leading Melbourne, recovering from COVID-19, and “Democracy 2.0” to ensure concerns of minorities in the city were also heard. Tseng also focused on the importance of the multi-culture aspect and talked about making Melbourne the capital of the aboriginals. Tseng also explained why he thinks Melbourne is poised to be a world city by 2030.

Tseng’s deputy Lord Mayor candidate Gricol Yang is a Commercial Banker and works for ANZ Banking Group.

Currently, Sally Capp is the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, the Victorian capital. Capp was elected as an interim Lord Mayor in mid-2018 after the former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle resigned from his position after sexual assault allegations. Doyle served as the Lord Mayor of Melbourne for almost a decade since 2008.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Catherine Mullany, a newly married British woman, and her husband, Ben Mullany, have been shot while on honeymoon in Antigua. Catherine died on the scene, while Ben is in a critical condition in Hospital.

The families of the Mullanys have described themselves as “deeply shocked and devastated.”

The incident occurred at 05:00 Antigua time (09:00 GMT) on Tuesday, and it is being treated by police as a robbery. A police spokesperson described the incident. “Shortly after 5am this morning officers from the Bolans Police station responding to a call, arrived at Cocos Hotel and Restaurant in the Valley Church area, the scene of a murder.” UK police have been asked to help in the inquiry.

Catherine Mullany was a doctor, who, before her death, planned to become a GP. Ben was a physiotherapy student at the University of the West of England (UWE), which is located in Bristol, England. Mary Price, the Media Relations and Internal Communications Manager for UWE, gave Wikinews the following statement:

Wednesday, September 7, 2005

Evacuees from New Orleans arrived on Sunday and have continued to come to Utah, utilizing the facilities at Camp Williams, the training facility for the Utah National Guard, to house the incoming people. Flights from New Orleans to Salt Lake City International Airport provided by JetBlue Airways under a contract from FEMA have been shuttling people from New Orleans to many destinations throughout the United States, including Utah.

In addition, Utah Air National Guard relief missions transporting food and other supplies to New Orleans relief efforts have also been returning with people in the cargo areas of the airplanes on return flights. “In keeping with our mission to assist in the security and safety of our homeland, we stand trained, ready, and able to respond to the call to assist our fellow citizens in Louisiana, Mississippi and elsewhere,” said Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, Utah National Guard Adjutant General.

The people on board the airplanes had no idea where they were going. In one case the airplane was headed to San Antonio and at the last minute while still airborne the destination was changed to Utah. Peter Coroon, Salt Lake County Mayor: “Some of the people look dazed. Some of them are just happy to be out of where they were. Some of them are eager to find their loves ones they’ve been separated. Some of them weren’t sure where they were going when they left New Orleans.”

Governor John Huntsman, Jr. utilized surplus state funds by declaring a state of emergency to begin efforts housing and clothing people coming to Utah, however some of this will likely be reimbursed by the Federal Government at a later date. He announced that Utah was willing to take up to 1,000 people at shelters in Utah, and that amount was later increased to over 2,000. On Monday, President Bush signed an executive order granting the emergency declaration in Utah to provide Federal assistance for the evacuees in Utah.

After arriving in Utah, one evacuee said “I want to thank the people of Utah for their hospitality and for restoring my faith in America.” Another evacuee said “it seems like heaven, looking at the mountains and getting a breath of fresh air and saying, ‘Thank God we made it.'”

Not all evacuees were pleased with the move to Utah. “I knew where Utah was, but nobody told me that’s where we were going. Nothing personal. It’s nice. But I don’t know anybody here,” said Bergeron, among the first batch of 152 evacuees to arrive at the Camp Williams Utah Army National Guard training site.

The Utah chapter of the American Red Cross has been training volunteers over the Labor Day weekend, and according to one official they have been overwhelmed with community support to help the evacuees. The line of volunteers to receive the training helping those at Camp Williams was litterally out of the door at the Red Cross offices today. One volunteer, Kayelynn Wright said, “The last couple of days we’d talked about it and said, ‘What can we do?’ So when I saw it (a call for volunteers) last night, I called (my neighbor) this morning and said, ‘We gotta go!'” The Red Cross has asked that you contact the local office if you plan on volunteering or donating any new clothing and other items to help the evacuees.

Volunteers from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday gathered at the LDS Humanitarian Center in Salt Lake to assemble more than 50,000 hygiene kits for hurricane victims. Plastic bags were stuffed with toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs, soap, washcloths and hand towels. The supplies will be shipped to a church-owned storehouse Georgia for distribution.

Transportation requests are also being honored by the Utah state government, and evacuees are having transportation to anywhere in the United States paid for at state expense. In addition, a small amount of extra money is being donated directly to each family to help with immediate expenses. The Utah Transit Authority has already established a regular municipal bus service between Camp William and downtown Salt Lake City, which will begin formal service starting tomorrow morning.