News briefs:May 16, 2010

 Correction — August 24, 2015 These briefs incorrectly describe BP as ‘British Petroleum’. In fact, such a company has not existed for many years as BP dropped this name when becoming a multinational company. The initials no longer stand for anything.  Wikinews Audio Briefs Credits Produced By Turtlestack Recorded By Turtlestack Written By Turtlestack Listen To …

Controversial development training cited in religious discrimination lawsuits

Friday, May 23, 2008 A controversial development training course called “Landmark Forum” is cited in religious discrimination lawsuits in United States federal courts in New York and Washington, D.C. The seminars are run by a San Francisco, California-based for-profit training company called Landmark Education. The company evolved from Erhard Seminars Training “est”, and has faced …

Cleveland, Ohio clinic performs US’s first face transplant

Thursday, December 18, 2008 A team of eight transplant surgeons in Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, USA, led by reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow, age 58, have successfully performed the first almost total face transplant in the US, and the fourth globally, on a woman so horribly disfigured due to trauma, that cost her an eye. …

Two nuclear submarines collide in the Atlantic Ocean

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 The Nuclear ballistic missile submarines Triomphant, from France, and HMS Vanguard, of the British Royal Navy, collided deep under the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of the night between February 3 and 4, despite both vessels being equipped with sonar. The collision caused damage to both vessels but …

New Zealand dog saves five children; receives international attention

Saturday, May 5, 2007 A small, “nicely trained” Jack Russell Terrier gave his life to help save a group of five children from two aggressive pitbulls last Sunday in Manaia, Taranaki, New Zealand. The dog named George is being described as a hero, gathering a huge amount of international media interest in the process. The …

Wikinews interviews Australian wheelchair basketball player Tina McKenzie

Friday, January 3, 2014 Preston, Victoria, Australia —On Saturday, Wikinews interviewed Tina McKenzie, a former member of the Australia women’s national wheelchair basketball team, known as the Gliders. McKenzie, a silver and bronze Paralympic medalist in wheelchair basketball, retired from the game after the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. Wikinews caught up with her in …

Nadal withdraws from French Open 2016, suffers from wrist injury

Saturday, May 28, 2016 Yesterday, nine-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal withdrew from this year’s tournament suffering from a wrist injury. I feel myself with the right motivation and the right energy to be back at Roland Garros the next couple of years On Thursday, Nadal defeated Facundo Bagnis with his wrist anesthetized. With that …

Over 60 illegal miners die in South African mine fire

Wednesday, June 3, 2009 Over 60 miners were killed in an abandoned gold mine shaft near Welkom, in the Free State province of South Africa, after a fire broke out inside the mine. 36 bodies from the Harmony Gold mining company Eland mine shaft were brought up earlier on the weekend from depths up to …

Gay Talese on the state of journalism, Iraq and his life

Saturday, October 27, 2007 Gay Talese wants to go to Iraq. “It so happens there is someone that’s working on such a thing right now for me,” the 75-year-old legendary journalist and author told David Shankbone. “Even if I was on Al-Jazeera with a gun to my head, I wouldn’t be pleading with those bastards! …