Friday, February 13, 2009 The American civilian communications satellite Iridium 33 and the defunct Russian military communications satellite Kosmos-2251 collided over Siberia on Tuesday, according to NASA. The satellites, each weighing in excess of 1,000 pounds, and traveling at approximately 17,500 miles per hour, collided 491 miles above the earth. The Iridium satellite was launched in 1997, and the Russian satellite was a Strela-2M model. The American satellite is expected to be replaced within the coming month as Iridium will maneuver one of its in-orbit satellites to replace the lost…
National Museum of Scotland reopens after three-year redevelopment
Friday, July 29, 2011 Today sees the reopening of the National Museum of Scotland following a three-year renovation costing £47.4 million (US$ 77.3 million). Edinburgh’s Chambers Street was closed to traffic for the morning, with the 10am reopening by eleven-year-old Bryony Hare, who took her first steps in the museum, and won a competition organised by the local Evening News paper to be a VIP guest at the event. Prior to the opening, Wikinews toured the renovated museum, viewing the new galleries, and some of the 8,000 objects inside. 1…
Race to save Chilean miners trapped underground from spiralling into depression continues
Thursday, September 2, 2010 It has emerged that the 33 Chilean miners trapped underground after the mine they were working in collapsed could be brought to the surface in a shorter time than was initially feared. While officials publicly announced that the men would not be brought to the surface until Christmas, sources inside technical meetings have revealed that they could in fact be on the surface by early November. The news comes as families were allowed to speak by radio-telephone to their trapped loved ones on Sunday. Over the…
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 weeks ago Dr. Siemionow, in a 23-hour marathon surgery, replaced 80 percent of her face, by transplanting or grafting bone, nerve, blood vessels, muscles and skin harvested from a female donor’s cadaver. The Clinic…
US home sales fall at fastest pace on record
Monday, January 25, 2010 Sales of previously owned homes in the US fell at the fastest rate ever recorded last December, according to data from the National Association of Realtors (NAR). According to the association, existing home sales fell 16.7% last month, to an annual rate of 5.45 million, the largest crash since 1968. The figure was less than the 5.90 million units, or an eleven percent drop, predicted by most analysts. Sales of homes went up for the entire of 2009 to 5.156 million units, or 4.9% for the…
Cadillac unveils Obama’s ‘Beast’, the 2009 Presidential State Car
Saturday, January 17, 2009 The US Secret Service has released the first photos Wednesday of the new presidential limousine that will transport Barack Obama down Pennsylvania Avenue next Tuesday as part of the 56th Presidential inaugural parade after he is sworn in at the Capitol. The First Limo – the 2009 Cadillac Presidential Limousine – will replace President Bush’s Cadillac DTS Presidential Limousine that rolled out in 2004. Nicknamed “The Beast”, the hulking machine is a new model year 2009, modified limousine. According to General Motors, the new “2009 Cadillac…
Broken pipes cause flood in Darwin D. Martin House in Buffalo, New York
Correction — February 13, 2008 The break was a broken sprinkler head in a crawl space above the shop, according to Jeffrey A. Salmon Facilities Manager of the Martin House Restoration Corporation. Not a pipe. Tuesday, February 12, 2008 Buffalo, New York —According to radio communications by the Buffalo, New York Fire Department, at approximately 10:15 p.m. EST two water pipes inside the Darwin D. Martin House, a National Historical Landmark, broke causing several rooms to flood. The breaks were discovered in the gift shop area of the house but quickly…
Pair taken off plane because of “suspicious” behaviour
Sunday, August 20, 2006 Two men who were reportedly seen acting suspiciously on a flight bound for Manchester had to be taken off the plane, it has emerged today. According to Monarch Airlines, a number of passengers informed staff of their worries surrounding the pair’s behaviour in Malaga on Wednesday. As the passengers’ requested, the two men were then removed from the Airbus A320, which was carrying 150 people. They were then questioned by police for several hours and allowed to fly back to the United Kingdom at the end…
Contador wins 2009 Tour de France; Cavendish wins six stages
Sunday, July 26, 2009 Spaniard Alberto Contador of team Astana has won the 2009 Tour de France after crossing the line in a final time of 85:48:35 for the 21-stage grand tour. Andy Schleck from Luxembourg came in second place. Schleck, riding for Team Saxo Bank also won the maillot blanc for the young riders’ classification. American Lance Armstrong of Astana claimed the final podium spot, 5:24 behind Contador. The seven-time Tour-winner returned from retirement after winning the 2005 Tour de France. Winning the final stage at Champs-Élysées in Paris,…
Nigeria fireworks fire kills one, injures dozens
Thursday, December 27, 2012 At least one person has been killed and at least thirty were injured as the result of a fire in the city of Lagos in Nigeria after an explosion in a building with fireworks stored in it. As many as nine other buildings in the Lagos Island fire yesterday were also impacted by the flames, according to authorities. The fire was reportedly the cause of the explosion, although this is yet to be confirmed. Some local residents reportedly jumped out of the windows of buildings in…