Tuesday, April 14, 2020

In February 2017, the Iranian Chess Federation announced two teenage chess players, Dorsa Derakhshani and her younger brother Borna Derakhshani, were banned from representing the national team. The federation announced their decision although Dorsa Derakhshani had previously decided and informed the chess federation she did not wish to play for Iran.

Dorsa Derakhshani is currently 21 years old and holds the International Master (IM) as well as Woman Grand Master (WGM) titles. Her brother, Borna, plays for the English Federation and holds the FIDE Master title.

Dorsa Derakhshani was banned since she did not wear a hijab, an Islamic headscarf, while competing at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in January 2017. Under the laws of Islamic Republic of Iran, hijab is a mandatory dress code. Her brother Borna Deraskhsani was banned for playing against Israeli Grand Master (GM) Alexander Huzman at the same tournament. Iran does not recognise the existence of Israel, and previously, Irani athletes have avoided playing against Israeli athletes.

Mehrdad Pahlavanzadeh, the president of the country’s chess federation, explained the decision to ban the players saying, “As a first step, these two will be denied entry to all tournaments taking place in Iran and in the name of Iran, they will no longer be allowed the opportunity to be present on the national team.” ^{((fa))Farsi language: ?????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ??????? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ????.} He further stated, “Unfortunately, something that should not have happened has happened and our national interest is paramount and we have reported this position to the Ministry of Sports.” ^{((fa))Farsi language: ????????? ?????? ?? ????? ????????? ?????? ??? ? ????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????.}

IM Dorsa Derakhshani, who currently studies at Saint Louis University in the United States and plays for the United States Chess Federation, discussed her chess career, time in Iran and the 2017 controversy, and her life in Saint Louis with a Wikinews correspondent.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Buffalo, New York —Reports say that a large three-story stable which partially collapsed in Buffalo, New York on June 11, and caused as many as five home to be evacuated, is likely to be demolished.

During the early afternoon hours on June 11, the Buffalo Fire Department was called to 428 Jersey Avenue after residents called 911 stating that part of the building had collapsed. Material from the building fell into the yards of at least three neighboring houses. Some of the bricks landed inside the building, while some fell into the yards of some houses behind homes on Richmond Avenue, leaving a ‘V’ shape.

The city’s preservation board held an emergency meeting today to discuss the issue. Wikinews has learned that the owner of the building, Bob Freudenheim, gave the city permission to demolish the building because he would not be “rehabilitating the building anytime soon.” Freudenheim was part-owner of the Hotel Lenox at 140 North Street in Buffalo and was also an advocate to stop the Elmwood Village Hotel from being built on the corners of Forest and Elmwood Avenues in 2006 and 2007, which Wikinews extensively covered. He also financially supported a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the hotel from being built. Though it is not known exactly how long Freudenheim has owned the stable, Wikinews has learned that he was the owner while fighting to stop the hotel from being built.

Freudenheim has been facing housing violations due to the poor conditions of the building.

“We had a letter of violation against him. He was supposed to have started work to stabilize the brick this Monday. We all hope this building could be saved. But we’ve got five houses evacuated and we cannot tolerate any further delay. We’ve got to get people back into their homes in a safe condition,” said Richard Tobe, Commissioner of the city’s Permit and Inspection Services.

Demolition on the building is expected to begin next week, but area residents are not happy and say they will fight to keep the building in place.

“They’re going to have to trash our backyard to do it. So I hope they have to have our permission, because we’re not going to give it lightly. I’m sure it’s the biggest and architecturally significant livery stable still standing. I can’t see any reason to take it down just because of one hole,” stated Joe Murray, a resident on Richmond and Jersey who lives behind the collapsed portion of the building.

Mike Lombardo, the Commissioner for the Buffalo Fire Department, believes that the building was built in 1812 or 1814, making it nearly 200 years old. It is one of only three stables still standing in the city.

If the building is to be demolished, Freudenheim will end up paying the city nearly US$300,000 to get the job done.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Lordi, described as “cartoon metalheads” wearing latex monster masks, beat runner-up Russian “heart throb” Dima Bilan to win this year’s 51st Eurovision song contest held in Athens, Greece. Bosnia’s Hari Mata Hariwas came third.

In a spectacular show, hosted by Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas, Lordi amassed 292 points after a public vote – 44 ahead of Russia. Greece’s singer Anna Vissi, who was one of the favourites to win, came 9th, followed by Ireland’s Brian Kennedy. From the start of the song contest as well as during the televoting, the Greek organisers presented viewers choreographies and dances inspired by Greek culture and music, both ancient and modern. In addition, the world famous Greek singer Nana Moushouri was presented by the hosts and gave the sign for the start of televoting.

Wielding spark-spewing instruments, the “Monster-themed” rock band beat 23 other competitors, scoring 292 points from telephone voters in 38 countries with its song “Hard Rock Hallelujah” in a performance that both shocked and amused viewers.

A spokesperson for Lordi said: “We won the contest, looking like this,” he said. “It just goes to show that Europe is not such a bad place.” The Finnish band thanked viewers for voting for their song, which featured the lead singer hoisting a double-headed-axe microphone stand above his head. The win has been dubbed as a “radical departure” from the catchy pop tunes, folk songs and emotional ballads normally associated with Eurovision.

Complete with distorted guitars, a catchy chorus and “mock-demonic imagery,” Lordi is reminiscent of 1970s American band Kiss – an inspiration acknowledged by lead singer Mr Lordi. “What this has shown is that there are different styles of music than just pop and rock,” Mr Lordi told news media after the surprise victory. “That should be the goal of Eurovision,” he said.

Mr. Lordi, whose real name is Tomi Putaansuu, hails from Lapland and says his band’s masked personas are just characters. “The guys behind the masks are not interesting – underneath, there’s just a boring, normal guy who walks the dogs, goes to the supermarket, watches DVDs and eats candies. You really don’t want to see him.” he said. But the characters “live on stage and they live in a fantasy world”, he said. “This element of mystery is one of the cornerstones of Lordi.”

The band has upset many Finns with their outrageous behaviour. “This is a victory for rock music… and also a victory for open-mindedness,” Mr Lordi said. “For the millionth time, we’re not Satanists or devil worshippers. This is entertainment. The masks are like our calling card and we’ll never perform without them. It would be like Santa Claus handing a child his gifts at Christmas time and then pulling off his beard…”

The 51st annual Eurovision was broadcast live across Europe, watched by an estimated 100 million viewers. Regarded by many as the “contest good taste forgot,” Eurovision is adored by fans of kitsch and camp everywhere.

Lordi join the likes of Abba, Bucks Fizz, Dana and Celine Dion on the elite list of Eurovision winners.

Because of Lordi’s first place finish, next year the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest will take place, for the first time, in Helsinki, Finland.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

“Just like they told us that our bridges were safe, they also want us to swallow that our power grid is in no danger of a system-wide, no-power-for-weeks crash”, said tenured power grid expert Donald McCormick, a senior contractor with Hydro One, an Ontario, Canada based electricity provider.

Mr. McCormick indicated that in reality though, there’s no question that the system of grids that supply power throughout the continent are in much worse shape than the majority of bridges, levees and borders in Canada and U.S. He has over two decades of experience in all aspects of power grid construction, infrastructure, maintenance, and distribution. During a recent interview, Mr. McCormick compared the ten major interconnected power regions that comprise the “North American Grid”, to a string of Christmas lights that’s been active non-stop since the 1950s. Mr. McCormick’s qualifications include being a licensed red seal interprovincial/interstate electrical engineer and he’s worked at numerous power generating stations mainly in Canada, but also across the U.S. He’s participated in building regional infrastructure related to both generation and distribution. Additionally, Mr. McCormick is Orange Level qualified as an Atomic Radiation Worker (ARW) registered in Geneva, Switzerland.

Mr. McCormick offered his candid assessment of today’s continental “power grid” by making several observations about this critical, civilization-supporting industry. His power plant experience includes both nuclear and coal, and he’s a certified expert in alternative fuel technologies such as wind, solar and hydrogen. He said that, from nuclear to coal, the majority of power generating plants operating across North America have momentous deficiencies, and the collective 10-region “power grid” has not been maintained properly (across the board) since the 1960s. Population growth has created a state in which North American power consumption is far greater than what is being yielded by current technological capacity to generate consumable energy. Mr. McCormick indicated that the infamous August 2003 blackout, in which the Northeastern U.S., Mid-Eastern U.S. and most of Ontario suffered stifling, life-interrupting blackouts, was just the beginning of something much more significant. In reference to the North American Power Grid Initiative, he said that it’s nothing more than a case of, “too little, too late”.

“You’re frequently seeing substandard parts and equipment being employed, on sites across the continent, and being used for sensitive construction projects, often related to components integral to the grid system itself. North American nuclear energy generating plants are among the worst when it comes to safety violations, not only endangering on-site employees with blatant disregard but also literally thousands of people with regard to unregulated, unnoticed pollution and waste being dumped in rivers, lakes and oceans, into the atmosphere and, more specifically, our entire ecosystem,” said McCormick.

Mr. McCormick strongly feels that another major breakdown of the grid system may occur by the end of this year, and he further stated that he’s also concerned that domestic power grid system is in grave danger of being undermined by terrorists.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Pioneer modern Anaesthetic techniques Thomas Cecil Gray, born 11 March 1913 in Liverpool, died peacefully 5 January 2008 at home in Formby. A requiem mass was held at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral on 26 January 2008.

Born in Liverpool in 1913, educated at Ampleforth College, he qualified in medicine at The University of Liverpool in 1937. He began his career as a General Practitioner before joining the Royal Army Medical Corps.

He later returned to the University to become Head of the Department of Anaesthesia and was made Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in 1970, retiring in 1976. As Senior Lecturer he established the Department of Anaesthesia at Liverpool University, the ‘Liverpool technique’, based on the triad of unconsciousness, analgesia and muscle relaxation, was developed as a result.

Professor Gray was the editor of the British Journal of Anaesthesia from 1948 to 1964. Until recently Professor Gray continued to give occasional lectures at the university.

Professor Gray was presented with a CBE by Queen Elizabeth and in 1982 was honoured by Pope John Paul II who made him a Commander of the Order of St. Gregory the Great. In 2007 the Liverpool Echo included him in its list of the 800 greatest Liverpudlians, as part of Liverpools 800th anniversary.

Married twice. He married his first wife Marjorie Kathleen Hely in 1937 they had 2 children, she died in 1978; He married Pamela Mary Corning in 1979, they had 1 son. He had four grandchildren.

Monday, February 1, 2010

A new set of talks are scheduled to attempt to reunite Cyprus, prompting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to say that a solution is “possible and within reach” when he arrived in the country yesterday for talks between Greek and Turkish-Cypriot leaders that will take place later today.

Progress have been slow for the peace talks, which started in September 2008, but the UN chief said that a deal would require “courage, flexibility and vision as well as a spirit of compromise”. “I am under no illusion that the Cyprus problem is easy to solve”, he told reporters after he arrived in Larnaca yesterday in preparation for the talks with Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot Mehmet Ali Talat today.

Ban said that “solving the Cyprus problem will give inspiration to all those around the world trying to solve other seemingly intractable problems and I’m looking forward to having good meetings with the leaders”, with the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders saying that they are committed to finding a solution. Monday’s talks will involve Ban holding talks with the two leaders individually, before chairing a meeting between the pair. Any deal that emerges will be a subject of two simultaneous referendums, one for each side of the border. Both sides agree that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”.

Jonny Dymond, the BBC Europe correspondent, has expressed fears that time is running out on a solution. There are also worries that the fast approaching northern Cyprus leadership elections will mean that Talat is replaced by nationalist Dervis Eroglu, who is leading in opinion polls. If this were to happen, talks might be shelved.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974, after Turkish forces invaded after a coup led by Greece allegedly aimed to absorb it. Northern Cyprus is only recognised as a state by Turkey.

Friday, October 10, 2008

In an attempt to speak with as many candidates as possible during the 2008 Canadian federal election, Wikinews has talked via email with Vicki Gunn. Gunn is a candidate in Ontario’s York—Simcoe riding, running under the Christian Heritage Party of Canada (CHP) banner. The CHP is a minor, registered political party running a significant number of candidates across the country, looking to earn its first ever seat in the House of Commons.

The riding has existed from 1968 to 1979, from 1988 to 1997, and from 2004 to present. As of the next provincial election in Ontario, it will be recognised as a provincial electoral district as well. Over the years, the riding has been represented by the Liberal Party, Progressive Conservative Party, again by the Progressive Conservatives, again by the Liberals, and since its recreation, the seat has been held by the Conservative Party of Canada.

Peter Van Loan, the Conservative incumbent, is the Minister Responsible for Democratic Reform and Leader of the Government in the House of Commons. The other candidates in the riding, besides Van Loan and the CHP’s Gunn, are New Democrat Sylvia Gerl, Liberal Judith Moses, and the Green Party‘s John Dewar.

The following is an interview with Gunn, conducted via email. The interview is published unedited, as sent to Wikinews.