Sunday, December 25, 2005

A Fiesta Season of two weeks begins in Colombia in December 25 with the Feria de Cali followed by the Feria de Manizales and the Carnival of Blacks and Whites in Pasto.

The 48th Feria de Cali

Begins at 1:00 pm in the city of Cali and the opening ceremony includes a Cabalgata, (Horseriding Parade). During the Feria, there will be bullfighting events and shows, salsa and Caribbean music concerts until December 30. This year concerts will include renowned salsa artists such as Jonny Pacheco, Sergio Vargas, Jose Feliciano, Carlos Vives, Sonora Carruseles from Miami among others.

Feria de Manizales

This is the Feria of Pasodoble, the musical rhythm that accompanies the bullfighting events. These festivals are to be celebrated from January 2nd to January 9th. It includes a beauty contest with the participation of 24 beauty queens from different countries. The beauty queens will be homage in a sort of Petals-Rain Parade on the main streets of the city of Manizales.

There will be 16 venues music concerts, each one specializing in different music types including Salsa, Vallenato, Pasodoble, music of the 60’s, tango, etc.

Carnival of Blacks and Whites

Beginning with a pre-carnival event on December 28th, the carnival begns on January 2nd with a parade of “Colonies” is the most picturesque carnival of the country.

On December 4 is the arrival of the Castaneda family, a krewe parade where a typical settler family from the north of Colombia caricatured. On December the 5th people will play to paint each other in black to celebrate the Day of the Blacks and on December the 6th the whites will take revenge by to throwing white talcum to everyone

Saturday, September 22, 2007

The first ever case of Bluetongue disease has been reported in the UK. The case involves a cow at a farm near Ipswich, Suffolk.

Bluetongue affects ruminants such as sheep and cows, but is not known to affect humans. It is sometimes fatal, depending on the animals affected, and presently has no treatment. The disease was prevalent in Africa for many years and had since migrated to European nations such as France and Germany, causing officials had feared a UK outbreak in the UK follows recent outbreaks of the disease on the European continent in nations such as France and Germany.

Experts such as microbiology professor Hugh Pennington of Aberdeen University had suspected the disease would eventually spread to the UK.

Sunday, October 18, 2020

The spread of coronavirus led to a global pandemic, affecting various daily activities. Originated in Wuhan, China, the virus spread globally, and by March, drastic measures were taken by the Indian government. Some branches of the South Western Railway of India had started taking precautions by distributing masks to ticket collectors and guards from as early as March 8. Some colleges were suspended by March 13, their exams post-poned as the government introduced lockdown and enforced social distancing.

Announced in the evening, Indian Prime Minister asked the countrymen to get the essential products and avoid going out as much as possible. Long queues outside the grocery shops, people in masks, some in N-95 masks, and hand sanitisers at the gates of megamarts were a common sight. There were reduced items in the shops, and some stores had a limit of number of customers allowed in the store at any given time. Food delivery services, and taxi services were on haitus — workers who dependent on the profession for their daily income, while software engineers were working from home. Physical classes in schools and colleges were replaced by online lectures to prevent social gatherings.

While many relied on technology for continuing their work and earn their livelihood, Wikinews reached out to sex workers in Mysore in June who unlike others can’t maintain social distancing for their work. Two sex-workers, Akram Pasha, and Jaya (a pseudonym), who were a part of sex-worker’s group called “Ashodaya Samithi” discussed how their lives had been affected by the coronavirus, the lockdown and the restrictions they had faced.

Wednesday, December 16, 2009

In a continuing crackdown on tax evasion, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) has alleged that brokers with a branch of RBC Dominion Securities, Canada’s largest brokerage company, helped clients set up accounts in the small European principality of Liechtenstein in order to avoid taxation on their wealth.

In affadavits submitted by the CRA, brokers with an RBC Dominion Securities office in Victoria, British Columbia, allegedly helped clients set up 16 offshore entities with a division of the LGT Group in Liechtenstein. While that is not a crime under Canadian law, auditors allege that the entities were used to help Canadians hide worldwide income. Thirteen individuals are either being audited or have made voluntary disclosures, admitting to tax evasion. The agency is presently investigating to see if there are any other individuals participating in this scheme. Regarding the inquiry, dubbed “Project Jade”, the CRA will only say that it was launched on information from a “confidential informant”.

RBC issued a written statement, saying “As a firm, we have never encouraged Canadians — not 25 years ago and not today — to set up entities in Liechtenstein, and we have never instructed our investment advisers to recommend that practice,” and “we comply with all CRA requirements. This means that we provide all our clients with the forms they need to meet their personal tax obligations, and also file reports with CRA that form the basis for reviews such as this.”

Three RBC employees are presently being investigated, with one remaining unidentified.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

J. Russell Coffey, the oldest surviving United States veteran of First World War (WWI), has died. He was 109.

Coffey’s death was announced by the Smith-Crates Funeral Home in North Baltimore, Ohio. According to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (USDVA), he is the last remaining veteran of the war in Ohio. He was also one of just three remaining US WWI veterans.

Coffey, who was born on September 1, 1898, never saw armed conflict as he enlisted in October 1918, just one month prior to Germany and The Allies signing a ceasefire deal. As a result, he failed to complete basic training in time to enter battle. He left Ohio State University, where he had been studying, in order to join the army.

He had two elder brothers, both of whom saw combat, and for some time he expressed regret at having not being able to join the war, although in April 2007 he told the Associated Press “I think I was good to get out of it.”.

He returned to education at New York University, where he earned a doctorate. He went on to follow a career of playing baseball at a semipro level, as well as teaching students at both college and high school level. He also raised a family; however, his wife and daughter have both since died. He once said to his daughter Betty Jo Larsen, who died in September, that he would prefer to be remembered for what he had done rather than his age. “He told me ‘Even a prune can get old.'” she once said.

He continued to drive until the age of 104, and lived alone until the age of 106. After that, he moved into the Blakely Care Center nursing home, where he resided until his death. The funeral home did not disclose the location of his death.

A cause of death is yet to be established, although it is known he had been in poor health since October.

According to the USDVA, the other surviving veterans are Frank Buckles, 106, of Charles Town, West Virginia and Harry Richard Landis, 108, of Sun City Center, Florida.