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Saturday, September 19, 2009

A study carried out in the United Kingdom revealed that the life expectancy for men could be reduced by 10–15 years after the age of 50 due to smoking.

The British Medical Journal carried out a study over a time period of 38 years in the United Kingdom which examined the health of 19,000 men aged 40–69. They were examined between 1967–1970. After tracing the history of the men, the survey revealed that smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol reduced the life expectancy of men by 10–15 years after they reached the age of 50. The research was published on the BMJ‘s website on Friday.

The researchers from the University of Oxford in England were focussing on smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol due to the fact that they are the main cardiovascular risk factors. Dr. Robert Clarke from the university said: “We’ve shown that men at age 50 who smoke, have high blood pressure and high cholesterol levels can expect to survive to 74 years of age, while those who have none of these risk factors can expect to live until 83. It is precisely this kind of very prolonged follow-up study that is necessary to get these results — that modest differences in heart risk factors can accurately predict significant differences in life expectancy.”

“The results give people another way of looking at heart disease risk factors that can be understood more readily. If you stop smoking or take measures to deal with high blood pressure or body weight, it will translate into increased life expectancy.”

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

As public opinion wavers over Canada’s involvement in Afghanistan, Defence minister Gordon O’Connor made an appearance to shore up support among the troops for the Afghan mission.

O’Connor disembarked a Canadian Forces Hercules C-130 transport plane dressed in full desert battle fatigues and boots, and was greeted by Lieut.-Gen. Michel Gauthier at Canada’s base on Kandahar airfield. “I’m here on this visit to get three perspectives – One is what’s happening on the ground here. The other in Kabul for what’s happening on the national level, and then I’m going to Pakistan for the international perspective.”

The minister’s visit comes as a surge of violence is sweeping across southern Afghanistan. Military casualties have run high since August 3rd, claiming the lives of eight Canadian troops, one British soldier and many more civilians. Much of the violence comes at the hands of suicide bomb attacks against resupply convoys amid growing frustration at the presence of foreign troops in Afghan territory. In the hours before O’Connor’s arrival another suicide bomber targeted a Canadian convoy, killing two civilians and injuring a third.

Military officials took the opportunity to highlight concerns for the troops on the ground who are complaining of poor equipment, vehicles and accommodation.

Friday, September 9, 2005

New Orleans, Louisiana —After Category 4 storm Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, on the night before August 29, 2005, several flood control constructions failed. Much of the city flooded through the openings. One of these was the flood wall forming one side of the 17th Street Canal, near Lake Pontchartrain. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the primary agency for engineering support during such emergencies. A USACE team was assessing the situation in New Orleans on the 29th, water flow was stopped September 2nd, and the breach was closed on September 5th.

Saturday, April 30, 2005

The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced a recall of foods containing banned dyes which increase the risk of cancer. The food products were sold at the Tesco, Waitrose, and Somerfield supermarkets.

A Bristol company called “Barts Spices” found the illegal Para Red substance in their Barts Ground Paprika, which was sold in 48g and 46g jars with a “Co-op” label. The batch codes on the affected products are 5032 and 5089 (expiration Dec 2007), and 5075 (expiration February 2007).

Tesco also found that their 130g package of BBQ rice cakes (expiration November and December 2005) contained both Para Red and Sudan I.

“It would be very prudent to assume that it could be a genotoxic carcinogen,” FSA scientific advisers told reporters.

“As a company committed to supplying only the very finest quality food ingredients, we took the immediate decision to withdraw our ground paprika spice from all outlets selling the product and advertised a product recall in the national press,” a Barts Spices spokesman said in a statement.

Sudan I is only authorized for industrial use to colorize petroleum products, such as shoe polish. Para Red and Sudan I are banned under the British Colours in Food Regulations of 1995.

Britain last went through a major food recall in February, when Worcester Sauce was found to contain chili powder dyed with Sudan 1.

Friday, November 7, 2014Albuquerque, New Mexico —Online entertainment is a booming market, and plenty of players are making their play; back in March of this year The Walt Disney Company bought the multi-channel network Maker Studios. What is web entertainment, and the arts therein? And, who are the people venturing into this field? Wikinews interviewed Mario Lucero and Isabel Ruiz, the founders of Heaven Sent Gaming, a small entertainment team. This group has been responsible for several publications, within several different media formats; one successful example was aywv, a gaming news website, which was #1 in Gaming on YouTube in 2009, from September to November; Heaven Sent Gaming was also the subject of a referential book, released in 2014, entitled Internet Legends – Heaven Sent Gaming.

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

In early May, Wikinews extended an invitation to Vitaly Filipchenko, an independent candidate in the 2021 New York City mayoral election, set to take place November 2nd, alongside other candidates. Filipchenko answered some questions about his policies and campaign during a phone interview.

Filipchenko, registered on the New York City Campaign Finance Board as Vitaly A. Filipchenko, is the first Russian candidate for New York City mayor, being born in Tomsk, Siberia in 1973, according to news agency Sputnik. He has since naturalised as a United States citizen. According to the web site, Filipchenko has been educated in road construction and maintenance and owns a moving services company; he describes himself on his web site as a “small business owner”. On his web site’s platform page, he says that “[m]y English may not be perfect – but my platform is.”

Incumbent Democrat mayor Bill de Blasio, who won re-election in the 2017 New York City mayoral election by 66.5%, cannot run for a third term under term limits. As of April 28, 22 candidates are currently running, the majority of whom are also Democrats. Ahead of the June Democratic primary for New York City mayor, a poll conducted May 23 and 24 by WPIX and Emerson College of 12 Democratic candidates with a margin of error of 3.2 per cent has former commissioner for the New York City Department of Sanitation Kathryn Garcia and Borough President of Brooklyn Eric Adams leading with 21.1% and 20.1%, respectively.