Monthly Archives: November 2020

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

“We’re only two days in and we’re already fucking tired,” says Sune Rose Wagner to David Shankbone as he walks into the dressing room at the Bowery Ballroom. Wagner and Sharin Foo comprise the Raveonettes, a group made for “nostalgists who long for Everly Brothers 45’s and diner jukeboxes, the Raveonettes tweak “American Graffiti”-era rock with fuzzed-out surf-guitar riffs,” said The New York Times. They recently left Columbia and signed with Fierce Panda because they felt constrained by their Columbia contract: “The major label system sometimes doesn’t allow for outside “help” to get involved, meaning that we don’t get to choose who we wanna work with. That can be a pretty terrible thing and bad things will surely come of it,” said the band on their MySpace site. Originally from Denmark, both musicians live in the United States now.

Their first EP, Chain Gang of Love, was a critical and commercial success. “Few albums provoke such amazing imagery,” said the BBC. “Pretty in Black is virtually fuzz-free,” said Rolling Stone of their next album, “highlighting the exquisite detail in the Raveonettes’ gift for pastiche: the prowling, garage-surf guitars in Love in a Trashcan; the ghost dance of Red Tan, wrapped in Phil Spector-style sleigh bells.” Of their current album, Lust Lust Lust, set to be released on November 5th (although Amazon says March 4, 2008), Sune told NME that, “There are a lot of songs that deal with desire, restlessness and the tough choices you have to make sometimes.” Fans can hear some of the new material at MySpace.com/TheRaveonettes.

Below is Wikinews reporter David Shankbone’s interview with Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo.

Sunday, July 17, 2005

Middle Eastern carrier Gulf Air has announced it is to provide direct flights from Dublin, Ireland to its hub in Manama, Bahrain from December three times a week. This is the first ever scheduled long haul route from Ireland not to North America.

Gulf Air, which is owned jointly by the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, will commence service using an Airbus A330 on the 2nd December 2005.

Gulf Air is hoping travellers will use the service as a gateway to Asia, Africa and Oceania. Previously most travellers went via Paris and London to reach destinations not served by a direct link.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Voters went to the polls on Tuesday for several US state elections seen by some as a referendum on the policies of President Barack Obama one year after his election (and by others as a purely local election). A few key races in the elections are in states the president carried last year.

In Virginia, results indicated that Republican candidate Bob McDonnell won over Democrat Creigh Deeds in the governor’s race. Polls suggested that many independent voters in the state who last year voted for Obama supported McDonnell.

Another race being closely watched was in New Jersey, normally a safe Democratic area. The New Jersey State Assembly remained Democratic, but the Republican challenger won the governorship. Democratic Governor Jon Corzine was competing with Republican challenger Chris Christie.

Obama has campaigned for both Democratic candidates, trying to avoid a result that Republicans would interpret as a rejection of his policies on the economy, health care and other issues.

Political analysts say Republican victories in both New Jersey and Virginia would energize the Obama administration’s opponents and set up a major battle for control of Congress in the 2010 midterm elections.

Elsewhere in the country, a closely watched special congressional election in upstate New York has exposed tensions between moderates and conservatives within the Republican party. A Democrat apparently won that seat, which the Republican candidate supported after retiring from the race.

In New York City, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is expected to easily win a third term in office. (He won, but by a closer margin than expected.) Mayoral races also are on the ballot in the cities of Atlanta, Houston, Boston, Detroit and Pittsburgh.

In a number of states, the public will vote on controversial issues such as legalized gambling, same-sex marriage (which lost) and allowing marijuana use for medical reasons (which won).

Monday, November 26, 2007

In the 18 months since Andrea Muizelaar was crowned winner of the reality TV series Canada’s Next Top Model, her life has been a complete whirlwind. From working in a dollar store in her hometown of Whitby, Ontario, to modeling haute couture in Toronto, she had reached her dream of becoming a true Top Model.

But at what cost? Unknown to casual television viewers, Muizelaar had been enveloped in the eating disorder anorexia nervosa, which inevitably became too much for her to bear. She gave up modeling and moved back to Whitby, where she sought treatment for her disorder, re-entered college, and now works at a bank. Where is she now? Happy and healthy, she says.

Recently Andrea Muizelaar sat down with Wikinews reporter Mike Halterman in a candid interview that stretched to nearly two hours, as she told all about her hopes and aspirations, her battle with anorexia, and just what really happened on Canada’s Next Top Model.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Yesterday, nine-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal withdrew from this year’s tournament suffering from a wrist injury.

On Thursday, Nadal defeated Facundo Bagnis with his wrist anesthetized. With that victory, he became the eighth man in history to achieve 200 wins in Grand Slams. Nadal won his ninth Monte Carlo Masters title in April.

In the press conference, Nadal said, “It’s not broken but if I continue to play, my wrist will break in a few days” ^{((fr))French language: ?Ce n’est pas cassé mais si je continue à jouer, mon poignet se cassera dans quelques jours}. Nadal said he felt wrist pain two weeks before he arrived at the French capital Paris. He also said, “This is one of the toughest press conferences of my career”.

The Spaniard, seeded number 4, also admitted he could not play with his forehand.He was scheduled to play against Marcel Granollers. Nadal has an 87% win record in Grand Slams winning 200 matches out of 230.

He concluded the press conference by saying, “I feel myself with the right motivation and the right energy to be back at Roland Garros [the French Open] the next couple of years[…] It’s a tournament that I love so much.”

Wednesday, February 9, 2005Copenhagen – The Danish people have voted to keep the current centre-right political coalition of the Venstre (The Liberal Party), Det Konservative Folkeparti (Conservative People’s Party) and the Dansk Folkeparti (Danish People’s Party).

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s Liberal Party retained the largest number of seats in parliament. The governing coalition between the Liberals and Conservative People’s Party remained intact. They will likely be supported largely by the Danish People’s Party, which gained 2 seats. The Radikale Venstre (Radical Left) party gained the most seats of any party, although it remains outside the governing group of parties. The election marked the second time in a row that the Social Democrats were not the largest party in the parliament, a change from most of the 20th century. The party lost 5 seats and leader Mogens Lykketoft resigned immediately after the election.

Venstre, the liberal party of the prime minister, campaigned on their municipal restructuring plan, as well as a continuation of the “tax-freeze” and tight immigration requirements. They also promised to see 60,000 jobs created during a second term.

The largest opposition party, the Socialdemokraterne (Social Democrats) led by Mogens Lykketoft focused on employment, which they claim has decreased under the current government.

The Dansk Folkeparti, who support the Venstre-Conservative coalition, criticized the “tax-freeze” but agreed, conditionally, to support it for another parliamentary term. They also wanted increasingly tough immigration restrictions.