text:
Hong Kong's only railway company modifies regulations

June 7, 2010

The, the only railway company in Hong Kong since the in 2007, has loosened their rules. The corporation proposed the new modifications, then transferred the proposal to the Legislative Council, and will be effective from September 2010.

The new set of rules allow 'non-disruptive' use of profanity in private conversations, and the punishment for inflammatory use of expletives is lowered from a fine of HK$5000 to HK$2000. The new set of rules have also excluded the regulation against wandering in MTR premises, as well as the rule against attempting to eat or drink.

member has expressed his concerns about a new rule that outlaws the display of promotional material. According to To, the wearing of -related T-shirts or acting the may breach the new MTR rules.

He also deems two other regulations, namely the prohibition of distracting MTR staff members and photography and video-recording in the train carriages, 'unreasonable'.

Unionist is also confused whether chewing gum was considered food. MTR head of operations Choi Tak-tsan replied that only what is regarded as food counts. They had not yet discussed on this matter, said Choi, and will soon. Li is also concerned about the rule which prohibits the entering of the first-class carriage without buying a ticket. Her main concern is whether the passenger will be allowed to buy the ticket rather than being fined HK$500.

believes that the MTR corporation should call upon more effort to advertise a more 'civilised' and 'polite' way of taking the train. thinks that the new rules do not do enough to restrict shouting. MTR replied that anyone who shouts in the train can be advised to leave the train or even prosecuted.


text: User talk:Igy.m.voy

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: User talk:Igy.m.voy


text: User talk:Sheadox

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User talk:Jonathunder

Tempodivalse [talk]  13:58, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Jonathunder


text: Talk:163 dead after lead poisoning in Nigeria


text: Comments:163 dead after lead poisoning in Nigeria


text: User talk:Biyue

title: User talk:Biyue


text:
Talk:Hong Kong's only railway company modifies regulations

I wish I could state that the MTR already promotes not eating and giving away seats a lot, though I can't provide any evidence coz you guessed it, it's against the rules to take photos in the train carriage. Kayau (talk · contribs) 14:13, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
 * It could be worse. BART, my local train system, says it is perfectly legit to take pictures anywhere in the system. That being said, they threatened to have me arrested for doing so.  -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 00:21, 6 June 2010 (UTC)

Title
Can the title be made more global-audience-friendly? It should indicate at least in what city this takes place. Tempodivalse [talk]  14:47, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

Review of revision 1037567 [Failed]

 * Whoever reviews this is going to have fun as all of the sources are in Chinese. Any English (or Spanish, French, German, Russian or any other language understood by our reviewer base) sources available? --Александр Дмитрий (Alexandr Dmitri) (talk) 08:58, 6 June 2010 (UTC)
 * There is one, but it requires subscription, and I don't have subscription. Kayau (talk · contribs) 09:03, 6 June 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Siddharth es

title: User talk:Siddharth es


text: User talk:Felixgrimm

title: User talk:Felixgrimm


text:
File talk:Wikinews Featured Reporter.png

The licence for this image is DOWNRIGHT WRONG. The Wikinews logo ought to be copyrighted, and it is included in this picture. Kayau (talk · contribs) 14:34, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
 * ✅ Note this is not the place for comments like this. The file is from Commons. --Diego Grez return fire 14:36, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Isn't it rather contradictory though, to have a copyright template right next to the PD template? Tempodivalse [talk]  14:45, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Maybe. --Diego Grez return fire 14:47, 5 June 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Daiyan2009

title: User talk:Daiyan2009


text: User talk:Reviralhista

title: User talk:Reviralhista


text: User talk:D Dutch92

title: User talk:D Dutch92


text: User talk:Lorifier

title: User talk:Lorifier


text:
Cyclone Phet turns to Pakistan after hitting Oman

June 6, 2010 Heavy rains started on Sunday early morning throughout most of southern Pakistan as approached landfall. At least 370 millimeters were reported by the meteorological office in the port city of on Friday; 208 milimeters in, 139 milimeters in , 63 milimeters in  and 60 in.

Heavy rains and thunderstorms hit southwestern Balochistan and parts of interior Sindh Saturday evening leaving thousands displaced and around 40 villages to be washed away by the heavy rains.

The storm system has moved from Oman and is expected to reach Pakistan by Sunday evening. According to the Oman News Agency, at least twelve people have been killed in Oman alone.


text: User talk:Dmitry SM

title: User talk:Dmitry SM


text: User talk:Rocketman93

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text: User talk:Benj2know

title: User talk:Benj2know


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title: User talk:Exocool


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title: User talk:Lioren yoshito


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User talk:Xiglofre

Tempodivalse [talk]  16:26, 5 June 2010 (UTC)
 * Hi ! Thanks for this message !
 * My main account is on the French Wikipedia. If you want to tell me something, please leave me a message there : Discussion utilisateur:Xiglofre

Xiglofre (talk), 10:56, 6 June 2010 (UTC).

Article Deletion
I deleted the article because no one had edited it since Jan 1, and because it was written about an event that happened on Dec 29. Events need to be "fresh" in order to qualify for an article on English Wikinews. Usually we only accept stories if the news event in question occurred not more than 3 days before the publication date of the article.

Also, because English Wikinews uses a peer review system for quality assurance, it often takes a day (or sometimes more) for an article to work its way through the review process and be published. So really an article shouldn't be written about anything that happened more than 2 days ago (at least that's the way it is here). Gopher65talk 23:54, 3 January 2011 (UTC)
 * OK, thanks for your reply. --Xiglofre (talk), 21:08, 4 January 2011 (UTC).

title: User talk:Xiglofre


text: User talk:GamesMaxter

title: User talk:GamesMaxter


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User talk:Lcawte

Tempodivalse [talk]  16:38, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Lcawte


text: Comments:MV Rachel Corrie seized by Israeli Naval Forces


text:
Talk:Men isolated to mimic Mars flight

Review of revision 1037522 [Failed]

 * The fact that females are not included in the mission appears in at least to of the sources as far as I can remember. I don't see how it is 'critical' of the mission - simply stating that certain parameters cannot be tested does not mean the mission is useless! Besides, the last sentence already addresses why it's not a particularly good idea to bring both men and women. Kayau (talk · contribs) 23:40, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

Chinese source
Is the chinese-language source absolutely essential? I'm afraid, unsurprisingly, I know nothing of the language. I do not trust Google translate to do a good enough job to fact-check from the article. It would be much, much better to not have foreign language sources for stuff like this; they are an enormous barrier to a competent review. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:07, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
 * The Chinese source is the only one that mentions the 'astronauts' actually entering the room. Kayau (talk · contribs) 12:57, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

title: Talk:Men isolated to mimic Mars flight


text:
WHO's reaction to H1N1 influenced by drug companies, reports claim

June 6, 2010

Reports suggest the World Health Organisation's declaring a swine flu pandemic was an error driven by drug companies, and lead to unjustified fear. A year after the swine flu pandemic was declared, stocks are left unused and governments try to abandon contracts, pharmaceutical companies have profited at least £4.6billion from the sale of vaccines alone.

Reports by the (BMJ), the  (BIJ) and the Council of Europe claim that The World Health Organisation reaction to H1N1 was influenced by pharmaceutical companies and that key scientists behind advice had financial ties with firms  and  (GSK). These conflicts of interest have never been publicly disclosed by WHO, an apparent violation of its own rules.

The World Health Organisation issued H1N1 guidelines in 2004, recommending countries to stockpile millions of doses of antiviral medication. The advice prompted many countries around the world into buying up large stocks of Tamiflu, made by Roche, and manufactured by GSK.

A joint investigation with the BMJ and the BIJ, found that scientists involved in developing the WHO 2004 guidance had previously been paid by Roche or GSK for lecturing and consultancy work as well as being involved in research for the companies. "The WHO's credibility has been badly damaged," BMJ editor Fiona Godlee said in an editorial.

A report by the health committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, a 47-member human rights watchdog, found that the WHO's reaction was influenced by drug companies that make H1N1 antiviral drugs and vaccines. It criticised WHO lack of transparency around the handling of the swine flu pandemic and says the public health guidelines by WHO, EU agencies and national governments led to a "waste of large sums of public money and unjustified scares and fears about the health risks faced by the European public."

A spokesman for WHO said the drug industry did not influence its decisions on swine flu. , the organisation's director, had dismissed inquiries into its handling of the A/H1N1 pandemic as "conspiracy theories" earlier this year, she had said: "WHO anticipated close scrutiny of its decisions, but we did not anticipate that we would be accused, by some European politicians, of having declared a fake pandemic on the advice of experts with ties to the pharmaceutical industry and something personal to gain from increased industry profits."

Yesterday, a 16-member "emergency committee" consisting of advisors from the World Health Organisation said that the H1N1 pandemic is not yet over. The WHO has refused to identify committee members, arguing that they must be shielded from industry pressure, so possible conflicts of interest with drug companies are unknown. The BMJ report also reveals that at least one expert on the "emergency committee" received payment during 2009 from GSK.

In related news, Reuters reported, Pfizer Inc, the world's biggest drugmaker, is selling its swine vaccine business to Chinese Harbin Pharmaceutical Group for $50 million.


text:
Talk:WHO's reaction to H1N1 influenced by drug companies, reports claim

Is this ready for review.
Is this ready for review. Is there any changes that are needed? Mrchris (talk) 17:13, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

Confusing sentence
"World Health Organisation H1N1 guidelines, were issued in 2004, recommending countries to stockpile millions of doses of antiviral medication." Any chance to make that clearer? Kayau (talk · contribs) 09:53, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
 * I tried my best to reword it. FYI you can feel free to make these changes yourself. The WN:Archive policy doesn't apply to style corrections. Benny the mascot (talk) 12:56, 7 June 2010 (UTC)

Beware of the health companies striking back
The BBC article link which was critical was changed to an brown nose ABC news which is talking about how you need to get a vaccine.


text: User talk:BGinOC

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text: User talk:HenryWesley1

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text: User talk:Green9090

title: User talk:Green9090


text: User talk:Fxthimister

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User talk:NerdyPunk2ML~enwikinews

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called NerdyPunk2ML. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name NerdyPunk2ML~enwikinews that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:19, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:35, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:NerdyPunk2ML~enwikinews


text:
User:Polysynaptic

hi!

i reported from Turkey:

 * Turkey bans Vimeo
 * Turkish protesters march against Internet censorship
 * Turkey sets the price to lift the ban on YouTube and Google services
 * Ban on YouTube spreads to Google services in Turkey

title: User:Polysynaptic


text: User talk:Teerus

title: User talk:Teerus


text:
Obama nominates James Clapper for Director of National Intelligence

June 6, 2010

United States President Barack Obama has nominated retired Lieutenant General  to be the new. The position had been left vacant when the previous director of national intelligence was forced to leave due to a series of security failures. James Clapper now awaits confirmation by the US Senate.

Barack Obama has requested a quick confirmation from the Senate. Both US Democratic Party and Republican Party senior representatives in the Senate Intelligence Committee have publicly expressed their reservation about the nomination. According to to the Associated Press, Republican senator Kit Bond doubted Clapper's ability to command among some of the intelligence community personalities. "I don't think Clapper's the right person for the job," he said. The Associated Press, informed by senior congressional staff, reported that the Republican senator had not been invited to discuss the nomination and is considering asking his Republican support to block the nomination.

Previous director of national intelligence quit two weeks ago in the sequence of a series of security failures, including the  incident.


text: User talk:Nord77

title: User talk:Nord77


text: User talk:Pvibien

title: User talk:Pvibien


text:
Thread:Comments:MV Rachel Corrie seized by Israeli Naval Forces/Comments from feedback form - ""This comes after the death of..."

"This comes after the death of nine activists when Israeli commandos raided the 'Gaza Freedom Flotilla' that planned to breach the Gaza blockade."---> there is an argument about the identity of the nine activist who died, some might have not have been peace activist....


text:
Thread:Comments:MV Rachel Corrie seized by Israeli Naval Forces/Comments from feedback form - ""This comes after the death of..."/reply

That's true; they may have simply been incredibly incompetent militants hoping to be caught by Israel so they could unleash their baseball bats of fury.


text:
User talk:Orginallinus~enwikinews

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Orginallinus. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Orginallinus~enwikinews that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

Your account will still work as before, and you will be credited for all your edits made so far, but you will have to use the new account name when you log in.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:20, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:35, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Orginallinus~enwikinews


text:
Thread:Comments:SpaceX launches first Falcon 9 rocket/Obligatory religious fanaticism/reply (3)

Aww, did you want to do it yourself? Get back to Conservapedia, where you belong.


text:
Wikinews:Water cooler/assistance/archives/2010/May

User:PatC spam page
This is one of dozens of spam pages created across multiple Wikimedia projects by about 100 sockpuppets. See this page for additional information:
 * meta:Talk:Spam blacklist (permanent link)

I've been working my way across projects cleaning this stuff up. I tried to blank this page but was blocked by your abuse filter. I suggest you blank or delete this page and block the account. --A. B. (talk) 01:24, 11 May 2010 (UTC)
 * Page deleted. Spam account blocked. -- Cirt (talk) 01:33, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

 * Thanks! --A. B. (talk) 15:20, 11 May 2010 (UTC)
 * No worries, -- Cirt (talk) 19:04, 11 May 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Aremania Bravo

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text: User talk:Masked Rogue

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Thread:Comments:Basketball: Lakers score 102 to defeat the Celtics in Game 1 of the 2010 NBA Finals/Comments from feedback form - "beat boston for 4-0 lead.... g..."

beat boston for 4-0 lead.... goodluck guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


text: User talk:Rkroeger

title: User talk:Rkroeger


text: User talk:飘零之琴

title: User talk:飘零之琴


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title: User talk:Leoprosy


text: User talk:MärkJ2057

title: User talk:MärkJ2057


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title: User talk:Rabin hood206


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title: User talk:Kgcribbs


text: User talk:Ashish-411

title: User talk:Ashish-411


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User talk:74.105.228.242

Welcome
Tempodivalse [talk]  23:27, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:74.105.228.242


text:
Thread:Comments:MV Rachel Corrie seized by Israeli Naval Forces/Comments from feedback form - ""This comes after the death of..."/reply (2)

Or they were people hoping to provoke Israel into attacking them so they could start a international incident. Which they succeeded in doing. --118.210.35.198 (talk) 23:28, 5 June 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Wokowuku

title: User talk:Wokowuku


text: Comments:Naoto Kan elected new Prime Minister of Japan


text: User talk:Darianreddick

title: User talk:Darianreddick


text: User talk:Saltpeter65

title: User talk:Saltpeter65


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Thread:Comments:163 dead after lead poisoning in Nigeria/Outbreak?

That last line seems weird. How would WHO or CDC prevent an "outbreak" of lead poisoning. It's not contagious. The government just has to stop people from mining the areas with lead. As soon as the mining stops, lead poisoning will stop.--64.252.118.59 (talk) 00:03, 6 June 2010 (UTC)


text:
Thread:Comments:MV Rachel Corrie seized by Israeli Naval Forces/Comments from feedback form - ""This comes after the death of..."/reply (3)

Or they were people who were shot because they grabbed a baseball bat when there were assault rifle armed soldiers falling from the sky above them. I mean really, if you saw that would you just give in and let them shoot you or would you do whatever possible to protect yourself. Maybe storming with helicopters and machine guns was the cause of the international incident.--64.252.118.59 (talk) 00:06, 6 June 2010 (UTC)


text:
Wikinews:Audio Wikinews/News Briefs/Workspace/archive

 Audio Wikinews NewsBriefs


text:
Wikinews:Audio Wikinews/News Briefs/Workspace/archive/April25-30

April 25, 2010
This is the heading for the April 25 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 00:00 UTC. Turtlestack (talk) 17:30, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

NATO tankers in Pakistan attacked, four killed

 * Doing Mike  moral  ♪♫

 * I'm going to have to go to bed soon (gotta work at 4am) so I'm going to post the AW that I have done for now. Once you have your script completed on this story, I'll either amend it to this show or place it in tomorrow's show. Turtlestack (talk) 01:36, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Condemned US killer to face execution by firing squad

 * I'd like to add this bit in the AW to provide some historical context : "The 1979 novel, The Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer focused on one of the most famous executions in Utah history, the firing squad execution of Gary Gilmore on on January 17, 1977. The book took a central position in the national debate over the revival of capital punishment by the US Supreme Court as Gilmore was the first person in the United States executed since the re-instatement of the death penalty in 1976." . - source here (also, I've read the book)

On this day in history
In 1939, DC Comics publishes its second major superhero in Detective Comics #27; his name is Batman and he has become one of the most popular comic book superheroes of all time. But why is he "so serious"?

April 26, 2010
This is the heading for the April 26 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 17:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so. Turtlestack (talk) 01:56, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Spokesman: At least 55 dead after violence in Darfur, Sudan

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 16:58, 26 April 2010 (UTC)
 * want to add this bit for clarity and to close the story : "The United Nations reports that so far this year, nearly 500 people have been killed in this region over cattle raiding and revenge violence." "This is the largest outbreak of violence in the region since elections were held in the nation earlier this month."
 * have added "a Muslim and Arabic tribe of nomadic Bedouin's" for clarity as to who the Rezeigat are.
 * completed brief and recording

Nearly 100,000 protest for closure of US military base in Japan

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 17:26, 26 April 2010 (UTC)
 * This is my favorite kind of wikinews story - no bloodshed, ultra-violence or medieval mutilations; just some interesting news with a strong historical bent and a touch of human interest :)
 * completed brief and recording

6.5 magnitude earthquake hits off coast of Taiwan

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 18:04, 26 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Poison lead singer Bret Michaels in critical condition

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 20:05, 26 April 2010 (UTC)
 * Too bad there is no clip of a Poison song in the commons we can use at the end of this segment. Life Goes On would be sort of fitting. It kinda sucks that NPR can add little clips to their shows but we can't even though we are more "free" than they are :(
 * completed brief and recording

On this day in history
In 1986, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Chernobyl in the former Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, suffered a steam explosion, resulting in a fire, a nuclear meltdown, and the evacuation and resettlement of over 336,000 people around Europe.

 * completed outro and recording

April 27, 2010
This is the heading for the April 27 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 17:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so. Turtlestack (talk) 15:30, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

Australian rules football: 2010 Gippsland Football League round 3 - Morwell v Traralgon

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 18:38, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
 * combining this story with William Trubridge story under 1 sport brief
 * completed brief and recording

Sudanese president declared winner of elections

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 17:09, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Hungarian conservative party wins majority in parliament

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 17:33, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
 * adding "a Hungarian acronym which translates into "Alliance of Young Democrats" for clarity as well as "Viktor Orbán, the leader of Fidesz, is widely considered to take office as Prime Minister.
 * completed brief and recording

New Zealander William Trubridge breaks freediving world record

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 18:38, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
 * combining this story with Australian rules football story under 1 sport brief
 * adding "a submarine cave to clarify what a blue hole is.
 * completed brief and recording

Gulf of Mexico oil spill expanding; submarines to try to stop leak

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 17:42, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
 * added 115 of the 126 workers on board the rig at the time of the explosion were rescued, however, 11 still remain missing. This information is still accurate.
 * added "a spring tensioned pipe that runs between the sea floor and rig to explain what a riser is.
 * added "Deepwater Horizon" which is (was) the name of the rig.
 * completed brief and recording

Snap election fails to end political deadlock in Nauru

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 20:36, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Smoke bomb thrown in Ukrainian parliament during naval base debate

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 21:23, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Dale Ogden, 2010 California gubernatorial candidate, talks with Wikinews

 * working (will not be a brief per se, but rather information for the listener to come to wikinews and read the interview. Turtlestack (talk) 22:56, 27 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

On this day in history
In 1810, Ludwig van Beethoven composes his famous piano piece, Für Elise. While it is uncertain who Elsie was, perhaps a mistress or a friend whom rejected his marriage proposal, whoever she was, his love for her has endured for two centuries through this beautiful composition.

 * Looks like today I can add some music as there is a commons file for Für Elise that meets our CC requirements.
 * completed brief and recording

April 28, 2010
This is the heading for the April 28 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 23:45 UTC. I will be logged in around 20:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so. Turtlestack (talk) 23:10, 27 April 2010 (UTC)

I've got tomorrow off so I can wait for all of Wednesday's stories to drop and do them all at once even if it runs past my UTC cut-off time today. Turtlestack (talk) 21:39, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

I'll do the bottom 4 stories for tomorrow's show since they have been released from the newsroom yet. It's all good, since it made today's show an easy, quick one to do :) Turtlestack (talk) 01:29, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

Suicide bombing in Afghanistan kills three, 35 injured

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 20:16, 28 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Officials: US drone strike kills five in Pakistan

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 21:13, 28 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

US official warns of Hezbollah missile threat

 * waiting for article to be published Turtlestack (talk) 21:35, 28 April 2010 (UTC)
 * will do for tomorrow's show

Israeli developer Jacob Hai releases plans to build in Albania

 * waiting for article to be published Turtlestack (talk) 21:35, 28 April 2010 (UTC)
 * will do for tomorrow's show

Controversial wind farm approved by US government

 * waiting for article to be published Turtlestack (talk) 21:35, 28 April 2010 (UTC)
 * will do for tomorrow's show

Thai police, protesters in violent clashes; at least one dead

 * waiting for article to be published Turtlestack (talk) 21:35, 28 April 2010 (UTC)
 * will do for tomorrow's show

On this day in history
In 1789, about 1,300 miles west of Tahiti, near Tonga, Fletcher Christian, the master's mate on board the Royal Navy ship HMAV Bounty, led a mutiny against the ship's commander William Bligh.

 * brief recorded

April 29, 2010
This is the heading for the April 29 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 23:45 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so. Turtlestack (talk) 01:42, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

US official warns of Hezbollah missile threat

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 19:49, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Thai police, protesters in violent clashes; at least one dead

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 20:43, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

New Jersey students protest proposed budget cuts

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 21:17, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

"Bigoted woman": controversial Gordon Brown remarks caught on air

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 21:25, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

16 year old boy charged with murder over use of Playstation in Chile

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 21:52, 29 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

On this day in history
In 1945, Heinrich Wicker, a German Non Commissioned Officer, formally surrenders the Dachau concentration camp to the 42nd Rainbow Division of the United States Army. Approximately 32,000 prisoners were liberated and 300 SS camp guards were taken into custody; some of whom were shot and killed after surrendering by American troops who were horrified upon seeing the conditions of the camp.

 * completed recording

April 30, 2010
This is the heading for the April 30 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 17:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

Controversial wind farm approved by US government

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 18:28, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Taliban commander reportedly alive, despite claims of January death

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 18:52, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * adding "a senior Taliban commander based in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas." to clarify who Waliur Rehman is.
 * completed brief and recording

Algerian driver released by hostage takers in Niger

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 19:10, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Belgium passes ban on full face veil

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 19:26, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Pakistani peace mediator killed in tribal area

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 21:24, 30 April 2010 (UTC)
 * added "in North Waziristan, Pakistan, the location of a refugee camp for displaced Afghans from the Soviet invasion." to clarify where Miranshah is and a brief description of its importance in the region. The town is mentioned quite often in the news, but rarely is it ever described.
 * Used "Inter-Services Intelligence" instead of the acronym ISI.
 * added "an Islamic freedom-fighter organization based in Pakistan whose primary motive is to separate Kashmir from India." to explain who the Jaish-e-Mohammed are. Also, replaced Mujahideen with "freedom-fighters" since the term Mujahideen is never defined in the media but you hear it all the time.
 * completed brief and recording

On this day in history
In 1006, in the constellation Lupus (Latin for Wolf), light from an exploding star 7,200 LY away reached Earth. The event, known as SN 1006, is the brightest supernova in history and was widely observed and chronicled by early astronomers in China, Egypt, Iraq, Japan, Switzerland, and possibly North America. Nova means "new" in Latin, and what makes them "super" is that in the period of just a few days or weeks, they can outshine an entire galaxy and radiate as much energy as our own sun does over its entire lifespan.
 * completed recording Turtlestack (talk) 18:52, 30 April 2010 (UTC)


text:
Wikinews:Audio Wikinews/News Briefs/Workspace/archive/May1-8

May 1, 2010
This is the heading for the May 1 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 14:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

UN official: DR Congo is ‘rape capital of the world’

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 18:42, 1 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Nine of Alfred Hitchcock's films are restored; 30 years since his death

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 19:34, 1 May 2010 (UTC)
 * added "1925's The Pleasure Garden, about two chorus girls at The Pleasure Garden Theatre in London, 1927's The Lodger, concerning the hunt for a "Jack the Ripper" type serial killer and 1928's The Farmer's Wife which centers on a middle-aged farmer who decides to remarry." for some extra detail about the films.
 * added "he directed some of the most famous films in cinema including Psycho, Rear Window, North By Northwest and Vertigo" for cultural relevance and to balance the listing of the 4 lost films.
 * completed brief and recording

Redistricting reform efforts in Illinois fail for this year

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 18:50, 1 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Bomb blasts in Somalia kill at least 30

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 19:59, 1 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

On this day in history
In 1960, a U2 spy plane, flying over the former Soviet Union and piloted by Francis Gary Powers, was shot down and the pilot captured. The Soviet military had actually been anticipating the flight but shooting down the plane was difficult due to the extreme high altitude it operated in. After failing to intercept the plane with MIG fighters and an initial surface to air missile barrage, a surface-to-air missile battery commanded by Mikhail Voronov engaged and shot down the U2, along with a Soviet MiG-19 fighter which had been pursuing Powers, over the Ural Region.

Initially the United States government reported that an airplane had gone missing north of Turkey, claiming the pilot had fallen unconscious due to lack of oxygen and even grounded the U2 fleet to maintain the facade. Nikita Khrushchev, then the Soviet Premier announced that his country had shot down an American spy plane, intentionally leaving out the detail that Powers had been captured alive and so the Eisenhower Administration, thinking the pilot had been killed, claimed it had been a "weather research aircraft", and not a spy plane. Khrushchev took advantage of this lie, and finally announced that Powers was indeed alive, and the plane was mostly intact thus greatly embarrassing the Eisenhower Administration.

The Four Power Paris Summit between president Eisenhower, Premier Khrushchev and other world leaders, which had been scheduled to commence just over two weeks after the flight, fell apart largely because Eisenhower refused to accede to Khrushchev's demands that he apologize for the incident.

A large portion of the wreck, as well as Powers' survival pack are still on display at the Central Museum of Armed Forces in Moscow.
 * completed brief and recording

May 2, 2010
This is the heading for the May 1 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 18:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

Today's show is going to be a little late, sorry about that. Turtlestack (talk) 23:23, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Stones thrown by protesters in Kashmir kill civilian
A middle-aged civilian has been killed in Indian-administered Kashmir after anti-India separatists threw stones at a bus in Srinagar. The victim, Shafiq Ahmad Sheikh, died in hospital after the stone struck his head.

The stone-pelting incident occurred in the Batmaloo area before the separatists marched to the local United Nations office to protest against Indian administration in Kashmir and "growing human rights abuses".

Farooq Ahmad, Inspector General of Police of the state, said Sheikh was an employee of the State Board of School Education and was traveling by bus to his office when "[s]ome boys threw stones at the vehicle he was travelling in. A stone hit Sheikh, who later succumbed to his injuries." The attackers have since been charged with murder.

Oil spill in Gulf of Mexico reported to have reached coast; offshore drilling ban announced by Obama administration

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 18:21, 2 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief

Bomb scare closes Times Square, New York
A suspicious car containing a bomb was spotted in New York City's Times Square. Reports say the vehicle had smoke coming out the back of it after a flash around 6.30 p.m. local time, and unconfirmed reports say an unknown man ran away from the car.

The area was evacuated as a bomb squad removed the package using a robot. Officials removed gunpowder, consumer-grade fireworks, two five-gallon cans of gasoline, three propane tanks, electrical wiring, and two clocks with batteries that apparently were fashioned as one or two detonators. The bomb has been described as "amateurish" but could have caused serious damage to Times Square if it had detonated. No casualties or injuries were reported.

Police have not named a suspect and are reviewing security footage. The car used by the suspect was a stolen Pathfinder with a non-matching license plate; its legitimate owner owner does not appear to be involved in the accident.

On this day in history
In 1952, The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1 made its maiden flight from London to Johannesburg.

While initially a hit with passengers, including Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother of England, who were early passengers, problems with the plane soon surfaced. Exactly one year after the plane began operations, on May 2 1953, a flight leaving from Calcutta, India, crashed in a severe tropical storm six minutes after take off, killing all 43 on board. The crash was attributed to a structural failure of the airframe due to metal fatigue.

In the wake os these and other disasters, all remaining Comets were withdrawn from service. When a new design, the Comet 4, was introduced to service in 1958, the new Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8 were already being flown and orders for the Comet dried up, with the last one delivered in 1964.

May 3, 2010
This is the heading for the May 3 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 18:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

Since today has been a busy news day, I'm extending my hours until all of Monday's stories are in. I'll then record the show and upload it once I'm sure I have everything for Monday covered. Turtlestack (talk) 23:23, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

OK, I'm going to start recording now (was eating dinner). It should be up in an hour or so. Turtlestack (talk) 01:08, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

New ash flight bans ordered in Ireland

 * completed brief

Bangladesh storms kill at least 23

 * completed brief

Oil company BP to pay for Gulf of Mexico spill

 * completed brief

Protests in Greece over proposed budget cuts

 * combine this story with Eurozone approves Greece bailout story
 * completed brief

Eurozone approves Greece bailout

 * combine this story with Protests in Greece over proposed budget cuts story
 * completed brief

Wikinews interviews spokesman for Greek far-left party Xekinima

 * completed brief

Nepal Maoists begin strike to overthrow government

 * completed brief

5.9 magnitude earthquake in Pichilemu, Chile revives fears of new tragedy

 * completed brief

Chilean earthquakes in the O'Higgins Region: photoessay

 * does not require a brief, just a short blurb to direct listeners to wikinews.org to view the photographs. Also, lead into this photo essay at the end of the 5.9 magnitude aftershock in Chile revives fears of a new tragedy story since they are related.
 * completed brief

Australian rules football: Traralgon, Maffra two games clear on top of 2010 Gippsland Football League ladder

 * could someone please tell me how to pronounce "Traralgon"? No matter how I pronounce it, it just doesn't sound right - maybe one needs the accent to say it right? :)

 * BRS would just go for phonetically - trah rahl gon.
 * It still sounds weird when I say it, lol - thanks though, I'll just do it phonetically
 * Blame me if its wrong. ;)

 * completed brief

Wikinews interviews Brittany Phelps, administrator of the United States Pirate Party

 * does not require a brief, just a short blurb to direct listeners to wikinews.org to read the interview.
 * completed brief

On this day in history
In 1915, the poem In Flanders Fields is written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian physician, after he witnessed the death, and presided over the funeral, of his friend, 22 year old Lt. Alexis Helmer. It became one of the most notable poems written during World War I and was first published on December 8th of that year in the London-based magazine Punch.

The poppies referred to in the poem grew in profusion in Flanders in the spoiled earth of the battlefields and cemeteries where war casualties were buried and thus they became a symbol of Remembrance Day, Armistice Day and Veterans Day.

In Flanders Fields John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

(music credit : )

May 4, 2010
This is the heading for the May 4 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 18:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

Iraq starts manual vote recount

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 16:52, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

6.4 earthquake hits Chile

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 16:46, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

California governor Schwarzenegger vetoes smoking ban in parks

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 16:56, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Severe flooding leaves 28 dead in southern United States

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 16:40, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

Continental and United Airlines to merge

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 20:11, 4 May 2010 (UTC)
 * completed brief and recording

US criticizes Iran for remarks at nuclear conference
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has criticized Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he made a string of remarks against Western nations and Israel at a conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York. He accused other countries of preventing Iran from developing what he called a civilian nuclear program. He also said that of nuclear arms are "a fire against humanity, rather than a weapon of defense. The possession of nuclear bombs is not a source of pride. Its possession is disgusting and shameful."

Hilary Clinton said that "Iran will do whatever it can to divert attention away from its own record in an attempt to evade accountability." Iran has thus far been increasingly under pressure over its nuclear program, and US officials characterized his latest speech, which caused several delegates to walk out, as a sign of increased Iranian isolation from the rest of the world. Blood Red Sandman (Talk)   (Contribs) 22:48, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

 * Thank you for writing this brief! Can you time stamp the brief so I can make sure to add you in the credits for the show? Turtlestack (talk) 22:46, 4 May 2010 (UTC)

 * Thank you. I forgot I could have just looked at the page history to see who wrote the brief :)

On this day in history
In 1970, The Kent State shootings occurred at Kent State University.

The incident began as a student protest to the United States involvement in the Vietnam war, specifically, the Nixon Adi ministrations decision to escalate the war into neighboring Cambodia.

Protests at Kent State actually started on May 1st when about 500 students gathered for a rally early in the day, but by late that night in the town of Kent, where the University is located, people began rioting, throwing beer bottles and breaking store fronts. When the authorities were called in, the crowd threw beer bottles and shouted obscenities at the police officers.

The next day, on May 2nd, the mayor of Kent, Leroy Satrom, declared a State of Emergency and asked Ohio Governor James A. Rhodes to send the National Guard to Kent to help maintain order.

That night, when the National Guard had arrived, a large demonstration was already underway and arsonists had set fire to the school's Reserve Officer Training Corps building. As firemen attempted to put out the blaze, students slashed the fire hoses and the National Guard used tear gas to disperse the crowd and they made several arrests.

On May 3rd, Governor Rhodes called the protesters un-American and referred to the protesters as revolutionaries set on destroying higher education in Ohio. During the speech, Rhodes said he would obtain a court order ordering an official state of emergency, thus banning further demonstrations which gave the impression that he was putting Kent under martial law.

Finally, on May 4th, a scheduled student demonstration took place at noon on campus grounds. The National Guard attempted to disperse the crowd initially using tear gas on the protesters, but because of winds, it had little effect. Next the Guardsmen, with bayonets fixed on their rifles, advanced on the crowd and this managed to disperse many demonstrators, but not all of them.

Then at 12:24 p.m., 29 of the 77 guardsmen fired their M1 Garand rifles at the students using a total of 67 bullets. The shooting was determined to have lasted 13 seconds killing four students and wounding nine.

The shootings led to protests on college campuses throughout the United States, and a student strike – causing more than 450 campuses across the country to close with both violent and non-violent demonstrations. Just five days after the shootings, 100,000 people demonstrated in Washington, D.C., against the war and the killing of the unarmed student protesters.

On May 14, ten days after the Kent State shootings, two students were killed (and 12 wounded) by police at the historically black Jackson State University under similar circumstances, but that event did not arouse the same nationwide attention as the Kent State shootings.
 * completed recording

May 5, 2010
This is the heading for the May 5 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 18:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

I'm going to extend my cut-off time today to get in as much of the rest of the news as possible. Blood Red Sandman, you've been awesome today and have really helped the show out a ton so, thanks to you, I can go a bit longer today. Turtlestack (talk) 22:40, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Tempodivalse! I didn't see you in here. Sorry I didn't notice earlier. Turtlestack (talk) 23:23, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Investigation into US Airways river ditching in New York completed
The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has completed its investigation into the ditching of US Airways Flight 1549 into New York's Hudson River. The fifteen-month probe began after the Airbus A320 performed a water landing when bird strikes damaged both engines in a move dubbed the "Miracle on the Hudson" by the media. Nobody was killed.

The NTSB's final report, adopted after a board meeting yesterday, concluded that a combination of safety equipment better than the mandatory minimums and good reactions by the crew were the main reasons the 150 passengers and five crew survived. Although not required, the plane had equipment designed for safety on flights over long stretches of water.

Other factors cited by the NTSB that helped the situation included that the good visibility, calm water, nearby ferries which provided rescues within twenty minutes and good co-operation in the cockpit, allowing the crew to maintain control. However, the report also cautioned that bird strikes are ultimately unpreventable and criticised safety briefings and life vests. The report also said that ditching procedures are designed for gradual descent from high altitude and not the lower altitude the jet lost power at.

The captain's decision to land on water was vindicated as the best option available.
 * brief recorded Turtlestack (talk) 20:29, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Wikinews interviews Dr. Phil Klotzbach on upcoming hurricane season
On June 1, hurricane season in the Atlantic Ocean and surrounding areas will commence, signaling the potential for a tropical storm to develop at any time. After last year's relatively quiet season, with only nine named cyclones, meteorologists are on-guard for increased activity over the upcoming summer and autumn. Hurricane season runs until November 30, and while storms are known to have developed at practically any time of the year, most tend to form within those bounds.

Wikinews contacted Dr. Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at the Colorado State University, for an exclusive interview. You can visit Wikinews.org to read the interview and learn about predictions for the upcoming hurricane season.
 * brief recorded (CSU is a mile from my apartment. Too bad I don't have portable audio equipment, otherwise I could get some audio data to add to the brief.) Turtlestack (talk) 20:36, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Greek demonstrators protest austerity measures

 * No brief should be written yet as there were important new developments today. Hopefuly an article will be written before the cutoff time and then the two will be combined.
 * I'm waiting on Athens bank fire kills three as Greece goes on strike to go live. If it does not, then I'll do them both tomorrow, otherwise, I'll do them both tonight if it drops in time. Turtlestack (talk) 23:31, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Scottish airspace to be closed over volcanic ash concerns

 * Please check that the predictions made in the article actually occurred before recording, as this brief has been written assuming that airspace was indeed closed as planned
 * According to the BBC, flights were canceled from Glasgow, Prestwick and Campbeltown, however, flights at Edinburgh and Aberdeen are operating as of 1900BST with Inverness having opened at 1300BST. I know that Edinburgh and Glasgow are the main airports in Scotland, leaving 2 smaller ports closed and 2 others open, I'm not sure if I can use "much of Scotland" since I'm not familiar with how much much is :) Turtlestack (talk) 20:49, 5 May 2010 (UTC)

Airspace accross much of Scotland was shut down at 7:00 a.m. local time due to volcanic ash from an eruption in Iceland. Flights accross Europe are unaffected since new rules now permit aircraft to enter clouds of low-density volcanic ash.

A spokesperson for the UK's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) cautioned that "forecasts also show that it is likely that the ash cloud will continue to move south, potentially affecting airports in the north-west of England and North Wales." The CAA stated that ash over Scotland and Northern Ireland is denser than that which engine manufacturers have deemed to be safe.

Inverness Airport reopened at 13:00 and as of 19:00 Glasgow, Prestwick and Campbeltown airports remained closed while Edinburgh and Aberdeen were operating normally.

The Republic of Ireland's airspace was closed yesterday but was open again today. The Irish Aviation Authority warned that sporadic disruption is possible throughout the summer as the eruption continues.

 * recorded brief

FDA report criticizes conditions in factory that produced recalled medications
The United States Federal Drug Agency (FDA) has issued a report into an investigation which began last April in which it heavily criticises a medicine factory. The company in question, Johnson & Johnson, issued a product recall last weekend which affected medications sold in twelve countries.

The FDA found that an unidentified bacterium was contaminating ingredients, quality control was ineffective and workers had not been properly trained in safety procedures for manufacturing pharmaceuticals. Security issues were also found. In all, the report listed twenty problems identified.

Johnson & Johnson's division McNeil Consumer Healthcare stated that the products recalled could contain foreign particles, excess active ingredients or improperly tested material. McNeil said the factory has been temprarily shut down and said the breaches were "unacceptable to us".
 * recorded brief

Knife-wielding woman arrested after allegedly stabbing four at store in West Hollywood
Police in West Hollywood, California have arrested a woman alleged to have stabbed four people in a Target shopping store. When paramedics arrived on-scene shortly after midday local time on Monday they discovered one person critically injured and transported them to hospital, while a second person received hospital treatment for minor injuries. Two people only required treated at the scene.

Off-duty police officer Clay Grant Jr was able to stop the violence with his police gun. Layla Trawick, 34, was arrested. At least one witness claims to have seen Trawick perform the attacks. She remains in custody with bail set at one million US dollars.

 * I reworked this brief to more "front load" the alleged assailants name and actions as described by the witness. When I do a brief, I really try to "tell a story" with a strong narrative (beginning, middle and end). I didn't feel it was quite a strong waiting to the end to give the alleged assailants name and I wasn't sold on the line "was able to stop the violence with his police gun". The interesting thing about wikinews is walking that line between being unbiased (only the facts) and making sure we are also presenting out material in an engaging manner for the listener. I know I hate to say it, but doing these audio briefs does require us to think a little more like "entertainers", however, I much more prefer calling us "story tellers". It's a fine line, I understand, and I will fight tooth and nail anyone who wants to sensationalize and be too entertaining with the briefs, but it is something we need to keep in mind as well. The AW is mainly a way to "sell" wikinews, to get outside listeners engaged in the project and hopefully get them to participate. I suppose, it's best to think of what we do on AW as the "marketing" division of wikinews :)

Police in West Hollywood, California have arrested 34 year old Layla Trawick who is alleged to have stabbed four people in a Target shopping store on Monday. At least one witness claims to have seen Trawick perform the attacks who described the assailants behavior as "look[ing] like she was going to stab everyone there."

When paramedics arrived on-scene shortly after midday local time, they discovered one person critically injured along with a second person who sustained minor injuries; both of whom were transported to a local hospital. Two other victims only required treatment at the scene.

Armed off-duty police officer, Clay Grant Jr, was able to stop the assailant who has since been arrested and is currently being held on $1 million bail.

 * recorded brief

Tanker seized by Somali pirates; Russian warship en route
Somali pirates seized the Moscow University, an oil tanker bound for China, earlier today, prompting a Russian warship to be dispatched to the scene, reports say.

The hijacking occurred about 900 kilometres off the coast of Somalia, according to officials. The vessel's owner, Novoship, says the pirates, armed with automatic weapons, shot at the boat from two speed boats early in the day.

There were 23 Russian crew members aboard the tanker; all are said to have locked themselves in a secure room in the ship. The crew sent out distress calls to the warship before communications were cut off, the owner says.

 * I tweaked this one just a bit to reduce a few redundant words, add the name os the Russian warship (many things Russian I can usually pronounce - not always, but fairly often) and added the context of what the pirates have been doing in the Gulf. I added that last bit because I always assume anyone listening to the show will be new to any news story. I learned this from the US financial crisis when reporters and broadcasters talked at length about credit default swaps and derivative as if everyone listening actually knew what those things were. Of course, as we soon learned, nobody knew what a CDO was and that led to the financial crisis becoming such a confusing mess (even though it was already super confusing because of the inherit nature of economics) that most people feel totally lost about what's really going on to the point that its beginning to effect policy. Hence, this is why I always try to add context and assume the audience has never heard about any of the events in a story before so that they can get caught up to speed. The downside is that it gets repetitive for us broadcasters :)

Somali pirates seized the Moscow University, an oil tanker bound for China, 900 kilometres off the coast of Somalia earlier today, prompting a Russian warship to be dispatched to the scene. The vessel's owner, Novoship, says the pirates, armed with automatic weapons, shot at the vessel from two speed boats.

There were 23 Russian crew members aboard the tanker; all of whom are said to have locked themselves in a secure room on the ship. The crew sent out distress calls to the warship Marshal Shaposhnikov before communications were cut off. According to a reporter with the BBC, the warship probably would not intervene, as it may put the lives of the crew in danger.

Pirates are currently holding over 350 hostages and twenty vessels in various locations around Somalia and though international warships have been patrolling the Gulf of Aden, they have been unable to entirely halt the hijacking of ships.

 * brief recorded

BP: One oil leak in Gulf of Mexico plugged

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 22:47, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
 * brief written and recorded

Taleban launches attack on Afghan city; several dead

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 23:10, 5 May 2010 (UTC)
 * brief written and recorded

Heavy rains start in central and southern Chile while aftershock takes place

 * brief written and recorded - Diego is gonna kill me for butchering the Spanish language in this one :)

On this day in history
Today is Cinco de Mayo!

In 1862, under the leadership of General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín, the Mexican army won an unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla. The battle is widely celebrated as the holiday Cinco de Mayo, the 5th of May, in the United States and, to a lesser degree, in Mexico. Cinco de Mayo is considered a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride but should not be confused with Mexico's Independence Day, that day is celebrated on September 16th.

May 6, 2010
This is the heading for the May 6 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 18:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

Since there are quite a few stories in the newsroom ready for publishing, I'll extend my UTC cut-off time to the end of today so that we don't get back logged. I'm going to be away from the computer for a while to eat dinner and what-not, and will log back in and see where we stand and complete any briefs and/or recordings as necessary. Honestly, it's nice to see so many stories being published lately - hopefully that means the site is growing! Turtlestack (talk) 22:34, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua reported dead
Presidential aides and state television announced yesterday that the Nigerian president, Umaru Yar'Adua, died.

Yar'Adua ascended to the presidency in 2007, but was later taken ill, and had not been publicly seen for the last few months. He was hospitalised in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to get treatment for inflammated tissue around his heart.

According to the BBC, Nigerian reports indicated the president died between 21.00 and 22.00 local time (20.00 to 21.00 UTC) in Abuja, the capital. Goodluck Jonathan, the vice-president, became the acting president this February; under the constitution, he is to now be sworn in formally and will appoint a new vice-president.

Tomorrow is to be a national holiday, and Nigeria will observe a week of mourning for the deceased president. In his statement, acting president Jonathan said: "Nigeria has lost the jewel on its crown, and even the heavens mourn with our nation tonight."
 * brief recorded (Umaru Yar'Adua pronunciation research from NPR.)

African leaders start drive to eradicate malaria
The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), consisting of leaders from 26 African countries, are beginning a drive to eradicate malaria from the continent by distributing medication, insecticides, and bed nets. In a budget announced at the World Economic Forum yesterday, US$100 million will be spent in the countries worst affected by the disease.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete told the World Economic Forum that the strategy of mass-covering beds with nets to keep out disease-carrying mosquitoes, distributing plenty of medicine and the use of insecticides has already reduced Zanzibar's malaria incidence from 40% to 1%. Ray Chambers, a special envoy for malaria with the United Nations, said the US President's Malaria Initiative will provide the money. Chambers also commented that ALMA has recently purchased 50 million "long lasting" insecticidal nets.

Malaria costs the continent an estimated US$40 billion every year in lost work time and medical care.

 * brief recorded (Jakaya Kikwete pronunciation research from NPR)

Greek demonstrators protest austerity measures

 * this is a carry-over from May 5th to be combined with Athens bank fire kills three as Greece goes on strike when it goes live.

Strikes and protests have swept across Greece, particularly in Athens, over the past two days. On the second day, yesterday, an apparent firebombing at a bank killed three, including a pregnant woman, as a sweeping 24-hour strike shut down most services, including schools, hospitals, public transport and government-run offices.

The protests against austerity measures intended to help Greece struggle through its current debt crisis, was largely peaceful on their first day, although some protesters threw stones at riot police, who responded with pepper spray. Members of the Greek Communist Party KKE broke through locks securing the Acropolis in Athens and hung up banners saying "Peoples of Europe — Rise Up".

On the second day students and striking teachers, hospital workers and other public servants were joined by more strikers to make a total of up to 100,000 people. As well as the fatal fire at the Marfin Bank, which allegedly occurred after petrol bombs were thrown through broken windows, other buildings, cars and bins were torched.

At one stage protesters attempted to storm riot police guarding the parliament building, using broken marble torn from buildings as weapons.

Although unpopular, it is considered unlikely that Greece will back out of the spending cuts contained in the austerity plan, which is a requirement for the cash-strapped nation to receive a joint rescue package from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

The KKE has indicated to Wikinews reporter Iain Macdonald that they are willing to provide an exclusive interview about the current situation. The interview is likely to appear on wikinews.org within days.

 * brief recorded
 * brief retracted in favor of the new, combined story. See below.

Athens bank fire kills three as Greece goes on strike

 * Although listed for completeness, there will be no separate brief for this article as the recent events in Greece are being combined into one brief.
 * see below

New York bridge shut down after suspicious truck found
New York City's Triborough Bridge was shut down yesterday while bomb squad investigated a suspicious vehicle. A toll booth operator noticed a strong smell of gasoline coming from a U-Haul rental truck which had been abandoned nearby.

Witnesses told police they saw a man flee the vehicle last night. No bomb was found. The incident comes just three days after a failed bombing in the city's Times Square.

 * brief recorded

British political candidate Nigel Farage injured in plane crash on polling day
A political candidate for the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) has been injured in a polling day plane crash. Nigel Farage, the former leader of the party, was in a passenger a two-seater plane when it crashed at an airfield in Winchester just one hour after voting began.

The pilot received serious injuries while Farage's were not thought to be life-threatening, although a fellow UKIP member stated that Farage has been drifting in and out of consciousness. The plane was towing a UKIP banner to be flown over Buckinghamshire, the constituency for which Farage is a candidate. UKIP said unconfirmed reports stated the banner had become snagged or that crosswinds were a factor, but stated that after contacting an aviation expert they believed the banner was not a factor.

An investigation into the crash has been launched.

 * Glad I looked up Nigel Farage. I had a feeling his last name wasn't pronounced Fa-Ridge - instead, it's Fa-raj :)
 * brief recorded

Greek parliament passes austerity bill

 * It may be that the brief for the other Greek articles has already been recorded. No loss if so; this can easily be written up individually.
 * I can tie the brief for this story in with the brief about the protests and fire and record it as one larger story. Turtlestack (talk) 20:49, 6 May 2010 (UTC)
 * see below

Athens bank fire kills three as Greece goes on strike, Greek demonstrators protest austerity measures, Greek parliament passes austerity bill
This is the combination of the 3 stories on Greece. This should get us all caught up on the story and allow us to write and record briefs for any further stories on this crisis as it happens (hopefully, anyway)''' Turtlestack (talk) 22:04, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

---

The Greek parliament has approved an austerity bill proposed by the government to help rescue the country's ailing economy.

The proposal, which includes increases in taxes, as well as salary and pension cuts, needed at least 151 votes to pass in the 300 seat parliament. The vote comes after a debate that took the entire day and was passed with 172 members of parliament supporting, 121 opposing, and several abstaining.

Prime minister George Papandreou described the situation to parliament ahead of the vote, saying "The future of Greece is at stake. The economy, democracy and social cohesion are being put to the test."

The Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund had asked for austerity plans, an economic measure in which a government reduces its spending and/or increases user fees to pay back creditors, to be implemented so that Greece can access a rescue loan package worth US$146 billion in order not to default on debts. The austerity program is estimated to save $38 billion. Greece also aims to lower the public deficit to less than 3% of the GDP in four years; at the moment it is at 13.6%.

Meanwhile, rallies and strikes have been held across the country, particularly in Athens, to protest against the measures.

During the first day of protests, demonstrations were mostly peaceful, though some protesters threw stones at riot police, who responded with pepper spray. Members of the Greek Communist Party, KKE, broke through locks securing the Acropolis in Athens and hung up banners saying "Peoples of Europe — Rise Up".

Present at the protests were 150 members of the armed forces, who protested having their bonuses lowered and were joined by teachers, hospital workers and other public servants.

However, on the second day of protests, yesterday, an apparent firebombing at the Marfin Bank bank killed three, including a pregnant woman, as the sweeping 24-hour strike shut down most services, including schools, hospitals, public transport and government-run offices.

Up to 100,000 people were reported to have taken part in the demonstrations, the largest since Greece's economic crisis began last year. In addition to the bank bombings, protesters attempted to storm riot police guarding the parliament building, using broken marble torn from buildings as weapons. Protesters have also reportedly set fire to other buildings, cars and bins, as well as setting up barricades in the streets. Police responded by using tear gas and water cannons against protesters.

The Greek Communist Party has indicated to Wikinews reporter Iain Macdonald that they are willing to provide an exclusive interview about the current situation. The interview is likely to appear on wikinews.org within the next few days. Please stay tuned to wikinews.org for all the latest developments in this story.

 * brief recorded Turtlestack (talk) 22:22, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Nigeria swears in new president after death of Umaru Yar'Adua

 * '''combine with Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua reported dead story
 * completed brief Turtlestack (talk) 23:58, 6 May 2010 (UTC)

Russian forces storm oil tanker seized by Somali pirates, crew freed

 * completed brief Turtlestack (talk) 00:02, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

British oil firm claim discovery off coast of Falkland Islands

 * completed brief Turtlestack (talk) 00:34, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Black boxes from Air France Flight 447 localized

 * completed brief Turtlestack (talk) 00:05, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

NBC employee wins $266M from California lottery

 * completed brief Turtlestack (talk) 00:39, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Mumbai gunman given death penalty, to be hanged

 * completed brief Turtlestack (talk) 00:12, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Peruvian bolero singer Lucho Barrios dies aged 75

 * completed brief
 * Music credit "La Joya Del Pacifico (The Jewel Of the Pacific)" The Internet Archive

2010 UK general election results

 * brief written Turtlestack (talk) 00:49, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

On this day in history
In 1937, the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg caught fire and was destroyed as it was attempting to dock with its mooring mast at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station. Of the 97 people on board, 35 people died in addition to one fatality on the ground. The disaster was the subject of spectacular newsreel coverage, photographs, and Herbert Morrison's recorded radio eyewitness report from the landing field, which was broadcast the next day.

The actual cause of the fire remains unknown, although a variety of theories have been put forward for both the cause of ignition and the initial fuel for the ensuing fire.

The accident served to shatter public confidence in the giant, passenger-carrying rigid airship, and marked the end of the airship era.

 * Sound Credit The Internet Archive

Show is completed uploaded
''' Awesome job today! This turned out to be quite a news day but the show turned out great. Thank you ''' Turtlestack (talk) 02:36, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

May 7, 2010
This is the heading for the May 7 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 18:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

I have to head out for awhile, so today's show will be late going live again. I hate to do that, but I had a longer than normal day at work so my time has been somewhat limited. No worries though, I'll get it live later tonight. Turtlestack (talk) 22:26, 7 May 2010 (UTC)

Voters turned away from polling stations in UK general elections

 * combining with UK elections: Hung parliament, Cameron to negotiate with Liberal Democrats
 * there is another story, British National Party loses all seats in Barking & Dagenham after general elections awaiting publishing that I can combine with as well.
 * completed brief

UK elections: Hung parliament, Cameron to negotiate with Liberal Democrats

 * working Turtlestack (talk) 22:07, 7 May 2010 (UTC)
 * combining with Voters turned away from polling stations in UK general elections
 * completed brief

US stocks see 9% drop before making recovery

 * combine with US economy added 390,000 jobs last month, unemployment at 9.9%
 * completed brief

US economy added 390,000 jobs last month, unemployment at 9.9%

 * combine with US stocks see 9% drop before making recovery
 * completed brief

On this day in history
In 1915, Leslie Morton, an eighteen year old lookout on the bow of the RMS Lusitania, spotted a torpedo in the water which had been fired from Unterseeboot 20, a German submarine commanded by Walther Schwieger. The torpedo struck Lusitania under her bridge and according to Schwieger's captains log, "An unusually heavy explosion takes place with a very strong explosive cloud. The explosion of the torpedo must have been followed by a second one ..."

At this point in his log, we wonders if the second explosion had been from the boiler or possibly coal or powder igniting, then continues his entry, stating "... The ship stops immediately and heels over to starboard very quickly, immersing simultaneously at the bow... the name Lusitania becomes visible in golden letters".

Onboard the Lusitania, an SOS is sent out and Captain William Thomas Turner, who was known as "Bowler Bill", gave the order to abandon ship. By now, water was flooding the ship's starboard longitudinal compartments, causing a 15-degree list to starboard. Captain Turner tried turning the ship toward the Irish coast in the hope of beaching her, but the helm would not respond because the torpedo had knocked out the steam lines to the steering motor. Meanwhile, the ship's propellers continued to drive the ship at 18 knots, forcing more water into her hull.

Despite Turner's efforts to beach the liner and reduce her speed, Lusitania did not answer the helm. According to Schwieger, who had been observing the disaster through U-20's periscope, there was panic and disorder on the decks. At 14:25, he finally dropped periscope and headed out to sea.

Later in the war, Schwieger was killed in action when, as commander of U-88, he was chased by HMS Stonecrop, hit a British mine, and sank on 5 September 1917. There were no survivors from U-88's sinking. Since the sinking of Lusitania, Schwieger had been condemned in the Allied press as a war criminal.

Captain Turner remained on the bridge of Lusitania until the water rushed upward and destroyed the sliding door, washing him overboard into the sea. He had managed to take the ship's logbook and charts with him as he escaped the rapidly sinking Lusitania and found a chair floating in the water which he clung to. He was pulled unconscious from the water, and survived despite having spent three hours in the water.

By the time it was over, Lusitania sank in 18 minutes eight miles off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, taking 1,198 lives with her.

In the aftermath of the sinking, the German government tried to justify it by claiming in an official statement that she had been armed with guns, and had "large quantities of war material" in her cargo. Lusitania had been carrying, according to her manifest, an estimated 4,200,000 rounds of rifle cartridges, 1,250 empty shell cases, and 18 cases of non-explosive fuses, but the cartridges were not officially classed as ammunition by the Cunard Line, the company who owned the vessel.

The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, and was instrumental in bringing the United States, which up to this point had been reluctant to enter into European hostilities, into World War I.

Here is Herbert Stuart singing "When the Lusitania Went Down"

 * Music Credit The Internet Archive.

May 8, 2010
This is the heading for the May 8 show. All files and conversations for this show will take place here. Today's cut-off time is 22:30 UTC. I will be logged in around 18:00 UTC. If you want to add links to the stories you wish to read / write, please do so.

British National Party loses all seats in Barking & Dagenham after general elections

 * brief completed

Detroit Red Wings beat San Jose Sharks 7-1 in fourth NHL quarter final match

 * completed brief BTW: I'm a transplanted Bruins fan living in Avs country :)

Two Egyptian peacekeepers killed in Darfur by gunmen

 * completed brief

Falkirk relegated from Scottish Premier League

 * completed brief

Boat in DR Congo capsizes, 80 feared dead

 * completed brief

New York's Staten Island Ferry crashes, 60 injured

 * completed brief

Nineteen Spanish airports closed due to ash

 * completed brief

Death toll from China rainstorm reaches 65

 * completed brief

On This Day In History
In 1945, Allied forces in Europe formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. The act of military surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France, and ratified on 8 May in Berlin, Germany.

In the United States, President Harry Truman, who turned 61 that day, dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, who had died of a cerebral hemorrhage less than a month earlier, on 12 April. Flags remained at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period, which ended on May 12.

Here is Harry Truman announcing Germany's surrender.
 * Sound credit The Internet Archive.

More than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of the European part of the war. Many hardships remained, however, including continued rationing of food and clothing, which lasted even longer in peacetime than it had during the war.