text:
President Bush faces some tough questioning

May 1, 2005

White House reporters used their first "prime time" chance in over a year to pepper U.S. President Bush with questions during a nationally televised press conference. Bush talked about the a wide range of topics including the threat of North Korea, Social Security solvency and his support for privatized accounts as well as means-based benefits, the rocketing price of crude oil, and issues concerning Iraq.

During the Thursday evening conference, President Bush was asked, "Mr. President, under the law, how would you justify the practice of 'renditioning', where U.S. agents who bust terror suspects abroad, taking them to a third country for interrogation? And would you stand for it if foreign agents did that to an American here?"

"That's a hypothetical," President Bush quickly replied.

After a brief pause, Bush continued, "We operate within the law, and we send people to countries where they say they're not going to torture the people..."

"The unusually expansive authority for the CIA to operate independently was provided by the White House under a still-classified directive signed by President Bush within days of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon", the New York Times reported, quoting government officials. Since 9/11, concern has grown that the CIA may be flying suspected terrorists to nations such as Uzbekistan in order to have them interrogated using methods that would be prohibited by law in the U.S. itself.

The president told reporters, "I'm going to say it again: One of my concerns after September the 11th is the farther away we got from September the 11th, the more relaxed we would all become and assume that there wasn't an enemy out there ready to hit us..."

One episode of renditioning was reported by The Washington Post in November 2003. It relates to a Canadian citizen who, while on an international flight that stopped in New York to pick up passengers, was detained and deported to Syria where he endured 10 months of what he described as torture in a Syrian prison.

Maher Arar, who lives in Toronto with his family, was released in October of 2003 and has never been charged with any crime. He said that he pleaded with U.S. authorities to let him return to Canada. The Syrian chargé d'affaires in Washington, Imad Moustafa, denied that Arar was tortured in an interview on CBC Radio. President Bush was also asked, "Mr. President, your State Department has reported that terrorist attacks around the world are at an all-time high. If we're winning the war on terrorism, as you say, how do you explain that more people are dying in terrorist attacks on your watch than ever before?" "Well, we've made the decision to defeat the terrorists abroad so we don't have to face them here at home," President Bush replied.

During the hour long telecast, President Bush restated his primary messages on social security, energy policy, and the war in Iraq.

Social security was the biggest topic before he opened up to reporters for discussion. He pressed for politicians working on the program to act with bipartisanship, citing tough challenges ahead when shortfalls in the program's funding are in some calculations projected to begin in about a decade.

The press conference was only the fourth prime-time press conference held by President Bush since he took office in 2001.


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U.S. EPA submits 2003 greenhouse gas inventory to U.N.

May 1, 2005

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released an official annual report to the United Nations (UN) on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. The report is drafted, held for 30 days of public comment, then released to the Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) each year in April.

This year's report is the ninth since the EPA began producing the emissions inventory in 1997, after the US signed and ratified the UNFCCC in 1992. The UNFCCC, a legally non-binding treaty created to address global warming, is not as well known as the Kyoto Protocol, which is a more recently updated protocol based on that treaty. The United States did not ratify the Kyoto Protocol; however, it was ratified by 127 other nations and went into effect for them on February 16, 2005.

Major findings
The EPA report covers the period 1990-2003, with particular emphasis on the 2003 period (there is a one-year delay in preparation). Major findings include:
 * Between 1990 and 2003, US emissions increased overall by 13 percent, during which time the US economy has grown at a comparatively higher rate of 46 percent; one can conclude from these figures that the economy is becoming more efficient at making monetary profits (economic output) relative to its greenhouse gas emissions. This relative growth is illustrated in the first graph above (click the graph to enlarge for readability).  The graph shows that emissions per person (or "per capita") is holding steady, but emissions per unit of economic output is decreasing as economic output (or Real Gross Domestic Product, called Real GDP) rises strongly and steadily.
 * From 2002 to 2003, US emissions increased overall by 0.6 percent. A year-to-year comparison and overall growth of US emissions is shown in the graph below (click the graph to enlarge).  In two different years, 1991 and 2001, the greenhouse gas emissions actually decreased; however, the general overall trend continues to be toward increasing emissions.  You may recall that 2001 was a year of economic setbacks for the US, with a stock market crisis and the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11, which no doubt contributed to the temporary reduction of emissions.

The period beginning in 1990 is of interest, since that is the period addressed by the Kyoto Protocol, which attempts to reduce the average greenhouse gas emissions for each country to 5.2 percent below 1990 levels.

Gases covered
Gases covered in the report included six major greenhouse gases. The first three gases are produced both naturally and by human activity, but the last three gases are mainly produced by human activity:
 * Carbon dioxide (chemical formula CO 2 ); in 2003, 95 percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the United States were produced by the combustion of fuel.
 * Methane (chemical formula CH 4 ), mainly from natural and agricultural sources. This gas has 20 times the potential effect on global warming as carbon dioxide; however, methane levels in the United States have been declining steadily since 1990.
 * Nitrous oxide (chemical formula N 2 O), commonly known as "laughing gas" for its effect when inhaled. This gas has 200 times the potential effect on global warming as carbon dioxide, if you consider equal amounts of each gas; however, the total amount of nitrous oxide currently in the atmosphere is much less.
 * Hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFCs) and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
 * Perfluorocarbons (PFCs)
 * Sulfur hexafluoride

About 80% of the total emissions came from the burning of fossil fuels. Other major natural greenhouse gases are water vapor (H 2 O), which actually traps more heat in the atmosphere than all the listed gases combined; and ozone (O 3 ), a gas well-known for a "hole" in the ozone layer being discovered over the earth's polar regions in recent decades.

Background Reading

 * global warming - introductory NPOV article on global warming, including an extensive list of references to external sources, classified by their likely biases

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


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Wikinews:2005/April/29

 * Putin pledges to help Palestinians
 * Grenade attack on fellow soldiers puts sergeant on death row
 * World's most expensive hotel-casino opens in Las Vegas
 * Swedish packaging company transfers production lines to Romania
 * Romanian mining industry to receive 115 million euro in state aid
 * UK Party leaders questioned on BBC 'Question Time'
 * U.S. EPA submits 2003 greenhouse gas inventory to U.N.
 * Exploding toads confuse scientists
 * New Italian goverment gets confidence from the Senate too
 * Harvard University officials update Agassiz Neighborhood Council about local construction in Cambridge, Massachusetts
 * US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visits Latin America
 * Ezer Weizman former Israeli president dies at the age of 81

title: Wikinews:2005/April/29


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Tabletop fusion may lead to neutron source

May 1, 2005

A UCLA team, headed by Brian Naranjo, has observed the nuclear fusion of deuterium nuclei in a tabletop device. The device uses a lithium tantalate (LiTaO3) pyroelectric crystal to ionize deuterium atoms and accelerate the ions towards a stationary erbium deuteride (ErD) target. Fusion of two deuterium nuclei results in the emission of helium nuclei (alpha particles), neutrons and gamma rays. The team anticipates applications of the device as a tabletop neutron generator, or in "microthrusters" for space propulsion. It is possible that there may be applications related to nuclear weapons, although this possibility is not discussed in the research paper.

This development is not related to earlier claims of tabletop fusion or "cold fusion" having been observed during sonoluminescence. In fact, the leader of the team behind this development was one of the main critics of earlier low-temperature fusion claims.

This device is not the first reliable tabletop fusion device; the Farnsworth-Hirsch fusor, developed in the early 1960s in the laboratory of Philo T. Farnsworth who was instrumental in developing television, is sold commercially as a neutron source. Research by Dr. Todd Rider of MIT suggests that the kind of non-equilibrium fusion produced in these sources will never be usable as an energy source (see his PhD thesis).


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Indiana Pacers beat Boston Celtics again to lead series 2-1 in US basketball playoffs

April 28, 2005

Reggie Miller led the Indiana Pacers in scoring with 33 points as the Pacers beat the Celtics in Indianapolis by 23 points to take a 2-1 lead in the first round of the NBA finals. After losing the first game to Boston at the Fleet Center, the Pacers came back in game 2 to win by 3.

The Celtics kept within 5 points of the Pacers until the middle of the second quarter, when the Pacers went on a 13-1 run. At halftime, Pacers led by 17, 55-38. Though the Celtics pulled to within 7 in the middle of the third quarter, they never led again.

Three Celtics scored in double figures (Paul Pierce, Gary Payton, and Antoine Walker), but it was not enough to overcome Reggie Miller, who scored 15 points in the fourth quarter alone. Walker was ejected from the game with 4:05 remaining for two technical fouls.


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Talk:Tabletop fusion may lead to neutron source

I belive that this is the Nature Article in which the findings were first published, as a result of this letter from the scientists in question.

If this is the UCLA experiment, they have already said it's too inefficient for use as an energy source.

This is the original article according to http://www.nature.com/news/2005/050425/full/050425-3.html: Naranjo, B., Gimzewski, J. & Putterman, S. Nature 434, 1115−1117 (2005); doi:10.1038/nature03575 |
 * Actually this is the original article: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v434/n7037/abs/nature03575.html Dan100 (Talk) 22:01, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

What happened to the usefulness with subcritical fission reactors, and the source cited for that? Not to mention that censoring the first title has made the headline false - it won't lead to a neutron source, it IS a neutron source.
 * It went because it was original research - none of the sources concerned with the news story at hand mention that application. Dan100 (Talk) 09:14, 1 May 2005 (UTC)


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Talk:U.S. EPA submits 2003 greenhouse gas inventory to U.N.

Sources and citations
There are no sources other than a U.S. Government press release? - Amgine/talk 05:16, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Should there be? -Edbrown05 05:26, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * I should think so. I would not trust without reservation advertisement, and I do not trust without reservation a press release. What do other interested and knowledgeable parties have to say on this report? Was the methodology sound? What kind of effect might this have in a world which has Kyoto outside the US? - Amgine/talk 05:31, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Noted. -Edbrown05

 * The information for the article was taken from the press release, backed up by a quick reading of the Executive Summary of the report, and a search for other sources. A search of Googlenews yesterday and today did not reveal even a single other article on the subject, although they have done EPA report such as about mercury in the near past.  I found other sites that reference the report, typically in a technical fashion about the reports methodology during the report's public comment period--nothing big there.  This morning, I did some further searching in Google itself, not just the news section, and found two news sources and a blog (among others) that reference the new EPA report.  They news items are from March, when the draft report was released for comment.  I didn't find anything noteworthy enough in the articles to add, but here are the sources:

 * http://ehscenter.bna.com/pic2/ehs.nsf/id/BNAP-6A6HES?OpenDocument
 * http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/03/epa_us_greenhou.html
 * http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/002272.html DouglasGreen

 * Thanks for looking, DouglasGreen! Very frustrating, I'm sure, and frankly puzzling. I'm really surprised *somebody* hasn't mentioned the 25% loss of manufacturing base as an element of this... On the other hand, I guess this means you have an official scoop, DouglasGreen! - Amgine/talk 16:05, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Yeah, a scoop! Pretty soon we'll catch up with AP and Reuters... :-) I did think about the loss of manufacturing base a bit.  It seems to me that much manufacturing is probably being offshored to developing countries, like China and India, which I think is a bit of a flaw in the Kyoto Protocol, since they are exempted from regulation (for now). DouglasGreen 23:07, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Hey, just wondering if anyone has heard about this great wiki-based encyclopedia called the wikipedia? Doesn't it make sense to read a bit of background before simply reprinting a government/corporate press release? There was a huge amount of work NPOVing Global warming - i can't reintegrate it here on my own, but i'll see if i can add at least a few corrections. Boud 15:30, 1 May 2005 (UTC)


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Talk:Harvard University officials update Agassiz Neighborhood Council about local construction in Cambridge, Massachusetts

I stopped by the construction site earlier last week; I think it was on Thursday, April 22. The hole that they were digging was in the southeast corner of the site, as can be seen in the upper left corner of the first picture here, Slurry wall excavation, 4/22/05. Pingswept 03:40, 28 Apr 2005 (UTC)


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Wikinews:Briefs/April 29, 2005

April 29, 2005

News Bullets

 * Sgt. Hasan Akbar of the United States army has been sentenced to death for his grenade attack on officers in the days preceding invasion of Iraq. His defense team plans to appeal the case, arguing for life imprisonment. article
 * The new Wynn Las Vegas hotel-casino has opened as the most expensive casino resort development ever. At US$2.7 billion, the development cost more than $1 million per room. article
 * Swedish packaging company Korsnas Packaging opens production lines in Romania. Further international investment is expected as Romania makes its tax system corporate-friendly and accedes to the European Union in 2007. article
 * In the lead-up to May 5th elections, United Kingdom leaders from the three largest political parties were interrogated on the BBC's 'Question Time', with continuing concerns regarding the legality of the Iraq invasion dominating the discussions. article
 * In two separate attacks, four Afghan police and one U.S. soldier were killed in Afghanistan. The police officers were killed in a convoy ambush, while the soldier was killed when a patrol was fired on.
 * A UCLA team has fused deuterium using a pyroelectric crystal to create a strong electric field accelerator. The system does not produce more energy than it uses, but it could make feasible a safer form of fission reactor than current designs. article
 * The United States Central Intelligence Agency ends interrogations and search for Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq, according to an addenda to a report from the Iraq Survey Group. In the addenda, Charles Duelfer reports they have finished interrogating 105 Iraqi scientists. article
 * Italy's Prime Minister has warned the United States Italy will not accept a draft report from the U.S. Military exonerating soldiers involved in the shooting of Italian agent Calipari and journalist Sgrena. article
 * Scientists are unsure as to the cause, but near Hamburg a pond's toad population are bloating up and exploding. article
 * Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government received a vote of confidence from the Italian Senate Thursday, after it earning the confidence of the House yesterday. article
 * Harvard University planners met with the Agassiz Neighborhood Council to update the community about Harvard's construction and expansion plans, including the Northwest Science Building and expansion of the Harvard Law School. article
 * Ezer Weizman, former President of the State of Israel died at the age of 81. Weizman helped established the Israeli Air Force and went on to a political career first as a hawk and then made a public conversion to a dove. article

title: Wikinews:Briefs/April 29, 2005


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Pay-by-Plastic pumps up gas prices in U.S.

“People are not paying with cash anymore,” Alex Demir stressed when asked about rising gas prices. Increasingly, they opt to pay with plastic. The payment method involves no transaction fee, is safer than cash if lost or stolen, and is more convenient. The plastic Debit and Credit Cards also mean people, if they choose to, can pay at the pump and skip making the trip inside the station. No wonder its use is on the rise.

Demir is the owner-operator of the Shell gas station that changed over on Thursday from what used to be a Texaco. He expects pump prices to hit $2.50 a gallon before levelling and the sticker shock wears off.

Demir estimates he passes along in the form of higher gas prices a nickel per gallon due to the surcharge he incurs from processing electronic purchases. Each time a buyer uses plastic to make a payment, he submits the receipt to a bank to process for having the money credited into his account. The bank keeps 3% of the total amount of his transactions as a processing surcharge, or fee.

When the use of plastic was first gaining acceptance in the gas pumping business, people who used plastic paid a higher price, about 3 cents a gallon, when at the time gas cost about a dollar a gallon. Then advertising campaigns offering “Credit same as Cash” started, and changed the business standard to where now all stations charge the same, regardless of cash or plastic payment.

“The banks are making a lot of money on this,” Demir says. Now that the price of gas has more than doubled, the fees banks collect on processing these plastic transactions has more than doubled too. The entire transaction banks use to process these payments is electronic, involving hardly any labor at all. But the processing fee remains unchanged, which means a fat paycheck for banks.

Now maybe he and other gas stations will go back to offering a discount for cash. Processing plastic transactions is a variable cost to Demir over which he has no control when his pump prices are 'Credit same as Cash". The use of plastic directly affects his profit margin by the 3% processing fee.

When asked about high gas prices from suppliers, he dismissed the notion with a wave of his hand. “They control everything,” he said.


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Romanian mining industry to receive 115 million euro in state aid

April 29, 2005

The Romanian Ministry of Economy and Commerce, in partnership with the Ministry of Public Finance, have approved a package giving 115 million euro state assistance to the mining industry. This will involve the exemption of 11 state-owned mining companies from financial obligations, of contributing to the state budget, worth 115 million euro. The largest tax exemptions were awarded to the Oltenia National Lignite Company, with 47.4 million euro and to the National Coal Company in Petroşani (38.3 million euro). The exemption took effect on April 26.

State aid to several industries, especially mining and steelworking, is expected to decline in the coming years, as the European Union has told Romania that it needs to stop subsidising loss-making industries in order to be able to fully integrate into the European Union common market. Additionally, Romania's new Justice and Truth (Liberal-Democrat) governing coalition is keen on further liberalising Romania's free-market economy, by greater privatisation, fiscal liberalisation and a reduction in state aid.


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Swedish packaging company transfers production lines to Romania

April 29, 2005

Swedish company Korsnas Packaging has extended its operations in Romania by transferring two production lines from Germany and the United Kingdom to its Romanian subsidiary in Ploieşti, an industrial city close to Bucharest. The first production line will be designed for producing packing material for food and the building industry. This line will be transferred to Romania at the beginning of May, with the transaction being worth €1.5 million. The second production line will be transferred in 2006, depending on the 2005 financial results of Korsnas' Romanian subsidiary.

In the past few years, and the past year especially, more European Union companies have relocated to Romania for to its lower labour cost and skilled workforce. Foreign investors have also been attracted by a new tax policy which started in January 2005, putting in place a flat 16% tax rate for personal income and corporate profit. Foreign investment is expected to increase in the future, as Romania signed in April 25 its Accession Treaty with the European Union and is set to become a member of this organisation on January 1, 2007.

Related news

 * Bulgarian and Romanian EU accession treaty is signed in Luxembourg
 * EU accession treaty for Romania published on the Internet
 * European Commission approves the accession of Bulgaria and Romania


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Pay-by-Plastic pumps up gas prices in U.S./Notes

When I first passed the gas station earlier in the day, there was a guy in a man-lift hoisted up next to the gas price sign, and I thought, “Oh gawds, the gas prices are really outta hand now…!”

I later realized, after passing by later, that it was a changeover from a Texaco station to Shell. The man-lift was finished and gone by then. Earlier it was making changes to the plastics and graphics on the gas price sign.

I gave Mr. Demir the URL here to come get me if I mis-quoted him.

-Edbrown05 07:37, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)


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User talk:Bumm

Please stop vandalising! Does it work? No. Are your edits being reverted? Yes. So then why do it? Ronline 07:46, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:Bumm


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World's most expensive hotel-casino opens in Las Vegas

April 29, 2005

The world's most expensive hotel-casino ever has opened in Las Vegas, Nevada. The casino, which was designed and built over a period of five years, cost US$2.7 billion to construct. The hotel stands nearly fifty stories above the Las Vegas valley, with a 180-foot tall mountain in front of the main entrance.

Numerous lavish touches contributed to the high expense of the development. The sign in front of the Wynn property has an unusual mechanical design, with a large piece containing the Wynn logo, which can move vertically up or down as different announcements are presented.

"I think it's going to start a shift of power. It's been the south for a long time. Things will start moving to the north because of Wynn Las Vegas, Sheldon Adelson with the expansion of the Venetian, the New Frontier -- that whole area will become the new hot area of Las Vegas for the next decade or so," gaming expert Anthony Curtis told Las Vegas KLAS TV.

As the property opened to the public, developer Steve Wynn greeted visitors at the front entrance.

"It's always fascinating to watch people enter the thing and get their first moment after we open the doors," Wynn told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Concern about the cost
Analysts are not too concerned about the cost of the Wynn development. Wynn paid off the cost of The Mirage hotel-casino in 18 months, much earlier than the planned seven years for which the debt had been scheduled for repayment.

"If you remember the opening of The Mirage in 1989, Wynn needed to make a nut of $1 million a day. Everyone thought he was nuts; 'couldn't be done,' they all said," Las Vegas history department Chairman Hal Rothman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Wynn sold his interest in Mirage Resorts to MGM Grand (which became MGM Mirage and is now run by Kirk Kerkorian) for US$6.4 billion back in 2000, then turned around and purchased the property for the Wynn hotel-casino for US$275 million. The property was previously the home of the Desert Inn.

The hotel has 2,359 rooms, and a few hundred deluxe suites and "parlors" for high rollers. The casino has 1,960 slot machines and 137 table games on a 111,000 square foot casino floor. A Ferrari-Maserati dealership and the Le Reve stage show, featuring a million gallon water tank, round out the expensive offerings.

A round of golf will go for US$500 on the elaborate golf course located behind the main building.

All of these specifications add up to a record construction cost of over one million US dollars per room. Other expensive Las Vegas properties cost a fraction of the price, such as the Bellagio, which cost half the price at US$533,000 per room. The most expensive hotel property in the world was previously the Grand Wailea Resort in Maui, Hawaii, which cost US$775,000 per room.

"Yes, (Wynn) may be in over his head, but then he has found ways to survive before," Las Vegas professor Bill Thompson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Reaction from the competition
Several of Wynn's largest competitors spoke with admiration of the property and looked forward to its impact on Las Vegas.

"I've never understood the hand-wringing about something new, especially in Las Vegas and Atlantic City," Harrah's Chairman and CEO Gary Loveman told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Other casino bosses from the Mandalay and the MGM Mirage had positive comments as well, hoping to pick up some new business from the development.

"It's a positive in terms of bringing more visitors," Mandalay Resort Group President and CEO Glenn Schaeffer told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"Steve will build a great property and bring new people to town. If we're doing what we're supposed to be doing, then we'll pick up some of that business also," MGM Mirage Chairman and CEO Terry Lanni told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Reaction from the public
Thousands of visitors gathered for hours in front of the property before it opened. Security guards had to monitor the number of visitors entering the building.

"I think it's spectacular," David Schwartz, coordinator of the Gaming Studies Research Center at the University of Nevada Las Vegas told Reuters.

"People were pushing and shoving," Las Vegan Kathie Anderson told Associated Press.

"There is nobody in the world who creates such entertaining and beautiful casinos," British billionaire Richard Branson told Associated Press from the casino floor. "I would say every other casino must be nervous. He's lifted the bar dramatically," Branson said.

"This would be hard to top," Las Vegan Marlene DeMarco told Reuters.


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Talk:World's most expensive hotel-casino opens in Las Vegas

The Wynn is not permitting the press to take photos of the interior until Vanity Fair gets an exclusive for their next issue. — DV 10:07, 29 Apr 2005 (UTC)


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Vindicated Thai GM activists face gaol all the same

April 30, 2005

Two activists who helped identify a vagrant Genetically Modified (GM) crop of papaya, which was later confirmed and destroyed by Thai officials, now face prison over their actions, says Greenpeace.

"In July of 2004, [Journalist] Pat and [Ecology PhD] Jay took this story public when they acted as spokespersons for Greenpeace activists who sealed off GE papaya in experimental fields at the Khon Kaen research station — the source of GE papaya contamination in the region," says a statement from the environmental awareness organisation.

"They were charged with theft, trespassing and destruction of property."

"Instead of getting to the bottom of who precisely was responsible for the contamination, the very department that was responsible for the contamination decided to take legal action against Pat and Jay."

Crop discovery and destruction
In September the government was reported as having located at least nine GM plants on farms near the research facility, in Khon Kaen and Ubon Ratchathani. Entire farm crops were destroyed to prevent the GM variety from spreading further, including those at research stations.

"Ten years of research aimed at improving disease resistance in papayas was destroyed, along with the experimental crops," said Wilai Prasartsri to The Nation in Thailand when 1,000 suspected genetically modified papaya trees there were buried under 2 meters of soil. Prasartsri is the research station chief of Muang district, Khon Kaen.

Agriculture and Cooperatives Minister Somsak Thepsuthin said at the time only GM crops were to be destroyed, out of 2,600 papaya crops sampled across Northeast Thailand. Papaya on the Khon Kaen farm were destroyed, and a control zone was set up within a 450metre radius of the GM contamination to prevent possible spread.

Director of state-funded non-government organisation, Bio-diversity and Community Rights Action Thailand, Withoon Lianchamroon pointed out that rather than carry out extensive testing to isolate GM crops, it would be cheaper to pay compensation to all 2,600 farmers and destroy all the papaya on their farms, because the cost of GMO testing – Bt1,600 (US$40) per sample – was prohibitive.

Two GM papaya strains are being developed in Thailand, according to Greenpeace: Khak Dam and Khak Nuan. The plants being grown in Thailand were genetically altered at Cornell University in the US, but details of the agreement were kept secret by the Thai government and Cornell, Greenpeace said. The group believed though, that a royalty fee was to be charged for commercial use of the plants showing the altered genetic code, which was designed to be resistant to ringspot virus.

Blame
Although the Network of Northeastern Alternative Agriculture has filed complaints of negligence against the Prime Minister and senior agriculture officials, calling on Khon Kaen police to launch a criminal investigation into how the crops had spread, Greenpeace claims that no charges have been laid against anyone except the two activists.

Mr Somsak has launched an internal investigation to determine how the GM papayas from the experimental fields leaked to taint local crops, while director-general of the Department of Agriculture (DOA), Chakan Saengraksawong, eager to begin further field trials, told The Nation, "We never sold the GM papaya seeds. If any official is found to have illegally sold the seeds he will surely face punishment."

Mr Withoon alleged at the time that a cover-up of the extent of dissemination of the GM variety had occurred. Mr Somsak said that the problem was limited to the Khon Kaen farms, whereas Withoon suspected that many more seedlings had 'escaped', with the thousands of Ubon Ratchathani villagers having been given seedlings by state experimental farms.

Environmentalists pointed to the apparent lack of effectiveness of the Khon Kaen farm's strong fences and round-the-clock security in preventing escape of the GM seedlings.

Status of GM in Thailand
Since 2001, Thailand has banned importation of GM organisms for commercial non-research purposes, until national regulations can be developed.

Exports to Europe were cancelled in the face of the discovery, affecting Thailand's US$1 million, 3,000 ton papaya export market. The internal market of papaya in Thailand is a hundred times as large.

According to Mr Withoon, most Thai are against GM. Bumrung Kayothabut of the Network of Northeastern Alternative Agriculture, last year said the government was in the grip of multinational companies trying to dominate Thai agriculture through the promotion of GM crops.

Senator Niran Phitakwatchara linked pro-GM moves by the government to the Thailand-United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA); in the midst of the papaya escapade, the Thai government was reviewing its policy on GM crops, and being lobbied by the US biotech monolith, Monsanto — who, with Cornell, holds patents on the world's only commercial GM papaya, SunUp, farmed in Hawaii.

Prime Minister Thaksin said on delaying of a decision on overturning the ban on GM crops, that the government needed more information. "People, including some scientists, still have no clear understanding of what GM crops really are," he told The Nation. He added that bio-safety legislation was needed as a first step, before examining whether or not to allow GM crops, and denied that the FTA was influencing Thai policy-making.


text: User:DoubleBlue/Workspace

title: User:DoubleBlue/Workspace


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Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie in theaters

April 30, 2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie based upon the popular book by Douglas Adams has been released. The movie was written by Douglas Adams and Karey Kirkpatrick, and stars Martin Freeman as Arthur Dent, Zooey Deschanel as Trillian, Mos Def as Ford Prefect and Sam Rockwell as Zaphod Beeblebrox.

Release dates and ratings
The film is scheduled to for general release by Buena Vista Motion Pictures Group on different dates in different countries.
 * April 28, 2005: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and United Kingdom (PG)
 * April 29, 2005: Canada and United States (PG for thematic elements, action, and mild language)
 * May 4, 2005: Iceland
 * May 5, 2005: Israel
 * May 6, 2005: Italy
 * June 1, 2005: Egypt and United Arab Emirates
 * June 2, 2005: Czech Republic, Singapore, and Thailand
 * June 3, 2005: Brazil, Latvia, and Switzerland (Italian-speaking)
 * June 9, 2005: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Switzerland (German-speaking)
 * June 10, 2005: Poland
 * June 16, 2005: Hungary
 * June 17, 2005: Turkey
 * June 23, 2005: Argentina and Slovenia
 * July 15, 2005: Estonia, and Taiwan
 * July 22, 2005: Finland
 * July 27, 2005: Sweden
 * August 4, 2005: Netherlands
 * August 12, 2005: Denmark and Norway
 * August 17, 2005: Belgium, France, and Switzerland (French-speaking)
 * August 25, 2005: Portugal
 * August 26, 2005: South Korea


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INTOSAI meets in Paro, Bhutan

April 30, 2005

The Standing Committee on IT (Information Technology) Auditing of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions is meeting for the fourteenth time in Paro, Bhutan. On Wednesday the 27th, Bhutanese Foreign Minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk opened the conference, voicing support for the Bhutanese Auditing agency: "The Royal Government, have always considered the Royal Audit Authority of Bhutan as an important body towards promoting a corruption free government and a proper utilization of our resources."

Fifty auditors from 21 countries including Bhutan, India, China, the UK and Brazil are meeting for the conference. Part of the goal of the session is to share auditing experiences, and help each other understand how computers affect auditing. Specific strategies on auditing e-governance, the use of IT technology, and using a computerized auditing system will be discussed.

title: INTOSAI meets in Paro, Bhutan


text:
Grenade attack on fellow soldiers puts sergeant on death row

April 29, 2005

Sgt. Hasan Akbar, 34, should die by lethal injection for the murder of two of his comrades by hand grenade and rifle in the opening days of the Iraq invasion. This was the sentence handed down by the jury of 15 Thursday, in a military court martial in Fort Bragg, N.C. Last week the same jury deliberated only 2 and a half hours and found him guilty of premeditated murder and attempted premeditated murder while stationed with the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division in Kuwait in March of 2003.

The defense contended that Sergeant Akbar was not able to plan the attack because he was mentally ill and suffering from delusions that his life was in jeopardy. Akbar asked the jury for forgiveness before they went into the sentencing phase: "I want to apologize for the attack that occurred," he told the jury.

"I felt that my life was in jeopardy, and I had no other options. I also want to ask you for forgiveness." He spoke in a very low voice that was described by reporters as a whisper.

Although the defense argued he was too mentally deranged to plan the attack, there was consensus that he had tossed grenades into tents and fired on soldiers, killing Capt. Chris Seifert of the Army and Maj. Gregory Stone of the Air Force. He wounded 14 others.

The jury took seven hours to sentence him to lethal injection, beginning an automatic appeals process that could go on for years.

Prosecutors said Akbar, a Muslim, attacked his camp just before their move to Iraq because he was concerned about killing fellow Muslims in the Iraq invasion. His defense team believes he will get his sentence reduced to life in prison during one of the five appeal cases they expect to bring.

Sergeant Akbar’s is the first prosecution for these charges since the Vietnam War. The last U.S. military execution was Pfc. John A. Bennett in 1961. He was an Army soldier executed after conviction for the rape and murder of an 11-year-old Austrian girl.


text: Talk:Grenade attack on fellow soldiers puts sergeant on death row


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Putin pledges to help Palestinians

April 29, 2005

Today in Ramallah Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to aid Palestinians. In a press conference held after talks with Mahmoud Abbas, Putin said that Palestinians cannot fight terrorism with slingshots and stones. He pledged to give airplane equipment, helicopters, communications equipment and to train security forces. The Russian President was cheered by the Palestinian crowd prior to the conference.

Putin was on a four day tour of the Middle East, where he visited Egypt, Israel and Palestine. This was the first high level visit of a Russian official to Egypt in 40 years, which was followed the next day by a visit to Israel — a historic first, since no other Russian president has ever visited Israel.

title: Putin pledges to help Palestinians


text:
FOX News previews Grafton Street restaurant and "voice collector" in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts

May 1, 2005

The FOX Morning News broadcast from Harvard Square this morning in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Anchors Liz Carrigan and Gene Lavanchy profiled a restaurant and a musician who will take part in the 22nd annual Mayfair, which starts on Sunday, May 1. The restaurant, Grafton Street, is on Massachusetts Avenue.

The Mayfair is a festival that takes place in Harvard Square on an annual basis. On Sunday, the Square will be closed from noon until 6 pm to vehicular traffic; according to the Mayfair website, "200 artists and merchants" will participate in the event this year.

The musician, Halsey Burgund, works for a computer security firm, but plays the drums and piano in his spare time. This morning, he had set up his portable recording booth to demonstrate the means by which he records passersby for voice samples in his music. Burgund will have his booth set up on Sunday and hopes to record festival visitors. Eventually, Burgund hopes to release his music under a Creative Commons license. Burgund noted that he previously tried recording people on the street with just a microphone, but he found that there was too much ambient noise for the quality of recording he desired.


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Privatisation of Romanian power distributor completed

April 30, 2005

Two branches of Romanian electricity distributor Electrica SA were privatised on Thursday, after Italian power producer Enel bought 51% of the shares in the Electrica Banat and Electrica Dobrogea branches of the previously fully-state-owned company. The transaction had a value of 112 million euro, which included the acquisition of stocks and the increase in social capital of the two branches.

The privatisation ceremony was attended by Codruţ Sereş, the Romanian Minister of Economy and Commerce, as well as Claudio Scazola, the Italian Minister for Productive Activities, alongside Pierro Gnudi, the President of Enel.

Electrica Banat and Electrica Dobrogea supply the Romanian regions of Banat and Dobrogea, which are situated in southwestern Romania, and southeastern Romania, respectively. The two branches account for 19% of Romania's total power supply. After the Enel takeover, Electrica SA, which is state-owned, will still own 49% of the stocks in the company.

The Electrica Banat and Dobrogea privatisation is the latest in a series of recent privatisations by the Romanian government. The new Romanian government, sworn in on December 2004 and headed by Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu, is particularly keen on free-market reforms and a faster pace of privatisation.


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Wikinews:2005/April/30

 * Wal-Mart closes down unionized store
 * Food with cancer-causing dye recalled in Britain
 * New drug from lizard's saliva
 * Violent rioting, deaths follow disputed election in Togo
 * Vindicated Thai GM activists face gaol all the same
 * Pay-by-Plastic pumps up gas prices in U.S.
 * Taiwan Kuomintang Party leader Lien Chan meets Hu Jintao in a historical visit to China
 * First photo of a planet that orbits another sun
 * Hindu mythological theme park planned for banks of Ganges
 * Heavy rain washes away highway in Alba county, Romania
 * Metro Cash and Carry to open new supermarket in Arad, Romania

 * Orange Romania reaches 5.29 million subscribers in first quarter of 2005
 * EU accession treaty ratified by Romanian government
 * Partial local elections to be held in 26 Romanian towns
 * INTOSAI meets in Paro, Bhutan

 * Flood in Vojvodina worsens
 * Romanian government asks kidnappers to release female journalist
 * Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie in theaters
 * Privatisation of Romanian power distributor completed

title: Wikinews:2005/April/30


text:
Taiwan Kuomintang Party leader Lien Chan meets Hu Jintao in a historical visit to China

April 30, 2005 Lien Chan, chairman of Chinese Kuomintang (KMT), the leading opposition party in Taiwan, met Hu Jintao, Communist Party of China General Secretary, in the Chinese People's Hall in Beijing, China on Friday. Lien called his visit a step on the "historical bus" toward a "journey of peace".

The week-long visit takes place 56 years after the KMT withdrawal from mainland China, and signals the end of hostilities between the KMT (or Nationalist Party) and CPC. From 1926 to 1949, the two parties were involved in a bloody civil war resulting in the Nationalist retreat to Taiwan upon their defeat in 1949.

This is the highest level exchange between the two parties since KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek and CPC leader Mao Zedong met in Chongqing at the end of the Second Sino-Japanese War in August 1945. Chiang, then the Chinese head of state, and Mao, then a guerrila leader, tried to negotiate a truce at the meeting. The negotiations fails and all-out war soon ensued.

Lien called on the Taiwanese (ROC) government, led the independence-leaning President Chen Shui-bian, to follow his meeting with more efforts at peacemaking and suppression of the independence movement. "I believe the door has been opened," said Lien. "How to walk towards a new future, towards a new outlook - I think the ruling party must shoulder this responsibility."

"This is a historic meeting between the leaders of our two parties," Hu said after the historic televised handshake with Lien on Friday marking the formal end of hostilities. "As long as both sides place importance on the interests of the Chinese nation, on the common prosperity of the compatriots on both sides of the strait, we will be able to overcome our differences." Lien's visit to mainland China was in part prompted by the mainland National People's Congress's recent passage of a law against the possible secession by Taiwan, including the possible use of "nonpeaceful means" which could imply military force, a move that has increased tension between their two countries.

Lien's visit to mainland China was strongly opposed by the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Su Tseng-chang, who expressed both "tears" and "rage" at the stance taken by Lien. Su said, "Lien has fully denied the development and the value of Taiwan's democracy, but continued praised China... During Lien's visit to China, we have seen that Lien took part in various banquets, shook hands with Chinese leaders and received gifts. But we didn't see that Lien has strongly criticized China for passing the anti-secession law. Lien neither voiced opposition against China's missiles targeting at Taiwan, nor did he oppose against China's military threat against Taiwan."

The agreements made by Lien will only take effect if ratified by Taiwan's government (which is unlikely, since President Chen opposes the accord and favors Taiwanese independence), or if the Nationalists regain control of the government in future elections.


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Talk:Taiwan Kuomintang Party leader Lien Chan meets Hu Jintao in a historical visit to China

I am moving this article back from the front page to the working area, because it appears incomplete.
 * 1) Why are there question marks after their names?
 * 2) What is the peace journey that the second paragraph refers to?  What are the first or other steps of this journey?

Please do not take my remarks as a criticism of the fact that this article was written; it appears to address an important subject and should be improved to Wikinews standards before publication. DouglasGreen 02:20, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

OK I completely reworked the article, whipped it into shape, and made it more NPOV and fairly balanced according to Wikinews standards. DouglasGreen 15:06, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Typo
editprotected "negotations" => "negotiations" Van der Hoorn (talk) 13:32, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

 * ✅ ♪Tempo di Valse ♪ 19:53, 16 March 2009 (UTC)


text:
Talk:FOX News previews Grafton Street restaurant and "voice collector" in Harvard Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts

I stopped by Harvard Square and watched the broadcast take place; I have not seen the broadcast itself. I spoke briefly with Halsey Burgund, the "voice collector" about his recording booth and the kind of music he makes. Pingswept 03:08, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)


text:
Hindu mythological theme park planned for banks of Ganges

April 30, 2005

Shiv Sagar, the grandson of a popular Indian TV and movie producer, is planning to build an infotainment theme park called Ganga-Dham on the banks of the Ganges River within the next two or three years. The project is expected to cost $6.4 million and one of the main investors is Alice Coltrane, wife of jazz great John Coltrane.

The family theme park, called "Disneyland on the Ganges" by the BBC News article, could probably be better compared to Disney's Epcot, since both feature an educational, interactive multimedia experience. Billed as the "world's biggest-ever mythological theme park", its purpose is to instruct the masses of Indian pilgrims who come to bathe in the Ganges with tales about the exploits of such Hindu gods as Rama, Vishnu, and Hanuman.

The focus is to be educational, not religious. "We’re not doing this as a religious project," said Sagar to India-West in an interview last September. "It’s not propaganda. We want to make it fun, a place where people can learn the Indian stories," a place that can appeal not only to Hindus but people of other religious faiths as well.

"The Hindu religion is well suited to something like this, religions like Islam are not allowed to depict forms but we have many different forms and representations of Gods," Sagar said in last week's BBC interview.

The name Ganga-Dham comes from the Indian words Ganga, for the Ganges, and Dham, meaning "place" or "abode". The park is to be built on 25 acres of land in the holy town of Haridwar, in the foothills of the Himalayas, where an estimated 18 million pilgrims a year come to ritually cleanse themselves in the river. The god Vishnu is said by legend to have left his footprint in the town.

The company behind this project is the Sagar Group. Shiv's grandfather Ramanand Sagar established a film company, Sagar Art, in 1950 and went on to make 25 films and some hugely popular serials for Indian television. Most notably, Sagar Art produced the groundbreaking TV mythological serial "Ramayan", about the Hindu god Rama. Starting in 1987, the series went on to attract worldwide attention and claim as many as 650 million viewers over a period of several years. Images and songs from their TV serials will be incorporated into the park to increase the popular draw and build on the tradition of reverence toward the Hindu gods that the series is known for.

The project has also attracted some criticism, by some who feel that the site next to the holy river Ganges is inappropriate for building, and others who do not appreciate the project's light-hearted take toward the Hindu pantheon, which they find disrespectful. However, an important hurdle has been cleared with the official support of the state government of Uttaranchal, and positive comments have been received from other interested parties who favor spreading the knowledge of Hindu philosophy by popular means.

There are other difficulties that still must be addressed, for example, a lack of infrastructure in the area to support tourism. But the Sagar Group stands to profit as they already have a Sagar Ganga Resort in the area.

The parts of the planned site, as described on the Sagar Group's website, are:

 * "High-tech" rides
 * Animated, interactive museum
 * Food courts and bazaar
 * Temple city
 * Petting zoo

Also places are to be provided for visiting non-resident Indians (NRIs) to set up "remote poojas" and other rituals over the Internet.

Construction is planned to begin later this year for completion by 2007, specifically timed to be ready for the major Kumbh Mela religious festival in 2010, which is expected to draw as many as 50 million or more visitors to the area.

Some of the park proceeds are said to be set aside for various charities. If the park is successful, the Sagar Group plans to build similar Dhams around the world, in Asia, Oceania, South America, or perhaps even in places such as London, England; Los Angeles, California or Orlando, Florida in the United States.


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Romanian government asks kidnappers to release female journalist

April 30, 2005

The Romanian government has asked the Islamic terrorists who kidnapped three Romanian journalists in late March to release one of the journalists, Marie-Jeanne Ion, aged 30, who is the only female in the group. The government has confirmed that the three journalists are all still alive, even though the terrorists, who call themselves the Muadh ibn Jabal Brigades, stated that they would kill them by last Wednesday unless Romania withdraws its troops from Iraq.

Romanian Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu said that all efforts were being made to save the journalists. He said, "In principle, authorities are in contact with the kidnappers but I can't say any more."

The terrorists have until yet not responded to the government's request to release Ion. Ion's father, who is a senator from the Social Democratic Party, urged the Parliament to take a stand on the kidnappers' demands. He said, "If we don't take a stand, we will probably have a day of mourning that senators and deputies will remember."

Romanian lawmakers have expressed solidarity with the families of the hostages, and passed a resolution calling on the government to inform the Parliament about any options being weighed for the hostages' release. The document also requested that the Supreme Defense Council analyses the situation, as only the Council and the Romanian President, Traian Băsescu, have the right to decide on military withdrawal from Iraq.

Iraqi politicians offer support to Romania
Iraq's new president, Jalal Talabani, told Romania's ambassador to Baghdad that he was concerned about the fate of the Romanian journalists and promised that he would do everything in his power to help resolve the problem. Also, the Islamic Party of Iraq, which mainly consists of Sunni Muslims, made an appeal asking that the hostages be released.

Meanwhile, the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly hosted a debate on the overall condition of journalists working in conflict zones such as Iraq. It also passed a resolution for international solidarity concerning the abduction of the three Romanian journalists.

Rallies continue in Bucharest and other cities
Rallies continued to occur in Bucharest in the past few days, with more than 1000 Romanians holding banners and demanding the freedom of the journalists. Some people also called for the withdrawal of Romanian troops from Iraq, yelling, "Troops out!" and waving banners saying, "It is not our war" and "Don't let them die!", alongside photos of the three journalists.

Many Romanians also prayed for the release of the journalists, especially since this weekend is Easter for those of Romanian Orthodox religion, which make up 86% of the population. Some of the demonstrators marched to Victoria Palace (Palatul Victoriei), the government headquarters, where they quietly prayed for the journalists. After nightfall, several Romanian Orthodox religious services were held, specifically for the release of the journalists.

However, members of Romania's Arab and Kurdish immigrant communities also took part in the rallies, calling for the hostages' freedom. Romania's Kurdish community is mainly made up of refugees from Iraq and Turkey who have come to the country in the past few years.


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Flood in Vojvodina worsens

April 30, 2005

The flood in northern Serbian province Vojvodina worsens as the river Tamiš rises further. The river flooded 10 days ago, covering the Јaša Tomić village. More then 200 houses were destroyed and around 800 are flooded, forcing 3235 people to evacuate. The flood was caused by heavy rain in Serbia and Romania. Meteorologists say that Tamiš level will get lower in the following days.

Serbian army and volunteers are helping local residents, building a dike and saving the animals, but the villagers are short on drinking water and other supplies. There are no human casualties. The People's Office of the President of Serbia has started an aid drive to help Јaša Tomić.

title: Flood in Vojvodina worsens


text:
Partial local elections to be held in 26 Romanian towns

April 30, 2005

Partial local elections will be held in 26 small towns in Romania, on June 12, to elect new local council and mayors. The elections will be organised in all localities where mayors recently ended their terms, as well as in localities that were recently proclaimed to town status.

Elections for new council and mayors will take place in several towns in the counties of Bacău, Vrancea, Galaţi, Braşov and Ilfov, while local elections for choosing new mayors only will be held in towns in the counties of Maramureş, Bihor, Vaslui, Buzău and Dâmboviţa

Romania's last full local elections were held in June 2004. However, partial elections are frequently held in between scheduled elections for those towns where mayors have resigned or ended their terms.


text:
EU accession treaty ratified by Romanian government

April 30, 2005

The government passed a law on Friday ratifying Romania's accession treaty to the European Union, after the Treaty was signed in a ceremony in Luxembourg in April 25, which was attended by the heads of state of all 25 current EU member states. The government pointed out that, aside from ratification by Romania and Bulgaria, the two states which signed the accession treaty in April 25, the treaty must also be ratified by the 25 current member states who also signed the treaty in Luxembourg.

The law passed by the Romanian government on Friday has been forwarded to the Parliament to be debated. It must be approved in a joint session of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, with at least a two-thirds majority.

Once the accession treaty is ratified by all 25 member states of the European Union, Romania and Bulgaria will become full members in January 1, 2007.


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Orange Romania reaches 5.29 million subscribers in first quarter of 2005

April 30, 2005

Orange Romania, the country's largest mobile phone operator, announced that its client base increased in the first quarter of 2005 (January-March) from 4.93 million to 5.29 million subscribers, an increase of over 7%.

Additionally, Orange's income rose by 46.2%, from €122 million to €178 million. €167 million in income came from the Orange network, while the remainder came from the company's other investments. Company representatives were pleased with the results, and are confident that the objectives to the year as a whole are likely to be achieved.

Romania currently has approximately 10.6 million mobile telephone subscribers, a rate that is rapidly expanding. Orange Romania has nearly 50% market share. By the end of 2005, the number of Romanian mobile phone subscribers is expected to reach 11.5 to 12 million.


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Metro Cash and Carry to open new supermarket in Arad, Romania

April 30, 2005

German supermarket chain Metro Cash and Carry will open a new supermarket in Arad, western Romania. According to Arad's vice-mayor, Tiberiu Dekany, the building authorisation process is currently underway, with Metro already acquiring a building lot, with an area of 100,000 m², on the outskirts of Arad, where the cash-and-carry store will be built. Metro is hoping to open the supermarket before the end of the year, and Dekany has said that the City Hall will give the building authorisations as soon as possible in order to let Metro meet that goal. Dekany did not comment on the value of the investment.

Metro is one of the largest supermarket chains in Romania, already having 21 stores in various cities across the country.


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Heavy rain washes away highway in Alba county, Romania

April 30, 2005

Heavy rain has washed away a 20-metre stretch of National Highway 75, in Alba county, western Romania, leaving only one of the lanes open to traffic. Both the road and the side fences fell into the Arieş River due to the rain. Repair teams from the National Roads Department were called in to assess the damage and clear away the trees that had fallen onto the highway.

Western Romania has recently faced a week of heavy rain, which has caused heavy flooding in some areas, and in other areas has damaged infrastructure. Parts of Timiş county remain heavily flooded, along with the northern Serbian region of Vojvodina. Some people have deemed the floods in this region to be the worst in 50 years.


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First photo of a planet that orbits another sun

April 30, 2005

Scientists confirmed today for the first time ever, that astronomers photographed a planet orbiting a sun other than our own. Photographs were taken late last year by the (ESO) in Chile, but it has taken since then to confirm that the body is indeed a planet — five times the size of Jupiter, the largest planet that orbits our own sun.

Extra-solar planets such as this have been detected before, but never by direct observation — their presence has always been inferred from aberrant behaviour of the star they circulate around.

"Among the most essential quests of modern astronomers, taking direct images of planets outside of our solar system is certainly up there among chart-toppers," says the ESO, in a press release given to verify the status of the object.

The newly imaged planet orbits a brown dwarf star known to scientists as 2M1207, at a distance that is nearly twice as far as that of Neptune from our own sun — making the planet much too cold for lifeforms such as those on Earth. Detection of Earth-like planets is still years away, according to the ESO, because they are too faint for current equipment to detect.

The scientists say that the planet presents a valuable opportunity nonetheless, as it is much younger than those in our own system, at only "a few tens of millions of years old".

"Moreover, as the first tens of millions of years are considered to have been a critical period in the formation of Earth and of our own solar system, the study of nearby young planetary systems provides astronomers with invaluable insight on our own origins."

Suns are understood to form when matter collapses strongly under its own gravity, while planets form later by accretion, in matter orbiting a sun.

Photographs of what was thought to be an extra-solar planet were announced earlier this month. However scientists now state that the size of that planet might be much larger than originally announced, thus allowing a chance that the object might instead be a small star.


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Pro-Palestinian graffiti sprayed on the wall of Israeli embassy in Denmark

This Friday, 29th of April at 4pm, pro-Palestinian graffiti was sprayed on the outside wall of Israeli Embassy in Denmark claiming "Break down the Wall" (Danish: "Riv muren ned"). Surveillance videos reveal a group of four women responsible for the act, as well as a driver. The women were not wearing any form of uniform, or appeared to have common ethnic background and were of different age groups. The operation was completed in less than a minute and the four offenders fled the scene.

"They must have planned the operation ahead," says Sholi Ron, the embassy's chief security officer, "as suggested by the relative speed of the operation. Yet, they did not take into account the surveillance cameras, which gives the police an edge." He also pointed out that the colors were not chosen by accident.

A driver nearby has written down the plate number for the suspected vehicle. Police claim the vehicle was identified as a Mitsubishi van.

"Black, red and green, do those colors say anything to you?" says a passerby. "These are the same colors of the Palestinian flag, as well as the base for other Arab nation's flags, I think that whoever did this thing is on the Palestinian side."


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Pay-by-Plastic pumps up gas prices/Notes

April 30, 2005

The first thing to catch my eye when I approached what used to be a Texeco gas station, was a guy up in a man-lift beside the pump price sign. Seeing heavy equipment being used to change what I thought were the gas prices, I thought, "Gawds, these prices are getting out of hand!"

After stopping in later and talking with the owner, I was impressed by how elated he was on the subject of bank processing fees. This was news to me. So I reported it.

The man-lift I saw earlier is absent from the photograph I took. They had used the lift to change the pump price sign from Texaco to Shell.


text:
Talk:First photo of a planet that orbits another sun

A story about a photo without the photo?
This story is almost without the photo, but at least there is a link to the press release so we can see it on the ESO site (until they pull it).

Since the ESO bastards won't even release one lousy photo into the public domain so we can permanently see what the damn thing looks like, I'll wait for NASA to release their own photo and then publish another story that gives credit where its due.

It's a shame that ESO is more interested in protecting their "intellectual property rights" than sharing their discovery with the world. — DV 21:12, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * All the credit remains with the ESA. While not releasing their photos into the PD is short-sighted, they are still sharing their discovery freely on their website. Dan100 (Talk) 22:05, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * What does this have to do with the European Space Agency (ESA)?

 * This discovery appears to have originated from the European Southern Observatory (ESO).

 * Your idea of "freely" is rather odd - sharing freely means allowing others to publish as well. ESO is claiming copyright on their little photo and has not freely shared anything.

 * I'm sure NASA or some other American government-run installation will get around to photographing the same thing and freely share the imagery with the world, leaving ESO on the margins for their short-sighted policy.

 * Of course, our own short-sighted policy against fair-use photos is partly to blame for this situation - other news agencies will have no qualms about re-publishing this photo. — DV 22:23, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * You never seen a typo before?

 * And I meant free as in free beer. Dan100 (Talk) 22:51, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

E-mails about the photo
Dear Amgine and Douglas,

Thank you for your request and your interest in ESO's results. We appreciate very much Wikinews and the whole Wikimedia project.

However, at this stage, it is not possible for ESO to provide images that satisfy the Wikimedia Commons.

You may wish either to link to the image on our web site or to request an image satisfying your licence to either the CNRS or to the authors - see the contacts in the press release.

Kind regards,

The ESO Public Affairs Dept.

--- Email    = [removed] Subject  = Request use of image for Wikinews article Message  = Hello,

A Wikinews article (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/First_photo_of_a_planet_that_orbits_another_sun) has been written today on the ESO photograph that has been confirmed to be an extrasolar planet. I would like to request permission from you to upload this file (http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2005/images/phot-14a-05-normal.jpg) to Wikimedia Commons.

-- Wikinews (http://ww.wikinews.org) would like to use ESO images in articles about ESO accomplishements (such as http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/First_photo_of_a_planet_that_orbits_another_sun and http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Telescope_takes_first_image_of_planet_outside_our_solar_system) however our image hosting system does not allow use of restricted licensed images like the one used by the ESO. Would it be possible to ask that some images be dual-licensed as CC-by or GFDL? Specifically for the current lead article, could the image at http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-2005/images/phot-14a-05-normal.jpg be licensed in this format?

Thank you,

Amgine

 * Wow. That's pretty discouraging. ESO is willing to give Wikinews permission to use the photograph but we can't accept their permission because of the policies on Commons?

 * The mindless obedience to "everything must be free" that has infected this site is hurting our ability to work as citizen journalists.

 * If it comes down to it, I will choose to support citizen journalism over "everything must be free".

 * Does anyone else see the folly in rejecting this photograph? — DV 03:51, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

 * At least someone tried. I appreciate the effort on Amgine's and Douglas's part.  This situation with scientific photo's and the inability of our use of most of them have reduced my output to Wikinews.  I'm not abandoning contributions but until this image use thing is worked out (in our favor) I'm just not going to write the stuff if I can't present and illustrate an article properly.
 * vlsimpson 04:31, 3 May 2005 (UTC)

The BBC publishes the photo
Here is a link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4501323.stm

We continue to shoot ourselves in the foot by prohibiting fair-use images.

The photo isn't even credited to ESO in the caption, for cryin' out loud. — DV 22:26, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * The BBC will have paid cash for that pic, and there's a reason why. If we just nick it and republish it we'll be violating copyright - we can't claim fair use for such things. Dan100 (Talk) 22:51, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * Really? What basis do you have for the assertion that the BBC paid for the photo? Do you work there? Good for the BBC if that is true.

 * Did the Associated Press pay cash for their usage as well?

 * http://www.hindu.com/2005/05/01/stories/2005050101541800.htm

 * The hundreds of other news outlets which are covering this story have not all tracked down the administrator of the ESO (on a weekend) to pay cash for permission to use this image. Besides, I think you've pulled the assertion that the BBC paid for this photo out of the air - given that it's the weekend and there was probabbly not even a way to conduct such a transaction.

 * But that's neither here nor there. Do you seriously propose that there is no "fair use" of copyrighted images? — DV 22:59, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

 * I agree with Dan that BBC and big publishers usually pay for licensed works. Because they get the same in return. But the law itself doesn't always demand it. News is protected under fair use and fair dealings, at least where I have looked it up. Since we already give all our material away as pd, we have no incentive to tit-for-tat scratch-my-back behaviour with other publishers.
 * Since we are a news site, we are protected for use of anything needed to tell the news. The photo is the news, fair use would be to use it. It's only a few hundred pixels in size. The valuable version is the full size version, which noone would want popping up in a news story — it's probably in the tens or hundreds of MB. They can still make plenty of money selling this version to books and other high resolution media for years to come. There is never going to be a 'second' first photo of a distant planet. - Simeon 07:26, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

 * DV, they buy their photos off an image bureau or a news supplier who deals in photos, eg in this case AP. AP pay the ESO for rights, then news outlets pay AP for the image. Here's a link to AP Photo Services. Dan100 (Talk) 09:33, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

 * Regards fair use, it's just too ambigous. When I read about it, I come to conclusion that we can't claim fair use - we would simply be infringing the copy-right. Wikimedia can't take those kinds of risks, so we'll probably be using the Commons for some time yet. I don't see that as too big a deal - they often have some quite decent pictures over there. Dan100 (Talk) 09:56, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

 * Dan, if you seriously think that everyone licenses all imagery that is printed or goes out over the air, you are woefully misinformed as to how the news business really works. I am quite familiar with the many news and stock photo services that are available (especially AP), so please spare me your little tutorial on the subject.

 * Back to Wikinews, your claim that Wikinews has no fair use rights simply isn't credible. I'll assume that your comments are addressed specifically to this photo, which ESO has not released into the public domain. I saw that some news orgs were using the photo via a wire service, but I'm skeptical that all parties which obtained the photo directly from ESO negotiated a fee with them. Perhaps some news organizations have a standing agreement with ESO for such images. It's more likely that ESO waived their copyright for non-commercial, editorial use. I see this kind of waiver all the time. Unfortunately, Commons prohibits even "editorial use only" terms, so I won't argue this specific case as its a moot point.

 * If Commons made a provision for editorial vs commercial use of photos, it might help us work towards a solution on the separate issue of "fair use" images. It would be awesome if Wikinews could sign up with a wire service to obtain photos for editorial use - but again, that would require different terms than are permitted on Commons.

 * Looking forward, I hope you'll agree that we have fair-use rights for business logos in our financial reporting, that we have fair-use rights for brand name packaging when there are product recalls, and fair-use rights for screenshots for software-related stories. Thousands of other news organizations routinely use such imagery without paying anyone a cent. Why should we be any different?

 * Rather than arguing over your limited knowledge on this subject, I'll point out that I have suggested in the past that Eloquence or someone at Wikimedia needs to obtain qualified legal opinions that can address this issue in a broader context. I'm patiently waiting for that opinion, but time is running out. The implications of not having any fair-use rights are severe. For example, the Wikinews TV broadcast is not really viable without such rights.

 * By the way, I have probably spent more time than anyone else on Wikinews on the Commons. To claim that the small, uneven selection of "file images" on Commons is adequate for Wikinews' needs as an aspiring news organization is just silly on its face.

 * If there is any issue that is likely to cause a fork of Wikinews, it is this issue of not having access to the various types of fair-use imagery that thousands of other news organizations around the world use to create their daily reports.

 * I sincerely hope you are the only one who feels that the selection on the Commons is adequate. — DV 11:13, 2 May 2005 (UTC)


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Talk:Hindu mythological theme park planned for banks of Ganges

Typo
editprotected

'for for' => 'for' Van der Hoorn (talk) 20:34, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

Done — Gopher65talk 02:09, 7 March 2009 (UTC)

Please update
editprotected Please replace the image Image:Lord_Ram.jpg with File:Ram Parivar.jpg. This is as close to a replacement as I can come.--Auric (talk) 20:26, 24 June 2016 (UTC)
 * It'd need to be for practical purposes the same image; I've no idea how close they are. --Pi zero (talk) 20:38, 24 June 2016 (UTC)


text: Talk:Heavy rain washes away highway in Alba county, Romania


text: Talk:Metro Cash and Carry to open new supermarket in Arad, Romania


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Talk:Pro-Palestinian graffiti sprayed on the wall of Israeli embassy in Denmark

This article somehow appeared on the front page at the bottom of a list of articles I have already read. It had no sources whatsoever. So I flagged it and moved it back to the workspace. Articles cannot be published without sources. Whoever wrote the original article is invited to back up their work with appropriate documentation or references. However, without these, the article will probably be listed for deletion. DouglasGreen 17:10, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I saw the graffiti myself, and talked to those people themselves (which some of them requested to remain annonymous), I didn't copy this article from some newspaper, etc.

I might be able to get pictures of the wall as well.
 * Please see the section on Original reporting. --Cspurrier 20:08, 30 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Added wikipedia links, original reporting tag and categories. Its not my article but I think its finished and long over-due. Posted it on the main page. TiB 10:26, 1 May 2005 (UTC)

Sholi Ron would like to have his name removed from the article.


text:
Wal-Mart closes down unionized store

April 30, 2005

The American discount chain, Wal-Mart, closed the doors at one of its two unionized outlets in North America Friday. The closure eliminated 190 jobs in the small town of Jonquière, Quebec. Wal-Mart Canada spokesman Kevin Groh said the store shut at noon Friday rather than the planned date of May 6 because it no longer had any merchandise.

Michael J. Fraser, the union's national director in Canada, said: "Wal-Mart is trying to send a message to the rest of their employees that if they join a union the same thing could happen to them." The union will be filing unfair labor practice charges against Wal-Mart in Quebec.

The United Food and Commercial Workers union has organizing drives in at least 25 Canadian stores. In August 2004, workers at the Jonquiere store received union certification, and tried to negotiate a contract, which would have been the first for Walmart in North America. Now St. Hyacinthe, Quebec has the only remaining unionized Wal-Mart in North America; employees of that store have no contract.

The consulting firm AT Kearny has stated that above all, low labor costs is a big source of cost advantage for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart's employees might begin at as little as $8 an hour which is 20-30% less than unionized workers at rival discount stores.

In his first interview since the store's closing, Walmart CEO H. Lee Scott, Jr. defended his decision, saying to the Washington Post, "You can't take a store that is a struggling store anyway and add a bunch of people and a bunch of work rules that cause you to even be in worse shape."

The major sticking point according to Scott was the number of full-time employes. Scott said that it was the union who walked away from negotiations; however, Fraser said that Walmart walked away from the talks, shutting down the store to avoid submitting to arbitration.

title: Wal-Mart closes down unionized store