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Talk:Rudd heckled over 5% climate target

What is the OR for this article? --PatrickFlaherty (talk) 03:57, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

OR notes
Hi all, I'm a climate activist and know the people involved in the story. I was there when they planned to go to Canberra, but obviously I can't post action planning meeting notes up here as they are "off the record". I watched the heckling live on ABC, but I was also able to add background information (such as names etc.) that the commercial media did not have as immediately. I received the media release as it was sent out: here it is:

Protest disrupts Rudd’s emissions target announcement

Three women have interrupted the long-awaited announcement today by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia’s 2020 greenhouse gas emission reduction target.

The Prime Minister made the announcement at the National Press Club at midday that Australia’s 2020 emissions reduction targets would be a mere 5%, prompting the three women to interrupt his speech in protest.

Just twelve months ago at the landmark UNFCCC meeting in Bali, Australia with other countries agreed that the developed nations of the world must cut emissions by between 25 and 40% by 2020 to have a chance of averting runaway climate change.

Last week, at the latest round of talks, the Climate Change Minister Penny Wong refused to reveal what Australia’s commitment would be, leading to widespread speculation that the Government would give in to industry pressure and renege on the Bali agreement. One of the women who accosted the Prime Minister, Annika Dean, said, “This announcement means the Australian Government is willing to sacrifice the Great Barrier Reef to appease the big polluting companies that are fuelling global climate change.

“It is devastating that they have betrayed the public trust in this way. We cannot accept this kind of cowardly policy.”

The Government has been under pressure from heavily polluting industries, like coal and aluminium, to weaken its stance on emissions reduction.

Advice from climate advisor Ross Garnaut released earlier this year clearly stated that a target this low would be the death of the Great Barrier Reef and would put the world at high risk of runaway climate change.

“Despite the warnings from Garnaut and scientists everywhere, the Government has reneged on its promise to be a global leader on climate change. It is time for Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong to make a choice: are they going to carry on appeasing and pandering to the wealthy companies that are creating this problem, or are they going to stand with the people and try and solve it?”

Further comment: Annika Dean

If people don't think that the article is original enough, there are dozens of commercial news sources (who got the information after it was posted up on Wikinews). --Sumthingweird (talk) 05:04, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Review

 * Hi Shakata, thanks for reviewing. I've put a bunch of other sources up. I didn't copy the media release from the website, it was emailed to me. If you want I can get rid of the "original" tag, but the article is written from first-hand sources. Is there anything else I need to do to get this article past the review? --Sumthingweird (talk) 02:01, 16 December 2008 (UTC)


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Wikinews:Dynamic quiz/quiz/2008/52

Welcome to the Wikinews World News Quiz, giving you a chance to test your knowledge on this week's news.

Last Updated: December 19, 2008

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

title: Wikinews:Dynamic quiz/quiz/2008/52


text:
Thai opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva elected as new Prime Minister

December 15, 2008 Thai opposition (Democrat Party) leader Abhisit Vejjajiva won a majority of votes in the House of Representatives of Thailand on Monday and will be named the 27th Prime Minister of Thailand. Abhisit, an economist, got 235 votes against 198 by former national police chief and Pheu Pandin leader Pracha Promnok, a loyalist of fugitive Prime Mininster Thaksin Shinawatra.

The nation's third prime minister in four months, Abhisit, at 44, is set to become the youngest prime minister Thailand has had, and its fifth leader in a little over two years. He will lead a weak coalition government. When prime minister Samak Sundaravej was removed in 2008, Abhisit lost the National Assembly vote for Prime Minister by 163 votes to 298 for Somchai Wongsawat. Later, however, the 2 December 2008 Constitutional Court of Thailand judgment banned the three parties including the PPP, which dissolved the governing coalition. The Court also banned Somchai from politics for five years, and removed him from office. He was succeeded by a deputy.

When it became clear that another government under the For Thais Party or Puea Thai (the successor of the PPP) was not a viable option, the remainder of the Chart Thai Party under Sanan Krachonprasat, the Thais United National Development Party and Neutral Democratic Party, almost all, except for the Royal People Party decided to back a Democrat led coalition thereby endorsing Abhisit as the next Prime Minister.

"Abhisit gained more than half of the vote, therefore I declare that Abhisit has been voted as the new prime minister," House Speaker Chai Chidchob declared. Abhisit's election, however, differs however from its confirmation by the Parliament. In this regared. Yahoo reported that "the count in the House of Representatives was unofficial and the chamber needed to official endorse the results before Abhisit could be declared prime minister. The chamber normally has 480 members, but because of vacancies currently numbers 437. One MP died on the eve of the voting."

Thaksin, who is living in an undisclosed foreign country to evade corruption charges, delivered a pre-recorded video message to about 50,000 supporters at a Bangkok stadium late Saturday. "At the moment the army is interfering... Those people who interfere in forming the government must stop and withdraw," he said. Army spokesman Colonel Sunsern Kaewkumnerd, however, dismissed his accusations.

Meanwhile, Thaksin's supporters, from the now-defunct People Power Party and Pheu Thai party, consisting of at least 200 demonstrators blocked access to Thailand's parliament building. The Nation reported that red shirt protesters "barricaded all gates out of the compound, checked cars trying to leave, while some cars had windows broken with clubs or bricks, and cars carrying MPs who had voted for Mr. Abhisit were not allowed through." The turmoil results in forcing officials and reporters to cover themselves. A reporter was "injured after a stone hit stone hit his nose, while an anti-riot police suffered head wound after an object hit his head," it said. "Police failed to calm them down, and they further organised protests in many provinces of Thailand, mostly in the northeastern region," The Thai newspaper further reported.


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Talk:Thai opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva elected as new Prime Minister

I CREATED this new article, a breaking NEWS here in Asia and Philippines. This is the 3rd prime minister in just 4 months since Thaksin on August and Somchai. So the THREATS of mob rule if Thaksin party wins, die, and Thailand seems to be on the way of PEACE. I will finish this article in just hours. Please help develop and review it.--Florentino Floro (talk) 05:23, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The PPP have not been in power for seven years. Please read some of the background on my user page where there are many articles on Thailand. --Brian McNeil / talk 09:19, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the note. I reviewed the Encyclopedia, and you are right. I think, I might have misunderstood this"Mr. Abhisit’s victory, by a vote of 235-198, ended a seven-year dominance of electoral politics by parties loyal to the former prime minster, Thaksin Shinawatra."
 * With your guidance and permission, I will now therefore place the review template; if this is not yet corrected and done, then please, then revert the same. Regards.--Florentino Floro (talk) 10:21, 15 December 2008 (UTC)


text:
File talk:Adelaide internet censorship protest.jpg

Location
Just a note - the location is listed here as Rundle Mall, Adelaide, when infact the protest took place on the steps of Parliament House and is thus where the photo was taken. The facade of the building is clearly visible and easily identifyable. Cheers, 124.177.188.13 06:07, 15 December 2008 (UTC)


text:
Ferry sinks in northern Philippines, 28 dead

December 15, 2008

At least 28 people drowned and were confirmed dead, 46 were rescued, while 34 others remain missing on Sunday, after an overcrowded passenger capsized off waters in, a town of 17,000 people, the  police reported.

'M/B Mae Jan', a wooden-hulled, was carrying 102 passengers, after an eight-hour voyage from in the  for  when it capsized less than 300 meters (984 feet) from its destination, at 8:30 p.m. Its   broke due to strong waves, as it reached the mouth of the  ('Bannag' Rio Grande de Cagayan, 'Ilog ng Kagayan'), along  Linao, about 50 meters from the shoreline of Pallog village.

Divers from the combined teams of the and  helped in the rescue operations. 11 of the fatalities, including the vessel owner, Arellano, and her daughter were identified. The police said "there was a possibility that the boat was overloaded," saying that "there was also livestock on board." Due to "trauma," the ferry's captain refused to talk to police.

Meanwhile, the (PCG) formed a Special Board of Marine Inquiry (SBMI) to investigate the sea tragedy. It ordered the "immediate dispatch of SAR-003 and MCS-3005 vessels and the PCG Islander for aerial surveillance." PCG noted the possible overloading of the vessel since the boat's franchise authorized it to carry only 40 passengers and 10 crew members.

In November, a sank in rough seas north of Cagayan, and passing vessels rescued 16 of 20 passengers. Weeks earlier, separate storms sank two passenger vessels in the central Philippines, drowning more than 50 people.

Prior to the ferry sinking, the had issued  to, of approaching tropical storm "Ulysses" (international codename: Dolphin) from the Pacific with winds of up to 60 miles (95 kilometers) per hour, centered off southeastern , eastern Philippines.


text:
Template:Past events

This day in

title: Template:Past events


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Talk:Ferry sinks in northern Philippines, 28 dead

I CREATED this international breaking news tragedy which painfully claimed so many lives. Please help review the same. --Florentino Floro (talk) 09:04, 15 December 2008 (UTC)


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U.S. Supreme Court requests reconsideration of habeas petitions of Gitmo captives

December 15, 2008

On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States directed an appeals court to reconsider its ruling concerning the claims of four former British Guantanamo captives. The lower court had ruled that the four men were not entitled to bring senior Bush Presidency officials to court, because they were not citizens, and were not detained within the United States, they had no recourse under the United States Constitution.

In its direction, the Supreme Court pointed out that in its landmark ruling in Boumediene v. Bush it ruled that overseas captives were entitled to Constitutional protection. Following its ruling on June 12, 2008 all the current Guantanamo captives were entitled to re-initiate their habeas corpus petitions, which had been stayed following the United States Congress passing the Military Commissions Act.

United States District Court Judge Thomas F. Hogan, the judge in charge of setting the rules of procedure for captives' habeas petitions has explicitly allowed former captives to seek relief in the US court system. This is the first instance of former captives whose cases had already been turned down being given renewed access.

The four British former captives were Shafiq Rasul, Asif Iqbal, Rhuhel Ahmed and Jamal al-Harith. All four men claimed they were captured by bounty hunters who falsely claimed the four men were Mujahideen.

Al-Harith claimed he was attending a religious retreat in Pakistan when he was captured. Rasul, Iqbal and Ahmed, childhood friends from Tipton, said they had traveled to Afghanistan to render humanitarian assistance, when the war broke out during a trip they made to Pakistan.

The men reported that they were bound, naked, in painful "stress positions", and bombarded with loud music, which they described as a form of religious persecution.

The four men all claimed that, during their captivity, they observed a copy of the Koran being thrown into a latrine.

The four men were repatriated to the United Kingdom in early 2004, where they were set free.


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Talk:U.S. Supreme Court requests reconsideration of habeas petitions of Gitmo captives

needs categories --72.73.124.114 18:08, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Review

 * This article contained lots of unsourced information, since removed. --SVTCobra 23:12, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

"Request" ?
The way it's phrased in the articel, it makes it sound as though the court is ordering the lower court to do this, not "requesting" it... 76.117.247.55 23:15, 15 December 2008 (UTC)

Edits not based on the sources
In this edit. another contributor excised the following passage, with the edit summary: "rm unsourced information":
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

 * ''"Observant muslims are obliged to bow in the direction of mecca to pray five times a day -- being bound prevented this. Observant muslims are obliged to be modestly attired during prayer -- not naked."
 * ''"Observant muslims are obliged to bow in the direction of mecca to pray five times a day -- being bound prevented this. Observant muslims are obliged to be modestly attired during prayer -- not naked."

 * }

However, the Bloomberg article clearly says:
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

 * "Their religious freedom claims include allegations that they were unable to fulfill their daily obligation as Muslims to pray at Guantanamo, the U.S. naval base in Cuba. They say they were subjected to loud rock music, shackled in ways that prevented them from assuming the required posture and forced to be naked while praying, violating the Muslim tenet of modesty."
 * "Their religious freedom claims include allegations that they were unable to fulfill their daily obligation as Muslims to pray at Guantanamo, the U.S. naval base in Cuba. They say they were subjected to loud rock music, shackled in ways that prevented them from assuming the required posture and forced to be naked while praying, violating the Muslim tenet of modesty."

 * }

So I am restoring that passage.

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 03:18, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

In this edit another contributor excised this passage:
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

 * ''"All four men claimed they were captured by bounty hunters who falsely claimed the four men were Mujahideen."
 * ''"All four men claimed they were captured by bounty hunters who falsely claimed the four men were Mujahideen."

 * }

As above the other contributor justified the excision of the following passage with an edit summary stating: "remove more unsourced info; add infobox":
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

 * ''"All four men claimed they were captured by bounty hunters who falsely claimed the four men were Mujahideen."
 * ''"All four men claimed they were captured by bounty hunters who falsely claimed the four men were Mujahideen."

As above, the Bloomberg article clearly supplies the backup for the "unsourced" statements the contributor excised:
 * }
 * {| class="wikitable" border="1"

 * ''"[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aIrkuzsP1_Vo&refer=home Rasul, Iqbal and Ahmed, who are childhood friends, say they were in Afghanistan to help provide humanitarian relief after the 2001 war against the Taliban. According to the lawsuit, they were captured by a warlord who turned them over to the U.S. military in exchange for a bounty."
 * ''"[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aIrkuzsP1_Vo&refer=home Rasul, Iqbal and Ahmed, who are childhood friends, say they were in Afghanistan to help provide humanitarian relief after the 2001 war against the Taliban. According to the lawsuit, they were captured by a warlord who turned them over to the U.S. military in exchange for a bounty."

 * }

Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 03:28, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

 * The second portion you mention was not removed at all and you duped it when re-adding. The first one was removed because you are including information (ie five times and mecca) that is not in the original source. --SVTCobra 10:11, 16 December 2008 (UTC)


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Somali parliament rejects president's dismissal of prime minister

December 15, 2008

Somalia's overwhelmingly voted Monday to keep  as their prime minister, blocking President 's attempt at dismissing the prime minister and his "corrupt, inefficient" government.

President Yusuf announced his motion to dismiss Hussein on Sunday, saying his government was "unable to perform its duties" in matters such as dealing with the Islamic militants who have taken over most of the country. The latest dispute between the two involved efforts to reconcile with the (ARS), the country's main opposition group. The UN-sponsored peace process has been decried by Yusuf as dealing with terrorists.

Hussein countered that the president had no authority to strip the prime minister of his post, and that the transitional federal charter required the approval of parliament for such an action. "The president was speaking in his usual personal capacity, contrary to the rules and regulations," Hussein said prior to the special parliamentary session in.

Despite Yusuf's hope that the parliament would endorse his decision, members of parliament were strongly supportive of Hussein's government, with 143 members recognizing the government's legitimacy, 20 rejecting its legitimacy and 7 abstaining. "Therefore the government of Hassan Hussein is legitimate," said, the parliamentary speaker.

Hussein, whom Yusuf appointed little more than a year ago after the resignation of, had previously survived a in September, when he faced accusations of embezzling state funds.

"The only obstacle in front of my government was the president," Hussein told members of parliament after the vote, "and since I have the confidence of the MPs I hope it will be effective henceforth." Yusuf had no immediate comment on the vote, but he had previously stated he would comply with parliament's decision if they chose to block his dismissal.

The relationship between the president and prime minister has grown increasingly strained over the issue of Islamic militancy. Yusuf has blamed the prime minister for the instability plaguing the politically fragile state, while Hussein has accused the president of trying to "sabotage" peace efforts between the transitional government and the ARS. Fighting between the Islamic opposition and Somali-backed troops from Ethiopia, the African Union, and the UN has killed thousands of Somalis and displaced millions.

, chairman of the, said the dispute within the transitional government has the potential of undermining efforts for "further reconciliation, peace, and stability in Somalia." The UN also issued a statement condemning the dispute, and demonstrators gathered in the streets of Mogadishu to denounce the president's move.

Although moderate Islamists from the ARS have agreed to enter into reconciliation talks, hardliner insurgents have rejected the attempts at peace and continue to take over towns in the central and northern regions of Somalia. Since the fall of the, organizations like Al-Shabaab have become leading insurgent groups. A spokesman for Al-Shabaab told reporters on Sunday that they intend to impose Sharia law on all of Somalia, and that a peace deal would never be accepted.


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Talk:Somali parliament rejects president's dismissal of prime minister

Where do I find the revision id? Thanks! Wikidsoup (talk) 20:03, 15 December 2008 (UTC)


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New Zealand journalist deported from Fiji

December 16, 2008

A New Zealand journalist has been deported from Fiji.

ONE News Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver was detained at Nadi airport on Monday night, as she flew into Fiji to cover deteriorating diplomatic relations between Fiji's military regime and the New Zealand government. She was reportedly taken to a detention centre overnight, and was deported on the first plane this morning.

Fiji's military regime reportedly maintains a blacklist of journalists deemed critical of the regime. In June 2007, Fairfax New Zealand correspondent Michael Field was deported from Fiji after criticising the regime.

Dreaver has been in contact with her employer, and is not concerned for her wellbeing. "It's not very pleasant but it's just the way it goes here and this is Fiji now I guess," she said.

"I'm not the first journalist to be sent away from Fiji and I guess I won't be the last."

TVNZ head of news and current affairs Anthony Flannery believes Dreaver has been deported for her unbiased reporting of events in Fiji.

"She reports it as she sees it, and obviously she's touched a nerve of some people in high places," he said.

New Zealand is currently facing the expulsion of its acting high commissioner over travel sanctions imposed on members of the military regime and their families. The expulsion could result in a round of diplomatic tit-for-tat and the expulsion of Fijian diplomats from the country.

Fiji's military overthrew the country's elected government in a military coup in December 2006.


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Talk:New Zealand journalist deported from Fiji

Source for Dreaver quotes: TVNZ, "ONE News reporter detained at Fiji airport". Source for Flannery views: Dominion-Post "Fiji set to kick out Kiwi diplomat". --IdiotSavant (talk) 20:14, 15 December 2008 (UTC)
 * The direct Flannery quote is from a radio interview |here. I'm not sure about the best way to cite this sort of source, but I'm sure someone can tidy it up in review. --IdiotSavant (talk) 20:23, 15 December 2008 (UTC)


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Sharp increase in number of Zimbabwean cholera deaths

December 16, 2008 The United Nations has reported that a total of 978 people have been killed by a cholera epidemic in the African nation of Zimbabwe, an increase of 25% from just three days ago. The UN also says that there have been 18,413 reported cases in the country since the epidemic began in August of 2008.

The outbreak of the disease has been quickened by the lack of proper sanitation and the collapse of water systems and healthcare. The area worst affected by cholera is Zimbabwe's capital of Harare, where 208 people died out of 8,454 suspected cases. The town of Beitbridge, which is located on the border with South Africa, has also been hard hit, with 3,546 cases reported and 91 people dead.

The South African Red Cross has sent medical aid to Zimbabwe, and has asked for funds to treat thirty thousand people. The UN says that as many as sixty thousand people could become affected by the disease if no action is taken.

Last Thursday, Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe announced in a televised address that the outbreak had been halted, saying that "I am happy to say our doctors are being assisted by others, and the WHO [World Health Organization] have now arrested cholera."

Mugabe has also accused Western powers of plotting to use the epidemic as a reason to overthrow him. "Now that there is no cholera, there is no cause for war," he stated. Other Zimbabwean high-ranking officials have also blamed the United Kingdom for spreading cholera on purpose.

The UN Security Council will have a briefing on the Zimabwean cholera crisis soon.


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User:Pretzels/Sandbox

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Latest Headlines RSS

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Most popular articles

Stats updated hourly

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الصفحة الرئيسية Начална страница Početna strana Portada  Hauptseite Portada Accueil עמוד ראשי  Pagina principale メインページ Hoofdpagina Forside Strona główna Página principal Pagina principală Заглавная страница Главна страна Etusivu Huvudsida หน้าหลัก Головна %E9%A6%96%E9%A1%B5

title: User:Pretzels/Sandbox


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Talk:Time Warner buys 10 million shares from Eidos

Needs Categories?
What do you mean it needs categories?

~andimahony


text:
Wikinews Shorts: December 16, 2008

Abhisit Vejjajiva becomes Thai prime minister
The former Democrat Party's opposition leader of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva, was elected as the prime minister in a special vote in the parliament.

He had won over former police chief Pracha Promnok by 235 votes to 198, according to Chai Chidchob, the lower house's speaker.

Vejjajiva became the prime minister after the previous PM, Somchai Wongsawat, was obliged to step down after a court hearing in early December this year.

Sources

Time Warner buys 10 million shares of Eidos Interactive
Eidos Interactive announced that Time Warner Entertainment, a division of Time Warner, has bought an additional 10 million shares, thereby increasing its stake to 19.92%. Eidos stated that Time Warner Entertainment purchased the shares on December 11, 2008. Time Warner now owns a total of 52.5 million shares of Eidos.

Eidos is a popular video game developer that developed games such as the Tomb Raider and Hitman series.

Sources

title: Wikinews Shorts: December 16, 2008


text: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 16, 2008

title: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 16, 2008


text: Talk:Sharp increase in number of Zimbabwean cholera deaths


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US Supreme Court allows 'light' cigarettes lawsuits

December 17, 2008

🇺🇸The United States Supreme Court on Monday ruled that "tobacco companies that marketed 'light' and 'low tar' cigarettes may be sued for fraud." The 5-to-4 judgment is expected to open the way for dozens of lawsuits claiming billions of dollars in damages.

In the certiorari ruling penned by Justice Stevens, the Court held that a class action brought under state law prohibiting deceptive advertising generally was not preempted by federal law regulating cigarette advertising. The lawsuit claims that tobacco makers who manufacture "light" and "low tar" cigarettes had deceived smokers into thinking the products are safer than regular cigarettes. Former United States Solicitor General Theodore Olson, now working with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, argued the case for the petitioners, Altria Group and Philip Morris USA.

Several smokers in recent decades switched to light cigarettes, with fervent faith they posed less of a danger to their health. But scientific or medical researches have shown this common-sense view is wrong. Although mechanical tests showed "light" cigarettes emitted less tar when burned, actual smokers inhale about the same amount of tar when they puff on a light cigarette, the studies found. The cigarette business faces more than 30 class-action lawsuits from smokers and ex-smokers who seek billions of dollars in damages and claim they were deceived by the marketing of light and low-tar cigarettes. Respondents Stephanie Good and 2 others are Maine residents and for over 15 years smoked Marlboro Lights and Cambridge Lights cigarettes, which are manufactured by petitioners Altria Group and Philip Morris USA. They sought damages compensation for economic rather than medical harm, claiming they had overpaid for cigarettes based on fraudulent advertisements suggesting that light cigarettes were safer than regular ones. The Labeling Act requires tobacco companies to indicate rotating warnings on their packaging and advertising. “No requirement or prohibition 'based on smoking and health' shall be imposed under state law with respect to the advertising or promotion,” the law provides, and only if the labeling requirements on cigarettes are obeyed. In the case, the Court applied the pertinent Federal laws, in question, Title 15 U.S.C. § 1334(b), the "Federal Cigarette Labeling and Advertising Act" and Me. Rev. Stat. Ann., Tit. 5, § 207 (Supp. 2008), the "Maine Unfair Trade Practices Act" (MUTPA). It held that "the Labeling Act neither expressly nor impliedly pre-empts respondents’ fraud claim." The landmark decision allows the lawsuit to proceed on the merits upon remand to the trial court below. The ruling strikes a blow against a broad effort by U.S. corporations to limit their exposure to lawsuits filed under federal law.

The court also dismissed Philip Morris's argument that the Federal Trade Commission's mid-1960s endorsement of machine testing of cigarette tar and nicotine levels "should relieve the company of liability for alleged fraud." In November, the FTC officially dropped its endorsement of the Cambridge Filter Method, saying it is flawed because "the machine doesn't take into account the way smokers adjust their behavior."

The Supreme Court in a June ruling, said 8 to 1 that "a case filed in a state court alleging a defective catheter was pre-empted by a federal statue providing regulation of medical devices to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration." The court also ruled in 1992 in 'Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc.' that "the phrase 'based on smoking and health' in the Labeling Act did not apply to pre-empt suits under state laws based on the 'general duty' not to make fraudulent statements."

Justice Clarence Thomas said that "some kinds of fraud claims against cigarette makers may go forward, just not those concerning smoking and health. Thus, if cigarette manufacturers were to falsely advertise their products as ‘American-made’ or ‘the official cigarette of Major League Baseball,’ state-law claims arising from that wrongful behavior would not be pre-empted. Forbidding lawsuits based on health claims, would not mean consumers lack protection, as tobacco marketing is subject to regulatory oversight."

Altria's associate general counsel, Murray Garnick, in a statement, said "we continue to view these cases as manageable, and the company will assert many of the strong defenses used successfully in the past to defend against this very type of case."


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Talk:US Supreme Court allows 'light' cigarettes lawsuits

I CREATED this landmark breaking news article, which I just saw and am DEVELOPING. This had opened the NOAH floodgates to civil cases against cigarette companies. Please help me in publishing this.--Florentino Floro (talk) 07:28, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Review #1
One more thing, "The 5-to-4 judgment will encourage dozens of lawsuits claiming billions of dollars in damages," seems to be a bit POV to me. --TUFKAAP (talk) 15:26, 16 December 2008 (UTC)


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Iraqi journalist arrested after throwing shoes at George W. Bush

December 17, 2008

An Iraqi journalist has been arrested, and allegedly beaten, by police after he threw his shoes at United States president George W. Bush during a press conference on Sunday in Baghdad.

Dargham al-Zaidi, the brother of Muntadar, the 28-year-old journalist who gave Bush 'the boot', says that he received severe injuries after he was allegedly beaten by authorities and security officials who tried to detain Muntadar. Dargham says his brother is suffering from internal bleeding, broken ribs, an injury to one of his eyes and is receiving treatment at a U.S. military hospital in Baghdad.

Dargham also says that his brother has not been able to see a lawyer since being arrested, even though several have stepped forward in an offer to defend him.

Before throwing his shoes at Bush, the reporter, Muntader al-Zaidi of Al-Baghdadia, an Iraqi-owned television station based in Cairo, Egypt, stood up and said, "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, dog!" The words were followed by the reporter's two shoes being thrown at Bush in succession, who had to duck in order to avoid being hit by them. Shortly after each shoe flew within a few inches of Bush, authorities quickly neutralized the reporter and took him out of the room. Before his exit, the man further screamed "this is the end!" Dargham says his brother threw his shoes at Bush because he hates the "material American occupation" of Iraq, and the influence Iran has in Iraq.

In Arabic culture, hitting or throwing shoes at someone so the soles hit them is considered to be the greatest insult. In 2003, when Iraqi citizens tore down the statue of Saddam Hussein in downtown Baghdad, they began to smack it with the soles of their shoes.

As a result of the allegations, protests are now planned around Iraq. Citizens, who now consider Muntadar to be a national hero, demand that the government release him.


text:
User talk:24.184.199.53

Welcome
Thanks for experimenting with Wikinews. Your test worked, and has now been reverted or removed. Please use Sandbox for any other tests you want to do, since testing in articles may disrupt the site's working and will be reverted quickly. , welcome to Wikinews! Please refrain from using content pages for testing. Here are a few good links for newcomers on how to edit Wikinews:

Our key policies - if you read anything, read these! Here a few pointers to help you get to know Wikinews: There are always things to do on Wikinews: By the way, you can sign your name on Talk pages using four tildes ( ~~~~ ), which produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, you can ask them at the water cooler or to anyone on the Welcommittee, or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 12:57, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
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title: User talk:24.184.199.53


text:
User talk:169.139.224.105

Welcome
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title: User talk:169.139.224.105


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User talk:S.Eric1989

Welcome
DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 13:35, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:S.Eric1989


text:
User talk:207.35.173.123

Welcome
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title: User talk:207.35.173.123


text:
User talk:194.176.176.82

Welcome
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title: User talk:194.176.176.82


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Zimbabwe Air Marshal shot

December 17, 2008

The chief of the Zimbabwe Air Force has been shot in the arm in an apparent assassination attempt. Air Marshal Perence Shiri, 53, is recovering in a local hospital.

Officials blame the incident on terrorists and political opponents. They also say that the assailant was trained in Botswana.

"The attack on Air Marshal Shiri appears to be a build-up of terror attacks targeting high profile persons, government officials, government establishments and public transportation systems," said Home Affairs Minister, Kembo Mohadi.

Shiri is a strong ally of President Mugabe. Many believe that Shiri masterminded the intimidation campaign used against the Movement for Democratic Change supporters during the 2008 presidential elections.

title: Zimbabwe Air Marshal shot


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Talk:Iraqi journalist arrested after throwing shoes at George W. Bush

The title is a mess. The protesters have not thrown shows at Bush, but that's how it reads. --Brian McNeil / talk 17:01, 16 December 2008 (UTC)


text:
User talk:210.56.81.166

Welcome
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title: User talk:210.56.81.166


text: Template:Howdy-anon

title: Template:Howdy-anon


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User:AnonymousUserNew

Anonymous

title: User:AnonymousUserNew


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Wikinews:Picture of the Year

The aim of this new idea is to have an election for a Wikinews Picture of the Year 2008, in an analogy to the Picture of the Year contest on Commons. With this initiative we would like to promote photojournalism and quality images with great news value for use on Wikinews and other Wikimedia projects. This idea is not meant to compete with the election on Commons (the rules and candidates are totally different) or criticise Commons in any way, rather it is aimed to promote more collaboration between Wikinews and Wikimedia photographers.
 * For more details, please see:
 * Picture of the Year 2007
 * Picture of the Year 2008

2008
The result of the 2008 Wikinews Picture of the year is as follows:

title: Wikinews:Picture of the Year


text: User talk:AnonymousUserNew

title: User talk:AnonymousUserNew


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Wikinews:Picture of the Year 2008

This vote is closed

The aim of this new idea is to have a vote for a Wikinews Picture of the Year 2008, in an analogy to the Picture of the Year contest on Commons. With this initiative we would like to promote photojournalism and quality images with great news value for use on Wikinews and other Wikimedia projects. This idea is not meant to compete with the vote on Commons (the rules and candidates are totally different) or criticise Commons in any way, rather it is aimed to promote more collaboration between Wikinews and Wikimedia photographers. Also see previous years' competitions.

Results
The result of the 2008 Wikinews Picture of the year is as follows:

Images
Candidate pictures have been selected from our 2008 main page selected picture archive; this means a lot of candidates you know about probably haven't been added. Any image from the Wikimedia Commons (this means, no fair use images) that relates to a news event from 2008 can be added. The creator of the work does not need to be a Wikinews Accredited reporter or even a Wikimedian. Several of these images were found on Flickr or are work of U.S. government personnel.

The aim of this vote is to find images that are both quality images (i.e., meeting the Commons:Image guidelines as much as possible) but have great news value at the same time (i.e. be directly related to current events). The latter criterion means that the images should not only illustrate the news event in question, but probably they should have also been created when the event took place (contrary to an archive picture). The candidates don't have to be Featured images on Commons (in fact, very few featured images on Commons cover news events). Please have a look below to get an idea of what we are looking for!

Voting
In order to be eligible for voting, you must meet these requirements: If you need any assistance following or understanding the rules, please ask on the talk page.
 * you must create an account on the English Wikinews if you don't have one already.
 * You cannot be blocked on the English Wikinews or have a global block against your account
 * You must have at least 50 edits on an account registered before January 10, 2009 00:00 UTC on some Wikimedia project (not necessarily Wikinews) (SUL edit counter), or alternatively have created a published article on the English Wikinews before voting.
 * If that project is not the English Wikinews, please have a Unified login account
 * If you qualify to vote by virtue of having greater than or equal to 50 edits on an account registered before the 10th on another project, you cannot be blocked on that project when you vote.

Even if you have multiple eligible accounts and/or different IP addresses, you can only vote once per image. It is not allowed to vote twice on one image. Voting for your own work is not allowed.

The Wikinews administrators will oversee this vote. Once two administrators have verified the results for round one, round two will launch (at the next time where it is 00:01 and the voting system for this round has been set up).

Round two will take place in the same way, with the image with the highest number of supports becoming Wikinews picture of the year 2008.

In case of a tie in round two, another round will take place between the tied images.

In rounds one and two you may vote for multiple images, but in the case we reach round three, you may only vote once in the third round.

All rounds will last seven days.

Round One
Will open for voting on January 24 and close on January 31 if supported by community consensus. All images with two supports or more will be carried through the the second round of voting. You may vote for any number of images.

Voting is now closed (as of 05:34, 1 February 2009 (UTC)). Round two will start shortly (once round 1 results are official). To see the voting list, list of candidates, and detailed results, see Picture of the Year 2008/round 1

Results
See Wikinews_talk:Picture_of_the_Year_2008 for full details. Also see /round 1 for gallery of images and full list of votes.
 * Fifty-nine images were present for round 1. 11 survived to next round.
 * Images with 10 or more votes (leaders of the pack): D, DB, I, L, P, AL, AQ, AY [8]
 * Images with 2 or more votes (Somewhat made it, but not quite): B, C, D, E, G, I, J, L, N, P, R, T, U, X, AE, AF, AG, AK, AL, AQ, AS, AT, AV, AX, AY, AZ, BA, BB, BC, BD, DA, DB [32]
 * Images that did not make it (0-1 votes): AC, AD, AJ, AM, AR, AU, AW, DC, K, Z, A, AA, AB, AI, AN, AO, AP, DD, F, H, M, O, Q, S, V, W, Y [27]
 * Images that had 8 or more votes (actually made it): D, I, L, N, P, AF, AK, AL, AQ, AY, DB [11]
 * Results compiled by and

Round Two
Once two administrators have verified the results for round one, round two will launch (at the next time where it is 00:00 and the voting system for this round has been set up).

All images with two eight supports or more from round one are carried through to this round. You may vote for any number of images. Note: Wikinews admins reserve the right to increase the number of supports needed for an image to go to round two if too many images survive round 1 after voting for round 1 closes (ideally approximately 10-15 images will make it to round 2).

Voting will close on February 28 at 0:00 UTC and the final result (or, if there is a tie, the candidates for round three) will be announced as soon as they are agreed on by two Wikinews administrators.

- Voting is now closed. Please see /round 2 for full vote list.
 * Image P won with 15 votes.
 * Image L and AL were the runners up, each with 12 votes
 * Results counted by and
 * See official count for full details.

title: Wikinews:Picture of the Year 2008


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Comments:Sharp increase in number of Zimbabwean cholera deaths

Is Zimbabwe the only country in Africa where there are cholera outbreaks? I don't think so... What about Ethiopia? Or Eritrea? Those countries also have a number of disease outbreaks... Is Mugabe responsible for them too? I don't like Mugabe and I do think he is a tyrant, but blaming him for everything seems stupid to me. What the UK/US alliance really wants if for him to leave power, so they can put their fascist puppet instead. Mugabe is as much responsible for the cholera outbreak as any other corrupt Afican leader.

 * American was never mention in the Article in fact Kenya was the first to call for the removal of Zimbabwean's government. But I do love Anti-Americanism.--KDP3 (talk) 04:44, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Calling everyone "anti-american" is the weapon of the weak and feeble minded, that do not know how to take a criticism and a perspective of the truth.

 * I don't call everyone Anti-American just the ones that are ;)--KDP3 (talk) 19:41, 17 December 2008 (UTC)


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Comments:Somali parliament rejects president's dismissal of prime minister

In Somalia nobody cares about the "Prime-Minister", because the country does not have any government for 15 years. To some foreign powers, he may be "Prime-Minister", but for 95% of the somalians he's another rich oaf. 95% of somalians doesn't know they have a "Prime-Minister" or a government. This "government" has as much credibility as the US or the UK on Human Rights.


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Somali pirates hijack Indonesian tugboat and Turkish container ship

December 17, 2008 Two more vessels have been hijacked in Somalia. Pirates have captured an Indonesian tugboat with a barge that was working for French oil firm Total and a Turkish container ship.

The Turkish vessel's seizure was confirmed by a US Fifth Fleet spokesman. MV Bosphorus Prodigy is a 330 ft (100 m) container vessel flagged in Antigua and Barbuda. It is owned and operated by Isko Marine Company based in Istanbul.

The Fifth Fleet could not confirm the tugboat's seizure, but an anonymous official with Total in Yemen could. He explained the boat and barge were headed to Malaysia from the Yemeni port of Mukalla. He said the crew consisted of both Indonesians and other nationalities, and that the vessels, which had been hired by a subcontractor, were not carrying any oil at the time.

The new hijackings came as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime asked for greater policing in the area by international bodies, and for the signing of agreements that allowed the arresting officer to take pirates back to the officer's country for prosecution.

"Pirates cannot be keelhauled or forced to walk the plank, nor should they be dumped off the Somali coast," said the office's head Antonio Maria Costa. "They need to be brought to justice".


text: Talk:Somali pirates hijack Indonesian tugboat and Turkish container ship


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Wikinews Shorts: December 17, 2008

Bomb kills two at Oregon bank; suspects arrested
Two people were arrested Tuesday after police say they were responsible for killing a state and local police officer at a bank in Woodburn, Oregon on Friday.

57-year-old Bruce Turnidge and his son Joshua, 32, face various charges including aggravated murder and conspiracy to manufacture and possess explosive materials and devices.

William Hakim, a bomb technician and Tom Tennant for the Woodburn police were both killed after they examined the bomb and had said it appeared to be a hoax. When they started to take it apart, the bomb exploded. One other officer was seriously injured in the blast.

Sources

United States interest rates cut to almost zero
The United States Federal Reserve has reduced its key interest rate from one percent to somewhere between zero and 0.25%. This is the latest in a series of moves to try to curb the country's recession.

The Federal Reserve stated that "the outlook for economic activity has weakened further", adding that the rates would stay at their current levels for some time. The figure is the lowest it has ever been since the Federal Reserve started publishing its target back in 1990.

Wall Street reacted positively to the move, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 232.89 points to a level of 8797.10.

Sources

Bus crash in Israel kills at least 26
A bus containing Russian tour guides crashed in southern Israel on Wednesday after it went through a roadside barrier and went down a ravine, killing no less than 26 people and injuring over 12 more.

The crash occurred near the Sinai Desert border located to the north of the resort of Eilat on the Red Sea.

Police and rescue workers quickly responded to the accident, and army helicopters airlifted survivors of the crash to a hospital in Beersheba, while ambulances sped others to Eilat.

A police investigation has been initiated. Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the police, said that it will concentrate mainly on whether or not the driver lost control of the bus as it attempted to overtake another vehicle.

Sources

title: Wikinews Shorts: December 17, 2008


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User talk:70.73.158.100

Welcome
Thanks for experimenting with Wikinews. Your test worked, and has now been reverted or removed. Please use Sandbox for any other tests you want to do, since testing in articles may disrupt the site's working and will be reverted quickly. , welcome to Wikinews! Please refrain from using content pages for testing. Here are a few good links for newcomers on how to edit Wikinews:

Our key policies - if you read anything, read these! Here a few pointers to help you get to know Wikinews: There are always things to do on Wikinews: By the way, you can sign your name on Talk pages using four tildes ( ~~~~ ), which produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, you can ask them at the water cooler or to anyone on the Welcommittee, or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 01:36, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
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title: User talk:70.73.158.100


text:
User talk:75.40.234.50

DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 01:40, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:75.40.234.50


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Comments:Somali pirates hijack Indonesian tugboat and Turkish container ship

When will they learn?
Far be it for I to assert that I know anything at all about naval security, but in the past to protect the ships didn't they travel in escorted convoys through danagourous waters? Can't the same happen here?--ADtalk 01:47, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Do you know how much it costs to provide escorts for every ship that passes through there?

 * Clearly not, but I'm sure if the situation continues it will soon be cheaper to escort ships than keep on paying ransoms.--ADtalk 10:26, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

 * You're right... But the World isn't right is it?

 * Truer words were never spoken.--ADtalk 16:20, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

 * The russians are already doing it. They're escorting commercial ships.

For God Sake
For God sake, this is an international war. They hijack a lot of ship. I hate them. Now they hijack Indonesian ship. I hate them.


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User talk:Aled D

Welcome
DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 02:01, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Aled D


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User talk:78.146.28.146

Welcome
Thanks for experimenting with Wikinews. Your test worked, and has now been reverted or removed. Please use Sandbox for any other tests you want to do, since testing in articles may disrupt the site's working and will be reverted quickly. , welcome to Wikinews! Please refrain from using content pages for testing. Here are a few good links for newcomers on how to edit Wikinews:

Our key policies - if you read anything, read these! Here a few pointers to help you get to know Wikinews: There are always things to do on Wikinews: By the way, you can sign your name on Talk pages using four tildes ( ~~~~ ), which produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, you can ask them at the water cooler or to anyone on the Welcommittee, or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 02:01, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
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title: User talk:78.146.28.146


text:
User talk:210.56.81.180

DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 02:05, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:210.56.81.180


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Comments:US Supreme Court allows 'light' cigarettes lawsuits

people are trying to get money for it said enviromental purposes instead of health... wait what? you smoke cigarettes for years on end and you believe that you arent doing much harm to the enviroment because they put the label of light on the cigarettes? how can you justify sueing money that i seriously doubt any of the involved parties would send to enviromentalist groups instead of likely keeping the money in their greedy pockets glad they could sink their teeth into some amount of money. in the article it said someone was smoking these light cigarettes for 15 years. 15 years again 15 years isnt that a long time to be smoking cigarettes to all of a sudden become aware of possible negative affects they might have on the enviroment...?-138.163.160.42

 * It says economical not environmental --199.190.223.190 17:53, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

 * lol--KDP3 (talk) 19:37, 17 December 2008 (UTC)


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Comments:Iraqi journalist arrested after throwing shoes at George W. Bush

Im an American an I think this guy is great. Id love to see him be released without charges.

Iraqi man throws his shoes at The American President... Iraqi man hauled off by fellow Iraqis and beaten within an inch of his life only to be taken to the CSH- the best, not to mention American, Hospital in Baghdad. Ironic?

This guy should be released from the hospital to the public, untreated..

I love the Anti-Americanism/Anti-Bush, but I'm wonder if Obama got hit with a shoe would all you liberals be so soft on criminal?--KDP3 (talk) 04:42, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

 * The same ones that so much prized "democracy" and did everything to "export" it, are the ones that show that they cannot cope with the criticism, insults and other episodes that come with it. They should go to Zimbabwe. They'll love Mugabe.

 * If someone throws a shoe at Obama then thats different, Obama didnt fuck things up like Bush did.

Shoe-throwing insult
While we consider this act an insult of the highest order, we would at least protect this man with our freedom of speech and expression. To beat the shoe-thrower, as the Iraqi police reportedly did, is reprehensible.

President Bush had the good sense to immediately call off our Secret Service in order to allow the local police to handle the situation thus preventing any further acts of intolerance toward the "occupying Americans"

I am like many other Americans who are disturbed by much of the president's decisions regarding Iraq, but I applaud his having the presence-of-mind under duress in dealing with this matter.

Beaten? Not cool, who on this planet would feel good about beating someone who spoke up against one of the most disgraceful faces in politics since Hitler?

This is not fair on the Iraqi man he is in so much pain and Bush deserved it for starting war with Iraq. SHAME BUSH!!!

next time throw an axe

Iraqi journalist arrested after throwing shoes at George W. Bush
very good task done by the iraqi. i want more from them —Preceding unsigned comment added by 220.227.100.14 (talk) 08:18, 23 July 2009 (UTC)


text: Talk:Zimbabwe Air Marshal shot

title: Talk:Zimbabwe Air Marshal shot


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User talk:65.13.52.87

Welcome
Thanks for experimenting with Wikinews. Your test worked, and has now been reverted or removed. Please use Sandbox for any other tests you want to do, since testing in articles may disrupt the site's working and will be reverted quickly. , welcome to Wikinews! Please refrain from using content pages for testing. Here are a few good links for newcomers on how to edit Wikinews:

Our key policies - if you read anything, read these! Here a few pointers to help you get to know Wikinews: There are always things to do on Wikinews: By the way, you can sign your name on Talk pages using four tildes ( ~~~~ ), which produces your name and the current date. If you have any questions, you can ask them at the water cooler or to anyone on the Welcommittee, or ask me on my Talk page. Again, welcome! DragonFire1024 (Talk to the Dragon) 03:28, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
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title: User talk:65.13.52.87


text: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 17, 2008

title: Talk:Wikinews Shorts: December 17, 2008


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New Zealand Government to repeal Electoral Finance Act

December 17, 2008

New Zealand's National-led government will repeal the Electoral Finance Act by February next year, according to Justice Minister Simon Power.

"As part of its first 100 days’ commitment the Government intends to repeal the Electoral Finance Act 2007 and replace it with an interim regime by 26 February 2009", Power said. However, the precise date would depend on the cooperation of other parties in the House.

The promise was made in Parliament yesterday in response to a question from ACT MP John Boscawen.

The Electoral Finance Act was passed in 2007 by the then-Labour government. It requires greater transparency around donations to political parties and places a financial cap on "third party" campaigning by other groups. Opponents of the law consider it a serious restriction of civil liberties, and further consider that spending private money on political campaigning is a democratic right. National promised to repeal the law during the recent election campaign.

Parliament is expected to begin next year's sitting on February 10, 2009. Given the tight deadline, the repeal will almost certainly be conducted under urgency and without a select committee phase.

The National government has come under fire in recent days for its use of urgency to pass bills without sending them to select committee.


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Talk:New Zealand Government to repeal Electoral Finance Act

I've added the original tag for two reasons:

1) this article draws on a primary source (in the form of the Hansard report of yesterday's questions for oral answer) in addition to published news sources. Having watched the relevant part of Question Time, the transcript is accurate.

2) the second to last paragraph provide some analysis. This analysis is based on the proposed sitting calendar, which will be formally adopted by the end of the week, and my knowledge of NZ Parliamentary procedure.  In the New Zealand House of Representatives, bills follow a 1st reading, select committee, 2nd reading, committee of the whole, 3rd reading, law process as laid out in the Standing Orders, with the select committee stage usually taking several months (if it is quick) to a year.  Power's proposed timeline makes no allowance for this.  The bill is therefore almost certain to be introduced and passed under urgency ("almost certain" rather than absolutely certain because anything can happen with leave, however unlikely that may be).  The final paragraph adds context to this, linking it to concerns about the new government's use of urgency which have dominated domestic political news for the past week.

If (2) is a problem (do we do basic analysis like actual journalists, or just lift and copy?), then it can be cut. Alternatively, some version of the above explanation can be added in.

The "Opponents of the law..." part on the EFA is lifted from its wiki page; its a fair summary of their concerns. Again, it can be rewritten. The law is highly controversial in New Zealand, and that could possibly be added.

Alternative headline: "New Zealand Government to repeal Electoral Finance Act by February".--IdiotSavant (talk) 04:25, 17 December 2008 (UTC)


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Cleveland, Ohio clinic performs US's first face transplant

December 18, 2008 🇺🇸 A team of eight transplant surgeons in Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, USA, led by reconstructive surgeon Dr. Maria Siemionow, age 58, have successfully performed the first almost total face transplant in the US, and the fourth globally, on a woman so horribly disfigured due to trauma, that cost her an eye. Two weeks ago Dr. Siemionow, in a 23-hour marathon surgery, replaced 80 percent of her face, by transplanting or grafting bone, nerve, blood vessels, muscles and skin harvested from a female donor's cadaver.

The Clinic surgeons, in Wednesday's news conference, described the details of the transplant but upon request, the team did not publish her name, age and cause of injury nor the donor’s identity. The patient's family desired the reason for her transplant to remain confidential. The Los Angeles Times reported that the patient "had no upper jaw, nose, cheeks or lower eyelids and was unable to eat, talk, smile, smell or breathe on her own." The clinic's dermatology and plastic surgery chair, Francis Papay, described the nine hours phase of the procedure: "We transferred the skin, all the facial muscles in the upper face and mid-face, the upper lip, all of the nose, most of the sinuses around the nose, the upper jaw including the teeth, the facial nerve." Thereafter, another team spent three hours sewing the woman's blood vessels to that of the donor's face to restore blood circulation, making the graft a success.

The New York Times reported that "three partial face transplants have been performed since 2005, two in France and one in China, all using facial tissue from a dead donor with permission from their families." "Only the forehead, upper eyelids, lower lip, lower teeth and jaw are hers, the rest of her face comes from a cadaver; she could not eat on her own or breathe without a hole in her windpipe. About 77 square inches of tissue were transplanted from the donor," it further described the details of the medical marvel. The patient, however, must take lifetime immunosuppressive drugs, also called antirejection drugs, which do not guarantee success. The transplant team said that in case of failure, it would replace the part with a skin graft taken from her own body.

Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, a Brigham and Women's Hospital surgeon praised the recent medical development. "There are patients who can benefit tremendously from this. It's great that it happened," he said.

Leading bioethicist Arthur Caplan of the University of Pennsylvania withheld judgment on the Cleveland transplant amid grave concerns on the post-operation results. "The biggest ethical problem is dealing with failure — if your face rejects. It would be a living hell. If your face is falling off and you can't eat and you can't breathe and you're suffering in a terrible manner that can't be reversed, you need to put on the table assistance in dying. There are patients who can benefit tremendously from this. It's great that it happened," he said.

Dr Alex Clarke, of the Royal Free Hospital had praised the Clinic for its contribution to medicine. “It is a real step forward for people who have severe disfigurement and this operation has been done by a team who have really prepared and worked towards this for a number of years. These transplants have proven that the technical difficulties can be overcome and psychologically the patients are doing well. They have all have reacted positively and have begun to do things they were not able to before. All the things people thought were barriers to this kind of operations have been overcome,” she said.

The first partial face transplant surgery on a living human was performed on Isabelle Dinoire on November 27 2005, when she was 38, by Professor Bernard Devauchelle, assisted by Professor Jean-Michel Dubernard in Amiens, France. Her Labrador dog mauled her in May 2005. A triangle of face tissue including the nose and mouth was taken from a brain-dead female donor and grafted onto the patient. Scientists elsewhere have performed scalp and ear transplants. However, the claim is the first for a mouth and nose transplant. Experts say the mouth and nose are the most difficult parts of the face to transplant.

In 2004, the same Cleveland Clinic, became the first institution to approve this surgery and test it on cadavers. In October 2006, surgeon Peter Butler at London's Royal Free Hospital in the UK was given permission by the NHS ethics board to carry out a full face transplant. His team will select four adult patients (children cannot be selected due to concerns over consent), with operations being carried out at six month intervals. In March 2008, the treatment of 30-year-old neurofibromatosis victim Pascal Coler of France ended after having received what his doctors call the worlds first successful full face transplant.

Ethical concerns, psychological impact, problems relating to immunosuppression and consequences of technical failure have prevented teams from performing face transplant operations in the past, even though it has been technically possible to carry out such procedures for years.

Mr Iain Hutchison, of Barts and the London Hospital, warned of several problems with face transplants, such as blood vessels in the donated tissue clotting and immunosuppressants failing or increasing the patient's risk of cancer. He also pointed out ethical issues with the fact that the procedure requires a "beating heart donor". The transplant is carried out while the donor is brain dead, but still alive by use of a ventilator.

According to Stephen Wigmore, chair of British Transplantation Society's ethics committee, it is unknown to what extent facial expressions will function in the long term. He said that it is not certain whether a patient could be left worse off in the case of a face transplant failing.

Mr Michael Earley, a member of the Royal College of Surgeon's facial transplantation working party, commented that if successful, the transplant would be "a major breakthrough in facial reconstruction" and "a major step forward for the facially disfigured."

In Wednesday's conference, Siemionow said "we know that there are so many patients there in their homes where they are hiding from society because they are afraid to walk to the grocery stores, they are afraid to go the the street." "Our patient was called names and was humiliated. We very much hope that for this very special group of patients there is a hope that someday they will be able to go comfortably from their houses and enjoy the things we take for granted," she added.

In response to the medical breakthrough, a British medical group led by Royal Free Hospital's lead surgeon Dr Peter Butler, said they will finish the world's first full face transplant within a year. "We hope to make an announcement about a full-face operation in the next 12 months. This latest operation shows how facial transplantation can help a particular group of the most severely facially injured people. These are people who would otherwise live a terrible twilight life, shut away from public gaze," he said.


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Talk:Cleveland, Ohio clinic performs US's first face transplant

I CREATED this landmark health news article, since this first in USA gives HOPE to those who are in darkness. Please help in this collaboration. Thanks--Florentino Floro (talk) 06:41, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

I had updated the article and re-developed, and added review
Hi, I checked the errors and added new links, since when I created this, the Wednesday conference was not yet called. After the medical press conference released the details of the surgery, I now did update this article. Please review the same. Thanks.--Florentino Floro (talk) 08:25, 18 December 2008 (UTC)


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Wikinews talk:Picture of the Year 2008

Missing
Someone should go through the NIP history and take a look at what other images were posted. I'm fairly sure that for the last 3 months or so (if not more) we haven't been putting images into the archive. I know I didn't. -- Shakata Ga Nai  ^_^ 08:10, 17 December 2008 (UTC)
 * ✅. The following need to be added: (theres two versions of that image)              File:Liberal rally Brampton 2008 election 82.jpg   . However adding these all looks like a job for tommorow. (if anyone's feeling bored, feel free to add them) Bawolff ☺☻ 05:03, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Note to self: var imgList = ;

var capt = ["Not only publishing, designing executives, and government officials, the Kid Book Hall from Taipei International Book Exhibition showed another style from conception of recycling and reusing.", "A recent survey found that Big Ben was the most popular UK landmark. The image above shows some of the landmarks that made it into the top ten.", "A man was arrested in Bristol, United Kingdom on suspicion of terrorism Friday. There has also been a controlled explosion. Parts of the city were evacuated. The person who was arrested is believed to be 19 years old. The above image shows the nearest major road, Henleaze Road in the hours after the arrest", "The above graph shows the increase and decrease in city councillors for the three main parties in the UK local elections. Blue represents the Conservative party, red represents the Labour party and yellow represents the Liberal Democrats.", "In the investigation of a fire on a Boeing 767 cargo plane at San Francisco International Airport last week, it has been revealed the operator received a threat the week before.", "The G8 summit was today launched in Hokkaido, Japan. The above image shows the press conference made at the launch of the summit.", "Although the 34th G8 Summit was ended, but the demonstration of anti-globalists exposed a critical issue on poverty, etc.", "Sporting is good, but safety should be considered the most important factor before sporting.", "Four months and 3,200 kilometres ago, Canadian runner Jonathan Howard (right) began his run across the second-largest country in the world, to raise awareness for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).", "Multiple large explosions have been reported at Sunshine Propane Industrial Gases, a propane facility in northern Toronto near Keele Street and Wilson Street near the Highway 401, at approximately between 3:25 and 3:50 am EST, at Murray Rd. & Spalding Rd. The above image shows the explosion", "The Bristol Organic Food Festival, which is Europe's largest festival for organic food, has launched in Bristol. The above image shows Bristol's Millennium Square during the festival.", "The public and celebrities were treated to performances by Diddy and DJ'ing by Samantha Ronson at the 2008 eTalk Festival Party, held the evening of September 5. The party was held by broadcaster CTV, in celebration of the Toronto International Film Festival.", "An F/A-18 Hornet sitting on the tarmac at the completion of the 2008 Reno Air Races.", "Stephane Dion, seen making a speech in Brampton, Ontario during the final days of the Canadian federal election, is set to step down as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, after his party lost multiple seats in the House of Commons.", "Wonderland Greyhound Park is one of two Massachusetts dog racing tracks that will be shut down by the passing of Question 3.", "A simulated version of a black hole, similar to the one scientists discovered at the center of the Milky Way.", "No clean feed protests against the Rudd government's mandatory ISP filtering at Rundle Mall, Adelaide, Australia"];

var index = ["AM", "AN", "AO", "AP", "AQ", "AR", "AS", "AT", "AU", "AV", "AW", "AX", "AY", "AZ", "BA", "BB", "BC"]; ✅ all done. Bawolff ☺☻ 07:55, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Random arbitrary take-over of vote by Bawolff
I noticed this hasn't happened yet, so I decided to arbitrarily start voting in three days. (Hope everyone is fine with that). I also changed the rules somewhat in that you have to have made at least 50 edits, and registered your account at least 2 weeks ago to qualify to vote (or alternatively create an article before you vote). This is to stop people from creating throw away accounts to rig the vote. Hope everyone's ok with those changes. If you don't like them, I don't have any strong attachment to my new arbitrary rules. Bawolff ☺☻ 04:06, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Invalid votes
I've checked all the voters up to my own vote, and stricken two made by IP addresses. I've left a note on Aguilac's WP talk page, since it's likely they just didn't get logged in to their global account when they voted, so they can just remove the strike-through and my comment to confirm it's them. I'm quite glad to see a few interwiki votes, particularly from people whose home account isn't commons or enWP, and I think those who haven't been welcomed should be (and I'll do it later on if nobody beats me to it). Chris Mann (Say hi!|Stalk me!) 23:40, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Round one results
This is what I counted:

Listed in format LETTER - NUMBEROFVOTES. 0 votes ones struck out. 2 or more bolded. 3 or more italics.

 * A - 0
 * B - 4
 * C -3
 * D - 10
 * E - 3
 * F - 0
 * G - 2
 * H - 0

Counting not yet complete but saving to stop me losing data. I wil try to finish counting later. Anonymous101talk 14:12, 1 February 2009 (UTC)

Here are my counts, bold to indicate success (>= 2 support): Successful candidates: B, C, D, E, G, I, J, L, N, P, R, T, U, X, DA, AE, DB, AF, AG, AJ, AL, AQ, AS, AT, AV, AX, AY, AZ, BC, BB, BC, BD (32/59). Eliminated candidates: A, F, H, K, M, O, Q, S, V, W, Y, Z, AA, AB, AC, AD, DC, AI, AJ, DD, AM, AN, AO, AP, AR, AU, AW (27/59). Ten or more supports: D, I, L, N, P, DB, AL, AQ, AY.

Once Anonymous101 finishes his count, the two can be checked for inconsistencies, and if they're consistent I'm happy to move to Round 2. Chris Mann (Say hi!|Stalk me!) 01:56, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Sigma 7's account hasn't been merged. Other then that all votes look good. (but i havn't counted them yet). Bawolff ☺☻ 08:29, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * However, his vote doesn't really affect much. So its all good. (he voted for images w/ over 2 supports). Bawolff ☺☻ 08:31, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * ok, I got:

Note: this is not including Sigma7's vote. so L and Af is one less, but they are both still well over 2 votes. Bawolff ☺☻ 09:03, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Not including sigma's vote, there is inconsistancy with image AD (TUFKAAP's vote), DC (Melancholie). Summary:

 * Successful (32): B, C, D, E, G, I, J, L, N, P, R, T, U, X, AE, AF, AG, AK, AL, AQ, AS, AT, AV, AX, AY, AZ, BA, BB, BC, BD, DA, DB
 * Leaders (10+) (8):D, DB, I, L, P, AL, AQ, AY
 * The following had exactly one vote, and thus should be eliminated: "AC, AD, AJ, AM, AR, AU, AW, DC, K, Z"
 * I agree with all the zero's present in the table, except AD and DC which i think have 1 vote
 * I was under impression to stay in you need 2 votes, so AC, AD, AJ, AM, AR, AU, AW, DC, K, Z should also be eliminated. (You have them listed as both successful and eliminated in the little summary) Bawolff ☺☻ 09:37, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

OK, take 2 for me. This time I ran it through SAS, so hopefully any counting errors I may have made have been eliminated. The following pictures received at least 10 votes: L, P(13), AL, AY, DB(11), AQ, D, I(10)

The following pictures received between 2 and 9 votes: AK, N(9), AF(8), AG, U(7), AE, AT, BC, DA(6), AV, BB, J, X(5), AS, B(4), BA, BD, C, E(3), AX, AZ, G, R, T(1)

The following pictures received fewer than 2 votes: AC, AD, AJ, AM, AR, AU, AW, DC, K, Z(1), A, AA, AB, AI, AN, AO, AP, DD, F, H, M, O, Q, S, V, W, Y(0)

This time, I agree with Bawolff - I apparently missed TUFKAAP's vote for AD and Melancholie's for DC before. Note that this doesn't affect the list of successful candidates. Chris Mann (Say hi!|Stalk me!) 00:17, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Round 2
When will round 2 be initialized, actually? --- Best regards, Melancholie (talk) 19:01, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Given that we're starting to agree on the results, probably fairly soon. Chris Mann (Say hi!|Stalk me!) 23:22, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Round Two start
It seems to me that it is accepted that B, C, D, E, G, I, J, L, N, P, R, T, U, X, AE, AF, AG, AK, AL, AQ, AS, AT, AV, AX, AY, AZ, BA, BB, BC, BD, DA, DB are the successful candidates, so I am starting preparing the section for round two now. Anonymous101talk 21:22, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I've created a gallery in the round two section with all successful images (and checked to make sure I have put the right images in the gallery - although someone else checking may help ensure accuracy). Now, presuming I have done everything OK, we just need to finish the formatting parts (and name all the images with new letters possibly) and open the round. Anonymous101talk 21:38, 13 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks for doing that. I meant to start that stuff earlier, but have been too busy. I'm also wondering if we should be doing this at the same time as the commons poty (although this has already been delayed too much) Bawolff ☺☻ 00:04, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * If we do renumber, perhaps we should start our letters at FA-GF to prevent confusion with round 1. Bawolff ☺☻ 00:30, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't think it matters if we do it at the same time as the commons POTY of the year as the contests are really different, and it's not like either will interfere with the other one. 9but this is just my opinion and everyone will probably disagree) Anonymous101talk 06:16, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

The page says that admins may change the threshold for inclusion in Round 2 if the number of successful images is too many or few, and that ideally around 10-15 images would make it this far. Do we want to change the threshold? The table below shows how many candidates we'd have in Round 2 for different choices.

Personally, I think a threshold of 6 or 7 would be appropriate, as that would bring the size of Round 2 to 1/4 of Round 1. Chris Mann (Say hi!|Stalk me!) 01:07, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm good with doing that (7 sounds good). Either way, we should start this soon. Bawolff ☺☻ 02:10, 16 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I shrunk the pool down to 8 votes or higher. My rationale is that it keeps the images competitive with each other, it keeps enough images within the round two pool, and looks aesthetically pleasing (the other options caused one image to appear on it's own line. You can start the vote at any time you want... --Sigma 7 (talk) 00:51, 18 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Sounds good to me. I checked the images in the gallery - all have 8 or more votes. I'm going to start voting tommorow (assuming no one objects, as this has been delayed too long). Bawolff ☺☻ 00:07, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thats assuming I'm online at that time. if i'm not feel free to change the message to voting is started. Bawolff ☺☻ 00:33, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I changed the messages to say that the voting is now open. Jonhall (talk) 03:23, 20 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Thanks. Bawolff ☺☻ 05:35, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Note
I have added the following to the info for round 2 to clarify things:

"Voting will close on February 31 at 0:00 UTC and the final result (or, if there is a tie, the candidates for round three) will be announced as soon as they are agreed on by two Wikinews administrators."

If anyone objects feel free to remove what I added

Thanks,

Anonymous101talk 09:19, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * There is no February 31. Remember the nursery rhyme? All the rest have 31, except February, it has 28. Mike Halterman (talk) 11:42, 21 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I am an idiot. I have no idea why I put Feb 31. Anonymous101talk 14:27, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

Round two closed
I closed the round two vote on 28 February 2009 at 2:55 Wikinews time. However, as I'm not an admin I can't edit the Sitenotice, so someone else still needs to change that. Jonhall (talk) 03:10, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

 * I don't like that notice. It lied. Stepshep (talk) 04:25, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Sitenotice updated. Thanks, Anonymous101talk 08:27, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

Round 2 results
These are the results i counted for round two

 * D -8
 * I - 8
 * L - 12
 * N - 8
 * P - 15
 * AF - 9
 * AK - 11
 * AL - 12
 * AQ - 7
 * AY - 10
 * DB - 8

So, by my count, P has won.

(Notes about my counting: I have not counted the vote by Prosfilaes for DP (there is no DP) as he may have meant to type P or DB or something else)

It would be great if another admin could count the votes for this round so we can check the counting.

Thanks, Anonymous101talk 08:55, 28 February 2009 (UTC)

 * Moot and late, but what I meant was DB.--Prosfilaes (talk) 13:52, 4 March 2009 (UTC)
 * I got the same count. (→ Zachary ) 19:30, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

title: Wikinews talk:Picture of the Year 2008


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User talk:Wowgoldgatecom

Spam
Hi, please do not place any kind of on our website - it will be  so no one will see it. If you do want to contribute to Wikinews, see the introduction. Bawolff ☺☻ 09:09, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

title: User talk:Wowgoldgatecom


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Comments:Zimbabwe Air Marshal shot

Yes... Maybe it was Mugabe the one responsible too?

title: Comments:Zimbabwe Air Marshal shot


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South Korean actress Ok So-ri gets suspended term for adultery

December 17, 2008

South Korea's popular actress, Ok So-ri (hangul= 옥소리; 'Ok Bo-gyeong' - 옥보경), age 40, was convicted Wednesday of adultery, for an affair she admitted having with a well-known 38-year-old opera singer. She blamed it on a loveless 11-year marriage.

Goyang, Gyeonggi Province Regional court Judge Cho Min-seok ruled that, "The accused deserves to be blamed. But we took into account her husband's indifference to his wife and she has already gone through immense mental agony since the trial started." Her husband, Park Chul (박철), a radio talk show personality, sought the maximum sentence of two years imprisonment, while the prosecutors were seeking 18 months. She was sentenced to eight months in prison, but avoided jail because the sentence was suspended for two years. The Court imposed upon her lover a six-month suspended term.

In September 2008, a lower court had declared both partners jointly responsible for their divorce, and awarded custody of their nine-year-old daughter to Mr Park. Ok had been trying to overturn a 1953 law that criminalizes extramarital affairs and can send a person to jail for up to two years for adultery. Her lawyers alleged in a court petition: "The adultery law ... has degenerated into a means of revenge by the spouse, rather than a means of saving a marriage." For this purpose she brought a case before the Constitutional Court of Korea, which ruled against the actress and in handing the decision said that society would be harmed if it overturned the law and that the "two-year jail term is not excessive when comparing it to responsibility." The Constitutional Court of Korea (헌법재판소, Heonbeop Jaepanso) is an independent and specialized court, whose primarily role is the reviewing constitutionality under the Constitution of the Republic of Korea.

The Korean Times says that "in the past three years about 1,200 people have been indicted annually for adultery, but very few have been jailed." Minwoo women's rights group leader, Lee Hye-kyung opined that "the law is problematic in that it focuses only on the technical aspects of sexual intercourse and allows the government to intrude on the most private part of adult sexual life."


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Talk:South Korean actress Ok So-ri gets suspended term for adultery

I CREATED this South Korean news article, since this seems to be the first that a celebrity had been sentenced for adultery. Please help in the publication of this. Thanks.--Florentino Floro (talk) 10:07, 17 December 2008 (UTC)


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People bid farewell to elderly Shinkansen super-express in Japan

December 17, 2008

The final farewell train in the first series of Shinkansen super-express, called zero-kei (0 Series), ran through western Japan Sunday afternoon from Shin-Osaka to Hakata. 0 Series has served in Japan since 1964, undergoing some model changes, and was retired from regular runs at the end of the last month. Extra farewell runs were scheduled for three days, with all seats allowed to be reserved, and this was the final run.

On Sunday in Shin-Osaka station, a farewell ceremony for Shinkansen 0 Series began at 14:30, where those who contributed to its debut were invited. Around 14:45, the train slowly appeared to enter Track 20. The head and tail cars changed roles, and the train got ready by 14:48 as HIKARI 347 bound for Hakata. And, at 14:56, blowing a long horn, the 0-Series train left for the final trip.

Japanese news media report that approximately 2,800 people gathered to see off the final departure, so did many in the stations the train stopped by. Lastly, the train arrived at Hakata as scheduled at 18:01, welcomed by about 1,600 fans.

Shinkansen network was launched on 1 October 1964, just before Tokyo Olympic Games, with a route connecting the capital Tokyo and Osaka City (now operated by JR-Central). The route for 0-Series trains was gradually extended to the west, which in 1975 reached Hakata area of Fukuoka City (now by JR-West).

Shinkansen 0 Series has a characteristic round face with a part like a shallow bowl, and was nicknamed "dango-bana" or "dangoppana" (literally, "dumpling nose"). At the time of its debut, 0 Series ran at a maximum speed of 210 km/h, which was the world's highest. HIKARI, meaning beam or light, was the name of trains for the faster service. Even while more modern and faster series were rising, 0 Series continued to serve for some years, but in 1999 it ceased from JR-Central services, and in March 2000 from regular HIKARI runs of JR-West.

According to the media, remaining 0-Series Shinkansen cars are destined to be scrapped. Some other cars, which were withdrawn earlier, are preserved in museums including one in Osaka and National Railway Museum in the U.K.


text: Talk:People bid farewell to elderly Shinkansen super-express in Japan


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Comments:People bid farewell to elderly Shinkansen super-express in Japan

Man, trains are awesome. Fephisto (talk) 17:53, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Fephisto you should ride the trains in Spain, their awesome only way I get around in the kingdom. --KDP3 (talk) 01:39, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

 * Ah man, hopefully I will someday. Fephisto (talk) 18:14, 23 December 2008 (UTC)