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Wikinews:Australian discussion

This is a page for discussion related to Wikinews Australia, and all things Australian

You are encouraged to add your name at List of Australian Wikireporters!

For all the latest Aussie news take a gander at the Australian Portal.

Interested in politics? Join the Australian Federal politics project.

You may also want to read the archives of this page: /archive, /archive2, /archive3

 * Sydney Meetup, February 5th, 2006

Publicising the Aussie Portal
The advantage of the Aussie portal is that it makes Wikinews look more local, and means that the first page that a new user sees will contain more content that is relavent to them. We should be trying to publicise the portal as an entry-point to Wikinews for Australian web users. Below is a list of ways that we can further this cause. Feel free to add more. - Borofkin 06:15, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

 * Use http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Australia instead of http://en.wikinews.org when linking to Wikinews
 * Repost Australian articles to other websites that take contributions
 * Print up some flyers and leave them at your local cafe
 * Grafitti on the back of toilet doors
 * Talk about Wikinews Australia on blogs - it's especially good to post links articles that the audience of the blog may find controversial, letting them know that they can edit the article.
 * Tell yer friends

 * NICE work Borofkin--elliot_k 06:26, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

 * iv been leaving the print version of wikinews at cafes lately. stickers are also good in places people wont mind them.--Whywhywhy 01:11, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I really wish we could register the wikinews.org.au domain. - Borofkin 23:17, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Aussie Portal Geeks: Request for handy link to update portal
Can someone make a link, on the front page of the Australian portal, to a basic Australian Workspace page with stuff similar to the general Wikinews Workspace page - http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Workspace but for aussies, if youse get my drift.--elliot_k 17:53, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Have a look at Portal:Australia/Workspace... is this along the lines of what you want? - Borofkin 23:45, 19 January 2006 (UTC)
 * You might want to move it to Workspace/Australia as I have done for the kiwi one (Workspace/New Zealand) Brian | (Talk) | New Zealand Portal 02:54, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

ANZAC Day & upcoming commonwealth games
First: I have started work on a Story preparation/ANZAC Day, 2006 article. I invite you's to help work on this; in the comming months and I hope we can have a good featured article on the 25th of April.

Second: Are there any aussie Wikireporters who can cover the upcomming Melbourne commonwealth games? Brian | (Talk) | New Zealand Portal 02:59, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Sydney Meetup
There is a Sydney Meetup proposed for the 5th of February. I reckon I'm going to turn up - it would be good to meet some other Wikinews-folk if anyone can make it. - Borofkin 03:48, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Um, I should qualify that - if any Wikinews-folk are going then I'll come along as well. - Borofkin 01:38, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I've spammed A-J in w:Category:Wikipedians in Sydney and w:User:Nickj says he'll do K-Z. It'll be great to get Wikimedians from the other projects along! Please come everyone! Enochlau 13:49, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

Audio Briefs
Is there a section on the australian site for audio briefs similar to these from the main WikiNews site. An afternoon podcast for the drive home would be realy usefull if somebody would be willing to maintain it properly. I would be interested in helping but work during the week, so would only be able to do weekend podcasts or night-time podcasts (ready for the next day's drive to work though a little outdated). Do any WikiNews regulars think this is a good idea or think it would be useful? - Aussiechris 08:04, 27 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I think it's a great idea. Anyone is welcome to start creating Australian Audio News Briefs. The Audio Wikinews News Briefs page contains information on recording briefs. If we start producing them I reckon we would just add another table to that page titled "Australian Audio News Briefs" or the like. - Borofkin 01:36, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

I have been having a think over this idea of Australian audio briefs. I see that main target as the pod-casting, occasional Wikinews visitor who would be reminded about Wikinews along with their other pod-casts on the way to work. They would be encouraged to incorporate Wikinews into their morning email/coffee/etc rituals. This is potentially a great way to spread the word and remind people about the Australian Portal. Morning briefs could be recorded in the afternoon/evening or early morning (say 6:00am local time). This would report late breaking news from the previous day. The problem with this is that Wikinews readers are likely to read reports a day before an audio brief is released.

The other option is to offer audio briefs for the drive home. The problem with this is that most people with Internet access at work who are likely to download audio briefs are also likely to just read the news at work too. Work policy on Internet usage is becoming more and more strict to the point that some companies may not even allow downloading audio files.

Does anybody see another audience I have overlooked which we could target with this idea. I would like to make sure that local audio briefs would be utilised. I am still interested in developing this idea but if it is not practical I would much rather spend my time working on a more usefull project. Any ideas?

Additionally I have created a draft transcript for Australian audio briefs. It is very similar to the standard template with a few localised variations thrown in. I think there is room for improvement. Have a look and edit it or leave any suggestions. --Aussiechris 11:43, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

 * I think that there are many more people listening to podcasts than just commuters. People would listen to them while at home, at work, during lunchtimes, while jogging, etc. It's hard to judge how popular something will be without just going ahead and doing it.

 * To be honest I'm not really sure how the current Audio Breifs work. They don't seem to have written a transcript in ages - they must just record the first paragraph of a selection of articles. - Borofkin 23:50, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

After much consideration and some discussion with Borofin I have recorded this [[Media:2006.02.06-12.weekly.wikinews.au.ogg|Australian Audiowikinews Weekly Summary]] as a draft. If the idea sits well I will endeavour to record one each week covering the previous weeks Australian wikinews. Have a listen and let me know what you think. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know, as I am just throwing things together at the moment and there is room for improvement. Aussiechris 07:40, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Category sections at bottom of portal
Does anyone every look at the category boxes at the bottom of the Aussie portal? I'm thinking of removing them.... - Borofkin 23:16, 30 January 2006 (UTC)
 * This has been done. Please comment here if you don't like it. Also please feel free to suggest anything that you think should be added to the Portal. - Borofkin 23:51, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

http://australia.wikinews.org
Okay, I've had some discussions on #Wikimedia-tech, and it seems the first step to getting this domain name working in the way we want it to is to create the multilingual portal, to which the domain name will ultimately link. I've made a start on this, you can view it on meta.

If you haven't been following the discussions, the purpose of this domain name is to have a nice easy to write and easy to remember web address that we can put on pamplets, graffiti on toilet doors, etc. It can't just redirect to the English language Wikinews Australia portal, because that would exclude the many people in Australia who mostly use a language other than English. It would be brilliant, for example, if we could get people generating Australian news in, say, Arabic, and then translating it to English for the English Wikinews.

Anyway, the page I've created is the same as http://www.wikinews.org, except that the links point to all the Portal:Australia or Category:Australia pages that I could find in the other Wikinews language projects. Everone is welcome to edit the page, it isn't live yet. - Borofkin 02:06, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

 * This sounds cool, Borofkin! how can I help? -  Amgine | talk en.WN 02:10, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the offer Amgine. The folks on #wikitech say that the next step is to convince a developer to create the domain (or redirection, or whatever it is). I'm not sure if the www.wikinews.org page on meta is actually the live page or not. I suppose if you know a developer who could clarify and fasttrack the whole process it would be handy. I'm still not 100% sure what it is that I'm reqeusting. The Wikimedia world is a complicted one. - Borofkin 02:16, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Wikinews Australia logo
The Wikinews Portal uses the standard Wikinews logo. When the Wikinews Australia Portal is up we may want to use a logo that includes the name "Wikinews Australia", to give it a more localised feel. If anyone is good at graphics stuff, they are welcome to knock up a logo and post it here. - Borofkin 02:55, 8 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I have been playing around with an Australian portal logo. Is this the sort of thing you had in mind? I chose the red because its similar to the wikinews print edition logo. I dont have a copy of the wikimedia font (GillSans) to do the "Australia" text with, but am sure I could track it down. If it comes to that. If you dont think its a good idea to edit the rest of the world out of the logo let me know and I will have a bit more of a tinker. Please leave any feedback or other logo ideas. Aussiechris 14:23, 12 February 2006 (UTC)

 * Yep, that's exactly what I had in mind. Thanks for doing that... I've added it to the australia.wikinews.org template page, and also to the top of this page. Of course, anyone is able to contribute alternatives... if we have a couple of different logos we may want to have a vote. - Borofkin 05:19, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I like it, so do you think you could do one for the New Zealand Portal :) Brian | (Talk) | New Zealand Portal 05:23, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Wikinews mentioned in news.com.au article
Capitol Hill caught wiki-cheating - February 10. Anyone know if it has appeared in any of the print editions? - Borofkin 03:41, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Aussie IRC channel
There is an Aussie Wikimedia IRC channel starting up: irc://irc.freenode.net/wikimedia-au - Borofkin 04:26, 10 February 2006 (UTC)

Bali Nine Story Preparation
The two alleged ringleaders are being sentenced today. I've started this story: Story preparation/Bali Nine ringleaders sentenced to death. If they don't get death we'll rewrite before moving it to the main namespace. Any help appreciated. - Borofkin 23:09, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

Wikimedia Australia IRC meeting
This message was posted on the w:Wikipedia:Australian Wikipedians' notice board. Post followups there.

 * As mentioned above, the proposed Wikimedia Australia now has an IRC channel, #wikimedia-au. It would be good to have a meeting sometime soon of Wikimedians interested in setting up the chapter, perhaps this Sunday evening? Logs will be posted for those who can't or don't use IRC. I think some real time discussion would be very useful. Please indicate below whether this time is good for you.

An Australian Wikimedia chapter (Wikimedia Australia) will be very useful to us here at Wikinews, not least because it will allow us to register www.wikinews.org.au. - Borofkin 23:46, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

Todays News Template
I am always getting stuck in a story unable to get back to the australian wikinews portal without resorting to bookmarks or going to front page and onto the australian category. Plus we get todays news. I was thinking of putting this template in the article creation template unless i get any againsts( its all automated )(a no news day on the left) --Whywhywhy 10:56, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

 * I've been thinking about doing this for a while - I wasn't sure about it because it sort of tags articles as "ours" when they are really part of the Wiki as a whole. However, I reckon it's a worth giving a go to see how it goes, and I think the New Zealand portal has been doing something similar without any problems, so ahead and start adding the template to articles if you want. - Borofkin 23:21, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes NZ has been using something similar for a while (see Template:New Zealand) Brian | (Talk) | New Zealand Portal 23:36, 22 February 2006 (UTC)

Australian Federal politics project
Announcing the Australian Federal politics project. We are already producing excellent articles on happenings in the political world at Federal level. I've created this project page to try and organise those activities, and to focus our work on using original source material rather than other news agencies. Have a read, and if you are interested in helping out, add your name to the list of participants. All comments welcome. - Borofkin 01:41, 27 February 2006 (UTC)

Australian parliament debates Millennium Development Goals
I've created the article Australian parliament debates Millennium Development Goals, based on Hansards. The debate involved seven speeches, which can be viewed here, titled "Gender Equality". If you're looking for something to do, you can read one of the speeches and provide a paragraph summary in the article. The idea is that the article will become a neutral review of the debate. - Borofkin 23:33, 28 February 2006 (UTC)

Wikinews Australia Statistics
Here is a count of published articles in Category:Australia, by month, for the past three months:

In total there are 360 pages in Category:Australia. - Borofkin 01:48, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

Wikinews Australia Publicity Campaign
Okay, we have a portal page and we have a logo. I think it's time to take Wikinews Australia to the people. I was hoping to wait until we had a pretty domain name, but I don't think that will be happening for a while. So, we need suggestions for how we can bring non-Wiki people into the project. The people I think we should target are those too busy making the news to be sitting at their computer writing it: members of community groups, activists, criminals, members of political parties, whistleblowers, the homeless, the disgruntled, etc etc. Does anyone have any ideas for how we can make contact with such people and convince them that they should spend large amounts of their spare time contributing to Wikinews? All I can think of is an A5 size pamphlet with a catchy title, a logo, some information, and the URL (http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Australia). We can hand it out at protests, stick it up on noticeboards, letterbox, etc. If someone is feeling creative they are welcome to knock one up now. Does anyone have any other ideas? - Borofkin 06:10, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Ah yeah! we rock. Happy to help. Will push the notion across the Oceania IMC networks...--elliot_k 07:44, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Another good idea could be to get WN into the university community - journo students in particular may find it useful. Unfortunately the idea of citizen journalism hasn't really caught on in Australia. I think we should try and get new people to contribute but also expand our networks so to speak. It would be great if we could get some sources out there that will contact us when things break. Also with the logo, does it have foundation approval? - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 10:39, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Have you tried simpply emailing some journalism professors and asking what they suggest? I'd guess the best solution is to print up nice pretty glossy posters for posting in journalism departments, and send them to some journalism professors who seem interested.  Nyarlathotep 10:50, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

All great ideas. I've thought about emailing journalism departments. I have dreams of a lecturer incorporating Wikinews into a course, so 300 students have a weekly assignment to write one wikinews article and get it published. - Borofkin 23:04, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I've uploaded a pamphlet. Let me know what you think, and feel free to create/modify it and upload a different version - I envisage a bunch of different pamphlets for different occasions and target audiences. - Borofkin 23:46, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Not a bad pamphlet well targeted towards a political audience. The only potential hurdle could be whether or not the foundation have Wikinews and the logo trademarked (I know that the official Wikimedia one is and to modify it requires a licence from the foundation board) -Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 00:26, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

 * Not bad at all, but we should also be doing pamphlets for the U.S. and U.K.   :)  As for lecturers incorporating, I'm not exactly sure that is likely, we might have to grant them some sort of temporary authority over their students.  But, in theory, we could allow course sub-projects where a lecturer was granted ultimate control over the publication of their students work (subject to the majority of the community trusting the lecturer).  I think anyone with a PhD in journalism will be more than capable of reaching the foundations NPOV guidlines.  However, people might not want to put up with such beurocratic BS as getting the comunities approval, so I think the much more likely route is simply to have it posted in departments where lots of people see it.  Nyarlathotep 23:53, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * BTW: Have you's seen Image:Wikiletter.pdf? Brian | (Talk) | New Zealand Portal 23:55, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Nice letter there - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 00:26, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I just looked up and noticed that meta states that Wikinews is trademarked. To distribute things with "Wikinews Australia" on them I'd say we need approval from the board or LegalCom. I will look into it, but I'd assume it is similar to how it works for chapters - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 00:30, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Oh the pain! Surely the Foundation gives authorisation in advance for project contributors, acting in good faith, to use their logo's and trademarks in activities that clearly support the goals of the Foundation? Surely we don't need to get a little printed handout approved by the board. - Borofkin 00:53, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I do not know, I know in the case of chapters they have a trademark agreement with the foundation to use the logo for certain uses, modify it in certain ways, etc. I will see what I can find - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 02:19, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I think word of mouth is the only way wikinews will spread. I can think of manyy a situation where I have said: "if you think its crap, why dont you write your own article on wikinews".. recommendation and SPIFFY new wikinews australia t-shirts, and media passes with my name/photo wikinews logo on it. On another note, any wiki-newsie (whom is technically a volunteer of wikinews) should consider becoming an accociate member of the Media%2C_Entertainment_and_Arts_Alliance, which gives you endorsement and some notion of formal credibility as a journalist.. --Goldiemicky 13:30, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
 * How much does the EAA membership cost? - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 21:06, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

australia.wikinews.org
Just a question, what happened to australia.wikinews.org ? Bawolff ☺☻ 23:41, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * The Wikimedia Tech's said that country subdomains had never been done before, and so it would need board approval (at least) before they could do it. I haven't attempted to go down that path (yet). I'm hoping that Wikimedia Australia gets off the ground sooner rather than later, so we can register www.wikinews.org.au. - Borofkin 23:46, 6 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I want to see WMA get off the ground soon, but at the same time want to wait until the new "committee structure" of the foundation is in place as there seems to be issues with approval of chapters at present - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal)</SMALL> 00:30, 7 March 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm also looking forward to WMA. If only a government worked like a wiki. - Borofkin 00:49, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

 * It does- it's called Democracy. -[User:Ronan.evans|Ronan.evans]] 07:10, 20 March 2006 (UTC)
 * Quite right, but unfortunately a government beauracracy is most certainly un-wiki-like. On a wiki creating an entity called "Wikimedia Australia" takes about two seconds - it's as simple as creating a page. But to create such an entity in the real world, and have it recognised by the government, takes months and money. - Borofkin 07:13, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

"cricket? what cricket?"
what? nobody in australia watches cricket these days? :_) Doldrums 13:29, 13 March 2006 (UTC)

Have you had your eye's closed for past 4 month or do you come from Tasmainia? lol Ronan.evans 07:09, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

Two state elections held today
We have two state elections being held today, one in Tasmania and one in South Australia. It would be interesting to focus on these.
 * Tasmanian Electoral Office
 * Election 2006 - SA
 * In-depth coverage - ABC - Cartman02au <SMALL>(Talk)(AU Portal)</SMALL> 22:38, 17 March 2006 (UTC)

Lyellins Personal Challenge
Check out User:Lyellin/Personal_Challenge for an informal article-writing challenge. I've been pretty slack recently, so I'm going to attempt to write one article each weekday. I've made a rather depressing start with Great Grand-daughter of Albert Namatjira found raped, murdered. - Borofkin 04:36, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

Statistics for Wikinews Australia
Here are the latest article statistics, updated for March:

Congratulations to all the regular article-writerers, amongst which I cannot count myself. I'm going to endeavour to write more this month - I think our target should be 60 articles, or two a day. - Borofkin 06:52, 3 April 2006 (UTC)

ANZAC Day
ANZAC day is on Tuesday. I have done some work on a story: Story preparation/ANZAC Day, 2006. I invite you's to help work on this; and I hope we can have a good detailed on the 25th of April.

I hope to get a couple of photos in NZ, will any one be able to get some photos at an Aussie event? Brian | (Talk) | New Zealand Portal 01:07, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Statistics
There are many people involved in making Wikinews Australia function, however I would like to especially thank Cartman02au, Elliot_K and Dysprosia, who have written the bulk of our articles. Without article content Wikinews would be nothing more than an idea. Thanks to all! - Borofkin 01:11, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

templates
why do u aussies need Template: Australia new page as well as Template:Australia/New page? Doldrums 09:15, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

WikiBureau?
Hi Bruces

I wondered where I can find a general discussion on the phenomenon WikiBureau. I was thinking of starting a WB on Topics like Health and Science and Techno instead of the geographic WB that are around now, but wanted some feedback first.

--Steven Fruitsmaak (Talk) 11:58, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

categories
there's Category:Australian Politics with 1 article and Category:Australian Federal politics project with 37. and there's a discussion about what to do Water_cooler/assistance. Doldrums 04:57, 29 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I've removed the one article from Category:Australian Politics. - Borofkin 05:24, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

more categories
Category:Australasia has survived from the hoary old days of the beginnings of wikinews. any thoughts on what to do about it are welcome here. Doldrums 14:36, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

G20 in Melbourne
Is there anyone interested in covering the protests this weekend?? I might go and photograph, but it would be cool if there was someone to work with. Please email me or write a message on my talk page if so. Thanks --w:User:pfctdayelise 13:45, 15 November 2006 (UTC)

Any Aussies left
A year ago, the aussies had the most active portal, where have you's all gone, Kiwis are beating (as with everything) your article count now :) Brian | (Talk) | New Zealand Portal 03:41, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Podcast
A new podcast featuring Australian, New Zealand, and possibly Oceania news: http://www.bitshuffle.org/wikicast/Southern_Star. --Nzgabriel | Talk 08:03, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Template:Australian news
does it really need a map showing the location of Australia, and a caption for the map saying "Location of Australia"? if ppl have no problem, i plan to remove the image in a couple of days. — Doldrums(talk) 12:02, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Apology to Stolen Generations
I've started a prepared article: Portal:Prepared_stories/Australian_parliament_apologises_to_the_Stolen_Generations. If anyone is going to watch the telecast on one of the public screens you should take some photos and do some original reporting. We need things like: location, time rally started, estimate of crowd size, quotes from any speeches made, quotes from regular participants, photos, descriptions of any interesting events, and any other observations. - Borofkin 23:43, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

title: Wikinews:Australian discussion


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Nepal's King names new cabinet

of Nepal has today announced a new 10-member cabinet, after yesterday sacking the coalition government. The King, who some Nepalis view as a of the Hindu , made the announcement on the state run television and radio service. "A new Cabinet will be formed under my leadership," he said. "This will restore peace and effective democracy in this country within the next three years."

Gyanendra named Rames Nath Pandey as foreign minister, Dan Bahadur Shahi as Home Minister, as well as, a member of the communist party, as minister for sports and education. The king has decided to head the new administration himself, after accusing the old administration of failing to ensure the small nation's security. Nepal is in the midst of a insurgency that has claimed more than 11,000 lives since 1996.

All telephone lines and mobile telephone networks have been cut with the outside world. Flights into and out of the capital of Kathmandu, have also been stopped. However one flight did leave for New Delhi overnight. Local radio stations are also reported to have been shut down, and Nepali websites are inaccessible from outside Nepal.

The United Nations, Britain, the United States and India criticized the king's action, and Australia has advised its citizens not to travel to Nepal.

Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the UN has said that the king's actions are "a serious setback for the country ... steps should be taken immediately to restore democratic freedoms and institutions" The US administration added that the sacking was a "step back from democracy" and India joined into the chorus by saying that the developments were a "cause of grave concern". The UK, the USA and India have all provided Nepal with arms and given the army training under the banner of security aid. The has tripled in size in less than 10 years. The US alone is estimated to have supplied 20,000 as well as night-vision and communications equipment, and counter-insurgency training.

 newspaper is reporting that the Indian government tried to dissuade King Gyanendra from a "power grab" a few weeks ago.

A statement from New Delhi said ""These developments constitute a serious setback to the cause of democracy in Nepal and cannot but be a cause of grave concern to India," an statement said. The latest developments in Nepal bring the monarchy and the mainstream political parties in direct confrontation with each other. This can only benefit the forces that not only wish to undermine democracy but the institution of  as well." India shares an open border with Nepal.

The leader of the Maoist rebels,, likened the kings actions to "medieval feudal autocracy", and said that the King was trying "to push the Nepalese society of the 21st century back to the 15th.". In a statement to a Maoist website he said "We heartily call upon the entire pro-people forces of the world to raise their voices against this autocratic step and in the favor of the Nepalese people's democratic movement,"

Prachanda, denounced King Gyanendra as a "national betrayer" and told Nepalis to "shut down Nepal" in a three day from Wednesday to Friday, however witnesses in Kathmandu said life was going on as normal, and there are no obvious signs of additional security. Meenakshi, a street sweeper outside the gates of the King's palace said "I just don't know anything. I am just here like any other day," The King has imposed a state of emergency which forbids mass gatherings.

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

title: Nepal's King names new cabinet


text:
New drugs listed on Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme

February 2, 2005Two new drugs used in the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have been added to the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), Health Minister Tony Abbott announced today. The new drugs are Risperdal Consta, for the treatment of schizophrenia, and Zyprexa, for the treatment of bipolar one disorder.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is a programme that provides heavily subsidised prescription drugs to all citizens and residents of Australia. Most necessary medicines are included in the list of medicines covered by the PBS.

The Federal Government through the PBS purchases medication in bulk from drug companies at a pre-agreed price. The consumer then buys the medicine from his/her pharmacist at a subsidised price and the PBS covers the difference between the bulk purchase cost and the consumer price.


text:
Australian PM arrives in Aceh

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has arrived in the provincial capital of Banda Aceh. He is taking a short tour of the tsunami-hit region, and meeting with Indonesian government officials.

He was met at the airport by Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and officials coordinating relief efforts in the region.

He will tour the coastline by helicopter, and visit Australian military engineers who are clearing debris.

title: Australian PM arrives in Aceh


text:
Man run over by train near Adelaide, loses both legs

A man is in Royal Adelaide Hospital in a critical condition after being run over by a train north of Adelaide today. The accident occurred at 1:30pm ACDT.

The man has lost both his legs.

Reports indicate that the man was a railway employee involved in shunting of train carriages.


text:
Paedophile forced to flee Australian town

Dennis Ferguson, a convicted paedophile has become the center of a row between Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisale, and Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie. Mr Ferguson moved to Ipswich, north of Brisbane, Australia after being forced out of his previous home by picketers in Murgon in the South Burnett region of Queensland yesterday.

A group of protesters have now gathered outside Mr Ferguson's new home in Ipswich, who at one stage threw rocks at the house. The Mayor has defended the actions of the protesters saying "All the residents are doing is showing their democratic right - what they feel - and I think that in this country, they have a right to do that," he said.

"I think the only thing left is institutionalise. I think that's the only thing left in this community because you just can't keep shifting the problem all over the state and all over the country until people start showing signs of remorse and show signs of whether they've been rehabilitated."

However the Premier of Queensland, Peter Beattie, reponded by asking Mayor Paul Pisale what he meant by "institutionalised". "To do what?" he said."Okay, so you actually believe that somebody should be locked up forever? We have laws in this state now, and I will talk to Paul about this, which basically say that a paedophile will not be released if they're a danger to the community."

But the Deputy Opposition Leader Jeff Seeney says that in Mr Ferguson's case "Those laws have failed," he said. "He needs to go into an institution and Peter Beattie has a responsibility to ensure that people such as that are kept in an institution."


text:
Girl killed by falling tree

A 16 year old Sydney student was killed when a 10 metre gum tree fell on the tent in which she was sleeping.

Another girl sleeping beside her was unharmed.

The accident occurred at 1:30am AEDT at a campsite near Wombeyan Caves. The girl was participating in an overnight leadership camp with Sydney's private Queenwood School for Girls.

Severe storms have lashed the east coast of Australia for the past few days.

title: Girl killed by falling tree


text:
British Incapacity Benefit due to be overhauled today

An overhaul of Incapacity Benefit is due to be announced in Parliament today.

The payments are likely to be renamed and there could be financial penalties on those who do not actively seek work.

The benefit, given to those unable to return to work, currently varied between £56 a week to £74.

Under Labour proposals, a flat-rate of £56 would be introduced. But financial penalites will be taken on those who do not attempt to look for work, if they are able to.

Incentives will be offered for claimants to undergo training, rehabilitation classes and attend work-focused interviews.

Charities such as Leonard Chesire have voiced concerns that the plans could damage disabled people already living in poverty.

"People whose condition causes them pain or fatigue should not be forced to look for employment," said a spokesman for the disability charity.

The Conservatives have claimed that the proposals will not work, and have suggested that a scheme run by the voluntary and private sector could get 250,000 people into jobs.

The Liberal Democrats accused Labour of applying a "one-size-fits-all" approach.


text:
Crosswords/2005/February/2

February 2, 2005

Feel free to use the Wikimedia sites to solve our Wikinews crossword (Please do not fill it out online as it would spoil it for other people, print it out and fill it in at you own leisure!)
 * < Yesterday's crossword.

Quick crossword
{| border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 style="margin: 0em 0em 1em 1em;"
 * colspan=2|

{|align="left"
 * valign=top style=width:50%|
 * valign=top style=width:50%|

Across
{|align="left"
 * 1. Aviator (5)
 * 4. Stop (a pregnancy) (5)
 * 8. Strong alcoholic drink (3)
 * 11. Grassland (7)
 * 12. Tooth (7)
 * 13. Leave out (4)
 * 14. The Scream artist (5)
 * 15. Put away (4)
 * 18. Act of making hand movements (13)
 * 20. Starting up on one's own efforts (13)
 * 25. Post (4)
 * 26. Metal (5)
 * 27. Release (4)
 * 30. Shine (7)
 * 31. Clothing worn by all (7)
 * 32. Anaesthetic, laughing ___ (3)
 * 33. Untamed animal (5)
 * 34. Wardrobe (6)
 * }
 * valign=top style=width:50%|

Down
Answers tomorrow.
 * 2. Dream of (7)
 * 3. Ladies' fingers (4)
 * 5. Rear (4)
 * 6. Rice dish (7)
 * 7. Utensil (5)
 * 8. Mouth-to-mouth (13)
 * 9. Many different things (13)
 * 10. Royal headwear (5)
 * 16. Country (5)
 * 17. Organ controls (5)
 * 18. Talk (colloq.) (3)
 * 19. Annoy (colloq.) (3)
 * 21. Hole (7)
 * 22. Not confident (7)
 * 23. Picture (5)
 * 24. Allow (5)
 * 28. Elevator inventor (4)
 * 29. Small mountain (4)
 * }
 * }

title: Crosswords/2005/February/2


text:
Brazilian Ministry of Education defends external control over Universities

The Brazilian government has proposed a policy to increase external control on public and private Universities. The Brazilian magazine Veja published a cover story about the subject criticizing this proposal.

The magazine put a picture of a donkey on the cover, a critical allusion to the recent political decisions related to Education taken by the government (in Brazil the donkey is a symbol of stupidity). The magazine claims the recent decision of the government's new education policy is motivated more by ideological rather than technical reasons.

On June 06, 2004 during a convention of intellectuals, the  president of the Confenen (National Confederation of the Educational establishments) Robert Dornas said the idea of external control conflicts with the idea of the university autonomy. "This is the way of all totalitarian States", he added.

The Vice-chancellor of the UFRJ (Federal University of Rio De Janeiro), Aloísio Teixeira, said  to fear that the advice finishes obliquing the activities of the university. According to him the university should be evaluated by already existing mechanisms, as the National Congress. Pablo Alcântara Gomes, the chairman of the board of the Brazilian Universities’ Vice-chancellors, said Brazilian universities do not need external control, but internal advice with participation of the society.

There are worries that with the external control universities may be subject only to political and ideological oriented decisions of non-representative groups.

The Ministry of Education Tarso Genro is a defender of the external control: "I am enthusiastic about the external control. Me and my friend Olívio Dutra (minister of the Cities), are the founders of the shared public budget program in Porto Alegre. This model of management worked like a organized social external control over what is the exposed power nerve, the public budget. And it worked. Therefore, I think it is a good thing. We have to enrich what is not the State, but the public space."


text:
Law center helps defend open source

February 2, 2005

Eben Moglen, Columbia University Law Professor, will head the new Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC). An initial 4 million dollars has been provided by Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) to fund the project.

The law center will provide free legal service for open source projects and developers. In 2004 OSDL established a separate $10 million Linux Legal Defense Fund providing legal support for Linus Torvalds, Linux kernel creator and end user companies subjected to Linux-related litigation by the SCO Group. The new law center will not be affiliated with the OSDL.

"This is about taking care of the goose that laid the golden egg and not letting wolves come in the middle of the night and steal it away," Moglen said during a press conference. "This is a legal firm not involved so much in litigating and defending as it will be for counseling and advising and nurturing non-profits and to prevent millions of dollars in litigation."

Moglen will serve as chairman and director-counsel of the non-profit organization. Also on board as directors are: Lawrence Lessig, law professor at Stanford Law School; Daniel Weitzner, director of the World Wide Web Consortium's technology and society activities; and Diane Peters, general counsel at the OSDL. Daniel Ravicher, executive director of the Public Patent Foundation, will help manage as legal director.

Moglen, one of the world.s leading experts on copyright law as applied to software, will run the new Law Center from its headquarters in New York City. The Law Center will initially have two full-time intellectual property attorneys on staff and expects to expand to four attorneys later this year. Initial clients for the Law Center include the Free Software Foundation and the Samba Project.

Other services provided by the SFLC include: asset stewardship, to avoid intellectual property claim conflict; license review and compatibility analysis; legal consulting and lawyer training.

title: Law center helps defend open source


text:
Foreign troops should stay, says Iraqi President

The Iraqi President Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer said yesterday, on February 01 2005, that the US and other foreign troops should remain in Iraq. "It's only complete nonsense to ask the troops to leave in this chaos and this vacuum of power."

He expects foreign troops to leave after insurgent groups have been defeated, the security situation has been improved and Iraq's own security forces are strengthened. "By the end of this year, we could see the number of foreign troops decreasing," he added.

Other Iraqi ministers echoed the President's statement.

"We don't want to have foreign troops in our country" said Hazem Shaalan, the Iraq Defence Minister.

"But at the same time, we believe that these forces should stay for some time until we are able to control the borders and establish a new modern army and we have efficient intelligence."

"At that time ... we'll ask them to leave."


text:
Talk:Brazil forbids previous release of statistical data

What was the motivation? A policy shift is motivated by something. Was there a recent scandal involving this information?


text:
Bolivia rejects Chile's OAS candidate

February 2, 2005 Bolivia have rejected Chile's Organization of American States (OAS) candidate for the Secretary General José Miguel Insulza, saying that he is not a consensus candidate. According to Bolivia the only consensus candidate is Mexican Luis Ernesto Derbez.

The reason behind Bolivia's rejection of the Chilean candidate is the ongoing dispute between Chile and Bolivia that began with the War of the Pacific in 1879 and resulted in Bolivia losing it's maritime border (and thus maritime access) at Atacama. Bolivia is still demanding maritime access, something Chile refuses to give. Bolivia thus believes that Mr Insulza would be incapable of finding a solution to what Bolivia feels is it's legitimate demand for maritime access were he to become the OAS Secretary General. While Bolivia believes that the OAS is the right multilateral forum to address this issue Chile claims that it is an issue between Bolivia and Chile, and should not concern other nations, a viewpoint that Mr Insulza has himself expressed.

The Bolivian ambassador to the OAS María Tamayo Arnal pointed out that in 1979 and 1989 the OAS approved resolutions stating that Bolivia's lack of maritime access was of hemispherical interest.

title: Bolivia rejects Chile's OAS candidate


text:
Swift satellite goes fully on-line

February 2, 2005 NASA's Swift satellite has completed all tests since its launch last November and with the Ultravioliet/Optical Telescope (UVOT) now on line, is now fully functional for the mission's 2 year quest for gamma-ray bursts.

The UVOT was tested on the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101).

"After many years of effort building the UVOT, it was exciting to point it toward the famous Pinwheel Galaxy, M101," said Dr. Peter Roming, UVOT Lead Scientist at Penn State University. "The ultraviolet wavelengths in particular reveal regions of star formation in the galaxy's wispy spiral arms. But more than a pretty image, this first-light observation is a test of the UVOT's capabilities."

Gamma ray bursts are some of the most powerful objects observed in the Universe and are thought to signal the birth of black holes.

Swift is designed to detect the bursts and automatically re-orient itself to gather images and data of the phenomenon. Swift detected and imaged its first official burst on January 17, 2005, before the UVOT was operational with the aid of the Burst Alert (BAT) and X-ray (XRT) telescopes activated several weeks earlier. The BAT detects the gamma-ray bursts, automatically and immediately turns the telescope, bringing the XRT and UVOT to bear on the location of the event which record detailed observations of the burst afterglow.

The UVOT is a joint product of Penn State University and the Mullard Space Science Laboratory.

title: Swift satellite goes fully on-line


text:
Eastern Australia hit by severe storms

The whole of the east coast of Australia has been lashed by severe storms in the last 24 hours, with at least one reported death. Wind gusts in some areas reached 110 kilometers per hour, and flash flooding and power cuts were reported from Far North Queensland to Tasmania in the South.

State Emergency Services (SES) crews are stretched to the limit, working into the night to cope with the effects of the freak weather.

Queensland
Around 29,000 homes in Queensland experienced power outages.

Sixty millimetres of rain fell in an hour on the region around Herberton, in Far North Queensland. A man and woman were rescued from nearby Sandy Creek after their car was swept off the road while trying to cross the Creek during heavy storms last night.

The man had escaped to cling to a tree, but lost sight of his wife as the car was washed away. Rescuers later found the woman on the bank. Neither was seriously injured.

About 150 kilometres to the south-west, a search continues for missing stockman, a 38-year-old from Carpentaria Downs Station near Einasleigh who failed to return after checking fences yesterday.

New South Wales
Heavy rain and large hailstones pummelled Sydney and the Central Coast.

The NSW State Emergency Service reported receiving more than 2,300 requests for assistance, mostly in Western Sydney and Gosford.

"Most of those jobs have been for hail damage to roofs, fallen trees on houses and across roads, flash flooding and water getting into properties," said SES spokesman David Webber.

Around 100,000 homes in NSW experienced power outages.

In the southern Sydney suburb of Bexley North three people were rescued from vehicles when they attempted to drive along a flooded road, and a girl was killed near Mittagong when a tree fell on the tent in which she was sleeping.

Victoria
Melbourne has been hit by severe flooding as wild storms and heavy rain strike the east coast of Australia. With triple the city's average February rainfall in just 24 hours, major roads and train lines have been cut and travel is extremely difficult.

A search involving police and State Emergency Service volunteers is currently underway for a schoolboy, believed to have been swept into floodwaters north of Werribee, and a 10 year old girl narrowly escaped being killed when a tree fell through the house in which she was sleeping. The tree missed her by centimeters. She was trapped for an hour before being freed by emergency services and taken to the Royal Childrens Hospital in a serious condition.

The Spirit of Tasmania I was also forced to return to Station Pier, in Port Melbourne, after windows were broken when the Bass Strait ferry encountered 20 metre waves caused by the gale force winds.

The city received 120mm of rain in the 24 hours to 9am, while the average monthly rainfall for February is 45mm. Making this the largest measured rainfall in a 24 hour period for Melbourne since records began in 1856. The rainfall stopped sometime this afternoon local time. Authorities urged people to stay away from Melbourne city centre.

South Australia
South Australia has, for the first time in 27 years, experienced hail in February.

title: Eastern Australia hit by severe storms


text:
User:Mikewarren~enwikinews

http://www.mike-warren.com

title: User:Mikewarren~enwikinews


text:
User:The bellman/Sandbox

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 * colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"|Market Data
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Начална страница Hauptseite Portada Accueil Hoofdpagina Strona główna Página principal Pagina principală Huvudsida Головна

title: User:The bellman/Sandbox


text:
Talk:Man run over by train near Adelaide, loses both legs

it should be loses, but how to change it Squeakfox 00:47, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)


text:
Category talk:February 2, 2005

It should be man loses not looses, but how to change it? Squeakfox 00:50, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)

title: Category talk:February 2, 2005


text: Template:Lead article

title: Template:Lead article


text:
China forbids 50 electronic games

According to a story released on January 26, 2005 by the Chinese news agency Xinhua, the government of China has banned 50 electronic games in a new government probe into the software market and electronic publication.

The Director of the State Anti-Pornography Office, Liu Binjie, said that the Chinese government will concentrate on combating illegal publications: pirated textbooks, electronic publications and illegal journals that may have negative influence on the youth.

Among the banned games are: "Manhunt", "FIFA 2005", "The Sims 2", "Battlefield Vietnam", "Painkiller: Battle out of Hell", and "Age of Mythology: the Titans".

title: China forbids 50 electronic games


text:
Template:MainPageHeader

Welcome to Wikinews, the free-content news source you can write!

title: Template:MainPageHeader


text:
Short-tailed bats to be transferred to Kapiti Island, New Zealand

In an attempt at a world first twenty short-tailed bats are to be moved by the New Zealand Department of Conservation from the Tararua Ranges to Kapiti Island. If the transfer to predator-free Kapiti works, it will become the first time that bats have ever been trans-located.

All previous attempts at moving bats have failed due to their natural homing instincts. However scientists with the Department of Conservation, are aiming to overcome this by shifting juveniles. The young bats, which weigh in at only 14 grams each, were born in the week around New Year and were raised at Pukaha Mount Bruce National Wildlife Centre near Eketahuna.

Conservation Minister Chris Carter said that while the trial was risky, it was also worthwhile. "A willingness to push boundaries and try new things is exactly what conservation in New Zealand needs," he said.


text:
Crosswords/2005/February/3

February 3, 2005

Feel free to use the Wikimedia sites to solve our Wikinews crossword (Please do not fill it out online as it would spoil it for other people, print it out and fill it in at you own leisure!)
 * < Yesterday's crossword.

Quick crossword
{| border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 style="margin: 0em 0em 1em 1em;"
 * colspan=2|

{|align="left"
 * valign=top style=width:50%|
 * valign=top style=width:50%|

Across
{|align="left"
 * 1. Fireplace (6)
 * 4. Whale food (8)
 * 10. Softly (music) (5)
 * 11. Not widely liked (9)
 * 12. Bed (3)
 * 13. First Hebrew letter (5)
 * 14. Lining up of sun, moon, and earth (7)
 * 15. Border (4)
 * 16. Oxygenated element (5)
 * 17. Interrupt a play, comedian, etc. derisively (5)
 * 21. Snub (6)
 * 24. Blush (5)
 * 26. Puzzle of finding path to target (4)
 * 27. A toenail that grows in the flesh (7)
 * 31. Apple drink (5)
 * 32. Creeping plant (3)
 * 33. Replays of some media (9)
 * 34. Poker and other game tools (5)
 * 35. Borrowed word from another language (8)
 * 36. Suit of 34 Across (6)
 * }
 * valign=top style=width:50%|

Down
Answers tomorrow.
 * 1. Seven sided figure (8)
 * 2. Action on reveille (9)
 * 3. Long-short metric unit (poetry) (7)
 * 5. Temporary failure (esp. in belief) (5)
 * 6. Himalayas country (5)
 * 7. Flower (5)
 * 8. Hospital careworkers (6)
 * 9. Suspension in service (esp. electrical) (6)
 * 19. Front of boat (4)
 * 20. Removes the ice from (8)
 * 22. Logic gate (3)
 * 23. Disappear (6)
 * 24. Reuse products again to make new ones (7)
 * 25. Put out of mind (6)
 * 28. Tropical fruit (5)
 * 29. Form of river bend (5)
 * 30. More kind (5)
 * }
 * }

title: Crosswords/2005/February/3


text:
Cuba restores relations with European Union

The government of Cuba has re-established official contacts with all of the European Union countries. The diplomatic relationship with the EU had been limited for more than 18 months.

The EU relationship with Cuba was injured on March-June 2003 after the arrest and conviction of 75 "dissidents" by the Cuban government. In a separate case, three Cubans were executed on foot of a sentence handed down by a civil court, and confirmed on appeal by the Cuban Supreme Court, which found them guilty of hijacking a ferry and endangering the lives of its occupants. Cuba accused the dissidents of collaboration with the US and sabotage against the Cuban communist system. All 75 "dissadents" appear to have pleaded guilty of receiving illegal payments from US agents in court when confronted with the evidence. 14 of the 75 convicted mercenaries, who the US continues to insist were "dissadents", have since been released on licience.

Cuba and the EU began to come close again after the efforts of the President of the government of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. At that time, the German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder didn't agree with Zapatero about unfreezing the relationships between Cuba and the EU. Schröder believed Cuba should first show real commitment to improving the human rights conditions on the island. However, on November 25, 2004, the Cuban Chancellor Felipe Pérez Roque announced the re-establishment of official contacts with the government of Spain.

On November 30, 2004, Cuba released four political dissidents: Marcelo López, Margarito Broche, Óscar Espinosa Chepe and Raúl Rivero. The Dutch Presidency of the European Union praised the Cuban decision. Cuba said that the decision was not influenced by the Spanish government.

On December 15, 2004 the Council of the European Union for Latin America committee recommended the suspension of the diplomatic sanctions against Cuba, according to alleged Spanish diplomatic sources.

Finally, on January 10, 2005, the Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque told journalists:"We can say that from this moment onward Cuba has re-established government-level official contacts with all European Union countries." On January 31, 2005, the EU council of foreign ministers agreed to a suspension of EU sanctions against Cuba. The international non-governmental organization Reporters Without Borders protested and sent a open letter to the president of the European Commission on February 1, 2005.


text:
User talk:80.3.160.5

Please stop posting copyrighted material, if your would like to contribute to wikinews you are more than welcome to, however there are certain rules that you must obey. not posting copyrighted material is one of them. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them on the water cooler or on my talk page. The bellman 11:44, 3 Feb 2005 (UTC)

title: User talk:80.3.160.5