text:
UK bans export of fraudulent bomb detector; arrests director of manufacturer

January 27, 2010

The government of the United Kingdom has banned the export of the ADE 651, which is advertised by the manufacturer, ATSC Ltd., as a hand-held "remote portable substance detector." However, critics say it is just a "glorified dowsing rod."

In a statement, the Department for Business said, "Tests have shown that the technology used in the ADE651 and similar devices is not suitable for bomb detection. As non-military technology it does not need an export license, and we would not normally need to monitor its sale and use abroad."

The statement went on to say, "However, it is clearly of concern that it is being used as bomb detection equipment. As soon as it was brought to the attention of the Export Control Organisation and Lord Mandelson we acted urgently to put in place export restrictions which will come into force next week. We will be making an order, under the Export Control Act 2002, banning the export of this type of device to Iraq and Afghanistan."

Adding, "The reason the ban is limited to these two countries is that our legal power to control these goods is based on the risk that they could cause harm to UK and other friendly forces." The statement closed by saying, "The British Embassy Baghdad has raised our concerns about the ADE651 with the Iraqi authorities."

Meanwhile, the Avon and Somerset Police have arrested the managing director of the manufacturer, ATSC, 53-year old Jim McCormick on suspicion of fraud. McCormick is a former police officer from Merseyside. He has been released on bail.

These two events come after an investigation by the BBC's Newsnight program where they tested and revealed the device as a fraud.

The device, manufactured by ATSC Ltd. which operates from a former dairy in Sparkford, Somerset, contains an antenna attached to plastic hand grip which is attached to black box. It requires no battery or other power source, and is supposedly powered solely by the user's static electricity, the manufacturer claims. It can supposedly detect minute traces of explosives, drugs, human bodies, money, and even elephants provided it has the right card.

The black box of the device is intended to read "programmed substance detection cards" that are supplied with the device. The device supposedly works on the principle of "electrostatic magnetic ion attraction".

Newsnight brought the device to Sidney Alford, a renowned explosives expert who advises all branches of the UK military. Alford opened up the card reader of the device which was empty. Alford said, "Speaking as a professional, I would say that's an empty plastic case." Alford believes that the selling of the device is "absolutely immoral". He added, "It could result in people being killed in the dozens, if not hundreds."

They then brought the "programmed substance detection cards" to the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory. The cards were examined by Dr. Markus Kuhn. When the layers of the card were peeled away, it was found that cards contained nothing but RFID security tags.

"There is nothing to program in these cards. There is no memory. There is no microcontroller. There is no way any form of information can be stored," said Kuhn. Adding, "These are the cheapest bit of electronics that you can get that look vaguely electronic and are sufficiently flat to fit inside a card."

The device along with several others has been previously tested by Sandia National Laboratories in the United States. The test concluded that "none have ever performed better than random chance.” The United States Department of Justice has warned law enforcement agencies against buying the device.

The device first came to light in November of 2009, by The New York Times after an increasing amount of car bomb attacks were occurring in Iraq, including the devastating bombing on October 25, 2009, that killed 155. The bombers drove through checkpoints that were equipped with the ADE 651. However, the American magician and skeptic James Randi has been skeptical of the devices since at least October 2008. He offered a $1,000,000 prize if someone could prove the device worked.

Despite what was brought to light by the Times, the Iraqi Interior Ministry stood by the device. Major General Jehad al-Jabiri, who is the head of the Ministry of the Interior’s General Directorate for Combating Explosives, said, "Whether it’s magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs."

In response to the tests by Sandia Labs and the warning from the Justice Department, "I don’t care about Sandia or the Department of Justice or any of them. I know more about this issue than the Americans do. In fact, I know more about bombs than anyone in the world," the general said.

Even after the Newsnight program earlier this week, the Interior Minstry still stands by them, "We conducted several tests on them, and found them successful. In addition, we have a series of achievements officially documented by the Baghdad operations centre, from all the provinces, which establish that these devices detected thousands of bombs, booby-trapped houses and car bombs, and we've noticed a reduction of bombing activities to less than 10 per cent of what it was," said General al-Jabiri.

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani even chimed in saying, "The thing is, the instrument is being operated by a user. Not all those who use the instrument are fully trained, the user needs to be alert and adept at using it." The interior ministry has spent over $85 million on the devices, which cost from $40,000 to $60,000, much higher then price given by ATSC, $16,000, despite being warned by the ministry's inspector general, Aqeel al-Turaihi.

"There was corruption associated with this contract and we referred to this and submitted our report to the Minister of the Interior," al-Turaihi told Reuters. He added, "We said that the company which you made a contract with is not well-regarded internationally in the field of explosives detectors, and the price is very high and not commensurate with the abilities of this device."

Meanwhile Iraqi Members of Parliament have called the Iraq Security Forces to stop using the devices. Hussain al-Falluji, a Sunni MP, said, "I proposed to parliament the withdrawal of these machines from service, the formation of an investigative committee and that Iraq recover its money." Others in parliament are backing his suggestion.

Iraqi citizens are also criticizing the devices. Aqeel Yousif Yaqoub, a 39 year-old man who was caught in the October 25th bombing, said, "If they were effective, how did the suicide car bomb reach this area?" Another man, a perfume salesman named Malik Farhan, noted in June 2009 that the device was attracted to his perfumes.

Farhan said, "They stop us every time. There's nothing we can do." Jasim Hussen, an Iraqi Police officer, said, "The vast majority of the people we stop, it's because of their perfume." Another officer, Hasan Ouda, added, "Most people now understand it's what gets them searched, so they don't use as much." McCormick said in email, "cheaply manufactured perfumes and some cosmetics" contain trace amounts of the explosive, RDX.

Other police officers have been doubtful of the device. "I didn’t believe in this device in the first place. I was forced to use it by my superiors and I am still forced to do so," said one police officer who spoke anonymously to the New York Times because he was not authorized to speak. Another officer blamed corruption: "Our government is to be blamed for all the thousands of innocent spirits who were lost since these devices have been used in Iraq."

McCormick still stands by the device, saying, "I have tested it in practice and it works effectively and 100% reliably." McCormick also talked to the The Times of London saying, "We have been dealing with doubters for ten years. One of the problems we have is that the machine does look a little primitive. We are  working on a new model that has flashing lights." However, an associate of ATSC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of possible retaliation, said, "Everyone at ATSC knew there was nothing inside the ADE 651."


text: User talk:Cbq

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

title: User talk:Cbq


text: User talk:Zannian

title: User talk:Zannian


text:
French MPs call for ban on veils for Muslim women

January 26, 2010

An all-party committee of French parliamentarians has recommended that Muslim women should be banned from wearing face veils when using public services such as hospitals and public transport. Other recommendations include refusing citizenship or residence permits to those who visibly show "radical religious practice". The report does not call for a complete ban, but it would place a number of restrictions on daily life for those who wished to carry on wearing a veil.

According to the committee's report, "The wearing of the full veil is a challenge to our republic. This is unacceptable." It added, "We must condemn this excess". It criticised the practice as being contrary to French principles of secularism and equality, and called for the French Parliament to adopt resolutions against the face veil. Bernard Accoyer, the President of the National Assembly, said that the veil was a "symbol of the repression of women", and of "extremist fundamentalism".

The report, which is nearly 200 pages long, has been produced after the committee took evidence for five months from religious leaders and human rights experts. The committee was told by Muslims that a law would increase feelings of alienation, even though the veil was not worn by the majority of Muslims. Earlier this year, the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, said that veils were "not welcome" in France. Although he stopped short of calling for a ban, this would be the preferred option of about two-thirds of the French people, according to opinion polls.

Some members of the committee favoured going further, but agreement could not be reached on a complete ban "at this stage", it was said. One member called this "a missed opportunity". An ban on covering the face when accessing public services would affect those using hospitals, schools, universities, post offices, and banks. Legislation in 2004 banned the wearing of head scarves and other religious symbols in French public schools.

French government sources say that about 1,900 women in France wear an Islamic veil (mainly the niqab, which does not cover the eyes), out of about 5 million Muslims in the country – the largest Muslim population in Western Europe. Fears have been expressed that a ban would make France a terrorist target, even if it could be implemented. The Socialist opposition party, on the whole, is against a ban on principle, and has concerns that such a move would unfairly single out Muslim women.


text:
User talk:The Cat Man

Disruptive edits
Please do not disrupt Wikinews; else you will be speyed. --Brian McNeil / talk 15:33, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Your editing
Please stop your unconstructive editing, or you'll be blocked. Thanks, Bencherlite (talk) 15:33, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Blocked
Congratulations! You just won a 3-hour block in the Wikinews Who can irk an administrator? competition.

If you would like a longer block, please continue your cretinous unconstructive edits after the expiry of your block. --Brian McNeil / talk 15:37, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

A Piece of Advice.
Dont vandalise wikinews. We can see everything you do. See that recent changes button? Yep, thats then one. Big Brother is watching you 164.116.47.180 (talk) 15:46, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:The Cat Man


text: User talk:Penguinboygalo

title: User talk:Penguinboygalo


text:
Comments:Interview: PRS, the UK's music royalty collection society

Is PRS' standard contract "barmy" as Paul Campbell asserts?
In summary: Q: "Does your standard contract entitle you to all of a site's revenue, even that which was not generated by your members?" A: "Please forget that question and focus on how much international business we represent, instead." Much better answers would have included "no" or "we are perfectly willing to work out case-by-case agreements." Instead we get an incredibly obvious runaround. Dodging the question is a sign of weakness; taking it on lets you at least try to turn it to a good (or better) light. --67.174.131.145 (talk) 15:30, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I agree completely; it was conducted by email which unfortunately doesn't really give the ability to press for a direct answer, especially as they can just refuse to do the interview with us. However, as you said, it is so obvious that they are taking readers for idiots and I think most people can see that, which in a way answers the questions for both the interviewer and readers.     Tris   17:46, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Comments from feedback form - "this website is really good. i..."
this website is really good. it has got all the information i need for my college course —195.195.240.244 (talk) 12:12, 4 October 2011 (UTC)


text: User talk:Jmonk123456

title: User talk:Jmonk123456


text:
World-record wind speed confirmed

January 26, 2010

Scientists at the World Meteorological Organization confirmed this week that Cyclone Olivia in April 1996 produced gusts clocking in at 253.5 mph (408 km/h), the highest non-tornadic winds ever recorded.

The gust, recorded at Barrow Island, Australia, shattered the previous record of 231 mph (372 km/h), set on Mount Washington in the United States in April 1934. However, this record stands for the western and northern hemispheres.

The WMO "came to its conclusion after an extensive review and evaluation of instrumental, phenomenological and statistical data."

Olivia caused extensive damage in Australia as it moved across the continent in a northwest–southeast direction.

title: World-record wind speed confirmed


text: User talk:217.36.215.32

title: User talk:217.36.215.32


text: User talk:Poetonthefall

title: User talk:Poetonthefall


text: User talk:Les Deux Granges

title: User talk:Les Deux Granges


text: User talk:Dr. Michael Hatry

title: User talk:Dr. Michael Hatry


text: User talk:Neilepstein

title: User talk:Neilepstein


text: User talk:Wthomaswarren

title: User talk:Wthomaswarren


text: User talk:Davidpjdcomps

title: User talk:Davidpjdcomps


text:
Comments:UK bans export of fradulent bomb detector; arrests director of manufacturer

I really, really doubt that thing works. I mean, how doe san empty box detect bombs? 164.116.47.180 (talk) 16:26, 26 January 2010 (UTC)


text:
User talk:Adullaway

Hello,

Your recent contributions are considered to be spam and have been reverted or deleted. Should you believe that your contributions are not spam, please argue your case on your talk page, or in WN:ALERT.

Further spamming may result in your editing privileges being removed. Please contribute to Wikinews in a constructive fashion instead. Brian McNeil / talk 17:12, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Adullaway


text: Talk:Pakistan security forces airstrikes kill several Taliban militants


text: User talk:Kassu 59

title: User talk:Kassu 59


text:
Suicide bomber attacks US base in Afghanistan

January 27, 2010

A car bomb exploded today at the gates of a U.S. military base, just outside the Afghan capital of Kabul. According to officials, at least twelve people received injuries. The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident occurred just outside an US installation dubbed "". This is mainly used by American troops which train Afghan security forces.

Camp Phoenix is often attacked by insurgents, particularly suicide bombers. In mid-November, an attack in Camp Phoenix, injured 25 people, half of them American soldiers.

The Taliban was the group that claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesperson for the bombers, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed in a telephone interview that the bomber had allegedly "killed and wounded" ten American soldiers and demolished three military vehicles.

Asked about that claim, an American military spokeswoman, Air Force Master Sgt. Sabrina D. Foster, said that a statement would be issued soon but that in the meantime she could confirm only eight United States personnel with minor wounds. According to Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman, three of those injured were American interpreters.

Sayed Abdul Ghafar, head of the criminal investigation, Kabul police, said the explosion demolished at least eleven civilian vehicles in the adjoining area. Eight were wounded, most of whom were day laborers who generally would be leaving the base after a day's work. All were reported to be stable by Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemary Bashary.

"The target of the suicide attacker seemed to be foreign forces, but we couldn’t see any American vehicle damaged there because the road was blocked by American forces. We don’t know exactly the casualties among the foreign forces," said Ghafar.

The American troops soon blocked the area, and barred access to the highway. "They won’t even let the Afghan National Police near it," said an Afghan policeman near the place where the attack occurred.

It was the first suicide bombing in Kabul since January 18. In the previous attack, several bombs had been detonated by the attackers, who also fought with Afghan commandos. The situation was brought under control soon; however five people were killed. Earlier today, Afghan intelligence officials provided another statement about this attack; this statement is probably the one with most details.

During a news conference, they showed a video which was about an Afghan man arrested for allegedly assisting in the attack. In the video, the man, named Kamaluddin, claimed that he received his orders from the Haqqani network. The latter is a militant organization based in Pakistan's tribal area. He calmly clarified that he had housed the seven attackers before the attack and had provided them with several weapons.


text:
UK economy grows in last quarter of 2009; recession ends

January 26, 2010 According to government figures, the UK economy grew by 0.1% in final quarter of last year, thus officially ending the country's recession. The rise was weaker than the 0.3%–0.4% predicted by economists.

Previously, the economy had shrunk for six consecutive quarters, the longest since records were started, in 1955. However, during the entire of 2009, 1.3 million people lost their jobs.

The statistics office noted it was possible that the numbers might be revised downwards, after an anticipated second estimate - and the third, final number - which would mean that the recession wouldn't have officially ended after all. The Miami Herald, however, reports that it's more likely the statistics would be revised upwards instead.

"Of course there will be further bumps along the road. Be in no doubt about that," said treasury chief Alastair Darling. "But I am confident that as long as we stick to the path that we have set [...] that we are going to see recovery through that back into growth."

John Wright, the chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, however, commented that the economic recovery was still "frail", saying that "in order to strengthen the recovery it is important that we boost consumer confidence and demand and that interest rates are held steady as continued investment in the economy will be the key to ensuring a sustainable recovery."

The chief economist for the manufacturers organisation EEF, Lee Hopley, also commented on the figures. "Whilst today's data confirm that manufacturing is now out of recession, they also continue to raise questions over the health of the wider economy. The trajectory for the recovery, particularly in the next six months, is an uncertain one and the best prospects remain an export-driven turnaround."


text: User talk:ShaqLad

title: User talk:ShaqLad


text: User talk:Nimlith31

title: User talk:Nimlith31


text: User talk:Rickmoore

title: User talk:Rickmoore


text:
User talk:Omerta8~enwikinews

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Omerta8. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Omerta8~enwikinews that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

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

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

title: User talk:Omerta8~enwikinews


text: Talk:UK economy grows in last quarter of 2009; recession ends


text: Talk:John Constable painting location mystery solved after 195 years


text:
Two killed, two seriously injured after boulder collapses onto house in Stein an der Traun, Germany

January 26, 2010

Two people were killed and two others were seriously injured yesterday when a boulder collapsed onto a house in the German town of Stein an der Traun, south-east of Munich. A family of four were said to have been watching television together in the lounge when a large lump of rock, about 50 tons, broke off from a 50 foot cliff above the house.

The boulder fell from about 15 metres above the residence and landed on top of the house, crushing it. The cause of the rock fall is unknown, but police have said that there had been no prior signs that the cliff was unstable.

The accident, which happened at approximately 1940 local time, killed a 45-year-old father and his 18-year-old daughter. A 40-year-old mother and her 16-year-old son were seriously injured and were taken to hospital for treatment, after a rescue operation that lasted into the early hours of the following morning. The task involved up to 250 rescue personnel, some with sniffer dogs.

An official from the international humanitarian movement the Red Cross said "[w]e made contact with them early on and kept talking with them through the night as we pulled away at the debris." Joachim Herrmann, the Bavarian Interior Minister, spoke of his thoughts about the incident. "I have never seen anything like this," he was quoted as saying. "This is an extremely sad and terrible day."


text: User talk:Gentthaqi

title: User talk:Gentthaqi


text:
User talk:Smurfy

Welcome
Brian McNeil / talk 17:40, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

Landmark coalition offensive launched in Afghanistan
I've just done a medium-sized copyedit on this to – I think – bring it closer to what will be accepted for publication. I've deliberately tried to avoid referring to the sources yet so I can still claim enough impartiality to do the peer review should you choose to submit for review while I'm still about.

Can you look over what I've done to make sure I'm not wrong in any of the changes made? It would be nice to have a longer/more detailed article, but given the circumstances I can understand if there's not much information to further flesh it out.

When you do decide to submit for review, please be sure to put the review template at the very top. I'd recommend on a line of its own, with the date template on the next line. This means the reviewer sees what the final published article would look like rather than some of the strange layout messes you can get with the review template in among templates and images at the top of the article.

In any case, you were pretty close to something publishable with what I saw - at least, once the probably edit conflict you and I had were sorted out.

Let me, once again, say Welcome to Wikinews. --Brian McNeil / talk 02:01, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

 * Thanks for your help with the article, after further editing I have now submitted it for review. Smurfy (talk) 02:28, 13 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I'll take a look. N.B. I took out the NOEDITSECTION directive - that will be a total pain in the ass once you've a few more sections on your talk page. Lastly, all source dates on Wikinews should have the consistent "Monthname daynumber, year" format - this is just in case there is a need at some point to have a program work through articles and read date information. A consistent format will make programming such dramatically simpler. --Brian McNeil / talk 02:42, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

 * Article is now published, on Lead 2 on the main page, and will appear in Google News in moments. --Brian McNeil / talk 02:55, 13 February 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Smurfy


text: Talk:Mayor of Camden, London, arrested in benefit fraud inquiry


text: Talk:World-record wind speed confirmed

title: Talk:World-record wind speed confirmed


text: User talk:Sandymoe2011

title: User talk:Sandymoe2011


text: File:HighlandAirways.jpg

title: File:HighlandAirways.jpg


text: User talk:Neitsroth

title: User talk:Neitsroth


text: User talk:Miraobadalek

title: User talk:Miraobadalek


text:
Welsh air route in difficulties, call for funding cut

January 26, 2010

Highland Airways, which runs flights between Anglesey in north Wales and Cardiff in south Wales, has said today that it is business as usual, despite suspending online booking yesterday. Meanwhile, Liberal Democrats have called on the Welsh Assembly Government to withdraw the £800,000 annual public subsidy for the route (about US$1.3 million) and use the money on "green public transport" instead.

Although flights were continuing and passengers were told to "check in as normal", the company stopped taking bookings for future flights yesterday, blaming "technical difficulties". However, it also said that trading conditions were "difficult". The company's commercial director, Basil O'Fee, explained that the company's problems had been "exacerbated by the severe winter and resultant reduced flying and reduced income." He added that the board was in talks with potential new investors, and hoped for a outcome of these discussions to be known "within days rather than weeks".

"It is now time to end this costly debacle before even more public money is poured into a service that is both economically and environmentally unsustainable," according to Kirsty Williams, leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats. She wants the money spent on improving rail transport in Wales.

However, Ieuan Wyn Jones, the leader of the Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru and the Assembly member for Anglesey, said that the service was an "essential link". He hoped that the company would be able to keep going, or in a "worse case scenario", that the route would be run by administrators while the Assembly Government looked at other options.

The company has carried 37,000 people on its twice-daily service since it started operating. According to Jones, this showed that that the service "has been a huge success with passenger numbers far exceeding expectations".

Bidding for the next contract with the Assembly Government to provide the route closed last week, with Highland Airways thought to be the only entrant. The lack of other bids was "particularly worrying", commented Jenny Randerson, Welsh Liberal Democrats transport spokesperson. "This does suggest that despite huge public subsidy, this service is still not seen as a viable, profitable, and green solution to this key transport need", she said.

Highland Airways is based in Inverness, Scotland, where it operates passenger and freight services for island communities. The news that the company was in difficulty was said to come as a surprise to business and transport leaders in Scotland, where it is regarded as a "Highland success story".


text: User talk:D00M1N8R

title: User talk:D00M1N8R


text:
Marine scientist says Australia's blobfish faces extinction

January 26, 2010

Callum Roberts, a marine scientist with the Universtiy of York, has said he believes the blobfish to face extinction. The foot-long creature is under threat by bottom fishing trawlers off the southeastern Australian coast.

"The Australian and New Zealand deep trawling fishing fleets are some of the most active in the world so if you are a blobfish then it is not a good place to be," said Roberts. The blobfish has never been observed outside of this small patch of ocean.

Blobfish, which are gelatinous, are rarely seen by humans owing to the depths they live at, going down as far as 800 metres. However, this area is shared by edible species such as crabs and lobsters and trawlers come in search of these. Inedible blobfish are dragged up with them.

Roberts, author of The Unnatural History of the Sea, explains that deep trawling is one of the world's most destructive forms of fishing. He said that trawlers had destroyed large swathes of ocean at the 200 metre mark and were now "mov[ing] off those continental shelves and into the deep sea in areas a couple of thousand metres deep." He described this as overfishing.

He went on to express concern for the worldwide effect of deep trawling, saying that the area of deep sea explored is "about the size of Paris, [deep seas]'s a really unexplored area, but we could be destroying it."

He explained that previous efforts had been made to pass international law introducing regulations on deep trawling. "In 2006 conservationists came very close to achieving a global moratorium on restricting bottom trawling on the high seas." Although activists "came within a whisker of that" they were thwarted by "Iceland [who] rejected it so the United Nations was charged with protecting the deep sea species."

Roberts said that "Blobfish are very vulnerable to being dragged up in these nets." The Daily Telegraph described the blobfish as "the world's most miserable-looking fish," and commented that the creature "ha[s] plenty to be miserable about."


text: User talk:Serdaras

title: User talk:Serdaras


text:
'Avatar' becomes highest-grossing film of all time

January 26, 2010

The 3D science fiction epic romance Avatar has surpassed Titanic—also by director James Cameron—as the highest-grossing international film of all time.

Avatar has overtaken Titanic by a margin of more than 15 million US dollars, with both films grossing in excess of $1.843bn. The film has been the most popular film in box offices around North America and Europe for six weeks, with United Kingdom takings for this weekend alone in excess of £5.1m. In the United States, the film has pushed The Dark Knight into third place.

Avatar's victory has been put down to the higher prices many viewers have had to pay to see the film in 3D, as well as inflation over time (as the figures have not been adjusted for such). If the figures are adjusted for inflation, it is beaten to the top spot by Gone with the Wind. In the adjusted chart, Titanic makes it only to number six, with other members of the top ten including Star Wars, The Sound of Music, and E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial.


text:
UK cabinet minister Jack Straw ignored advice that Iraq invasion was illegal

January 27, 2010 The Iraq Inquiry in London has revealed that United Kingdom justice secretary Jack Straw ignored the advice of Sir Michael Wood, the Foreign Office's most senior legal adviser until his resignation in 2006, that the 2003 invasion of Iraq was illegal under international law. This is the first time that Wood has publicly expressed an opinion on the war.

Wood advised Straw, then Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, that invading Iraq without the backing of the United Nations Security Council in the form of a specific mandate—which the resolution the government used to support the war lacked—would "amount to the crime of aggression", to which Straw responded that he was being "dogmatic and international law was pretty vague". Wood disputes this, saying, "Obviously there are some areas of international law that can be quite uncertain. This, however, turned exclusively on the interpretation of a specific text and it is one on which I think that international law was pretty clear."

He says that it was unprecedented for the government to ignore his advice, and told the inquiry that he "considered that the use of force against Iraq in March 2003 was contrary to international law," since the Security Council had not met to approve the use of force, nor to agree that Iraq was committing a "material breach" of existing disarmament resolutions. He believed that regime change was the reason for the British interest in the nation, and that it was not a valid reason for war. He told the inquiry, "I made it clear that, in my view, the draft that they were working toward did not authorize the use of force without a further decision of the Security Council". Recently declassified letters prove that Wood raised these concerns directly with Jack Straw.

In one of these letters, dated January 24, 2003, Wood said that the "UK cannot lawfully use force in Iraq in ensuring compliance" with UN resolutions (including resolution 1441, which gave Saddam Hussein a "final opportunity" to comply with the UN's mandates on weapons of mass destruction by November 2002). In his reply, Straw "noted", but "did not accept" Wood's advice. Straw said he was "as committed as anyone to international law and its obligations". He also said that "it is an uncertain field. In this case, the issue is an arguable one, capable of honestly and reasonably held differences of view." He said he wanted a new UN resolution "for political reasons", but said that there was a "strong case" that existing resolutions would "provide a sufficient basis in international law to justify military action".

Instead of following Wood's advice, government ministers used the advice of Lord Goldsmith, who was then the Attorney General for England and Wales. Goldsmith—who is scheduled to appear before the Inquiry this Wednesday—advised Straw that a second UN resolution would not be required to invade, based on a series of UN resolutions reaching back to the end of the Gulf War, despite having told the prime minister—only then days before—to wait for another UN resolution, the passing of which they had pushed other Security Council members for in the weeks running up to the invasion. Wood makes it clear, however, that the final decision regarding the legality of war lay with the Attorney General, rather than with himself.

The inquiry, chaired by Sir John Chilcot, was told that there were concerns about how the decision was made among the Foreign Office's senior legal advisors. Elizabeth Wilmshurst, then Deputy Legal Adviser to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, resigned in protest only days before the invasion. She criticised the decision-making process for its lack of transparency, and called it "lamentable". She also called the fact that Goldsmith gave his opinion only days before the invasion "extraordinary".

Wood said that Straw had "often been advised things were unlawful and gone ahead anyway and won in the courts" when he was home secretary. Last week, Straw—when questioned by the inquiry—called the decision to support the war a "profoundly difficult political and moral dilemma", and said it was the "most difficult" decision of his entire career. Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Ed Davey called Wood's statement "the final nail in the coffin of the case for a legal war." He asks if the advice reached then prime minister Tony Blair or Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, "And if not, why not?"

Wood's statement is expected to cause problems for Tony Blair when he appears before the inquiry on Friday. The war has provoked protests, and much outrage among politicians who believe that Blair was wrong to support then United States President George W. Bush by sending 45,000 British soldiers—179 of whom died in combat—to fight in Iraq. The Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair, is due to appear before the inquiry on Friday, and Gordon Brown, the current prime minister, is scheduled before the general election (which is expected to occur in May). Brown said yesterday that he "think[s] the mistake in the war was not to do the reconstruction and plan it in the way that was necessary so that Iraq could recover quickly after Saddam Hussein fell," and is expected to come under fire from the inquiry, which he himself set up, for his role in the war.


text: Talk:Two killed, two seriously injured after boulder collapses onto house in Stein an der Traun, Germany


text: Talk:Marine scientist says Australia's blobfish faces extinction


text: User talk:MarkkuP

title: User talk:MarkkuP


text: User talk:Jenny-m-v

title: User talk:Jenny-m-v


text: User talk:DeadlyMETAL

title: User talk:DeadlyMETAL


text: User talk:KakkoiiTGN

title: User talk:KakkoiiTGN


text:
Dubai World refused permission to use QE2 as floating hotel in Cape Town

January 26, 2010 RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (the QE2) will not be sailing to Cape Town, South Africa. Cape Town has refused the vessel permission to berth for use by owner Dubai World as a floating hotel.

The Transnet National Ports Authority said that the famed vessel is much too large for Cape Town and that the facilites for the ship do not exist. Dubai World had hoped the ocean liner could serve as a hotel to accommodate football fans attending the World Cup and had previously told the Associated Press that Cape Town was among several possible destinations. No others have been named.

Transnet National Ports Authority port manager Sanjay Govan commented that "It's the length of stay that was an issue ... They wanted to stay much longer than just the World Cup. You have to sacrifice a normal cargo-working berth for such an operation. You wouldn’t do that for such a long time." Dubai World has confirmed the trip to South Africa is off. South Africa's Protea Hotels were thought to have won a contract to perform the management of the hotel during its stay in Cape Town. Dubai World also considered private terminals but met the same issue.

Dubai World's investment arm Istithmar World paid Cunard US$100 million for the British liner in 2007. Since then it has been moored off Dubai's Port Rashid, having arrived in the emirate in 2008. Original plans were to create a luxury floating hotel for tourists that would be moored beside an artificial island in the shape of a palm tree, but this idea was cancelled in the wake of global market uncertainty.

State-owned conglomerate Dubai World is currently in severe financial difficulties. The firm is seeking an extra six months to pay at least US$22 million in debts and the government has supported a six month delay as the first step towards a restructuring plan. Dubai World's main units Nakheel and Limitless are the most indebted companies. World markets and media reacted sharply to the revelations on November 25 last year.

Dubai World is rumoured to need to sell assets, including the Queen Elizabeth 2. The company has refused to confirm or deny this, only stating that "There are a number of options being considered for the QE2. Istithmar World is considering which option will best maximise value of the vessel."

The same year as the Queen Elizabeth 2 the conglomerate also obtained Barneys New York, a luxury retailer based in the United States. Istithmar World paid US$942.3 million for the company. Istithmar World chief executive David Jackson resigned last week; he presided over the acquirements. In December a New York foreclosure auction sold off the W Hotel Union Square for US$2 million, which was owned by Istithmar World.


text: User talk:Treeswing

title: User talk:Treeswing


text: User talk:Gfozkan

title: User talk:Gfozkan


text: User talk:A.S.K.Nirmal Kumar

title: User talk:A.S.K.Nirmal Kumar


text:
Officials say crashed Ethiopian plane didn't follow suggested tower directions

January 26, 2010 Lebanon's transportation minster said that the flight that crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on Monday didn't follow the directions suggested by the air traffic control tower after departing from Beirut in a thunderstorm. He said that the aircraft turned opposite the heading indicated by controllers.

All ninety people aboard Flight ET409, which was headed to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, were feared dead. The jet reportedly went down in fire at around 02.30 local time, disappearing from radar screens after leaving the airport.

"They asked him to correct his path but he did a very fast and strange turn before disappearing completely from the radar," commented Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi. He added: "Nobody is saying the pilot is to blame for not heeding orders. There could have been many reasons for what happened. [...] Only the can tell."

Defence Minister Elias Murr also commented that the plane didn't follow instructions upon takeoff. "A command tower recording shows the tower told the pilot to turn to avoid the storm, but the plane went in the opposite direction. We do not know what happened or whether it was beyond the pilot's control."

Ethiopian Airlines' CEO, Girma Wake, however, countered Aridi's comments, saying that it is too soon to draw any conclusions. "Rushing remarks, I don't think that helps anybody," he said in the Ethiopian capital.

Lebanese officials, meanwhile, have ruled out foul play as being the cause of the aircraft's crashing. The Associated Press quoted Ethiopian Airlines as saying that the pilot in control of the downed plane had twenty years of experience, although it did not disclose his name.

According to an unnamed aviation analyst, Lebanon controllers were directing the Ethiopian flight for the first two to three minutes of the flight due to the thunderstorms, and noted that this was standard procedure during inclement weather.

US-based airline pilot Patrick Smith remarked that the plane could have crashed for many reasons. "Had the plane encountered extreme turbulence, or had it suffered a powerful lightning strike that knocked out instruments while penetrating strong turbulence, then structural failure or loss of control, followed by an in-flight breakup, are possible causes."


text: User talk:Mimigu

title: User talk:Mimigu


text: User talk:Comptechexpert

title: User talk:Comptechexpert


text:
Talk:Officials say crashed Ethiopian plane didn't follow suggested tower directions

'Failed' makes it sound like Wikinews is of the opinion the pilot should have complied and that the aircraft was actually in a state fit to perform the moves. Nobody knows the details yet. Also, a more minor point, can we find a way of addressing the fact that the man is wrong to talk of a singular black box; combined cockpit voice and flight data recorders are rare and the two are almost always seperate. Blood Red Sandman (Talk)   (Contribs) 20:01, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I renamed the article, but now it sounds kinda wordy. Wasn't sure how to shorten it. As far as the black box goes, i don't know how we'd go about that. Tempodivalse [talk]  20:10, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I looked at WP but the issue isn't addressed there. Your best bet is to link to Black box (transportation), which broadly hints at this. Blood Red Sandman  (Talk)   (Contribs) 20:15, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * OK, linked. Sounds reasonable, thanks. Tempodivalse [talk]  20:16, 26 January 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Ous-jal

title: User talk:Ous-jal


text: User talk:Quantanew

title: User talk:Quantanew


text: User talk:JayG917

title: User talk:JayG917


text: User talk:Antimethod

title: User talk:Antimethod


text: User talk:Hejalaci

title: User talk:Hejalaci


text:
Talk:'Avatar' becomes highest-grossing film of all time

24th after being adjusted for inflation/ticket prices
According to the WSJ. This article makes it sound as if it is in second or even the top ten. -- Kendrick7 (talk) 16:27, 31 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Well, it's probably too late to change it now, per WN:ARCHIVE. Do you think it's worth issuing a correction over? Den dodge  T\C 16:29, 31 January 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Kouroshfar123

title: User talk:Kouroshfar123


text:
User talk:QB~enwikinews

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

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

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

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

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:36, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:QB~enwikinews


text: User talk:Loffe

title: User talk:Loffe


text: User talk:Paulobsf

title: User talk:Paulobsf


text:
Wales railway upgrade proposals would cost £5bn, says expert

January 26, 2010

A committee of Welsh Assembly politicians has called for an extensive programme of works to upgrade the railways in Wales, saying that Wales is not being treated fairly in comparison with other parts of the United Kingdom. However, one academic who gave evidence to the committee says that the proposals, if implemented in full, would cost about £5 billion (more than US$8 billion), and it is unclear whether this level of public finance will be available.

The Enterprise and Learning Committee made a number of recommendations to improve the rail service within Wales, and between Wales and England. It calls for better links between the north and south of Wales, high-speed links from Wales to other parts of the UK, and light rail systems for the southern cities of Cardiff, Swansea and Newport.

Other suggestions include upgrading the Severn Tunnel between south Wales and England, electrifying the line along the north Wales coast, and new carriages, especially on routes serving the valleys of south Wales. Improved access for passengers with disability is another area where the committee wants action. It also calls for more decision-making powers about railway matters to be transferred to the devolved government in Wales.

The committee, which took two months to look over the report, said that it was concerned that passenger satisfaction with the service was lower in Wales than elsewhere. In addition, investment was needed to meet an anticipated increase in demand for passenger and freight services. It wants the possibility of reopening closed lines, or building new lines, to be examined.

Committee chairman Gareth Jones said that the report "examines the long-term future of the rail network in Wales", adding, "The evidence we have gathered indicates that freight and passenger traffic on our network will increase over the coming years. The objective hopefully will be that Wales benefits from this extra traffic so that we are better placed in terms of high speed link connections with the rest of the UK and Europe. It is important that the Welsh government provides for that extra demand."

Commenting on the report, Profesor Stuart Cole from the University of Glamorgan said that although the plans were ambitious, the committee had "set out very clearly what is required if you’re going to get a 21st century railway". The 21 recommendations would cost £5bn in total, with the three light rail schemes taking about one-third of that total, in his view.

Other improvements, for example between the north and south of Wales, could be achieved at a lesser price. Cole, who gave evidence to the committee, says that "for an expenditure of £50m spread over three years we could get the journey time from Llandudno to Cardiff down from four hours to three hours and 20 minutes.”

The Welsh Assembly Government will give its full response to the report at a later date. A spokesman said that a modern railway was "crucial" for Wales, and commented that the Assembly Government agreed with many of the recommendations. Network Rail, which manages railway tracks in Wales and elsewhere in Great Britain, said that it would already be spending more than £1.5bn on infrastructure over the next five years, with improvements to over 120 stations planned.


text: User talk:Pinkville

title: User talk:Pinkville


text: User talk:Rin Kusaki

title: User talk:Rin Kusaki


text: Talk:Wales railway upgrade proposals would cost £5bn, says expert


text:
Talk:Dubai World refused permission to use QE2 as floating hotel in Cape Town

typo
accomodate ...--Billymac00 (talk) 22:36, 11 September 2014 (UTC)

 * ✅, got it. :-) --Pi zero (talk) 22:41, 11 September 2014 (UTC)


text: User talk:Quynhccm4

title: User talk:Quynhccm4


text:
User talk:Arogers07~enwikinews

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called Arogers07. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Arogers07~enwikinews that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:13, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:28, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Arogers07~enwikinews


text: User talk:YH1975

title: User talk:YH1975


text:
User talk:216.186.52.133

Tempodivalse [talk]  21:31, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:216.186.52.133


text:
British military secrets leaked on social networking sites

January 26, 2010

Britain's Ministry of Defence (MoD) has admitted sixteen instances of sensitive information being leaked on social networking websites in the past eighteen months. Ten employees have been disciplined for misuse of the sites. The revelations follow a Freedom of Information request by Lewis PR and computer security company F-Secure.

The MoD would not comment on what disciplinary action was taken, or whether the leaks involved operational information. The ministry's guidelines state that staff must obtain clearance to release any information that is related to sensitive, controversial or political matters, or military operations.

"It's worrying that employees in sensitive positions have been sharing confidential information via Twitter and other means," said Mikko Hypponen, of F-Secure. "Loose Tweets can cost lives.”

According to Lewis PR, computers on the main MoD networks are blocked from visiting social networking sites. However there are a small number within the department which have unrestricted Internet access. Some personnel in Afghanistan and Iraq also have access through internet cafés on military bases.

The ministry's "online engagement guidelines", released in August last year, recognise the importance of social media such as Facebook for personnel keeping in touch with friends and family. According to the document: "Service and MOD civilian personnel are encouraged to talk about what they do, but within certain limits to protect security, reputation and privacy."


text: User talk:Bruno.Senju

title: User talk:Bruno.Senju


text: User talk:Jjwitwer

title: User talk:Jjwitwer


text: User talk:Quarterpc

title: User talk:Quarterpc


text: User talk:Bob262

title: User talk:Bob262


text:
South Korean economy grew 0.2% in last quarter

January 27, 2010

According to data from South Korea's national bank, the country's economy grew by 0.2% in the last quarter of 2009.

The rise is now 6%, year-on-year, but the quarterly growth was slower than the 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the Bank of Korea. That increase was the best quarterly gain seen in over seven years.

Analysts were predicting a slightly higher performance, 0.3%, for the last quarter, and 6.2% year-on-year, a Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists reported.

"The data was weaker than market expectation, but a central bank official defended it as a temporary correction after the rapid rebound in Q3," analysts at Calyon, an investment banking entity, remarked in a note to clients. "Nonetheless, the weak data lowered the chance that the [Bank of Korea] will raise interest rate in its February meeting."

Meanwhile in the gross domestic product (GDP) report, the Bank of Korea said manufacturing was lower by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, and construction by 1.4%. The bank said the losses were "attributable to a decrease in building construction." Exports fell by 1.8%.


text: User talk:Myungkyoon.yim

title: User talk:Myungkyoon.yim


text: User talk:Jimkloss

title: User talk:Jimkloss


text: User talk:Patrick4280

title: User talk:Patrick4280


text: Talk:British military secrets leaked on social networking sites


text: User talk:MatthewStoker

title: User talk:MatthewStoker


text: Talk:French MPs call for ban on veils for Muslim women


text: User talk:שחר1979

title: User talk:שחר1979


text: Talk:Welsh air route in difficulties, call for funding cut


text:
World Economic Forum security chief found dead on eve of summit

January 27, 2010

The head of security for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, has been found dead in his hotel room on Tuesday morning, a day before the international summit gets underway. A government spokesman refused to comment on the cause, but in a statement local police said that "all signs point to suicide."

Markus Reinhardt, 61, was head of police for the canton of Graubünden (also known as Grison). He had held the position since 1984, and has been responsible for security at the annual WEF summit for several years. He had previously been a prosecutor for the canton.

In a statement the WEF expressed its "great sadness and regret" at the news:

"During the many years during which we co-operated with him over security for our annual meeting at Davos, we appreciated his professionalism and his kindness. Our thoughts are with his loved ones and his colleagues. The security forces continue to have our full confidence and trust in their work."

Marcel Suter will replace Reinhardt as head of WEF security, and Robert Willi will temporarily head the Graubünden police.

Speaking to Dow Jones Newswires, an unnamed spokeswoman claimed that the death had "nothing to do with" the summit, but some have raised concerns about security.

Robert Seiden of Confidential Security and Investigations, a New York firm, said: "There will have to be a full risk assessment to determine if there is an ongoing threat especially in view of the high level of attendees at the conference."

Over 2,500 politicians and business leaders from 90 countries are expected to attend. The conference will run from Wednesday to Sunday.


text: User talk:Bana hermez

title: User talk:Bana hermez


text: User talk:Tronec2702

title: User talk:Tronec2702


text: User talk:Bunchosia

title: User talk:Bunchosia


text:
Man jailed for murder of doctor in South Yorkshire, England

January 27, 2010

Andrew Hill, a 49-year-old mechanic, was beginning a sentence of life imprisonment yesterday after being found guilty of the murder of his wife's lover. The trial at Sheffield Crown Court in South Yorkshire, England, had heard that Hill had murdered Colin Shawcross, a local medical practitioner, with a pickaxe handle after his wife had told him that she was leaving him for Shawcross.

Shawcross and Julie Hill started their relationship in January 2008. She told her husband that she was leaving him for Shawcross in January 2009, and on the next day, Hill murdered Shawcross at the doctor's house. He then drove the body to a local wood and buried it five feet underground. Shawcross's remains were not found for five months.

The jury unanimously found Hill guilty of murder. The judge, Mr. Justice Wilkie, sentenced Hill to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 17 years. In passing sentence, the judge said, "You acted in a devious, vengeful, cowardly and unmanly way. You deliberately armed yourself with a deadly weapon and engineered a situation where you were free to surprise Dr. Shawcross and strike him.

"You have been found guilty of the murder of Dr. Colin Shawcross, a man who had devoted himself for 30 years as a GP to caring for the health and well-being of his fellows. He still had a great deal to give both to society and his family."

Carol Shawcross, the deceased's widow, said after the court case that "[h]is murder has robbed me of the companionship, contentment and security that Colin and I had planned in retirement." Detective Superintendent Mick Mason of South Yorkshire Police spoke about the case after the court trial. "One year ago, Dr. Colin Shawcross was subjected to a brutal and unprovoked attack, which resulted in his death," he stated. "His body was removed from the scene in his own vehicle and was not recovered by the police for over five months. This has clearly been a very difficult time for Mrs Shawcross and her family but throughout they have conducted themselves with great dignity. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Shawcross and her sons for their support throughout the police investigation."


text:
Comments:"Avatar" becomes highest-grossing film of all time

Less that 1 billion US dollars?
What is the point of saying "by a margin of less than 1 billion US Dollars?"99.32.186.55 (talk) 23:44, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

 * Yes, this slighty confused me as to what the writer was trying to say. DrNegative (talk) 23:40, 26 January 2010 (UTC)

 * I was trying to explain the margin, which is somewhere bteween 750 million and 1 billion dollars, so I rounded it up a bit (since it changes every time someone buys a ticket). If you can think of a way to phrase it better, please feel free to edit the article. This is a wiki, after all =). Den dodge  T\C 00:00, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

 * "Avatar has overtaken Titanic by a margin of less than one billion US dollars, with both films grossing in excess of $1.843bn." If each film has grossed about $1.8bn, then where's the margin of $1bn between them? Did you meant to write "$1 million", perhaps? Bencherlite (talk) 00:06, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Actually, I think I messed up. It should be over 15 million. It's been less than a day, so I can fix it without issuing a correction. Den dodge  T\C 00:16, 27 January 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:DrNegative

title: User talk:DrNegative


text:
Talk:World Economic Forum security chief found dead on eve of summit

The headline should say that it was security chief of World economic form. no one knows where Davos is/significance of Davos. Bawolff ☺☻ 23:42, 26 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Really? The forum is very commonly referred to as just 'Davos': try searching 'World Economic Forum' on Google news . Plus writing it out in full makes the headline too long imho. the wub "?!"  00:06, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Your more familiar with the subject then i am, so do what you think is best. To me when i hear Davos, I have no idea what it is, I do roughly know what the world economic fourm is. Bawolff ☺☻ 00:12, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Maybe I'm just really ignorant, but I agree with Bawolff, I think it should be made more clear that it was the World Economic Forum. Tempodivalse [talk]  00:27, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * When I first saw it, I thought it was Davros!!! Cirt (talk) 00:32, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * I did double check when I wrote it, I've actually made that mistake before! the wub "?!"  00:36, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Ok, done. That's what I was originally going to use anyway. the wub "?!"  00:33, 27 January 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Czalex

title: User talk:Czalex


text: User talk:Hlsoewandi

title: User talk:Hlsoewandi


text: User talk:Edouard-lopez

title: User talk:Edouard-lopez


text: Talk:South Korean economy grew 0.2% in last quarter


text:
User:Vinhtantran/monobook.js

mw.loader.load('https://vi.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Vinhtantran/global.js&action=raw&ctype=text/javascript');

title: User:Vinhtantran/monobook.js


text: User talk:Dan1847

title: User talk:Dan1847


text: User talk:GorbagIl

title: User talk:GorbagIl


text:
Guinea swears in civilian prime minister

January 27, 2010

Jean-Marie Dore has been sworn in as the prime minister of the Guinean transitional government, who has been charged with ending military rule in the country and organising elections.

"[Democratic elections are] indeed the required path for our country to attain stability," Dore said at the inauguration ceremony today. He asked for General Sekouba Konate, the president of the interim government, to "reorganise and restructure the military with the support of the international community."

According to the BBC, the interim government's plan is to launch an election with half a year.

"I am committed to leading Guinea toward free, credible and transparent elections, which is a necessary passage for the country," he said in a speech.

Dore's was appointed less than two months when the Guinean junta leader, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, was badly injured in an attempted assassination, reportedly by one of his former aides.

Camara, who sustained gunshot injuries to the head, agreed to remain in neighbouring Burkina Faso, while he recovers from his wounds. President Konate, who was the defence minister under Camara, assumed control after Camara's incapacitation. Camara agreed to allow Konate to select a civilian prime minister.


text:
User talk:Survivor2

 * Also check out Writing Contest 2010 - its not to late to join if your interested. Welcome to wikinews Bawolff ☺☻ 00:55, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Survivor2


text: User talk:Iheartmyibook

title: User talk:Iheartmyibook


text:
McDonald's unfairly dismissed worker for giving a colleague free cheese, says Dutch court

January 27, 2010

A court in the Netherlands ruled yesterday that the fast-food company McDonald's over-reacted in dismissing an employee who added a piece of cheese to a colleague's hamburger without charging for it. McDonalds has been ordered to pay compensation since, the court ruled, "The cost of a slice of cheese is not comparable to a severe step such as redundancy".

In March 2009, a waitress in Lemmer sold a hamburger to a colleague, and then added some cheese when her colleague asked for some. McDonald's said that this made the meal a cheeseburger, not a hamburger, and so she was sacked for not charging extra for the cheese. Rules for staff, the company argued, prevented them from giving food away for free.

Now a court in Leeuwarden has ordered McDonald's to pay her more than €4,200 (about US$5,900 or £3,700), since it decided that a written warning would have been a more appropriate reaction. The compensation is for five months of lost earnings, with holiday pay and interest.

The court noted that the manager of the branch had not asked the employee for an explanation before firing her, nor had McDonald's considered taking action against the colleague who asked for the cheese. "The dismissal was too severe a measure. It is just a slice of cheese," said the court.


text:
User:Survivor2

Well, hello! I'm survivor2, and I love news.

title: User:Survivor2


text: User talk:Thoughtstorms

title: User talk:Thoughtstorms


text: User talk:Killhazard

title: User talk:Killhazard


text: Talk:Man jailed for murder of doctor in South Yorkshire, England


text: Talk:Baghdad bombing kills several people, scores injured


text: User talk:Spinosaurus aegyptiacus

title: User talk:Spinosaurus aegyptiacus


text:
Votes in Sri Lankan presidential elections counted

January 27, 2010 Ballots are being counted in Sri Lanka, after a presidential election was held there, the first after the Tamil Tiger rebels were defeated during a 25-year-long civil war.

The incumbent president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, is expected to be in a close race against former army chief, General Sarath Fonseka; both candidates say they expect to win. There are twenty other candidates on the ballot, but none of them are expected to win.

Polls closed at 16.00 local time, or 10.30 GMT on Tuesday. There were claims of voter intimidation and sporadic acts of violence, and the BBC reports that there were some small bomb blasts. The independent operating organisation Centre for Monitoring Election Violence said it had confirmed close to a hundred violent incidents during the day, adding that it believes the number could rise to 150.

Tamil politician Dharmalingam Sithadthan, however, described the voting as "very peaceful".

Polls were reportedly busy, with stations in the capital of Colombo being filled with lines of people half an hour before polls officially opened at 07.00 (01.30 UTC).

"I have been voting at this booth for over 20 years but never saw a crowd like this," said businessman Mohamed Sallel, who had voted in the Borella district of the capital, as quoted by The Telegraph. Another voter, Doctor Nimalka Perera, gave an account of the crowds: "When I first came here, the queue was too long so I went back and came two hours later on my way to the hospital and found the line even longer."

President Rajapakse, after voting in his home constituency, addressed reporters. "We will have a great victory. We must be ready to face the challenges of reaching new heights after this vote," he said.

Fonseka, however, wasn't able to cast a ballot, apparently because his name didn't appear on the 2008 electroral register used for the elections.

"My name is not on the 2008 register and therefore I cannot vote at this election. The government is trying to use this to mislead the public at the last minute," Fonseka stated, saying that he had filled out his voter registration forms.

Foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama, as well as other politicians from the ruling party, suggested that Fonseka might be disqualified from the elections. "We are seeking a court order on the suitability of this candidate because he is not eligible to be declared as a candidate," Bogollagama said, adding that the government wanted a ruling from the courts.

Independent elections commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake, however, remarked: "Not having one's name on the electoral list is not a disqualification."

The country's electoral rules state that if neither candidate is able to obtain half of the ballots cast in the first count, then voters' second preferences are to be used to determine the winner. Political observers commented that election was too close to call between the two.


text:
User:Praveenp

w:ml:User:Praveenp

title: User:Praveenp


text:
User talk:Andreea~enwikinews

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

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

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:13, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:28, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Andreea~enwikinews


text:
User talk:Praveenp

w:ml:User_talk:Praveenp

title: User talk:Praveenp


text: User talk:11BeckerD

title: User talk:11BeckerD


text: User talk:Sigamani

title: User talk:Sigamani


text: User talk:LucasBrown

title: User talk:LucasBrown


text: User talk:Niker1

title: User talk:Niker1


text: User talk:ZuesStar

title: User talk:ZuesStar


text: User talk:SecretSerpent

title: User talk:SecretSerpent


text:
Talk:McDonald's unfairly dismissed worker for giving a colleague free cheese, says Dutch court

Review of revision 945205 [Passed]
Can't you find a more representative picture of a McDonald's cheeseburger? This one has way too much meat! L3kn (talk) 00:58, 28 January 2010 (UTC)


text: Talk:Guinea swears in civilian prime minister


text:
Obama to announce partial "spending freeze"

January 27, 2010 🇺🇸 According to administration officials, US president Barack Obama is to announce a partial government spending freeze to try and lower the country's current US$1.4 trillion deficit in the 2011 budget.

Obama is due to make the announcement tomorrow, in his State of the Union address. The budget cut would not include defence, homeland security, international affairs expenditures, or veterans affairs.

"We are in the midst of fighting a war and have security needs. We're going to fund those security needs as necessary," said an unnamed government official. "The savings from the three-year freeze will amount to $250bn over the next decade. The freeze, which would halt "non-security discretionary spending", is to carried out between 2011 and 2013, the official noted.

Critics of the freeze said that the cuts, which are estimated to remove $10–$15 billion from the 2011 budget, wasn't sufficient. "This is like announcing you're going on a diet after winning a pie-eating contest," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for House of Representatives Republican leader John Boehner. Government officials, however, said that the move would save $250 billion over the next decade.


text: User talk:Michaela1288

title: User talk:Michaela1288


text: User talk:YibiaoWang

title: User talk:YibiaoWang


text: User talk:RedzzHK

title: User talk:RedzzHK


text: User talk:Foodbar

title: User talk:Foodbar


text:
User talk:Fishy c

Thank you
Thank you, for your recent comments about my article contributions to Wikinews. Much appreciated, -- Cirt (talk) 00:34, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Fishy c


text: User talk:Stroppolo

title: User talk:Stroppolo


text: User talk:Ladede

title: User talk:Ladede


text: User talk:Shweyinm

title: User talk:Shweyinm


text: User talk:Coreyjenkins123456

title: User talk:Coreyjenkins123456


text: User talk:Faraon54

title: User talk:Faraon54


text: Talk:Obama to announce partial "spending freeze"


text:
User talk:99.32.186.55

Welcome
, welcome to Wikinews! Thank You for posting your comments on articles. Did you know that you can also write articles for Wikinews? If you choose to help Wikinews by writing articles the links below might be helpful:

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 and Comment 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!  The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 03:22, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
 * Cite sources - everything in a Wikinews article must be sourced
 * Introduction - overview of the site
 * Writing an article - how to write and publish a complete article
 * Content guide - what's suitable for Wikinews
 * Style guide - how articles should look before publishing
 * Contents - the contents page.
 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
 * The front page lead articles often need updating
 * Developing stories need finishing and publishing
 * Discussions need your input
 * Audio Wikinews could always use more contributors
 * And of course, stories need writing!

title: User talk:99.32.186.55


text: Talk:Votes in Sri Lankan presidential elections counted


text:
Japanese company recalls two million needles in US

January 27, 2010 The Japanese company Nipro has voluntarily recalled two million needles in the US used for withdrawing blood and medicine injections, health officials said today.

The affected items are Huber needles, manufactured in Japan and distributed by Exelint International Corporation. The needles are intended to access ports placed under chronically ill patients' skin, for frequent access to veins.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), inspections of Nipro facilities last October revealed problems with the needles, which could allow parts of silicone in the port to be dislodged. 60%–72% of tested needles had that problem. In a conference call with reporters, FDA officials remarked that they were concerned the silicone could enter the bloodstream of a patient, although, to date, no harm from this has been reported.

"There are more than 2 million units impacted by this recall in distribution nationwide. Recalled needles were manufactured from January 2007 to August 2009," read a statement on the FDA's website. "[...] Hospitals, clinics and patients who have needles from these lists should immediately stop using these affected products and return any unused products to Exelint International Corporation."

"At this time, the FDA has not received any adverse event reports related to silicone foreign bodies released in patients from Huber needle coring [...] However, because it may be very difficult for clinicians to associate adverse patient outcomes with the use of defective Huber needles, there may be under-reporting of events," the statement continued.

Exelint has not yet issued a public statement about the report from the FDA.


text:
Comments:World Economic Forum security chief found dead on eve of summit

no way
It was a sudden death or an intentional? That is the question. Police should study this May on delatiu. I have serious doubts

Most people should. While you cant rule out suicide, A potassium Injection could do the same, and look natural while they are at it. 164.116.47.180 (talk) 15:46, 27 January 2010 (UTC)


text:
User talk:Masini~enwikinews

Since you also seem to have real opinions to constribute, I'm going to give you a chance to stop spamming. However, if you continue linking to that site all the time you will end up blocked. Blood Red Sandman (Talk)   (Contribs) 17:41, 28 September 2010 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

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

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:21, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:34, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Masini~enwikinews


text:
User talk:92.84.128.172

Welcome
, welcome to Wikinews! Thank You for posting your comments on articles. Did you know that you can also write articles for Wikinews? If you choose to help Wikinews by writing articles the links below might be helpful:

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 and Comment 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!  The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 03:46, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
 * Cite sources - everything in a Wikinews article must be sourced
 * Introduction - overview of the site
 * Writing an article - how to write and publish a complete article
 * Content guide - what's suitable for Wikinews
 * Style guide - how articles should look before publishing
 * Contents - the contents page.
 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
 * The front page lead articles often need updating
 * Developing stories need finishing and publishing
 * Discussions need your input
 * Audio Wikinews could always use more contributors
 * And of course, stories need writing!

title: User talk:92.84.128.172


text:
Comments:Obama to announce partial "spending freeze"

I think the decisions taken by the Obama administration will achieve its goal. I applaud this decision

 * "Partial" spending freeze? In other news, Tiger Woods has agreed to "partial" monogamy. 206.74.5.136 (talk) 05:03, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

yes
Obama is my policy to please. I hope to reform its purpose and we can live more than two years. It is a long-term program which has the primary goal of developing middle class

Right... so what's getting sacrificed? Education? Infrastructure? Medicaid? What good is "security" when we must bleed ourselves to death while maintaining it?


text: Talk:Japanese company recalls two million needles in US


text: User talk:Mattsofi

title: User talk:Mattsofi


text: User talk:Williegibson1

title: User talk:Williegibson1


text:
User talk:Nickrds09

Welcome
 The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 04:28, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Nickrds09


text:
User talk:68.188.146.162

Thanks!
Thank you for your productive and helpful edits on Wikinews. We really appreciate what you've done. Wikinews needs more good editors like yourself; please consider getting an account! We'd be very happy to have you.  The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 04:29, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:68.188.146.162


text: User talk:Kdirck

title: User talk:Kdirck


text: User talk:Nishanth2059

title: User talk:Nishanth2059


text: User talk:DamegedSpy

title: User talk:DamegedSpy


text: User talk:Gamrgrant

title: User talk:Gamrgrant


text: User talk:Benshoubk

title: User talk:Benshoubk


text:
User talk:71.224.206.164

 The New  Mikemoral  ♪♫ 05:41, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:71.224.206.164


text: User talk:Aymnahmd

title: User talk:Aymnahmd


text: User talk:Hardikmehta1

title: User talk:Hardikmehta1


text: User talk:Amanbhardwaj

title: User talk:Amanbhardwaj


text: User talk:K7.india

title: User talk:K7.india


text: User talk:MikeShumFilms

title: User talk:MikeShumFilms


text: User talk:Akchhat007

title: User talk:Akchhat007


text:
User talk:Linxiaoyu

This is your last warning. The next time you vandalize a page, you will be blocked from editing Wikinews. Please use the sandbox for any other tests you want to do, since testing in articles will be reverted quickly.   Tris   08:18, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

the wub "?!"  10:01, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:Linxiaoyu


text: Talk:Suicide bomber attacks US base in Afghanistan


text:
User talk:Evanowen~enwikinews

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

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

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:16, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:31, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Evanowen~enwikinews


text:
Comments:Wales railway upgrade proposals would cost £5bn, says expert

£5bn? In all my 55 years I have never seen estimates achieved, they are often doubled in reality. What could we do with £10 billion? Let's start with the unquestionable fact that the north of Wales is inextricably with the north west of England, the road and rail connection is inadequate so the east west routes should be improved as a priority, same goes for the south of Wales. There is a large expanse of nothing in the middle of Wales, most of it is undevelopable because of planning controls in areas such as the national parks which make up almost 25% of the land mass of this sparsely populated small country.

We need sustanable housing and jobs, not white elephants like the air link between Anglesey and Cardiff.

Vested interests should not be allowed to influence policymakers, take the climate change 'scientists' for example... yes, please take them.


text: User talk:Koks1

title: User talk:Koks1


text: User talk:TheGreatUnsolved

title: User talk:TheGreatUnsolved


text: User talk:Olistrut

title: User talk:Olistrut


text: User talk:Dhirendrakumar12

title: User talk:Dhirendrakumar12


text: User talk:Lumenos

title: User talk:Lumenos


text: User talk:Ata Kemal Ayaser

title: User talk:Ata Kemal Ayaser


text: User talk:Roleks

title: User talk:Roleks


text: User talk:Xenodevil

title: User talk:Xenodevil


text: User talk:Kccl35

title: User talk:Kccl35


text: User talk:Abdull1975

title: User talk:Abdull1975


text: User talk:Shabir.poonawala

title: User talk:Shabir.poonawala


text: User talk:Nbsbomb

title: User talk:Nbsbomb


text: User talk:Biso6006

title: User talk:Biso6006


text:
North and South Korea exchange fire

January 27, 2010

North Korea and South Korea have exchanged fire near the disputed sea-border between the countries. There are no reports of casualties.

North Korea fired approximately thirty artillery shells into the water on their side of the border, near South Korea's Baengnyeong Island at 0900 local time (0000 UTC). The South retaliated with around 100 shots.

According to the North, it took place as part of an annual drill. The Korean Central News Agency said that the exercise "will go on in the same waters in the future".

South Korea maintains that it responded by firing at the North's shells. Later reports from the South said that North Korea fired more shells in the general direction of the disputed border some hours after the initial exchange.

This latest incident comes after North Korea declared a 'no-sail' zone off its coastal waters yesterday. It is not the first skirmish around the Military Demarcation Line – the most recent was in November 2009, when a North Korean vessel took "considerable damage" after allegedly crossing the border.

title: North and South Korea exchange fire


text: User talk:Eeeddd

title: User talk:Eeeddd


text: User talk:Jacek FH

title: User talk:Jacek FH


text:
Comments:British military secrets leaked on social networking sites

.

what's new?
I was taught in the services to be careful of what one said: the standard example was a radio operator in a tank saying on air that it was as hot as hell in this old tin  can. Of course the German's - it was in World War 2 - then knew a tank group was in the area and could bring in the dive bombers or panzers.

David G.


text:
Talk:UK bans export of fraudulent bomb detector; arrests director of manufacturer

Review of revision 945541 [Passed]
Maybe spelling should be added to the checklist for peer review. :-(

Category request
editprotected

Please add Category:Somerset. Thanks, Rodw (talk) 12:06, 30 November 2010 (UTC)
 * ✅ --Pi zero (talk) 15:31, 30 November 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Robbie231250

title: User talk:Robbie231250


text: User talk:Hanshoglund

title: User talk:Hanshoglund


text: Talk:UK cabinet minister Jack Straw ignored advice that Iraq invasion was illegal


text: User talk:AnOicheGhealai

title: User talk:AnOicheGhealai


text: User talk:ForgottenMemorie

title: User talk:ForgottenMemorie


text: User talk:Byczek1993

title: User talk:Byczek1993


text: Talk:North and South Korea exchange fire


text:
User talk:115.187.47.159

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!   Tris   11:17, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * Neutral point of view - tell every side to a story in a fair and balanced way
 * Cite sources - everything in a Wikinews article must be sourced
 * Introduction - overview of the site
 * Writing an article - how to write and publish a complete article
 * Content guide - what's suitable for Wikinews
 * Style guide - how an article should look before publishing
 * Contents - the contents page.
 * Existing articles need expanding and checking for spelling and mistakes
 * The front page lead articles often need updating
 * Developing stories need finishing and publishing
 * Discussions need your input
 * And of course, stories need writing!

title: User talk:115.187.47.159


text: User talk:Handypenguin

title: User talk:Handypenguin


text: User talk:ChelseaTheBest

title: User talk:ChelseaTheBest


text:
User talk:4bpp

Thanks for your help with those pesky commas... Bencherlite (talk) 11:39, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

title: User talk:4bpp


text: User talk:N.B.S.Mani

title: User talk:N.B.S.Mani


text: User talk:Lost Angel

title: User talk:Lost Angel


text: User talk:Poka5532

title: User talk:Poka5532


text: User talk:Knechtig

title: User talk:Knechtig


text: User talk:Ben g

title: User talk:Ben g


text: User talk:Trajce Stojanov

title: User talk:Trajce Stojanov


text: User talk:Samuel Tiersma

title: User talk:Samuel Tiersma


text: User talk:Marc.menem

title: User talk:Marc.menem


text:
Healing ozone layer may contribute to global warming

January 27, 2010

Scientists from the UK's University of Leeds and the University of Kuopio in Finland report that the hole in the Earth's ozone layer over Antarctica may have offset some of the effects of climate change, and that as it heals, warming could accelerate. Their paper is published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

The group studied twenty years of records of global weather conditions and wind speeds. They say that beneath the ozone hole, wind speeds are increased, which whips up more sea spray. Salt from this is carried upwards and makes the clouds brighter, reflecting more of the Sun's radiation. This helps cool the Earth, counteracting the effects of global warming.

The ozone layer in the atmosphere protects life from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation, and the discovery of its rapid depletion in the 1980s caused widespread alarm. The Montreal Protocol adopted in 1987 forced countries to phase out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the man-made chemicals thought to be largely responsible for the hole.

Professor Ken Carslaw, of the University of Leeds School of Earth and Environment, was one of the co-authors of the paper. He warned that as the ozone hole healed, warming in parts of the Southern Hemisphere could accelerate.

"If, as seems likely, these winds die down, rising CO2 emissions could then cause the warming of the southern hemisphere to accelerate, which would have an impact on future climate predictions," he said

Describing the findings as "unexpected and complex climate feedback", Professor Carslaw emphasised that this research was not a reason to try and keep the hole open:

"You can't correct two wrongs in that way. The ozone hole was potentially a major catastrophe for the planet that was only stopped by the Montreal Protocol, so we can't go back on that."

He said instead that carbon emissions should be cut drastically.

The research was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council and the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence Programme.

Judith Perlwitz, a resercher at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said that the group's data were sound but she disagreed with some of the paper's conclusions. Perlwitz claimed that rising temperatures due to global warming would increase wind speeds anyway, leading to the same effects as the ozone hole.

“The question is whether the wind is really going to slow down, and that I doubt,” she said.

According to a World Meteorological Organization report in 2006, it is likely to be at least fifty years before the ozone above Antarctica is back to its pre-1980 state.

External link

 * "Aerosol climate feedback due to decadal increases in Southern Hemisphere wind speeds" in Geophysical Research Letters (subscription needed to view full paper)


text: User talk:Durwasa chakraborty

title: User talk:Durwasa chakraborty


text: User talk:Boomslang93

title: User talk:Boomslang93


text:
User talk:Mar~enwikinews

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

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

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

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

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Yours, Keegan Peterzell Community Liaison, Wikimedia Foundation 23:21, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

Renamed
 This account has been renamed as part of single-user login finalisation. If you own this account you can |log in using your previous username and password for more information. If you do not like this account's new name, you can choose your own using this form after logging in: . -- Keegan (WMF) (talk) 06:34, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:Mar~enwikinews


text: User talk:Luis Alberto Maria

title: User talk:Luis Alberto Maria


text: User talk:Donmosi

title: User talk:Donmosi


text: User talk:Izaro Basurko

title: User talk:Izaro Basurko


text: User talk:Raycat69

title: User talk:Raycat69


text: User talk:Trockennasenaffe

title: User talk:Trockennasenaffe


text: User talk:Akis90

title: User talk:Akis90


text: User talk:Modevelop

title: User talk:Modevelop


text: User talk:NIRAVAMEHTA

title: User talk:NIRAVAMEHTA


text: User talk:Aubster

title: User talk:Aubster


text: User talk:Fkmd

title: User talk:Fkmd


text:
Comments:UK bans export of fraudulent bomb detector; arrests director of manufacturer

<!-- Leave this line alone. Add comments below.

iraq- someone needs arresting
The gov has a lot to answer for, especially Blair! I hope that criminal prosecution of those involved takes place, since lies were made to the House, and many soldiers died, fighting a now apparently illegal war. But the detectors- didn't they properly test them (the gov)? --~

and the dectector makers, too
I can't believe that the head of this company got let-out on bail! He is potentially responsible for many innocent lives lost- he should face the most strong of criminal charges.--~


text: User talk:Janj6666de

title: User talk:Janj6666de


text:
Comments:French MPs call for ban on veils for Muslim women

Human rights violation?
Doesn't this violate Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? -- Explodicle (T/C) 14:12, 27 January 2010 (UTC)
 * probably, but the french think they are protecting human rights.--65.51.209.124 (talk) 14:41, 27 January 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Lecen

title: User talk:Lecen


text: User talk:Geoff flynn

title: User talk:Geoff flynn


text: User talk:Hunters2cool

title: User talk:Hunters2cool


text: User talk:Regenia

title: User talk:Regenia


text: User talk:Diamondbaxfan2

title: User talk:Diamondbaxfan2


text:
Comments:Japanese company recalls two million needles in US

Yeesh, Scary thought 164.116.47.180 (talk) 15:40, 27 January 2010 (UTC)


text: User talk:Jgrant50

title: User talk:Jgrant50