text:
California Supreme Court revives High School Exit Exam

May 24, 2006

The on-again, off-again requirement that California high school seniors must pass the High School Exit Exam is back on again, after the California State Supreme Court today granted the state's request that the court stay a lower court's decision to stop schools from requiring the test.

Lawyers for State Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell asked for the stay after Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman ruled May 12 that the test requirement was unfair and unconstitutional, and forbade the state's schools from using it as a graduation requirement. O'Connell's lawyers also asked the Supreme Court to hear their argument that the Court should endorse the test and overturn Freedman's ruling, but the Court sent the case down to the 1st District Court of Appeal for hearings.

"I am extremely pleased that the Supreme Court has reinstated the California High School Exit Exam as a condition for graduation," O'Connell said after the decision was announced. "As a result, school districts can continue their graduation exercises as planned before this litigation began."

Arturo Gonzalez, lead counsel for the students who challenged the test in court, told the James Logan Courier, "Our clients are disappointed in today's 4-3 split decision of the California Supreme Court. However, this fight is not over. We intend to seek immediate relief in the court of appeals in San Francisco. We are hopeful that oral argument can be scheduled in time to obtain an order that would allow the Class of 2006 to graduate."

O'Connell said he's instructing school districts to withhold diplomas from those who haven't passed the test. "I will communicate with districts today to ensure they are aware that the exit exam is a graduation requirement," he said. " Students who have worked hard to pass this exam will be given a diploma that signifies their mastery of essential skills in reading and math. I hope that this decision will give students in the class of 2006, their parents, and their schools certainty.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger praised the court's decision. ""Today's ruling is a victory for the children of California and for our future as a state," said Schwarzenegger. "The exit exam ensures that our schools are living up to their responsibility by giving our students the skills and the knowledge they need to succeed in college and in the workplace. Postponement would have deprived us of the best tool we have to measure how well schools are doing their job."

The ruling affects about 70 students at James Logan High School who haven't passed either the math or language arts portions of the test, or both. As many as 47,000 are affected statewide.

"It's crazy, I want to cry," said Zuhal, a senior who hasn't yet passed the test after she heard the news. Then she started crying.

Raymond, a senior who has had trouble with the math portion of the test, said he had made plans for graduating based on Freedman's banning of the test. "I'm really disappointed," he said. "I feel really bad. They should cancel it right now. Graduation day is too near."

Both students took the test earlier this month, but won't know if they passed until August 15, said Ray, too late to receive a diploma with their classmates.

"The Supreme Court did not say that Judge Freedman was wrong. Four justices simply questioned whether allowing our clients to graduate was the appropriate remedy," said Gonzalez, "We intend to demonstrate that the relief was proper. If the constitutional rights of our children are violated, we cannot punish them further by depriving them of a diploma that they have rightfully earned by passing all required courses."

O'Connell said students who haven't passed the test would have more opportunities. "We will not give up on the students who are still struggling to pass," O'Connell said, " They will continue to be given every option to master those skills they will need in order to succeed beyond high school."

O'Connell said he looked forward to arguing the case in the appellate court. ""In sending this case to the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court has provided us an opportunity to argue the merits of this case," he said.

O'Connell, who wrote the law when he was a state legislator in 1999, said the test is an important ingredient in California's school reform efforts. "We know, and look forward to sharing with the court, that as a result of the exit exam, our students have studied harder and learned more than they would have otherwise," he said. "Schools, administrators, school board members, parents, and even policy makers here in Sacramento paid more attention to the needs of students who were falling behind their peers.

"Today’s court action marks an important step for school accountability. I will continue to fight to make sure every student who graduates in California has the skills necessary to succeed," he said.


text:
British plane catches fire in Afghanistan

May 24, 2006 A British plane caught on fire in Afghanistan. It was a four-engine propeller aircraft that got into trouble while landing. One of the aircraft's tyres exploded.

Ambassador escaped injury after the military transport plane, in which he was travelling, caught fire at an airstrip in southern Afghanistan.

None were seriously hurt. All 27 people on board were safe.

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


text:
Multinational force sent to East Timor

May 24, 2006

After the breakdown of law and order in the world's newest nation, East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta has requested military assistance from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Malaysia. The force would "disarm renegade troops and police rebelling against the state" and "...Australia and New Zealand will come soon" Mr Horta said to reporters.

The first troops from Australia's 1300 strong commitment to East Timor, which also includes three ships, helicopters and armoured personnel carriers, will likely arrive in East Timor by this afternoon, having been on standby in recent weeks in preparation for such a possibility. Two of the Royal Australian Navy's amphibious landing ships, HMAS Kanimbla and Manoora, are currently heading north to East Timor with troops on board, and the rest of Australia's 1300 strong task force would likely arrive in the next 48 hours. Approximately 120 Portuguese military police and 60 police and troops from New Zealand would join them. Australia may also send troops from 4 RAR (Commandos) and SASR from Holsworthy, NSW and Perth respectively.

The uprising in East Timor has resulted from the firing of nearly 600 East Timorese soldiers who went on strike, alleging ethnic discrimination and poor pay and conditions. They are led by the highest ranking officer in the renegade force, Australian-trained Major Alfredo Reinado, who East Timorese President Xanana Gusmao has vowed to hunt down, and who will undoubtedly be an important target for the Australian task force entering an ill-defined Area of Operations (AO) where East Timorese government forces have been battling the renegade troops and police.

Foreign minister Ramos-Horta told the ABC that he hoped foreign forces would not have to engage the renegade East Timorese troops but would have "an immediate calming effect throughout the country" and "encourage political dialogue."

title: Multinational force sent to East Timor


text:
Australian Government under pressure to reveal nuclear sites

May 25, 2006

The Australian Labor Party has placed pressure on the federal government to reveal potential sites for nuclear power plants. The pressure comes after the release of a report by The Australia Institute, which identified several locations on the East Coast of Australia as "ideal" nuclear power sites.

Speaking in the Australian House of Representatives on Wednesday, opposition leader Kim Beazley (Brand, Labor) asked Australian treasurer and acting Prime Minister Peter Costello (Higgins, Liberal) to name potential nuclear sites.

"As part of the government’s intention to consider nuclear power in Australia, will it nominate the proposed sites of its nuclear reactors and their associated high-level nuclear waste dumps?" Mr Beazley asked.

Mr Costello replied by attacking Labor's policy on limiting Australia to three uranium mines, supporting uranium exports while being opposed to an Australian nuclear energy industry. Mr Costello said "It would be a funny kind of a policy if Australia was prepared to mine uranium and to sell it to other countries but was so opposed to the nuclear industry".

Labor member, Maria Elliot (Richmond, Labor asked Mr Costello to rule out nuclear reactors and waste dumps in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales (part of which falls into Mrs Elliot's electorate) and the adjoining region of South-East Queensland. Mr Costello gave no assurances that there were no plans to build a reactor in the region.

During an interview whilst in Ireland, Australian PM, John Howard took the opportunity to attack Labor's nuclear policy. He said Mr Beazley's opposition was "hypocritical". "I’m also in awe of his hypocrisy on the issue. Apparently it is alright to export uranium to other countries that will then produce nuclear power with all the problems he says are unacceptable in Australia. Well in my view if nuclear power is unsafe, unacceptable and anti the environment, you shouldn’t export uranium to any other country" he said.

State Labor leaders have voiced their opposition to nuclear energy.

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said he would fight strongly against any plans for a nuclear reactor in his state.

NSW Premier Morris Iemma said that NSW had laws prohibiting the building of a nuclear power plant in NSW. Under NSW law, the mining and enrichment of Uranium and construction of nuclear reactors is illegal unless unless the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) operates those reactors. The only nuclear reactor in Australia, HIFAR is owned by ANSTO and is situated in Lucas Heights, South of Sydney in NSW. HIFAR's replacement OPAL is due for completion in 2007, and will operate alongside HIFAR for six months.

Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said he was strongly opposed to the construction of nuclear reactors in Victoria despite many locations in the state being identified as ideal. As with NSW, Victoria also has laws prohibiting nuclear power generation.


text:
Talk:Australian Government under pressure to reveal nuclear sites

Original Reporting
Written from the parliament's hansard, the PM's interview transcript and by reviewing the NSW nuclear prohibition act. The Herald Sun article was used to provide commentary by state leaders - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 23:48, 24 May 2006 (UTC) rename to Australian Government...


text:
Talk:Multinational force sent to East Timor

Regarding NZ sending 60 police + troops - I could only find this stated in the Washington Post article. In my "local" paper, it says that about 30 soldiers are on standby but both Reuters & Stuff.co.nz seem to be indicating that the Prime Minister has not made a decision on whether to send troops.

Don't want to change your article in case you've seen different but thought I'd let you know :) R2b2 00:18, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

TVNZ said 30 troops are on stand by. nzgabriel 05:52, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
Howard's revival of nuclear debate "surprising": Political expert

May 25, 2006

Dr Frank Cain, a political expert and Lecturer in Defence and Australian Political and Economic History at the University of New South Wales has told Wikinews that many political commentators are finding Prime Minister John Howard's revival of the nuclear debate "surprising".

Australia came close to building a nuclear power reactor in the Jervis Bay Territory in the late 1960s but was later abandoned in 1971 after massive anti-nuclear demonstrations. The fear that Australia would produce nuclear weapons as a by-product of its nuclear energy programs killed the plans and a change in government ended the plans.

The fear that the Jervis Bay reactor could have been used to produce weapons grade plutonium was substantiated when secret 1969 cabinet documents were released in 2000 stating that "The government will acquire a facility with long term defence implications" and "Over 25 years of operation the reactor will provide six tonnes of plutonium".

Anthony Albanese, the opposition's Shadow Minister for Environment and Heritage accused Mr Howard on Tuesday of living in the past and of not being serious about the debate.

In an interview with Wikinews, Dr Cain said that there are a number of possibilities for Mr Howard's nuclear revival. Dr Cain said one of these could be to challenge the opposition over its three mine policy. "One of his (Howard's) motives might be to challenge the ALP over its three-mine policy" said Dr Cain.

Dr Cain warned that such a move would be unpopular with younger voters, "The young people would not support his programme for the uranium mining companies to expand their mine numbers and production" he said.

Speaking on the economics of nuclear energy in Australia, Dr Cain said it was still uneconomic due to Australia's large supplies of coal and natural gas. "It still remains uneconomic for Australia to commence generating electricity from nuclear plants. Our coal supplies will last for another century and the natural gas deposits seem unlimited.  These gas supplies will probably displace coal generation and thereby reduce the greenhouse gas problem" he said.

Martin Sevior, an associate professor in particle physics at the University of Melbourne told ABC Radio on Monday that nuclear power can be generated "almost as cheaply as coal". He said in the future nuclear power should be able to be produced for $AUD40 per megawatt-hour, versus the current price of $30 per megawatt-hour for coal.

Prof Sevior said that when the cost of carbon sequestering was included in the running costs for coal fired power plants that nuclear energy was "very, very competitive".

John Price, a professor at Monash University and expert in nuclear energy (having designed some in the UK) told ABC Radio that nuclear energy is competitive in many parts of the world, including Europe, North America and Eastern Asia.

Prof Price said that the use of nuclear energy in Australia is "inevitable" in Australia's future and that it may well be economically competitive with new lower emission coal fired power plants of which the costs are not known.

According to Prof Price, Victoria will need to generate 3 gigawatts more electricity within the next ten years, but conceded that it is likely that gas and coal fired plants will be built to meet that need.

Howard would not be proposing for the government to own its own uranium enrichment plant and would need to entice an overseas company to establish a plant in Australia according to Dr Cain. Dr Cain questioned whether a company from France, Russia, the US or China would be willing to come to Australia to "do what it has been doing quite well in its own country for decades".

Dr Cain said overseas companies would see "no financial advantage for them to do so".


text:
Wikinews talk:Wikilawyering

I expect to see accusations of Wikilawyering appearing on WN:ALERT any day now. :-) - Borofkin 01:27, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Rationale
What is the rationale behind this proposed policy? - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 10:00, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

for that matter, what is "policy" about this? as far as i can make out, it is a term, and can be used to label a debatable bunch of actions. and that's that. Doldrums 10:08, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

 * The rationale is: People are arguing endlessly about details of policy, when policy is not to be strictly interpreted but to be a commonsense guideline. In particular, wikinews is not a court of law, nor is it a democracy, and arguments to avoid censure or to demand non-existent "rights" are themselves disruptive and deserving of censure. -  Amgine | talk en.WN 03:49, 28 May 2006 (UTC)

 * As an elucidation, I think he's talking about stuff like THIS. 68.39.174.238 23:00, 25 July 2006 (UTC)

title: Wikinews talk:Wikilawyering


text:
Talk:Major fire breaks out at Istanbul airport

Biggger than now
Fire was so bigger before. Yrtsihpos 01:37, 25 May 2006 (UTC) mayve terrorest but has not been said surely Yrtsihpos 01:38, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
 * no terrorest is expected arsoner Yrtsihpos 05:03, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
 * does somone know if fire is out now? Yrtsihpos 05:15, 26 May 2006 (UTC)


title: File:25May2006.sxw


title: File:25May2006.pdf


text:
Zogby poll finds 45% want new 9/11 investigation

May 25, 2006

Forty-five percent of American adults surveyed in a Zogby poll think that the September 11, 2001 attacks should be investigated anew. Poll results indicated that 42% believe that there has been a cover up (with 10% unsure) and 45% think "Congress or an International Tribunal should re-investigate the attacks, including whether any US government officials consciously allowed or helped facilitate their success" (with 8% unsure).

These are figures from a nationwide telephone survey of 1200 individuals conducted by Zogby International from Friday, May 12 through Tuesday, May 16, 2006. The results have a margin of sampling error of +/- 2.9.

The poll was commissioned by 911truth.org, a single issue website aimed at pinning the blame of 9/11 on the Bush administration.

The results of this Zogby poll were released last Monday (22 May), but went largely unreported by the mass media, possibly due to bias within the source.


text:
Family narrowly escapes fiery death in Christchurch, New Zealand

May 25, 2006 A family visiting Christchurch, New Zealand from Australia was minutes away from being burnt to death.

They were staying in the Meadow Park Holiday Park, Papanui.

The fire started about 3 a.m. NZST and Station officer Paul Rodwell said, "From the description, they were a few minutes away from perishing."

New Zealand-born Elaine Puku is on life support in Christchurch Hospital's intensive-care unit after receiving internal and external second-degree burns while trying to rescue her children.

Other family members - Malcolm Puku, 47, and sons Jeremy, 17, Matthew, 13, and Jordan, 10 - were also in the fire, but escaped grievous injury. They are currently recovering from minor cuts and smoke inhalation.

"I opened up the door into the lounge and the room was like a big volcano, so red and bright and yellow, and all this billowing black smoke," Malcolm Puku said.

There were no smoke alarms in the unit.

"It doesn't have any fire-protection smoke alarms because it's an old place," Rodwell said.

Fire safety officer Graham Davies said that the accommodation is exempt since it was built before fire detectors became compulsory.

The motel is now under investigation by the Fire Service.


text:
Pakistani immigrant convicted of N.Y. subway plot

May 25, 2006

A Pakistani immigrant was convicted on Wednesday of plotting to blow up a New York City subway station in a case that shed light on police investigation tactics since the Sept 11 attacks.

Shahawar Matin Siraj, faces a maximum life sentence after a Brooklyn federal court jury convicted him of conspiring to place and detonate an explosive on the city's mass transit system.

Siraj, 23, was arrested on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention on charges he planned to attack a subway station in Herald Square, the dense shopping district that includes  flagship department store.

Siraj claimed he was entrapped by an over-zealous police informant twice his age, Egyptian Osama Eldawoody, 50, who met the Siraj in an Islamic bookstore while spying on mosques for the New York police.

Taped conversations between the two men were played by prosecutors during the trial plans were discussed to bomb the Herald Square subway station in midtown Manhattan.

Mr Eldawoody testified in 2003 and 2004 that he served as the 'eyes and ears' of the police and was paid more than US$100,000 to report about daily mosque activities, including prayers.

Prosecutors said Siraj had the will to carry out a plot supporting his extremist views. Their case was strengthened by the testimony of a co-conspirator who pleaded guilty in the case and an undercover police officer who said Siraj openly supported leader.

The jury also heard testimony by a Bangladeshi-born undercover police officer, who met Siraj while infiltrating a Muslim neighborhood as part of an investigation following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

During one conversation, Siraj "complimented" Osama bin Laden, the officer testified.

"He said he was a talented brother and a great planner and that he hoped bin Laden planned something big for America," said the officer, who testified under an alias because he is still involved in active investigations.

"The verdict is an important milestone in safeguarding New York against terrorist plotters whether home-grown or foreign," said New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.


text:
Wikinews:Departure lounge

Contributors leave Wikinews at various times, and for various reasons. Some people disappear abruptly, some drift away, and others go out in a blaze of invective. The purpose of this page is to record their departure in case there are lessons to be learned by the community.

Please remember that this page is for recording a contributor's last words, not for pushing any agenda.

=2006=

NOTE: I am pulling out of the Wikinews project. My reason is the political objectives of Mrmiscellanious. His blatant twisitng of Wikinews policy is entirely offensive. I've had enough. Wiknews is a good project. And I've enjoyed being part of it. But with people like Mrmiscellanious, whose political agenda is very clear from his user page, it is very difficult, extremely time consuming and mentally taxing to argue, edit and rehash a basic story to keep it published. It seems that any story that goes against his POV, will be turned into an edit war. I do not have the time to argue for days on end. I'd much prefer to create another article, than debate the merits of POV. I have been contributing to Wikinews, (some 120 articles since October 2005) and know full well what is expected of contributors. However, I feel that Mrmiscellanious abuses the policy to justify his own politcal agenda. I do not have the energy to debate his personal politics here. Goodbye... --elliot_k 16:15, 24 May 2006 (UTC)"

Lastly, the fact is that I wrote 7 articles from scratch yesterday. 2 of which went on become leads (only once by me). The fact that despite this I'm still not given the benefit of the doubt and assumed good faith, and instead am treated the same as a spammer or vandal. With that being said, I can not contribute to a project where I am not allowed to edit in peace. Email me when the vast majority of good administrators get a tighter hold on this place. --MateoP 22:23, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

I have to say, this has been extremely frustrating. I have long been a fan of wikinews, and helped a bit at the very beginning, and read it on a weekly basis but generally haven't had time to contribute lately. But I had a couple hours today and decided to help. I looked at all the articles in development, and the article in question was the most interesting one to me, so decided to help there, by de-copyvio'ing it. I thought it was an interesting article well worth having on Wikinews. The fact that it was from a US Army captain rather than from some random person, made it seem newsworthy to me. Certainly the article could use from some work to make it less NPOV but I am surprised that instead of letting people work on continuing to improve it, that it got brushed aside so quickly and harshly. Needless to say, I will think twice about contributing to Wikinews in the future. BryceHarrington 22:44, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

I am forced to consider whether it is worthwhile to continue any efforts to contribute to or use any aspect of this wikinews project any longer; the answer unwaveringly is that it is not. There is nothing that can be constructed here, the fools are too active. Against all of my previous observations, there is no way to separate their foolishness from productive work; there are no practical limitations to their destructive activities. I must revise the conclusion of my 16 month observation of this site and state that content here is not valued at all, it is worthless, even though only five months ago I thought it the most valued aspect. For anyone considering joining this hell, reconsider. At most, never venture beyond the main page's published articles again for if you do you will be caught on the inaccuracies and omissions that result from the activities of the fools. The mechanisms of this project will only cause you to pity it for its fate and make you unable to tolerate any of its articles. There is a beautiful illusion if you stop at the main page and never venture to any formation pages; stay on the main page or leave completely if you desire to retain a positive view of the project. I resign. An end to this. Opalus 04:56, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

From the user's talk page:

These reminders failed. There is too much infighting here, and there is too much ambiguity where it only serves to sanction any and every activity against anyone outside of the most limited and limiting faction. Activity here can only be compared to that of the failed court of Louis XVI. It seems to me the only solution is in a total measure: to shutdown the project for 6 months or a year or more, and in that time delete everything (accounts, discussion, all of it) that is not publicly licensed and leave what has been publicly licensed to other sites to maintain but delete the references to all of it here. The concept goal remains, but this tactic has failed and this group holds it back in total and is beyond the capacity of attempts to fix it through these channels. I do not hold myself apart, I failed this group by not staying and eventually taking power and cutting away at the problems myself. I find that I have not motivation to do that as the problems are to the core. Do not return any discussion forums, none at all-problems listed in edit summary only for collaboration. Leave this as only a purely article production site with no accounts and no means for discussion as discussion only invites failure to regulate discussion and the fallout from those failures. I can only suggest this most extreme solution as this matter has exceeded all others that seem possible here. Half-measures will give half-solutions, and give only temporary relief. Even the total measure may need to be repeated several times before a functional group can be gathered, but nothing can be done without one. There is no profit requirement to limit the project, but there is also no profit motive to accelerate its correction.

=2008=

Brock used to contribute regular OR about culture and entertainment stories in Taiwan. Last edit in '08 gave the edit summary "Retreat to Chinese......Maybe no longer returning en".

=2010=

It is with some regret that I have decided to retire from this project for the time being. Unfortunately, writing news seems to have become a secondary goal to having the last word in the latest drama and the community spirit for which I once admired Wikinews seems to have fallen apart. Thus, my enthusiasm for the project has reduced to the extent that I'm no longer happy contributing here. For anyone who might wish to contact me, my email is enabled and my Wikipedia talk page is open to all. I hope the project recovers from the self-destructive cycle it has fallen into and, if it does, I may resume editing here. Until then, I owe a debt of gratitude to those editors who have made my overall experience here a pleasant one including, but not limited to, Blood Red Sandmand, Tempo, Mikemoral, Diego and C628. Regards, HJ Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts?   21:01, 2 August 2010 (UTC)

I don't intend to restate what has already been said a multitude of times at this project. I have decided to retire because of recent events, among other obvious reasons. From what I have observed, the community has been complacent in the face of unambiguous disruption and abuse. I therefore no longer want to label myself a member of that community. I sincerely wish Benny the mascot, C628, Mikemoral, and Tempodivalse the best in their future endeavors.

You can best contact me through my talk pages at other projects. Alternatively, you can also send me an email.

Unfortunately, I am unable to continue my stint here as a frequent contributor to Wikinews. The new school year is about to begin, and I find myself getting increasingly busy such that I can't dedicate enough time to writing or reviewing articles. Perhaps in the near future, I will be able to fit Wikinews into my workload, but I really can't guarantee that I will return. I wish all Wikinewsies, both new and old, the best of luck as they continue their noble efforts to maintain a free-content news source.

Furthermore, I ask that my administrator and reviewer privileges be revoked. I'd like to thank you all for giving me the opportunity to work on a great project and be a part of this awesome community. Benny the mascot (talk) 16:48, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Noting his retirement per his userpage here. The wub posted later on his talk page : "I have been thinking this over for a while, and I no longer wish to contribute here."

title: Wikinews:Departure lounge


text:
Wikinews talk:Departure lounge

This page is intended to be in the spirit of Missing Wikipedians. - Borofkin 05:30, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

title: Wikinews talk:Departure lounge


text:
User:PVJ59/Newpages

 * 1) BJP leader Pramod Mahajan shot at in Mumbai
 * 2) Emergency declared in Peru as Mt. Ubinas threatens to erupt
 * 3) Indian Supreme Court verdict:AMU to remain a minority institution
 * 4) Sri Lankan Army Chief critically injured in LTTE suicide bombing
 * 5) Two suicide bombers attack peacekeeping base in Egypt
 * 6) Maoists in Nepal declare three month ceasefire
 * 7) Israeli report: Iran acquired missiles capable of striking Europe
 * 8) Indian national Suryanarayana killed by Taliban
 * 9) Militants kill 22 villagers in Kashmir
 * 10) BJP leader Pramod Mahajan dies in Mumbai
 * 11) Indian music composer Naushad Ali dies
 * 12) Cruise liner off England coast catches fire
 * 13) Legislative Assembly election results declared in 5 Indian States
 * 14) India postpones test-firing of Agni-III ballistic missile
 * 15) Ex-Indian diplomat's passport revoked
 * 16) Police thrash protestors in Patna
 * 17) Militants target rally in Srinagar
 * 18) Steel major Arcelor ready to reconsider Mittal's offer
 * 19) Major fire breaks out at Istanbul airport
 * 20) Indo-Pakistan talks on Siachen end in deadlock
 * 21) Cricket: West Indies win ODI series, beat India 3-1
 * 22) Left parties: Don't let U.S meddle in India's internal affairs
 * 23) Israeli Air Force attacks militant bases in Lebanon
 * 24) Activists in Tunisia thrashed by police
 * 25) Operation Marham:India rushes aid to Indonesia#Tourist bus attacked by militants in Kashmir
 * 26) Three terrorists gunned down by police in India
 * 27) Late Indian politician's son in critical condition after suspected drug overdose
 * 28) Rahul Mahjan gets two days in police custody
 * 29) Shiv Sena activists disrupt news conference in Jammu
 * 30) Rebels blow up oil pipelines in Assam
 * 31) Communal tensions rise in Mumbai as Shiv Sainiks protest desecration of statue
 * 32) Heavy rains lash Mumbai, many parts of the city flooded
 * 33) 10 killed in shootout in Kashmir
 * 34) Tamil Nadu cuts diesel prices by 0.45 rupees
 * 35) U.S politician Joe Biden defends controversial remark about Indian immigrants
 * 36) India's Agni-III test termed a "partial success".
 * 37) Israeli vessels enter Lebanese waters to enforce blockade
 * 38) American cyclist Floyd Landis tested positive for excessive levels of testosterone in second test
 * 39) 7/11 blasts suspect held in Kashmir
 * 40) India may pull peacekeeping troops out of Lebanon
 * 41) Dutch Ambassador to India expresses regret following Schiphol false-alarm
 * 42) Umpire Darrel Hair offers to quit ICC Elite panel for $500,000
 * 43) Pakistan on high alert as violence spreads in Balochistan
 * 44) Rama Krishna Gaddipati in Asia's Best Entrepreneur Under 25
 * 45) Sabarmati River Development Front set up by Gujarat government
 * 46) U.S threatens to use ICBMs against terrorists
 * 4,400 kilograms of drugs seized in New Delhi
 * 1) 25 drown in Krishna river, Karnataka
 * 2) India's Secretary-General candidate Tharoor suggests U.N reform agenda
 * 3) Plane carrying arms to Nepal detained in Gujarat
 * 4) Shiv Shankar Menon to take over as India's new Foreign Secretary
 * 5) Vice-Admiral Mehta appointed Chief of Naval Staff
 * 6) 14 Indian, Pakistani pilgrims killed in Iraq
 * 7) Enforcement Directorate issues notice to Natwar Singh
 * 8) Germany, India sign defence accord
 * 9) Several dead, hundreds injured as blasts rock Maharashtra town.
 * 10) TADA court begins pronouncing '93 Mumbai blasts verdict
 * 11) Explosives found in Malegaon, Nashik
 * 12) Benedict XVI criticises Islam, jihad.
 * 13) India, Pakistan decide to resume peace process
 * 14) 2 more found guilty in '93 Mumbai blasts case
 * 15) Cricket: India beats the West Indies by 16 runs
 * 16) Near collision between military and civilian planes in India
 * 17) Belgian diplomat murdered in New Delhi
 * 18) India nominates "Rang De Basanti" for the Oscars
 * 19) India:Jaish militant Mohd Afzal to be hanged on 20 October
 * 20) New Delhi:Video shows witnesses in the Jessica Lall murder case being bribed
 * 21) India's Sania Mirza beats Martina Hingis at the Korea Open
 * 22) 1993 Mumbai blasts: One more guilty verdict, five others acquitted
 * 23) Indian Air Chief Marshall warns of impending Pakistani air superiority
 * 24) Mumbai Police reveals Pakistani role in 11/7 serial blasts
 * 25) Clashes between Shiv Sena, MNS in Mumbai
 * 26) India celebrates Mahatma Gandhi's 137th Birthday anniversary
 * 27) PM Blair says India's nuclear programme should not be compared to N. Korea's
 * 28) India's Kiran Desai wins Booker Prize for "The Inheritance of Loss"
 * 29) Delhi Police question South African cricketer Herschelle Gibbs over 2000 match-fixing scandal
 * 30) "Brangelina"'s security guard uses gun to threaten photographer in Pune
 * 31) Four more found guilty in '93 Mumbai blasts case
 * 32) Foreign Secretary level talks between India and Pakistan to resume in November
 * 33) Indian fighter aircraft crashes in West Bengal, pilots eject safely
 * 34) Indian Government gives green signal to community radio
 * 35) Delhi University to honour actor Amitabh Bachchan, four others on 4 November
 * 36) India successfully tests cryogenic rocket engine
 * 37) Lyricist Javed Akhtar awarded Indira Gandhi Prize
 * 38) Israeli attacks in Gaza kill 17
 * 39) Palestinian teenager killed in Israeli airstrike
 * 40) Mayawati denies calling Muslims fanatics
 * 41) Studies suggest Israel used radioactive bombs on Lebanon
 * 42) Israeli soldiers suspected of executing unarmed, injured men in Gaza
 * 43) Justice Sachar committee says Indian Muslims "lag behind" other communities
 * 44) Indian Army to preserve British-era architecture
 * 45) Islamic Jihad considers halting rocket-fire into Israel
 * 46) CAT conducted in centres across India
 * 47) Two Palestinians die, over seven others are wounded as Israeli attacks continue
 * 48) Indian Army celebrates Victory Day on 35th Anniversary of Bangladeshi Liberation
 * 49) Serial killer on the loose in Mumbai
 * 50) Bollywood stars Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan engaged

title: User:PVJ59/Newpages


text:
Malaysian culture minister pans documentary

May 25, 2006

"About 20 [Ministers of Parliament] but 40 journalists including photographers," said filmmaker Amir Muhammed about a screening of his controversial documentary at the National Film Institute on Sunday, May 21.

Among the ministers to comment on the film, Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim has been widely quoted in the press.

On May 21, Malaysia's national news agency, Bernama, filed a story entitled, "Rais finds the 'Last Communist' not offensive." With reference to the May 18th screening, Bernama reports Rais said, "The plot isn't controversial and there's nothing that could be deemed as offensive from the cultural viewpoint."

Commenting on interviews with former members of the Malayan Communist Party, "they were vague, not conclusive for any quarters," he said.

The national daily New Straits Times also reported on the screening. It reports Rais said the film is "not important enough to be controversial".

The daily followed up with an article where Rais is reported as saying the film "indeed 'glorifies' former communist leader Chin Peng", filed May 24. "Amir should have interviewed the security forces, the Home Guard, the families of the home guard who were killed by the communists, and government officials of the time," said Rais.

The Bernama article incorrectly attributes the source of the ban to the Internal Security Ministry, it was widely reported that the Home Ministry was responsible.

The film has picked up controversy because it is inspired by the Malayan Emergency.

Chin Peng himself is living in exile in North Thailand. He released an autobiography last year entitled, "Chin Peng: My side of history."


text:
Fighting in Dili continues ahead of multinational deployment

May 25, 2006

Ahead of the deployment of 1000-1300 Australian troops in the next couple of days, fighting between renegade East Timorese military forces and government security forces has continued in East Timor's capital, Dili, from which at least 21,000 people have fled. The 600 renegade military personnel were fired from East Timor's 1400 strong army after striking over poor pay and conditions, including ethnic discrimination. Based in the Aileu mountains, the rebel force is making small attacks around the southern, eastern and western sides of Dili, but reports of gunfire in the city centre are developing.

Australian-trained Major Alfredo Reinado, who leads the renegade force, has said that he aims to “guarantee justice and the creation of a professional defence force,” not topple the East Timorese government.

Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, the Vice Chief of the Australian Defence Force, is to touch down in Dili today to discuss Australian troops' deployment in Dili and their Rules of Engagement (ROE) with the East Timorese Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, and other government officials. However, gunfire and the burning of houses has been reported on a main road to Dili international airport, cutting it off from the city. In response, Australian Prime Minister John Howard announced the deployment of 150 soldiers from 4 RAR (Commandos) with Blackhawk helicopters and C-130 transport planes in order to take the airport and secure its perimeter to allow for flights to continue.

The multinational deployment has been met with appreciation amongst both the rebel and government forces. Foreign minister Jose Ramos-Horta has said that that the arrival of troops and police from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and possibly Malaysia (which has indicated it may send up to 500 police and troops), is still necessary for security. News of the arriving Australian-led peacekeeping force, was welcomed by Dilinese refugees Mr Ramos-Horta said; "Their mere presence in Dili, the capital city, will have a psychological calming effect." The leader of the rebel forces, Major Reinado has also welcomed the deployment, saying that he hoped the peacekeepers would be able to create a peace. MAJ Reinado has said "This is the only solution, ...There is no other way, or it will be war forever. The Government has taken too long. It is not capable of resolving this." and even told Portuguese news agency Lusa that he would personally shake the hands of the arriving multinational force. The United Nations Security Council, having appealed for an end to fighting, welcomed the deployment of military forces to East Timor.

Australia also led the successful International Force East Timor (INTERFET) and United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) forces from 1999 to 2002.


text:
User talk:Opiniastrous~enwikinews

Fighting in Dili continues ahead of multinational deployment
Nice article! - Borofkin 06:20, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Welcome
, welcome to Wikinews! Thank you for your contributions; I hope you like the place and decide to stay! If you haven't done so already, you may want to create an account.

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! Doldrums 09:26, 27 May 2006 (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
 * 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!

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 Opiniastrous. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Opiniastrous~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:Opiniastrous~enwikinews


text:
Indo-Pakistan talks on Siachen end in deadlock

May 25, 2006 The Defence Secretary-level discussion between India and Pakistan on demilitarising the Siachen glacier ended in a stalemate, without any major breakthroughs being made. Both sides however declared they would abide by the cease-fire agreement made in 2003.

India says that it will not pull its troops back from their current position on the world's highest battlefield till Pakistan agrees to validate its present position on the ridges that hem the glacier. Indian Liuetenant General Pattabiramayyah has said that unless the Pakistan clarifies its current position on a map, India will be susceptible to a surprise attack similar to the one that occurred in the Kargil sector in 1997. Pakistan believes that recognition of Indian positions would be a de-facto surrender of its claim over territory from the last marked point on the Line of Control - Point NJ 9842 - to the Karakoram Pass.

Both countries have maintained troop positions on the ridges for over 20 years. The inhospitable Siachen glacier, according to a Ladakhi proverb, is a place where "one is only visited by either his closest friends or deepest enemies".


text:
User talk:68.47.115.200

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating American Idol Is Crowned, articles like this are appreciated. There are a few issues that must be dealt with before it can be published. The most important is that all Wikinews articles must cite sources for the information they contain. Articles should cite sources by using the tag at the bottom of the story. When you click "edit" there are instructions for using the tag underneath the "Save page" button. If your article contains original reporting, you should read the information at original reporting. If you are part of the story that the article is about, you may also wish to consider requesting an interview rather than writing the article yourself.

Discussion about your article will occur on the article talk page. Please go there to start or participate in the discussion with other Wikinews contributors. Keep at it and try to get this article published, which can sometimes be difficult, but you will find that it is worth the effort. - Borofkin 07:31, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:68.47.115.200


text:
U.S. appeals court upholds Honolulu aerial ad ban

May 25, 2006

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that Honolulu's ban on aerial advertising is constitutional and rejected the arguments of a pro-life/anti-abortion group that contended that the ban restricts free speech.

In a unanimous ruling, the court ruled that the city's ban on aerial advertising is not preempted by federal law and violates neither the free speech provisions of the nor the equal protection clause of the. Writing for the court, Judge Margaret McKeown wrote that "Honolulu’s airspace is a nonpublic forum, and the Ordinance is reasonable, viewpoint neutral, and rationally related to legitimate governmental interests." ("Nonpublic forum" is defined as a place that is not traditionally or explicitly opened to free expression.)

The (CBR) challenged Honolulu's ban, claiming that the ban infringes on their right to public advocacy. The group planned to fly a plane towing a 100-foot banner showing graphic images of aborted fetuses, and contended that authorization they sought and received from the Federal Aviation Administration authorized the group to fly in all fifty states and Puerto Rico.

The CBR has driven vans with such images around Honolulu in the past few years.

Judge David Ezra, U.S. District Judge for Hawaii, ruled in November 2004 that the ordinance was constitutional. The appeal was argued before the 9th Circuit in Honolulu in November 2005.

Announcing their intent to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, Gregg Cunningham, executive director of the CBR, said, "We never expected to get justice in the U.S. District Courts or in Honolulu. Our goal has always been to get to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's the only place we feel we'll get a fair hearing.

"If the environmental groups and political leftists who are trying to suppress the truth about abortion think we're going to go away because we lost two cases that we fully expected to lose, they're in for a rude awakening," Cunningham said.

Hawaii has had a statewide prohibition on billboards and similar forms of advertising since 1927, and is unique among U.S. states in this regard. In addition, since 1957, Honolulu has had a comprehensive law regulating the size and content of signs. Honolulu's ban on all aerial advertising was enacted in 1978.

Honolulu Mayor praised the decision, saying, "This obviously has strong implications for our visitor industry to know that when people come here they're going to see things here that really make for an island paradise type of vacation. This is great news for us."

Mary Steiner, head of the Outdoor Circle, an environmental group that supports the ban, said, "We have never doubted for a moment the importance of the scenic environment that it is just as important as any of the rest of the environmental issues that are out there. We're not going to stand by and let it be destroyed in any way, shape or form."


text:
User talk:66.111.35.120

Please don't vandalize Wikinews again or you'll have to be blocked from editing. Thanks,--Eloquence 10:05, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:66.111.35.120


text:
Student faces expulsion over blog post

May 28, 2006

A 17-year-old student faces expulsion by the in, Illinois as a result of blog posts he made on xanga.com which were critical of the school staff, alleging bullying and intimidation. The student has already been suspended for 10 days for the "inappropriate comments" and "threats" the school felt he had expressed on his blog. The posts were not made on school time or with school equipment.

On May 1, the student posted the following message that apparently initiated the suspension:

 * "dear plainfield school district 202:

 * i know you read this. and you suck.    suspend me or what ever you would like to do.  but this is my fuckin web site and i can put what ever i want on it.  kinda goes with the first amendment.  by suspending kyle again for his xanga you guys are pathetic and totally irrational.  first amendment you fucks.  freedom of speech.  and who the fuck are you to say what some one can do from there own personal computer.  one more thing kiss my ass."

On May 2, the student continued his passionate rant, giving some background to the controversy:

 * "you are bully's. I feel threatened by you.  if you don't like what you see here then do not come here its that simple. I'm pretty sure when you suspended Sam you brought her to tears,  you are a bully and you make me sick.  there's nothing you can do about us posting about parties we've been to and how much liquor we had or how much pot was smoked, the police need to do a better job, you are not the police.  and how is it that you feel threatened what was said that was so threatening.  I feel threatened by you, I cant even have a public web page with out you bullying me and telling me what has to be removed.  where is this freedom of speech that this government is sworn to uphold?  none of this is posted at school, its all posted from our home computers, and once we step foot into our homes we are not on school property any more.  you are just power hungry, don't you ever think?  did you stop to think that maybe this will make parents angry that you are bullying their children around?  did you ever stop to think that maybe now you really are going to have a threat on your hands now that you have just pissed off kids for voicing their opinions?  did you ever stop to think this will start a community backlash?  The kids at Columbine did what they did because they were bullied.  In my opinion you are the real threat here.  None of us ever put in our xanga's that they were going to kill or bring harm to any one.  we voiced our opinions.  you are the real threat here.  you are depriving us of our right to learn.  now stick that in your pipe and smoke it."

Attorney Carl Buck, who feels the school authorities have overstepped their boundaries, says, "The district is going to take away the student's education for exercising his freedom of speech... I feel like they are trying to control his freedom of speech. ... He is saying, 'You can't bully people and we have a right to object and you can't throw people out of school for voicing their opinions.'"

Other students at the school posted messages of support in their own Xanga blogs. A blogger named Meghan wrote, "As Americans, we have the right to speak our mind." Another student, Heather, who found out about the possible expulsion through the local news, wrote that "first of all, Xanga is outside of school ... second of all ... there was no threat towards anyone on his posts."

In a related case in March 2006, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an Alaska high school acted improperly by suspending a student for carrying a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" across the street from the school.

title: Student faces expulsion over blog post


text:
Talk:Malaysian Home Ministry ban approved documentary

Phew
OK. Working on putting the important information first. The name of the filmmaker feels too late in the article.

I'm having trouble deciding what is important information. I'm chipping away at that when I have time.

Oh and the headline still doesn't sound good. It's suppose to convey a movie that is now banned was once approved. I think I need a new, less convoluted angle.

It most definitely needs a description of the film itself early in the piece. --Tshase 12:04, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Film synopsis
Added film info including film festival info.--Tshase 07:04, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Film review excerpt to familiarise the reader to the filmmaker. Took out film summary, as emphasis is on the reputation of the film. --Tshase 04:53, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

bias
A perceived bias is an over reliance on reproductions of articles made available through the filmmaker's website.--Tshase 04:44, 2 June 2006 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Howard's revival of nuclear debate "surprising": Political expert

Original Reporting
This article was written from an e-mail interview with Dr John Cain, research into Australia's nuclear history and by maaking notes while recording and listening to ABC Radio Melbourne (not sure if it is legal to post the recording) at around 4PM on Monday - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 12:17, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Email Interview
Dear Nahtan This is an old debate and most commentators would agree that it is surprising that Howard has revived it. One of his motives might be to challenge the ALP over its three mine policy, but one could argue that the young people would not support his programme for the uranium mining companies to expand their mine numbers and production. Howard might be left with the problem of how to meet the demands of the Chinese government which wants to actually own their own uranium mine in Aust. The old argument still stands about Australia getting overseas firms to come and build nuclear generators in Aust. It still remains uneconomic for Australia to commence generating electricity from nuclear plants. Our coal supplies will last for another century and the natural gas deposits seem unlimited. These gas supplies will probably displace coal generation and thereby reduce the greeen house gas problem. On Howard's second point of his government admitting an overseas enrichment industry to establish its plant in Australia, the obvious question would be why would a French, Russian, US or Chinese company come to Australia to do what it has been doing quite well in its own country for decades. There would be no fiancial advantage for them to do sao. One can be sure that Howard is not proposing that his government intends to establish a government-owned enrichment plant.

It is obvious that Howard thinks that he is setting up a political debating point for the 2007 general elections which will obscure the more important domestic issues at the elections and have the ALP flumoxed.

Cheers Dr Frank Cain

-Original Message- From: Nathan Carter [mailto:magnaboy@westnet.com.au] Sent: Tuesday, 23 May 2006 1:14 PM To: REMOVED FOR PRIVACY REASONS Subject: Media Inquiry: Australian nuclear debate

Dear Sir, My name is Nathan Carter and I am an independent writer who publishes his work on Wikinews. At present we are taking a strong interest in the government's stance on nuclear energy as seen at http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Portal:Australia/Australian_nuclear_debate

Comments made today by Peter Garrett that the government is only pursuing a debate on nuclear energy to side step the problem of climate change are particularily interesting. From a political expert's point of view what is your take on this?

What political consequences do you believe could come out of this issue? Do you believe that Australia enriching Uranium is any different to Iran's plans? Regards, Nathan Carter If there are issues in posting this E-Mail please contact me for it's removal - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 12:17, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Exclusive Interview
Dr Cain is interviewed exclusively for Wikinews - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 12:30, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

His, hers, its
Don't forget! "it's" = "it is". Karen 12:34, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
 * You need a big long stick to keep poking me when I get it wrong. For some reason I think that the ' denotes ownership much like when you say the car is Karen's - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 21:45, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Typo
editprotected

wholy => wholly Van der Hoorn (talk) 11:23, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

 * ✅ — Gopher65talk 00:27, 24 February 2009 (UTC)


text: Wikinews:Archives/Date/All

title: Wikinews:Archives/Date/All


text:
Trains grind to a halt in Northeast US

May 25, 2006

From Washington D.C. to New York City, trains powered by overhead electric lines stalled for more than two hours due to what Amtrak called a "major power outage." While working to restore power, Amtrak attempted to provide alternative transportation in the form of diesel locomotives and buses. Power was restored at 10:30 a.m. EDT. Delays continued for much of the day.

Besides long-distance rail services such as Acela, local commuter trains were affected. Seven SEPTA lines in the Philadelphia area were temporarily shut down, and five more ran shortened routes. Also affected was Maryland's MARC and New Jersey Transit.

No specific cause has been reported, but Amtrak's site indicates that they are investigating.

title: Trains grind to a halt in Northeast US


text:
Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling found guilty

May 25, 2006

A jury in Houston found Former Enron Corp. CEOs Kenneth L. Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling guilty of 6 kinds of white-collar crime on May 25. Lay was convicted of all ten counts against him, while Skilling was convicted of only nineteen of the charged twenty-eight counts. The variety of charges on which both men were convicted was astonishing; conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements to banks and auditors, and others. Both men now face many years in prison.

Outside the courtroom, Skilling continued to proclaim his innocence. "Obviously, I'm disappointed, but that's the way the system works," Skilling said after the verdict. He is expected to appeal. Lay did not immediately speak to reporters outside the courtroom.

The verdict was reached on the sixth day of deliberations after a four-month-long trial and brings to a close the first of the wave of accounting scandals earlier in the decade. The verdict also represents another major victory for the government, which has successfully prosecuted a number of high-profile executives involved in accounting scandals, as well as obtained sixteen guilty pleas from former Enron executives.

Sentencing has been set for September 11, 2006. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake ordered Lay to post a $5 million bond and surrender his passport before leaving the courtroom.


text:
Wikinews:Briefs/May 25, 2006

The time is 17:00 (UTC) on May 25th, 2006, and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.

Fighting in Dili continues ahead of multinational deployment
East Timor

Ahead of the deployment of 1000-1300 Australian troops in the next couple of days, fighting between renegade East Timorese military forces and government security forces has continued in East Timor's capital, Dili, from which at least 21,000 people have fled. The 600 renegade military personnel were fired from East Timor's 1400 strong army after striking over poor pay and conditions, including ethnic discrimination. Based in the Aileu mountains, the rebel force is making small attacks around the southern, eastern and western sides of Dili, but reports of gunfire in the city centre are developing.

Indo-Pakistan talks on Siachen end in deadlock
India and Pakistan

The Defence Secretary-level discussion between India and Pakistan on demilitarising the Siachen glacier ended in a stalemate, without any major breakthroughs being made. Both sides however declared they would abide by the cease-fire agreement made in 2003.

Howard's revival of nuclear debate "surprising": Political expert
Australia

Dr Frank Cain, a political expert and Lecturer in Defence and Australian Political and Economic History at the University of New South Wales has told Wikinews that many political commentators are finding Prime Minister John Howard's revival of the nuclear debate "surprising".

Australian Government under pressure to reveal nuclear sites
Australia

The Australian Labor Party has placed pressure on the federal government to reveal potential sites for nuclear power plants. The pressure comes after the release of a report by The Australia Institute, which identified several locations on the East Coast of Australia as "ideal" nuclear power sites.

Pakistani immigrant convicted of N.Y. subway plot
United States

A Pakistani immigrant was convicted on Wednesday of plotting to blow up a New York City subway station in a case that shed light on police investigation tactics since the Sept 11 attacks. Shahawar Matin Siraj, faces a maximum life sentence after a Brooklyn federal court jury convicted him of conspiring to place and detonate an explosive on the city's mass transit system.

U.S. appeals court upholds Honolulu aerial ad ban
United States

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled that Honolulu's ban on aerial advertising is constitutional and rejected the arguments of a pro-life/anti-abortion group that contended that the ban restricts free speech.

Family narrowly escapes fiery death in Christchurch, New Zealand
New Zealand

A family visiting Christchurch, New Zealand from Australia was minutes away from being burnt to death.

Jimmy Wales interview
Wikinews

One Wikinews reporter recently had the opportunity to interview Jimmy Wales regarding general thoughts and a look ahead toward Wikimania. Jimmy Wales makes himself available to the public from time to time and has also co-founded a for-profit company called Wikia.

Closing statements
We invite you to visit wikinews.org for up-to-date news and information. This has been Audio Wikinews Newsbriefs. Thank you for listening, and enjoy the rest of your day. This recording has been released under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

title: Wikinews:Briefs/May 25, 2006


text:
User talk:TheProject~enwikinews

Welcome
, welcome to Wikinews! Thank you for your contributions; I hope you like the place and decide to stay! If you haven't done so already, you may want to create an account.

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! Doldrums 17:33, 25 May 2006 (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
 * 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!

Article overwrite
So for over-writing your article, I didn't notice it in the list when I signed on earlier. Sorry bout that. It was kinda of a lunchtime rush thing. --TUFKAAP 22:07, 25 May 2006 (UTC)
 * No worries. I was just a little confused. TheProject 01:13, 26 May 2006 (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 TheProject. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name TheProject~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 23:22, 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) 06:37, 21 April 2015 (UTC)

title: User talk:TheProject~enwikinews


text:
Talk:Family narrowly escapes fiery death in Christchurch, New Zealand

The title of this article needs to be changed. As it stands, it seems that the family is still trapped in the blaze and will die.

-Done nzgabriel 19:46, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
User talk:152.157.222.169

Welcome
, welcome to Wikinews! Thank you for your contributions; I hope you like the place and decide to stay! If you haven't done so already, you may want to create an account.

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!
 * 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
 * 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!

Additionally, 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 will be reverted quickly. --Deprifry|+T+ 18:19, 25 May 2006 (UTC)

Hello,

Your recent contributions constitute vandalism and have been reverted. Should you believe that your contributions are *not* vandalism, please argue your case on Vandalism.

Further vandalism will result in a 24 hour ban. Please contribute to Wikinews in a constructive fashion instead.

title: User talk:152.157.222.169


text:
User talk:Hurley09

Welcome
, welcome to Wikinews! Thank you for your contributions; I hope you like the place and decide to stay! If you haven't done so already, you may want to create an account.

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!
 * 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
 * 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:Hurley09


text:
BitTorrent index sues MPAA

May 26, 2006

Valence Media, the parent company behind popular BitTorrent index site TorrentSpy, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), alleging that the organization hired a hacker to break into TorrentSpy's servers and steal private information.

The lawsuit, which Valence Media and various employees filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, charges the MPAA with conspiracy, unlawful business practices, misappropriation of trade secrets and violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1985.

According to the lawsuit, MPAA employee Dean Garfield paid an unnamed hacker US$15,000 to steal email correspondence and other sensitive information, allegedly telling him that they "don't care how you get it".

In June of 2005, TorrentSpy alleges, the hacker then broke into the servers, obtaining private emails, invoices, billing information and an Excel spreadsheet detailing TorrentSpy's income and expenses.

In an interview with CNET, Kori Bernards, the vice-president of the MPAA, called the allegations "false" and implied that TorrentSpy might be trying to deflect attention from the MPAA's own lawsuits against the site.

title: BitTorrent index sues MPAA


text:
Taylor Hicks crowned American Idol winner

May 25, 2006 the 29-year-old, Alabama, native was crowned the fifth season winner of American Idol. Taylor received the majority of the 63.4 million votes cast after Tuesday night's two-hour performance show.

The finale was broadcast on and, from the  in.

Hicks got a recording contract with the as his prize. His first single is called "Do I Make You Proud" written by Tracy Ackerman, Andrew Watkins and.

Hicks is expected to release an album in the upcoming months.


text: File:Taylorhicks wins 1.jpg

title: File:Taylorhicks wins 1.jpg


text:
Australian troops land in East Timor

May 26, 2006

After approximately 150 Australian troops from 4 Royal Australian Regiment (Commandos) secured Comoro airport in Dili yesterday, the total number of Australian troops in East Timor has risen to 600, with a further 1200 in transit or directly supporting Operation Astute. Malaysia, New Zealand and Portugal have also begun their deployments. Malaysia has now sent 25 military officers ahead of its 500 strong commitment of military and police personnel; New Zealand has committed two C-130s, and an infantry company is on standby pending negotiations over rules of engagement; Portugal's 120-strong commitment has commenced preparations, but is not expected to arrive for a matter of weeks. The Australian contingent involved in Operation Astute has been placed under the command of Brigadier Michael Slater, who arrived in Dili this morning.

Currently, the Australian Department of Defence states Operation Astute's tasks are:

 * 1) to facilitate the evacuation of Australian and other foreign nationals as is appropriate and necessary;
 * 2) to stabilise the situation and facilitate the concentration of the various conflicting groups into safe and secure locations;
 * 3) to audit and account for the location of weapons that belong to each group; and
 * 4) to create a secure environment for the conduct of a successful dialogue to resolve the current crisis.

Australian forces are already actively operating in Dili; Infantry patrols are operating in the area, supported by the four Blackhawks from the 5th Aviation Regiment that have arrived so far. Blackhawks have also been operating missions above the hills around Dili to seek out rebel positions and communicate a strong presence to the rebel soldiers. Two Armoured Personnel Carriers and an infantry platoon have set up position in and around the UN Headquarters and Dili police station, which came under attack earlier today, and was the location of considerable violence yesterday when East Timorese army soldiers killed 12 East Timorese police and wounded numerous others, including 2 UN personnel. "At the moment things are relatively stable, the troops are arriving and we are establishing good control throughout the Dili area" BRIG Slater said of the situation.

Yesterday 80 Australian nationals were evacuated by RAAF C-130, a number that is rising as flights in and out of East Timor have been unhampered since the securing of Comoro airport. Approximately 800 Australian nationals were in East Timor at the beginning of conflict.

Events involving East Timor's government are complicating the situation. Reports state that Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is reluctant to allow foreign troops to independently operate in the country and arguing with President Xanana Gusmao over who should control the small nation's still loyal military of 800 troops. After President Gusmao declared he had taken over command of the military and ordered all East Timorese military personnel to barracks, Alkatiri stated that he believed the President does not have a constitutional right to take control of the military, as that depends on a 'situation of emergency' being declared, which is itself dependent on the parliament.

According to Mark Thompson, a military budgeting specialist from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Operation Astute would cost a similar amount to Australia's earlier peacekeeping operation in East Timor - approximately $200 million.

title: Australian troops land in East Timor


text:
Talk:Zogby poll finds 45% want new 9/11 investigation

Saying that 70 Million Americans support the investigation after asking 1200 is bollocks, sorry.
 * this is IMO notnews. I am tagging it as such. 9/11 commission/hearings already happened. Already investigated. This is old news if news at all. Jason Safoutin 00:01, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I should also tag it NPOV....what about the other side...kids? some were young back then but old enough to remember. Jason Safoutin 00:02, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
 * And where are ther 70 million? 1200 does not equal 70 million. Jason Safoutin 00:03, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Properly conducted surveys on interesting topics almost always qualify as news. This story is news, the only ponetial problem is that the survey is a bit old. However, a week delay is acceptable but is starting to push it a bit. The big problem with this story is the claim that a survay of 1200 equals the views of millions. I have changed this and published it.--Cspurrier 00:19, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

According to the sources, it was 45% who want a 9/11 re-investigation. So I changed the figure in the title from 70% to 45%. The figure "70%" probably came from a previous version where it said "70 million", which is more to the point, actually. Mikaelbook 11:36, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I used the 70% number from the title and subtitle of the World Net Daily source. However looking more closely at the article and the other sources, I find this number a bit odd. It looks like the 45% number is correct. --Cspurrier 13:49, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

The news about the Zogby poll went largely unreported by the mass media, not only in America, but in other parts of the world as well. I have looked in vain for these news in "Le monde" (the prestigious French newspaper), "Helsingin Sanomat" and "YLE Aktuellt" (Finland's biggest paper in Finnish and public broadcasting company news in Swedish, respectively), "Dagens Nyheter" (a big newspaper in Sweden), and other mass distributors of news. Compare with the story about Osama bin Laden claiming that Moussaoui is not-guilty which came one day after the release of the Zogby poll. The news about Osama were spread by all the above-mentioned media although the authenticity of the tape with the statement about Moussaoui must be doubted. However, when a rumour like "The present King of France is bald" is broadcast massively enough, it ends up being believed both by large parts of the public and by the broadcasters themselves. Somehow, there must be a surviving king of France somewhere, when so many people are talking about him... Mikaelbook 05:33, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Has anyone else notieced that every source is biased or has a factually inncorrect title? Ronan.evans 06:21, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

"An earlier Zogby poll (2004) showed that nearly half of New Yorkers polled believed certain U.S. officials "consciously" allowed the attacks to happen," until a sorce is included verifying this comment I am deleting it. Ronan.evans 06:23, 27 May 2006 (UTC)

Please add this article to Category:9/11. Blood Red Sandman (Talk)   (Contribs) 15:12, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

 * ✅ Adambro 15:19, 28 December 2007 (UTC)


text:
Appeals Court asked for quick decision in California High School Exit Exam case

May 25, 2006

Lawyers for students who sued to stop the use of the California High School Exit Exam today filed a request for an expedited hearing of their case in appellate court, hoping to have the test set aside in time for graduation.

"It would be tragic if students were deprived of the once in a lifetime opportunity to graduate with their classmates due to scheduling issues in this matter," according to the text of the appeal filed in Division Four of the First Appellate District.

Today's filing fulfills a promise made by lead attorney Arturo Gonzalez yesterday after the State Supreme Court issued a stay of an Superior Court judge's order that the test not be used to determine graduation. "Our clients are disappointed in today's 4-3 split decision of the California Supreme Court. However, this fight is not over," Gonzalez said, "We intend to seek immediate relief in the court of appeals in San Francisco. We are hopeful that oral argument can be scheduled in time to obtain an order that would allow the Class of 2006 to graduate."

On May 12, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Robert Freedman decided that the test was unfair and unconstitutional and issued an injunction against the use of the test. The following week, attorneys for State Superintendent of Schools Jack O'Connell, author and avid supporter of the law requiring the test, appealed Freedman's decision directly to the State Supreme Court, asking the court to stay the effect of the injunction immediately and to over rule it. Yesterday, the court issued the stay, but send the state's appeal down to the appellate court.

"Yesterday, the Supreme Court noted that it was "not persuaded" that the injunction was the appropriate remedy," according to the papers filed in court today. "It stayed the injunction and remanded the case to this Court with instructions to "establish a schedule for expedited briefing and argument."

"Plaintiffs respectfully submit that, if the schedule established by this Court does not allow for a decision on the remedy issued by the trial  court before the bulk of high school graduations have taken place, then that schedule cannot be considered to be expedited," according to the filing, "There is only one issue that needs to be decided by this Court prior to the pending high school graduations — whether, assuming Plaintiffs prevail on their constitutional claims, the injunction granted by the trial court was an appropriate remedy."

In the filing, lawyers for Liliana Valenzuela, et al., who sued in February to have the test set aside so she and the other students involved in the case could graduate, remind the appellate court that the State Supreme Court needed only a few days to reach its decision.

"With the majority of graduations occurring in early June, Plaintiffs respectfully submit that it is a reasonable interpretation of the Supreme Court's Order to set a hearing for this matter next week," lawyers wrote in the filing. Cynthia O'Brien, who oversees testing at in Union City, expressed some exasperation over the on-again, off-again situation regarding the test. "What is happening at this time with the emotional lives of students who are in limbo is not reasonable or in their best interest" she said. "Although the exam's intention is to create a better education environment for students (my words), it is now more about politics than the students."

However, she's not opposed to the test itself. "I believe that the intent of minimum proficiencies is in the right direction. We do a disservice to students who are not prepared to compete in their adult world," she told the James Logan Courier, "I do believe that the State needs to study real alternate paths that could be pursued, such as using proficiency on STAR, a senior project demonstrating both math and English proficiency or some other pathway."


text:
Wikinews:2006/July/31

 category=Published category=July 31, 2006 notcategory=Disputed notcategory=No publish suppresserrors=true

title: Wikinews:2006/July/31


text:
Judge orders U.S. Department of Justice officials to testify

June 2, 2006

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has ordered four U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials to give testimony after a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit was filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).

Judge Emmet Sullivan granted a motion for discovery by CREW to serve depositions to James Kovaka and Steve Brady, both attorneys with the DOJ responsible for processing FOIA requests in the case. Also ordered to provide testimony were Daniel Metcalfe, head of the DOJ'S Office of Information and Privacy, and Robert McCallum, Associate Attorney General whose nomination as U.S. ambassador to Australia is currently pending in the Senate.

CREW sued after the DOJ failed to respond to the group request for information for close to a year. The request relates to the DOJ's lowering of the government penalty request from $130 billion to $10 billion in the landmark case United States of America v. Philip Morris Incorporated, et al., which CREW believes to be politically motivated.

CREW specifically requested the DOJ to disclose contacts between McCallum and his former law firm, which the group says represented the tobacco companies. McCallum is also before a different court with 5 other justice department officials in a trial where they are accused of ethics violations relating to a case involving North American Indians.


text:
Talk:Judge orders U.S. Department of Justice officials to testify

NPOV
This article is about a suit against the US government's actions over the previous 123 years of practice. It is extremely biased to state it is an accusation of a single previous official based on this case. The case may be very newsworthy, the ambassador's involvement is not. -  Amgine | talk en.WN 00:03, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Hmmm. the source article is completely about the Ambassador?? 70.48.206.17 18:55, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Edit rather than tag
Please edit the article rather than tag it. 70.48.204.14 04:04, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
 * What are the objections? Strange burial of this story as it seems rather benign albeit interesting to the people of USA and Austalia perhaps. 70.48.204.14 04:11, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
 * The objection appears to be that this article focusses on one person involved with a US court case which actually involves hundreds of people. There is no reason to focus on just this one person. - Borofkin 04:17, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
 * Located older article which indicates that only McCallum and 5 others were singled out for investigation. As the new Sydney article indicates, the ethics violations trial is ongoing. 70.48.204.127 11:58, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Seems like a good story
It shows that the new Ambassador to Australia is currently before the courts for ethics violations which the Sydney paper brings out into the current news spotlight. Unless most people were aware of that, it seems quite newsworthy. I will include the older article as a background source. 70.48.204.127 11:58, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

Blocked?
I was just blocked and accused of being nutralizer editor. I am not that editor. Is the article not to be improved? I give up. 70.48.206.182 12:17, 1 June 2006 (UTC)

new development
those working on this article may also be interested in this new development. Doldrums 12:28, 2 June 2006 (UTC)

Publish agian
Was Publyshed june 2 after Deprify's work but must be mistake today-no talk and unpublish? I will publish now. Hope ok? Yrtsihpos 02:37, 5 June 2006 (UTC)


text:
User:Gangsta-Easter-Bunny~enwikinews

Hi, to find out about me see my Wikipedia account.

title: User:Gangsta-Easter-Bunny~enwikinews


text:
User talk:Gangsta-Easter-Bunny~enwikinews

Hi!
 * Hi! — THIS IS M ESSED [[Image:R with umlaut.png]] OCKER (TALK) 00:29, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Welcome
, welcome to Wikinews! Thank you for your contributions; I hope you like the place and decide to stay! If you haven't done so already, you may want to create an account.

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! — THIS IS M ESSED OCKER  (TALK) 00:29, 26 May 2006 (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
 * 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!

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 Gangsta-Easter-Bunny. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Gangsta-Easter-Bunny~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 23:17, 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)


text: File:Overland.jpg

title: File:Overland.jpg


text:
User talk:64.12.116.133

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating Nepal declared a secular state; sparks Hindu protest, articles like this are appreciated. There are a few issues that must be dealt with before it can be published. The most important is that all Wikinews articles must cite sources for the information they contain. Articles should cite sources by using the tag at the bottom of the story. When you click "edit" there are instructions for using the tag underneath the "Save page" button. If your article contains original reporting, you should read the information at original reporting. If you are part of the story that the article is about, you may also wish to consider requesting an interview rather than writing the article yourself.

Discussion about your article will occur on the article talk page. Please go there to start or participate in the discussion with other Wikinews contributors. Keep at it and try to get this article published, which can sometimes be difficult, but you will find that it is worth the effort. - Borofkin 01:02, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

Welcome
, welcome to Wikinews! Thank you for your contributions; I hope you like the place and decide to stay! If you haven't done so already, you may want to create an account.

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!
 * 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
 * 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:64.12.116.133


text:
User talk:87.82.2.175

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating Bigbrother dawn, articles like this are appreciated. There are a few issues that must be dealt with before it can be published. The most important is that all Wikinews articles must cite sources for the information they contain. Articles should cite sources by using the tag at the bottom of the story. When you click "edit" there are instructions for using the tag underneath the "Save page" button. If your article contains original reporting, you should read the information at original reporting. If you are part of the story that the article is about, you may also wish to consider requesting an interview rather than writing the article yourself.

Discussion about your article will occur on the article talk page. Please go there to start or participate in the discussion with other Wikinews contributors. Keep at it and try to get this article published, which can sometimes be difficult, but you will find that it is worth the effort. - Borofkin 01:05, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:87.82.2.175


text:
User talk:86.137.249.227

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating Rooney World Cup fate, articles like this are appreciated. There are a few issues that must be dealt with before it can be published. The most important is that all Wikinews articles must cite sources for the information they contain. Articles should cite sources by using the tag at the bottom of the story. When you click "edit" there are instructions for using the tag underneath the "Save page" button. If your article contains original reporting, you should read the information at original reporting. If you are part of the story that the article is about, you may also wish to consider requesting an interview rather than writing the article yourself.

Discussion about your article will occur on the article talk page. Please go there to start or participate in the discussion with other Wikinews contributors. Keep at it and try to get this article published, which can sometimes be difficult, but you will find that it is worth the effort. - Borofkin 01:07, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:86.137.249.227


text:
Portal:Australia/2006 East Timor crisis

Australian peacekeeping forces withdrew from East Timor in January 2005.

The 2006 East Timor crisis began in May, 2006 as a conflict between the military and 600 ex-members of the military who had been sacked after protesting against discrimination. The conflict expanded to general violence throughout the country, centred in the capital Dili, and prompted a military intervention by Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Portugal.

In mid-June the rebels began disarming. On June 26 the Prime Minister, Mari Alkatiri, resigned after coming under pressure from President Xanana Gusmão.

May 24, 2006

 * East Timor descends into further violence: Downer
 * ''On Tuesday Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer (Division of Mayo, Liberal) told parliament that the government has received fresh reports of violence in East Timor. Mr. Downer told the Australian House of Representatives that he has received fresh reports of violence erupting in parts of the East Timorese capital, Dili, as well as other parts of the nation.

 * Multinational force sent to East Timor
 * After the breakdown of law and order in the world's newest nation, East Timor's Foreign Minister, Jose Ramos Horta has requested military assistance from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Malaysia. The force would "disarm renegade troops and police rebelling against the state" and "...Australia and New Zealand will come soon" Mr Horta said to reporters.

May 25, 2006

 * Fighting in Dili continues ahead of multinational deployment
 * Ahead of the deployment of 1000-1300 Australian troops in the next couple of days, fighting between renegade East Timorese military forces and government security forces has continued in East Timor's capital, Dili, from which at least 21,000 people have fled. The 600 renegade military personnel were fired from East Timor's 1400 strong army after striking over poor pay and conditions, including ethnic discrimination. Based in the Aileu mountains, the rebel force is making small attacks around the southern, eastern and western sides of Dili, but reports of gunfire in the city centre are developing.

May 26, 2006

 * Australian troops land in East Timor
 * After approximately 150 Australian troops from 4 Royal Australian Regiment (Commandos) secured Comoro airport in Dili yesterday, the total number of Australian troops in East Timor has risen to 600, with a further 1200 in transit or directly supporting Operation Astute. Malaysia, New Zealand and Portugal have also begun their deployments.

May 27, 2006

 * Gang violence continues in East Timor
 * Gang violence continued in East Timor today, despite patrols by foreign soldiers being stepped up. There are presently 600 troops from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia in the East Timorese capital of Dili, with that number expected to rise to 1,300 by the end of the weekend.
 * East Timorese youths are forming gangs and allying with groups of feuding police and military personnel. There have been reports of youths patrolling neighborhoods carrying machetes, swords and knives near government buildings. They said they were protecting the areas against "rogue army elements".

 * Peacekeepers take control in East Timor
 * The Australian presence in East Timor so far has been characterised by vigorous patrolling into the capital Dili, with the main goal being to lock down the city in order to separate and concentrate the various conflicting forces in East Timor. Despite the Australian military being provided strong rules of engagement by the East Timorese government, so far no soldiers have fired their weapons or been fired upon, although they might have been fired over by gangs earlier today.

May 30, 2006

 * East Timor: President Gusmão takes emergency powers to quell unrest
 * ''President Xanana Gusmão has taken special security powers in a bid to quell the violence raging in East Timor. The period of emergency rule, which would last 30 days, was to "prevent violence and avoid further fatalities" and lead to "rapid reestablishment of public order." Gusamo, a popular former guerilla leader, will take sole control of the army and police and also the management of the 1,300 strong Australian-led peacekeeping force on the troubled island.

June 4, 2006

 * Portuguese military land in East Timor
 * ''120 soldiers of the Portuguese Republican National Guard (GNR) landed this Sunday morning in Baucau, the second-largest city in East Timor, after their departure to East Timor had been delayed twice due to difficulties in arranging adequate air transportation. The soldiers were received by the Portuguese ambassador to East Timor, local representatives and hundreds of locals.

June 8, 2006

 * International forces in Dili reach agreement
 * The international forces in East Timor have reached an agreement about the coordination of the military and police forces in the field. Representatives of the four countries reached the agreement during an urgent meeting after an incident between Australian and Portuguese soldiers yesterday.

June 16, 2006

 * Timorese rebels begin disarming
 * East Timorese rebels begun disarming Friday, when the rebel leader, Lt. Cmdr. Alfredo Reinado, and his men handed over ammunition and more than a dozen weapons to Australian peacekeepers. The disarming started after a official request of President Xanana Gusmão this week.

June 26, 2006

 * East Timor Prime Minister resigns
 * The East Timorese Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri has resigned from his position. He cited the growing violence and the threat by President Xanana Gusmão to resign if he did not.

July 11, 2006

 * 25 more NZ police head off to East Timor
 * 25 New Zealand police officers have left for three months in East Timor. The force will carry pepper spray and pistols.

August 30, 2006

 * Rebel leader, 56 inmates escape from East Timorese jail
 * East Timorese rebel leader Alfredo Reinado and other 56 inmates escaped last night from Dili's mail jail.

title: Portal:Australia/2006 East Timor crisis