text:
Wikinews:Briefs/May 20, 2006

The time is 18:00 (UTC) on May 20th, 2006, and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.

Explosion blasts Palestinian intelligence service HQ
Palestine

An explosion has ripped through the headquarters of the Palestinian general intelligence service in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian officials say several people were wounded in the explosion, including intelligence chief Tareq Abu Rajab.

Rep. Hunter calls for hearings about alleged "cold-blooded killings" of civilians by U.S. Marines
United States

Duncan Hunter, a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from California and the House Armed Services Committee chairman, said Thursday that the incident involving Marines firing on unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha on November 19, 2005 will be subject to Congressional hearings as soon the criminal investigation is completed.

China completes "mammoth" Three Gorges Dam hydro-electicity project
China

China has announced the completion of an enormous dam across the Yangtze River, an important milestone for the world's largest hydroelectric project. The official Xinhua News Agency reports the event as a "landmark in the construction of the project."

Riot at Guantanamo Bay detention camp
Cuba

Inmates at Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba have attacked guards with fan blades and other makeshift weapons. Rear Admiral Harry Harris, the commander of Joint Task Force Guantanamo says some detainees were injured in "the most violent outbreak" at the facility since it was opened in 2002.

5 killed in Kentucky coal mine explosion
United States

There has been an explosion in a coal mine in eastern Kentucky, located in the United States, killing 5 miners. One miner was able to walk out of the mine. The explosion occurred at Darby Mine No. 1, owned by Kentucky Darby LLC and located in Harlen County. Federal Mine Safety officials say the explosion happened sometime between midnight and 1 a.m. local time Saturday.

Australian PM pushes for "full-blooded" nuclear energy debate
Australia

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has told media in Canada that he wants "a full-blooded debate" in Australia about the issue of nuclear power. "I have a very open mind on the development of nuclear energy in my own country," he said. "That includes an open mind on whether or not Australia should in fact process uranium for the purposes of providing fuel for nuclear power in the future in Australia."

Australian Democrats in "continuous downward spiral": Founder
Australia

Australian Democrats founder, Don Chipp has told patrons at the party's national conference in Melbourne that "the party is not only in a low position in the public esteem but it seems to be in a continuous downward spiral". Chipp helped found the party in 1977 after becoming discontent with the Liberal Party.

US Navy sailors jailed in Australia on drug smuggling charges
Australia

Two sailors from the USS Boxer, and a Canadian man living on Queensland's Gold Coast have been sentenced to jail for bringing seven kilos of the drug commonly known as 'ice' (methamphetamine), valued at about AUD$1 million, into Australia in June last year.

Sydney off-ramp to charge $1.20 for 200m drive
Australia

The New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority announced Friday night that a AUD$1.20 toll will be charged on a pair of new 200 metre long on and off ramps from the Warringah Freeway to Falcon Street, North Sydney.

Two Christchurch, New Zealand, hospitals have a virus outbreak
New Zealand

Two Christchurch hospitals, Christchurch Hospital and Princess Margaret Hospital, have had an outbreak of norovirus. A special isolation ward in the Christchurch Hospital has been setup for 20 patients and 12 staff, who have contracted the disease. Princess Margaret Hospital have also setup similar conditions. Norovirus causes severe vomiting and diarrhoea, people who get this disease usually recover within 48 hours.

'Da Vinci Code' opens in theaters, sparks controversy
Movies

Moviegoers around the world are expected to queue into movie theaters during the opening weekend of the movie "The Da Vinci Code," despite the disapproval of both critics and clerics. The film, directed by Ron Howard, is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dan Brown, which has sold over 60 million copies worldwide.

Crusaders to meet Hurricanes in Super 14 final
sports - rugby

The Crusaders are to meet the Hurricanes in Christchurch on Saturday night for the 2006 Super 14 final after defeating the Bulls 30–15 at Jade Stadium.

Munster win 2006 Heineken Cup
sports – rugby

Munster have won the 2005-06 Heineken Cup, beating Biarritz 23 to 19 at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The match is Biarritz's first Heineken Cup final appearance. It is Munster's fourth, after three final losses in the past. A jumbo screen was placed in the streets of Limerick, (Rep. of) Ireland, where thousands of Munster fans gathered.

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 20, 2006


text:
Wikinews:Archives

View Wikinews articles by topic, region and date of publication:

by region
World - Africa - Asia - Central America - Europe - Middle East - North America - Oceania - South America

or view a list of countries in each region

by topic
Crime and law - Culture and entertainment - Disasters and accidents - Economy and business - Education - Environment - Health - Obituaries - Politics and conflicts - Science and technology - Sports - Wackynews

or view a detailed list of topics

all categories
View a list of all categories in a single page.

by date
2004* - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009 - 2010 - 2011 - 2012 - 2013 - 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023

or view all years

* Since Wikinews started in late 2004, there are gaps in coverage of news events in that year

Featured articles
Articles identified as the best of Wikinews coverage.

Latest Featured articles
 category=featured article category=published count=5 suppresserrors=true

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

title: Wikinews:Archives


text:
User talk:Shaji.k

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating V.S.Achuthanandan - The Virtue of Persistence, 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. --Chiacomo (talk) 19:21, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

User:Shaji.k/V.S.Achuthanandan - The Virtue of Persistence
Hi!

I'm moving this article to a subpage of your user account because it appears to be an editorial or essay. Wikinews has a policy which does not support publishing editorials in the main namespace, but they are allowed by convention as user subpages.

Thanks for contributing on Wikinews! You might wish to look at the guidelines for articles to get familiar with the types of articles Wikinews supports and publishes. -  Amgine | talk en.WN 19:25, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:Shaji.k


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Wikinews:Archives/Topic

{| cellspacing="3" width="100%"
 * - valign="top"
 * width="50%" style="border: 0px solid; color: #000"|

Culture and entertainment

 * Film
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 * width="50%" style="border: 0px solid; color: #000"|

Science and technology

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 * Baseball
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 * Cricket
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 * Football (Soccer)
 * Hockey
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Weather

 * }

fr:Wikinews:Archives/Sujet

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Wikinews:Archives/Region

Middle East
{| cellspacing="3"
 * - valign="top"
 * style="border: 0px solid; color: #000"|

North America

 * Canada
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 * more...
 * style="border: 0px solid; color: #000"|

Oceania

 * Australia
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 * style="border: 0px solid; color: #000"|

South America

 * Argentina
 * Brazil
 * }

fr:Wikinews:Archives/Région

title: Wikinews:Archives/Region


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Category:November 1, 2006

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Category:November 2, 2006

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title: Category:November 2, 2006


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Category:November 3, 2006

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Category:November 4, 2006

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title: Category:November 4, 2006


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Category:November 5, 2006

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title: Category:November 5, 2006


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Category:November 6, 2006

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title: Category:November 6, 2006


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Category:November 7, 2006

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title: Category:November 7, 2006


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Category:November 8, 2006

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title: Category:November 8, 2006


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Category:November 9, 2006

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Category:November 10, 2006

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title: Category:November 10, 2006


text:
Wikinews:Archives/Date

Select a year:

2004
November - December

* Note that since Wikinews started in late 2004, there are gaps in coverage for that year.

2005
January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

2006
January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

2007
January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

2008
January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

2009
January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December

title: Wikinews:Archives/Date


text:
Wikinews:Archives/Date/2004

November 2004
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

December 2004
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

title: Wikinews:Archives/Date/2004


text:
Wikinews:Archives/Date/2005

January 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

February 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28

March 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

April 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

May 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

June 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

July 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

August 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

September 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

October 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

November 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

December 2005
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

title: Wikinews:Archives/Date/2005


text:
Wikinews:Archives/Date/2006

January 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

February 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28

March 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

April 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

May 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

June 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

July 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

August 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

September 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

October 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

November 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30

December 2006
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23 - 24 - 25 - 26 - 27 - 28 - 29 - 30 - 31

title: Wikinews:Archives/Date/2006


text:
Wikinews talk:Archives

Planning (pre-deployment)
Ok. Looks Very similiar to SectionMenu except for the date thing and a couple more of the smaller topics.(The sectionmenu could use an overhaul like this though) What is your plan to do with this? do you want to link to MediaWiki:Portal-url. Or provide a link ontop of the sectionmenu. Or link from Template:MainPageSectionMenu? Bawolff ☺☻ 21:53, 20 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Once this is finished (for the most part), all this will be moved to "Wikinews:Browse", "Wikinews:Browse/Date", etc. In effect, SectionMenu will be declared obsolete and redirected to Wikinews:Browse. The idea is that the whole box concept has to go; it limits the amount we can add to the browsing guides and can cause unnecessary aesthetics concerns. With this new browsing system, this will be the "start page." However, we still have to allow for more comprehension: particularly for topical and regional browsing. We need to have as much possible there. — THIS IS M ESSED [[Image:R with umlaut.png]] OCKER (TALK) 22:11, 20 May 2006 (UTC)

You might also point to Digests -- for a very similar date based thing... --Chiacomo (talk) 19:41, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

As you can see, my approach is a wee bit more verbose than the usual 'go back/list all' brevity. I think the goal of every website should be making itself more comprehensible to the First Time User, both by using proper grammar (complete sentences are always more understandable than Headlinese), by adding short and accurate descriptions of the purpose and contents of every page ('Browse all Wikinews articles'), and link (Browse/All, for example, lists categories, not the articles themselves, so its link text should be 'view all categories'). That 'Huh, that's not what I wanted' confusion followed by the quick run to the Back button should be avoided when possible. Hmm, quite a lengthy explanation for a page of 19 words.--Jill St. Crux 16:31, 23 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I greatly appreciate your efforts to the page: newcomer-friendly is exactly what I want to have. That is partially why I created Wikinews:Browse, and why the first page is very bare. — THIS IS M ESSED [[Image:R with umlaut.png]] OCKER (TALK) 20:16, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

Now live!
Thanks to Bawolff, SectionMenu is officially replaced by Browse. — THIS IS M ESSED OCKER  (TALK) 20:12, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

Planning an upgrade
Following up on some thoughts from BRS, I'm drafting a major upgrade, currently at User:Pi zero/Archives.

Atm, I'm in the market for a good way to tinker with an image map — since we've got some additional categories that could usefully be linked in, prominently Category:Atlantic Ocean and Category:Antarctica. --Pi zero (talk) 12:09, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

title: Wikinews talk:Archives


text:
Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro injured in Preakness, does not finish race

May 20, 2006

Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, sent as the post-time odds-on favorite in this year's Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, breaks down in the opening stretch of the race, shattering any chance of a Triple Crown winner this year. Bernardini, the 12-1 4th choice out of 9, ends up winning this year's Preakness, stopping the clock at 1:54.65. Following up 5 1/4 lengths behind was Sweetnorthernsaint, sent to the post at 8-1, and Hemingway's Key at 29-1, six lengths further back.

According to Dr. Larry Bramlage, the on-call veterinarian for the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Barbaro's injury was "significant" and "would require major stabilizing surgery." Barbaro's injury effectively ended the horse's racing career.

Bernardini, a colt by A.P. Indy out of Cara Rafaela, by Quiet American, was bred and is owned by the Darley Stable of Sheikh Mohammed, is trained by Tom Albertrani, and was ridden to victory by Javier Castellano. Today's Preakness marks the first Preakness win for jockey Javier Castellano, who previously rode Ghostzapper to a win in the 2004 Breeders' Cup Classic. The Preakness was only Bernardini's 4th career start.

Bernardini paid $27.80 on a $2 win bet. The $2 Exacta of Bernardini and Sweetnorthernsaint (8-7) paid $171.60, the $1 Trifecta with Hemingway's Key in third (8-7-3) paid $1,956.40, and the $1 Superfecta with 2nd-favorite Brother Derek (8-7-3-6) paid $11,151.20.


text:
Pair extradited and charged over Granville, Sydney shootings

May 21, 2006

Detectives from New South Wales have successfully extradited a 30-year-old woman and 23-year-old man from Western Australia wanted in connection with a double murder in the Sydney suburb of Granville on March 29, 2006.

The victims of the murders were 26-year-old Bassam Chami, who died at the scene, and 25-year-old Ibrahim Assad, who died following surgery at Westmead Hospital.

Following the shootings, NSW Police setup a strike force, called Lasswade to investigate the murders.

The woman was arrested by detectives of the Major Crime Squad in Western Australia at 9 p.m. AEST last Tuesday. She was found and arrested at a motel in Victoria Park, Perth.

Shortly after the woman's arrest, the man was arrested by the Tactical Response Group as he exited a unit in East Victoria Park.

On Wednesday, four members of Strike Force Lasswade flew to Perth and was successful in applying to have the pair extradited to NSW to face questioning and charges. The pair arrived in Sydney on Saturday night.

Once in NSW, police took the pair to Surry Hills police station where they were questioned and subsequently charged. The man was charged with one count of murder and another of attempted murder. The woman was charged with two counts of being an accessory to murder.

Both suspects were refused bail and are due to appear in court on Monday.


text: File:Heineken Cup 2006.gif

title: File:Heineken Cup 2006.gif


text: File:Two Australian car ferry operators caught drunk on the job.ogg


text: File:Australian rugby league club to have extra police at all NSW games.ogg


text: File:Half of Australian defence force's munitions of no use.ogg


title: File:21May2006.sxw


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text:
User:Rama's Arrow

Hi, I'm Nirav Maurya, Rama's Arrow. I'm primarily active on Wikipedia and I actively start contributions to Wikinews after a brief interval. Rama's Arrow 03:28, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User:Rama's Arrow


text:
User talk:Rama's Arrow

Hi, I'm Nirav Maurya, Rama's Arrow. I'm primarily active on Wikipedia and I actively start contributions to Wikinews after a brief interval. Rama's Arrow 03:28, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:Rama's Arrow


text: File:Calls for corporate tax reform in Australia goes unheeded.ogg


text:
Snowy Hydro Scheme to go public

May 21, 2006 The New South Wales (NSW) government says small investors will have the first opportunity to buy shares in one of Australia's most unique public assets - the Snowy Hydro Scheme, the sale of which begins officially on Monday, May 22. NSW Finance Minister John Della Bosca denied the sale was incongruent with Labor's stance on privatisation, or that it was a pre-election strategy.

The New South Wales, Victorian and federal government jointly owns the hydroelectric scheme and have decided to sell their shares by floating the company on the Australian Stock Exchange.

NSW taxpayers hold 58 per cent of the shares in the scheme and the State government stands to make between $1.5 billion and $2 billion from the sale. Selling the Snowy Hydro scheme could raise up to $3 billion for the Victorian, NSW and federal governments.

Mr Della Bosca told the ABC: "We've looked at all sorts of arrangements to raise more capital." He said the sale would secure the future of Snowy Hydro. "Snowy is at a point where it's not responsible for it to go further into debt and the best thing for it, to be able to do, is raise capital on the stock exchange." The Minister denied the privatisation was a "grab for cash". Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan is demanding a constitutional referendum to hand control of all rivers to the Commonwealth. He claims the Snowy Hydro sale would damage regional Australia and is being forced by state governments, to prop up their budgets. "I've expressed my extreme distress and disappointment both to the federal and state governments in no uncertain manner," he said. "I think it's a national disgrace and I think we will live to regret it in the future.

Senator Heffernan says he has had trouble trying to raise the issue with his colleague, the Finance Minister Nick Minchin. "There's been no discussions," he said.

NSW irrigators have withdrawn support for the sale after the NSW, Victorian and federal governments agreed to a 10 per cent limit on the number of shares an individual can buy.

Greens MP Slyvia Hale says she believes the Government will attempt to limit the release of documents relating to the sale when Parliament resumes next week. "As with everything connected with the sale things have been kept very quiet and the Government will continue, I believe, to try and ensure that critical information is withheld from the public," she said.

She says the sale should be suspended while an inquiry takes place.

title: Snowy Hydro Scheme to go public


text:
Ray Nagin re-elected New Orleans mayor

May 21, 2006 New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin won re-election Saturday night, successfully weathering a challenge from Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu and allowing him to oversee the continued rebuilding of the Louisiana city decimated by Hurricane Katrina.

With all 442 precincts reporting, Nagin won 59,460 votes (52.3%) to Landrieu's 54,131 votes (47.7%). The two candidates had been neck-and-neck in the returns through the night. Early returns with 22% of precincts reporting showed Nagin leading 51% to 49%, while a later update with 48% of precincts showed Landrieu with the lead with the same margin. Nagin first won the office in 2002, winning 76,469 votes (58.72%). Nagin, a Cable Executive, defeated New Orleans police chief, Richard Pennington, in that election by a lead of more than 22,000 votes with Pennington receiving 53,781 votes (41.29%). The total votes cast for both mayoral candidates in 2002 was 130,250 in comparison with the 113,591 total votes cast in this latest election.

Both Nagin and Landrieu called for the citizens of New Orleans to work together in unity. Nagin, in his victory speech, said, "It's time for us to stop the bickering. It's time for us to stop measuring things in black and white and yellow and Asian. It's time for us to be one New Orleans."

Landrieu struck a similar tone in his concession speech: "One thing is for sure that we as a people have got to come together so we can speak with one voice and one purpose," he said. "Join with me in supporting Mayor Nagin."

Nagin and Landrieu, both Democrats, agreed on most issues confronting New Orleans, including upholding the right of residents to rebuild in all areas of the city, and lobbying for increased recovery aid and upgraded levee protection.

What differentiated the two candidates was leadership style. Nagin, a former cable executive is best known for his maverick, straight-talking, political-outsider style, and his sometimes controversial remarks to the media in the aftermath of Katrina. Landrieu, a member of a prominent political family in Louisiana, emphasized his ability to reach consensus and bring people together during the campaign.

Race also appears to have played a factor, with Nagin winning majority black neighborhoods and Landrieu winning majority white neighborhoods. However, Nagin did also get a significant crossover vote from the more heavily populated, predominantly white neighborhoods. In 2002, both mayoral candidates, Nagin and Pennington, were black. Nagin won 100% of predominantly white precincts in that election while his opponent faired better in predominantly black precincts.

Louisiana Secretary of State Al Ater said that turnout was comparable to the April 22 primary, when about 37 percent of eligible voters cast ballots.

Nagin's new term begins May 31, one day before the Atlantic hurricane season begins.

Related news

 * Nagin, Landrieu advance to runoff in New Orleans mayoral election, April 23, 2006

title: Ray Nagin re-elected New Orleans mayor


text:
Finnish metal band win 51st Eurovision Song Contest

May 21, 2006 Lordi, described as "cartoon metalheads" wearing latex monster masks, beat runner-up Russian "heart throb" Dima Bilan to win this year's 51st Eurovision song contest held in Athens, Greece. Bosnia's Hari Mata Hariwas came third.

In a spectacular show, hosted by Maria Menounos and Sakis Rouvas, Lordi amassed 292 points after a public vote - 44 ahead of Russia. Greece's singer Anna Vissi, who was one of the favourites to win, came 9th, followed by Ireland's Brian Kennedy. From the start of the song contest as well as during the televoting, the Greek organisers presented viewers choreographies and dances inspired by Greek culture and music, both ancient and modern. In addition, the world famous Greek singer Nana Moushouri was presented by the hosts and gave the sign for the start of televoting.

Wielding spark-spewing instruments, the "Monster-themed" rock band beat 23 other competitors, scoring 292 points from telephone voters in 38 countries with its song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" in a performance that both shocked and amused viewers.

A spokesperson for Lordi said: "We won the contest, looking like this,” he said. “It just goes to show that Europe is not such a bad place." The Finnish band thanked viewers for voting for their song, which featured the lead singer hoisting a double-headed-axe microphone stand above his head. The win has been dubbed as a "radical departure" from the catchy pop tunes, folk songs and emotional ballads normally associated with Eurovision.

Complete with distorted guitars, a catchy chorus and "mock-demonic imagery," Lordi is reminiscent of 1970s American band Kiss - an inspiration acknowledged by lead singer Mr Lordi. "What this has shown is that there are different styles of music than just pop and rock," Mr Lordi told news media after the surprise victory. "That should be the goal of Eurovision," he said.

Mr. Lordi, whose real name is Tomi Putaansuu, hails from Lapland and says his band's masked personas are just characters. "The guys behind the masks are not interesting - underneath, there's just a boring, normal guy who walks the dogs, goes to the supermarket, watches DVDs and eats candies. You really don't want to see him." he said. But the characters "live on stage and they live in a fantasy world", he said. "This element of mystery is one of the cornerstones of Lordi."

The band has upset many Finns with their outrageous behaviour. "This is a victory for rock music... and also a victory for open-mindedness," Mr Lordi said. "For the millionth time, we’re not Satanists or devil worshippers. This is entertainment. The masks are like our calling card and we’ll never perform without them. It would be like Santa Claus handing a child his gifts at Christmas time and then pulling off his beard…"

The 51st annual Eurovision was broadcast live across Europe, watched by an estimated 100 million viewers. Regarded by many as the "contest good taste forgot," Eurovision is adored by fans of kitsch and camp everywhere.

Lordi join the likes of Abba, Bucks Fizz, Dana and Celine Dion on the elite list of Eurovision winners.

Because of Lordi's first place finish, next year the 52nd Eurovision Song Contest will take place, for the first time, in Helsinki, Finland.


text:
Violence escalates in Afghanistan

May 21, 2006 Two French special forces troops and a US soldier were among 34 killed in Afghanistan in a violent upsurge in recent days. General Rahmatullah Raufi, military commander for the southern provinces, said the clash erupted when militants ambushed a military convoy.

Fears of a resurgence of the Taliban have been boosted by a sharp rise in violence in the past few weeks, much of it in Helmand province. Around 120 people died in 24 hours last week. Attacks on Friday have claimed another 34 lives. Officials say the fighting was some of the heaviest since the Taliban were ousted by the US-led invasion in 2001.

The French Defence Ministry said two French soldiers were killed on Saturday in a battle with Taliban forces in Kandahar. France has had 200 special forces officers in south-eastern Afghanistan since 2003. A US soldier was killed and six others wounded after a bloody clash on Friday in, when a joint patrol encountered Taliban fighters.

The Taliban have stepped up attacks on foreign and government forces recently as NATO increases its peacekeeping force from 9,000 to 16,000 - as they prepare to take over from US forces in the South.

Helmand, the main opium poppy-growing region, has become a major focus of violence. Over the past week there has also been attacks in and the western city of. Scattered clashes in the southern provinces in the past four days have killed around 150 people, including Taliban, Afghan police and military personnel and civilians.

title: Violence escalates in Afghanistan


text:
300 Vietnamese fishermen rescued after record China typhoon

May 21, 2006 China has rescued more than 300 Vietnamese fishermen who were missing in the wake of a record typhoon, Chanchu, which blasted the South China Sea.

Survivors were found on 22 Vietnamese ships near the Pratas Islands, off the southern coast of Guangdong province. State television reported the rescue as the "largest international marine rescue operation ever mounted by China."

Eight fishing ships sank 1,000 km east of Vietnam's central city of Danang, while eight remained missing. Rescuers had found 26 bodies and rescued 81 others, the Vietnamese government said in a statement. "However, the number of missing fishermen and the ships remains huge," Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said on state-run Vietnam Television.

On the Da Nang coast, relatives of the missing fishermen erected altars with flowers and fruits. Weeping families burnt incense and prayed for loved ones to return. Typhoon Chanchu was downgraded to a tropical storm on Thursday when it crossed the southern Chinese coast. The storm caused landslides, flooding and forced around a million people to evacuate. Landslides and collapsing buildings killed 15 people and left four missing in China's Fujian province. Eight more people died in neighboring Guangdong province. Flooding in southern Taiwan swept two women to their deaths.

Chanchu, the most powerful on record to enter the South China Sea in May, left a wake of damage in the region - killing at least 37 people in the Philippines last weekend.

The typhoon, with winds of up to 170 km per hour, has reportedly killed 23 people in China. Vietnam's Fisheries Ministry had listed more than 400 fishermen as missing from Danang city and the nearby provinces of Quang Nam and Quang Ngai.


text:
'Naked Guy' Andrew Martinez dies

May 21, 2006

Andrew Martinez, a former student at the University of California at Berkeley who was better known as "The Naked Guy" in the early 1990s, committed suicide on Thursday. He was 33.

Guards at the Santa Clara County Jail reportedly found Martinez unconscious in a jail cell, with a plastic bag cinched around his neck, at about 11:19 p.m. Wednesday. Martinez was taken to a local hospital where was pronounced dead early Thursday. He had been incarcerated since January 10 on charges of battery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Martinez is best known for attending his classes in the nude in the fall of 1992. He became an instant celebrity, appearing on national television talk shows where he defended his practice as a form of free speech and a challenge to sexual repression in Western society.

Martinez was eventually expelled from UC Berkeley for violating the school's code of conduct, and Berkeley city officials passed a strict anti-nudity ordinance.

Family and acquaintances report that Martinez had been suffering from undetermined mental illness over the past decade for which he never found comprehensive treatment, and had been in and out of halfway houses, psychiatric institutions, and jail.

Said close acquaintance Bryan Schwartz, a civil rights lawyer in Washington, D.C., "He was a person with tremendous gifts and charisma who could have been a great asset to our society, but instead I feel like society -- me included -- failed him. It's such a waste."

title: 'Naked Guy' Andrew Martinez dies


text:
Talk:Pair extradited and charged over Granville, Sydney shootings

Original Reporting
Written entirely from the Police media release - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 08:33, 21 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
Militants target rally in Srinagar

May 21, 2006 A meeting organised by the Youth Congress at Srinagar's Sher-e-Kashmir park to mark the 15th death anniversary of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has been attacked by terrorists.

Official sources say intense firing and some explosions were reported by eye-witnesses. There were at least two militants involved in the incident according to Deputy Inspector General of Police Gopal Sharma.

A number of people, including Inspector General of Police, Srinagar, K Rajendra and Deputy Superintendent of Police Faizal Ahmad have been injured in the attack which occurred around 13:59 IST (0729 UTC). Security forces stated that they killed two of the fidayeen. Two civilans and one police officer lost their lives in the cross-fire.

title: Militants target rally in Srinagar


text:
Category:Kashmir

ar:تصنيف:كشمير

title: Category:Kashmir


text: User:Hamedog~enwikinews

title: User:Hamedog~enwikinews


text:
Iran stands defiant on Uranium enrichment

May 21, 2006

Iran has rejected European Union incentives to give up its enrichment program. Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said that any plan has to acknowledge Iran's legal rights under, including Article IV of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

It is believed that Britain, France, and Germany, all member states of the EU, are developing incentives for Iran to give up its enrichment programming in an attempt to defuse mutual fears and perceptions of threats by US, Israeli, and Iranian governments. The incentives are believed to include a raft of security, trade and technology benefits.

The proposal by the three EU members encourages other nations to support the construction of, to set up a nuclear fuel bank and the relaxation of United States trade restrictions to allow Iran to purchase commercial planes built in the US. These incentives are conditional upon Iran renouncing its rights under Article IV of the NPT, i.e. stopping its Uranium enrichment program, and cooperating with the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in ways additional to its present cooperation, which at present includes continuous monitoring of many key Iranian nuclear facilities by the IAEA.

If Iran doesn't comply, Britain, France and Germany will support economic sanctions against Iran, the refusal to issue visas to Iranian officials and a freeze on the assets belonging to individuals and corporations with ties to the Iranian regime.

Mr Asefi said he would not comment on the proposal at this stage. He said it would be "hasty to comment on a raw proposal that has been brought up in the media, and still neither officially nor unofficially given to us."

Mr Asefi said that any plan would have to recognise Iran's rights to be considered. "The basis of our work is that the Islamic Republic of Iran's rights must be recognised in any plan," he said.

"We cannot retreat. The proposal should provide ways to secure our rights," he said. "We will not stop enrichment."

Mr. Asefi warned Europe against economic sanctions saying that they would harm Europe. "We have broad trade and economic ties with European and non-European countries. These ties can be damaged and this damage will harm European countries even more." he said.


text:
Professionals and students continue strike in New Delhi

Almost 10,000 people marched to Jantar Mantar from Maulana Azad Medical College in an anti-reservation rally on Saturday. Doctors and medical students say they will continue to strike and protest, despite an appeal from the prime minister to call off their agitation.

Students from Delhi University and medical colleges around the capital, parents, lawyers, and accountants joined the striking medicos, under the banner of ‘Youth for Equality’.

The students and their supporters want total rollback of a proposed quota-hike for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in elite educational institutions, and a review of the present reservation policy. "There are very less seats in the post-graduate streams compared to the undergraduate courses. Hence the reservation move will affect the future of majority students," said student leader Praful Raj.

The students have support from many groups. They were led by the Youth for Equality, an AIIMS initiative, while United Students, a DU and JNU group, IIT alumni, RWAs (under the banner of United Residents Joint Action), Resident Doctors Associations from various government and private hospitals, Chartered Accountant’s Association, students from private universities like IP, and parents of agitating students also joined in.

Students from medical colleges in Rajasthan, Orissa, Gujarat, Punjab and Karnataka also took part in the rally. Students and doctors say the government has showed "scant regard to the sentiments of the students", who have been protesting the proposed quota-hike for OBCs in elite educational institutions.

The students had appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up a non-political judicial committee to review the existing reservation policy and sought an audience with him to discuss the issue.


text:
User:Youghal

My user page can be found here (Wikipedia).

title: User:Youghal


text: File:Rescued Australian miners sign multi-million dollar media deal.ogg


text:
Talk:Canada extends Afghanistan military role for two more years

Are we allowed to cite Wikipedia? Somehow I don't think so. Armedblowfish 14:05, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes we are. FellowWikiNews 20:29, 23 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Explosion blasts Palestinian intelligence service HQ

The link to Lantern of Life doesn't seem to point to any news. Maybe it uses frames? Or maybe it was a non-permanent URL? Armedblowfish 14:19, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * 1) doesn't load on my machine either.--elliot_k 14:26, 21 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
Trojan Nuclear Power Plant cooling tower demolished

May 21, 2006

At 7 a.m. PDT the 499-foot water cooling tower of the Trojan Nuclear Power plant was imploded using dynamite. The cooling tower, which is located in Rainier, Oregon, is the largest in the world to be demolished. For the past thirty years the tower has been an icon of the Pacific Northwest.

Controlled Demolition Incorporated, which was hired to bring down the tower, used approximately 3,300 sticks of dynamite. The company also imploded the King Dome in Seattle, Washington in 2000. Prior to the implosion, Interstate 5 and Highway 30 as well as river traffic on the Columbia River was blocked as a precaution.

The plant, which is owned by Portland General Electric, began operation in May 1976 and was shut down in January 1993 due to structural problems. It was decommissioned in 1999 when the reactor was taken upstream by barge to Hanford Nuclear Reservation. Some fuel rods are buried at the site, although they are in a casket over 900 feet from where the cooling tower sits.


text:
Interview with Ton Roosendaal about Elephants Dream and free content movies

May 21, 2006

Three days after the Internet release of the free content 3D short Elephants Dream (see Wikinews coverage), we exchanged e-mails with Ton Roosendaal about the reaction to the film, open source filmmaking, and the changes to Blender that resulted from the production. Ton Roosendaal is the lead developer of the Blender 3D rendering and modelling software that was used for the movie. He is also the chairman of the Blender Foundation, a non-profit organization which was formed in support of the software and projects like Elephants Dream.

'''How much money did the Blender Foundation spend on producing the movie? Has the money been fully recouped by DVD orders and donations?'''

We still have to finish the final bookkeeping for this project. It has been executed in co-production with the Netherlands Media Art Institute, and we each had our own internal budgeting for the project. When you exclude expenses of pre-production and producer personnel, the total budget was about 120,000 €, of which we covered half. Our contribution was roughly covered half by the DVD sales, and half by European Union support (http://www.uni-verse.org consortium).

'''One of the most common criticisms of CGI films is focus on technology over content. For instance, Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within flopped with audiences, in spite of being an undisputed technical milestone. I've seen many reviews that criticized the plot of "Elephants Dream" as too bizarre or confusing. In retrospect, are you happy with the story development process?'''

Haha, I knew the story and plot would get a mixed acclaim. There's a couple of reasons I'd like to mention for it.

First of all; the criticism resembles how people witness Blender itself, too. Many people expect that Free Software is an easy accessible mass audience product. We get a lot of complaints by non-artists that they can't get into the software easily, whilst the complexity of commercial products like Maya or Houdini is perceived as a confirmation of its "quality". Apparently an Open Movie created similar expectations with the audience.

Luckily we also got many positive reviews of the artistic result of the movie. It is quite abstract, but definitely has many layers of information, inspiring many of the viewers to see relevant real life messages hidden here.

For this project we've teamed up with the Netherlands Media Art Institute, internationally renowned as a resource for video art. So for Elephants Dream, we've had the luxury to challenge ourselves to create real independent artistic content as well. The artists had a lot of freedom from the start; they were responsible for the concept, story and creative development of the entire movie. This has resulted in a lot of quite personal choices, based on what the artists liked to do themselves. I really cherish such an approach, it has resulted in a very motivated team working crazy hours the last months to get it all realized.

But, most importantly; the main target of our project was not only to create a 3D movie short, but to experiment with ways to improve the efficiency and quality of open source development. On this aspect only, this project was just a huge success, and the main reason for our sponsors (the DVD pre-sale) to support it. I know they might have liked a cartoonish funny movie with furry animals better, but for that you get already pretty well served by the bigger 3D animation studios. :)

I'm the first to admit that - looking back especially - certain aspects worked out quite weakly; there's loose ends and questionable decisions, especially in story development and continuity. That's just the risk of doing experiments, and nothing I regret really. The five artists from our user community who were invited to make the movie were young people with no professional background in filmmaking. Their personal incentive to participate in this project was also to learn from it, and to create a good portfolio for their future career. I've witnessed them grow in competence in the past year enormously, something I'm incredibly proud of.

'''On the technical level, the only major criticism I've seen of "Elephants Dream" is the character animation, especially in the opening scene -- many reviewers felt that the movements seemed a bit unnatural. Do you agree with these criticisms? If so, what do you think can be done to improve on that level?'''

Yeah, the challenge the artists set themselves - to use quite realistic personages - is also something that easily works against you. In many animation movies they introduce characters in the beginning in a way you get used to their specific characteristic movements, so you accept a certain level of non-realism easily. (Check the weird walk cycles in The Incredibles for example). Another aspect is that we've started work on the first scenes, and ended with the last scenes. I can clearly see the animation quality increase, and that whilst the ending scenes were done in much less time due to time constraints.

We also didn't schedule to do 9.5 minutes of animation either…. Originally it was more like 6. But, it's always easier to look back to define the right decisions, eh? :)

I'm very happy with the reviews we got so far; luckily the movie was perceived as a professional quality product, and reviewed based on comparisons with what the big studios come up with. Even when we couldn't satisfy all these quality demands, it has luckily not been branded as a pathetic presumptuous attempt by amateurs!

'''Do you think there is hope for a full-length open movie project in the near future? Would the Blender Foundation be interested in such a project, or do you intend to continue focusing mainly on shorts?'''

I'd like to wait a little while with defining what a next project would look like. Given the constraints of "organizing projects to improve open source development", we might have not much choice either. It would probably mean to work with a new team each time, so most likely be based on shorts only. On the other hand, there's also clear signals that this approach works well, and creates excitement and involvement of a lot of people, also from producers and sponsors. That might enable us to set up a next project based on larger targets. For a full-length feature film however, we should involve a sufficient amount of experienced film makers as well, and/or invite the first team to participate again. That would put a lot of pressure on the required budget…. You can't do that based on a 1000 DVD pre-sale target. Would more be like 20,000 or so…. :)

'''How did the process of making the movie feed back into the development of Blender? Are there major technical changes that were made only or primarily because of the film?'''

Already during the pre-production phase the artists have defined the key targets for Blender development. This then was coordinated with the online development community too. I've done the most crucial (re-)development mostly myself, though. Especially on the character animation tools, on the rendering pipeline and compositing tools.

It is especially the latter I'm most satisfied with. In 3D movie production the compositing stage creates a giant content bottleneck. By  transparently integrating this in our render-pipeline, a very efficient workflow has been achieved. And, not to forget, Blender now also offers the first production-level open source compositor on the market!

The current summary you can find in our work-in-progress release notes.

What are the key technical features in Blender you want to add or improve for future movie projects?

Depends on what the movie is about! There's always hundreds of features you can work on. However, we'll have to work on that anyway, movie project or not. There's a lot of professionals using Blender now, and they can't wait for the Blender Foundation to do movies! Look at this studio for example: http://www.plumiferos.com/

'''I read that at least one proprietary software package, Reaktor, was used for the sound effects. Is this because no equivalent free software solution exists yet? Will future projects have a "free software only" policy?'''

We've limited the "Open Source tools" requirement to our own Studio Orange only. That was what we could keep in control at least, and I can tell you it was not always easy even... :)

For sound and music we've decided from the beginning to seek an external sponsor. We have chosen to work with the best quality studio and composer we could find, preferably using open source, but not as a prerequisite.

My own competence is solely within the CG [computer graphics, Ed.] side of movie making. When it comes to music editing, or video encoding and DVD authoring, I could only decide to choose to work with external parties with proven competences in that area. I have to be practical in projects like this, especially to ensure it will be realized.

Hopefully, now we've got so much attention world wide, we can involve more non-CG open source next time, too. I will definitely strive for the maximum here, but it will fully depend on the amount of professional support we can get.

'''Blender itself was originally closed source freeware, until it was "liberated" through a fundraising campaign. If you could choose one proprietary application to "set free" where such a goal could be realistically achieved, which one would it be?'''

Well, the "realistically achieved" demand makes it quite difficult. :) Looking back at similar cases, like Mozilla and OpenOffice.org, it was always very circumstantial. It just happens sometimes, you can't organize something like this to happen in advance. The only common denominator is "a company in troubles"… so, who's in trouble now?

What is your personal favorite computer-animated full-length film?

Uuuh… that differs every week! Probably Ice Age (the first one). Mostly because they didn't overdo showcasing 3D technology so much, but created truly adorable characters and great funny gags.


text:
Talk:Interview with Ton Roosendaal about Elephants Dream and free content movies

 * ''This story has been submitted to digg.com. [http://digg.com/technology/Interview_with_Ton_Roosendaal_about_Elephants_Dream_and_open_movies

I conducted the interview by e-mail on May 21, 2006. The answers as received unedited can be seen in the first revision of this article.--Eloquence 15:11, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Great work. Bawolff ☺☻[[image:smile.png]] 20:20, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

 * Thanks! Doing e-mail interviews is great fun, and not at a lot of work at all. I've got another one with LibriVox coming up. If you have ideas for interviews, but not for questions, let me know.--Eloquence 22:32, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

 * I've submitted the story to digg.com. If you have an account, you can digg it here.--Eloquence 23:43, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

 * Was the response "(the first one)" in reference to Ice Age the interviewee's addition? If it isn't, I believe there were a few before it, such as Toy Story and the such.  --MrMiscellanious (talk) – 23:45, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

 * He wrote "Ice Age (1)". There's a sequel out now.--Eloquence 23:48, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Ah. Please excuse my idiocy :).  --MrMiscellanious (talk) – 02:20, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

 * Well-done interview, with quite an interesting subject. Thanks for your work. Rob T Firefly 16:35, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

 * Please don't take offense, as I really respect the work of everyone involved, and I know I'm going to sound like a troll, but as someone who's done computer animation for years, I have to ask: Why couldn't the first "open source" CGI project use some real writing? I mean, I do appriciate abstract art from time to time, but a good short fiction plot would've advanced the idea of Open Source Content lightyears compared to the abstract (though well animated) film I just viewed. When 10% of the dialogue is a characters name (how often did he say "Emo?") you begin to question the abscence of plot. I know the interview addressed this as "non-arists don't get blender" or some such, but the fact is, I use blender a lot, I love it, it's great. "Elephants Dream" was rather lame though. The animation and the effects were a big step forward, especially for open source software, but the plot... it might as well have been a silent movie. People are going to look at this, and declare it useless, whereas if you'd done some existing story (maybe some old H.G. Wells tale or something) it could've been really be revolutionary. Was the plot a side-effect of having so many artists working on it, or was it intentional?--Xepher 2006-05-23

Slashdotted
--Deprifry|+T+ 09:11, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I've move semi-protected based on our last experiance with /. and WoW. Bawolff ☺☻[[image:smile.png]] 17:28, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

 * People seem to mention the movie more then the interview, or us. The only person mentioning wikinews so far, wasn't very nice about it: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=186335&cid=15378868 And somebody else thought he sidestepped a few questions. Bawolff ☺☻[[image:smile.png]] 17:28, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * If you read down theres a couple people who said they enjoyed reading the interview. Bawolff ☺☻[[image:smile.png]] 17:31, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Newsforge linked to us: http://software.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=06/05/25/1513215&from=rss

Bawolff ☺☻ 00:18, 28 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
Wikinews:Briefs/May 21, 2006

The time is 17:00 (UTC) on May 21st, 2006, and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.

Violence escalates in Afghanistan
Afghanistan

Two French special forces troops and a US soldier were among 34 killed in Afghanistan in a violent upsurge in recent days. General Rahmatullah Raufi, military commander for the southern provinces, said the clash erupted when militants ambushed a military convoy. Fears of a resurgence of the Taliban have been boosted by a sharp rise in violence in the past few weeks, much of it in Helmand province. Around 120 people died in 24 hours last week. Attacks on Friday have claimed another 34 lives.

Iran stands defiant on Uranium enrichment
Iran

Iran has rejected European Union incentives to give up it's Uranium enrichment program. Foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said that any plan has to acknowledge Iran's "legitimate rights". It is believed that Britain, France and Germany, all member states of the EU, are developing incentives for Iran to give up it's enrichment programming in an attempt to avoid an international stand-off. The incentives are believed to include a raft of security, trade and technology benefits.

Militants target rally in Srinagar
India

A meeting organised by the Youth Congress at Srinagar's Sher-e-Kashmir park to mark the 15th death anniversary of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has been attacked by terrorists. Official sources say intense firing and some explosions were reported by eye-witnesses. There were atleast two militants involved in the incident according to Deputy Inspector General of Police Gopal Sharma.

Professionals and students continue strike in New Dehli
India

New Dehli: Almost 10,000 people marched to Jantar Mantar from Maulana Azad Medical College in an anti-reservation rally on Saturday. Doctors and medical students say they will continue to strike and protest, despite an appeal from the prime minister to call off their agitation.

300 Vietnamese fishermen rescued after record China typhoon
China

China has rescued more than 300 Vietnamese fishermen who were missing in the wake of a record typhoon which blasted the South China Sea. Survivors were found on 22 Vietnamese ships near the Pratas islands, off the southern coast of Guangdong province. State television reported the rescue as the "largest international marine rescue operation ever mounted by China."

Pair extradited and charged over Granville, Sydney shootings
Australia

New South Wales detectives have successfully extradited a 30-year-old woman and 23-year-old man from Western Australia wanted in connection with a double murder in the Sydney suburb of Granville on March 29, 2006. The victims of the murders were 26-year-old, Bassam Chami, who died at the scene and 25-year-old,Ibrahim Assad who died following surgery at Westmead Hospital.

Ray Nagin re-elected New Orleans mayor
United States

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin won re-election Saturday night, successfully weathering a challenge from Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu and allowing him to oversee the continued rebuilding of the Louisiana city decimated by Hurricane Katrina.

Snowy Hydro Scheme to go public
Australia

The New South Wales (NSW) government says small investors will have the first opportunity to buy shares in one of Australia's most unique public assets - the Snowy Hydro Scheme, the sale of which begins officially on Monday 22 May. NSW Finance Minister John Della Bosca denied the sale was incongruent with Labor's stance on privatisation, or that it was a pre-election strategy.

Missing BC girl found safe
Canada

A missing 11 year old girl was found safe on Thursday around 5:00 am PDT after disappearing May 16 while riding her scooter to a local video store near the north Okanagan town of Armstrong, British Columbia. Carmen Kados left home on her regular two kilometer trip to the local store at around 6:45 Tuesday evening. She wasn't seen again after leaving the store at around 7:15.

'Naked Guy' Andrew Martinez dies
United States

Andrew Martinez, a former student at the University of California at Berkeley who was better known as "The Naked Guy" in the early 1990s, died on Thursday in an apparent suicide. He was 33.

Finnish metal band win 51st Eurovision Song Contest
Europe

A "cartoonish" band from Finland has won this year's Eurovision song contest in Athens. "Monster-themed" rock band Lordi beat 23 other competitors. Lordi scored 292 points from telephone voters in 38 countries with its song "Hard Rock Hallelujah" in a performance that both shocked and amused viewers.

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 21, 2006


text: Wikinews:Archives/Region/United States

title: Wikinews:Archives/Region/United States


text:
User:General Eisenhower~enwikinews

Hi.

title: User:General Eisenhower~enwikinews


text:
Possible Anthrax scare in Norway

May 21, 2006

During the weekend, 11 estates in the capital of Norway, Oslo, received suspicious white powder by mail. The owners of the estates are mainly elders, and mainly the estates are located in the west.

Some of these owners have received antibiotic cures, because this powder might be. The test-results for anthrax were released during the morning of the 22nd of May.

The results of the tests did not indicate any form for anthrax. However, this is the second time that white powder is found in the mail, the first time was shortly after the 9-11 attacks.

title: Possible Anthrax scare in Norway


text:
Wikinews:2006/May/31

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

fr:Wikinews:2006/mai/31 it:Wikinotizie:2006/maggio/31 ja:ウィキニュース:2006年/5月/31日 pt:Wikinotícias:2006/maio/31 zh:Wikinews:2006年/5月/31日

title: Wikinews:2006/May/31


text:
Talk:Bulgarian and Romanian EU accession treaty is signed in Luxembourg

Text under image
The text under the European flag is kinda hard too read... I'd like it if someone could fix that, since I don't have an account here so I can't edit the page. Thanks in advance! Dayana 19:36, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Hello Dayana,
 * Wikinews was using an outdated version of the image, hence the red x. I've replaced it with a new version of the European flag image, and the text looks quite readable now.
 * — THIS IS M ESSED [[Image:R with umlaut.png]] OCKER (TALK) 19:41, 21 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
Five dead in Louisiana church shooting

May 22, 2006

A lone gunman has shot and killed four in-laws at the Ministry of Jesus Christ church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The suspect, identified as Anthony Bell (25), was arrested Sunday in a nearby apartment block close to the church. The suspect's wife, Erica Bell (24), was also shot and killed.

Bell abducted his wife and her three children during a Sunday morning church service. The children, one was an infant, were found unharmed. His relatives described Bell as having “domestic problems”.

It is unclear where the fatal shooting of Mr. Bell's wife occurred. The church pastor and mother to Erica Bell, Claudia Brown, was wounded during the rampage and was hospitalized in serious condition.

Bell has been charged with five counts of murder, attempted murder, and kidnapping.

title: Five dead in Louisiana church shooting


text:
Wikinews:Inter-wiki relations

This page is for coordinating/integrating Wikinews with other Wikimedia projects (current and future efforts).

Current
Use templates where appropriate: Theres more, especially for the wikinewspars, for more then 2 stories, but I can't remember them.
 * w:template:Wikinews
 * w:template:Wikinewspar2
 * w:template:Wikinewsportal
 * w:template:Wikinewscat

 * w:user:Wikinews Importer Bot - copy DPL's over to pages that could use them (mostly portals)

Future (perhaps)

 * Better integration with Current Events/In the news?

Current

 * Participate in the inter-wiki linking project thing (see Template talk:Sisterlinks)
 * Issues with commons should be directed to commons:User:pfctdayelise, who has expressed an interest with inter-wiki relations, Adambro who is an admin on Commons, or appropriate page (like Commons:C:VP)

zh:Wikinews:跨維基聯繫

title: Wikinews:Inter-wiki relations


text:
Talk:Missing girl from British Columbia found safe

Writely
Amgine and I worked on this article using Writely. It was a very neat experience. If anyone is intersted in collaborating using Writely, please let me know. I've got a few more invites. --Chiacomo (talk) 23:52, 21 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I was going to ask "What is Writely", but I googled it, and am curious. --Brian McNeil / talk 21:44, 27 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
User talk:202.63.38.224

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating Truckies now have a Helping Hand, 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 23:54, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:202.63.38.224


text:
User talk:Er0229~enwikinews

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating Suspicious white powder found in Norway, 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 23:58, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

Thanks, I have now edited som of the site as well as cited the sources used. - Er0229

Writing contest
I noticed you listed your name. Please list all stories you worked on for the contest at International Wikinews Writing Contest 2/log, under your name. Thank you for participating and Happy editing. Bawolff ☺☻

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 Er0229. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name Er0229~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 23:15, 17 March 2015 (UTC)

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

title: User talk:Er0229~enwikinews


text:
User talk:66.52.187.2

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating Victory For Oakland's Public Housing Tenants, we appreciate articles like this. This article appears to be what Wikinews calls original reporting. Wikinews articles must cite sources for all assertions they make. In the case of original reporting, you are the source. The way we usually deal with this is for you to place a comment on the article talk page, stating who you are, what your relationship is to the story you are covering, and describing the nature of the reporting (i.e. interviewing, taking notes, observing events, etc). You should also read Original reporting.

If you are intimately involved in the event being reported, it may be more appropriate for you to request an interview, rather than write an article.

Discussion about your article will occur on the article talk page. Please go there to 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 00:00, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:66.52.187.2


text:
User talk:Tyydyy

Welcome to Wikinews! Thanks for creating Moxie - Greening the Greyzone, 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 00:03, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:Tyydyy


text:
Sweden wins World Ice Hockey Championships

May 22, 2006

The Swedish won the  Monday in, Latvia, defeating the  by a score of 4-0 to become the first country to win both the  and the Ice Hockey World Championships in the same year.

(14:36), (15:13),  (24:07), and  (37:01) contributed the four goals that led to the Swedish team's win. Coach Bengt-Ake Gustafsson was reported as stating that "It's fun to be part of hockey history. It's been great working with these guys and my staff. I think we played more or less a perfect game today."

Kronwall, a, was named the MVP of the tournament.


text:
Downer welcomes Australian nuclear energy debate

May 22, 2006

Australia's foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer has given his support for a serious debate on nuclear energy in Australia. Mr Downer's comments follow similar comments made by Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Canada last week.

Mr Downer said that climate change has strongly influenced many to change their position on nuclear power and to encourage debate. He encouraged people to keep an open mind on nuclear power within the context of reducing greenhouse gases. The production of nuclear energy produces far fewer greenhouse gas emissions than coal and oil power stations.

Mr Downer also said that it would make sense for Australia to investigate nuclear power generation given that it has 30 to 40 percent of the world's Uranium reserves.

Mr Downer said any discussion would need to look at whether Australia would build nuclear power stations in the future and whether a Uranium enrichment program would be undertaken.

"There's the question of whether Australia itself would eventually, some time, no doubt in the far distant future, build nuclear power stations," he said.

"There's a question of whether Australia would ever enrich uranium - in other words, we go up the processing chain, rather than just dig it out." Mr Downer said.

Unlike Australian industry minister, Ian MacFarlane and finance minister, Nick Minchin, Mr Downer refused to say when he thought nuclear energy would become a reality in Australia. Mr Downer said the construction of nuclear power plants would depend on two things - political debate and economic considerations. Mr Downer said that nuclear power plants can be very expensive to build and they would need to be comparable in overall cost to oil and coal based power plants for it to make economic sense.

Opposition treasury spokesman Wayne Swan has said he does not support Australia building nuclear power plants. He also said that Australia had large energy reserves and has no need for nuclear power generation. "We are a country with an abundance of energy, we're are optimistic about what can occur with clean coal technologies, we have an abundant supply of gas – I don't see the need for Australia to go down that road."


text:
Talk:Downer welcomes Australian nuclear energy debate

Original reporting
The article is written completely from an interview transcript on the minister's website. The last paragraph is the only part of the article which has been "filtered" from other media sources, which provides the opposition's position on the issue. - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 01:09, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Re OR
Q: So, is that all it takes to make an article "Original"? Writing an article by using a media release or transcript? I did not know this... Cool. I always assumed that media releases were not considered as viable 'stand-alone' sources at Wikinews. A lot of my articles are similar, in that the bulk of the article is sourced from the initial media release, however I head to the corporate sources to get responses and background. Good work Cartman! I'm gonna use this "original reporting" technique myself. Cheers, and good luck in the IWWC2, mate.... --elliot_k 05:49, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * So long as the majority of the article is from the media release it is considered original reporting. Most of my OR articles are entirely based from original sources - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 09:13, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Yeah and perhaps that my point - in terms of using a single 'stand-alone' source - that with only one source, NPOV issues will arise. In your article here there is a heavy weighting placed on Downer's stance - with little regard for the massive opposition out there in the media today. --elliot_k 10:20, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * That is sometimes the problem with OR. Also note that the topic is that Downer is supporting it, a whole article could be devoted to opposition if you wished. I have tried to counter any NPOV problems with Wayne Swan's comments - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 10:29, 22 May 2006 (UTC)
 * Indeed. I'm working on it now. Perhaps I could just cut n paste a media release from Greens or Greenpeace, ConsCo, TWS or ANAWA or FoE etc.... --elliot_k 10:37, 22 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Dec. 2004 Sumatra quake was longest ever recorded

$$Insert formula here$$6=6


text:
User talk:69.158.59.209

Notice of Temporary Block
You have been blocked temporarily for your actions on the following page: Apes and birds are able to plan ahead: psychologists. Your block will be up within 1 month. I suggest you look at our style guide during your inaccessable period to amend your methods of editing Wikinews. If you wish to speak with me directly, contact can be made by my talk page or contact can be made instantly via the IRC chat room.

 --MrMiscellanious (talk) – 02:44, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Block.
I have reset the one month block imposed on you to one just one more week from today, after taking into account the fact that you were not given sufficient warning before the former block was put into effect. I am however concerned about the racist language used by you in your edits. Please refrain from making comments like these after your block expires. If you continue with this behaviour, you will face an even longer block. PVJ  (Talk) 14:02, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:69.158.59.209


title: File:22May2006.sxw


title: File:22May2006.pdf


text:
Talk:Keep your eyes peeled for cosmic debris: Andrew Westphal about Stardust@home

Removed date stamps. Fixed some typos. And performed a little other cleanup work. More needs to be done, though. 192.192.248.183 03:05, 22 May 2006 (UTC) (Taibeiren)

Do we need interjections like "way cool", "awesome" and "yup" in the published interview? I think it's distracting.--Eloquence 06:05, 29 May 2006 (UTC)
 * no we don't. yes, it is. so fixing. Doldrums 10:41, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

Who is "I"?
We need to make it clearer who the interviewer is if it gets personal, e.g. "I got to meet one of the stardust directors in March ..". Provided it was always the same person, could someone add a brief note to the intro who asked these questions? For a group interview, we could also prefix each quetion with the interviewer's name.--Eloquence 23:29, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

All in all, this was published far too early.--Eloquence 23:43, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

What did we learn?
What did we basically learn from the Stardust Mission? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.91.137.1 (talk • contribs) 19:40, 23 January 2007


text: File:Ray Nagin portrait.jpg

title: File:Ray Nagin portrait.jpg


text:
Mark Rocket first New Zealander to book Virgin space flight

May 22, 2006

Mark Rocket, a Christchurch Internet entrepreneur, has purchased a $300,000 flight into space with Virgin Galactic.

In 2008 he will take off for space from the Mojave Desert, near Los Angeles in an eight man spacecraft. He will spend about 10 minutes in space.

He has said that he always wanted to go into space ever since seeing the first Star Wars movie. He even changed his name because of the movie, but won't say what from.

He has already been to California to see the development of the rocket and visited the International Space Development Conference.

Mark Rocket said: "I guess I'm just a real space nut."


text:
Talk:Mark Rocket first New Zealander to book Virgin space flight

Comment
This is so weird. A while ago, a South African internet entrepreneur, Mark Shuttleworth, flew as a space tourist on a shuttle. Now a New Zealander internet entrepreneur, Mark Rocket, wants to fly as a space tourist on a rocket. What is it about these entrepreneur Marks with spacey last names? :-) -- IlyaHaykinson 08:11, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Mark Rocket first New Zealander to book Virgin space flight
I would like to make a small correction to this article. It states that Mark changed his name because of the Star Wars movie. I work with Mark and although this is a nice angle to introduce to this story, it simply isn't true.

So, I suggest removing the line, "He even changed his name because of the movie, but won't say what from."

Otherwise, it's nice to see him featured in Wiki.Steph Kendall 21:05, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
 * This would be an interesting story to do an interview on. If you and Mark can brave the frontiers of IRC and answer a few questions we can throw at you then we can probably do a nice piece for featured.  See Request an interview. --Brian McNeil / talk 21:26, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

Article Marked
I dont normally like marking old articles, but there seems to be some accuracy issues with this article. Can we please resolve them - Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 21:27, 23 August 2006 (UTC)
 * I didn't notice how old this was, a correction and link to such would be appropriate, it'd fit well with an interview too. --Brian McNeil / talk 21:30, 23 August 2006 (UTC)

3 months
This article was published more than 3 months ago and people are still talking about it! nzgabriel 05:52, 24 August 2006 (UTC)


text:
Talk:Five dead in Louisiana church shooting

Four or five dead?
Both our article here as well as the BBC article are unclear. In the headline, BBC writes of five killed, yet in the article, the BBC writes about four dead, one wounded. This is also how it is presented here. I guess we will probably have to wait for other news sources and/or until the BBC corrects itself.
 * Added two sources, updated story, then removed tag. Thanks Florian Prischl. -Edbrown05 00:54, 23 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
User talk:Filip nohe

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! --Deprifry|+T+ 09:21, 22 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!

title: User talk:Filip nohe


text:
NSW govt to rebuild high school with private funding

May 22, 2006 New South Wales minister for Education and Training, Carmel Tebbutt told parliament that Kelso High School, which was destroyed by fire on August 18, 2005 will be rebuilt under the NSW government's New Schools Public Private Partnerships (PPP) program. Under the program, the bulk of construction costs come from private companies who own the schools for 30 years, after which time they revert to government ownership.

The PPP program began in October 2001. According to the government, 19 schools will be delivered under the PPP program by 2009.

The announcement follows Member for Bathurst, Gerard Martin's statement to parliament on September 14, 2005 that the government would be rebuilding the school at a cost of $18 to $25 million. "The Government has accepted the responsibility of the $18 million to $25 million to rebuild the school, which is proceeding post haste" he said.

The PPP announcement has been seen as a backflip by the government.

When approached by Wikinews, Brad Hazzard, the opposition's education spokesperson said that the coalition did not have a formal policy in this area but generally were supportive of the PPP program so long as infrastructure and maintenance are addressed.

Australian Greens education spokesperson, John Kaye, said that problems were already emerging with the PPP program in NSW. In March 2006, it was revealed that the government had to negotiate an exit strategy so that after school hours child care could be provided. In a media release provided to Wikinews, Dr Kaye said, "Yet another flaw in a NSW Public Private Partnership (PPP) has been uncovered. Just like the Cross City Tunnel, the community suffered because the contract failed to protect the quality of service delivery,"

“After numerous complaints from parents, the Iemma government had to negotiate an exit strategy from the contract to provide out-of-school-hours childcare. Corporate giant ABC Learning which had purchased the original provider, Peppercorn, was clearly not interested in the expensive end of childcare".

Dr Kaye also pointed out that an Auditor general’s report found alarming evidence that the basis for PPP in NSW could be based on unreliable financial models. Dr Kaye said that the Auditor General has "cast a very large shadow" over the government's claimed savings from the PPP program.

“It appears that the NSW government does not know with any degree of certainty how much it would cost to perform the same function in the public sector. Any attempt to say that private sector control is cheaper is now fraught with danger,"

“The Auditor General’s report proves that the methodology used by the Government to estimate the costs of public sector provision is highly unreliable and suspect" said Dr Kaye.

Both Carmel Tebbutt and Gerard Martin gave no response when contacted by Wikinews.


text: File:GreensMarch.pdf

title: File:GreensMarch.pdf


text:
Talk:Nelson, NZ, man trying to sell leg online

I wasn't sure whether or not to create a whole new article? What should I have done?

I believe the Content Guide states that you shouldn't update an old article - you should create a new one. But I'm new here so would be good to hear from a seasoned pro :) R2b2 10:51, 22 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
Talk:NSW govt to rebuild high school with private funding

Original Reporting Notes
I had anticipated on publishing this story much earlier, but held off in the hope that the NSW Government would respond to my questions. Unfortunately neither the education minister nor member for Bathurst responded to me, so the article was delayed slightly.

The article is written from email interviews, material provided during email interviews and the hansard of parliament.

E-Mail from Brad Hazzard, NSW Opposition Education Spokesman on May 12, 2006
Nathan...We have not released our policy in this area as yet. But generally we are supportive of PPPs provide they address infrastrucure and/or support services ( eg maintenance) Regards, Brad Hazzard MP Member for Wakehurst Shadow Minister for Education, Shadow Minister forAboriginal Affairs.

E-Mail from John Kaye, NSW Greens Education Spokesman on May 16, 2006
Hi Nathan

Lee Rhiannon asked me to respond as the party's Education spokesperson. I have attached a number of media releases that explain our position, plus you might like to look at an Opinion on line piece we wrote earlier this year at http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp? article=4287

Please let me know if you need further information

John Kaye Education Spokesperson The Greens NSW [[Media:GreensMarch.pdf|Files supplied by Dr John Kaye]] -Cartman02au (Talk)(AU Portal) 10:24, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

Carmel Teebutt (Minister for Education and Training)
What did you want to ask her? You could always give her a call...

 * Ministerial Office: Phone (02) 9228 5360
 * Electorate Office: Phone (02) 9558 9000

... and there is also the Department of Education & Training switchboard on (02) 9561 8000. You could call that and ask for a press person.

I don't really understand this issue, but if you post some questions here I can try and get a response. - Borofkin 01:27, 23 May 2006 (UTC)


text:
PM John Howard's nuclear push causes alarm

May 22, 2006

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has announced he wants a "full-scale nuclear debate", and three of his senior federal government frontbenchers - Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Resources Minister, Ian Macfarlane, and Environment Minister Ian Campbell - have all suggested Australia, which has around 40 per cent of the world's known uranium reserves, should consider enriching uranium - a step in processing that would allow it to be used as reactor fuel as well as for nuclear weapons.

However there is strong opposition for nuclear power in the Australian community. The Australian Greens have rejected the Prime Minister's assumption that nuclear power might be 'desirable' for Australia. The Greens say they challenge Mr Howard to show "true leadership on climate change and nuclear non-proliferation."

Greens climate change and energy spokesperson Senator Christine Milne said Mr Howard was "playing politics" by floating the idea and testing public opinion before developing a government position.

"Instead of pandering to US President George Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair - the two most unpopular leaders in the world today - Prime Minister Howard should demonstrate real leadership and put some authenticity into the government's response to climate change and terrorism," Senator Milne said. "Nuclear power and nuclear proliferation are a threat to both."

Senator Milne challenged advocates of nuclear power to explain what they will to do about nuclear waste, how large a public subsidy they are prepared to pay to prop up nuclear power, and why the Sustainable Development Commission was wrong when it recommended last month against expanding nuclear power in Britain.

"Australians have already had to subsidise uranium mining companies to clean up after mines have closed, while last week's Budget papers revealed that ANSTO can't estimate the cost of decommissioning the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor," Senator Milne said. "When will advocates of nuclear power admit that it is too slow, too expensive and too dangerous to be a solution to climate change? Nor is there any safe way to dispose of the waste. It is not even safe to transport, a concern supported by the head of the International Energy Agency..." said Senator Milne in a media release.

"Instead of turning to nuclear power, Australia should ratify the Kyoto Protocol, invest in renewable energy, adopt a national energy efficiency target and improve public transport.

"Several studies examining options to achieve deep cuts in Australian greenhouse emissions all show this goal can be achieved, cost effectively, without resorting to nuclear power," said Senator Milne in a media release.

Greens leader Bob Brown says the Prime Minister is sending a message of approval for Indonesia to become a nuclear power. "Australia and our region are essentially nuclear-free. Mr Howard is abandoning that security to grab uranium profits and facilitate an Australian role in nuclear enrichment," Senator Brown said. "This robs Australia of its moral strength to argue against Indonesia resurrecting the Soeharto plan for 12 nuclear reactors and to advance its interest in Russian-built floating nuclear power stations." "This will make our region much less secure for the next generation of Australians," Senator Brown said. "John Howard has talked up regional terrorism. Now he is promoting nuclear power proliferation in our neighbourhood. At best his logic is faulty, at worst he is taking Australia into a future unnecessarily menaced by the nuclear threat," Senator Brown said.

Labor MP Kelvin Thomson says John Howard's push towards nuclear power generation could heighten the risk of a terrorist attack. "The problem with nuclear power is that more of it that is around, the easier it is for terrorists to get access to it and I'm not satisfied that in this day and age we can be absolutely certain that terrorists can't access it," Mr Thomson said.

Mr Thompson said the Government should be focussing its interest on "much safer and environmentally-friendly" abundant renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. Mr Thomson said Australia was a potential world-leader in solar power. "Surely you exhaust all the other alternatives first before you say let's go down the nuclear road," he said.

"The problem with nuclear power is that more of it that is around, the easier it is for terrorists to get access to it," he said. "I'm not satisfied that in this day and age you can be absolutely certain that terrorists can't access it."

Union leader Bill Shorten, a federal Labor candidate at the next election, believes the issue is unpopular with the electorate. A survey in 2005 found 47 percent of Australians supported nuclear power and 40 percent opposed it.

Professor Frank Muller from the University of New South Wales, said the framework to manage nuclear power needs to be put in place first. He says it could take decades before a nuclear power plant could operate. "So it actually takes even longer to provide a greenhouse benefit than it does to build a power plant," he said. Professor Muller says nuclear power stations are expensive to build, and safety is a major issue.

Opposition environment spokesman Anthony Albanese said: "John Howard's nuclear fantasy is Australia's nightmare," Mr Albanese told reporters. "Intractable problems with nuclear energy when it comes to economic costs, safety, disposal of waste and contribution to nuclear proliferation remain up to some 50 years."

Mr Albanese said that if Mr Howard was serious about nuclear power he should say where a nuclear power plant would be built, and where the waste it produced would be stored. "If he's so confident that nuclear energy is safe... I'm sure he'll have coalition MPs volunteering to have a nuclear reactor in their electorate and to store their waste in the electorate," he said.

Mr Albanese said the current Labor policy remained opposed to nuclear energy in Australia.


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User talk:68.224.239.63

Hi, please don't post nonsense or we'll have to block you. This isn't Slashdot. Thanks,--Eloquence 11:03, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

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User talk:192.192.248.183

Thanks
Thank you for cleaning up the interview. I have not had the time to do it myself :) Jason Safoutin 11:25, 22 May 2006 (UTC)

title: User talk:192.192.248.183


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One of Saddam Hussein's defense lawyers thrown out of court

May 22, 2006 Bushra Khalil, one of the defense lawyers for former Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, was thrown out of court by Chief Judge Raouf Abdel after speaking out of turn.

"The right of defence is sacred. We have never seen in our whole career a lawyer ordered out of the court room like this. We should not be treated like this, we are defending those men who defended the honour of the nation, yes they are the honour of the nation," said an Egyptian lawyer, in court for Hussein's defense.

Khalil was attempting to make a speech when Judge Abdel told her to stop talking. When Khalil continued to speak out of turn, Judge Abdel ordered court guards to remove her from the courtroom. Khalil then threw her lawyer's robe onto the floor and walked out of the courtroom.

"You have to stick to the rules, you are a lawyer, you should behave by the rules," said Judge Abdel to Khalil while she left the courtroom.

Hussein objected to the judge's orders and protested saying, "I am Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq. I am above all."

"You were president, now you are the defendant," replied Judge Abdel.

This is the second time that Khalil was thrown out of the courtroom. Back in April, Judge Abdel had Khalil removed for the same reasons. This is also her first appearance in court since April's incident.