International Paralympic Committee holds first press conference
Tuesday, August 28, 2012 London, England — Yesterday, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) held their first formal press conference as part of the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Approximately 60 media representatives attended and had the opportunity to ask questions of Craig Spence, IPC President Philip Craven, Chairman of the London Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralymic Games (LOCOG) Sebastian Coe, and LOCOG Director of Communications and Public Affairs Jackie Brock-Doyle following a short speech on the history of the Paralympic Games. The reporters asked a variety of questions. A British journalist asked about having ATOS as a sponsor given the negative history the business has had with disability services in the country. The IPC responded by saying this is an issue that should be taken up by the relevant British government agency. A Wikinews reporter asked if the high cost of technology for participating in disability sport at the elite…
Eight mountaineers missing on Mont Blanc in French Alps after avalanche
Sunday, August 24, 2008 Rescue crews have called an end to the search for eight mountaineers who went missing on the French side of Mont Blanc after an avalanche that occurred on at 0100 GMT August 24. Eight other climbers were also injured. Five of the missing are said to be Austrian and three were from Switzerland. “[There is] no longer any chance of finding someone alive,” stated the interior minister of France, Michele Alliot-Marie who also added that are more people trapped beneath the snow. “Thanks to technology, we know for certain there are people buried under the snow, but it’s impossible to be sure exactly how many.” Rescuers feared that there would be more avalanches and decided to end the search for survivors in the late afternoon today. The avalanche started at an elevation of 3,600 meters and went down the mountainside for nearly 100 meters, leaving a…
ACLU, EFF challenging US ‘secret’ court orders seeking Twitter data
Thursday, April 7, 2011 Late last month, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed objections to the United States Government’s ‘secret’ attempts to obtain Twitter account information relating to WikiLeaks. The ACLU and EFF cite First and Fourth amendment issues as overriding reasons to overturn government attempts to keep their investigation secret; and, that with Birgitta Jonsdottir being an Icelandic Parliamentarian, the issue has serious international implications. The case, titled “In the Matter of the 2703(d) Order Relating to Twitter Accounts: Wikileaks, Rop_G, IOERROR; and BirgittaJ“, has been in the EFF’s sights since late last year when they became aware of the US government’s attempts to investigate WikiLeaks-related communications using the popular microblogging service. The key objective of this US government investigation is to obtain data for the prosecution of Bradley Manning, alleged to have supplied classified data to WikiLeaks. In addition to Manning’s Twitter…
Tonga: Four guilty over ferry disaster that killed 74
Friday, April 1, 2011 Tonga’s largest criminal trial today ended in the conviction of four men and the state shipping firm over the sinking of MV Princess Ashika. 74 were killed when the ferry went down off Nuku’alofa in 2009. The vast majority of bodies remain missing. Only two were recovered, including one Tongan — a 21-year-old mother called Vae Fetu’u Taufa. The Shipping Corporation of Polynesia (SCP) manager John Jonesse, acting director of the national department for ports and marine affairs Viliami Tu’ipulotu, captain Viliami Makahokovalu Tuputupu, and first mate Semisi Pomale were all convicted of her manslaughter by negligence. The men were remanded into custody over the weekend to await sentencing; they face a maximum of ten years in jail. Justice Shuster cited the severity of the offences in denying bail, which was requested by Laki Niu and Vuna Fa’otusia, attorneys representing the accused. Built in the early…
Have You Been Hit By An Uninsured Or Untraced Driver?
Click Here To Know More About: Insurance Advisers Australia Austbrokers Have You Been Hit By An Uninsured Or Untraced Driver? by Paul Howe When you are hit by an uninsured or untraced driver the first thing you will do is get extremely worried. However, do not worry yourself too much as there are people out there to help you. You are not on your own and this does not mean you are necessarily going to have to fork out a lump sum to pay for the damage. If the accident is not your fault you should be able to get help. Many people are hit by uninsured drivers each year in the UK, even though car insurance is a legal obligation. What Should I Do? Firstly, if you have been hit by anyone on the road, you need to get vital information from the third party. The most important details…
NATO leaders meet for two day summit in Wales
Saturday, September 6, 2014 Leaders from NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) member states met in Wales over Thursday to Friday in a summit addressing the organisation’s role in Afghanistan and new threats from Russia and the Islamic State. Since the 2010 NATO summit in Lisbon, Portugal countries involved in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), NATO’s military operation in Afghanistan, have been committed to full transition of security responsibilities to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. This would mark the end of ISAF’s 13 year mission in Afghanistan, with troops changing to a training and assistance role. Plans had originally intended for Afghanistan’s new President, or President-elect, to attend this year’s summit, but due to the political situation and ongoing election process it is still unknown who will replace outgoing President Hamid Karzai. Bismullah Khan Muhammadi, the country’s defence minister, instead attended the summit in the absence of a…
Glenn Beck loses domain name case over parody website
Saturday, November 7, 2009 American political commentator Glenn Beck has lost his case against a satirical website which parodies him, in a ruling from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, Switzerland. The website argued Beck’s actions to shut it down were an attempt to silence free speech. On Friday, the website’s creator sent a letter to Beck saying he would voluntarily turn over the domain name to him. Florida resident Isaac Eiland-Hall created the website in September, and it asserts Beck uses questionable tactics “to spread lies and misinformation”. The website was represented in the case Beck v. Eiland-Hall by free speech lawyer Marc Randazza. Wikinews interviewed Randazza for the article “US free speech lawyer Marc Randazza discusses Glenn Beck parody”, and previously reported on the case in articles, “US free speech lawyer defends satire of Glenn Beck” and “Satirical website criticizes Glenn Beck for ‘hypocritical’ attempts to…
Rugby Union: Queensland’s Ballymore Cup quarter finals
Thursday, July 23, 2009 The Ballymore Cup Quarter Finals were played Wednesday. The Ballymore Cup is a state wide Rugby Union competition in the Australian state of Queensland. Schools participating in the Greater Public Schools (GPS) competition do not compete in the Ballymore Cup. The North Queensland quarter finals are played as a round robin competition between four teams in Makay while the three other quarter finals are played at Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane. Below are reports off each match in division 1. Siena Catholic College 11 – 5 Marsden State High School Siena Catholic College from the Sunshine Coast managed to slip past Marsden State High School 11 points to 5. Both sides crossed the oppositions line but penalties committed by Marsden gifted Siena the victory. Siena defeated reigning champions Mountain Creek State High School in the Sunshine Coast division 1 competition final. They will play the winner of…
Canadian government announces major tax reductions
Wednesday, October 31, 2007 Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced a five-year program that could reduce taxes by a total C$60 billion. The planned tax reduction measures include: Low-end personal income tax rates would be reduced from 15.5% to 15%, taking retroactive effect to the start of 2007; The basic personal exemption, the amount at which income is taxable, is raised from C$8,929 to C$9,600, also backdated to January 2007; Business tax rates are expected regularly drop from the current 20.5% to 15% in 2012; The Goods and Services Tax that applies to most purchases would be reduced from 6% to 5% as 2008 begins. This rate was previously reduced from 7% July 2006, shortly after Prime Minister Stephen Harper took office. These measures will be brought before the House of Commons in Ottawa on Wednesday as a confidence motion. In Canada’s minority government situation, opposition parties could defeat these…
After uncertain day of Eurovision rehearsals, EBU will place sanctions on Spain and RTVE
Friday, May 15, 2009 After a tense day of rehearsals, in which Spanish national broadcaster RTVE said publicly that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) would not be imposing sanctions on them for pre-empting the second live Eurovision semi-final, the EBU has made an official statement, contradicting RTVE and announcing that sanctions will be placed on Spain. This year’s act, former Operación Triunfo finalist Soraya Arnelas, will not be affected by the EBU ruling, and she will be allowed to perform her song “La noche es para mí” in Moscow as scheduled on Saturday. By late Friday evening, the newspaper ABC announced that while RTVE and the EBU were in talks all day, it looked as if Soraya’s spot would not be in danger, as she participated in dress rehearsals during the afternoon. Later, the EBU released their statement, which says in part, “Spanish broadcaster [RTVE] did not broadcast the second…