Thursday, August 27, 2009

Police officers in Richmond in south-west London, England are removing valuable items like handbags and laptops from unlocked vehicles and leaving notes telling owners to collect their items in Twickenham police station in a bid to try and encourage car drivers to lock the doors of their vehicles.

There is a high number of in-car thefts or “smash and grab” attacks in the borough. Last year, 1,300 of these attacks were reported in the area. 220 of those cases involved satellite navigation systems or sat-navs. But the numbers of these thefts occurring have been rising recently. The figure has risen by 40% until July.

25 cars have been targeted so far but there has been only one car where an item has been removed with a note left for the owner to collect it. If there is nothing on display but the car is unlocked the owner will be sent a letter telling them to be more careful. These tactics should only be attempted by police officers if they cannot find the owner nearby.

The project has received the backing of Richmond Council. A council spokesman from Richmond-upon-Thames said: “We have issues with theft in the borough — particularly theft from cars. We see our borough as a green and pleasant place. Car owners therefore can be lulled into a false sense of security in that they leave items displayed prominently in unlocked cars.”

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Member states of the eurozone have offered to give Greece thirty billion euro in emergency loans for the debt-stricken country, should the latter want it.

The loans’ price will be determined using formulas by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and will be set at around five percent.

The Luxembourgish prime minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, speaking on behalf of eurozone finance ministers, commented that “[t]he total amount put up by the eurozone member states for the first year will reach 30bn euros.” He added that “[t]his is certainly no subsidy” to Greece.

The prime minister also noted that financing would be “completed and co-financed” by the IMF. European Union monetary affairs chief Olli Rehn remarked that the IMF would make a “substantial contribution” to the loan package as well, perhaps around ten billion euros.

The Greek economy has spent more than it has earned for several years now, and currently faces a budget deficit equal to 12.9% of its economic output, or a total debt of 300 billion euros. The country intends to try and reduce the deficit to 8.7% this year.

Tuesday, November 16, 2021

The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (often abbreviated to COP26) has concluded with the signing of the Glasgow Climate Pact. The pact is the first ever deal struck to explicitly plan to reduce coal usage internationally. Coal accounts for around 40% of the world’s annual greenhouse gas emissions and is the highest-emitting fossil fuel in terms of greenhouse gases.

However, BBC News reported that the pledges made still don’t go far enough to limit global warming’s impact to 1.5 degrees Celsius. According to a 2018 Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C, the differences between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius are profound. While 1.5 degrees would help mitigate the worst effects, even 2 degrees Celsius would exacerbate the impacts of climate change internationally.

Though it was initially planned for coal to be entirely phased out, India’s climate minister, Bhupender Yadav, pointed out that this would not be possible for developing nations where they “have still to deal with their development agendas and poverty eradication”. This point refocused the discussion to reduction rather than total elimination at this stage.

COP26 President Alok Sharma said that he was “deeply sorry” for the softening of the pact, stating that it was necessary in order to preserve the deal as a whole. Switzerland’s environment minister, Simonetta Sommaruga, expressed her “profound disappointment”, commenting that it will “not bring us closer to 1.5C, but make it more difficult to reach it.”

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Five men out of six accused of involvement in the September 11 attacks have been referred to trial by the Guantanamo military commission. The war crimes tribunal also dropped charges against Mohammed Qahtani, who is alleged to have been the ‘20th hijacker‘, although they were dropped “without prejudice” so the Saudi Arabian can still be re-charged.

All six men are currently being held in maximum security at the United States naval base at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay. Under the 2006 Military Commissions Act those charged must be arraigned within 30 days and have their trial commenced within four months.

The men are accused of plotting the attacks, in which four passenger airliners were hijacked in US airspace. One was flown into each tower of the World Trade Center, one was flown into the Pentagon and the fourth crashed in a Pennsylvania field. Almost 3,000 people were killed. 19 hijackers were involved, with one aircraft having four hijackers compared to five on the others, triggering theories concerning a 20th hijacker. It is alleged that Qahtani missed out on this role because he was unable to get past anti-immigration measures to upon arrival in Florida, where head hijacker Mohammed Atta is said to have been waiting.

Those who are set to go to trial are alleged members of Al-Qaeda, who were found to be responsible for the attacks. They are Walid bin Attash, Ramzi Binalshibh, Ali Abdul Aziz Ali, Mustafa Ahmed Hawsawi and alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

They have all been charged with conspiracy, murder in violation of the laws of war, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property, terrorism and material support for terrorism while all but Hawsawi are charged with hijacking aircraft as well.

Some concern has been made over alleged human rights abuses. Officials have said themselves that Qahtani was harshly treated in imprisonment and Khalid was subjected to waterboarding.

Qahtani also withdrew an earlier confession saying it was obtained from him under torture. He submitted a detailed written account describing abuse he alleges against him including beatings, being forced into uncomfortable positions for long periods, threats with dogs, exposure to music at high volume, being subjected to freezing temperatures and being forced to appear naked in front of female personnel.

The arraignments will take place at the high security Guantanamo war crimes tribunal, and will mark the first public appearances of the men since their capture. The trial will mark the first in front of a US war crimes tribunal since World War Two, and the first capital one at this tribunal as prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for all of the men.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Tyler Currie is running as an Progressive Conservative candidate in the Ontario provincial election, in the riding of Trinity-Spadina. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

After almost two months of delay, NASA has set March 11 as the launch date for Space Shuttle Discovery. On February 22, NASA had stated that they indefinitely delayed the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery, which was originally scheduled for takeoff on February 12. Launch was then further delayed until February 25 before being delayed indefinitely on February 22. NASA cited the need for additional time to evaluate the shuttle’s hydrogen fuel flow control valves.

Liftoff is set for nighttime on Wednesday, March 11, at approximately 9:20 p.m. (EST) from Launch Complex 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The official countdown to launch will commence Sunday, March 8.

“The team came through, worked hard and was efficient. It’s time now to step back and think of everything else we need to watch before launch on the 11th. There’s no better team than this one and I thank them for putting the right analysis together,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA.

NASA wanted to perform additional tests on the valves which control the amount of hydrogen fuel pumped into the external tank when the shuttle is taking off before making a decision to launch. When Space Shuttle Endeavour went into space in November 2008, one of the valves broke. NASA fears that if one breaks off on this mission, then it could damage the outside of the shuttle.

The current scheduled mission, STS-119, is set to fly the Integrated Truss Structure segment (“S” for starboard, the right side of the station, and “6” for its place at the very end of the starboard truss) and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The arrays consist of two 115-foot-long arrays, for a total wing span of 240 feet, including the equipment that connects the two halves and allows them to twist as they track the sun. Altogether, the four sets of arrays can generate 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity – enough to provide power for more than 40 average homes.

Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery’s crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

Monday, June 27, 2005

American actor John Fiedler died at the age of 80 on June 25. Though he worked extensively on stage, film, television, and radio for over forty years, he is perhaps most remembered for two roles: the mild, fearful voice of Piglet in Disney‘s many Winnie the Pooh productions, and the role of Mr. Peterson, nervous patient on The Bob Newhart Show.

Born in 1925 in Ohio, Fiedler began his career in New York, working on the radio series The Aldrich Family as sidekick Homer Brown, and making his film debut in Twelve Angry Men (1957), as the nervous Juror #2. Most of his subsequent roles were as gentle or nervous types, though occasionally he broke out of the mold, notably in the original Star Trek episode “A Wolf in the Fold,” as an official possessed by Jack the Ripper. On Broadway he was in the original casts of A Raisin in the Sun (as housing commmittee rep Lindner) and The Odd Couple (as poker player Vinnie), reprising both roles for the film versions. Other on-camera work included roles in the films True Grit and The Cannonball Run, plus many TV guest spots from Bewitched to The Twilight Zone, and a recurring part on Kolchak: The Night Stalker as morgue attendant Gordy “The Ghoul” Spangler.

His distinctive voice kept him busiest, however. In addition to playing Piglet in many shorts, four features, several specials, and two TV series, he was heard in the Disney features The Rescuers, Robin Hood, and The Emporer’s New Groove. A cause of death has not yet been reported.