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Wednesday, June 21, 2006

London — A few hundred England fans weren’t watching the 2006 FIFA World Cup match against Sweden last night in a pub or at home, but instead had ventured out to their local cinema to see the game on the big screen. A number of Odeon cinemas nationwide have been using digital projection technology to screen the matches live with a high definition (HD) picture. HD broadcasts contain a greater level of detail than traditional TV broadcasts, meaning a sharper picture and better sound quality.

In the darkened auditorium of the cinema in Covent Garden, the audience (or should that be crowd?) were behaving almost as if they were at the stadium, singing along to the national anthem, cheering at the England goals and groaning at the Sweden chances. At times, chants being sung by the England crowd at the match were even picked up and sung along to by those watching the cinema screen like some kind of football karaoke contest.

Trailers before the match were replaced by a soundtrack of England anthems, both the successful and not-so-successful ones, and the traditional movie treat of popcorn was replaced by trays of beer (in plastic cups) being brought in by the punters. The cinema had cheekily listed the screening as being ‘directed by Sven-Göran Eriksson’ and as ‘starring Wayne Rooney (hopefully)’.

Despite a disappointing 2-2 draw, the audience seemed impressed with the experience. “I’m a bit short and so wanted to make sure I had good view without having to jostle around for position,” Amanda, from London, explained to me. “I also liked that it was non-smoking, and there was a fabulous atmosphere”. Sian, Caio and Laura, who lived locally, said they wanted to see the match on the big screen and commented on the excellent picture quality.

Other events that have been broadcast by the cinema chain include concerts by Robbie Williams and Elton John. Odeon Marketing Director Luke Vetere said “offering films is just one part of the cinema experience – our ambition is to offer guests the chance to watch other events they feel passionate about”. Watching football in the cinema is not a brand new event though, during previous World Cups such as in 1966, film footage from the matches was broadcast in cinemas after the event, providing a way for people to see the games in colour when TV broadcasts were in black and white.

Cinema screenings aren’t the only way that fans can watch the World Cup games in high-definition this year though, as both Sky TV and Telewest have been broadcasting the games in HD to viewers with a special set-top box. There have been trials with HD on the growing Freeview platform too, with a pilot group of a few hundred viewers in London. However, as any move to roll out HD on Freeview would use up extra space on the broadcast spectrum and would require viewers to buy a new set-top box, it seems unlikely that this will happen any time soon.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Australia has reclaimed The Ashes after defeating England in the third 2006-07 Ashes Test match in Perth, Western Australia. The win gives Australia an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

Australia lost The Ashes for the first time since 1987 in the 2005 Ashes series, when England won the series 2-1, with the other two tests drawn.

Australia won the toss and batted first on the WACA ground wicket. The English bowling dominated, dismissing Australia for 244 off 71 overs. Michael Hussey was the only Australian to build an innings, scoring an unbeaten 74. Recalled left-arm orthodox spinner Monty Panesar claimed 5-92, and teammate Stephen Harmison took four wickets.

England went in to bat late on day one, and lost two wickets for 51 runs before the close of play. On the resumption of play on day two, the wickets continued to fall, and they were eventually bowled out for 215. Kevin Pietersen made 70 for the visitors, whilst Stuart Clark took 3-49 for the home team.

The second innings of Australia was a vast improvement. They lost one wicket before stumps on day two, and resumed at 1-119 on day three. They proceeded to dominate England in 40^oC+ temperatures, with three Australians – Michael Clarke, Michael Hussey and Adam Gilchrist – scoring centuries. Gilchrist’s century was the second-fastest in history, reaching 100 in 57 deliveries. Australia declared their innings closed late on day three at 5-527.

England required 557 to win in their second innings, or needed to bat for two-and-a-bit days to salvage a draw and keep the 2006-07 series alive. They were 1-18 by the close of play on day three. On day four, English batsman Alastair Cook scored his first Ashes test century, stalling Australia’s roll towards victory. He was assisted by teammate Ian Bell, who made 87.

Cook was dismissed by paceman Glenn McGrath on 116 in the third last over of day four, sparking an English batting collapse; the visitors were 5-265 at stumps on day four, after losing three quick wickets. Day five saw England bat well for an hour, before collapsing after losing captain Andrew Flintoff to be all out for 350 two balls after lunch. Shane Warne finished with 4-123 in the second innings, whilst Pietersen was unbeaten on 59.

Michael Hussey was named Man of the Match for his two innings of 74 not out and 103.

The fourth test will begin on Boxing Day (December 26) at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Warne requires just one wicket to be the first bowler in history to reach 700 Test wickets.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

File:Amir Philly 2.jpg

Iran has been operating a nuclear program for years and announced opening a new uranium facility on Tuesday. Its claims over nuclear enrichment are for a nuclear power program, although this requires 5% enrichment as opposed to the 20% enrichment level they claim the right to pursue which is more commonly used in nuclear bombs.

Wikinews interviewed Amir Abbas Fakhravar, the President of the Iranian Freedom Institute which is based in Washington DC, United States, also a research fellow at the The Institute of World Politics, about the Iranian nuclear program in light of recent talks with this week with the P5+1 group of countries.

((Wikinews)) What is your role at the Iranian Freedom Institute?

Amir Abbas Fakhravar: I am the President and Founder of the Iranian Freedom Institute.

((WN)) Iran seems unwilling to give up its nuclear programme, do you think they will eventually given the UN [United Nations] sanctions?

AAF: The only way Islamic Regime in Iran will give up its nuclear program is either full operation and military attack by the West or total oil sanctions. 85–90% of the the Islamic Republic’s money comes from crude oil sales. This money does not go to the Iranian people, but instead funds the nuclear program, the Revolutionary Guards, basijis, Hezbollah, and other terror operations worldwide. The Islamic Republic will be forced into abandoning its nuclear program when oil sanctions dry up the money supply.

((WN)) Do you feel the Islamic Republic of Iran is trying to provoke a response from the Western nations (USA, UK, France, Germany)?

AAF: A limited military response from the West which will not be for a regime change would be a gift to the Islamic Republic, and would feed the narrative of “overreaching, imperialistic Western governments” perpetuated by the regime. The IR is well aware of the rapid decline in support from the Iranian people and is looking for a way to gain back some of that support, even superficially. An attack from the west would buoy the regime and damage the work being done by the opposition.

((WN)) What is the need for Iran to have a nuclear programme, are they doing it for energy or for weapons?

AAF: Iran makes clear its intentions for the nuclear program through its actions. The regime expresses desire to annihilate Israel almost daily, and has repeatedly refused negotiation and inspection of its nuclear sites. Also you can find several type of energies in Iran and at all they don’t need to have this expensive and dangerous nuclear energy. For sure Islamic republic of Iran wants to have Nuclear bomb.

((WN)) If Iran does not listen and change course with regards to its nuclear program, do you think that the United Nations will apply more sanctions?

AAF: It took a very long time to sanction the Islamic Republic to the extent it is now, and since the UN continues to send negotiators to the table to discuss Iran’s nuclear program, tighter sanctions at this point in time are unlikely. It is our responsibility at Iranian opposition to inform United Nations about this regime’s threat to international community. We should move much more organize[d] and faster to cut Islamic Republic’s diplomatic relationship with the world. Our campaign on oil sanctions showed us it is possible.

((WN)) Do you think that the United States is particularly unhappy and international relations are poor considering that Iran recently captured a drone and refused to return it?

AAF: While a failure militarily and with regard to foreign policy, the captured drone incident is a relatively small event in the context of ongoing tensions between the United States and the Islamic Republic.

Friday, July 17, 2009

According to the Pew Research Center, a non-advocacy organization that evaluates issues, attitudes and trends shaping the political landscape of the United States, centrism is on the rise in America. According to Pew, the number of Americans identifying themselves as independents has reached the highest level in 70 years.

Recently 36% of Americans say they are independents, 35% identify as Democrats, while 23% see themselves as Republicans. Some people are abandoning the major parties, re-registering as independent or joining third parties.

One of these third parties are the Modern Whig Party (MWP), who have enjoyed phenomenal growth over the past year; from just 3,000 members last summer to 30,000 now. With the Party’s commitment to “fiscal responsibility” and “bold social progression”, several conservative Democrats and centrist Republicans have been attracted to it.

Wikinews reporter Joseph Ford recently spoke with the Modern Whig Party’s chairman, Mike Lebowitz, about the MWP’s history, present state and future prospects. “Our membership is comprised of people from all parts of the mainstream political spectrum,” Lebowitz explains. He says that the MWP has “pragmatic, realistic, and mainstream” approaches to the numerous issues facing America today.

“A number of print and broadcast media outlets have even gone so far as to proclaim that the Modern Whig Party is “potentially viable,” and “makes sense”,” Lebowitz points out. “We are building this organization realistically, methodically and gradually in an effort to get this right.”

He went on to say much more — including why he thinks you should consider leaving the GOP or the Dems for the MWP — in the interview below.

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Thursday, February 9, 2006

George Deutsch, a controversial George W. Bush appointee at NASA, resigned his post as press officer the same day that Texas A&M University confirmed that he never graduated from the school. The resume of the 24-year old had claimed he received a “Bachelor of Arts in journalism, Class of 2003.”

Mr. Deutsch gained notoriety when it was revealed he had instructed NASA web site designers to insert the word “theory” at every mention of the Big Bang, on the grounds that it was a religious matter. “This is more than a science issue, it is a religious issue. And I would hate to think that young people would only be getting one-half of this debate from NASA.” said Mr Deutsch in an e-mail.

Mr. Deutsch also told public affairs workers to limit reporters’ access to James Hansen, a top climate scientist and longtime director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. Dr. Hansen’s lectures and papers were also to have been censored by public affairs workers. Dr. Hansen stated he would ignore the restrictions, which came through the less official channels of phone calls.

Dr. Michael Griffin, NASA chief, appeared to back Dr. Hansen’s claims of internal censorship, when he sent a strongly worded email message to all NASA employees stating “It is not the job of public-affairs officers to alter, filter or adjust engineering or scientific material produced by NASA’s technical staff.” Several other NASA employees reported similar tampering after the incident. NASA personnel told the New York Times that “Mr. Deutsch played a small but significant role in an intensifying effort at the agency to exert political control over the flow of information to the public.”

Climate science has long been linked with the space program because many of the underlying mathematical modeling techniques were originally developed to help understand the atmospheres of other planets, such as Venus.

Mr. Deutsch was given his job in NASA’s public affairs office in Washington after working on President Bush’s re-election campaign and inaugural committee.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

The director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, suspended negotiations in the Doha round of trade talks on Monday, after a meeting of six “core” negotiators India, Brazil, the United States, European Union, Japan, and Australia in Geneva failed to make any headway in reconciling differences over agricultural trade liberalisation. The US wanted cuts in import tariffs for farm products, which were rejected by EU, Japan and India, who asked for cuts in agricultural subsidies.

Peter Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, told the Financial Times: “If the US continues to demand dollar-for-dollar compensation in market access [cutting tariffs] for reducing domestic support, no one in the developing world will ever buy that and the EU will not either.” Brazil also identified the US stand on subsidies as the reason the talks failed.

Susan Schwab, the US trade representative, said that the other countries sought exemptions from tariff cuts for a wide range of goods and that such exemptions would defeat the object of the talks – to expand trade. “As we went through the layers of loopholes . . . we discovered that a couple of our trading partners were more interested in loopholes than market access,” she said.

The Indian Commerce and Industries Minister, Kamal Nath said that developing countries could not allow their subsistence farmers to lose their livelihood and food security to provide market access to agricultural products from developed countries.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Journalist, counselor, painter, and US 2012 Presidential candidate Joe Schriner of Cleveland, Ohio took some time to discuss his campaign with Wikinews in an interview.

Schriner previously ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, but failed to gain much traction in the races. He announced his candidacy for the 2012 race immediately following the 2008 election. Schriner refers to himself as the “Average Joe” candidate, and advocates a pro-life and pro-environmentalist platform. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, and has published public policy papers exploring solutions to American issues.

Wikinews reporter William Saturn? talks with Schriner and discusses his campaign.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Police in the West Midlands in England today said nearly 200 kilograms worth of drugs with value possibly as great as £30 million (about US$49 million or €36 million) has been seized from a unit in the town of Brownhills. In what an officer described as “one of the largest [seizures] in the force’s 39 year history”, West Midlands Police reported recovering six big cellophane-wrapped cardboard boxes containing cannabis, cocaine, and MDMA (“ecstasy”) in a police raid operation on the Maybrook Industrial Estate in the town on Wednesday.

The seized boxes, which had been loaded onto five freight pallets, contained 120 one-kilogram bags of cannabis, 50 one-kilogram bags of MDMA, and five one-kilogram bricks of cocaine. In a press release, West Midlands Police described what happened after officers found the drugs as they were being unloaded in the operation. “When officers opened the boxes they discovered a deep layer of protective foam chips beneath which the drugs were carefully layered”, the force said. “All the drugs were wrapped in thick plastic bags taped closed with the cannabis vacuum packed to prevent its distinctive pungent aroma from drawing unwanted attention.” Police moved the drugs via forklift truck to a flatbed lorry to remove them.

Detective Sergeant Carl Russell of West Midlands Police’s Force CID said the seizure was the largest he had ever made in the 24 years he has been in West Midlands Police and one of the biggest seizures the force has made since its formation in 1974. “The impact this seizure will have on drug dealing in the region and the UK as a whole cannot be underestimated”, he said. “The drugs had almost certainly been packed to order ready for shipping within Britain but possibly even further afield. Our operation will have a national effect and we are working closely with a range of law enforcement agencies to identify those involved in this crime at whatever level.”

Expert testing on the drugs is ongoing. Estimates described as “conservative” suggest the value of the drugs amounts to £10 million (about US$16.4 million or €12 million), although they could be worth as much as £30 million, subject to purity tests, police said.

Police arrested three men at the unit on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug. The men, a 50-year-old from Brownhills, a 51-year-old from the Norton area of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, and one aged 53 from Brownhills, have been released on bail as police investigations to “hunt those responsible” continue. West Midlands Police told Wikinews no person has yet been charged in connection with the seizure. Supplying a controlled drug is an imprisonable offence in England, although length of jail sentences vary according to the class and quantity of drugs and the significance of offenders’ roles in committing the crime.

Monday, March 19, 2007

A 34 year old obstetrician from Forestville on Sydney’s Northern Beaches has escaped after he was robbed, car-jacked and locked in the boot (trunk) of his BMW, which was set alight. Police say the doctor was locked in the boot while his car was set alight, but was allowed to escape before flames engulfed the vehicle.

The Doctor was believed to have been heading to The Mater Hospital in North Sydney when he was waiting at the intersection of West and Falcon Streets in Chatswood around 3:15AM AEDT when a small red sedan with two men claiming to be police officers signalled him to stop. After crossing the intersection, the doctor stopped his car at the side of the road.

The doctor was then approached by the two men and when he asked to see identification, one man grabbed the keys from his car’s ignition before they both pulled the doctor out of his vehicle, hit him in the stomach with a hammer and stole his mobile phone and wallet. The robbers also demanded his key and credit cards along with their access codes before locking him in the boot.

Police allege that the men drove to several locations to withdraw cash and buy things before driving to Carisbook Street in Linley Point at around 4 a.m. local time where they set the car alight with the doctor still in the boot.

Crime Manager of the Harbourside Local Area Command, Detective Inspector Houlahan said that the doctor then “heard a click in the boot area and he heard someone call out: ‘Get out of the car'”

“When he pushed the boot up he found his car engulfed in flames.”

Det. Insp. Houlahan said the doctor told police he did not unlock the boot himself, and it appeared the man’s captors unlocked it before fleeing.

Det Insp Houlahan said that the doctor appeared to be “very distraught” and tired after the ordeal, and wanted to get home and see his wife and two young daughters.

He could only provide police with a vague description of his captors, but said the men were both Caucasian males aged in their 20s, and that one of them was about six feet tall (183cm) with short blond hair and medium build said Det. Insp. Houlahan.