Thursday, April 14, 2005

An exhausted Charles Kennedy returned to the election campaign to launch a twenty page Liberal Democrat manifesto targeted at disaffected Labour voters, promising a fairer tax system and withdrawal from Iraq.

Entitled The Real Alternative the manifesto pledges to reduce the lowest rate of income tax, but increase the rate on those earning over £100,000 to 50%. The party would also scrap the unpopular local council tax in favour of a new local income tax. The manifesto also promises to remove hidden “stealth taxes”.

Under this system the party claims the poorest 15 million (25%) of people in Britain would be better off, and the middle 50% would be paying no extra tax.

The manifesto promised to scrap the controversial university tuition fees, increase services for pensioners and add £100 a month to the state pension, and train 21,000 new primary school teachers and 10,000 new police. A Lib Dem government would make eye and dental checks free, and reduce the cost of prescription medicine.

The Liberal Democrats were the only one of the three largest parliamentary parties to have consistently voted against the Iraq war, and the manifesto has promised an exit strategy with a phased withdrawal of Britain’s 8,000 troops still in the country.

“We reject a foreign policy based on ‘my ally right or wrong’,” Kennedy said. “And we say that war should always be a last resort.”

Kennedy, who became a father on Tuesday, admitted he’d had little sleep before the manifesto launch, and stumbled while answering questions on the proposed tax system.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Wikinews interviewed author Nancy Many about her book My Billion Year Contract, and asked her about life working in the elite Scientology group known as the “Sea Org“. Many joined Scientology in the early 1970s, and after leaving in 1996 she later testified against the organization. Published in October, Many’s book has gone on to become one of the top selling new books on Scientology at Amazon.com.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Hundreds of thousands of British public sector workers went on strike across the country yesterday to protest planned changes to pensions. As industrial action swept the country, half of all schools were hit when teachers walked out, thousands of emergency service responders did not arrive at work, and there were warnings of immigration delays at Heathrow airport.

Police arrested 26 people as protesters picketed on a march in London, and riot police kettled demonstrators as clashes broke out. Reports vary, but it is thought that up to half of British state schools have been affected as employees did not turn up to work.

Mark Serwotka, the leader of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), said the strikes would serve as a “wake-up call” to the coalition government. “It’s a very, very clear signal to the government that they have been rumbled,” Serwotka said. “This is not about pensions, this is about making public sector workers pay for the economic problems, and we are determined to keep going until they change direction.”

Government officials condemned the strike and said the planned changes to pensions, which would see teachers work until age 68 and get less from their pensions, were “fair to taxpayers” as Britain attempts to deal with a large budget deficit. A spokesperson for Downing Street insisted the strike was having a “minimal” impact and said the turnout suggested many public sector workers supported the pension changes.

Christine Blower, the general secretary of one of the striking unions, the National Union of Teachers (NUT), said the strike demonstrated “the anger and distress that this government is causing teachers.” She said the “unjustified attacks” on the pensions of teachers “are nothing short of disgraceful.” Speaking on BBC television programme Question Time, she added: “Much of this has already been imposed on teachers without negotiation, and when we say there are talks going on it’s perfectly true that the government is talking but it isn’t actually listening.”

But despite government claims that the strike was having little impact, 5,679 schools were closed and another 4,999 were affected as teachers did not turn up for work. Michael Gove, the education secretary attacked the walkouts as “disappointing and unnecessary”. Thousands of staff handling emergency 999 calls also striked and pickets were held outside courts as members of the PCS walked out in protest.

Francis Maude, the cabinet office minister, also maintained that the strikes were wrong and said the low number of people walking out showed many supported the government’s plans. “What today has shown is that the vast majority of hard-working public sector employees do not support today’s premature strike and have come into work today,” he said.

Senior Labour party figures including Ed Miliband, Tessa Jowell and John Denham said the strikes were unjustified until negotiations with the government had concluded. Mary Bousted of the NUT criticised Labour’s lack of support for the striking workers: “The response of Ed Miliband has been a disgrace – he should be ashamed of himself. If our strike is a mistake, what has he done to oppose this devastating attack on our pensions? If the opposition will not defend our pensions, we will.”

A largely peaceful march by 30,000 protesters took place through London, and the atmosphere was reported to be largely peaceful, but Metropolitan Police officials said 26 people had been arrested. At a meeting in Westminister, many left wing figures attacked the government plans. Ken Livingstone, a former mayor of London who is running for the job again next year, said the coalition government had “mishandled” the issue of pensions. “The government must end its attacks and negotiate on the core issues under contention,” he added.

Friday, March 9, 2007

The first murderer in 150 years on Australia’s Norfolk Island, Glenn McNeill, has been found guilty of killing restaurant owner Janelle Patton in 2002 on Easter Sunday.

A 29-year-old New Zealand chef, Glenn McNeill was found guilty of murdering Australian Janelle Patton after the jury of 11 deliberated for two days, then delivered their guilty verdict, which either had to be unanimous, or no charges as manslaughter was not an option.

In the five week Supreme Court trial, evidence was given that said that 29-year-old Ms Patton had been abducted, then bashed, then stabbed, and then hacked to death. She sustained 64 different injuries in the prolonged attack. It was also said that the attack had sexual motives.

Outside the court room, around 11 residents of Norfolk Island cheered as it was announced that Mr McNeill had been found guilty. The forewoman of five-woman, seven-man jury, said, “We find the accused guilty of murder,” which didn’t result in any change by Mr McNeill.

When first being interviewed by New Zealand police in Nelson for two hours, Mr McNeill admitted to the murder by running Ms.Patton over and stabbing her under the influence of cannabis. He then later retracted that in an unsigned court statement, stating mental health problems. “I did not murder Janelle Patton.”

Her body was found wrapped partially in plastic wrap at a picnic/nature reserve, with her underpants pulled down.

Her underpants being pulled down was used in Mr McNeill’s defence saying that the attack was done by a woman, and the underwear was to try and throw the police off the correct path.

Mr McNeill will be sentenced at a later date.

An appeal is being considered, with Mr McNeill’s lawyer stating significant grounds.

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Joe McElderry has won the sixth series of the UK X Factor, in a hotly contested final with Olly Murs, after the third finalist, Stacey Solomon was voted off last night. McElderry was the favourite earlier this evening with odds of 2/9 from both Ladbrokes and William Hill, compared to 3/1 odds for Murs. Joe’s family had clubbed together to bet on his winning the show, even before the first live show was aired, at odds of 14/1. They are expected to receive approximately £14,000.

On Saturday night, McElderry sung Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me with George Michael, who said that Joe “rose to the occasion…I think he’s got a great future.” He also received a video message from Kylie Minogue after his performance, in which she said “I’m sending you lots of love and kisses. Have fun.” McElderry is from South Shields, Newcastle and born in 1991, began singing at 14. He auditioned for The X Factor in 2007, but felt too young when compared to the other contestants. Together with Lloyd Daniels and Rikki Loney he was mentored by Cheryl Cole, one of the four X Factor judges.

The weekend’s prime time shows are expected to have had more than 18 million viewers, with one analyst estimating £100m of revenue going to ITV from the autumn show. ITV also hope that it will aid in turning around their declining revenue.

As is tradition, McElderry will release a single next week in an attempt to gain the Christmas Number 1 chart spot. In recent years, the X Factor single has always gained that accolade.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Yesterday at 6:00 UTC at 60° S 78° E , a Japanese whaling ship detained two Sea Shepherd Conservation Society activists in the Southern Ocean. Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research (IRC) deny Sea Shepherd claims that they have been abused. The Japanese government has assured the Australian Government the release of the men.

According to the conservation agency Sea Shepherd, Australian Benjamin Potts, 28, a helicopter assistant, and Briton Giles Lane, an engine room worker, were detained on board a Yushin Maru No. 2 after delivering a letter asking the ship to exit Antarctic waters .

Captain Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd’s vessel, Steve Irwin, said that the Japanese “tried to throw them overboard, then they tied them to a bulkhead and were beating them”.

He alleged that the men were tied to the radar masts before being brought below deck after which the men were not seen. Sea Shepherd’s international director, Jonny Vasic, claimed that they were “basically strapped by the arms with zip-ties and tied with rope around their chests” for 2½ to three hours.

The captain said he was surprised as he expected Japanese whale ships to treated his men more decently.

“We are concerned but I know the Australian and British governments are in touch with the Japanese government.”

Sea Shepherd said it has photographic evidence that the whalers were abusing the men.

However, the Japanese ship refuted the allegations.

“Any accusations that we have tied them up or assaulted them are completely untrue,” Director-general of the IRC Minoru Morimoto said in the press release, “It is illegal to board another country’s vessels on the high seas.”

Detaining the activists was the “only way”, he said. “You couldn’t have them running around the deck not knowing what they’re going to do.”

He said that the activists were making attempts to entangle the screw and were throwing bottles of butyric acid, as rancid butter, onto the deck of the vessel before boarding the vessel. Mr Watson has confirmed this and said that they were to act as a stink bomb but their actions were still peaceful.

Hideki Moronuki, the chief of the whaling section of The Fisheries Agency of Japan, claimed that “nobody took violent action against the two illegal intruders”.

Mr. Moronuki said that they were treated “very, very humanely” and were provided with “a warm, delicious hot meal”, “[a] warm, nice bath” and “[a] nice bed with clean white sheets”.

Australian foreign minister Stephen Smith said that the Japanese government promised him the release of the men late yesterday night.

“Late last night I was advised the Japanese had agreed to this and they had instructed the relevant whaling ship to return the men to the Steve Irwin,” he told ABC radio.

Mr. Moronuki said the “two illegal intruders” will not be released by the vessel’s captain until “Paul Watson has accepted the conditions of the safety of the Japanese vessel”. He said he knew nothing of the comments that the Japanese government agreeing to release the men.

Mr. Watson said the Japanese were “[holding] hostages and make demands” and were acting like “a terrorist organisation”. A press release said Sea Shepherd “will not negotiate with poachers and demands that the Japanese whalers release Benjamin Potts and Giles Lane as soon as possible”.

Mr. Watson said he would not send a zodiac to collect the men as requested in an email because it “endangers the life of the crew, to put them out in these waters in a small boat, 10 miles out of view”.

On Sky TV, IRC spokesman Glenn Inwood said Sea Shepherd were “not answering phone calls or emails at this stage” to take advantage of “fair amount of media coverage” but they were “still making attempts to contact them”.

An Australian Federal Police spokeswoman said that Sea Shepherd made a police report at around 7:00 UTC.

Sunday, June 10, 2018

In findings published on Friday in PeerJ, an open-access peer-reviewed scientific journal, researchers from the University of York and Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme have mapped key habitats of the world’s largest fish, the whale shark, shedding light on congregation sites that have perplexed marine biologists.

According to the researchers, Whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, listed as endangered under the IUCN Red List, do feed in the open ocean, but juveniles tend to form large groups in only about 20 to 25 specific places around the coasts of Mexico, Belize, the Maldives, and Australia, which previous research has not explained. The research team reviewed dozens of previous papers, compiled their findings into a database, and performed spatial analysis with the aggregate shark-related event data. Results showed the sharks’ frequented sites had areas of very shallow water near a steep drop-off into the depths, such as a shelf break or reef slope.

The whale shark can grow to eighteen metres (60 ft) in length. Unlike its better-known relatives, the Great white shark and other predatory sharks, the whale shark is a filter feeder, meaning that it draws water into its mouth and extracts small organisms from the liquid. They can search for food at the surface of the ocean but are also known to dive deep. According to supervising author Dr Bryce Stewart, PhD, “Sharks are ectotherms, which means they depend on external sources of body heat. Because they may dive down to feed at depths of more than 1900 metres, where the water temperature can be as cold as four degrees, they need somewhere close by to rest and get their body temperature back up. Steep slopes in the seabed also cause an upwelling of sea currents that stimulate plankton and small crustaceans such as krill that the whale sharks feed on.”

Such sites are also attractive to fishing and recreational boating, and collisions can injure sharks. Stewart emphasized the importance of using research to help preserve and protect the sharks, calling them, “extremely valuable to local people on the coastlines where they gather, which are often in developing countries. While a whale shark can be worth as much as $250,000 USD dead, alive it can provide more than $2 Million USD over the course of its life span.” The latter figure specifically estimates only ecotourism.

See the discussion page for instructions on adding schools to this list and for an alphabetically arranged listing of schools.

Due to the damage by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, a number of colleges and universities in the New Orleans metropolitan area will not be able to hold classes for the fall 2005 semester. It is estimated that 75,000 to 100,000 students have been displaced. [1]. In response, institutions across the United States and Canada are offering late registration for displaced students so that their academic progress is not unduly delayed. Some are offering free or reduced admission to displaced students. At some universities, especially state universities, this offer is limited to residents of the area.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Wikinews interviewed author Amy Scobee about her book Scientology – Abuse at the Top, and asked her about her experiences working as an executive within the organization. Scobee joined the organization at age 14, and worked at Scientology’s international management headquarters for several years before leaving in 2005. She served as a Scientology executive in multiple high-ranking positions, working out of the international headquarters of Scientology known as “Gold Base”, located in Gilman Hot Springs near Hemet, California.