A compilation of brief news reports for Wednesday, March 28, 2007.

The United States will reportedly seek a jail sentence of less than 20 years for Australian David Hicks. He pleaded guilty to providing material support for terrorism, but not an act of terrorism. Hicks may be sentenced by the end of the week. He could be returned to Australia to serve out his sentence, with credit for the years at Guantanamo Bay.

Related news

• “Guantanamo detainee David Hicks pleads guilty to providing “material support”” — Wikinews, March 27, 2007
• “US charges Australian David Hicks” — Wikinews, March 26, 2007

Sources

• Gemma Daley. “U.S. to Seek Hicks Jail Term of Less Than 20 Years” — Bloomberg L.P., March 28, 2007
• “Australian’s Gitmo confession likely to get him home” — CNN, March 28, 2007

US stocks fell on Tuesday starting another round of global selling, as worries about the US housing market and weaker consumer confidence. Lennar Corp., one of the largest US home builders reported that profits fell 73%. Wednesday, Asia markets opened steady to higher, but fell as rising oil prices and the geopolitcal standoff between Britain and Iran made investors seek the safety of government bonds. European and North American markets are trading lower in the Wednesday trading session.

Sources

• Madlen Read, AP. “Wall Street slides on economy worries” — Yahoo! News, March 28, 2007
• Chen Shiyin and Makiko Suzuki. “Asian Stocks Fall on U.S. Economy Concern; Toyota, Samsung Drop” — Bloomberg L.P., March 28, 2007
• “European stocks — Factors to watch on March 28” — Reuters, March 28, 2007
• Chris Burns. “Markets lower on Iran, US data” — Reuters, March 28, 2007

In an apparent reprisal for bombings in Shi’ite areas, gunmen went on a rampage in a Sunni in Tal Afar, Iraq, killing about 50 people. There have been reports that the gunmen included police.

Sources

• “Gunmen kill 50 in Iraqi town” — Reuters, March 28, 2007
• “Gunmen kill dozens in Iraqi town” — BBC News Online, March 28, 2007

The United Kingdom has made public GPS data that it says proves that the 15 navy personnel were well inside Iraqi waters when they were seized by Iran. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the dispute would be solved “based on rules and regulations” and that the female sailor would be released soon.

Related news

• “UK prepared to go ‘into different phase’ if sailors and marines not released by Iran within days” — Wikinews, March 27, 2007
• “British sailors detained by Iran “to be tried for espionage”” — Wikinews, March 25, 2007
• “15 Royal Navy sailors captured at gunpoint by Iranian guards” — Wikinews, March 23, 2007

Sources

• “UK reveals Iran dispute evidence” — BBC News Online, March 28, 2007
• Peter Graff and Sophie Walker. “Britain turns up heat on Iran, woman to be freed” — Reuters, March 28, 2007

Surviving members of the 332d Air Expeditionary Group and 99th Pursuit Squadron, widely known as the Tuskegee Airmen, will be honored on Thursday by President Bush at a ceremony at the US Capitol. They will receive the Congressional Gold Medal for fighting both the Nazis abroad and racial segregation at home.

Sources

• Matthew Bigg. “Black airmen honored for fighting Nazis, racism” — Reuters, March 28, 2007
• Annie Bergman, AP. “Tuskegee Airmen Being Honored” — ABC News, March 28, 2007

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Hewlett-Packard (HP), a global technology leader with major businesses operations in computer hardware, software, printing and services announced today that they will acquire Electronic Data Systems (EDS) for US$13.9 billion in an all cash deal. The Wall Street Journal has reported that the deal has been in various stages of development since October 2007 when the CEO of EDS, Ron Rittenmeyer, approached HP CEO Mark Hurd with a proposition to join forces.

This acquisition models a strong pattern of robust mergers and acquisitions activity since the arrival of current CEO Mr. Hurd. Since his arrival in 2005, HP has worked to expand their overall IT portfolio through organic research and development growth and the purchase of “best of breed” companies such as Mercury, Opsware and Peregrine.

This purchase will bolster the services arm of HP placing the company in second place worldwide behind IBM in terms of IT services. The added revenue will work to double Hewlett-Packard’s sales from services to almost $40 billion, about as much as it gets from PCs. The combined forces of EDS and HP will represent a total worldwide workforce of 309,000 people in more than 80 countries representing 7% of the worldwide IT Service market.

In 2006 HP surpassed IBM as the largest technology company in the world in terms of overall revenue and since that time the two industry titans have fiercely battled for market dominance. Analysts at Briefing.com said: “Adding EDS would expand HP’s service offering and also increase its market share in the industry, helping it better compete with industry heavyweight IBM.”

Like any deal of this size it is not without its optimists and pessimists. From the positive side American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu said. “I am not saying this deal is a slam dunk by any means, but people have underestimated Mark Hurd before.”

“EDS is more mature and more sophisticated in many of the processes that they bring to market than where we are”, Hurd, 51, told analysts on a conference call yesterday. “We wouldn’t do the deal if we didn’t think we had an opportunity to improve the operating profit level that EDS currently has.”

A deal of this size provides a lot of potential for HP but it could also bring a lot of heartache for competitors other than IBM. For years, both Dell and Sun Microsystems have enjoyed preferred alliances with EDS selling expensive high-end servers to EDS customers. Xerox has also benefited by selling its printers and copiers through EDS, which is the most lucrative part of HP’s business.

Dell in particular could be hurt the most. In recent years its PC business has lagged with declining sales and lost market share. Most of this market share was lost directly to HP. This buyout could deliver another major blow as last year; its sales to businesses were almost five times the revenue it received from consumers. With a major Dell partner now part of the competition that alliance will certainly be in question.

Saturday, December 9, 2006

The International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) has stripped the rights from Fiji to host the World Netball Championships in 2007 because of the military coup that took place on December 5.

The Netball Championships were to take place between 10 July and 21 July, 2007 at Fiji’s capital, Suva.

IFNA president, Molly Rhone, said: “It is deeply regretted that we have had to take this decision, recognising the hard work that has been done by the Organising Committee in preparing to host their first senior World Championships.”

“We know that many supporters around the world were looking forward to this great sporting event in Fiji,” Ms Rhone said.

Alisi Tabete, president of Fijian netball, said that today is a very sad day for sports and that they had wasted many years preparing to host the championships. “We had been working on this event from 1999 and right now I am trying to reason with myself as to why the championships has been lost and just thinking ‘what if’.”

“We have to think positive and am still thankful that we had been given a chance for the champs,” Ms Tabete said.

The IFNA is yet to announce a replacement venue for the games. Ms Rhone said: “IFNA will now be working assiduously to find a new venue to host the Championships.”

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Apple Computer is planning to sell full-length feature films for download via the online iTunes Music Store. The store currently sells digital music tracks, and more recently has begun to sell TV episodes.

Apple executives are in negotiations with film studios to arrange the deal and settle on pricing structures. It is expected that films will retail for around $9.99 US dollars, although some studios are reported to want to set a higher price.

iTunes is currently by the biggest online retailer of digital music, with its software tightly integrated with the popular iPod line of products. Newer versions of the iPod include a colour screen capable of displaying videos, and so consumers could watch the films on the devices, but it is not yet clear how many people will want to do this.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is also the largest single shareholder of Disney, which now owns animation studio Pixar, however he could end up playing a wider role within the film industry if iTunes becomes the dominant online distributor.

A full-length TV movie, ‘High School Musical‘ from Disney, is already available on iTunes, suggesting that the technical infrastructure is already in place.

Sunday, July 9, 2006

Italy converted five immaculate penalties to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup after a drawn game and thirty minutes of extra-time in the spectacular arena of the Olympiastadion Berlin, Sunday.

French captain Zinedine Zidane did not help his team when, 20 minutes into extra time, he lost control of his emotions and got a red card after ramming his head into the chest of Italian player Marco Materazzi.

The game was closely contested with the play makers on both sides – Andrea Pirlo and Zidane, on his last game before retirement – not getting much space with which to dominate the play. For Italy and France Gennaro Gattuso and Claude Makelele tackled hard.

However; both creative midfield stars made important contributions to the only goals of the game. Zidane converted a chipped penalty after five minutes while Pirlo’s magnificent corner, a quarter of an hour later, thundered into the net off Marco Materazzi’s head.

Materazzi had previously conceded the penalty when he tapped Florent Malouda on his ankle as he ran past him in the penalty area.

In the first half Italy’s left and right defensive backs Gianluca Zambrotta and Fabio Grosso penetrated down the French flanks. But after the break France came out the strongest. The flow of the game was disrupted when Patrick Viera pulled-up injured and Marcello Lippi made two substitutions on the hour. A deadlock resulted as teams tired and individuals battled for every ball without thinking too hard about constructing team attacks.

Materazzi was never far from the action in the final and though Italy had 55 percent of ball possession was one of the busier players on the pitch. France were slightly more potent offensively with 13 shots – out-shooting the Azzurri by eight attempts.

In Extra Time France came closest to a goal – Zidane, unmarked, headed to goal from 12 yards but was tipped over one-handed by Gianluigi Buffon.

Zidane’s next contribution to the game was not so graceful and appeared to be sparked by the close marking of the ubiquitous Materazzi. After a verbal altercation the 34-year-old turned around and drove his head violently into the Italian’s upper chest.

Materazzi was knocked backwards on the floor but the incident occurred off the ball and was not immediately noticed by the referee or his assistants. Buffon soon ran out of his penalty area to an assistant referee and the game was stopped.

Horacio Elizondo ran to the touchline to consult with officials and returned waving a red card for the violent conduct of Zidane. It is likely FIFA used information from fourth and fifth official to confirm the decision. However FIFA denied video evidence claims alleged by France team’s coach Raymond Domenech^[1].

The headbutt and red card was Zidane’s last action in football as he had said he would retire after the tournament.

A penalty shootout was necessary to decide the winner. Eight shots went in; David Trezeguet missed the one that mattered. His shot hit the crossbar and unlike Zidane’s penalty in the first half, bounced down inches the wrong side of the goal line.

While Zidane was hanging his boots up Marco Materazzi scored Italy’s third. Grosso, who in the second round had won a last minute penalty against Australia, powered in the fifth to give Italy the cup.

The only goal Marcello Lippi’s Italy conceded during free play in the tournament proved to be an own goal from Cristian Zaccardo against the United States of America.

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro, on the occasion of his 100th cap, was instrumental in their defensive achievement. Amid wild scenes of joy on the pitch he jumped onto the podium and lifted the trophy, the fourth of Italy’s history.

Post match celebrations

Following the match the streets and plazas of Italy were filled with celebrating fans, with flags waving from thousands of cars and motorbikes.

• Celebrations in Florence for the winning penalty
• Celebrations on the streets of Florence after the win by Italy

Sunday, September 6, 2009

In Wamsutter, Wyoming, US, a fire crew were trying to put out a fire of a wine truck on a highway when they received an unexpected surprise.

Wine corks started to burst out of the wreckage as bottles started to explode from the heat. Wyoming Highway Patrol Lt. Scott Keane said: “The corks were popping out of the bottles like the old Jiffy Pop (popcorn) we grew up with. My trooper got hit in the arm with one.”

But luckily, as Keane commented, no one was killed or seriously injured and the truck driver managed to escape the fire, which occurred on Thursday after a crash on Interstate 80.

The intensity of the fire caused the tires on the trailer to melt down and the trailer to burn down to its wheel axles, damaging 75 feet of pavement in the process.

Keane stated that the cause of the fire was likely to be either a locked brake or a hub malfunction. It is currently unknown what the value of the loss in the fire was. The Wyoming Department of Transportation have commented that there was nothing left of the cab or trailer and the remaining bottles of wine from Oregon and Washington had disappeared overnight.

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The first images of Mercury taken from orbit around the planet have been received from NASA’s MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) probe. The images come after the spacecraft entered an orbit around the closest planet to the sun on March 17.

After various system examinations, the first images from the spacecraft were sent at 0520 EDT (0920 UTC).

Before arriving in orbit around Mercury, the MESSENGER spacecraft was launched in 2004, passed by Mercury twice in 2008 and once more in 2009. MESSENGER is the first artificial satellite to be placed in orbit around Mercury. Because Mercury is the innermost planet in the Solar System, the sun’s gravitational attraction altered the spacecraft’s approach to the planet. Because of this, a series of several maneuvers over three years was required to put the probe in orbit.

Although MESSENGER is the first probe to enter orbit around Mercury, it is not the first to fly by. Mariner 10 was the first to do this when it made three passes during the 1970s.

NASA is continuing to release images taken by the spacecraft as they arrive at Earth. MESSENGER is scheduled to begin it’s primary mission on April 4, consisting of various scientific and visual observations of the planet. Some of the scientific goals the probe is to accomplish are: determination of the geologic composition of Mercury, study of the planet’s magnetic field and internal composition, and transmission of more than 75,000 images back to Earth.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Twenty percent of the American public believes that socialism is superior to capitalism, says a poll by Rasmussen Reports released on Thursday, April 9.

Asked the question “Which is a better system – capitalism or socialism?”, 53% of those polled found capitalism the better system, 20% preferred socialism, and 27% were unsure. The survey did not define either capitalism or socialism, but Rasmussen also cites a December 2008 result saying that 15% of Americans prefer a government-managed economy.

Analysis of the poll’s data by website FiveThirtyEight.com furthermore found that support for capitalism was closely correlated with income; respondents earning under $20,000 a year having an eight percentage point preference for capitalism, while those earning more than $100,000 a year expressed a fifty-seven percentage point preference for capitalism. Rasmussen noted that socialism had much broader support among people under 30, where 33% support socialism and 37% support capitalism, than among any other age group.

Socialism has found support in several countries, with member parties of the Socialist International in government in over 50 countries around the world and with several other regimes describing themselves as socialist or communist; the 20% result Rasmussen finds is comparable to the electoral support for the New Democratic Party in Canada. Support for an independent socialist movement in the United States, however, has historically been limited. Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs won 6.1% of the popular vote in 1912, and two members of the Socialist Party, Victor L. Berger and Meyer London, were elected to the United States Congress before the Great Depression. This brief flirtation with socialism is contrasted against the times during and following the First World War and Second World War, which were marked by “Red scares” — periods of pronounced anti-communism — in the United States.

Currently, only a single member of the United States Congress describes himself as a socialist: Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. The Social Democrats USA (SD USA), one of the successors of the Socialist Party of America, has expressed solidarity with the 76-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, which Sanders founded in 1991. It supports positions such as a living wage, universal health care, and the right of workers to form trade unions and engage in collective bargaining.

SD USA executive director Gabriel McClosky-Ross offered Wikinews an exclusive statement on the Rasmussen poll result:

While support for socialism in the United States may be growing, Rasmussen’s polling finds that absolute majorities of the American public support both capitalism and free markets. Meanwhile, anti-communist sentiment remains strong in many segments of the US population, with opposition to socialism being a defining feature of Conservatism in the United States.

In an exclusive statement to Wikinews, John F. McManus, President of the anti-socialist John Birch Society, offered the John Birch Society’s position on the poll result:

Americans currently most often cite the economy as their number one concern in polls, ahead of terrorism. In December 2008, workers at the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago staged a union-backed factory occupation in a fight against company management — a return to tactics of direct action from the historically more subdued American organized labor movement.

On April 10 2009, Alabama representative Spencer Bachus (R-Alabama) told the Birmingham News that seventeen members of the US House of Representatives are socialists. He did not specify which members.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

London, England— Tuesday evening saw Zsuzsanna Krajnyak, of Hungary, take bronze in the women’s wheelchair fencing individual foil category A. She defeated fellow Hungarian Veronika Juhasz by a score of 15 to 4.

The bout was the first of four concurrent medal matches to end, with Juhasz unable to score a hit until Krajnyak had already amassed five. Juhasz’s final hit was scored when Krajnyak was ahead with 11 hits. The match was penalty free, despite Krajnyak rocking in her wheelchair as she parried with her opponent.

When Krajnyak was asked by the media about her victory over her fellow countrywoman, she said: “It was good to know that Hungary had secured a medal [before the bout] — it proves Hungary has a strong fencing history.”

The Paralympic campaign is not over for Juhasz or Krajnyak, both are scheduled to compete in the Women’s Individual Epee – Category A event and the Women’s Team – Category Open event.

At the London Games, Paralympic wheelchair fencing features five medal events for women and sven for men, using several weapons including the foil, epee and sabre. Wheelchairs used in competition are held in place using medal plates, with the fencer with shorter reach choosing the distance between the chairs. A-classified wheelchair fencers have, according to the International Paralympic Committee, “good sitting balance and good trunk control with their fencing arm not affected.”

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

A car bomb exploded today at the gates of a U.S. military base, just outside the Afghan capital of Kabul. According to officials, at least twelve people received injuries. The Taliban immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident occurred just outside an US installation dubbed “Camp Phoenix”. This is mainly used by American troops which train Afghan security forces.

Camp Phoenix is often attacked by insurgents, particularly suicide bombers. In mid-November, an attack in Camp Phoenix, injured 25 people, half of them American soldiers.

The Taliban was the group that claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesperson for the bombers, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed in a telephone interview that the bomber had allegedly “killed and wounded” ten American soldiers and demolished three military vehicles.

Asked about that claim, an American military spokeswoman, Air Force Master Sgt. Sabrina D. Foster, said that a statement would be issued soon but that in the meantime she could confirm only eight United States personnel with minor wounds. According to Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman, three of those injured were American interpreters.

Sayed Abdul Ghafar, head of the criminal investigation, Kabul police, said the explosion demolished at least eleven civilian vehicles in the adjoining area. Eight were wounded, most of whom were day laborers who generally would be leaving the base after a day’s work. All were reported to be stable by Interior Ministry spokesman, Zemary Bashary.

“The target of the suicide attacker seemed to be foreign forces, but we couldn’t see any American vehicle damaged there because the road was blocked by American forces. We don’t know exactly the casualties among the foreign forces,” said Ghafar.

The American troops soon blocked the area, and barred access to the highway. “They won’t even let the Afghan National Police near it,” said an Afghan policeman near the place where the attack occurred.

It was the first suicide bombing in Kabul since January 18. In the previous attack, several bombs had been detonated by the attackers, who also fought with Afghan commandos. The situation was brought under control soon; however five people were killed. Earlier today, Afghan intelligence officials provided another statement about this attack; this statement is probably the one with most details.

During a news conference, they showed a video which was about an Afghan man arrested for allegedly assisting in the attack. In the video, the man, named Kamaluddin, claimed that he received his orders from the Haqqani network. The latter is a militant organization based in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area. He calmly clarified that he had housed the seven attackers before the attack and had provided them with several weapons.