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Tuesday, March 29, 2005

Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, voted against a bill calling for a referendum on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s controversial plan to withdraw Israeli forces and civilians from the Gaza Strip and some parts of the West Bank. The vote passed 72-39, with three abstentions and six absent. The vote removes the last major hurdle for Mr. Sharon to implement the proposed plan, scheduled to start in July.

Mr. Sharon’s administration has not yet survived the upcoming vote on the 2005 budget, which takes place on Tuesday. But it has secured the support of the secular Shinui party, so a majority looks likely. Shinui had reservations about the amount of money transferred under the budget to projects organised by ultra-Orthodox parties. Under Israeli law, if the budget fails to pass, new elections must be held. Opponents of the disengagement plan intend to use the budget vote to topple Mr. Sharon’s government, and several MK’s attacked Shinui for their decision to support the budget.

Mr. Sharon’s position sparked a rebellion from his own center-right Likud party, with a significant majority of Likud MKs voting in favour of the bill, including several members of his own cabinet. Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Education Minister Limor Livnat all voted in favour of a referendum.

Saturday, July 21, 2018

A team of researchers from China, Canada, the United States, and Australia published on Wednesday their discovery of an early fossilized baby snake, reportedly the oldest ever found, in a piece of amber in the middle of a sandstone deposit in Myanmar. The findings appeared in the journal Science Advances.

The specimen, a piece of amber, was found in a sandstone deposit by fossil hunters who contacted scientists in 2016, and later donated it to the Dexu Institute of Paleontology in Chaozhou, China, where scientists were able to examine it closely. The snake skeleton itself, though missing a head, is about 1.9 inches long (47.5 mm). The scientists said a scrap of skin also found suggests another snake, and bits of plant and insect matter indicate the area may have been forest at the time the snake was preserved. They dated the fossil to the Cretaceous period, roughly 99 million years ago, the same period as Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and early mammals, sharks, and flowering plants. The specimen represents a previously undiscovered species, which the scientists named Xiaophis myanmarensis, or “dawn-snake of Myanmar.”

Co-author Michael Caldwell of the University of Alberta noted, “It’s spectacular to have a baby snake in the fossil record because, of course, they’d be such tiny, delicate things.” The researchers concluded it was in fact a snake and not a mere legless lizard by studying the vertebrae, which were found with their ribs intact, in each part of the snake’s body.

The findings, said scientists, indicate fauna from the prehistoric megacontinent Gondwanaland migrated to Laurasia. This is also the earliest snake to be found in a forest environment, suggesting that snakes had become reasonably biodiverse by the Cretaceous.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit organization which administers online collaborative websites including Wikipedia and Wikinews, announced yesterday that its general counsel Mike Godwin will leave his position this Friday. The author of Cyber Rights: Defending Free speech in the Digital Age, Godwin is a former fellow at the Yale Center for Internet Studies and staff counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation who has served as chief lawyer for the Wikimedia Foundation since July 2007.

Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation Sue Gardner announced the news in a public email. She wrote, “Hi folks, I want to let you know that as of this Friday, October 22, 2010, Mike Godwin will be leaving his role as General Counsel for the Wikimedia Foundation. Mike’s transition out of the role will be a fairly lengthy one: he will continue to be available to the Wikimedia Foundation to provide information and advice for several months to come.”

Gardner stated in a “Q and A” below the text of her email that Godwin was leaving the organization due to “a confidential personnel issue”, and explained that the foundation would not elaborate upon this due to privacy concerns. Gardner noted, “The Wikimedia Foundation believes Mike has always acted in what he believes to be the Wikimedia Foundation’s best interests.”

Godwin has focused his legal career in the areas of free speech and Internet law. In an article regarding his 1999 selection as a fellow at the Yale Center for Internet Studies, The Hartford Courant characterized Godwin as “a noted cyberspace lawyer and civil libertarian”.

He is noted for writing “Godwin’s Law”, an Internet maxim which states, “As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.”

Godwin became the first attorney to join the Electronic Frontier Foundation after its formation in 1990. In a 2007 interview with The New York Times, Godwin commented on the issue of defamation online, “The fear of defamation on the Internet is very strong. We’re going to be riding that social panic for a little bit.” He described his role at the Wikimedia Foundation, “Part of my job is to prevent restrictive rules from being put in place that prevent people from participating in massively democratic participatory media. And then let the new norms settle.” He acknowledged he empathized with others that had been criticized on the Internet, “Look, I have been smeared online. I know how bad it feels. It hurts. If democracy were comfortable, everybody would have it.”

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

In February 2017, the Iranian Chess Federation announced two teenage chess players, Dorsa Derakhshani and her younger brother Borna Derakhshani, were banned from representing the national team. The federation announced their decision although Dorsa Derakhshani had previously decided and informed the chess federation she did not wish to play for Iran.

Dorsa Derakhshani is currently 21 years old and holds the International Master (IM) as well as Woman Grand Master (WGM) titles. Her brother, Borna, plays for the English Federation and holds the FIDE Master title.

Dorsa Derakhshani was banned since she did not wear a hijab, an Islamic headscarf, while competing at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in January 2017. Under the laws of Islamic Republic of Iran, hijab is a mandatory dress code. Her brother Borna Deraskhsani was banned for playing against Israeli Grand Master (GM) Alexander Huzman at the same tournament. Iran does not recognise the existence of Israel, and previously, Irani athletes have avoided playing against Israeli athletes.

Mehrdad Pahlavanzadeh, the president of the country’s chess federation, explained the decision to ban the players saying, “As a first step, these two will be denied entry to all tournaments taking place in Iran and in the name of Iran, they will no longer be allowed the opportunity to be present on the national team.” ^{((fa))Farsi language: ?????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ??????? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ????.} He further stated, “Unfortunately, something that should not have happened has happened and our national interest is paramount and we have reported this position to the Ministry of Sports.” ^{((fa))Farsi language: ????????? ?????? ?? ????? ????????? ?????? ??? ? ????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????.}

IM Dorsa Derakhshani, who currently studies at Saint Louis University in the United States and plays for the United States Chess Federation, discussed her chess career, time in Iran and the 2017 controversy, and her life in Saint Louis with a Wikinews correspondent.

Sunday, June 4, 2017

In an analysis published on Friday in Science, scientists announced data collected from the Curiosity Rover show that Mars’s Gale Crater was once a chemically stratified lake, meaning the aquatic environment differed markedly between deep and shallow water. According to the report, “all of the physical, chemical, and energetic conditions necessary to establish a habitable environment were present on Mars between ~3.8 billion and 3.1 billion years ago.”

Analysis shows the chemical index of alteration fluctuated over time in a way that suggested the lake varied between hot, wet periods and colder, drier periods. The shallow water would have been rich in oxidants brought in from the atmosphere and groundwater, and the deeper water would have been oxidant poor. Phosphates, carbon, nitrogen, iron and sulfur, indicating chemistry suitable for life, have also been found there in a variety of compounds.

Lead author Joel Hurowitz of Stony Brook University explained, “These were very different, co-existing environments in the same lake[…] This type of oxidant stratification is a common feature of lakes on Earth, and now we’ve found it on Mars. The diversity of environments in this Martian lake would have provided multiple opportunities for different types of microbes to survive.”

The scientists also evaluated the fineness of the sediment, meaning the sizes of individual particles of dirt, dust and sand. Curiosity found larger grains near the edges of the lake where sediments from incoming rivers and streams would have fed it, and smaller ones in what would have been the deep lakebed, which is consistent with particles dropping out of the water as the current slows down. “We could tell something was going on,” Hurowitz said in a statement. “What was causing iron minerals to be one flavor in one part of the lake and another flavor in another part of the lake? We had an ‘Aha!’ moment when we realized that the mineral information and the bedding-thickness information mapped perfectly onto each other in a way you would expect from a stratified lake with a chemical boundary between shallow water and deeper water.”

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have stated that the November 24 deadline for formation of a devolved, power-sharing government is final and that it is the last chance for parties to restore devolution in Northern Ireland. The two prime ministers met in Belfast at Stormont today with the major parties about the deadline.

Blair stated he would shut down the Northern Ireland Assembly, cut the salary and benefits of all 108 members and forge a stronger direct rule with the Republic of Ireland. He also stated that both governments were not willing to continue talks past the deadline and would instead work on developing joint policies in Northern Ireland.

Blair who is under pressure to resign by next year is seeking a more permanent peace settlement before he leaves office.

“This is the last chance for this generation, really, to make this process work,” Blair said. “We’ve come a long way, but we need to get the rest of the way now.”

Ahern said that he wanted to see the institutions active as soon as possible. He added, “The reality of this is that if we don’t do this by November 24 then we lose a huge opportunity.”

The two prime ministers have also published a in-depth time-line stating what negotiators must accomplish to establish a joint power-sharing administration, one of the main goals of the Good Friday Agreement signed in 1998, by the deadline.

The administration would be led by the two main parties, the Democratic Unionist Party led by Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin, led by Gerry Adams.

The parties gave their opinions over the visit by the prime ministers.

The deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Peter Robinson, said their party stressed the need for the assembly to meet. He added, “If negotiations are going to begin in the autumn, then the assembly is going to have to meet between now and then. We can not move on to the next stage unless we move in the sequence of scoping the issues, debating the issues and then negotiating the issues.” Robinson is referring to the fact that the Assembly will go on a summer recess soon.

Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams hoped the process could move on. “The two governments sought to reassure us of their total commitment to the November 24 deadline and their commitment to making this process work. “We now want them to match that verbal commitment with action in the time ahead,” stated Adams.

Yesterday, Sinn Féin announced that the party is thinking of withdrawing from the Northern Ireland Assembly in autumn, after launching an internal review. The review could shift the party’s focus from a devolution deal to the next election if the deal is unlikely by the November 24 deadline.

The leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Sir Reg Empey, said that anyone who has no intention of meeting the November 24 deadline should “have the guts to say so”. Empey added, “We want to see devolution restored if the conditions are right at the time and we will spare no effort to see that is achieved.”

David Ford, the leader of the Alliance Party said that his party is sharing the frustration of the people of Northern Ireland. He added, “Alliance is prepared to work its socks off until November to get an assembly restored but we need the governments to play their part as well.”

The leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, Mark Durkan, said ahead of his meeting with the two “The taoiseach and the prime minister shouldn’t have to be here today trying to make sense out of a lot of the nonsense that is coming from some of the parties. I hope the two premiers are clear in their message today that they want to see the parties here get on with it, because that is what the public want to see.”

On May 15, the parties took their seats in the first session of the Northern Ireland Assembly since October 2002. The assembly had been suspended since 2002 over allegations of a republican spy ring. Direct rule from London has been in place since then.

A Preparation for Government Committee has been formed consisting of the various major parties, but progress has been slow. Especially since the DUP will not cooperate with Sinn Féin until the Irish Republican Army completely disbands. Last year, the IRA decommissioned their weaponry.

Blair and Ahern plan to return to Northern Ireland in October after the publication of a report on paramilitary activity.

Meanwhile, before meeting with the parties, the two prime ministers ventured to Ballymena, County Antrim to meet with cross-community students. The meeting is in response to murder of Michael McIlveen, a 15-year-old Catholic boy by a loyalist/unionist mob in County Antrim.

Monday, August 21, 2006

The annual ‘Undie 500‘ road-trip, in which 400 Canterbury and Otago university students took part, turned into a riot when students started throwing bottles around and lighting fires. The riot started in Dunedin on Castle Street North, which is known for its parties. In the Undie 500 road-trip, students go from Christchurch to Dunedin and along the way stopping at five pubs. It is the biggest pub crawl of its kind in Australasia.

The police found students watching the New Zealand Fire Service battling the fires they had lit.

Maggie Kleist, an Otago University student, said: “The police were so outnumbered, and people were just getting each other worked up more and more and more and it was yeah, pretty intense.”

Riot police then turned up to move students away with batons but more bottles were thrown and more fires were lit. “At this stage police moved the crowd with the use of batons,” Allan Grindell, Police Senior Sergeant said.

Paul Chong, Students Association president, said: “Couch-burning and bottle-smashing aren’t serious enough offences to justify bringing in baton-wielding police.”

Allan Grindell said: “Many in the crowd were heavily intoxicated and drinking from bottles and cans.”

An unnamed student said: “This is just out of control.”

Sergeant Wayne Pitcaithly says 95 arrests were made. The police continued to dispersed crowds for 45 minutes.

“People were throwing bottles, everyone was getting arrested, the riot police came, and they were hitting people with their batons,” said Canterbury Student Josh Binns.