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Tuesday, February 1, 2011

The president of Egypt has suffered a “devastating blow” after the country’s army announced they would not use force against their own people, who continue to protest against the government tonight. The news came hours after six journalists who reported on the protests were released from custody.

Hosni Mubarak yesterday announced a new cabinet, which does not include several figures who protesters largely do not approve of. Analysts have, however, suggested little had changed within the government; many positions, they say, are filled with military figures.

In a statement broadcast on state media in Egypt, the army said: “To the great people of Egypt, your armed forces, acknowledging the legitimate rights of the people … have not and will not use force against the Egyptian people.” A BBC correspondent in Cairo said the announcement meant it “now seems increasingly likely that the 30-year rule of Mr Mubarak is drawing to a close.”

“The presence of the army in the streets is for your sake and to ensure your safety and wellbeing. The armed forces will not resort to use of force against our great people,” the statement added. “Your armed forces, who are aware of the legitimacy of your demands and are keen to assume their responsibility in protecting the nation and the citizens, affirms that freedom of expression through peaceful means is guaranteed to everybody.”

Earlier today, six journalists from the independent news network Al-Jazeera were released from custody after being detained by police. The U.S. State Department criticized the arrests; equipment was reportedly confiscated from the journalists.

Egyptian officials yesterday ordered the satellite channel to stop broadcasting in the country. Al-Jazeera said they were “appalled” by the government’s decision to close its Egyptian offices, which they described as the “latest attack by the Egyptian regime to strike at its freedom to report independently on the unprecedented events in Egypt.”

In a statement, the news agency added: “Al-Jazeera sees this as an act designed to stifle and repress the freedom of reporting by the network and its journalists. In this time of deep turmoil and unrest in Egyptian society it is imperative that voices from all sides be heard; the closing of our bureau by the Egyptian government is aimed at censoring and silencing the voices of the Egyptian people.”

On Friday, Wikinews reported the government had shut off practically all Internet traffic both out of and into the nation, as well as disrupting cellphone usage. A spokesperson for the social networking website Facebook said “limiting Internet access for millions of people is a matter of concern for the global community.”

A reported 50,000 campaigners, who are demanding the long-time leader step down and complaining of poverty, corruption, and oppression, filled Tahrir Square in Cairo today, chanting “We will stay until the coward leaves.” It is thought 100 people have so far died in the demonstrations. Today there have been protests in Suez, Mansoura, Damanhour, and Alexandria.

Speaking to news media in the area, many protesters said the new cabinet did little to quell their anger. “We want a complete change of government, with a civilian authority,” one said. Another added: “This is not a new government. This is the same regime—this is the same bluff. [Mubarak] has been bluffing us for 30 years.”

In Tahrir Square today, protesters played music as strings of barbed wire and army tanks stood nearby. Demonstrators scaled light poles, hanging Egyptian flags and calling for an end to Mubarak’s rule. “One poster featured Mubarak’s face plastered with a Hitler mustache, a sign of the deep resentment toward the 82-year-old leader they blame for widespread poverty, inflation and official indifference and brutality during his 30 years in power,” one journalist in the square reported this evening.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Two well-known critics of Scientology have had their user accounts on the video sharing website YouTube suspended. The YouTube accounts of both Tory Christman and Mark Bunker were suspended this week. In a statement to Wikinews, YouTube explained why accounts are suspended, but did not specifically state why these particular accounts were suspended. Neither Christman nor Bunker received a notice or explanation from YouTube as to why their accounts were suspended.

On Tuesday April 15, Tory Christman a former Scientologist and volunteer for their Office of Special Affairs, and known as ToryMagoo44 on YouTube, had her account suspended for unknown reasons. On Wednesday, after complaints to YouTube from other YouTube users and from members of the group Anonymous, Christman’s account was restored.

Wikinews confirmed Friday that Mark Bunker known as ‘xenutv1’ on YouTube, a television journalist and critic of Scientology, had his user account suspended. This is the second time that Bunker’s account was suspended. He was formerly known as ‘xenutv’ when his account was suspended the first time.

“I want to see the complaint and on what grounds did YouTube suspend my account. I have done nothing on that account that would violate any of their terms and my videos and account should not have been pulled. The only caveat to this is my first account “XenuTV” was suspended a while back for a Stephen Colbert video I had from Comedy Central. At that time I created XenuTV1 and according to YouTube’s terms you can only have one account. Any time I have ever been asked to remove something that may violate their terms for copyright materials, I comply immediately. It would be wrong and a misuse of power to pull my account because of this lone loophole in their terms,” said Bunker exclusively to Wikinews.

Bunker, who is also the owner of the anti-Scientology website www.xenutv.com, has become known as Wise Beard Man to Anonymous. He was interviewed by Wikinews in February. Bunker started XenuTV in 1999 and began to make videos that he provided for the Lisa McPherson Trust. Bunker has been a critic of the Church of Scientology since 1997.

In 2006, he won a Regional Emmy Award after he and KUSI-TV news reporter Lena Lewis produced a documentary news video on the issues with the United States – Mexico border with San Diego, California.

With permission from Christman, Bunker responded to his account’s suspension with a video post to her YouTube channel on Thursday. Bunker stated: “This afternoon at 2:41, I found out YouTube canceled my account. No justification was given to me, I got no notice from them, and there appears to be no recourse. And why did this happen? Because the Jason Beghe interview was about to be posted – and Scientology did not want anyone to see that. My tease for the Jason Beghe interview went up on Sunday, and by this afternoon we had almost six hundred thousand views, and it had been profiled in newscasts around the world. There is a lot of tension being drawn to this video, and Scientology wanted to stop it.”

Jason Beghe is a television and film actor who joined Scientology in 1994. He gave USD1 million to the Church of Scientology over the years, and told Roger Friedman of FOX News that Scientology head David Miscavige called him “the poster boy for Scientology”. Beghe appeared in promotional videos for Scientology in 2005. In April 2008 he left Scientology, and contacted Andreas Heldal-Lund, who put him in touch with Mark Bunker. Bunker arranged an interview with Beghe, which was uploaded to Bunker’s YouTube account on April 7. The posted video is a 3-minute portion of a larger 3-hour interview with Beghe about his criticism of Scientology. In the video Beghe states: “Scientology is destructive and a rip-off. … It’s very, very dangerous for your spiritual, psychological, mental, emotional health and evolution. “

In an interview with Wikinews, Tory Christman commented on the suspension of her account, and now Bunker’s: “Well having worked for the Office of Special Affairs which is part of the Church of Scientology, they used to have me go out and open up phony accounts, I didn’t know they were stopping free speech on the net but once I realized that … I said ‘I can’t do this, I didn’t get into Scientology to stop free speech’. … I’m pretty sure, you know, I’m quite sure, that it’s Scientology. That’s what they do, that’s their view is just ‘shut em down’ they have no morals on it or anything. They just figure ‘screw em, shut em down’.”

Christman said she found out her YouTube account had been suspended on Tuesday: “I came back from lunch at four and Mark called me and said ‘Do you know your account is suspended?’, and by the morning of yesterday it was back up.”

When asked if she had received a notice about the suspension from YouTube, Christman responded: “I never got anything, and I’ve looked through everything, I never got any kind of a notice, either way. … I never heard from YouTube either way – suspending it, or putting it back. And I’ve written them, and it was only put back thanks to Anonymous and all the critics and people that wrote in to them, I’m quite sure – Because tons of people did, it wasn’t like they just put it back up.”

“I would like to know, why was it suspended, why is Mark’s suspended, what are the violations, okay, because if the Church of Scientology is just paying them off that’s kind of weird, isn’t it?,” added Christman.

Wikinews asked Christman if she knew if the suspension of Bunker’s account had anything to do with the interview with Jason Beghe: “Why Jason’s video was pulled, I don’t know, and I’ve spoken to Jason and he didn’t know either.”

She told Wikinews: “I would like to know why. Someone should have a right to be told ‘you are screwing up on this, remove this video’ … ‘change it’. But to never be notified and then just you’re suspended, that’s kind of weird, I think. And I have every intention of either, YouTube can contact me, or I’m going to keep contacting … they need to let the people know what is going on.”

A YouTube spokeswoman told Wikinews that they would respond to our e-mails “as soon as possible.” Within two hours YouTube issued a statement to Wikinews saying that they “do not comment on individual videos.”

“YouTube takes these issues very seriously but we don’t comment on individual videos. Our general approach is simple: we have clear content policies about what videos are allowed on the site. For example we prohibit clips that infringe copyright or show extreme violence. Videos that breach these rules are removed and we disable all accounts belonging to repeat offenders,” said a spokesperson for YouTube. When asked, YouTube did not state when or if Bunker’s account will be reinstated.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

A G8 summit has been planned to take place from 15-17 July in St Petersburg, Russia. Several sources have reported that a systematic police crackdown on people participating in alternative meetings (a Libertarian Forum and the Russian Social Forum) and critical of the official meeting has begun almost a week prior to the summit. Estimates range from dozens to one or two hundred arrests and detentions.

For the past several years, especially since the 27th G8 summit in 2001 in Genoa, the G8 summits of the leaders of seven of the world’s richest industrialised countries and of Russia have been regularly met by popular protests by critics who assert that members of G8 are responsible for global issues such as global warming due to carbon dioxide emission, poverty in Africa and developing countries due to debt crisis and unfair trade policy, exacerbating the AIDS crisis by medicine patent policy and other problems that are related to globalization. These protests have been met by massive numbers of arrests and police violence, on some occasions.

In contrast to previous G8 meetings, this time arrests have been taking place a week before the official meeting itself has started. At least 23-25 human rights activists and political activists, including two German citizens, have been detained by police in Moscow, St Petersburg and other cities in Russia since 7 July. Many of them have been sentenced to ten days’ imprisonment, enough to prevent them from participation in political protests until the end of the official summit.

Some sources claim that the true detention rate may be much higher, such as an unconfirmed report attributed to the Siberian Confederation of Labour (????????? ???????????? ?????) claiming 200 arrests. The activists’ legal team claims that more than 100 arrests and detainments have occurred.

Discussions on global energy issues and other themes have started at the Libertarian Forum despite the arrests, and the Russian Social Forum is expected to start on schedule on 13 July, followed by the official G8 meeting on 15-17 July. Permission to carry out a street demonstration by the Russian Social Forum has been refused by the authorities.

Russian authorities say that demonstrations are permitted, but only in the location set aside for them – a sports stadium about 25 km (16 miles) from the Constantine Palace, which will house the summit. The Russian Deputy Interior Minister Alexander Chekalin said that allegations of harassment were “from the realms of supposition”.

“The police’s actions are commensurate with the situation at hand. The situation demands particular measures, sometimes intensified. Sometimes it demands that we visit a family in their apartment,” He said.

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Denunciations of corruption, bribe, collection of bribes from refugees [1] and of sexual scandal involving the peacekeepers [2], [3] threaten the Organization of the United Nations (UN).

The gravest denunciations involve the aid project to Iraq, called Oil-for-Food. Grave denunciations of bribe exist, superfluous accounting and collaboration with the ex-dictator Saddam Hussein, against staff of the UN, companies and politicians of several countries. Even the secretary of the UN, Kofi Annan was suspicious of participation in the plan of corruption. And also grave doubts still hover about his son, Kojo Annan.

The gravity of the denunciations threatens not only the credibility of the UN, but its existence.

Secretary Kofi Annan said that he is going to promote reforms in the organization. [4]

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Local caterers get ready for big business, as almost three thousand fans converge on the David L. Lawrence Convention Center over the Independence Day weekend for the world’s largest ever furry convention, Anthrocon 2007.

Many hope to renew acquaintances, or meet new friends. Others look to buy from dealers and artists, or show off new artwork or costumes. Some attend to make money, or even learn a thing or two. But one thing unites them: They’re all there to have fun.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Indonesian province of Aceh was struck by a 7.5 magnitude earthquake at 3:08 PM local time (8:08 AM GMT). The epicentre was 319 km (198 miles) off the coast of Sumatra, close to the island of Simeulue. At least three people have been killed and several buildings have been damaged. The same region was hit by an earthquake in 2004, that triggered a tsunami. In 2004 over 170,000 people were killed or missing.

According to local citizens the quake lasted about one minute and was felt in Banda Aceh, the province capital, approximately 300 km (185 mls) away, also in Meulaboh and Gunung Sitoli on Nias island. The U.S. Geological Survey, that reported the earthquake, says that no local tsunami warning has been issued.

Minutes after the quake hit, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued a warning that parts of the Sumatran coast were at risk of a possible tsunami but was later cancelled. Japan’s meteorological agency said India’s Andaman and Nicobar island chain was also at risk.

Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency recorded at least two aftershocks about 20 minutes after the first tremors, one measuring 5.5 and the other 5.3 on the Richter scale. Budi Waluyo, an official at the National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency said the quake occurred about 30 kilometres beneath the ground. The US Geological Survey measured the quake at 7.6 on the Richter scale. “The quake has no tsunami potential because it’s happening under the ground, not the sea,” Waluyo said.

Thursday, June 2, 2005

Darwin’s Ltd. opened a second location of their sandwich shop at 1613 Cambridge Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in late May. It is situated across from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Previously limited to one location at 148 Mount Auburn Street, the second store seats approximately 30 people and sells sandwiches, coffee drinks, locally made pastries, as well as some produce and snack foods. The establishment also provides free wireless access through the WanderingWifi service. The shop plays music during the day; during this reporter’s visit to the shop, selections played ranged from David Bowie to The Strokes. The store is air-conditioned.

Key differences between the original store and the new one include the unification of the cafe and the sandwich line now behind one counter, handicap accessible restrooms, no beer or wine sold at location, and a lack of a loyal customer base. Although the recent months have been slow, business is expected to pick up with the return of Cambridge area students this autumn.

While the original location of Darwin’s was recently cited for lacking sneeze guards before the kitchen counter, according to the Cambridge Chronicle, the new Darwin’s has acrylic sheets along the front of their sandwich counter. The original Darwin’s has installed the sneeze guard at the kitchen counter the day following citation.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Viktor Schreckengost, the father of industrial design and creator of the Jazz Bowl, an iconic piece of Jazz Age art designed for Eleanor Roosevelt during his association with Cowan Pottery died yesterday. He was 101.

Schreckengost was born on June 26, 1906 in Sebring, Ohio, United States.

Schreckengost’s peers included the far more famous designers Raymond Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes.

In 2000, the Cleveland Museum of Art curated the first ever retrospective of Schreckengost’s work. Stunning in scope, the exhibition included sculpture, pottery, dinnerware, drawings, and paintings.