Married couple die after being hit by car in Largs, Scotland
Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 in Uncategorized
Sunday, August 4, 2013
A man and his wife, aged 87 and 84, have died after a car hit them in North Ayrshire in Scotland. The couple, who have yet to be publicly identified, were walking across Greenock Road in the town of Largs when they were hit by a red Toyota at approximately 9:15am BST (0815 UTC) yesterday.
An air ambulance reportedly attended the scene of the crash. The woman was taken to Southern General Hospital in Glasgow. She died several hours later. Her husband died at the crash site. The Toyota driver, a 34-year-old woman, was uninjured but as a precaution was taken to Inverclyde Royal Hospital.
Greenock Road was closed between Nelson Street and Brisbane Road following the incident but reopened around 4:00pm BST (1500 UTC) yesterday. A report about the incident is to be sent to the procurator fiscal. Police have appealed for potential witnesses to the accident to contact them.
Posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2023 in Uncategorized
Thursday, June 23, 2011
This mosaic was created from two high-resolution images that were captured by the narrow-angle camera when NASA’s Cassini spacecraft flew past Enceladus and through the jets on Nov. 21, 2009. Image: NASA/JPL/SSI.
NASA’s Cassini–Huygens spacecraft has discovered evidence for a large-scale saltwater reservoir beneath the icy crust of Saturn’s moon Enceladus. The data came from the spacecraft’s direct analysis of salt-rich ice grains close to the jets ejected from the moon. The study has been published in this week’s edition of the journal Nature.
Data from Cassini’s cosmic dust analyzer show the grains expelled from fissures, known as tiger stripes, are relatively small and usually low in salt far away from the moon. Closer to the moon’s surface, Cassini found that relatively large grains rich with sodium and potassium dominate the plumes. The salt-rich particles have an “ocean-like” composition and indicate that most, if not all, of the expelled ice and water vapor comes from the evaporation of liquid salt-water. When water freezes, the salt is squeezed out, leaving pure water ice behind.
Cassini’s ultraviolet imaging spectrograph also recently obtained complementary results that support the presence of a subsurface ocean. A team of Cassini researchers led by Candice Hansen of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona, measured gas shooting out of distinct jets originating in the moon’s south polar region at five to eight times the speed of sound, several times faster than previously measured. These observations of distinct jets, from a 2010 flyby, are consistent with results showing a difference in composition of ice grains close to the moon’s surface and those that made it out to the E ring, the outermost ring that gets its material primarily from Enceladean jets. If the plumes emanated from ice, they should have very little salt in them.
“There currently is no plausible way to produce a steady outflow of salt-rich grains from solid ice across all the tiger stripes other than salt water under Enceladus’s icy surface,” said Frank Postberg, a Cassini team scientist at the University of Heidelberg in Germany.
The data suggests a layer of water between the moon’s rocky core and its icy mantle, possibly as deep as about 50 miles (80 kilometers) beneath the surface. As this water washes against the rocks, it dissolves salt compounds and rises through fractures in the overlying ice to form reserves nearer the surface. If the outermost layer cracks open, the decrease in pressure from these reserves to space causes a plume to shoot out. Roughly 400 pounds (200 kilograms) of water vapor is lost every second in the plumes, with smaller amounts being lost as ice grains. The team calculates the water reserves must have large evaporating surfaces, or they would freeze easily and stop the plumes.
“We imagine that between the ice and the ice core there is an ocean of depth and this is somehow connected to the surface reservoir,” added Postberg.
The Cassini mission discovered Enceladus’ water-vapor and ice jets in 2005. In 2009, scientists working with the cosmic dust analyzer examined some sodium salts found in ice grains of Saturn’s E ring but the link to subsurface salt water was not definitive. The new paper analyzes three Enceladus flybys in 2008 and 2009 with the same instrument, focusing on the composition of freshly ejected plume grains. In 2008, Cassini discovered a high “density of volatile gases, water vapor, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide, as well as organic materials, some 20 times denser than expected” in geysers erupting from the moon. The icy particles hit the detector target at speeds between 15,000 and 39,000 MPH (23,000 and 63,000 KPH), vaporizing instantly. Electrical fields inside the cosmic dust analyzer separated the various constituents of the impact cloud.
“Enceladus has got warmth, water and organic chemicals, some of the essential building blocks needed for life,” said Dennis Matson in 2008, Cassini project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
“This finding is a crucial new piece of evidence showing that environmental conditions favorable to the emergence of life can be sustained on icy bodies orbiting gas giant planets,” said Nicolas Altobelli, the European Space Agency’s project scientist for Cassini.
“If there is water in such an unexpected place, it leaves possibility for the rest of the universe,” said Postberg.
Fort Lee, Virginia adopts RAPIDGate for fast civilian access
Posted on Monday, March 6, 2023 in Uncategorized
Sunday, July 8, 2007
The U.S. Army installation at Fort Lee in Virginia will begin using a program called RAPIDGate that will replace passes issued to non-military persons who regularly require access to the facility. The program will take effect July 10, when the practice of issuing 90-day passes to people who present a valid driver’s license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance for the vehicle used for access ends. Those passes will be grandfathered out as they expire.
The RAPIDGate program for fast entry into Fort Lee replaces what was once access privileges performed by the installation itself, which came free of cost. The new outsourced program administered by Portland, Oregon-based Eid Passport, Inc. enhances security to the installation by performing background checks. Their service comes at a price. The screening process makes a ten-year felony background check, performs a check against terrorist and sexual offender watch lists, and does a social security cross reference to validate a person’s identity.
Qualified applicants are issued a pass that enables them to bypass inspection pits and use any of the facility’s seven gates for access. Businesses whose employees would benefit by this are required to contact the program provider and have “point of contact” persons who can validate an applicant’s employment. Enrollment in the program costs the business US$199. A pass for each employee of the business costs $159 annually. The pass for employees expires after a year, when a new background check is required by the program.
The program is a voluntary alternative for civilians to conform with new access policies mandated by the Department of Defense and the U.S. Army, according to an information pamphlet distributed by the base. A kiosk will be set up at Fort Lee to accept applications that process a photograph, social security number, and fingerprint.
Pamphlet distributed at Fort Lee explains the program. Click here for the inside content.
Those without a RAPIDGate pass will need to enter the fort at locations where their vehicle can be inspected. A rigorous inspection involves armed guards asking the driver to place keys on the dash board, pop the hood and the trunk, open the glove box, and have all occupants exit the vehicle and open all doors, including the hood and trunk. While the vehicle is inspected inside, another guard uses a mirror attached to a wand to inspect under the chassis of the vehicle’s undercarriage.
Eid Passport, Inc. specializes in identity authentication and background screening. Fort Lee will be the 12th military installation out of an estimated 250 military installations on U.S soil to implement identity screening as part of new policies mandated by the Department of Defense (DoD).
“The pass contains no personal information,” said David Smith, the director of marketing for Eid Passport. It does contain a barcode which is scanned at entry. The RAPIDGate program database includes a biometric fingerprint that might be checked by the scanning device against the presenter of the pass in times of elevated security. The pass is also embedded with an active RFID transmitter. The pass is scanned on entry to the fort at the gate check point, but not upon exit. If the RFID transmitter works properly, movement into and out of the base will be recorded.
The Fort Lee pamphlet mentions a “a new mandate” by the DoD. That mention appears to be in reference to portion of the language found in an Instruction issued in October last year by the DoD that states, “Implement a verification process, whether through background checks or other similar processes, that enables the U.S. Government to attest to the trustworthiness of DoD contractors and sub-contractors.”
The Instruction stems from a Directive signed by President Bush in August of 2004. That Directive, from the Department of Homeland Security, says in part, “Wide variations in the quality and security of forms of identification used to gain access to secure Federal and other facilities where there is potential for terrorist attacks need to be eliminated.”
Fort Lewis in Washington state was the first U.S. military installation to adopt the RAPIDGate program as a test in 2004. Since then, Fort Sam Houston, Fort Carson, and Fort Bragg, among other installations have adopted the program.
“What happened at Fort Dix, [New Jersey], as we look at it, is a Fort Dix issue,” Laura Arenschield reported spokesman for the 18th Airborne, Tom McCollum, as saying in June. “That should not be taken as an invitation for someone to try it here at Fort Bragg, but (security) is a living, breathing entity. You have to constantly change it just to keep those who are trying to penetrate it on their toes.” The new security measures will go into effect at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, which is among the largest of domestic military bases, starting July 8.
British music royalties suffer first ever decrease
Posted on Saturday, March 4, 2023 in Uncategorized
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
In the United Kingdom, PRS for Music has announced that the total royalties that artists in the music industry receive has decreased by 1%. This is the first time that such a decline has ever occurred.
The company has reported that the total was £611.2 million (US$977.8 million, €693.9 million) in 2010, a decrease of overall annual revenue of 1%, or £7 million (US$11.2 million, €7.9 million), from 2009. PRS for Music has claimed that this fall was due to lower sales of Compact Discs and DVDs, as well as digital copyright infringement.
The collection society, which is a representation of seventy-five thousand writers, composers and publishers of music, gathers royalties from music being used in excess of twenty-five billion times annually by various means, including television / radio, commercial businesses, musical venues, Compact Discs and DVDs.
Robert Ashcroft is the Chief Executive Officer of PRS for Music and is responsible for being the representative of such British music artists as Adele, Jessie J and Florence Welch. Speaking about this news, Ashcroft said: “The loss of high street outlets, the slowdown in physical music sales as well as the challenges capturing the full value of music usage online has meant that for the first time we have seen royalties collected dip. Previously, any reduction from falling physical sales had been offset by our strong performance in music licensing both in the UK and internationally. In 2010 slower growth at home and abroad failed to fully mitigate the decline.”
In 2010, the sales of music physically and digitally grew by 7% to achieve 120 million units. Meanwhile, sales of compact discs fell by 12.4% to a total of 98.5 million. British global entertainment retail chain HMV has attempted to save money by closing down sixty of its shops in the UK. In 2010, royalties’ growth reduced in speed to 4.3%.
Simon Neil, of Scottish rock group Biffy Clyro, explained that “[t]he thing about PRS is for a lot of bands it’s the only way you make money. In our first six years of being in a band that was the only kind of income we had. It’s the bread and butter for bands. It’s almost your only guaranteed source of income.”
PRS for Music has stated that its payout to its members was decreased by £800,000 (US$1,3 million, €900,000), due to improved society efficiency and a reduction in costs related to administration. According to Newsbeat, the small royalty drop may trigger a larger decline, causing new musical composers and writers to avoid joining the music industry. The company believes that further action needs to be taken to prevent the lack of CD sales and compete with illegal downloads, including the development of legal download services.
Fidel Castro temporarily hands power to his brother Raul
Posted on Friday, March 3, 2023 in Uncategorized
Tuesday, August 1, 2006
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz
President Fidel Castro of Cuba has temporarily handed duties, including command of the military forces, to his brother, Raúl Castro. Fidel Castro is undergoing intestinal surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding, and is temporarily unable to govern. 75-year-old Raúl Castro has been the Vice-President of Cuba and number two in the Communist Party of Cuba. Fidel Castro is 79 years old and has ruled since the 1959 revolution.
The power change was reported on Cuban television Monday night by Carlos Balenciago, Castro’s secretary. According to the letter of Castro’s that he read, the reason for the operation was stress and the President of Cuba will need to spend several weeks in bed.
Over 70% of Cuba’s population was born after Castro’s rise to power, who has served as president ever since. It is unknown how the population will react to such an unexpected change. However, a recently signed White House bill has allocated $30 million US dollars for the transition to a new Cuban regime in the case of just such an event.
Wikinews interviews 2020 Melbourne Lord Mayor Candidate Wayne Tseng
Posted on Thursday, March 2, 2023 in Uncategorized
This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Thursday, October 22, 2020
2020 Melbourne Lord Mayor candidate Wayne Tseng answered some questions about his campaign for the upcoming election from Wikinews. The Lord Mayor election in the Australian city is scheduled to take place this week.
Portrait of Wayne TsengImage: Wayne Tseng.
Tseng runs a firm called eTranslate, which helps software developers to make the software available to the users. In the candidate’s questionnaire, Tseng said eTranslate had led to him working with all three tiers of the government. He previously belonged to the Australian Liberal Party, but has left since then, to run for mayorship as an independent candidate.
Tseng is of Chinese descent, having moved to Australia with his parents from Vietnam. Graduated in Brisbane, Tseng received his PhD in Melbourne and has been living in the city, he told Wikinews. Tseng also formed Chinese Precinct Chamber of Commerce, an organisation responsible for many “community bond building initiatives”, the Lord Mayor candidate told Wikinews.
Tseng discussed his plans for leading Melbourne, recovering from COVID-19, and “Democracy 2.0” to ensure concerns of minorities in the city were also heard. Tseng also focused on the importance of the multi-culture aspect and talked about making Melbourne the capital of the aboriginals. Tseng also explained why he thinks Melbourne is poised to be a world city by 2030.
Tseng’s deputy Lord Mayor candidate Gricol Yang is a Commercial Banker and works for ANZ Banking Group.
Currently, Sally Capp is the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, the Victorian capital. Capp was elected as an interim Lord Mayor in mid-2018 after the former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle resigned from his position after sexual assault allegations. Doyle served as the Lord Mayor of Melbourne for almost a decade since 2008.
Posted on Tuesday, February 28, 2023 in Uncategorized
Friday, November 17, 2006
Riots in Nuku?alofa, Tonga. Start of the major fires.
Rioting erupted in Tonga today in protest at the slow pace of democratic reform, with rampaging protesters setting fire to buildings and overturning police and government vehicles. The violence erupted two months after the death of the South Pacific nation’s conservative king.
Rioting crowds overturned cars, looted and set fire to shops and offices, and stoned government buildings including the prime minister’s office.
“Five or possibly six people appear to have been killed,” Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
Downer said the situation was serious, and Australia and New Zealand had troops and police on standby to fly to Tonga, but Tongan authorities have said they can control the situation.
Chinese-owned shops were being targeted and the police had been powerless to help, he said.
Riots in Nuku?alofa, Tonga. Looters running away.
“It’s scary,” witness Linny Folau told the Matangi Tonga online magazine, saying rioters were jumping and dancing to loud music in a park opposite parliament.
Clouds of black smoke hung over large areas of the normally sleepy capital, including the offices of the company Shoreline, partly owned by King George Tupou V, one witness told Reuters.
The rioting began after parliament went into recess for the year without voting on proposals for sweeping democratic reforms to Tonga’s semi-feudal system.
Late on Thursday evening, however, the Tonga-Now website quoted prominent pro-democracy member of parliament Akilisi Pohiva claiming victory and urging demonstrators to stop looting and go home.
New Zealand and Australia condemned the violence and warned their nationals in Tonga to stay away from large gatherings.
Winston Peters said New Zealand, which has long-standing links with Tonga and a large expatriate Tongan community, would help the island nation to recover from the violence and damage, but for now the issue was a domestic matter.
In August 2005 public servants staged a six-week strike over pay that halted services at hospitals and schools.
There are no universal elections in Tonga, where 10 of the 14 cabinet posts in government are appointed by the monarchy for life. However it appears now that the government has agreed to new elections in 2008 in which a majority of the parliament would be directly elected by popular vote.
When he succeeded his late father in September, King Tupou V signalled some democratic changes.
“Woofstock” dog festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2023 in Uncategorized
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
North America’s largest outdoor dog festival came back to Toronto last weekend for its fifth year. It ran from the 9th of June to the 10th of June at Toronto’s historical St. Lawrence Market. A Wikinews reporter was there on Sunday to report on some of the events that happened on the last day.
The “Woofstock” dog festival attracted as many as 140,000 people with their dogs. The festival had tons of accessories, sold under tents, to buy for dogs; food, toys, designer clothes, and more. About 400 vendors and exhibitors were there to promote their products, which also gave private dog companies or groups a chance to show their new products. The local SPCA and some animal rescues were under tents answering questions from visitors. While walking, all visitors could see the CN Tower and other very tall buildings.
One of the local TV stations, Citytv, was there. They hosted a live event at the show which was broadcast on TV. People came up on the stage and asked questions regarding their dogs and the host and co-host answered them.
A man, who called himself the “Chalk Master”, drew two pictures on pavement with chalk. He did it for free but donations were welcome. One was a picture of a girl’s head beside a dog’s head, and another with a wolf.
“Hello Humans. I’ve been invited here to provide your eyeball(s), with some pretty colours. I don’t get paid as I work this weekend strictly for tips… so, if you like what you see please make a DONATION. If you don’t like it simply reach into the pocket of the person next to you and give me their money. CHALK MASTER.”
A contest called “Canada’s top dog” had its own tent with a professional photographer taking pictures of dogs behind a white screen; the winning photo is to be published on the cover of “Puppy and dog basics” magazine.
Large “Gourmet” dog bones were also served from a cart and table.
Next year’s festival is expected to be bigger and better with even more attractions.
Posted on Monday, February 27, 2023 in Uncategorized
Sunday, July 22, 2007
File:060405 contador.jpg
Alberto Contador climbing during the 2006 Vuelta al País Vasco.(Image missing from Commons: image; log)
Alberto Contador of Spain has won stage 14 of the 2007 Tour de France. Michael Rasmussen of Denmark came in second and extended his overall lead by 2′ 04′ over Cadel Evans of Australia. Contador moves into second ahead of Evans and 2′ 23″ behind Rasmussen.
Contador and Rasmussen had an animated discussion about how to share the workload up the final climb. Contador was happy to sit behind the yellow jersey-wearing Rasmussen, and pass him in the final sprint for the finish-line. The Dane had hoped for more help in setting the pace and extending his overall lead.
The winner of yesterday’s time trial, Alexandre Vinokourov, did not have a good day. Andreas Klöden will likely now be the leader for Astana Team.
Stage 14 profile
This stage took the race into the Pyrenees. This stage starts with a category 2 climb out of Mazamet and then follows a relatively calm route via Carcassonne, Limoux and Quillan before taking on the Port de Pailhères (17 km at 7.2%) and a very difficult finish at Plateau-de-Beille (16 km at 7.9%).
Tomorrow’s 196 km stage should be one of the major stages of the Tour, with no fewer than five major mountain passes – including the Col de Port, the Col de Portet d’Aspet (5.7 km climb at 6.9%), the Col de Menté (7.0 km climb at 8.1%), the Port de Balès (19.5 km at 6.2%), (the first time this climb has featured in the Tour), and finally the Col de Peyresourde (9.7 km climb at 7.8%) with a downhill finish in Loudenvielle. This exhausting stage will be followed by a day of rest.
2008 Leisure Taiwan launched in Taipei World Trade Center
Posted on Thursday, February 23, 2023 in Uncategorized
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Basketball Tournament Arena.Image: Rico Shen.
This year’s Leisure Taiwan trade show (a.k.a Taiwan Sport Recreation and Leisure Show) started yesterday, with 131 companies participating including sports media companies such as ESPN and VideoLand Television, businesses selling sports equipment and fitness clubs.
There were also a variety of sports being played in the arena built for the trade show. The events included a 3-on-3 basketball tournament, free style shooting, and bicycle test-riding. In addition, conferences discussed issues related to sports and physical education.
A major topic in the trade show was energy-efficiency and, as a result, bicycles and similar sports equipment were being heavily promoted.
Next Tuesday, companies from the electronics industry plan to promote their industry at “2008 Digital E-Park.” In previous years, organizations from the electronics industry have showcased their products at Leisure Taiwan instead of at the Digital E-Park, so this move has reduced the number of markets covered by Leisure Taiwan.
