Thursday, December 17, 2009

Pakistani intelligence officials said earlier today that two suspected US drone attacks in Taliban-dominated tribal areas of the country have killed at least a dozen people, although some reports put the number as high as seventeen.

The first attack targeted a vehicle carrying two suspected militants in the town of Dosali, in the North Waziristan tribal area near the Afghan border.

Hours later elsewhere in North Waziristan, officials reported that several drones fired seven missiles into suspected militant compounds. They added that the death toll could rise. However, it was not immediately clear how many Taliban members were killed in the strikes.

“Seven missiles were fired. They hit a cave complex, a compound and a vehicle,” said a Pakistani official, as quoted by the Reuters news agency.

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.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Ousted Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra had about US$1.5 billion in cash assets in Thailand seized today by the Assets Examination Committee.

Calling Thaksin “unusually rich,” the committee said Thaksin had obtained the money through corrupt means.

Thaksin’s spokesman and lawyer Noppadol Pattama issued a statement, saying Thaksin would “fight until the end.”

“I will bring the case to both the criminal and civil courts. This is not fair. The aim is to prevent the ex-PM and his wife from running their own normal lives,” Noppadol said, adding that the move was politically motivated.

Thaksin, a billionaire tycoon who headed the Shin Corp. telecommunications firm, was elected prime minister in 2001 as leader of the populist Thai Rak Thai party.

Last year, the Shinawatra family sold their interest in Shin Corp. to Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, in a deal that prompted street protests in Bangkok, and was a key factor in the coup that removed Thaksin from power. Thaksin, his wife, Potjaman Shinawatra, and children, are facing charges of tax evasion as well.

The Assets Examination Committee said their decision came after months of investigation into corruption allegations made during Thaksin’s five years in office.

The committee has frozen 21 bank accounts containing 52.9 billion baht (about $1.5 billion), money the committee says was made in the Temasek deal.

“The committee found evidence that Thaksin during his time as prime minister committed corruption and illegal acts as well as being unusually rich,” the committee said in a statement. “[The Shinawatra family] have illegally obtained wealth through abuses of power to benefit Shin Corp.”

Two weeks ago, Thaksin’s former party, Thai Rak Thai, was ordered dissolved by a Constitutional Tribunal, based on corruption charges in the April 2006 general election, and Thaksin and 110 other party leaders were banned from politics for five years.

Since being removed from the premiership in the September coup last year, Thaksin has remained in voluntary exile, mainly in London, where he has tendered a bid for the Manchester City football club.

Last week, Thaksin was in Japan, guest lecturing at a Tokyo university, where he expressed a desire to return to Thailand when democracy is restored.

“When democracy returns to Thailand, Thailand will prosper again and I will go back to contribute to the country as a normal citizen,” he was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Investigators in Ireland have found wiring problems in several Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340s as part of their investigation into a fire on board one such aircraft that was forced to divert to Shannon Airport.

The Virgin jet was headed from London Heathrow Airport to Chicago with 143 passengers and thirteen crew on January 11 this year. A small fire was noticed in a waste bin storage area in the first class section’s bar unit.

A damaged wiring loom could be seen sticking out of a hole in the compartments floor, and there was visible electrical arcing in the area. An attempt was made to control the situation by switching off electrical circuits, but both the fire and the arcing continued unchecked.

The aircraft’s captain declared an emergency and diverted to Shannon, which the airliner reached thirty minutes later. During that time, the crew used five 1kg fire extinguishers upon the fire, but each time the arcing continued and after about five minutes the fire reignited. Witnesses described the fire as consisting of “licks of flame”.

After performing a safe emergency landing the airport’s Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting department tackled the fire with a 5kg extinguisher but met with similar results. After consulting with the crew the jet’s power was completely shut down, after which the fire was finally put out. Virgin initially claimed the fire had never occurred.

Investigators with Ireland’s Air Accident Investigation Unit (AAIU) inspected the loom and found it to be “completely severed” and exhibiting “strong evidence of burning/arcing” according to a preliminary report released on Friday. The loom was identified as providing power and dimming circuits for mood lighting in the bar.

The AAIU says that it seems the loom had contacted the metal waste bin in the compartment above. There should have been rails to hold up the bin and a protective metal cover, but “no evidence” of these was found and the report notes that “Initial inspection indicated the possibility that they were never fitted.”

The bar unit is a modification exclusive to Virgin. The AAIU ordered all 36 of the airline’s A340s worldwide inspected, with both France and the United Kingdom assisting with this. The UK has identified four other aircraft with faulty wiring, it has now been revealed. Virgin says that “A few minor issues were found and were immediately rectified,” and adds that “The installation of the bar was carried out in accordance with all relevant regulations. Virgin Atlantic continues to assist the AAIU in their investigation and looks forward to the full report with interest.”

The AAIU says that “significant other issues are being examined by the investigation” in addition to the wiring defects. “These include the difficulties faced by the crew in isolating the damaged circuits, the emergency checklist, the design of the modification and the standards relating to such modifications,” said the report.

Virgin’s Boeing 747-400 fleet also has a similar bar installed on it, but there was not considered to be a risk to the aircraft’s wiring on that model. The fire involved a bar added three years ago, with the aircraft manufactured in 1998.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Wikinews held an exclusive interview with Wayne Allyn Root, one of the candidates for the Libertarian Party nomination for the 2008 U.S. presidential election.

Root is the founder and chairman of Winning Edge International Inc., a sports handicapping company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition, he is an author and a television producer, as well as an on-screen personality both as host and guest on several talk shows.

Root, a long-time Republican, declared his candidacy for the Libertarian Party on May 4, 2007.

He says he is concerned about the qualities of many who run for president, and fears that they do not know the needs of American citizens. He also says that they cater to big businesses instead of small ones.

He has goals of limiting the federal government and believes that the US went into Iraq for wrong reasons. A strong supporter of the War on Terror, he feels that it was mishandled. He has conservative values and came from a blue collar family in New York. He graduated from Columbia University with fellow presidential hopeful Barack Obama in 1983.

Root believes that America is in trouble and hopes to change that if elected.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

English mathematician John Horton Conway died on Saturday at his New Jersey home, reportedly due to COVID-19 complications. Princeton University neuroscience professor Sam Wang stated that Conway developed a fever on Wednesday before his death on Saturday. Conway was 82 years old.

Conway is known for devising a cellular automaton known as Conway’s Game of Life. Cellular automata are discrete models consisting of a grid of cells. He also developed the chained arrow notation for expressing very large integers. Conway is also known for formulating the angel problem of combinatorial game theory, and his work involving surreal numbers.

For his mathematical contributions, Conway was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1981 and admitted to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1992. His other accolades include the Berwick Prize in 1971, the George Pólya Prize in 1987, the Nemmers Prize in Mathematics in 1998 and the Leroy P. Steele Prize in 2000.

Conway’s death was mourned by various members of the academic community. Sam Wang called Conway “[a]n incomparable mathematician, a pleasant neighbor, and an excellent coffee acquaintance.” US theoretical astrophysicist David Spergel tweeted that Conway “was a warm and gentle soul.” Independent filmmaker and journalist Brady Haran, known for his educational YouTube channel Numberphile, posted a podcast dedicated to Conway.

See the discussion page for instructions on adding schools to this list.Tuesday, September 13, 2005

NAICU has created a list of colleges and universities accepting and/or offering assistance to displace faculty members. [1]Wednesday, September 7, 2005

This list is taken from Colleges offering admission to displaced New Orleans students, and is intended to make searching easier for faculty, graduate, and professional students.

In addition to the list below, the Association of American Law Schools has compiled a list of law schools offering assistance to displaced students. [2] As conditions vary by college, interested parties should contact the Office of Admissions at the school in question for specific requirements and up-to-date details.

The Association of American Medical Colleges is coordinating alternatives for medical students and residents displaced by Hurricane Katrina. [3]

ResCross.net is acting as a central interactive hub for establishing research support in times of emergency. With so many scientists affected by Hurricane Katrina, ResCross is currently focused on providing information to identify sources of emergency support as quickly as possible. [4]

With so many scientists affected by Hurricane Katrina, ResCross is currently focused on providing information to identify sources of emergency support as quickly as possible.

Physics undergraduates, grad students, faculty and high school teachers can be matched up with housing and jobs at universities, schools and industry. [5] From the American Association of Physics Teachers, the Society of Physics Students, the American Institute of Physics and the American Physical Society.

If you are seeking or providing assistance, please use this site to find information on research support, available lab space/supplies, resources, guidelines and most importantly to communicate with fellow researchers.

The following is a partial list, sorted by location.

Alabama |Alaska |Arizona |Arkansas |California |Colorado |Connecticut |Delaware |District of Columbia |Florida |Georgia |Hawaii |Idaho |Illinois |Indiana |Iowa |Kansas |Kentucky |Louisiana |Maine |Maryland |Massachusetts |Michigan |Minnesota |Mississippi |Missouri |Montana |Nebraska |Nevada |New Hampshire |New Jersey |New Mexico |New York |North Carolina |North Dakota |Ohio |Oklahoma |Oregon |Pennsylvania |Rhode Island |South Carolina |South Dakota |Tennessee |Texas |Utah |Vermont |Virginia |Washington |West Virginia |Wisconsin |Wyoming |Canada