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Friday, November 21, 2008

Pakistan’s embattled Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was conferred with Harvard Law School‘s “Medal of Freedom” for his struggle for the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary on Wednesday in Boston, Massachusetts.

In the past, this award has been given to the team which litigated Brown v. Board of Education, and to Nelson Mandela.

The New York City Bar Association granted him an honorary membership at a ceremony attended by Chaudhry on Monday, recognising him as a “symbol of the movement for judicial and lawyer independence in Pakistan.”

In 2007, Chaudhry received the “Lawyer of the Year” award from New York-based periodical The National Law Journal.

On November 3, 2007, then-president Pervez Musharraf imposed a state of emergency and suspended the constitution. Soldiers of the Pakistan Army entered the Supreme Court of Pakistan and arrested Chaudhry along with seven other judges.

Musharraf replaced Justice Chaudhry with Abdul Hameed Dogar as the Chief Justice of Pakistan under Musharaff’s Provisional Constitutional Order issued that day. Chaudhry then spent several months under house arrest.

Harvard Law School established its “Medal of Freedom” as its highest honour, to recognise individual efforts “to uphold the legal system’s fundamental commitment to freedom, justice, and equality.”

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Singapore police arrested British author and journalist Alan Shadrake one day after the launch of his book about the country’s use of the death penalty.

Shadrake, 75, was arrested on Sunday morning at a hotel in Singapore and taken into custody by police on charges of criminal defamation, in response to a complaint lodged by the city-state’s Media Development Authority (MDA) over the contents of his new book, Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock. Separately, the Attorney-General served Shadrake with an application for an order of committal for contempt of court, accusing him of “cast[ing] doubt on the impartiality, integrity, and independence” of Singapore’s courts through his book.

Shadrake’s latest book discusses alleged “double standards” in the country’s application of the death penalty, and contains interviews with local human rights activists, lawyers, and former police officers, including retired Changi Prison executioner Darshan Singh; Singh later claimed that he had been “tricked” into the interview. In earlier media comments, Shadrake stated that he expected “trouble” but no concrete action from authorities over his book, lest they draw even more attention to its claims. Retailers took his book off shelves after inquiries by the MDA; a spokesman for the MDA stated that the book was not banned, but suggested that booksellers “seek legal advice to ensure that the books they sell do not contravene Singapore laws”.

Shadrake has written for a variety of newspapers, including The Daily Telegraph of London as well as the New Straits Times of neighbouring Malaysia. His previous book, The Yellow Pimpernels, told the tale of various attempts to escape from East Germany over the Berlin Wall. If convicted, he faces a two-year imprisonment and a fine.

Monday, February 17, 2014

On Friday afternoon, amateur shooters were briefed about a three-year-long trial of hunting in national parks of New South Wales, Australia. The meeting was held in Griffith near Cocopara Nature Reserve, where the first shooting operation of the trial was to occur on Saturday, targeting the feral goats.

The National Parks Wildlife Service (NPWS) has used aerial culls and baiting to reduce Cocoparra’s goat population, but there are said to be thousands of goats at the reserve. The feral animals to be hunted in other reserves may include cats, deer, dogs, and pigs, beside goats — depending on the reserve.

Shooters in the supplementary pest control trial were to be closely supervised by rangers, as the trial was monitored and its effectiveness evaluated. In a partnership of NPWS and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia (NSW) Inc, qualified volunteers were recruited, under the Sporting Shooters Association’s hunting program. According to Mick O’Flynn, the Acting Director Park Conservation and Heritage with the NPWS, the four shooters selected for the first shooting operation received comprehensive safety and training instruction.

Following announcement of the close partnership of shooters with NWPS staff, the Greens cancelled planned picketing of the first shooting operation. However, State Greens MP (Member of Parliament) David Shoebridge warned, “This needs to be a government-run program, not run by the biggest gun lobby group in Australia”. He called limiting the meeting to members of the Sporting Shooters Association “outrageous”. Another concern raised by the Greens was the danger of armed people, not only to animals, but also to people visiting the national parks, should the shooters be unsupervised after the trial.

The trial was announced in the second half of 2013, though the plan has been significantly modified over time and has come to be regulated under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, in contrast with the original proposal of recreational hunting in national parks, as it was announced in May 2012 by New South Wales Premier Barry O’Farrell. This amendment of the Game and Feral Animal Control Act was part of a deal with the Shooters and Fishers Party. The government needed at least one vote from a Shooters and Fishers Party MP to pass electricity privatisation legislation, as both Labor and Greens opposed it. O’Farrell’s plans to allow pest control by licensed individuals called for licencing by the Game Council of New South Wales.

Following a report sharply criticizing the Game Council, the government dissolved it in mid-2013, suspended hunting on public lands, and reconsidered the plan to allow amateur hunters into national parks — thus breaking the earlier promise to the Shooters and Fishers Party.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

The partnership between New Zealand’s monopolistic ISP, Xtra and Microsoft New Zealand, XtraMSN has expired today and has been replaced with a partnership between Xtra and Yahoo!7, YahooXtra. Yahoo!7 is also a partnership, between Yahoo! and the 7 television station in Australia.

The partnership’s website was launched today, as well as a new MSN New Zealand homepage.

Yahoo!Xtra are trying to become the homepage of all New Zealanders with the claim the partnership will beef up content, as well as being the biggest website in New Zealand in terms of revenue. Kevin Kenrick, Telecom’s consumer products chief operating officer, who own Xtra, said the aim of Yahoo!Xtra was to, “Yahoo!Xtra aimed to bring the best available international content and technology into a New Zealand context.” “We do think Yahoo!Xtra will become an extension of New Zealanders living rooms.”

Chief executive of Yahoo!7, Ian Smith, said that two to three percent of all the advertising market was from online advertising. In Australia, that number is around eight percent, which Mr Smith expects to become the number for New Zealand.

Mr. Smith said: “Yahoo!Xtra will be the best of New Zealand linked to the best the rest of the world has to offer, and puts us in a prime position to capitalize on changing trends in media consumption and media usage.”

Yahoo!7 will own 51% of the partnership, with Xtra owning the other 49%. Mr Smith will chair the board that will be created.

The partnership also means that current Xtra subscribers will receive a new e-mail messaging platform, but current e-mail addresses will remain the same. This will mainly happen because of the mail technology currently offered by Yahoo!

Other services owned by Yahoo!, such as Flickr and Answers, will also be brought into the new portal.

Mr. Kenrick and Mr. Smith both denied to disclose how much money from either sides has been invested, but do say that it will be profitable in the near future.

Other ventures between Yahoo! and telecommunication ISP’s have occurred internationally as well.

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Yesterday in California’s Riverside County criminal court, Judge Bernard Schwartz sentenced David and Louise Turpin to life in prison for torturing all but the youngest of their thirteen children.

As revealed at trial, the Turpins had kept their children indoors for years and rarely allowed them outside the family home, located 70 miles (112 km) south of Los Angeles. The children were banned from washing more often than once a year and could not use the toilet. They were severely malnourished, to the point that some of those who are now adults were initially mistaken for children. The oldest of the Turpin’s offspring, age 29, weighed 82 pounds (37 kg). Another brother, 22, was still chained to a bed when found. None of the twelve had ever received any sort of dental care.

The judge presiding over the case, Bernard Schwartz, said, “You have severed the ability to interact and raise your children that you have created and brought into this world.” Schwartz went on to say he was not giving them the longest possible sentence because they had “accepted responsibility at an early stage in the proceeding” by pleading guilty to fourteen felony charges each and “spared your children having to relive the humiliation and the harm they endured in that house of horrors.”

Specifically, both parents faced twelve counts of torture and false imprisonment, nine counts of child abuse, and seven counts of cruelty to a dependent adult. David Turpin, alone, was also charged with making false statements for the purpose of obtaining a home schooling license.

The father said “I love my children and I believe my children love me.”

The mother said “I really look forward to the day I can see them, hug them and tell them I’m sorry.”

One of the children said, “Sometimes I still have nightmares of things that had happened such as my siblings being chained up or getting beaten.” However, this person also said that they still love their parents and had partially forgiven them.

One of them even went as far to say, “Although it may not have been the best way of raising us, I am glad that they did because it made me the person I am today.”

The two parents were arrested in January of last year after one of their daughters, aged 17, escaped and phoned 911 (the emergency telephone number in the United States). She did not know what address her house was or know the date and said some of her siblings were chained into their beds.

The Turpins are scheduled to be eligible for parole in 25 years.

Friday, December 15, 2006

The Ontario Court of Appeal yesterday has reaffirmed Ontario’s right to negotiate with Six Nations protesters on the disputed Douglas Creek Estates, a housing development, which was bought by the province, in Caledonia, Ontario.

The decision says that the attorney general and the OPP will decide if new proceedings will be launched against the protesters. The court decision also allows the protesters to continue occuping the land. It said Six Nations protesters are no longer occupying the land illegally because the Ontario government now owns the land and will let protesters continue, and that talks with both levels of government have “restored a measure of peace to the community.”

“Ontario is content to permit the peaceful occupation of its property,” the decision reads. “It has the right to do so. As a property owner it has the right to use its own land as it sees fit.”

Caledonia Mayor Marie Trainer said the decision shows that aboriginals are above the law. Mayor Trainer also said that she hoped the court of appeal would upheld a lower court order to halt negotiations with the province and federal government until protesters cleared the disputed land.

“It shows two rules of law — you and I couldn’t stay there illegally but they [the aboriginals] apparently can. That’s what’s irritating for everyone,” Trainer said. “It’s frustrating, especially when it’s illegal.”

Premier Dalton McGuinty said he was glad that the court reaffirmed the province’s right to continue talks with protesters. He also added that the dispute is a federal issue.

“We are now waiting for the federal government to bring a substantive proposal to the table that would involve a number of aspects related to this land claim, including the use of this specific parcel,” McGuinty said.

The Caledonia land dispute has been going on since February 28 and still has not been resolved. The native protesters occupied the Douglas Creek Estates, southwest of Hamilton, saying that the property belongs to them.

Tuesday, April 30, 2019

Wikinews attended the sixth annual Mini Maker Faire in Tyler, Texas, United States on Saturday. Similar to a giant science fair, the event featured a variety of science, engineering and technology projects and items.

An array of technologies were on hand including 3D printers, drones, and various other physics devices. The owner of the Make Crate subscription service stated her company’s products place a strong emphasis on teaching young people about technology and coding. A traditional blacksmith was also on hand displaying metal working techniques.

Numerous Maker Clubs from an array of local schools were on hand, displaying a broad swathe of tech projects. A group of amateur hobbyists diplayed a model of the deck of the aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan with a solenoid device hooked up to launch paper airplanes.

• A volunteer hangs signage in preparation for the Mini Maker Faire in Tyler, Texas (April 2019) Image: Paul Budd.

• A parking sign showing the Discover Science Place logo. Image: Paul Budd.

• A banner for the event. Image: Paul Budd.

• A large 3D printer, installed in a portable trailer from LaTorneau College. Image: Paul Budd.

• 3D printed objects on display. Image: Paul Budd.

• The Make Crate company’s banner. Image: Paul Budd.

• Maker Club for All Saints, a local school in Tyler. Image: Paul Budd.

• Disclaimer poster. Image: Paul Budd.

• An interactive display, featuring bird songs, built by students from All Saints school in Tyler. Image: Paul Budd.

• A remote controlled police and medical drone on display. Image: Paul Budd.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

NASA is beginning the final preparations for next Wednesday’s launch of the Dawn probe, aboard a Delta II rocket. The Dawn probe, costing over US$250 million, will visit the dwarf planet Ceres and the asteroid Vesta. The launch was originally planned for mid-June, however due to a damaged crate, shipping delays, and a damaged solar panel, NASA chose to delay it until now. Last week the spacecraft was delivered to the launch pad, and engineers performed tests to ensure that it is ready for launch. Today, the payload fairings were installed, and the probe is ready for its launch next week onto its 5 billion kilometer (3.2 billion mile) mission.

As the Delta II launches, three stages of rockets will propel the probe towards its first target. With the help of ion thrusters, it will reach Mars in mid-2009. Using Mars’ gravity, the probe will speed up and proceed towards the first asteroid, Vesta, in late 2011. After orbiting for seven months, it will leave Vesta in mid-2012, and arrive at Ceres in 2015. After making scans of Ceres, it will enter an orbit around Ceres that will ensure that it does not impact the asteroid for half a century. This is required due to the United Nations’ “Outer Space Treaty”, which states that “harmful contamination” of these asteroids must be avoided.

The targets of this mission, Ceres and Vesta, couldn’t be less alike. Ceres (diameter 975 km, 600 miles) is larger than Vesta (578 km, 350 miles). This makes Ceres approximately the size of Texas. NASA believes Ceres could contain water beneath its outer crust because, like Earth, its inner layers are heavier than the outer layers, and Ceres’ outer layer is lighter than water. Vesta, on the other hand, is the size of Arizona, and has a surface of volcanic rock, which astronomers believe came from its hot inner layers. Vesta also has a large crater – almost 500 km (300 miles) across – on its southern pole. The collision that caused this likely blasted enough rock into space to fill a container 160 by 160 by 80 km (100 by 100 by 50 miles).

The probe will make several observations of these asteroids: it will compare the makeup, shape, size, and densities, analyze craters, and determine mass, gravity, rotation. To determine the makeup, the probe carries a mapping spectrometer, and tools to map emissions of neutrons and gamma rays. Using this information, NASA can compare the formation of these bodies to learn more about our solar system, for example, to test a theory which states that a number of stony meteorites may be debris from Vesta.

There’s one more piece of equipment aboard the probe: A small silicon chip containing the names of 350,000 people who submitted their names to the “Send Your Name to the Asteroid Belt” campaign. After next week’s launch, the spacecraft will deploy its solar panels and undergo two months of testing before it begins the cruise to Mars.