Saturday, March 1, 2008

An overcrowded double decker bus in Guatemala crashed into a gulley Friday, killing 57 people and injuring 40 more, authorities say.

The bus crashed about 30 miles from Guatemala City while carrying roughly 100 people towards San Salvador.

Journalist Martin Austurias says that a makeshift morgue was created along the highway so that relatives of the passengers could identify the victims.

Austurias noted that several policemen and firefighters were working to uncover bodies from the wreckage.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

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.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

A Wikinews analysis of financial reports filed with Elections Canada shows that two of the candidates for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada have not made any financial donations to the party, its riding associations, or election candidates in 2005 or 2006. Neither Michael Ignatieff nor Gerard Kennedy are recorded as having made finanical contributions.

Ironically, Ignatieff was the recipient of a donation from one fellow leadership candidate, Martha Hall Findlay, who donated $230.58 to his successful effort to be elected to the House of Commons in the January 23, 2006 federal elections.

Bob Rae, a former leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party donated a total of $845 to the Liberals since the beginning of 2005 including $300 to MP John Godfrey‘s election campaign and $300 to Pierre Pettigrew‘s riding association in Papineau. He also donated money to NDP candidates in the January election including $300 to Irene Mathyssen, who was a cabinet minister under Rae in the 1990s, and $250 to his former special assistant, Rochelle Carnegie, the NDP’s candidate in Willowdale. Carnegie’s Liberal rival was Jim Peterson, brother of former Ontario premier David Peterson whose government Rae defeated in 1990.

Scott Brison is the most generous Liberal having donated a total of $3175 to the party, its candidates and riding associations, followed by Ken Dryden who donated $2145, Joe Volpe who has donated $1695, Hedy Fry with $1323.49, Hall Findlay with $1290.85, Rae’s $845 and Stephane Dion with $595.

Totals do not include donations made by the candidates to their own leadership campaigns. Wikinews examined financial reports for donations to political parties, riding associations and federal election candidates made in 2005 and 2006.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Mixed martial arts fighter Alex Reid, nicknamed “The Reidenator”, has been voted the winner of UK Celebrity Big Brother 2010. He won what is the last series of the programme in the final on Friday night, having received 65.9% of the votes from the public.

Musician Dane Bowers finished in second place, while Vinnie Jones, a former British soccer player and now a film actor, came in third place. After his departure from the Big Brother house, he commented about Alex: “I taught him everything I know.” Vinnie had become unpopular with fans as he was said to have been bossy to other celebrities inside the house. Speaking to presenter Davina McCall, he stated: “I was just trying to keep order in the house because a lot of people were selfish. I was just trying to keep some stability in the house.”

Musician Jonas Altberg, better known by his stage name Basshunter, finished in fourth place. Actress Stephanie Beacham left the Big Brother house in fifth place.

Alex Reid has been the girlfriend to former glamour model Katie Price since July 2009. Fellow housemate Dane has also previously been Katie’s boyfriend. When Davina McCall mentioned Price during the interview with Alex, the crowd gave out a negative reaction of booing. In response, he said: “Come on guys, don’t do that. I’m sorry guys… I’m not sorry, I really love Katie Price.”

During the interview with Davina McCall, Alex commented about his victory. He said: “What an amazing, fantastic start to a new year. Vinnie has been very inspirational to me. He’s transitioned from athletic to actor, which is what I want to do. I’m not getting booed now. That’s amazing… I’m speechless. My whole agenda in here was to be myself.” Alex also spoke of contestant Dane. “I was surprised by what a cool dude he is. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of Dane,” Alex said.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The United States (U.S.) and China this week initiated a trade dispute over tires, auto-parts, and poultry products just a week ahead of the 2009 G-20 trade summit in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The most recent trade policies enacted by the U.S. government includes a September 12 decision to impose a 35% trade tariff on Chinese tire imports as an anti-dumping measure. The trade policy came about as a result of a trade-complaint initiated by the United Steelworkers Union (USW) filed before the U.S. International Trade Commission. As reported by Steve Levine of BusinessWeek, “In [the USW’s] trade complaint to the U.S. International Trade Commission, the USW invoked a provision in China’s 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) that allows protection from surging imports from the country [China]. The union documented a tripling of Chinese tire imports from 2004 to 2008 […]” The Trade Commission initially recommended a 55% tariff however, President Obama agreed to only 35%. The trade tariff will be diminished by 5% per year for the next three years to 25%. The deadline for President Obama’s decision was September 17. The trade tariff will take effect on September 26, pegging rates at the new level from the current 4%. The dispute will now move to the WTO where it can take up to 18 months for adjudication.

To quantify the impact of the tariff, in 2008 China supplied US$1.8 billion in tires to the U.S. or about one-third of the U.S. market, with two-thirds of U.S. companies producing their tires in China. It’s likely that the effects of the suit will exceed $1 billion in trade costs, as reported by several other news agencies.

On the 14th of September, the Chinese government via its Ministry of Commerce website, announced that they would institute an investigation into the dumping of U.S. auto parts and chicken products; they are also filing a complaint at the WTO regarding this matter. A formal announcement of trade tariffs against U.S. goods has not occurred.

The two countries’ executive and economic teams will meet in Pittsburgh for the G-20 meeting on September 24 and 25 to discuss these and other economic issues.

Monday, February 11, 2013

With news of Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation only hours old, online gambling sites have already published odds for who will become the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church, with Cardinals Marc Ouellet and Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson as early odds-on favorites.

Online Australian gambling site SportsBet has Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet as their favorite with 7/2 odds. The Irish Paddy Power brokers has 11/4 odds with the Canadian Cardinal being chosen as Pope. Bwin has Ouellet becoming the next Pope with odds at 7/2. British SportingBet also has odds for Ouellet at 7/2.

British Ladbrokes has Nigerian Cardinal Francis Arinze with 7/2 odds.

SkyBet has the betting odd for Ghanian Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson at 7/2, its best odds for any potential Papal candidate. BetVictor also has the best odds on Turkson with 5/2. Stan James has the best odds for Turkson at 3/1. You Win has odds for Turkson at 5/2.

Bets are also being taken by Paddy Power for the name of the next Pope, with Peter their odds-on favorite at 2/1. It is followed by Pious at 5/1, and John Paul and John at 6/1.

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Since June 2019, the people of South Gippsland Shire, located at the southernmost tip of Australia, have been without a local council, after a state government inquiry found “high levels of tension” within the council. Administrators were appointed by the Victorian state government in July 2019, who have governed the shire since then. However, South Gippsland’s council is scheduled to be restored with an election to be held via post from October 5-22, 2021.

Wikinews interviewed one of the candidates standing in this election, Mat Morgan. He is running as a candidate in the Coastal-Promontory Ward, and is endorsed by the Australian Greens. The Coastal-Promontory ward covers towns such as Venus Bay, Waratah Bay, Yanakie, Foster, Port Welshpool, and Toora, and elects three councillors to the South Gippsland Shire Council.