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Sunday, August 16, 2009

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has launched Pakistan’s first international container train service from Islamabad to Istanbul via the Iranian capital, Tehran, as a trial project of the Economic Cooperation Organization to boost Pakistan’s trade with Turkey and Iran.

The train is carrying 20 containers on its first journey from Islamabad railway station, delivering 14 to Tehran and 6 to Istanbul and will cover 6,500 kilometres in two weeks.

Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said a successful trial phase of the freight train service would be followed by a passenger train service in an effort to boost tourism in the region.

There are also hopes the route will eventually provide a link to Europe and Central Asia.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Michelle Kwan, a figure skater on the United States Olympic team, has pulled out of the Olympic Games because of a groin injury. According to a newsbreak bulletin on NBC, she injured her right hip abductor muscle in a fall during practice on Saturday. The muscle pain continued to worsen and at 2:45am she went to the team doctor. The team doctor determined this was a serious injury and Michelle made the decision to pull out of the Olympics and give the alternate Emily Hughes the chance to skate.

Emily Hughes was contacted at 8:45pm Eastern time that she would be needed at the Games. She is scheduled to fly to Italy on Sunday. Emily Hughes is the younger sister of Olympic medalist Sarah Hughes.

Friday, May 1, 2009

The American auto company Chrysler filed for bankruptcy Thursday, however a deal with European auto maker Fiat went through. The emerging Chrysler will be owned 55 percent by the United Auto Workers, eight percent by the United States Government, two percent by the Canadian Government and Fiat would begin with a 20 percent share.

Chrysler Chief Executive Robert Nardelli will step down when the bankruptcy proceedings are finalized.

Initially, the Italian company, Fiat, will appoint three members on the emerging Chrysler’s new board, and the United States government will appoint six. Fiat can assume the majority of the ownership upon repayment of American loans.

Chrysler administrators expect that the bankruptcy should take a couple of months.

“We expect this to be a very short, 30-to-60-day bankruptcy process, during which the company will function normally,” a top administration official said, “People will be able to buy cars, they will have their warranties honored, and everything should go on normally.”

The bankruptcy filing indicated that Chrysler was in debt to 20 creditors to a tune of more than $10 million each.

Meanwhile, the deal with Fiat did go through, and Chrysler should have cars designed by Fiat out on the market by 2011.

“It’s a partnership that will give Chrysler a chance not only to survive, but to thrive in a global auto industry,” said American president Obama, “Fiat has demonstrated that it can build the clean, fuel-efficient cars that are the future of the industry.”

However, automotive analyst Erich Merkle has hesitations.

“History would show that alliances really don’t work that well,” Merkle said, “even though, no matter how good they may look on paper.”

The restructuring has been managed by Steve Rattner, a former investment banker, and the U.S. Government auto task force.

Obama has set three ultimatums before Fiat. Fiat should produce a 40 mile per gallon vehicle while managing the new Chrysler, transfer fuel efficient Fiat technology to Chrysler factories in the United States, and produce cars in Chrysler factories and distribute them in Europe.

Friday, February 3, 2006

The Pentagon released its findings from its Quadrennial Defense Review today. This review focuses mainly on defining and identifying weak points in United States defenses, and prescriptions for improvements in those areas.

This review, known as the Quadrennial Defense Review because Congress requires it every four years, does not alter the Pentagon’s approach in Iraq. It also leaves intact the Defense Department’s broader strategy for keeping the U.S. military big enough to fight other major conflicts.

The plan proposes a 4.8% boost to the Department of Defense budget, eliminates no major weapons programs and includes an 8 percent overall increase for weapons (to US$84 billion) for the budget year starting Sept. 30. This review excludes the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons programs.

Overall, there was an emphasis on finding ways to adopt a more indirect approach to the war on terror; a shifted emphasis from performing tasks to enabling other countries to perform. Some of the specific proposals include:

• Expansion of special operations forces by 15%; the Army’s Green Berets and the Navy SEAL commandos, for example, who are trained in specialized warfare skills that are often utilized covertly in cooperation with the armed forces of small countries.

Relevant to this expansion, the Marines are establishing a special operations force for the first time, with an initial goal of preparing 2,600 Marines.

• An increase by 3,700 (or about one-third) of psychological warfare and civil affairs units. These are in heavy demand in Iraq and Afghanistan because of their role working with local civilian authorities to build trust and influence perceptions of U.S. forces.

• Building new partnerships in the “War on Terror” by increasing time spent training other armies, navies and air forces, particularly in places, where U.S. troops have not traditionally operated. This in turn, will call for an increased mastery of other languages and better knowledge of foreign cultures.

• More officers serving stints in foreign militaries to better develop long-term relationships and regional expertise.

• The creation by the Navy, of a force of small boats that can be utilized in inland waterways abroad to help countries build their own maritime forces to combat terrorists.

Other highlights include:

• A proposed 10 percent reduction in the fleet of Minuteman III land-based nuclear missiles, from 500 to 450 missiles. Also, the conversion of some nuclear missiles on Trident submarines to non-nuclear missiles within two years. The Pentagon did not specifically state how many are to be converted.

• A five-year, $1.5 billion program to develop medical countermeasures for bioterrorism threats.

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.

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.

Friday, January 2, 2009

NASA has issued a report on survivability during the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, entitled “Columbia Crew Survival Investigation Report”. Although the report finds the accident was impossible to survive, it still faulted a number of design issues with the astronauts’ equipment.

The accident investigation report was released in 2003, the year of the crash. During launch on January 16, the spacecraft’s wing was holed when a chunk of foam detached and struck it. The shuttle then broke up on re-entry on February 1 over Texas, killing the seven on board.

This new report reveals details of what happened to the astronauts during the accident sequence, although some parts have remained confidential to the victims’ families. The report reveals that within seconds of the breakup commencing the crew became unconscious due to the rapid depressurization and that they never regained consciousness prior to their deaths.

The report notes that the cabin began spinning wildly, causing some of the astronauts’ helmets to come off. The report noted that most on board were secured only by lap harnesses that offered no restraint to the upper body and were not designed to cope with sideways motion, meaning “lethal trauma” was caused by the rotation. However, the report was unable to determine whether the astronauts had died from oxygen deprivation or the extreme nature of their injuries.

The pressure suits the crew wore, introduced after the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, were criticised as the crew could not keep their visors down throughout re-entry due to a design limitation that would have caused excess levels of oxygen to be present had they done so, leaving the suits unsealed. The gloves also made many tasks difficult or impossible. When the accident occurred, three people were not wearing gloves, one was not wearing a helmet, and none had their visors down. The helmets also did not conform to the heads of the wearers.

Upon disintegration, the occupants were exposed to extreme heat and high friction from re-entry. The astronauts likely died very quickly, and were probably dead by the time Columbia broke apart.

The report added that although the crew all wore parachutes, they had to be activated by the crew — impossible as they were unconscious. The report concluded that future spacecraft require sturdier construction and better restraints, while safety devices should be automatic. NASA is designing better suits and helmets.

A compilation of brief news reports for Thursday, April 26, 2007.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at an all time record high of 13,089.89. The Dow climbed 1.05% [135.95 points] at its closing bell.

On February 27, the Dow had a record for the worst day since 2001 and plunged over 400.00 points by the closing bell, after the stock exchanges in Asia had a steep loss on the same day.

Sources

• Vikas Bajaj. “Run on Wall Street Sends Dow Above 13,000” — New York Times, April 26, 2007
• Ellis Mnyandu. “Dow closes over 13,000” — Reuters, April 25, 2007

A group of around 30 or 40 anarchists launched an attack against a police station in Exarchia, a busy district in central Athens, in Greece. Meanwhile, another 70 hooded individuals launched other attacks. They set fire to vehicles, politician’s offices at the Kolonaki area and various bank departments in Exarhia. Greek Riot police responded with tear gas, while the fight between anarchists and the police still takes place in streets around the University of Athens. It is believed that the youths launched the attack in order to demonstrate their support to prisoners who started an uprising in three major prisons. Another demonstration takes place in Thessaloniki, but without any clashes, so far.

Sources

• “Incendiary Attacks” — Elliniki Radiofonia Tileorasi, April 26, 2007
• AP. “Suspected anarchists burn cars outside Athens police station” — International Herald Tribune, April 26, 2007

The United States Senate today passed a spending bill that sets a target date of March 31, 2008 for a complete pull-out of United States forces from Iraq. The House of Representatives has already passed a similar measure. The bill also includes US$100 billion for the continuing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

US President George W. Bush “will veto this legislation,” said White House spokesperson Dana Perino. “The president is determined to win in Iraq. The bill they sent us today is mission defeated.”

Related news

• “Wikinews Shorts: March 27, 2007” — Wikinews, March 27, 2007

Sources

• “Congress backs Iraq pull-out plan” — BBC News Online, April 26, 2007
• Richard Cowan. “Congress challenges Bush to veto pullout” — Reuters, April 26, 2007

Colombia was faced with a nationwide electricity outage at 10:15 a.m. local time today. Traffic chaos and people trapped in elevators has been reported. Hospitals and airports continued operations, using their own backup generators.

Speaking on local radio, President Alvaro Uribe said, “It appears to have affected all of the country.”

“The blackout was caused by a failure at an energy substation in northern Bogota. We do not know what type of failure it was,” Manuel Maiguashca, vice minister of energy and mines, told reporters. Speculation that the outage was caused by left wing rebels was dismissed by officials.

Sources

• Reuters. “Countrywide blackout hits Colombia” — Globe and Mail, April 26, 2007
• “Nationwide blackout hits Colombia” — BBC News Online, April 26, 2007