Sunday, February 26, 2006

Majid Majhoul Hawi al-Moussawi said his family “locked the door and left for Syria, the only country that would have us. We are grateful, but there is no work. There is nothing for us here.” He took his family out of Baghdad after his daughter Hanan, 16, was kidnapped.

Professionals in Iraq say they face a deteriorating situation. Young physicians are looking for other countries to train in and even the patients are leaving, no longer confident in the care they can get in Iraq.

Dr. Omar Kubasi supported the claims that a systematic campaign to destroy Iraqi academia is occurring, stating, “I think it’s part of the plan for the country’s destruction. The situation in the last six months has gotten so bad, we couldn’t continue.”

Amer Hassan Fayed, assistant dean of political science at Baghdad University said; “It’s creating a brain drain, we could end up with a society without knowledge. How can such a society make progress?”

Hundreds of Iraqi academics have been assassinated since the U.S.-led coalition invasion in March 2003, and there have been no charges brought against any suspects in the murders.

Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MEP for Southeast England, is calling for a United Nations investigation into the killings which, she said, is forcing thousands of Iraqi educators to flee for their lives.

“Iraq is undergoing a major brain drain, and can ill afford to lose academics and teachers to a continuing wave of violence. Iraq’s education system, once one of the best in the region, has been decimated: some 84 percent of the country’s higher education institutions have been burned, looted or destroyed, according to the United Nations University. These assassinations, which appear to be countrywide, non-partisan and non-sectarian, must be investigated by the U.N. Special Rapporteur on summary executions — and those responsible brought to justice. Iraq needs security and stability, but it is clear that the continued U.S. and (British) occupation is contributing to the problem, not the solution,” Lucas said.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

The Bathurst Regional Council has begun preparing the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit for the inaugural Bathurst International Motorsport Festival (BIMF) to be held between April 13 and 16, 2006. The Mount Panorama motor racing circuit is considered to be the home of motorsport in Australia.

Council’s staff have been busy cleaning the facilities, erecting signage, checking pedestrian bridges and inspecting the track surface for the past few days.

The BIMF will be the first event to be held at the 6.2 kilometre circuit over Easter since 2000. In 2000, Event Management Specialists held the first motorcycle racing event since 1990, but due to EMS going bankrupt a short time after their 2000 event was ran and the inability of the then Bathurst City Council to find another promoter, the Easter event was canned.

The BIMF is inspired by the Festival of Speed and Goodwood Revival in the United Kingdom. The Bathurst Regional Council and event promoter Global Entertainment Team promise that the event “will cater for all motoring enthusiasts, collectors and historians”.

According to the BIMF website, the on-track program consists of:

• Manufacturers showcasing their vehicles and track times
• Historic touring car races
• Aussie racing car races
• Australian GT sports car
• Parade laps by car clubs
• Parade laps and races by “Legends of Motorsport”
• Stunt car and bike events
• Rally cars
• Displays of cars from all eras of Mount Panorama’s history
• The chance for patrons to purchase a ride around the circuit in a race car.

Off the track, the organisers have promised manufacturer displays, merchandise stands, music, joyflights, Off-road demonstrations and joyrides, autograph sessions and interviews with influential people in the Australian motor industry.

A compilation of brief news reports for Sunday, March 14, 2010.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

News reports have said that British television and radio presenter Vernon Kay has been forced to state that he is not dead after an editor to the free content encyclopedia Wikipedia posted inaccurate claims that he was dead.

He said that “I am alive and kicking. A few friends rang to check that I was all right. I wish I was on a yacht in Greece,” in response to the claims.

After seeing these reports, Wikinews decided to investigate these edits further.

Wikinews learned that the first of these edits was made by a user contributing from the IP address 86.22.190.95. The IP address was from the United Kingdom and used by a user of the Virgin Media internet service.

The IP address added the claim at 10:05 UTC on September, 13 2008. They claimed that “Vernon Kay sadly passed away after falling off a yacht on Holiday in Greece.”

The next user to add to the claims was contributing from the IP address 86.22.191.253, which was also from the United Kingdom and used by a user of the Virgin Media internet service. This user claimed that “his funeral will be held on Friday the 19th of September in Bolton,” in addition to expanding on the report of his death.

At 11:11 UTC, over one hour after the claim was initially made, a new user, who identified himself as Woody55, removed the claims that he was dead, saying that Kay is “not dead.”

Just six minutes later, however, the claims were re-added. An edit war then took place with several contributors adding and removing the complaints over the next few days. The article was protected by a Wikipedia administrator from editing by new and anonymous users.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

The New South Wales government will make it compulsory for schools to play Advance Australia Fair, Australia’s national anthem before class this year.

Teachers at primary schools in NSW will also be required to introduce “Australian values” lessons from the beginning of this school year. The lessons are expected to teach children “what it means to be Australian” and include topics such as family values, community harmony, national heritage, national identity, cultural differences and Australian history.

The Three Rs will also be extended to five and include the topics of respect and responsibility. The NSW government claims that it needs to ensure people respect authority within the community.

Adults will not escape the government’s plans to foster respect for authority with the government announcing it plans to create a new law enforcement package with new laws to make it easier for police to crack down on anti-social behaviour.

Fines and penalties for a range of offences such as damaging public property, including transport and housing, will also be reviewed.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Buffalo, New York —According to police in Buffalo, New York, no one was injured after a semi-trailer truck carrying paper from Ontario, Canada hit a railroad viaduct, tearing the truck in half.

At approximately 11:00 p.m. EDT (UTC-4) on April 21, an unidentified man driving the truck westbound on Walden Avenue between Wasmuth and Roetzer streets hit the viaduct which tore his truck in half sending debris and cargo over most of the road.

Police describe the truck’s cabin as a “can of sardines.”

“He made it all the way through, but his truck looks like a can of sardines,” said officers on police radio communications who were on scene.

The driver was given a traffic citation and admits he did not notice signs posted along Walden which state the bridge’s clearance.

The street and the viaduct remained closed into the early morning hours of Tuesday April 22. According to Don Poleto of the city’s Public Works office, the bridge was not damaged.

Friday, November 25, 2011

A team of 55 researchers led by University of Western Ontario biologist Miodrag Grbic has sequenced the genome of the spider mite Tetranychus urticae, a pest that costs over USD 1 billion to control annually. Their results were published in the journal Nature yesterday. The genome is the smallest arthropod genome sequenced so far.

The study was funded by the US Depeartment of Energy Joint Genome Institute programme, Genome Canada, and the European Union.

The pest is resistant to major plant toxins, and it takes a spider mite from two to four years to become resistant to new pesticides. University of Utah assistant professor of biology Richard M. Clark, a study co-author, said, “One key thing that makes spider mites unique is they can eat many, many different plant species… These mites are … a major cause of people’s house plants turning yellow and getting sick. They also are a major problem for agricultural nurseries and greenhouses, and for field crops. … [the spider mite] has been found to rapidly develop resistance to multiple types of pesticides, often within a couple of years after a pesticide is introduced.”

The study found the mite’s genome includes a variety of genes responsible for digestion and toxin degradation, possibly including some genes from bacteria and fungi. Because these bacterial/fungal genes are peculiar to spider mites, they appear to be a rare example of lateral gene transfer — gene transfer between distant species.

The study also found 17 web-production genes. The spider mite’s webs provide weather- and predator-protection and are somewhat stronger than webs of other species.