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Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Many media outlets traditionally deliberately spread hoaxes on April Fools’ Day, including notable quality sources such as National Geographic and Science.

The popular British tabloid The Sun wrote that French President Nicolas Sarkozy is to undergo stretch surgery to make him taller than his wife, Italian artist and model Carla Bruni. The report claimed the 5 foot 5 inch leader would be made 5 inches taller in one year using a method by Israeli professor Ura Schmuck. The Sun noted that during his visit to Britain last week, Sarkozy had high-heel shoes while his wife wore a pair of flat pumps.

The Guardian on the other hand ran an article that suggested that Carla would head an initiative by Prime Minister Gordon Brown to bring more glamour, good taste and sophistication to the U.K. general population. This would involve collaboration with Marks & Spencer for high-street fashion and Jamie Oliver for meals and wine.

BBC News had real-looking footage of flying penguins fronted by documentary host Terry Jones, which were actually an advertisement for its new iPlayer.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Satire site Uncyclopedia, a parody of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, has been labeled by the Malaysian government as dangerous. The Internal Security Department of Malaysia issued the warning today, saying that the site has “messages and information insulting Malaysia”.

The warning notes the creation date of the website as being 5 January 2005, and hosted by Wikia, Inc., both of which are correct. However, it claims Wikia owns Wikipedia; Wikipedia is a charitable non-profit website owned by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, while Wikia is an independent, for-profit company.

The report evidently mentions that Uncyclopedia covers Malaysian “history, culture, the political leaders, the government, the national song and the name / history of the national flag,” none of which is “correct”. They accuse the website of helping to reinforce a bad international image of their country.

There are no reports of the site being blocked from access within the country, only this statement, which urges Malaysians not to circulate the content.

Uncyclopedia’s article on Malaysia begins:

The site has fired back with a parody article posted at the site under their UnNews section, titled Uncyclopedia Internal Security Department warns on Malaysia. The article suggests that the “Internal Security Department of the Uncyclomedia Foundation,” which is a facetious and fictitious parent organization of Uncyclopedia, identifies Malaysia “as a dangerous country… It warned its people not to use the country today.”

There are forty-seven individual language editions of Uncyclopedia, including Tolololpedia, which is written in Bahasa Melayu, the Malay language. This is in addition to fictional “language” editions which include Oscar Wilde, Newspeak, N00b, White Supremacist, and Re: PharmaccgRy.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The United Kingdom-based mobile Linux developers OpenedHand have announced that they have been acquired by the Intel Corporation, merging the Linux company with the Intel Open Source Technology Center.

“We are pleased to announce that OpenedHand Ltd has been acquired by Intel Corporation,” said OpenedHand in a statement it released on the acquisition. “The OpenedHand team will join the Intel Open Source Technology Center and will focus on the development of the Moblin Software Platform, the optimized software stack for Intel Atom processors.”

The statement continued by stating that “Intel will continue supporting open source projects currently led by OpenedHand staff such as Clutter and Matchbox projects, and in most cases, will accelerate these projects as they become an integral part of Moblin.”

Rob Bamforth, an analyst for Quocirca, said that this move showed the importance of Linux on mobile devices. He said that “we saw it [large companies purchasing mobile Linux development companies] earlier this year with Nokia buying Trolltech, it’s a sign that the mobile space is not as clear cut as the something like the PC one.” He continued by stating that in the PC market “you have a market dominated by PCs with Macs for some specialist users, but mobiles are not like that – there’s a diverse range of products, and, if anything, it’s becoming more diverse.”

OpenedHand has previously sold its products to companies such as One Laptop Per Child, iRex, Openmoko, ST Microelectronics, Access Co., Vernier and Nokia.

Thursday, March 10, 2022

The shipwrecked remains of Endurance, which carried the British 1915 expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton to Antarctica, were rediscovered beneath the Antarctic waters on March 7, it was announced yesterday.

The find by the Endurance22 expedition comes over a century after the vessel was marooned off the Antarctic coast and pushed by sea ice to the bottom of the Weddell Sea.

The vessel appeared to be in excellent condition, preserved by the frigid waters. The ship’s timbers seem intact, and the name Endurance is clearly visible below the stern and above the five-pointed star Polaris — both unchanged after so much time.

Submersible craft launched by Endurance22, formed and funded by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, laid cameras on the Endurance at a depth of about 3,008 meters (9,868.8 ft). The probing vehicles were launched from the main hub of the expedition, the South African icebreaker S.A. Agulhas II.

The Endurance was originally the main vessel of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition by the United Kingdom, which sought to complete the first land crossing of Antarctica. Sir Ernest, a pioneer in British Antarctic exploration in the early twentieth century, and his expedition were stranded when the Endurance became trapped by sea ice and was slowly crushed.

They camped on the ice until able to launch lifeboats to eventually reach safety. All survived, but the Endurance sank.

For years, it had been nearly impossible for explorers to locate the ship’s remains, as the Weddell Sea is covered by thick sea ice year-round. However, the past month has seen the lowest recorded level of Antarctic sea ice since satellite records began. This allowed the multinational team of experts assembled by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust to make its uncovering.

Expedition leader Dr. John Shears said of the successful expedition: “We have made polar history… and successfully completed the world’s most challenging shipwreck search” and that it was “what human beings can achieve and the obstacles they can overcome when they work together.”

Director of exploration Menson Bound said: “It is not all about the past; we are bringing the story of Shackleton and Endurance to new audiences, and to the next generation, who will be entrusted with the essential safeguarding of our polar regions and our planet. We hope our discovery will engage young people and inspire them with the pioneering spirit, courage and fortitude of those who sailed Endurance to Antarctica.”

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Two individuals are in custody after eleven secondary school students were injured in a firearms incident near a school Auchinleck Academy, in East Ayrshire, Scotland, yesterday afternoon. Police have said they are carrying out “extensive enquiries” into the incident, which reportedly involved an air gun or BB gun.

One pupil said he was walking near the school during the lunch hour and “saw two people behind a hedge.” There was a sound “like a small explosion,” he said. “I wasn’t really frightened at first but I’m quite shaken now as I know what damage has been done.”

Strathclyde Police said officers were attending an incident near the secondary school, which has approximately 950 students. Chief Superintendent John Thompson, who is leading the police inquiry into the incident, confirmed two people, aged 15 and 18, were detained in the area of the incident, in which eleven youths were injured.

“Subsequent inquiries directed us towards a house in Auchinleck where we have detained an 18-year-old male and a 15-year-old male,” Thompson said. “Both of those individuals are being interviewed at present and our inquiries are ongoing.” He appealed for people in the area of the incident to contact police.

East Ayrshire council stated “[t]he school responded immediately, informing the police and parents of the children involved, and sought appropriate medical attention”, and added officials were supporting pupils. Auchinleck Academy has not replied to a request for a comment from Wikinews.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Six applicants to join the Alabama Department of Corrections and their driver have been killed after the prison van they were traveling in collided with an 18-wheeled truck. Both vehicles burned at the scene.

Andrew David Carter, who was driving the Lewis Trucking Company truck with a cargo of treated lumber, escaped the wreck without serious injury. He was briefly hospitalised and released. The deceased have been identified as driver Rodney Kelley, and applicants Julius Erving Douier, Lionel Michael Moore, John Henry Foye Jr., Brandon Jamaal Anglin, Henry Louis Simmons, and Derrick Lamar Ivey. The oldest victim was 45 and the youngest nearly 19.

The wreck occurred on Alabama’s Route 82 near Bullock County, having left Bullock Correctional Facility to travel to Draper Correctional Facility in Elmore County for mental and physical fitness tests on the passengers before employment with the state.

The road was closed for eight hours while bodies and wreckage were recovered. As well as the van and the truck cab, part of the trucks cargo and several hundred square feet of nearby timber land were consumed by the fire. An investigation is ongoing, but it appears that the truck crossed the center line and there are no skid marks present.

The relatives of the victims will be offered counseling by the Department of Corrections.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

US stock markets dropped to twelve-year lows on Thursday, amidst falling confidence in the financial sector and worries over whether the US automobile manufacturer General Motors will be able to keep operating.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 4.08%, or 280.52 points, at the closing bell, reaching a level of 6595.32, a new 12-year low. The Nasdaq Composite lost 54.15 points, or 4%, to 1299.59, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 plunged by 30.27 points, or 4.25%, closing at 682.60.

Every stock in the Dow Jones, other than Wal-Mart, either lost ground or remained even, and all stocks in the S&P 500 index lost ground.

General Motors’ shares lost 15.5% after the auto firm announced that its auditors had “substantial doubt” over whether it would be able to keep operating.

Shares of financial companies were lower by nine percent, with Bank of America losing 11.7% and Citigroup falling by 9.7%.

“What’s most worrisome is that we haven’t hit the crescendo yet,” said Bill Groeneveld, the head trader for vFinance Investments. “Asset-management divisions are getting calls to just liquidate everything, and we haven’t seen the big players come back in at all.”

“This is one of the worst bear markets in the last 100 years; it started out with the credit crisis and the subprime [loans], but it is like a forest fire that has raced across the clearing and ignited other parts: Autos, auto parts, the insurance companies have been hit very hard. The credit crisis is causing an unraveling of industry after industry because the banks don’t lend,” said David Dreman, the chief investment officer of Dreman Value Management.

European markets were also lower today, with the London’s FTSE index losing 3.2% and the DAX index of Germany falling by five percent.