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Sunday, October 3, 2021

Nominations were declared on September 21 for South Gippsland Shire’s upcoming council elections, to be held by post from October 5-22. A total of 24 people in the Australian council’s three wards have put themselves forward to stand as candidates. The shire has been governed by administrators appointed by the Victorian state government since August 2019, when the council was sacked after a state government inquiry found “high levels of tension” within the council.

Wikinews interviewed one of the candidates standing in this election, Rosemary Cousin, via email. Cousin is endorsed by the Australian Greens, and is contesting the Tarwin Valley ward, which elects three councillors to the South Gippsland Shire Council, and includes the towns of Leongatha and Mirboo North.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), a non-profit organisation based in California, United States to regulate internet domain names, will vote on Thursday for a proposal to allow the open registration of top-level domains (TLDs) for Internet addresses. If the proposal succeeds, then as soon as next year any entity with sufficient funds may be able to apply for ownership of a relevant TLD, so that, for example, web sites could have addresses ending in .paris, .ebay or .love.

The range of TLDs has traditionally been heavily restricted by ICANN, with most being country codes (such as .uk for the United Kingdom, or .jp for Japan) or related to the purpose of a website (like .com for commercial websites, .edu for educational sites, and .org for non-profit organisations).

Some existing owners of TLDs have already set up arrangements that have made use of their flexibility – for example, the countries of Tuvalu and the Federated States of Micronesia have leased many domains on their country code TLDs (.tv and .fm respectively) to entertainment websites based on the association with “television” and “FM radio”.

Commentators have pointed out that this may open the way for the controversial .xxx domain, proposed for sites with adult content, which ICANN has previously rejected. Its existence will not be guaranteed in the new system, however, as domain registration will be subject to an independent arbitration process, and granted only when the registrant can demonstrate “a business plan and technical capability”, and applications may be rejected on “morality or public order” grounds. While the proposal does not include registration fees, the TLDs are predicted to cost several thousand dollars, at least.

ICANN CEO Paul Twomey, speaking with the BBC, compared the opening of domains to the opening of real estate in the United States in the 19th century. “It’s a massive increase in the geography of the real estate of the Internet,” he said.

The ICANN International Public Meeting, which opened in Paris, France on Monday, includes workshops and public forums as well as the ICANN Board meeting.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

A new bill will propose a law to amend the Canada Elections Act to ban Muslims from wearing veils (or niqab‘s) while at polls.

“During the recent by-elections in Quebec, the government made it clear that we disagreed with the decision by Elections Canada to allow people to vote while concealing their face. That is why, in the Speech from the Throne, we committed to introducing legislation to confirm the visual identification of voters,” said Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, Peter Van Loan. “Today, with the introduction of this Bill, we have fulfilled that commitment.”

“While there was no apparent case of fraud in the recent Quebec by-elections, it was widely reported that numerous individuals voted while purposefully concealing their face,” said Member of Parliament Lawrence Cannon. “This caused people to question the credibility and integrity of the voting process. In a democratic system, it is crucial that confidence in our democracy be maintained. This Bill will maintain that confidence.”

Muslims will need to uncover when voting at all federal elections, by-elections, and advance polls. Citizens who are vouching for a voter who doesn’t have an ID will have to uncover their face as well. People who are medically required to have their faces covered are given an exception but will need to show photo ID and two pieces of other ID, or they will have to be vouched for by someone, who is not wearing a face covering, or removes their face covering. Alternatively they can make an oath saying it would be against the rules of their doctor or be harmful to their health to remove their face covering.

Elections Canada volunteers would need to, somehow, suit the voter to their religious needs, if necessary.

According to the press release it will allow “someone to be recognized, who is attempting to commit an offense at the polls (e.g. someone trying to vote twice),” and it will “restore public confidence in the electoral process.”

Bill C-31 allowed voters to wear veils as long as they showed two pieces of ID, with one displaying their address. If they only brought one piece, photo ID or not, they would be required to remove their veils. If the person had a voting card, the problem would not exist. However, the new proposed bill would require Muslims to remove their veil regardless of if they have a voting card.

The Chief Electoral Officer for Elections Quebec refused to come to agreement with the Federal Government’s opposition of his position of letting voters only remove their veils when they only brought one photo and no other ID, so they could compare their identity to the photo. He could have supported the Federal Government’s opposition and change the requirements, but since he didn’t the Canada Elections Act has been proposed to be amended.

“If anybody had actually bothered to ask the women that are actually concerned, and we are talking about a very small minority of women, they would have told them that they always take it off to identify their faces. And they do it at the bank, they do it at border crossings, they do it at the airport,” said Sarah Elgazzar, a spokeswoman for the Canada Council on American-Islamic Relations in September.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Some of Europe’s airlines and airports have called into question whether the mass restrictions imposed on the continent’s airspace, due to volcanic ash in the area, are necessary.

Millions of travellers have been stranded by the cancellations; however, some airlines have made test flights to see if there were any immediate effects on jets after flying through ash. Authorities fear that the ash can cause vital aircraft parts, such as the engines, to fail in-flight.

Three large airlines — KLM, Air France, and Lufthansa — have already made test flights. Ulrich Schulte-Strathaus, the head of the Association of European Airlines (AEA), commented: “Verification flights undertaken by several of our airlines have revealed no irregularities at all; this confirms our requirement that other options should be deployed to determine genuine risk.”

KLM, meanwhile, said that it will allow three freight planes to make flights to Asia, and had transferred seven passenger planes from Duesseldorf, Germany to Amsterdam, without any travellers.

“We observed no irregularities either during the flight or during the initial inspection on the ground. We hope to receive permission as soon as possible after that to start up our operation and to transport our passengers to their destinations.” said KLM chief executive Peter Hartman.

ACI Europe and the AEA also commented about the issue in a statement: “While Europe’s airlines and airports consider safety to be an absolute priority, they are questioning the proportionality of the flight restrictions currently imposed.” “Airlines must be able to fly where it is safe to fly and make decisions accordingly. It is what our passengers demand of us.”

Airport closures and cancellations are estimated to be costing airlines about US$200 million daily, the International Air Transport Association reports.

The operations control head for Eurocontrol, Brian Flynn, rebuffed notions that aviation officials were being too cautious, describing the issue as an “unknown phenomenon”. “With the over-riding objective of protecting the travelling public, these exceptional measures have to be taken,” he remarked. “[…] As soon as we are able to, with confidence, and when I say we, I mean the entire community of aviation experts [and] aviation authorities, are able to declare parts of the air space and airports open that will be done.”

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Irish Minister for Sport, Taoiseach and Facebook social network groups are requesting a replay of the controversial FIFA World Cup play-off between Ireland and France in the interests of Fair Play. The FAI lodged an appeal with FIFA and also contacted the French Football Federation (FFF), it appears FAI hopes FFF may agree that a replay is fair play. Both captians, Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane, have called for a replay.

The Irish supporters, who in the past have won the FIFA Fair Play Award, are angry after a blatant double handball by Thierry Henry enabled France to score the extra-time goal that cost Ireland entry to next year’s FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa. Most Irish anger has been directed at FIFA, although French captain Thierry Henry has admitted handling the ball.

FAI has argued that there is a strong precedent; in 2005 where FIFA invalidated the result of a FIFA World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of a technical error by the match referee. However, Law 5 of the Laws of the Game state that: “The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final.” and a source at Fifa headquarters in Switzerland said that “there is no way the game can be replayed”. The generic concept of fair play is a fundamental part of the game of football and the Fair Play Campaign was conceived largely as an indirect result of the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, when the handball goal by Diego Maradona.

The referee Martin Hansson and (referee’s assistants) Stefan Wittberg and Fredrik Nilsson were unable to see the incident but didn’t ask Thierry Henry if he handled the ball. Its hoped the mistake won’t cost the Swedish referee’s a place in South Africa. FIFA’s Fair play policy is playing by the rules, using common sense and respecting fellow players, referees, opponents and fans. The French union representing the nation’s gym teachers declared outrage at what it called “indisputable cheating.”

Minister for Sport Martin Cullen wrote to FIFA president Sepp Blatter urging him to call a rematch in the interests of fair play. Taoiseach Brian Cowen raised the issue with French president Nicolas Sarkozy on the fringes of last night’s EU summit. French Prime minister François Fillon said “neither the French government nor the Irish Government should interfere in the functioning of the international federation”.

Friday, July 17, 2009Following similar threats by workers at New Fabris and Nortel, workers at JLG in Tonneins, France, threatened to blow up several platform cranes. The JLG factory announced in April 2009 that it will fire 53 of its 163 workers by the end of 2009, while the remaining 110 jobs will not be secure over the next 2 years.

JLG Tonneins was acquired in 2006 with its parent JLG Industries, a maker of aerial work platforms, by the U.S.-based Oshkosh Corporation. Despite being hugely profitable in the past, production has been much reduced since 2008 with the contraction of the construction industry and lower demand for its products. Despite excellent past results the new American management demanded sweeping cuts at the company.

In the view of locals, “the company’s actions are a disgrace given the expensive perks, such as official cars, for its corporate fat cats, compared to the sacrifice, silence, and dignity demanded by the company of those it has made redundant.”

The management offered severance pay of € 3,000 (US $4,200), however the workers demanded a severance package commensurate with “the wealth that their labor has generated.” Worker’s delegates requested a “supra-legal” payment of € 30,000, on Thursday 16 of July the management responded with a counter offer of € 16,000. On Thursday night the worker’s actions secured the € 30,000 settlement initially demanded.

Friday, June 20, 2008

The Ocean Surface Topography Mission (OSTM), or Jason-2, satellite, has been launched into low Earth orbit. A Delta II rocket carrying the satellite lifted off from Space Launch Complex 2W at the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United States, at 07:46 GMT this morning. Spacecraft separation occurred around an hour later, and the solar panels on the satellite have deployed.

OSTM is a collaboration between the American space agency, NASA, and the French space agency, CNES. It will study and map the surface of the oceans from space. The Delta II rocket flew in the 7320 configuration, the lowest capacity variant, with three solid rocket motors, and no third stage. The exact launch time was 07:46:25.192 GMT.

This is the third launch of a Delta II carrier rocket to be conducted so far this year, and the 137^th overall. The next Delta II is scheduled to launch in mid-late August, with the GeoEye-1 civilian imagery satellite, however A GPS satellite launch which was delayed from mid July to an unconfirmed date could potentially occur before this. This is the 32^nd orbital launch of 2008.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Champion Tampa Bay Rays baseball player Manny Ramirez, 38, notified the MLB on Friday that he would retire after being notified that he had tested positive for a banned perforance-enhancing drug. It was his second offense and he was facing a 100-game suspension. In 2009 as a Los Angeles Dodger, he served a 50-game suspension for violating the MLB’s drug policy.

Ending a 19-year career, the twelve-time All-Star player who is considered one of the baseball’s greatest hitters, won two World Series championships with the Boston Red Sox.

He batted a career average of .312, and for 13 seasons he produced more than 200 RBIs. He hit a career total of 555 home runs and 1,831 RBIs, exceeding the number of home runs and RBIs of Mickey Mantle. He ranks number 14 on the all time list. Now there may be an asterisk after his record numbers.

“His numbers, he was unreal,” said Red Sox infielder Omar Vizquel, who was Ramirez’s teammate with the Cleveland Indians. “He was one of the most feared guys with runners in scoring position. … If there is a guy you really want at the plate in a tough situation, it would have been Manny.”

Ramirez’s retirement coincides with the trial of another of baseball’s great hitters, Barry Bonds, charged with falsely denying to a grand jury that he used performance-enhancing drugs.

“Until the past couple of years, I thought [Ramirez] was on his way to the Hall of Fame,” said Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington. “I don’t think many guys got as many big hits in their careers as he has. There weren’t many guys who had as big an effect on a game as he had. You hate to see greatness all of a sudden just fade.”