A compilation of brief news reports for Tuesday, April 3, 2007.

On Monday, the United States said it sent an official inquiry to Iran via Swiss diplomats about a former FBI agent who went missing while in Iran on private business. He is believed to have gone missing several weeks ago on the island of Kish. The FBI say he has not worked for them in a decade nor is he a contractor for them. A US State Department spokesperson declined to give name, age or occupation of the missing man. The spokesperson also said that they have no indication that he is being held by any Iranian entity.

Sources

• Sue Pleming. “U.S. says former FBI agent missing in Iran” — Reuters, April 2, 2007
• Matthew Lee, AP. “Former FBI agent missing in Iran” — USA Today, April 2, 2007
• “Former FBI agent reported missing in Iran” — CNN, April 2, 2007

In early action, Asian and Oceanian markets rose while the markets pondered the impact of the United States-South Korea free trade agreement. In Japanese markets, Monday’s fears that the Institute for Supply Management‘s report would say manufacturing growth slowed more than forecast in March actually came true. However, “US markets turned out more stable than people feared yesterday and that prompted buying back of large-cap stocks,” said Yoshihisa Okamoto of Fuji Investment Management Co. in Tokyo.

Sources

• “Asian markets push ahead” — Reuters, April 2,2007
• Makiko Suzuki. “Japanese Stocks Advance; Matsushita, Mitsubishi UFJ Lead Gains” — Bloomberg L.P., April 3, 2007

Gary McKinnon of Britain lost his appeal challenging an extradition order to face charges in the United States that he hacked into military and NASA computers there. “We do not find any grounds of appeal against the decision,” said one of the judges, Lord Justice Maurice Kay. In what has been called the “biggest military hack of all time,” McKinnon allegedly used the code-name Solo as he hacked into 97 computers and caused $700,000 worth of damage according to US prosecutors. In 2006, he told The Guardian that he was searching for evidence the Americans might have about UFOs.

Related news

• “UK hacker faces extradition to US” — Wikinews, May 10, 2006

Sources

• “British hacker loses U.S. extradition appeal” — Reuters, April 3, 2007
• Mark Tran. “Briton loses extradition fight over US military hacking” — Guardian Unlimited, April 3, 2007

The US Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that carbon dioxide should be regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The majority opinion said that the EPA had offered “no reasoned explanation” for refusing to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from cars. Previously the EPA had argued that the 1970 Clean Air Act did not give it the powers to regulate green house gases because they were not deemed to be pollutants. Twelve states and several environmental groups jointly brought the case against the EPA, contending that it was failing in its legal duty to regulate environmental pollution by not regulating green house gas emissions.

Sources

• Robert Barnes and Juliet Eilperin. “Supreme Court: EPA Can Regulate Car Emissions” — Washington Post Online, April 2, 2007
• “US ‘must regulate car pollution’” — BBC News Online, April 2, 2007

Friday, November 2, 2007

Igor Moiseyev, who has been widely acclaimed as the greatest 20th-century choreographer of folk dance, has died today after a long illness. He was 101 years old.

Born Igor Alexandrovich Moiseyev on January 21, 1906 in Kiev, Moiseyev graduated from the Bolshoi Theatre ballet school in 1924 and danced in the theatre until 1939. His first choreography in the Bolshoi was Footballer in 1930 and the last was Spartacus in 1954.

Since the early 1930s, he staged acrobatic parades on Red Square and finally came up with the idea of establishing the Theatre of Folk Art. In 1936, Vyacheslav Molotov put him in charge of the new dance company, which has since been known as the Moiseyev Ballet. Among about 200 dances he created for his company, some humorously represented the game of football and guerrilla warfare. After visiting Belarus he choreographed a Belarusian “folk” dance Bulba (“Potato”), which over the years indeed became a Belarusian folk dance. According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Moiseyev’s work has been especially admired “for the balance that it maintained between authentic folk dance and theatrical effectiveness”.

Moiseyev was named People’s Artist of the USSR in 1953, Hero of Socialist Labor in 1976, received the Lenin Prize (1967, for the dance show A Road to the Dance), four USSR State Prizes (1942, 1947, 1952, 1985), Russian Federation State Prize (1996), was awarded numerous orders and medals of the Soviet Union, Spain, and many other countries. On the day of his centenary, Moiseyev became the first Russian to receive Order for the Merits before the Fatherland, 1st class — the highest civilian decoration of the Russian Federation.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The New Zealand National party has announced that it will pay back the GST (Goods and Services Tax) it owes to five different advertisers, all television stations, by buying advertising time for the several different charities. The advertisements will appear on the owed media outlets. They have decided with the current path is it would “unlawful” to pay back the GST normally.

The GST amounted to NZ$112,000.

National’s original plan of getting a one time bill passed that it would allow them to pack the owed GST to the media outlets was ditched in favour of this new one. “With the prospect of legislation diminishing, it’s time to accept that National cannot go down that path,” Judy Kirk, president of the National party, said.

If National was to pay back the GST, they would be breaking the law by going over the electioneering cap set by the Broadcasting Act.

The owed media companies are TVNZ, TV3 and Sky Television. It also includes Sky’s free-to-air channel, Prime.

Ms Kirk said: “We want to get some closure on the matter and have taken extensive legal advice on our options… We have secured clear advice that it would be unlawful to pay the five outstanding media creditors, and that it would be unlawful for them to accept payment. We do not wish to break the law, and nor do we wish to place our creditors in the position of breaking the law.”

“…we will purchase the media advertising time directly from broadcasters and ask that they allocate it amongst the range of charities currently supported by each,” Ms Kirk said.

National said that their error on not paying for the GST did not effect the outcome of the election, unlike the Labour party’s overspending.

Thursday, May 25, 2017

On Tuesday, British actor Roger Moore, best known for portraying Simon Templar of the 1960s series The Saint and the spy character James Bond, died in Switzerland at the age of 89.

Before his death, Moore fought recently diagnosed cancer. His family confirmed his death on Twitter saying, “It is the heaviest of hearts, we must share the awful news that our father, Sir Roger Moore, passed away today. We are all devastated.”

Other stars paid tribute to Roger Moore via Twitter, including Russell Crowe, Michael Ball, Mia Farrow, Boy George, and Duran Duran, who sang the eponymous theme song for Bond film A View to a Kill featuring Moore as Bond.

Moore was born in Stockwell, South London an only child to his working-class parents on October 14, 1927. During World War II, he and his mother mostly stayed in Amersham, 25 miles from London. Moore left grammar school in 1943 to work.

Moore’s father, a detective sergeant, came to the home of film director Brian Desmond Hurst that had been robbed. Moore was introduced by his father to Hurst and then started his acting career in summer 1944 as an extra in the film Caesar and Cleopatra. Impressed, Hurst helped Moore gain extra parts in two other films and then paid for Moore’s acting studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Moore was assigned to the National Service in 1945 and then, after training, was ranked captain. Afterwards, he appeared in modeling engagements, like appearance in Women’s Own magazine.

Moore arrived in the United States in 1953 and then signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) for mainly supporting roles. He portrayed the male lead in 1956 film Diane. He first appeared on television as the titular character of the late-1950s ITV series Ivanhoe. He later appeared in some western series, like Maverick from 1960 to 1961, replacing James Garner as the lead of the series.

Moore then portrayed Simon Templar, stealing from rich antagonists, in the ITV series The Saint. The series ran 118 episodes from 1962 to 1969. Due to his contract for The Saint, Moore was prevented from being cast as James Bond for the 1962 film Dr. No, which stars Sean Connery, the first actor to portray Bond.

Moore eventually became the third actor to portray Bond, and his first Bond film was the 1973 film Live and Let Die. He would appear again as Bond in six more films: The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974; The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977; Moonraker, 1979; For Your Eyes Only, 1981; Octopussy, 1983; and A View to a Kill, 1985.

In 1991 Moore became a UNICEF goodwill ambassador. His UNICEF work earned him Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the late 1990s. He was knighted in 2003 for that.

Throughout 2000s, Moore performed voiceovers in mostly animated films and made appearances in some other live-action films, like the 2002 film Boat Trip, portraying a gay man resembling Bond. Then he wrote his 2008 autobiography My Word Is My Bond and other books, including memoir One Lucky Bastard and Bond on Bond.

Moore married four times, to four different women. He was survived by his fourth wife, Danish-Swedish multimillionaire Kristina “Kiki” Tholstrup, and his three children.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Michael Griffin, administrator of the American space agency, NASA has ordered a study into considering the possibility of continuing the usage of the Space Shuttle, a space vehicle that takes astronauts to the International Space Station. The agency originally planned to retire all shuttles in 2010 after mission STS-134, but concerns over staff job losses that were created by the Space Shuttle program caused Griffin to order the study. The space crafts have been in use since 1981 and it’s replacements, the Ares rockets, will not be in use until 2015 causing a 5 year gap where NASA will have no manned space flights, which is the reason the agency is considering extending usage for five more years, when the vehicles can be immediately replaced by their successors.

The news came from a leaked email which was obtained from the Los Angeles Times. NASA officials have confirmed the email’s authenticity, but have stated that it is too early to decide whether or not the shuttle use will continue.

Griffin has originally been against the continuation of the shuttle, as it would damage the funding of Project Constellation, a project that involves sending astronauts to the Moon and Mars.

If NASA chooses not to continue the space shuttle, they would rely on the Russian Federal Space Agency and their Soyuz space vehicles in the five year gap of no American space flights. To do this, they would have to purchase seats on Soyuz missions. However, because of the recent events that have transpired over the Georgia conflict, US and Russian relations have been damaged, so it is believed unwise to work with the Russian agency.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Taiwan’s former President, Chen Shui-bian (???), has been conditionally released on bail, some ten hours after he was indicted for corruption. Speaking to media at the Taipei District Court, he said: “I want to thank my lawyers, members of the Democratic Progressive Party and my supporters who have given me huge encouragement. I am grateful to those who cared for, supported and looked after me so I could get through the hardest and loneliest 32 days of my life in prison.” He earns the historical distinction of being the first ex-president of the Republic of China to be indicted for criminal offenses and could suffer life imprisonment if convicted.

Along with 13 other family members and close associates, including his wheelchair-bound wife, son Chen Chih-Chung, and daughter-in-law Huang Jui-ching, Chen was indicted Friday on charges of embezzling government funds and laundering money or ill-gotten bribes. The panel of three judges ruled he should appear at future court hearings and must not leave the country nor change his address.

Prosecutor Lin Che-hui accused Chen of having “embezzled 104 million New Taiwan dollars ($3.12 million) from a special presidential fund, and received bribes of $11.73 million in connection with a government land procurement deal and a separate construction project; the damning piece of evidence was the presence of NT$740 million ($22.2 million) in cash stashed in a Taipei bank safety vault held by the Chens.” Yuanta Securities director Tu Li-ping said, “she hand delivered NT$200 million ($6 million) in cash to Wu at the presidential residence in 2006 on behalf of executives of an affiliated bank; the money was an incentive for Wu not to interfere with a merger the bank was pursuing.”

Chen insists on his innocence. Contradicting the 100-page indictment, he said that “the $21 million his wife wired to their son’s Swiss bank accounts came from leftover campaign donations. Taiwanese law permits such donations to be kept by political candidates.”

In 1975, Chen married Wu Shu-chen (???), the daughter of a physician. The couple has a daughter, Chen Hsing-yu (???), who is a dentist; and a son, Chen Chih-Chung (???), who, having received a law degree in Taiwan, studied at and graduated with a M.A. degree from the University of California in 2005.

In November 2006, Chen’s wife Wu Shu-chen and three other high ranking officials of the Presidential Office were indicted for corruption, charged with misappropriating NT$14.8 million (USD$450,000) of government funds using falsified documents. Due to the protection from the Constitution against prosecution of the sitting president, Chen could not be prosecuted until he left office, and he was not indicted, but was alleged to be an accomplice on his wife’s indictment.

Chen’s term as President of the Republic of China ended in May 2008. Immediately thereafter, prosecutors began investigating him regarding allegations that he misused his discretionary “state affairs fund”, as well as his connection to the first family’s money-laundering activities. He resigned from the Democratic Progressive Party on August 15, 2008, one day after admitting to falsifying past campaign expenses and wiring campaign contributions to overseas accounts.

In November 2008, Chen was escorted by a security staff, into the Taipei prosecutor’s office for questioning. After 6 hours, he left the Supreme Court prosecutor`s office in handcuffs, was arrested and detained. The charges each carry a minimum penalty of 5 years imprisonment. Following a 6 day hunger strike while in detention, Chen collapsed and was rushed to Taipei’s Far Eastern Memorial Hospital, where he was later transferred to Panchiao Hospital for force-feeding. Despite Chen’s lack of interest in appealing, his lawyer Cheng Wen-long completed a motion seeking his release from detention and filed a notice of appeal of the court’s decision, along with a petition for constitutional interpretation to restrain actions violative of the Constitution.

Prosecutor General, Chen Tsung-ming said that after Chen’s case had been removed to the Taipei Local Court, he would re-file a petition for Chen’s detention. Chen and the main opposition DPP have accused President Ma Ying-jeou‘s administration of “using the scandals to plan a political plot against the former leader.”

Meanwhile, The Straits Times reported that “prosecutors are to investigate former President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000, Lee Teng-hui on suspicion of money laundering, based on allegations made by Chen during his own questioning recently that his predecessor transferred large funds abroad through dummy accounts.” Mr. Lee angrily denied the accusations concerning “a suspected transfer of 50 million Taiwan dollars (US$2.26 million) to Mr Lee from a local stock investor via overseas dummy accounts.” Charges also included transactions made at the end of Lee’s tenure and at the beginning of Chen’s term, including “one billion Taiwan dollars that had been wired to various countries including Singapore.”

The China Post calls for calm and urges fair trial for Chen. “All the people should wait patiently for the outcome of the trial … They shouldn’t do anything to influence the judges in any way, because the rule of law in Taiwan is at stake. We should show the world that Taiwan is a democracy where anybody who commits a crime, be he a man on the street or a former president, is duly punished.” it said.

Friday, September 26, 2008

On October 14, 2008, Canadians will be heading to the polls for the federal election. New Democratic Party incumbent David Christopherson is standing for re-election in the riding of Hamilton Centre.

From 1985-1990, he served as a Hamilton City Councillor for Ward Four. He was elected to Ontario legislature in 1990, defeating a Liberal cabinet minister. Under Bob Rae, Christopherson served as Minister of Correctional Services and Solicitor-General. He did not seek re-election to legislature in 2003, opting to run for mayor of Hamilton. Considered a frontrunner, he lost to Larry Di Ianni.

He returned to politics just months later, changing his focus to federal politics. Christopherson beat Liberal cabinet minister Stan Keyes, the incumbent, serving as NDP critic for cities, community infrastructure, labour and steel policy. He has served as a member of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Accounts, and Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Steel Caucus.

Wikinews contacted David Christopherson, to talk about the issues facing Canadians, and what they and their party would do to address them. Wikinews is in the process of contacting every candidate, in every riding across the country, no matter their political stripe. All interviews are conducted over e-mail, and interviews are published unedited, allowing candidates to impart their full message to our readers, uninterrupted.

First elected in 2004, David Christopherson is the only MP to have represented Hamilton Centre, which was created in 2003 from parts of three other ridings. Only 38 km², small versus other area ridings, its located on the south side of Hamilton Harbour. Alphabetically, Christopherson’s challengers are Anthony Giles (Libertarian), John Livingstone (Green), Lisa Nussey (Marxist-Leninist), Leon O’Connor (Conservative), Ryan Sparrow (Communist), and Helen M. Wilson (Liberal).

For more information, visit the campaign’s official website, listed below.