Saturday, May 23, 2009

According to military officials in Pakistan, they have succeeded in driving back Talibani forces from two key strongholds in the Swat Valley. After a two week battle, which reportedly left hundreds dead, the militants were dislodged from the mountain ridge Biny Baba Ziarat.

“It was very difficult to dislodge them even with the support of helicopter gunship and fighter jets,” Brigadier Suba Khan said while speaking to assembled members of the press.

“They fought till the last men,” added Lieutenant-Colonel Mohamed Riaz, who was credited with leading the final charge.

“Essentially, at this point in time, we are looking at eliminating the hard core militants,” explained Major General Sajjad Ghani, who said that troops were closing in on another stronghold. “The commandoes have already landed on the mountain peaks and ridges [at Peochar]. The militants are surrounded and encircled from all sides. They are hemmed in. And this is the right time that the security forces can go with full might and kill and eliminate the residual militants in the Peochar valley.”

The Pakistan Army established a base at a girls’ college in Khawazakhela, in part to protect it. “The Taliban would have blown it up had we not established our base here,” said Lt. Col. Abdul Rehman. The Taliban targeted girls’ schools and banned female education while they were in control of the Swat Valley.

“They are not Muslims despite their claims to be so,” said Lt. Asad Hanif. “A true Muslim cannot slaughter people like the Taliban have been doing.”

Meanwhile, a car bomb which was set off at a movie theatre in Peshawar killed six people and injured at least another 75. The bombing raised fears that the Taliban would strike back using bombs in urban areas of Pakistan.

“Such incidents will increase in coming days if the government does not stop the operation in Swat and change its policy,” said political activist Mohammed Iqbal.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

In what police believe is the second-largest heist in Britain, armed robbers stole almost £40 million from a London jewellery shop on August 6.

Two men armed with handguns held up employees of the Graff jewellers shop on New Bond Street, taking 43 items, among them expensive watches, bracelets, and rings. The duo escaped in a blue BMW, which they soon abandoned for a Mercedes. After driving to Farm Street, it is believed they may have got away in a third vehicle.

“This was a well planned robbery with a number of vehicles used to help the robbers escape. These men are extremely dangerous and fired at least two shots in busy London streets as they made their getaway,” said Detective Chief Inspector Pam Mace.

“Someone knows who these men are, they would undoubtedly have spoken about it beforehand or boasted about it afterwards,” she added. “I would urge anyone who recognises them, knows the whereabouts of the jewellery or has any other information to contact us.”

Sunday, August 21, 2005

A robotic system at Stanford Medical Center was used to perform a laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery successfully with a theoretically similar rate of complications to that seen in standard operations. However, as there were only 10 people in the experimental group (and another 10 in the control group), this is not a statistically significant sample.

If this surgical procedure is as successful in large-scale studies, it may lead the way for the use of robotic surgery in even more delicate procedures, such as heart surgery. Note that this is not a fully automated system, as a human doctor controls the operation via remote control. Laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery is a treatment for obesity.

There were concerns that doctors, in the future, might only be trained in the remote control procedure. Ronald G. Latimer, M.D., of Santa Barbara, CA, warned “The fact that surgeons may have to open the patient or might actually need to revert to standard laparoscopic techniques demands that this basic training be a requirement before a robot is purchased. Robots do malfunction, so a backup system is imperative. We should not be seduced to buy this instrument to train surgeons if they are not able to do the primary operations themselves.”

There are precedents for just such a problem occurring. A previous “new technology”, the electrocardiogram (ECG), has lead to a lack of basic education on the older technology, the stethoscope. As a result, many heart conditions now go undiagnosed, especially in children and others who rarely undergo an ECG procedure.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Recently in Sunnyvale, CA, Blue Coat Systems and AT&T are confirmed to join the Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI), an international non-profit organization dedicated to identifying and promoting best practices, tools and methods for online safety.

Apart from AT&T, Blue Coat recently announced “K9 Web Protection” software and promoted “Community Outreach Program” for parents to strengthen Internet security on kids. In addition, Laurie Coffin, Director of Marketing Communications at Blue Coat, was confirmed to join FOSI’s board of directors to assist in governing FOSI’s strategic direction and initiatives.

Saturday, July 1, 2006

In a quarter-final rematch of the 1998 Fifa World Cup final France beat Brazil 1-0 to progress to the semi-finals, Saturday.

Brazil had not lost a Fifa World Cup match since the 1998 game but Zinedine Zidane, the three times World Player of the Year who had authored Brazil’s downfall in Paris, left the signature of his gifts in his trademark flair at the Commerzbank Arena. File:Commerzbank-Arena-Luftbild.jpg

The experienced French defense of Liliam Thuram, Claude Makelele and Patrick Viera did their bit to confine the 2002 World Champions to a single shot on target in 90 minutes. The attacking pace and skill of newcomer Frank Ribery ripped Brazilian defence open and Zidane found him time and time again.

Thierry Henry scored the only goal of the game 12 minutes after half-time. Zidane flighted a free kick to the far post where Henry ran in and jumped to side-foot a volley past Dida.

Zidane’s performance in the eyes of experienced observers reawakened memories of his best games for France. He orchestrated nearly everything France did well and always had time for graceful turns, effortless passes, mesmerizing footwork that evaded legs to keep the ball under control.

If 34 year old Zidane played like the game might have been his last match, Brazil’s Ronaldo, Cafu and Roberto Carlos, also over 30, were unable to rise to the same heights on this occasion.

On 90 minutes Ronaldinho had a free kick opportunity 25 yards from goal but it was not to be the 2006 Fifa Player of the Year’s night either; his shot fizzed over the bar.

The result meant Raymond Domenech’s side would meet Portugal in the semi-final round of the World Cup in Munich on Wednesday, July 5.

Monday, February 26, 2007

The officials from CBS stated on Monday that the company is going to invest in virtual world content developer Electric Sheep Co., which develops 3D properties in several virtual worlds like the one called Second Life.

In recent months corporate investors are paying more attention to virtual worlds. This is mainly due to the fact that the audience is shifting from TV to Internet. Another advantage of virtual worlds is that they can help in marketing products and promoting brands.

The Interactive President of CBS, Quinsy Smith, sees the virtual worlds as platforms for the next generations. The Chief Executive of Electric Sheep, Sibley Verbeck, mentioned in an interview that the company has the goal of helping entertainment companies to gain their clients from virtual worlds like Second Life. Then Electric Sheep will provide more entertainment experiences for clientèle. With money invested by CBS, Electric Sheep plans to develop software that will create virtual worlds for mainstream consumption.

Electric Sheep developed several projects for CBS, including “The L-Word in Second Life”. CBS also filmed a commercial within Second Life in order to promote its show called “Two and a Half Men.”

Currently Electric Sheep is developing inside Second Life a Star Trek-themed area for CBS.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Journalist, counselor, painter, and US 2012 Presidential candidate Joe Schriner of Cleveland, Ohio took some time to discuss his campaign with Wikinews in an interview.

Schriner previously ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, but failed to gain much traction in the races. He announced his candidacy for the 2012 race immediately following the 2008 election. Schriner refers to himself as the “Average Joe” candidate, and advocates a pro-life and pro-environmentalist platform. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, and has published public policy papers exploring solutions to American issues.

Wikinews reporter William Saturn? talks with Schriner and discusses his campaign.