The Atlas V flew in the 421 configuration, with a 4 metre wide payload fairing, twin solid rocket boosters, and a single-engined Centaur upper stage. It was the 14th flight of the Atlas V, and successfully placed the satellite into a geosynchronous orbit. The launch was dedicated to former Atlas programme employee Lynn Deckard.
ICO G1 will provide S band mobile communications for satellite phones. Its launch had been delayed from May last year, owing to delays with US government missions which were launching on Atlas, and then in light of the failure of a previous Atlas launch in June. It was constructed by Space Systems/Loral, and is based on the LS-1300 satellite bus. It is the heaviest satellite to be launched by an Atlas rocket, and the heaviest single commercial satellite to be launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
Speaking after the launch, Jim Sponnik, the Vice President of the Atlas programme told the team who had conducted the launch that they “all did extremely well and the rocket did exceptionally well”. Colonel Scott Henderson, of the 45th Space Wing, United States Air Force, said that the launch was “a great success”, and the result of “phenomenal effort” on the part of those involved. David Malcom, the President of Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems described the launch as a “hole in one”. Tim Bryan, the CEO of ICO Satellite Management told the United Launch Alliance team that he “can’t express…what every person in this room has done for our business”. He also thanked Bob Day, and ICO’s space team, for their work in the build up to the launch. Michael Gass, the CEO of United Launch Alliance said that the successful launch was a “testimony to this entire team”, and told flight controllers “congratulations, you’re the best”.
The satellite’s signal was acquired by ground tracking stations in Australia at 21:17, and the launch was confirmed to be accurate to within one nautical mile of the targeted orbit. The next Atlas launch is scheduled to occur in early July, with a DMSP weather satellite, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
In late August, the Canadian city of Toronto celebrated the quarter century anniversary of Fan Expo Canada, a massive annual pop culture convention. Running from August 22 to 25, the event featured extensive retail areas, panels, celebrity appearances, an artist alley, and attendees in cosplay. Wikinews attended.
At the panel “Breaking Into Comics,” speakers shared their insights into getting started as a comic artist or writer. Comic artist Jenn St-Onge (Nancy Drew, Jem and the Misfits) told of being forced to re-evaluate her life, after growing up with ample positive reinforcement about being an artist. “In my first stint, I didn’t get any work. […] to come back and get that kind of second chance, eight years ago, it feels really good to have people coming to you and being ‘I want you to work,’ and basically working seven days a week for the last eight years.”
“You have to work those seven days to earn a weekend,” quipped Valiant Entertainment editor Heather Antos, later in the panel. While all agreed that time off was rare as a freelancer, artist Leisha Riddell emphasized the need for boundaries, saying “this weekend, I’m becoming part of the couch and playing video games until my eyes go blurry.”
Actress Denise Crosby is set to appear in the final season of Suits, a Toronto-shot legal series. The actress recalled her season with Star Trek: The Next Generation, when they were the “scrappy little red headed stepchild of the [Paramount] lot.”
Underwhelmed with her role, she left the series toward the end of its first season. “This is not what I wanted to become an actor for. I didn’t want to stand on the bridge and just go ‘aye aye captain,’ you know, and not even move. I actually asked them to make up some fake legs” to place at the character Tasha Yar’s bridge station, which was on a risen platform. “You could just stick my legs, just fake legs, and I had no lines[….] You gotta know that Tasha’s on her command post, but just put the legs there, just keep the camera low.”
Actor Brendan Fraser’s appearance at the convention was directly from filming The Professionals in South Africa. He quipped “I still have dust in my shoes.”
The cast of the sitcom Kim’s Convenience had a panel in a room for 700 people. The popular series is based on a 2011 stage play about a Korean-Canadian family that operates a convenience store. Simu Liu, one of the series leads, is to play the titular character in Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
Lead Paul Sun-Hyung Lee talked about how the series has been underestimated “up ’til now.” During the premiere, “I felt like Cinderella at the ball […] I’m a jobber, I’ve been working as an actor for like, close to 25 years, lots of small roles. Expositionary characters, never asked to carry anything, to be a lead, to actually have a background story. And so to finally be able to do an entire season of television as one of the lead actors was tremendous”.
Hasbro hosted a panel about their Star Wars products, which promoted their new action figures and helmets. The company’s upcoming replica helmet is of Luke Skywalker’s X-wing helmet, their “number one requested hero helmet […] This by far is the most labor-intensive helmet to date.” While previous helmets have included movie sound, this product includes lights to simulate the enemy ships going past your head.
Asked about sustainability, the company noted that recently they had switched to a bio-based PET for their packaging, “which was more plant-based plastic for greater environmental concerns. […] This week, Hasbro announced that we’re […] looking to switch away from plastic altogether, in terms of our packaging […] we’re very much aware that a lot of times times plastic is […] ripped off and discarded, so we’re constantly trying to improve on that as a company to improve our environmental footprint.”
The event played host to the Rocket League WGN North American Championship, with the winning team receiving C$10,000 and a trip to a professional circuit event.
The government of Brazil has granted a licence allowing the controversial construction of what would be the third largest hydro-electric dam in the world, in the Amazon rainforest, which environmental groups say will threaten the survival of indigenous groups, as well as cause major devastation of a large area of rainforest.
The $17bn Belo Monte dam will, if a developer is found, be situated on the Xingu river, a tributary of the river Amazon, and has been surrounded in controversy since the 1990s, when the initial plan for the 11,000 megawatt dam was rejected amid global protests. The Brazilian government says that fears had been taken into account before approving the environmental licence. Whoever wins the bidding process will have to meet forty conditions, as well as pay $800m in order to protect the environment.
Critics state that diverting the flow of the river will damage fish stocks and part of the Amazon ecosystem, as 500 square kilometres of land would be flooded — as well as affecting forty thousand people, of which twelve thousand would be displaced. 48 of the 500 square kilometres already flood for half the year due to the rainy season.
Tonga’s largest criminal trial today ended in the conviction of four men and the state shipping firm over the sinking of MV Princess Ashika. 74 were killed when the ferry went down off Nuku’alofa in 2009.
The vast majority of bodies remain missing. Only two were recovered, including one Tongan — a 21-year-old mother called Vae Fetu’u Taufa. The Shipping Corporation of Polynesia (SCP) manager John Jonesse, acting director of the national department for ports and marine affairs Viliami Tu’ipulotu, captain Viliami Makahokovalu Tuputupu, and first mate Semisi Pomale were all convicted of her manslaughter by negligence. The men were remanded into custody over the weekend to await sentencing; they face a maximum of ten years in jail.
Justice Shuster cited the severity of the offences in denying bail, which was requested by Laki Niu and Vuna Fa’otusia, attorneys representing the accused.
Built in the early 1970s, by 1985 the ferry was found to be unseaworthy and hence not suited for use in deep water. When SCP bought it in 2009 from Fiji, it suffered from “huge” rusting holes and on August 5 that year sank in deep water during a storm. Most passengers were sleeping below deck when the ship was lost near the island of Tongatapu, where it remains on the seabed. No women or children escaped.
The six-week trial followed a royal commission of inquiry that found Jonesse, from New Zealand, bought Princess Ashika “without any proper due diligence, surveys, inspections, valuations, documentation or proper inquiry having been completed.” It also concluded Tuputupu chose to sail that day despite the ship leaking on other journeys. The inquiry branded the loss “a result of systemic and individual failures… The tragedy is that they were all easily preventable and the deaths were completely senseless.”
SCP was convicted of charges concerning the vessel’s seaworthiness by the jury, which sat in Tonga’s parliament building after the trial’s high profile saw it moved away from Nuku’alofa Supreme Court.
Jonesse and Tuputupu have both been convicted of five counts of taking an unseaworthy ship to sea under the Shipping Act, for voyages held on July 3, July 9, July 15, July 23 and August 5. Jonesse is also guilty of forgery and knowingly using a forged document.
Root is the founder and chairman of Winning Edge International Inc., a sports handicapping company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition, he is an author and a television producer, as well as an on-screen personality both as host and guest on several talk shows.
Root, a long-time Republican, declared his candidacy for the Libertarian Party on May 4, 2007.
He says he is concerned about the qualities of many who run for president, and fears that they do not know the needs of American citizens. He also says that they cater to big businesses instead of small ones.
He has goals of limiting the federal government and believes that the US went into Iraq for wrong reasons. A strong supporter of the War on Terror, he feels that it was mishandled. He has conservative values and came from a blue collar family in New York. He graduated from Columbia University with fellow presidential hopeful Barack Obama in 1983.
Root believes that America is in trouble and hopes to change that if elected.
The car model, which is known as the T.27, is due to be developed over the course of the next 16 months with four prototypes. The process that will be used during the course of the manufacturing of the vehicle is called iStream. The technology iStream had been invented by Gordon Murray in 1999 and means that all the parts are designed using a computer.
The project has approximately received £9,000,000 (US$14,919,000) in investment. The electric car is designed for urban purposes, such as in cities or towns. The weight of the vehicle is just 600 kilograms. It has the ability to travel at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour and can go for a maximum of 100 miles between recharges.
The designer thinks that motorists will some day be travelling in vehicles like this. Murray believes that the new car will be ‘the most efficient electric vehicle on earth’.
In an interview on a television show called the No Drug Show, hosted by Larry Byrnes, the Church of Scientology blamed both the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States and the attack on Pearl Harbor on psychiatrists and the drugs they prescribe their patients. Scientology considers psychiatry to be barbaric and a violation of human rights.
The video was posted on the video sharing website YouTube, but was later removed “due to a copyright claim by Axiom 10 Productions, Inc.” Mark Bunker of XenuTV questioned why Axiom 10 would utilize the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to remove the video from YouTube, as it was promoting their ideology about psychiatrists. It was later re-added to another site called Vimeo.com.
David Figueroa, a spokesperson for the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), a human rights group founded by the Church in 1969, said, “terrorism employs violence. Against not just the general public, like in 9/11, but against individuals when they are captured.” Figueroa is president of the CCHR organization in Florida.
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“To take [a] person, and turn them into a killing machine, against their will or have them do things that are against their nature, you need something behind that. Psychiatrists employ drugs and conditioning techniques in order to change people from what they would normally be, into killing machines,” added Figueroa. He also says that the leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden got the idea to form the terrorist group from his second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri in 1988. Then 13 years later, 19 terrorists hijacked four U.S. commercial airliners, crashing two into the World Trade Center towers, one into the The Pentagon and one into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people.
“He was [bin Laden] just transformed from someone who was a supporter” of the “jihad” against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, into someone whose “whole thought patterns and his entire viewpoint was changed by Zawahiri, and by whatever types of drugs Zawahiri used to make that change in bin Laden, we don’t know”, said Figueroa, who adds that Zawahiri was acting as a “psychiatrist”. In another show hosed by Byrnes, former CCHR-International president Dennis H. Clarke claims Zawahiri to be a “psychiatrist, a therapist”; Zawahiri is referred to in this program as the “guy who runs” bin Laden. However, Zawahiri is actually a surgeon; he is not a psychiatrist or a psychologist.
Figueroa goes on to say that Japanese kamikaze pilots responsible for bombing Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in December of 1941 were “on amphetamines which is a psychiatric drug” when they attacked. However, the Japanese did not employ kamikaze tactics until later in the war. Wikinews has contacted the CCHR for a statement regarding Figueroa’s remarks, but have yet to receive a reply. Scientology-associated publications have also attributed tragedies including the Jonestown massacre and the Holocaust to psychiatry.
At the conclusion of the television program, the host promotes a brochure which he says illustrates how “notorious terrorist acts like 9/11 were basically created by psychiatrists operating behind the scenes”.
The issue of Scientology’s stance on psychiatry was brought to the forefront in the media during a 2005 appearance by Tom Cruise on NBC’s program Today with Matt Lauer. At the time Cruise told Lauer he was critical of psychiatry and the use of antidepressants. In a December 2008 appearance on the Today show on a promotional tour for his film Valkyrie, Cruise told Lauer he wanted to apologize and felt he appeared arrogant in his 2005 interview.
This is not the first time the Church made false accusations for acts of violence. In October 2008, the Church falsely accused the internet protest group Anonymous of a 2007 school shooting in Finland. They accused Anonymous of being involved in the November 2007 shooting at Jokela High School, in which a man named Pekka-Eric Auvinen shot and killed nine people, including himself. The Church accused Auvinen of being part of Anonymous, and further accused the group of plotting the attack. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Finland later told Wikinews that Anonymous had nothing to do with the crime.
Cyprus, Latvia and Malta, three states which joined the European Union in May 2004, exactly one year ago, today became members of the Exchange Rate Mechanism II (ERM II), which pegs their currencies to the euro within a 15% margin above or below a central rate. While they are in ERM II, their currencies must not fluctuate to an extent that exceeds this 15% margin, and they must also keep inflation and budget deficits in check. For countries to adopt the euro, they must stay in the ERM II for at least two years. Therefore, the earliest date that Cyprus, Latvia and Malta can adopt the common currency is in May 2007.
Cyprus, Latvia and Malta have joined four other countries already in ERM II: Denmark, Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia. Denmark joined ERM II in 1999 but has since not wished to adopt the euro, while Estonia, Lithuania and Slovenia joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism in June 2004, and are expected to adopt the euro by late 2006 or early 2007. Other new European Union member states are also expected to join ERM II soon.
Out of the European Union of 25 member states, 12 countries currently use the euro, which they adopted in January 1, 2002. The only EU members that remain either outside the Eurozone or ERM II are the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Poland and the United Kingdom.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of the government of the United Kingdom told the City of London Police on Friday that there will be no prosecution for a 15-year-old boy who called Scientology a “cult” at a May 10 peaceful protest. The City of London Police had previously confiscated the boy’s protest placard and gave him a court summons at the demonstration, which took place near St Paul’s Cathedral at the Church of Scientology‘s London headquarters on Queen Victoria Street. The boy’s poster read: “Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult”. The human rights organization Liberty has come out strongly against the City of London Police for their actions at the protest, and said they are pursuing an inquiry into the police force for what they say is a troubling freedom of speech issue.
The placard used by the boy, and the written warning issued by City of London Police Image: nickstone333.
Individuals from the group Anonymous have held monthly international protests against the Church of Scientology since February, as part of the anti-Scientology movement Project Chanology. The Project Chanology movement began when the Church of Scientology attempted to get a leaked Scientology promotional video featuring Tom Cruise removed from websites YouTube and Gawker.com.
Members of Anonymous were motivated by the actions of the Church of Scientology, and bombarded Scientology websites and were successful in taking some of them down. Anonymous later changed tactics towards legal measures, and held international protests against Scientology on February 10, March 15, April 12, and most recently May 10.
I am going to fight this and not take it down because I believe in freedom of speech.
City of London Police approached the 15-year-old boy at the May 10 protest and cited section five of the Public Order Act 1986, which deals with “harassment, alarm or distress“. In response, the boy cited a 1984 judgment given by Mr. Justice Latey in the Family Division of the High Court of Justice of Her Majesty’s Courts of Justice of England and Wales, in which Latey called Scientology a “cult” and said it was “corrupt, sinister and dangerous”. In the actual 1984 judgment made by Judge Latey, he stated: “Scientology is both immoral and socially obnoxious. […] In my judgement it is corrupt, sinister and dangerous. […] It is dangerous because it is out to capture people, especially children and impressionable young people, and indoctrinate and brainwash them so that they become the unquestioning captives and tools of the cult, withdrawn from ordinary thought, living and relationships with others.” The boy told fellow protesters he was not going to take the sign down, saying: “If I don’t take the word ‘cult’ down, here [holding up his sign], I will be either, I think, most likely arrested or [given] a summons. I am going to fight this and not take it down because I believe in freedom of speech, besides which I’m only fifteen.”
… it is not abusive or insulting and there is no offensiveness, as opposed to criticism, neither in the idea expressed nor in the mode of expression. No action will be taken against the individual.
When the boy refused to take his sign down, City of London Police removed it, cited him with a court summons and informed him that the matter would be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service. The boy was the only protester who did not comply with the police requests to remove signs which referred to Scientology as a “cult”. According to The Guardian, a CPS spokesman stated Friday that: “In consultation with the City of London police, we were asked whether the sign, which read ‘Scientology is not a religion it is a dangerous cult’, was abusive or insulting. Our advice is that it is not abusive or insulting and there is no offensiveness, as opposed to criticism, neither in the idea expressed nor in the mode of expression. No action will be taken against the individual.”
“The CPS review of the case includes advice on what action or behaviour at a demonstration might be considered to be threatening, abusive or insulting. The force’s policing of future demonstrations will reflect this advice,” said a spokeswoman for the City of London Police in a statement in The Guardian.
The 15-year-old boy’s mother called the CPS decision a “victory for free speech”, saying: “We’re all incredibly proud of him. We advised him to take the placard down when we realised what was happening but he said ‘No, it’s my opinion and I have a right to express it’.”
The incident has generated significant interest on the Internet, from civil rights groups and anti-cult groups, and in the press. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, and Ian Haworth of the United Kingdom-based Cult Information Centre were highly critical of the actions of the City of London Police. George Pitcher of The Daily Telegraph called the actions of the City of London Police “a mockery of the law”. Other publications also criticized the actions of the police, compared the boy to past civil rights protesters, and analyzed how the characterization of “cult” applied to Scientology. The Guardian reported that human rights activists “were outraged” when reports of the actions of the City of London Police at the protest surfaced this week. Marina Hyde wrote in a comment piece in The Guardian that the City of London Police should spend a little less time “reaching for the collar of free-speaking children”. An article in The Guardian about the boy’s court summons hit the front page of the website Slashdot on Wednesday, and an article about the statement by CPS hit the site’s front page on Friday. The anti-Scientology website Enturbulation.org devoted its front page to the incident on Saturday.
The police may have ended their inquiries into this tawdry incident but rest assured that Liberty’s inquiry will continue.
BBC News reported that attorneys for Liberty represented the 15-year-old boy to the CPS. In media statements Friday, Liberty said it would continue its inquiry into the actions of the City of London Police. “The police may have ended their inquiries into this tawdry incident but rest assured that Liberty’s inquiry will continue. Democracy is all about clashing ideas and the police should protect peaceful protest, not stifle it,” said James Welch, legal director at Liberty. “Reason has prevailed in the case of the anti-Scientology protester”, wrote Welch in a comment piece in The Observer. According to The Press Association, Liberty’s inquiry may result in actions taken against the City of London Police.
Protesters and police in London at the April 12, 2008 Project Chanology international protest against Scientology Image: James Harrison.
The City of London Police has faced controversy in the past for its close association with the Church of Scientology. When the City of London Scientology building opened in 2006, City of London Chief Superintendent Kevin Hurley praised Scientology in an appearance as guest speaker at the building’s opening ceremony. Ken Stewart, another of the City of London’s chief superintendents, has also appeared in a video praising Scientology. According to The Guardian over 20 officers for the City of London Police have accepted gifts from the Church of Scientology including tickets to film premieres, lunches and concerts at police premises.
Each of the Project Chanology international protests against Scientology has had a theme: the February protest called attention to the birthday of Lisa McPherson, who died under controversial circumstances while under the care of Scientology, the March protest was arranged to take place two days after Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard‘s birthday, the April protest highlighted the Church of Scientology’s disconnection policy, and the May protest highlighted the Scientology practice of “Fair Game” and took place one day after the anniversary of the publication of Hubbard’s book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Another international protest is planned for June 14, and will highlight the Church of Scientology’s elite “Sea Organization” or “Sea Org”.
This story has updates See UK group Liberty, Edinburgh city council on Scientology ‘cult’ signs
Thailand’s fugitive ex-premier, Thaksin Shinawatra is in the news again today, phoning supporters in the country and appealing for no celebration of his sixtieth birthday at Sanam Luang outside the royal palace in Bangkok. This follows some red-shirted United front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) supporters vowing to go ahead with the party despite Bangkok‘s Governor, Sukhumband Paribatra, saying he will deny any request.
File photo of Thaksin Shinawatra from 2005 Image: Helene C. Stikkel (US DoD).
According to Thailand’s English-language Bangkok Post, UDD leader Shinawat Haboonpad expressed determination to see the July 26 celebration go ahead, “… we will show our civil disobedience and ignore his order”.
The divisive impact of the populist Thaksin stretches back prior to him being ousted by a bloodless military coup in September 2006. As far back as 2005 figures within the Thai establishment were speaking against him; Thaksin used the courts to try and prevent dissemination of negative material, including the publication of a sermon by a respected Buddhist monk who compared him to Phra Devadhat, the Thai Buddhist equivalent of the devil. Bangkokians formed into the yellow-shirted anti-Thaksin People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) accusing the Prime Minister of corruption. Following the military intervention in 2006, and a groundswell of support among rural poor voters, the opposing pro-Thaksin groups formed into the UDD. Despite conviction in-absentia, Thaksin colours Thai politics, and has derailed efforts to stabilise the country’s political institutions.
This past week it has been the lead-up to the December 2008 dissolution of the pro-Thaksin People’s Power Party (PPP) government that has resurfaced. The then-Prime Minister, Somchai Wongsawat was barred from politics and his PPP dissolved by the country’s Constitutional Court following anti-Thaksin yellow shirts occupying Bangkok’s international airport and stranding as many as 300,000 tourists in the country. Now the country’s Foreign Minister, Kasit Piromya, a PAD leader, is facing pressure to step down for his part in the airport siege and blockade.
A report in Monday’s Bangkok Post indicates that Thai authorities continue to pursue Thaksin. The Interior Minister said that an attempt had been made to arrest Thaksin in Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, but he had evaded capture and managed to return to Fiji where he remains in exile and a fugitive.
