Monday, October 15, 2007

Sam Brownback is perplexed. The U.S. Senator from Kansas and Presidential candidate is a Republican whose politics—he is against marriage for gay people, he is against abortion, and he has a clean image in a party tainted by scandal—should speak favorably to the party’s base. But it has not. “I’m baffled by that myself,” Senator Brownback told Wikinews reporter David Shankbone. “We haven’t been able to raise money.”

A recent poll in Iowa has put him in eighth place, with 2% supporting his campaign. “If we don’t finish fourth or better in Iowa…we’ll pull out.”

Senator Brownback’s relationship with God infuses almost every answer you find below. Although he doesn’t feel “competent” to explain why God would dislike gays, he does feel strongly that allowing two men or two women to enter into the union of marriage will destroy it for heterosexuals. Pointing to the research of Stanley Kurtz at the Hoover Institution, Brownback asserts that Northern Europeans have “taken the sacredness out of the institution.”

In the interview, Senator Brownback discusses the tug-and-pull that befalls him when his constituents show up at his office and say, “Look, I’m a conservative, but we need this bridge, we need this subsidy, we need this hospital.” Brownback feels this spending system needs to be changed; however, when it comes to energy policy, Brownback is there for his constituents. David Shankbone asked the Kansas Senator, a supporter of cellulosic ethanol, why he doesn’t support the lowering of tariffs on sugar since sugar ethanol delivers 8 times the energy output of cellulosic ethanol. Brazil, in particular, has become energy independent because of its sugar ethanol program. It’s cheaper to produce, and there is vastly more bang for the buck in sugar fuel than in corn fuel; an entire country no longer needs to import oil because of it. Federal tariffs currently make sugar ethanol too expensive in the United States. “You’re going to kill the ethanol industry here just as it gets going,” was Senator Brownback’s response. However, there is a debate over whether the process to make corn ethanol uses more energy than the ethanol itself produces.

Below is David Shankbone’s interview with Senator Sam Brownback.

Friday, August 11, 2006

The New Zealand Government has asked the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand to start refining its taxpayer funded ‘Buy Kiwi Made‘ scheme to also include products designed in New Zealand but manufactured elsewhere.

The Buy Kiwi Made scheme was a NZ$11 million post-election deal between the Labour Party and the Green Party.

Political experts say the reason for Labour to ask the Green party to refine the scheme was because it was afraid that companies, like clothes maker Icebreaker which manufactures its clothes outside of New Zealand would not be included.

Robert Linterman, Norsewear New Zealand CEO, said “The decision to include companies which manufacture overseas undermines the credibility of the entire campaign. We were assured that the purpose of Buy Kiwi Made was to encourage the production in New Zealand, help build up our manufacturing capability and create employment. It’s hard to see how classing Icebreaker – a company which does much of its processing and manufacturing in China – as Kiwi Made will help those achieve those aims. The Buy Kiwi Made campaign should support products which are actually Kiwi made – not just Kiwi designed.”

Sue Bradford, Green MP (Member of Parliament) who is responsible for Buy Kiwi Made scheme, said she is making her proposal clearer so such companies can be associated with it and that she is confident all sides will be pleased with the final proposal. “It is good to clarify the details because there is a lot of taxpayer’s money at stake,” Bradford said.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions does not want the scheme to be extended to the changes. Ross Wilson, President of the Council of Trade Unions, said “It would not be in the interests of many ordinary companies and their staff. I plan to raise union concerns with government ministers.”

A compilation of brief news reports for Tuesday, November 25, 2008.

The Federal Reserve is to inject US$800 billion into the United States economy in an effort to stabilise the financial system.

Henry Paulson, US Secretary of the Treasury, said that the stimulus package is intended to make more lending available to consumers. Approximately $600 billion of the package is to be used to buy up mortgage-backed securities, while the rest is aimed at unfreezing the consumer credit market.

US President-elect Barack Obama said that budget reform was “imperative” with the economy in its current state, saying that “it’s not an option. It’s a necessity.”

Sources

• “US Fed announces $800bn stimulus” — BBC News Online, November 25, 2008
• “Fed rolls second stimulus of over $800 bn” — The Economic Times, November 25, 2008

Martine Aubry has been declared the new leader of the French Socialist Party. The declaration was delayed after Martine Aubry’s rival, Ségolène Royal, made accusations of voting irregularities. A party investigation was prompted.

However, the national council of the party ratified last week’s vote, stating that Aubry’s winning margin had increased from 42 votes to 102.

Sources

• “French Socialists declare winner” — BBC News Online, November 25, 2008
• Emmanuel Georges-Picot. “Aubry confirmed as French Socialist boss” — Associated Press, November 25, 2008

The United States government has decided to rescue Citigroup, agreeing to shoulder possibly hundreds of billions in losses at the stricken bank and to inject $20 billion into the company.

Regulators hope that the bold move will bolster shaken confidence in Citigroup, as well as the nation’s financial system.

Wall Street reacted positively to the move, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining over 300 points in early trading on Tuesday, and Citigroup shares rising 61.3% to $6.08 early in the day. British and German stock markets also rose higher.

Sources

• Associated Press. “Government unveils Citigroup rescue” — MSNBC, November 24, 2008
• Agence France-Presse. “Massive 300-billion dollar rescue for Citigroup” — Google News, November 24, 2008

The United Nations says that a cholera outbreak has killed 53 people in Zimbabwe on Monday.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the fatalities brought the total since August to 366. Yesterday’s report increased the number of recorded cases from last year’s report by 1,604 to 8,887.

Sources

• “UN calls for rapid Zimbabwe deal” — BBC News Online, November 25, 2008
• Agence France-Presse. “Zimbabwe cholera crisis worsens as political talks resume” — Google News, November 25, 2008

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Militants in north-west Pakistan blew up a fuel tanker carrying supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan on Monday. More than ten armed men shot at the tanker and fired a rocket at the vehicle outside Peshawar city, and the driver and a passenger were injured in the attack, although no loss of life is reported.

Head of the north-western city’s administration, Sahibzada Anees, said “About ten armed people fired at a tanker carrying petrol for NATO forces and later lobbed a rocket at the vehicle, which set alight some 78,000 litres (17,000 gallons) of fuel”.

According to witnesses, the tanker was quickly in flames. The residents of the areas were successfully rescued by police and fire fighters and the blaze was brought under control. Police have launched a search operation in nearby areas, although with no success.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. Oil tankers and trucks bringing goods from port city of Karachi for allied forces battling the Taliban in Afghanistan have been regularly attacked. About 80% of supplies destined for the more than 113 thousand NATO troops in Afghanistan have to pass through Pakistan. The coalition forces bring 70% of supplies through Pakistan every month, from a total of two thousand truckloads.

The time is 18:00 (UTC) on June 2nd, 2006, and this is Audio Wikinews News Briefs.

Thursday, June 30, 2005

Defending Wimbledon Ladies Singles champion Maria Sharapova has been beaten by Venus Williams in the 2005 semi-final by two sets to love. In the final game, Williams came to match point twice, just as rain began to fall. Both that and the preceding game were hard fought, with a succession of deuces.

The other semi-final, between Amelie Mauresmo and Lindsey Davenport, will resume tomorrow after rain forced an early end to play today. The match will resume with Davenport a break up in the final set. The previous sets both went to tie-breaks after both players exchanged breaks of serve.

Both matches were played at the same time – Williams and Sharapova on Centre Court, with Davenport and Mauresmo on No.1 – after early rain meant players could not get onto the courts until late afternoon.

Monday, October 3, 2016

On Friday, European Space Agency’s (ESA) spacecraft Rosetta ended its mission, crashing into Jupiter-family comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Rosetta is the first spacecraft to orbit a comet; it traveled in space for twelve years and about eight billion kilometres (about five billion miles).

The ESA’s Darmstadt, Germany control centre ceased to receive signals from the spacecraft, confirming the Rosetta mission’s end, at 11:19 UTC. Mission controllers said it was traveling about 90 centimeters per second on impact (two miles per hour), about a walking pace.

Almost two years ago, in November 2014, Rosetta successfully landed a probe called Philae onto 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, with amongst its goals better understanding how the Solar System was formed. Philae’s discoveries included the presence of molecular oxygen and nitrogen on the comet. It also discovered water on the comet which, according to the scientists, had a different distribution of hydrogen isotopes from the water on earth.

The spacecraft studied the gas, dust, and plasma immediately surrounding the comet during its final approach.

ESA’s director general Johann-Dietrich Wörner said, “Rosetta has entered the history books once again[…] Today we celebrate the success of a game-changing mission, one that has surpassed all our dreams and expectations, and one that continues ESA’s legacy of ‘firsts’ at comets.”

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Penske Automotive Group, Inc., an Ohio based investment group and Telesto Ventures have indicated separately that they are interested in purchasing the Saturn auto brand from General Motors (GM).

According to The Wall Street Journal, Nissan–Renault is interested in purchasing Saturn. Bloomberg, however, indicated that Nissan-Renault may be a partner of Penske’s potential bid. If Penske acquired the brand, they would distribute Saturn vehicles and outsource the assembly.

GM revealed that the Saturn brand along with Saab and Hummer were up for sale when unveiling their restructuring plans to Congress for governmental loans. While the Pontiac brand was originally to be a niche brand, GM had changed their plans recently and decided to eliminate the brand.

Telesto Ventures is an investment group that includes private equity firm Black Oak Partners LLC of Oklahoma City and several Saturn dealerships. Initially, Telesto will purchase Saturn branded cars from GM then act as a general retailer for foreign brands. Telesto is in talks with several foreign manufacturers.

The Ohio group includes many former senior auto company managers plus private financial backers, chemists and engineers who live in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Florida. This group plans to initially purchase cars from GM then purchase existing but closed plants due to automaker restructuring. Additionally, one of the partners indicated a willingness to accept some “legacy” cost in relation to the United Auto Workers. The Ohio group is also pursuing possible loans or other support from national and state governments.

GM is reviewing several offers for Saturn. GM has contracted with S.J. Girsky & Co. to advise them on the sale.

Friday, June 13, 2008

British drivers have been urged not to panic buy fuel because of the 4-day walkout by delivery drivers working for companies delivering to Shell petrol stations. The 600 workers have walked out over pay disagreements, wanting an increase to their current pay of £36,500, however their union Unite turned down a last-minute offer of £41,500.

Hoyer UK, which employs tanker drivers for Shell, said, “We extended our offer to the very limits that our business could sustain.” However Unite said in a press release that, “this dispute could have been resolved if Shell had advanced a fraction of the billions of pounds in profit they make every month”, continuing to say, “one of the world’s richest companies is prepared to play Pontius Pilate and see the British public inconvenienced rather than settle this dispute for a sum smaller than the chairman’s pay increase last year”

Shell admitted that the walkout could leave some of its 1,000 forecourts without fuel, but the UK Petrol Industry Association, which represent oil refiners, said that forecourts would have around 4 days of supply, maintaining usual stocking levels. Shell also commented that the strike impact would be “significant”, as the company runs around 1 in 10 of all petrol stations in the UK.

British Business Secretary, John Hutton, said that “the strike, which will have a disproportionate effect on people in Britain, cannot be justified,” and urged both sides to resume negotiations in order to settle the dispute. “We have been working closely with industry to put in place detailed contingency plans to reduce as far as possible the disruption for the driving public,” he added. Unite’s press release also confirms that “provision has been made for fire, police and the emergency services.”

Tanker drivers on strike have set up picket lines at many of Shell’s UK refineries, including those in Stanlow, Avonmouth, Plymouth, Pembroke, Cardiff, Kingsbury, Basildon, Grangemouth, Aberdeen, Inverness, Jarrow and Luton Airport.