News briefs:April 25, 2010

[edit]

See the discussion page for instructions on adding schools to this list and for an alphabetically arranged listing of schools.

Due to the damage by Hurricane Katrina and subsequent flooding, a number of colleges and universities in the New Orleans metropolitan area will not be able to hold classes for the fall 2005 semester. It is estimated that 75,000 to 100,000 students have been displaced. [1]. In response, institutions across the United States and Canada are offering late registration for displaced students so that their academic progress is not unduly delayed. Some are offering free or reduced admission to displaced students. At some universities, especially state universities, this offer is limited to residents of the area.

Saturday, February 4, 2006

An investigation has been commenced by Egypt into the Friday sinking of one of El Salam’s passenger ferries in the Red Sea. M/V al-Salam Boccaccio 98 was carrying 1408, including many Egyptians returning from work in Saudi Arabia. The ship left from the port of Dubah in Saudi Arabia enroute to the port of Safaga in Egypt. On the west coast of Saudi Arabia during the night a sandstorm occurred due to high winds.

David Osler of Lloyd’s List has said of the ship that “It’s a roll-on, roll-off ferry, and there is big question mark over the stability of this kind of ship,” he continued and said that “It would only take a bit of water to get on board this ship and it would be all over. … The percentage of this type of ferry involved in this type of disaster is huge.”

Mamdouh Ismail, head of Al-Salaam Maritime Transport Company, stated that another one of El Salam’s ferries, Saint Catherine received a distress call from one of the lifeboats of the Boccaccio when it arrived in Dubah from Safaga. The Saint Catherine notified its company headquarters, and El Salam reported it to Egyptian authorities.

According to a statement given to the Associated Press by Ismail, the ferry was carrying 96 crew members, 1,200 Egyptians, and 112 other passengers. A Transport Ministry spokesman has stated that 314 people have been rescued. More than 185 bodies have been recovered from the sea according to an Egyptian police official who has requested anonymity.

Four rescue ships from Egypt arrived Friday afternoon, approximately ten hours after the sinking of the 35-year-old ferry in the night near the Egyptian port of Hurghada. Aid from Britain and the United States was initially refused. Later, both the British HMS Bulwark and the US P3-Orion maritime naval patrol aircraft were recalled, but due to its distance at the later time, the request for the return of the Bulwark was called off by Egypt.

Monday, June 16, 2008

The gas crisis in Western Australia continues to deepen with more businesses standing people down without pay. Businesses have been instructed to turn off non-essential items including limiting the number of lifts and reduced lighting; domestic customers are also urged to reduce energy use.

In the Federal parliament today Resources Minister Martin Ferguson raised the prospect of activating the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act. “During such a situation, I can control the production, transfer and stock levels of crude and liquid fuel…While I sincerely hope that this will not be required, the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act provides authority for the Australian Government to prepare for and manage a national liquid fuel supply emergency,” he said.

Western Australian Premier Alan Carpenter called on all Western Australians to reduce energy usage, saying that the situation could be managed with on going co-operation, while reassuring everyone that the crisis will be short, with the Apache Corporation expected to begin partial operations in two months. Supplies were interrupted after a fire at Apache’s Vanarus Island refinery, which supplied 30% of the state’s natural gas requirements.

An Alinta spokesman has said that with the expected cold weather during the next week demand will put further pressure on supplies, advising that it is critical that all consumers limit energy usage.

Alinta requests that residential customers;

• use only essential heating and limit it to one room
• turn down hot water system by 10 degrees
• reduce shower times
• wash in cold water.

While suggesting small businesses;

• shift production schedules
• bring forward maintenance and shut down schedules
• turn off equipment not essential to the business.

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.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Wikinews interviewed author Amy Scobee about her book Scientology – Abuse at the Top, and asked her about her experiences working as an executive within the organization. Scobee joined the organization at age 14, and worked at Scientology’s international management headquarters for several years before leaving in 2005. She served as a Scientology executive in multiple high-ranking positions, working out of the international headquarters of Scientology known as “Gold Base”, located in Gilman Hot Springs near Hemet, California.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Researchers say that new, ten million-year-old fossils found in Ethiopia, prove that the theory that humans may have evolved from a species of great apes eight million years ago, may not be true, but that humans may have split from apes as long as 10.5 million years ago.

At least nine fossilized teeth, one canine tooth and eight molars, of a previously unknown species of apes found in Africa were discovered by a team of researchers from Ethiopia and Japan who then compared the 3-D make up of the teeth to other fossils that date back as far as 8 million years and found that the fossils are likely a “direct ancestor” of apes currently living in Africa and that the new ape fossils were that of a species of gorilla who ate mostly plants high in fiber.

Current fossils and research say that the evolutionary split from apes to humans occurred at least eight million years ago. The new fossils say that the split may have happened as long as 10.5 million years ago.

“Based on this fossil, that means the split is much earlier than has been anticipated by the molecular evidence. That means everything has to be put back,” said researcher at the Rift Valley Research Service in Ethiopia and a co-author of the study, Berhane Asfaw.

Despite the finds, other researchers are not convinced that the findings are correct.

“It is stretching the evidence to base a time scale for the evolution of the great apes on this new fossil. These structures appear on at least three independent lineages of apes, including gorillas, and they could relate to a dietary shift rather than indicating a new genetic trait,” said a Professor at the London Natural History Museum in the United Kingdom, Peter Andrews who also added, “but the fossil evidence for the evolution of our closest living relatives, the great apes, is almost non-existent.

Researchers have named the newly discovered species Cororapithecus abyssinicus whose remains were found in the Afar Region of Ethiopia, the same place where the remains of Lucy were discovered in 1974.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Operation NANOOK 2008 was held from August 11 to August 25 by the Canadian Forces for the purpose of conducting mock emergency rescue operations for potential maritime disasters in the northeastern Canadian Arctic waters.

Two Canadian navy ships and two airforce planes, a CC-138 Twin Otter and a CP-140 Aurora, took part in the exercises in the Canada’s Arctic. The HMCS Toronto and the Canadian Coast Guard ship Pierre Radisson travelled along the Hudson Strait. The Operation extended to Davis Strait, and Frobisher Bay during the annual NANOOK Operation. There have been 18 such humanitarian operations since 2002. As more Arctic ice melts, the ships sail through uncharted waters. Emergency response times were tested for such potential disasters as oil spills, or rescue operations such as responding to cruise ship emergencies.

General Walter Natynczyk, Canada’s chief of Defence staff, the Honourable Peter MacKay, Defence Minister as well as Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, and Steven Fletcher, Member of Parliament for Charleswood–St. James–Assiniboia and Parliamentary Secretary for Health, flew to Iqaluit, Nunavut to officially launch the exercise on August 19, 2008 and observe the process.

In addition to the military exercises, Veterans Affairs Canada held a commemorative event onboard the HMCS Toronto to honour the 55th Anniversary of the Cease Fire in Korea, the 65th Anniversary of the Battle of the Atlantic, and the start of the Last 100 days of the First World War. The inaugural ceremonies were held during Community Day activities in the capital city of Iqaluit, followed by the public panel discussion held on Saturday. The community day ceremonies were organized by participants in Operation NANOOK 2008. The public ceremonies received neither Nunavut politicians nor Inuit leaders.