Rick Morelli is running for the NDP in the Ontario provincial election, in the Vaughan riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.
Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.
The New Zealand government officials have announced that it will give NZ$160,000 in aid to help farmers who were affected by the huge amounts of snow in Canterbury, New Zealand two weeks ago.
The aid package will provide four regional offices for co-ordination, food supplies and ongoing support.
The Federated Farmers for mid Canterbury say that the aid will be a start to what looks like a tough winter. President of the mid Canterbury Federated Farmers Rupert Curd says, “It is too early to say exactly how much help the relief package will provide.”
The snow has not yet reached a crisis point.
The Insurance Council has estimated the cost of the snow storm has reached $35 million so far. Chief Executive of the Insurance Council says, “There has been damage to homes, commercial premises both on farms and in town and vehicles. Businesspeople who have been without power are also claiming for loss of income.”
In late May to early June of 2008, news broke that a previously undiscovered indigenous tribe had been found near the border between Brazil and Peru. Worldwide media was quick to publish the story and the accompanying photographs taken by José Carlos Meirelles. The photos showed people in full body paint aiming bows at the overhead aircraft from which the pictures were taken. Wikinews covered the story as well.
In its Sunday edition, British newspaper The Observer had a story called “Secret of the ‘lost’ tribe that wasn’t” which was about this “discovery” and revealed that the tribe had in fact been known to scientists, including Fundação Nacional do Índio (FUNAI), the Brazilian protection agency for Indian interests.
Some of the media got very carried away and started talking about undiscovered tribes
After this revelation, media newswires branded the original story a hoax. These hoax claims spread nearly as quickly as the original story. Rapidly, news sites even claimed that the photos were fake. The true story, however, is more complicated than that.
The Observer’s article featured an interview with José Carlos Meirelles, one of a handful so-called sertanistas that work for the FUNAI. These are field agents that map the areas of uncontacted indigenous peoples, so that their habitat can be protected. He admitted that his desire to protect these tribes had caused him to overstep his mission.
When given the use of an aircraft to seek out new tribes, Meirelles instead flew over an area where he knew a tribe had been observed decades ago. Ultimately, he was hoping to prove that FUNAI’s policy of not contacting the tribes they observe is better for the tribes. With this flight he hoped to find evidence that the tribe, discovered long ago, was better off for not being contacted.
“When I saw them painted red, I was satisfied, I was happy,” he said. “Because painted red means they are ready for war, which to me says they are happy and healthy defending their territory.”
The photos are of a real tribe, long known to Meirelles and other scientists within FUNAI, but protected under Brazilian law.
Meirelles says he has no regrets, because he just wanted to prove these kind of tribes exist and deserve protection. He said that Peruvian President Alan García had claimed that these tribes were imaginary and that he needed to prove they existed. In doing so, he violated FUNAI policies by flying over their area and taking pictures. Both are prohibited. Meirelles claims he will protect the exact location of the tribe’s territory, even if tortured.
When I saw them painted red, I was satisfied, I was happy
Former president of FUNAI, Sydney Possuelo, agreed that the publication of the photos was necessary to quell the doubt about the very existence such uncontacted indigenous peoples.
Survival International, a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal and uncontacted peoples, admits complicity in the distribution of the original story. Survival International was instrumental in getting the original story international attention.
Nevertheless, Survival International said it did not mislead media because it never described the tribe as “lost”.
“These Indians are in a reserve expressly set aside for the protection of uncontacted tribes: they were hardly ‘unknown’,” said Stephen Corry, director of Survival International in a statement. “What is, and remains, true, is that so far as is known these Indians have no peaceful contact with outsiders.”
“Some of the media got very carried away and started talking about undiscovered tribes,” explains Fiona Watson of Survival International. “There was this interpretation that this was a completely new tribe, completely undiscovered, without bothering to check with sources … Neither the Brazilian government nor Survival has ever used that word, and ‘uncontacted’ means they don’t have any contact with outsiders.”
The British pound sterling fell to a record low against the euro Wednesday, descending to under 1.14 euros for the first time. It reached new lows against other currencies as well.
One euro was worth 87.79 pence today, compared with the price of 71.91 pence a year ago. The United States dollar was trading at $1.4827 for a pound.
Some currency analysts speculate that the pound might be headed for parity — when one pound will be worth about one euro or dollar.
Sources
“Sterling hits new record euro low” — BBC News Online, December 10, 2008
“Sterling tumbles to record low against the euro as UK economic woes mount” — The Daily Telegraph, December 10, 2008
Office Depot in Durham, NC
The United States office supplies company Office Depot announced on Wednesday that it will close about 9% or 112 of its stores in North America and slash 2,200 jobs over the next three months.
The plan to close the stores will bring the chain’s base to 1,163 stores. 45 stores are to be shut down in the Central US, 40 in the Northeastern US and Canada, 19 in the Western US, and eight in the South.
Six of Office Depot’s 33 North American distribution facilities are also to be closed.
Shares of the company rose more than 12% on the news.
“Office Depot to close 112 stores” — American City Business Journals, December 10, 2008
Rod Blagojevich
Barack Obama, the President-elect of the United States, has said that Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich should resign from his post. Obama’s statement comes following Blagojevich’s arrest on charges that he attempted to “sell” Obama’s Senate seat, which the latter vacated to become President.
As governor of the state, Blagojevich has the authority to select Mr. Obama’s successor to represent Illinois in the Senate.
Blagojevich has been charged with conspiracy and solicitation to commit bribery, crimes that are punishable by up to 20 and 10 years in jail, respectively.
Related news
“Governor of Illinois arrested on suspicion of corruption” — Wikinews, December 9, 2008
Sources
“Gov. Blagojevich defiantly clings to power” — MSNBC, December 10, 2008
“Obama calls on governor to quit” — BBC News Online, December 10, 2008
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Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.
Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.
Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
Video from a US Coast Guard helicopter flying over Port-au-Prince on Wednesday. Please click the image to view it in full size
Haiti was hit by a heavy earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 on Tuesday, killing an unknown number of people, and destroying up to ten percent of buildings in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
No official death toll has been released as of yet, although the United Nations says that up to fifty thousand people may potentially have been killed. An estimated 300,000 more were left without homes.
In a special photo report, Wikinews looks at the extensive damage caused by the disaster.
To find more information about a certain image or to enlarge it, click it. For an in-depth textual report on the same subject, please see Haiti relief efforts: in depth.
A map indicating the strength of the earthquake, with redder areas being harder hit. The star indicates the epicentre.
Another graphical representation of the earthquake’s epicentre. As can be seen, it is very close to the capital, which is home to over an estimated 2.5 million people.
Downtown Port-au-Prince from a bird’s-eye perspective. Only a few buildings remain completely intact, most have been either damaged or completely leveled. Image: UNDP.
Another aerial image of downtown. Rubble lines the city streets. Image: UNDP.
Makeshift tents set up in a city square. Image: UNDP.
A man exits a restaurant after looking for his belongings. Image: UNDP.
The national palace, housing Haitian president Rene Preval, sustained serious damage. Both the president and his wife, however, survived the earthquake. Image: UNDP.
Another shot of the presidential palace. Image: UNDP.
Makeshift tents are set up at a soccer field, one of the few areas free from debris
A poor neighbourhood in the capital. Again, most buildings have collapsed or sustained significant damage. Image: UNDP.
The Hotel Montana, once five storeys tall, now lies in a collapsed heap in Port-au-Prince. Image: UNDP.
Port-au-Prince harbour after the deadly earthquake. The port was too damaged to receive cargo from aid ships sent to the country.
A shipping container floating in the waters near the seaport.
More damage caused to the seaport
Two US Coast Guard 270-foot cutters sit offshore of Haiti, ready to provide humanitarian aid to the earthquake-ravaged country. However, they had no place to dock since the port was inoperable
An aerial view of the seaport. Note the cargo containers floating out at sea and lopsided cranes.
The UN’s Haitian headquarters were heavily damaged by the earthquake; many UN officials are feared trapped under the rubble.
View of the UN headquarters, from a different angle
The US Coast Guard evacuating US personnel from Haiti by a Hercules C-130 airplane.
Haitian civilians receiving assistance in a makeshift camp set up by the Brazilian Army in Port-au-Prince Image: Agencia Brasil.
Brazilian soldiers in the camp giving medical aid to victims Image: Agencia Brasil.
Another shot of the impromptu camp Image: Agencia Brasil.
Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim and Commander of the Army Enzo Peri board a Brazilian Air Force plane headed to Haiti, to join relief efforts Image: Agencia Brasil.
United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) peacekeepers trying to find survivors in the wreckage of a building Image: UNDP.
MINUSTAH members loading an injured person aboard a lorry
US Coast Guard delivering medical supplies by boat
A US Coast Guard member giving a small child a bottle of water in Port-au-Prince
US Army Lieutenant Colonel Hector Paz carrying an injured girl to receive medical treatment after being evacuated from Port-au-Prince
A small boy receiving medical treatment by MINUSTAH members at their logistics base Image: UNDP.
A body pulled out from the rubble of a school that collapsed after the earthquake Image: UNDP.
Another body being pulled out of the school Image: UNDP.
US president Barack Obama in the White House Situation Room, discussing response to the disaster
On Sunday, police stopped Istanbul Pride, a yearly LGBT march in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul. Police officials reportedly used rubber and plastic bullets and sprayed tear gas to prevent the participants from parading, after the Istanbul Governor’s office ordered them on Saturday not to conduct the march, asserting security reasons. This marks the third consecutive year activists were banned from holding the rally.
File photo of 2013’s Istanbul Pride.Image: Lubunya.
The statement released by the governor’s office read, “no application that suits the methods was made to our governor’s office”, though the organisers of the march disagreed. Homosexuality has been legal in Turkey for almost a century, but the governor’s office reported “serious reactions against the march.” Activists found checkpoints and a large number of police near Istiklal Avenue.
The pride organisers reported 41 were arrested by the police. Far-right Alperen Hearths was amongst nationalist groups calling for prohibiting the parade. Last week, on June 19, Kür?at Mican of Alperen said, “We will not allow them to walk. Wherever they march, we’ll also go. We will close down that street and they will not be able to go there. If we want, our numbers can reach 200,000”.
In a statement by the organisers of the rally, on Sunday, they said, “Our security will be provided by recognising us in the constitution, by securing justice, by equality and freedom”. Turkish legislators have yet to enact laws shielding the LGBT community from hate speech and ensuring civil rights. In 2010, Selma Aliye Kavaf, then-Minister of Women and Family Affairs said, “I believe homosexuality is a biological disorder and this disease needs treatment.” ((tr))Turkish language: ?Ben e?cinselli?in biyolojik bir bozukluk, bir hastal?k oldu?una inan?yorum. Tedavi edilmesi gereken bir ?ey bence. After the unsuccessful attempt to conduct the parade, organisers released a statement on Sunday, saying, “We are not scared, we are here, we will not change[…] You are scared, you will change and you will get used to it.”
Istanbul Pride was first organised in 2003, attracting by varying reports from tens of thousands to possibly a hundred thousand people in 2014. That was the last actual march before it was blocked three times in the last three years. Last year, the organisers were not granted permission for Istanbul Pride after Istanbul faced militant attacks. The 2015 march was stopped as it was about to start, and police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protesters.
View of a Camp Delta exercise area with detention block in backgroundCredit: Staff Sgt. Stephen Lewald, U.S. Army (taken 2002)
In an investigation reported on first by Wikinews, Wikileaks today revealed another chapter in the story of the Standard Operations Procedure (SOP) manual for the Camp Delta facility at Guantanamo Bay. The latest documents they have received are the details of the 2004 copy of the manual signed off by Major General Geoffrey D. Miller of the U.S. Southern Command. This is following on from the earlier leaking of the 2003 version. Wikileaks passed this document to people they consider experts in the field to carry out an analysis trying to validate it. Following this, they set out to assess what had changed between 2003 and 2004; including attempts to link publicly known incidents with changes to the manual.
Wikinews obtained the document and did an in-depth analysis. The American Civil Liberties Union had previously made a request to view and obtain copies of the same document, but was denied access to them.
One of the first notable changes to the document relates to the detainees themselves. Previously they read the camp rules during admission processing. Rules are now posted around the camp in detainees’ languages. The English version of the rules is as follows:
Comply with all rules and regulations. You are subject to disciplinary action if you disobey any rule or commit any act, disorder, or neglect that is prejudicial to good order and discipline.
You must immediately obey all orders of U.S. personnel. Deliberate disobedience, resistance, or conduct of a mutinous or riotous nature will be dealt with by force. Be respectful of others. Derogatory comments toward camp personnel will not be tolerated.
You may not have any articles that can be used as a weapon in your possession at any time. If a weapon is found in your possession, you will be severely punished. Gambling is strictly forbidden.
Being truthful and compliance will be rewarded. Failure to comply will result in loss of privileges.
All trash will be returned immediately to U.S. personnel when you are finished eating. All eating utensils must be returned after meals.
No detainee may conduct or participate in any form of military drill, organized physical fitness, hand-to-hand combat, or martial arts style training.
The camp commander will ensure adequate protection for all personnel. Any detainee who mistreats another detainee will be punished. Any detainee that fears his life is in danger, or fears physical injury at the hands of another person can report this to U.S. personnel at any time.
Medical emergencies should be brought to the guards’ attention immediately.
Your decision whether or not to be truthful and comply will directly affect your quality of life while in this camp.
Standard Operating Procedure (2004) page 221, on punishment and reward procedure. (enlarge)
Of concern to groups such as Amnesty International who campaign for the camp’s closure, or Human Rights Watch concerned about prisoner handling under the prisoner of war aspects of the Geneva Convention, is the fact that policy for newly admitted detainees still allows for up to 4 weeks where access to the detainee by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) may be denied. In addition, guards are not to allow ICRC staff to pass mail to detainees.
A new process has been formed which allows guards to determine whether or not a detainee receives awards, or is punished. The form is called a GTMO Form 508-1 (pictured to the right). According to the manual, the form “is used to determine which rewards the detainee will lose or gain,” but “special rewards” can also be earned, outside of the process. One special reward is time allowed outside. Another special reward is a roll of toilet paper, but the detainee cannot share it with others. Doing so will result in “punishment” and confiscation of the roll. If the detainee already has a roll of toilet paper, he is not allowed to have another.
“Guards need to ensure that the detainee doesn’t receive additional toilet paper when the detainee already has it. The amount given to the detainee will be the same amount as normally distributed to the detainee,” states the manual.
No matter how bad a detainee may act, “haircuts will never be used as punitive action” against them, but they can have hair removed for health reasons. They can, however, be segregated from other detainees.
“If a detainee has committed an offense that requires segregation time, even if a segregation cell is not available, the detainee will receive a shave and a haircut for hygiene and medical reasons. If the detainee is IRFed, the haircut and shave will follow the decontamination process,” adds the manual. Barbers are also part of cell searches.
Despite these changes, a great deal of effort has gone into ensuring the furore over detainee abuse does not recur. Rules governing the use of pepper spray (Oleoresin Capsicum, or OC) appear at an earlier point in the manual with considerable expansion. Infractions such as spitting, throwing water at, or attempting to urinate on guards appear as explicitly listed cases where pepper spray may not be used. Extensive decontamination procedures are included in the document, including immediately calling for a medical check on any detainee exposed to pepper spray. This was not previously present.
As a counter to the clearer instructions on use of pepper spray, Wikileaks asserts that many of the stricter rules for guards (referred to as Military Police or MPs in the 2003 manual) aim to reduce fraternisation that may improve detainee morale and adversely influence any interrogation process. Guards are informed in the manual not to take personal mail and parcels within the detention blocks or at any other duty stations. All electronic devices except issued materiel are prohibited, and guards may face disciplinary action should they keep detainees apprised of current affairs or discuss issues in their personal lives.
Additional restrictions on the detainees’ chaplain are included in the revised document. Wikileaks speculated that many of these changes might have stemmed from the widely publicised case of James Yee. Captain Yee, a West Point graduate, served at the Guantanamo Bay base as a Muslim chaplain to the detainees and received two Distinguished Service medals for his work. Following discovery of a list of detainees and interrogators by U.S. Customs in Florida Yee was charged with sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage, and failure to obey a general order. Eventually all charges were dropped with national security concerns being raised should evidence be released.
US Southern Command emblem
The most notable changes surrounding the role of the chaplain include its removal as a permanent position on the facility’s Library Working group and its exclusion from the decision process on appropriate detainee reading material. Wikileaks contacted lawyers representing detainees in the camp to perform their own analysis. Their opinion of the changes were that the library operation had been considerably tightened up. Duplicate books are required for the individual four camps to prevent covert use of books to communicate between camps. Periodicals, dictionaries, language instruction books, technology or medical update information, and geography were additions to the prohibited material. Instructions indicate such books must be returned to the source or donor.
The revised SOP manual makes considerable progress on documenting procedures, even those that are remote possibilities. A lengthy addition details rules to follow in the event of an escape or escape attempt. Laced throughout this procedure is an emphasis on having any such incident fully documented and – wherever possible – filmed. The procedure is explicit in how to recapture an escaped detainee with minimal use of force. One additional procedure covers the admission of ambulances to the main base area. A detailed security protocol to ensure only expected and authorised traffic gains access is included, as is a procedure streamlined to ensure the ambulance arrives on the scene as quickly as possible.
A MRE that was issued during Hurricane Rita. Image: Christopher Lin.
Unchanged from the 2003 manual is the set menu of four ready-to-eat meals (Meal, Ready-to-Eat or MRE) issued to detainees. However, additional steps are to be taken for “MRE Sanitization”; supply personnel must remove anything that can damage waste disposal systems— presumably a military term for toilets. Under normal camp conditions, detainees should be fed hot meals as opposed to MREs, but no details on the variety of menu are included.
Wikinews attempted to get feedback on this. US Southern Command passed a query on to Rick Haupt (Commander, U.S. Navy Director of Public Affairs, Joint Task Force at Guantanamo) who responded that “questions were forwarded along with a request to authenticate the leaked document; a response is pending.” At this time no response to emails has been received from the ICRC or Human Rights Watch.
The Pentagon has requested that the document be removed from Wikileaks because “information with the FOUO (For Official Use Only) label is not approved for release to the public.” They then state that the document can be “made available through a Freedom Of Information Act request through official channels.”
This story has updates See US military confirms authenticity of Standard Operating Procedures for Guantanamo Bay
The train is carrying 20 containers on its first journey from Islamabad railway station, delivering 14 to Tehran and 6 to Istanbul and will cover 6,500 kilometres in two weeks.
Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour said a successful trial phase of the freight train service would be followed by a passenger train service in an effort to boost tourism in the region.
There are also hopes the route will eventually provide a link to Europe and Central Asia.
Zach Scruggs, a lawyer for United States Senator Trent Lott, says that State Farm Insurance Company is destroying records related to claims for damage from Hurricane Katrina.
The records allegedly contain information saying that State Farm fraudulently denied insurance claims made by its policy holders, including Lott, that had homes there were damaged or destroyed when Hurricane Katrina came ashore on the Gulf Coast.
Scruggs said that Lott has “good faith belief” that many employees of the insurance company in Biloxi, Mississippi are destroying engineer’s reports that were inconclusive as to whether or not water or wind was the main cause of damage to the buildings affected by the hurricane.
Lott is among thousands of home and/or business owners who had their property damaged or destroyed during the hurricane and had their claims denied because State Farm claimed that their policies don’t cover damage caused by floods or water that was driven by the wind.
State Farm has not issued a statement on the matter so far.