Thursday, March 18, 2010

United States Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano has announced that the US Government has ended funding for a controversial “virtual fence” along the US-Mexico border.

The program, called SBInet, will have $50 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 that was allocated to it withdrawn in favor of investment in other, immediately available technology for the purposes of security along the border. The program will also have all further funding immediately frozen; as a result, all work will halt on the project beyond two small test projects in Arizona. Officially, the move is in light of a pending reassessment of the program, though it is likely that it signals the end of the five-year project, which has come under mounting criticism based on cost and the time taken to complete the project.

In a statement, Napolitano said that, “effective immediately, the Department of Homeland Security will redeploy $50 million of Recovery Act funding originally allocated for the SBInet…to other tested, commercially available security technology along the Southwest border.”

Criticism of the project has been largely based on the cost, which has been commented on by several government officials, including Senator John McCain, who criticized the program as “spending over $1 billion of taxpayers’ dollars on a failed system of sensors and cameras.” According to statements released last year, at the beginning of construction, the project would cost a total of $6.7 billion, of which $3.4 billion has been spent on the first phase of the plan. The shortcomings were acknowledged by Napolitano in her statement, which said that “the system of sensors and cameras along the Southwest border known as SBInet has been plagued with cost overruns and missed deadlines.”

The project was originally introduced in 2006 by President George W. Bush, and was envisioned as a high-tech system, dubbed a “virtual fence,” that combined cameras, radar, and sensors to allow the Border Patrol to intercept up to 85% of incursions with as few as 22,000 officers. The contract was awarded to Boeing, which has since come under criticism for developing costly new technologies rather than using off-the-shelf systems. Under Barack Obama, the government initially continued to support the program, and laid out a new timetable for the its completion. Last month, however, under questioning from Congress about the program’s viability, the administration reduced funding to complete the first phase by 30%, to $574 million.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Yesterday, Norwegian news outlets reported that Defense Security Service (Forsvarets sikkerhetstjeneste [FOST]) had conducted illegal surveillance against the prime minister’s office and other government offices.

Kripos, a division of the Norwegian Ministry of Justice and the Police, did a police search of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence’s top-secret intelligence agency’s computer equipment in Jørstadmoen, after a request by the Ministry of Defense.

While remaining confident that the case will be investigated in a correct way, Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg stated to Aftenposten late Wednesday that “it’s important that the police now find out what actually has happened.”

Verdens Gang reported that to their knowledge, the surveillance happened in connection with FOST, having the responsibility for the computer security of key personnel within the prime minister’s office and other government offices. For practical reasons these people have been connected to the military secure lines. Sources with insight to the surveillance process explained to Aftenposten that when a possible breach of computer security is detected its protocol that the person be given a notice that he may be in process off or already have broken the security rules. A person, possible within the Prime minister’s office has most likely received such a note and has reacted to the fact that the computer traffic had been under surveillance.

Vice admiral Jan Eirik Finseth told Verdens Gang that the Defense security agency’s computer security section, reported that computer communication lines had been put under surveillance by military communications lines. Vice admiral Finseth stated to Verdens Gang that “the circumstances is of such a nature that the police [were] asked to investigate if anything of this may be illegal.”

When Wikinews contacted State attorney Petter Mandt, who leads the investigation, we received confirmation that a search in Jørstadmoen took place, but he would not comment on what was confiscated, if anything. Mandt also stated that they would not comment on any specifics or give any details on the investigation, but explained that for use of a police search there has to be more than 50% probable suspicion that something illegal may have happened. When asked if suspicion was that the prime minister’s office had been put under illegal surveillance, Mandt refused to comment and stated that he will comment on neither how many nor who the individuals involved are.

Defense political spokesperson for Socialistic left (Sv) Bjørn Jacobsen, told Wikinews that “it’s important to find out what, if anything has happened,” but that “it’s shocking that there even exist[s] a reason for a police search.” When asked what will happen if anything illegal is found to have taken place, Jacobsen responded by pointing out that in this case the prosecutors will have to decide on what to do next, but stated that “parliament will have to see if the law and regulations ha[ve] to be changed. It’s important to stop an eventual bad culture before it sticks to the walls.”

This is the second investigation of illegal government surveillance in Norway since the Lund commission’s report uncovered illegal surveillance of communist, socialist, and other persons, which the Norwegian Police Security Service deemed to be dangerous.

Wikinews was unable to get any comments from the Norwegian Military Defense when contacted.

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Last Tuesday, AusAID Australia and the World Bank’s Global Environment Fund (GEF) reached an agreement to give the government of Kiribati US$5 million (AU$4,779,000, NZ$5,985,000, €3,885,000) to install solar panels around the country capital, located on the Tarawa atoll. According to Business Desk of the Brunei Times, AusAID promised AU$3.2 million in funding, while GEF promised US$1 million. The country was the first in the Pacific to make a deal with the World Bank.

The funding was part of a US$530 million (NZ$635 million) package announced at yesterday’s Pacific Energy Summit in Auckland involving New Zealand and the European Union, Australia, the Asian Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the World Bank Group, and the United Arab Emirates. Also at the summit yesterday, New Zealand’s Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully had announced a national commitment of USD$54,262,000 (AU$51,861,000 NZ$65 million, €42,178,000) to Pacific region energy solutions, of which US$8,348,000 (AU$8 million, NZ$10 million, €6,483,000) would be specifically earmarked for renewable energy and improved energy efficiency in the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Tuvalu.

Kiribati is heavily dependent on diesel fuel for most of the energy available on the national power grid, which supplies power to half Kiribati’s population of 110,000. In addition, a third of the country’s population lacks access to electricity. Once installation of the solar panels is complete, they are estimated to reduce diesel consumption by 230,000 liters (60,760 gallons) a year and give access to the electricity to some parts of the population that currently have no electricity. The European Union already has committed €100 million to sustainable energy in the region, with €10 million of that coming as a result of an announcement made last week.

In a press release about the news, Kiribati President Anote Tong was quoted as saying, “Kiribati faces big challenges it is remote, it is at risk from the effects of climate change, and it is vulnerable to economic shocks. […] Shifting Kiribati’s focus to reliable solar energy will provide a more secure, more sustainable power source for the country’s people.” Radio New Zealand International quoted Tong as saying, “It’s the first time we are doing this. We’re excited at the prospect of even substituting fossil fuel to a small extent at this stage. What the system being envisaged will only produce around 500 kilowatts, but this is the beginning of what I hope will be a pattern, the trend in the future.”

The European Union’s Fiji-based head of operations for the Pacific region, Renato Mele, supported alternative energy solutions like solar power for the region, but said that solar power had limitations because climate and environmental conditions sometimes meant batteries required to power the panels had a life of only 12 months, compared to other climates where batteries normally last five years. This created the potential to drive up standard operating costs. Mele has also noted these additional costs though are still lower than the cost of diesel power.

One News Pacific Correspondent Barbara Dreaver noted, “Governments will be able to put the money they (currently) spend on diesel into things like education and health.”

Friday, March 18, 2005Probably one of the first good things to come out of the 2004 Tsunami in Asia, ancient ruins were discovered in India. Fishermen along the shores report seeing the ruins along the shoreline near Mahabalipuram when the waters receded just prior to the arrival of the tsunami. Mahabalipuram is a port city of South India, dating back to the 7th century, around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

The fishermen reported a complex consisting of ancient temples. Some mention seeing at least 20 distinct temples, and hundreds of refrigerator-sized blocks. The walls were covered with barnacles, coral and mud. Local folklore tells of an ancient port in the area.

On the shore, three structures consisting of elaborate carvings in the shape of animals were uncovered. The structures appear to have been covered in sand, which had been wiped away by the force of the tsunami. The structures appear to belong to a port city built in the 7th century, said T. Satyamurthy, a senior archaeologist with the Archaeological Survey of India. The sculptures, representing an elephant, a lion and a flying horse, were commonly used during the Pallava dynasty, which ran from the 4th to the 9th century, archeologists say.

The temples along the shores of Mahabalipuram are already a famous feature of the city, and have been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Legend has it that the city was home to seven pagodas. Underwater excavations of the area by the archaeological society, run by the Indian government and navy divers, began on Thursday.

Saturday, August 13, 2005

The Transport and General Worker’s Union and Gate Gourmet, the company that laid off 500 workers after workers staged unofficial strike action, will attend further talks held at a conciliation service by the Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) on Saturday.

The director of Gate Gourmet, Richard Wells, denied that he was being “heavy-handed” over the dismissals. He insisted that the people affected were spoken to, and given written warnings before they were sacked.

As a result of British Airways (BA) staff at Heathrow joining Gate Gourmet’s staff in the strike action, BA are running 50% of their short-haul flights, and 40% of their long haul flights today from 0600 BST/UTC+1. They are expecting to add more flights to the schedule as the day progresses, so passengers are advised to check the British Airways website.

Analysts said that the disruption may lose BA next to £40m because of the refunds that the company are paying out, loss of flight revenue, and the costs of accommodating passengers in nearby hotels.

Only passengers with confirmed reservations have been allowed to board flights at Heathrow. Barriers have been placed around Terminal 4 to stop people without reservations from joining flights. There are limited catering services on-board the flights.

British Airways advises passengers to telephone +44 (0)800 727 800 or check their website before travelling to the airport. They also said that they would refund customers that had to stay in a hotel on Friday night up to £100.

It is noted by passengers, though, that the advice line can be engaged for long periods, so users of the telephone line need to be patient.

Qantas, Finnair, GB Airways, Sri Lankan Airlines, and British Mediterranean are also affected, as they were serviced by BA’s ground staff. Their telephone numbers are listed below.

• Qantas: +44 (0)870 000 0123
• Sri Lankan Airlines: +44 (0)208 538 2000
• Finnair: +44 (0)8705 997711
• GB Airways: +44 (0)870 850 9850
• British Mediterranean Airlines: +44 (0)870 850 9850

Monday, January 17, 2005

A 66 year-old woman in Bucharest has given birth to a girl and is believed to be the oldest woman ever to give birth.

She had been receiving fertility treatment for nine years before conceiving twins. She had not been able to conceive naturally before.

The baby was delivered early by Caesarean section after the other fetus died in the womb. At birth, the child weighed 1.4kg.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Controversial and explicit Canadian workplace safety ads have been pulled from television, and paper ads from some bus shelters for the Christmas season. However, the ads will return to air in January.

“It’s totally erroneous to suggest we’re pulling anything,” chairman of the Workplace Safety and Information Board of Ontario, Steve Mahoney said. “Our plan from Day 1 was to stop the ads around the middle of December when most of the advertising that’s in the media is focused on Christmas and purchasing gifts. We just didn’t want to be competing with all that stuff.”

In one of the TV ads a woman accidentally slips on grease on the floor and a large steaming pot falls onto her face, and she starts screaming to death. The ads end with the message “There really are no accidents”.

A paper ads shows a construction worker who is in a pool of blood with a forklift operation manual stuck in his chest. Another with a man who is slit by a “Danger” sign with his leg stuck in a machine. They show the messages: “Lack of training can kill” and the other “Ignoring safety procedures can kill”.

“The critics amount to about 25 per cent rating, and I’m delighted they’re upset about the ads because I wouldn’t want anyone to enjoy watching them.”

The videos have been viewed more than 70,000 times on the Board’s website and are gaining large amounts of views on YouTube.

The transit authorities of Hamilton and Mississauga will show modified advertisements. The transit authority of Guelph will show the ads in bus shelters, but the transit authority of Windsor will not because of the graphic nature.

“We’re not against workplace safety, but this is too graphic,” said Caroline Postma, chair of the Transit Windsor board.

Mississauga city councillour Carolyn Parrish said: “My son-in-law was telling me that they shouldn’t be on in prime time because when [my grandson] watches them he just about bursts into tear. Now he follows his mom around the kitchen to make sure she doesn’t spill grease. And he’s only four. There’s too much of a chance that … people are really badly affected by it, and can’t really do anything about it anyway.” She suggested the ads only be aired to workers with the jobs shown in the commercials.

Mahoney changed the earlier promise to air the ads only after 8:00pm to after 9:00pm at last nights meeting with Mississauga city council.

Mahoney said the commercials and paper ads are not “too graphic at all”. And they are “absolutely appropriate and they’re doing what they’re intended to do, they’re creating what I call a water cooler topic of conversation.”

Ninety-eight Canadian workers so far have been killed on the job this year.

Sunday, November 5, 2006

On November 5, 2006, King Abdullah II of Jordan met with 90 survivors of the Beslan school hostage crisis during their week long vacation in Jordan, organised at the King’s expense.

The King watched the students perform traditional dances and reviewed artworks that they had created celebrating the theme of cross-cultural communication and understanding. The event took place at the King’s Academy, in Madaba, Jordan.