Saturday, February 19, 2005
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The Socialist Left Party’s election initiative starts in Norway
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Today, Norway’s Socialist Left Party (SV) launched their new election initiative named “up from the couch.” The campaign aims to get first-time voters and so-called “couch voters” to vote in the upcoming election.
Kristin Halvorsen, the Norwegian Minister of Finance and Party leader for SV, explained, “It’s a wakeup call, because those who sit on the couch let others decide for them. That’s way we are mobilizing as much as we can until Election Day.”
In the 2005 election only 55 % of first time voters used their voting rights.“It’s a challenge to get the younger voters to vote, because many of them haven’t done it before. We know that adults and older people are better in using their voting right then younger people,” said Minister Halvorsen.
The 2005 election showed that 1 in 3 of the voters who had voted for SV in the 2001 election switched to the Norwegian Labour Party. Only 43% of SV’s voters continued to vote for them. On election day, SV got 8.8% of the total national votes. Minister Halvorsen stated “We have a goal to mobilize enough to get 10 % of the voter’s behind us.”
Wikileaks crashes under cyber attack
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Wikileaks today announced via twitter that its website has crashed under an apparent cyber-attack; this following the recent release of tens of thousands of US State Department cables. Sources in the US say the mass-disclosure of cables is causing diplomatic setbacks, and embarrassment, for the administration of Barack Obama.
These previously unreleased cables are said to contain the names of sensitive sources that the authors asked higher bodies to “strictly protect”. The authenticity of the latest documents has not been confirmed but, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said, “the United States strongly condemns any illegal disclosure of classified information”.
After more than 2,000 cables were reviewed by the Associated Press, they were found to contain dozens of sources who had sought identity protection. 125,000 sensitive documents have been disclosed in the past week, and their rapid release is said to be causing complications and endangering US foreign policy goals.
“In addition to damaging our diplomatic efforts, it puts individuals’ security at risk, threatens our national security and undermines our effort to work with countries to solve shared problems. We remain concerned about these illegal disclosures and about concerns and risks to individuals”, Nuland said.
The first series of leaks began last November. With each release, officials from the State Department crisis management team went through the leaked documents, informing sources that had been named, and – where possible – warning those in authoritarian countries their identities may have been exposed.
Wikileaks responded via twitter to the criticism as the cyber attack occurred, “Dear governments, if you don’t want your filth exposed, then stop acting like pigs. Simple”.
News organisations were previously cooperating with Wikileaks in exchange for copies of documents, including uncensored State Department messages; the new flood of publishing in recent weeks reflects the collapse of those relationships between Wikileaks and the mainstream media.
“We continue to carefully monitor what becomes public and to take steps to mitigate the damage to national security and to assist those who may be harmed by these illegal disclosures to the extent that we can”, said Nuland.
Wikinews interviews John Taylor Bowles, National Socialist Order of America candidate for US President
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms.
As a non-partisan news source, Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, throughout the campaign. The most recent of our interviews is Laurens, South Carolina‘s John Taylor Bowles. Mr. Bowles is running with the endorsement of the National Socialist Order of America, a Minnesota-based Neo-Nazi party created after a recent rift in the National Socialist Movement.
Glazer caps Manchester United’s player transfer spending at £25m a year
Saturday, June 11, 2005
The intentions of Manchester United’s new owner, U.S. sports tycoon Malcolm Glazer, for the club have been revealed. Although spokespersons for Mr. Glazer (including his son) have stressed that nothing has been finalised, it appears that he intends to raise ticket prices, income, profits whilst capping spending on player transfers.
Mr. Glazer – who owns over 76.2% of the club’s shares through his investment company, Red Football – enraged fans when he started to accumulate shares earlier this year in an attempt to gain control of the what amounts to the world’s most successful football club. Manchester United has more fans, a higher market value, a more valuable and more widely recognised brand and is more profitable than any other football club in the world.
To gain control of the club, Glazer used borrowed money and he is set to transfer this money to the club’s books when he gains full control. The borrowed money will result in large interest repayments – pushing the clubs finances into the red. To counter this Mr. Glazer apparently intends to raise ticket prices by about 50% and to increase revenues by 52% to £245.6m (from £161.5m this year) over the next five years. Apart from ticket price increases, this jump in revenue will be achieved by a 61% jump in match day sales, a 13% increase in media sales, and a 76% rise in sales of merchandise and other commercial activities.
As part of his plans, expenditure on player transfers will be capped at just £25m a year. This is a very low figure for a English football club endeavouring to win domestic and European trophies. Seven years ago the club spent £28m on players, since then expenditure in England on players has increased hugely.
Citizenship of Australian terrorists overseas under question
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Yesterday, Australia’s Prime Minister proposed his government might strip individuals of their Australian citizenship if authorities consider them involved in terrorist activity.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott stated, “As flagged by me in my national security statement in February, we will be legislating within a few weeks to strip dual citizens involved in terrorism of their Australian citizenship”.
The Coalition government’s bill aims to empower the immigration minister to revoke Australian citizenship of dual nationals suspected of involvement in terrorist activity.
Speaking of procedural for stripping individual citizenship, immigration minister Peter Dutton said he would take advice from intelligence agencies, such as the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
Dutton said, “We would gather as much evidence as was possible and we would make a decision whether or not we thought somebody was captured by what is a tight definition in relation to somebody committing an act of terrorism, an act preparatory to, fundraising or supporting a terrorist organisation or providing financial support or indoctrinating young people into the ways of one of these cults.”
This news comes as the Australian wife of Islamic State fighter Khaled Sharrouf, Tara Nettleton, attempts to re-enter the country with her children. Khaled’s seven-year-old son appeared in an internet image Khaled posted last year — in which the boy was holding a severed human head.
Steve Jobs denies ‘location-gate’
Friday, April 29, 2011
Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs announced on Wednesday that iPhone technology is not being used to monitor the location of its customers. The scandal arose from concern that data collected by Apple would make it possible for anyone with access to a person’s private computer to retrieve information about their movements.
Jobs acknowledged that while iPhones keep a database of Wi-Fi and cell tower hotspots these do not reveal anything about individual users’ location. “That’s what people saw on the phone and mistook it for location”
In a separate statement, Apple clarified the device is merely caching data in order to improve the speed of locating users in the future.
Jobs confirmed during the interview that Apple would testify before the United States Congress. “They have asked us to come and we will honour their request, of course.”
Apple have since made plans to release software updates that will cut the size of the wireless hotspot location database stored on its iPhones.
The data scandal, coined ‘Location-gate’ has overshadowed news of Apple’s announcement for sales of the delayed white iPhone 4 which will begin shipping from Thursday.
Interview with Liz Mumby, independent candidate in Australian by-election for the Victorian state electorate of Altona
Thursday, February 4, 2010
With a state by-election coming up in Victoria, Australia, many minor parties and independent candidates will be looking to gain a seat in the Legislative Assembly. Liz Mumby is one of the independents.
“I am a medical sales professional, a wife and mother and a small business owner,” says Mumby, the Division of Altona. “I don’t come from a political background, I live in the real world.” She argues that “we should not limit the debate to public transport issues just because the retiring member was the Minister for Public Transport.”
Wikinews reporter Patrick Gillett held an exclusive email interview with Mrs. Mumby.
Canada’s Scarborough-Agincourt (Ward 39) city council candidates speak
Friday, November 3, 2006
On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is Scarborough-Agincourt (Ward 39). Two candidates responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include Wayne Cook, Mike Del Grande (incumbent), Samuel Kung, Lushan Lu, Sunshine Smith, and John Wong.
For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.
‘Each makes the other more difficult to recover from’: University of Sussex professor L. Alan Winters speaks to Wikinews on trade, COVID-19, Brexit
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Earlier this month, Wikinews spoke with University of Sussex professor of economics L. Alan Winters regarding the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union (EU) in the 2016 Brexit referendum and the subsequent negotiations leading up to and following the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement of December, which he has researched extensively. In a call, a Wikinews correspondent spoke with Professor Winters about recent developments in UK trade policy to learn more about his observations.
Winters is professor of economics at the University of Sussex, as well as founding director and fellow of the UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO). His career spans over 15 years, including as chief economist at the Department for International Development, director of the Development Research Group of the World Bank, CEO of the Migrating Out of Poverty Research Programme Consortium and advisor for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Commission, the European Parliament, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Trade Organization and the Inter-American Development Bank.
Three reports where Winters is listed as an author were used as reference during the interview: “COVID-19 will reinforce the Brexit shock”, “The Costs of Brexit” and “Taking stock of the new UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement: governance, state subsidies and the level playing field”.
Winters was awarded the title “Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath”, styled C.B., on June 16, 2012 as part of the 2012 Birthday Honours.