News and Reports

Boeing 737 crash-lands in Colombia; at least one killed

novostite — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 14:40:31 +0000

At least one person died and five more are injured after a Boeing 737 crashed onto the runway at 1:49 a.m. local time today on San Andres Island, Colombia. The jet, carrying 131 people, broke into three pieces.
The AIRES flight departed Bogotá around midnight and, according to Colombian Air Force Colonel David Barrero, officials are investigating reports the aircraft experienced a lightning strike. Of the 125 passengers and six crewmembers, it is believed the only fatality was 65-year-old Amar Fernandez de Barreto. Thaindian claims that up to 114 were injured.
San Andres Island’s airport has closed its 7,545-foot (2,300-meter) runway until the wreckage can be removed. “It was a miracle and we have to give thanks to God,” said Pedro Gallardo, governor of the resort destination island with around 78,000 inhabitants, adding it was lucky there were not more casualties.
National police director Orlando Paez in an interview with The Star said a group of police officers awaiting the plane for their own flight back to the mainland assisted with rescue efforts. Barrero commented that “the skill of the pilot kept the plane from colliding with the airport.” The landing occurred during a storm.
A press release from the US National Transportation Safety Board, seen by Wikinews prior to its public release, identified the flight as number 8250. The NTSB is sending a team of four investigators, as well as technical advisers from Boeing and the Federal Aviation Administration, to assist the Colombia Civil Aviation Authority in their investigation.

14,000-acre Southern California ‘Crown Fire’ at 82% containment, evacuation orders lifted

novostite — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:47:26 +0000

Antelope Valley, California – The Crown Fire that has burned through 13,980 acres in the High Desert of Southern California since 2:32 pm (2232 UTC) Thursday was at 82% containment Saturday evening, according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
On Friday high winds caused the fire to jump the California Aqueduct and spread into the city of Palmdale. Over 2,000 residents of Leona Valley, Ana Verde, and Rancho Vista were given mandatory evacuation orders. The sky was blanketed with thick orange pyrocumulus clouds and falling ash, making the air hard to breathe.
State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived in Palmdale on Friday to survey the burned areas. “We were very fortunate to not have fires for quite some time because the air temperature was cool and we didn’t have the experiencing of dry weather and all the winds and so on, but all of a sudden the fire season kicked in as if, ‘Here we are,’” Schwarzenegger said during a press conference. “But we are ready and we have luckily distributed resources all over the state of California, so we are ready at any given time.”
The fire has so far destroyed one house and three mobile homes, damaging the roof of another and burning car garages, horse stables, and other outbuildings. Most of the more seriously threatened homes were constructed recently from fire-proof materials, with walls coated in stucco, and fire-resistant plants in the yards. Although some roads are still closed to all traffic, all existing evacuation orders were lifted late Friday night and 500 residents of Rancho Vista were told to “shelter in place” until further notice. Despite the absence of mandatory evacuation orders, over 2,000 houses, 60 commercial buildings, and 100 outbuildings are still under threat.
Throughout the night, fire crews have been battling the wildfire, assisted by cooler temperatures and lighter-than-expected winds which have enabled them to establish containment lines. “Crews went out [Friday] night and did some great work trying to complete more lines and also trying to take care of what we call ‘cat eyes’ which are embers within the perimeter of the fire, so there will be much more work being done there today,” said LACFD Captain Roland Sprewell. “But of course we’re not going to rest on our laurels today…we’re going to be vigilantly watching the winds, especially in the ridge and down in the valleys.”
At the height of the fire, 1,700 firefighters from all over California were battling the flames, although as of 12:00 pm Saturday afternoon, it has been reduced to around 1,350 personnel. 16 fire camp crew have also assisted. 250 fire engines and four bulldozers have been used. In the air, 4 Boeing 747 supertankers, 1 McDonnell Douglas DC-10 tanker, and 6 modified Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters known as “Firehawks” have been dropping water and red Phos-Chek slurry. The Los Angeles Sheriffs Department also increased its presence in the Antelope Valley by bringing in response teams from stations outside the AV. This afternoon, the deployment has been scaled back to three teams as the fire stabilizes and further evacuation orders become unlikely.
Three firefighters have been injured battling the fire, although all injuries are minor. One sheriff deputy was also hospitalized for smoke inhalation but has since been released.

Astronomers discover largest star on record

novostite — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:29:19 +0000

European astronomers have discovered the largest star yet on record; it is approximately 300 times the mass of our sun, beyond the previously accepted limit of 150 solar masses.
Paul Crowther, professor of astrophysics at the University of Sheffield, led the team of researchers that discovered the star. The team used the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile, and data archived from the Hubble Space Telescope. The newly discovered star, designated R136a1, was discovered in the R136 star cluster.
The researchers estimate that the current mass of the star is about 265 solar masses, and could have been about 320 solar masses just after its birth.
“Unlike humans,” says Cowther, “these stars are born heavy and lose weight as they age. Being a little over a million years old, the most extreme star R136a1 is already middle-aged, and has undergone an intense weight loss programme, shedding a fifth of its initial mass over that time, or more than 50 solar masses.”
Astronomers not involved in the discovery, while still impressed, warn of the small possibility that the team could have mistaken two relatively close stars for one large one.
“What they’re characterizing as a single massive star,” Mark Krumholz told the Associated Press, “could in fact be a binary system too close to be resolved.” Krumholz is an astronomer at the University of California.
Another astronomer, Phillip Massey from the Lowell Observatory in Arizona, also warns that this may be the case. Massey explained that the star’s weight had been inferred using scientific models that were subject to change.
The R136 star cluster, the star’s location, is in the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighboring galaxy about 165,000 light-years away. The Large Magellanic Cloud, located between the constellations Dorado and Mensa, is visible as a faint cloud in the southern hemisphere. Astronomers are still struggling to understand how these stars form.
“Either they were born so big or smaller stars merged together to produce them,” Cowther explained. The researchers believe that the stellar heavyweight record could be held by this star for quite some time. Cowther elaborates: “Owing to the rarity of these monsters, I think it is unlikely that this new record will be broken any time soon.”

India approves symbol for currency

novostite — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:34:34 +0000

A symbol for the Indian Rupee was approved by the Government of India today. The Indian currency had previously lacked a distinctive symbol like those associated with the US dollar, euro, pound sterling and the yen.
Minister for Information and Broadcasting of India, Ambika Soni announced the symbol chosen for the currency. “The symbol for the rupee would lend a distinctive character and identity to the currency and further highlight the strength and robustness of the Indian economy as a favored destination for global investments,” Soni stated.
A competition was held to select the symbol, which drew more than 3,000 entries. After evaluation by the head of the Reserve Bank of India, artists and designers, five were shortlisted. The winning design came from a post-graduate student, D Udaya Kumar, who won $5,000.
The government announced that the symbol will not be printed on currency notes or coins, but would be added to the Unicode Standard and other scripts used in the world. Soni said the symbol would be adopted in India by the next two quarters and globally within a year and a half to two years. She mentioned that it would soon feature in worldwide keyboards for easy use.
The symbol is a blend of the Devanagari and Latin scripts. “It is a perfect blend of Indian and Roman letters — capital ‘R’ and ‘Ra’ which represents rupaiah, to appeal to international and Indian audiences [...] My design is based on the tricolour, with two lines at the top and white space in between,” Kumar, the designer of the symbol said.

BP: New cap on Gulf of Mexico oil well in place

novostite — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:22:29 +0000

A new containment cap has been installed on a leaking well in an effort by the BP energy company to contain oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. The previous cap, which was removed Saturday, had a much looser fit than the new one and allowed oil to escape into the Gulf. It took about three days for the cap to be removed, the site prepared, and the new one to be slowly lowered into position.
The energy company planned begin running tests Tuesday, although these have been delayed for further observation of the well, to measure the performance of the new well cap under pressure. The new cap is designed to ‘funnel’ oil to ships above while two relief wells are constructed for a permanent fix. After the old cap was removed, oil flowed freely into the waters of the Gulf until the present cap was installed at about 7:00 PM CDT Monday (00:00 UTC Tuesday).
BP has stated that this oil containment system has never been deployed at the current depths, nor has it been tested in the conditions that it will be expected to operate in. During the testing period, which could last anywhere from six to forty-eight hours, all undersea oil containment systems will be temporarily suspended. During this time, BP hopes that no oil will be released into the Gulf from the leaking well; however, this cannot be assured. The company made clear that, even if the tests succeed, this does not mean that oil leakage has permanently ceased.
Doug Suttles, a BP executive, explained that during the test, all valves on the new cap will be shut and for the first time, oil should cease to leak since the spill began earlier this year. Suttles said at a Monday briefing that the ideal would be for tests to show high pressure around the seal, indicating that no oil is escaping. He also stated that on the other hand, the pressures could be lower than anticipated, leading to the assumption that the well is damaged and is leaking oil and gas into surrounding rock. If this were to happen, keeping the cap shut would continue to damage the well further. The solution for this scenario is to reopen the valves and funnel most, if not all, of the oil to ships above.
The cap installation is one of the steps of a procedure that could take several more days with the goal of ending the Deepwater Horizon oil spill that began on April 20 when the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing eleven and marking the beginning of the worst offshore oil spill in United States

Gaza Strip aid ship departs Greece, diverts to Egypt

novostite — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 10:04:12 +0000

The Amalthea, renamed the Hope for its mission as an aid ship carrying goods bound for the Gaza Strip, departed the Greek port of Lavrio yesterday, but is reportedly diverting away from its original destination and now plans to dock at the Egyptian port of el-Arish.
The ship was chartered by Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation to carry goods such as food, medicine, and houses, as well as transporting 27 people described by the foundation as “supporters who are keen on expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people”, to the Gaza Strip. The charitable organization’s chairman is Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi, the son of Muammar al-Gaddafi, the leader of Libya.
After talks between the Israeli, Greek and Moldovan governments, where the ship is registered, the destination was reportedly changed to Egypt. A statement from the Israeli government said that “due to these talks, the ship will not reach Gaza.” This was later confirmed by Libyan authorities to the Greek government.
An official with the Libyan charity involved, Youssef Sawwan, denied any agreement. “We have not cut deals with anyone,” he told the BBC Arabic service. “We are heading to Gaza for purely humanitarian reasons, we are not out to provoke anyone or to seek media attention.”
A crew member on board the vessel said that although the current destination is Egypt, those on board are prepared to change course towards Gaza again, despite Israel’s warning it will prevent the ship from breaking the blockade.

Three arrested in al-Qaeda bomb plot

novostite — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 06:50:46 +0000

Three alleged al-Qaeda members have been arrested in Norway and Germany for suspected involvement in a bomb plot. Norway’s Police Security service said that they were arrested for “preparing terror activities.” The three men had been watched both by Norway and the United States for over a year, and officials said that peroxide bombs were planned to be used.
It was unclear if the men, of which one had Norwegian citizenship, with the other two possessing permanent residence permits, had selected a target. One of the suspects was of Uyghur origin, another is Iraqi-Kurdish, and the third is from Uzbekistan.
Two of the suspects were arrested in Oslo while the other one was captured in Germany in collaboration with authorities there.
Norwegian and United States officials say that this bombing plot is linked to last year’s failed New York subway bombing scheme and another failed plot to bomb Manchester, England. These failed schemes also involved peroxide bombs.
Norway’s Police Security Service released a statement that said “[i]t is important to emphasize that those groups in Norway that may constitute a threat to national security are small and primarily involved in support activities to foreign countries. We would therefore like to stress that today’s apprehensions will not result in a different assessment of the current threat situation in Norway, and that the threat level will still be considered low.”

Netherlands beats Uruguay 3-2 in FIFA World Cup semifinals

novostite — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 06:11:14 +0000

The Netherlands defeated Uruguay in the semifinals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup on Tuesday. Uruguay was the last South American team holdout in the tournament. This year’s World Cup is is being hosted by South Africa.
Giovanni van Bronckhorst scored for the Dutch with a 35-yard shot in the eighteenth minute, while Uruguay’s Diego Forlan scored his fourth goal in this year’s World Cup to tie in the 41st minute.
Howver, after the Netherlands’ coach Bert van Marwijk replaced Demy de Zeeuw with attacker Rafael van der Vaart at halftime, the Dutch went on a roll, with Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben both scoring in the second half. They scored in quick sucession, in the 70th and 73rd minutes, respectively. Uruguay later narrowed the Dutch’s lead to one point in injury time, but the orange-clad Dutch beat back late Uruguayan pressure after the injury time goal was scored.
The Dutch team was jubilant after their semifinal win. “This is unforgettable,” Sneijder said. “It was a tough fight and toward the end we complicated matters. Sunday we play in the World Cup final. I have to get used to that.”
Coach Bert van Marwijk was also happy. “This is very special. After 32 years we play the final again. Such a small country. We can be very proud of this.” Van Marwijk has been coach of the Netherlands for two years.
Fans of the Netherlands’ soccer team were wildly celebrating too. 45 minutes after the small Western European country won, many fans returned to Cape Town’s Green Point Stadium to see the players do a victory dance. Many of the fans beat drums and cheered “Holland! Holland! Holland!”
The Dutch will face either Spain or Germany Sunday in the World Cup finals. This will be their first World Cup final appearance since 1978, when they lost 3-1 to Argentina, who was playing on their home turf. The Dutch also lost the championship in 1974. Uruguay hadn’t appeared in the semifinals since 1970. However, they won the World Cup in 1930, and again in 1950, but they have since suffered a 60-year drought, which continues to this day.

Getty taps into Flickr snappers

novostite — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 06:06:39 +0000

Flickr and Getty Images have announced an extension on their one year partnership. The new deal will grant Getty Images access to all 40 million registered users images. To protect privacy, users must opt into the project, though details are yet to emerge.
To ensure that Getty Images doesn’t get free photographs, the owner of the image will be given a fee, however neither Flickr or Getty Images have yet confirmed what those rates will be. It is believed it will be an industry standard rate, currently averaging between US$150 and US$240 per image.
One such success story of the partnership is Hal Bergman. He joined Flickr in 2006 and has said the partnership, which he originally had been part of, had helped his career take off.
“I have been doing this for six years on the side and a year and a half ago I gave up my day job in website development,” Mr. Bergman told BBC News, “I am working as a freelance and getting a lot of commission work and I would say this deal brings in about a third of my income”.
Bergman has a total of 200 images used by Getty Images, and over 2,500 on another site, which he did not specify.
The new alliance is said to help encourage people to retry Getty Images, as well as making Getty Images a far more competitive alternative to microstock photo sites. The move should also benefit Flickr, by making it more appealing to professional photographers to post their images on the site. It is still unclear what standards Getty Images will use for the licensing program when a customer wants a photo.

Sarkozy in UK to mark historic de Gaulle war broadcast

novostite — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 05:12:48 +0000

Nicolas Sarkozy visited the UK today to celebrate the 70th anniversary since Charles de Gaulle made his war broadcast. The French president and the Prince of Wales laid wreaths at the statue of Charles de Gaulle in London.
Earlier, Mr Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni visited the BBC radio studio where famous broadcast was made on BBC France. The broadcast at the time was said to have been listened to by a very small number of listeners. Carla Bruni and Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled a plaque and viewed a tapestry given to the BBC by France as a note of gratitude after World War II.
Nicolas Sarkozy and British PM David Cameron met with 200 veterans during a ceremony at the Royal Hospital Chelsea. Nicolas Sarkozy awarded the Legion d’Honneur to six World War II veterans, three of the veterans were British.
In a short speech, Mr Cameron said the anniversary was a “reminder that Britain and France are not just neighbours in the geographical sense but also in the emotional sense.” Mr Cameron held an hour of talks with the French president at Downing Street primarily focusing on economics, Afghanistan and other foreign policy matters. The visit is the first by a French president to mark Gen de Gaulle’s broadcast on 18 June 1940. In the stirring radio appeal Gen de Gaulle declared himself leader of the “Free French”, spawning the French Resistance, which went on to play a crucial role in defeating the Germans.
Mr Sarkozy’s last official visit to the UK was in March 2008, when he was also accompanied by his supermodel-turned-singe