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Thursday, July 28, 2005

The Provisional Irish Republican Army, in a statement released earlier today (in one form as a DVD, with the statement being read by Séanna Breathnach), has declared that it intends to end its campaign of violence and decommission its weapons.

The move comes after international pressure to decommission weapons and cease all violent activity, particularly after allegations regarding the murder of Robert McCartney in Short Strand, Belfast, and a burglary of the Northern Bank in December of last year.

Members have been ordered to dump all arms and cease all paramilitary activity as of 16.00 BST (15.00 UTC) today, and the organisation’s leadership states that it will pursue its aims through exclusively peaceful means. The statement reaffirms the IRA’s view that its “armed struggle was entirely legitimate” as a means of pursuing the organisation’s goal of a united Ireland, but states that many suffered during this conflict and that society is now compelled to build a lasting peace.

In its statement the IRA also appealed to the British government and Northern Irish Protestants to renew negotiations with them.

Reaction to the statement has been mixed.

• “I think it has all the clarity that people have looked for this past 12 months. Of course there are lots of other issues in the peace process, which we have to continue to build on and build confidence on” — Bertie Ahern, Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister)
• “This may be the day when finally, after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaced war, politics replaces terror on the island of Ireland. […] It is what we have striven for and worked for throughout the eight years since the Good Friday Agreement.” — Tony Blair, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• “For the first time we have heard directly from the IRA not Sinn Fein that henceforward they are going to adopt peaceful means in seeking their political objectives” — Peter Mandelson, European Union Commissioner, former Northern Ireland Secretary
• “11 years after the first IRA ceasefire these are the words that we needed and wanted to hear.” — Alex Attwood, SDLP
• “I know there have been some who have been sceptical about whether republicans, the IRA in particular, were really interested in this process. I think today’s statement shows that they are. The IRA doesn’t have to do this. It is only doing this to try and give some assurance to those who are nervous or who are genuinely concerned. The IRA is not just stretching itself. It is actually overstretching itself to try to bring about the restoration of the peace process.” — Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein President

Sunday, July 24, 2005

A new explosive detonated on Sunday near the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt police said. It was reportedly carried by a man from a tourist bazaar. The man allegedly was carrying the bomb in a sack. It might accidentally have exploded in the area of Kufr Tuhurmus. No other injuries were reported except to the bomber himself, Sami Gamal Ahmad, who was too badly injured to be questioned. The man may have been taking the explosive to the tourist area of Kerdassa, where souvenir shops are located in a bazaar near the pyramids, said an official.

Egyptian security forces have detained 70 suspects in a sweep to find the perpetrators in Saturday’s early morning bombings that killed 88 and left hundreds injured.

The police investigation of the bombings has targeted a smaller number of people than the October 2004 roundup that followed attacks in the Sinai resorts of Tabas and Ras Shitan. 3,000 people were detained for questioning in those bombings. According to Canadian CTV, 200 of those people are believed to still be in custody.

A massive manhunt was undertaken in the Sinai Peninsula to identity whether it was foreigners who executed the attack. One security official speaking on the condition of anonymity told an Al Jazeera reporter that the bombers “did not appear to be locals.” But the New York Times reported that Bedouin leaders were arriving at the local police headquarters, possibly over concerns that many of the suspects picked up in the prior bombing in the region were, by human rights group accounts, Bedouin.

Among the dead, officials said victims included British, Russian, Dutch, Kuwaitis, Saudis, Qataris, Czech Republic, U.S., and native Egyptians. Sixty were identified as Egyptians, and at least eight were foreigners.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said, “The whole world is getting very disturbed. The frequency [of attacks] seems to be mounting.” Badawi chairs the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference.

Resort hotels are being abandoned by tourists. At the nearest international airport, hundreds are reported trying to get flights out.

Three bombs erupted in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh just after 1am. At the Ghazala Gardens hotel, work is underway to clear the destroyed reception lobby where emergency teams have gavin up the search for survivors. A car with 660 pounds of explosives drove into the hotel’s driveway and detonated in an apparent suicide attack.

The day of the bombings is marked as an Egyptian national holiday that commemorates the bloodless coup by a group of army officers that brought them to power after deposing King Farouk in 1952. Egypt has been the victim of 15 tourist attacks since October 1992.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

The Internet has already brought great things to the world, but has also brought spam, phishing, scamming, etc. We all have seen them across the Internet. They promise money, weight loss, or other things a person may strive for, but they usually amount to only a lighter pocket. Online advertising has become something that the increasingly Internet-reliant society has become used to, as well as more aware of. As this is true, online ads have become more intricate and deceptive in recent years.

However, a certain type of advertisement has arisen recently, and has become more deceptive than any other Internet ad, and has tricked many users into credit card charges. These sites claim to be news websites that preach a “miracle product”, and they offer a free trial, and then charge the user’s credit card a large amount of money without informing them after the trial ends. These sites appear to be operating under one venture and have caught ad pages of high-traffic websites by storm. In this report, Wikinews’ Tjc6 investigates news advertisement sites.

These Internet ads work in different ways:

Hypothetically speaking, a reader is browsing the web, and then happens to come across something that they believe is too good to be true. A link on one of these high-traffic pages promises white teeth, weight loss, or huge profits from working at home part-time. Out of curiosity, they click on the link.

This is the way that people are attracted to these fake news sites on the internet. The domain owners draw in customers by purchasing advertising on some of the World Wide Web’s most visited pages. Curious users click and are led to what they believe is a news article. From anti-aging to shedding weight, these “articles” from non-existant newspapers and television stations depict a skeptical news reporter trying a product because they were instructed to by a superior.

As the user reads on, they find that the “reporter” miraculously achieves significant weight loss, teeth whitening, or other general health and beauty improvement. The reporter states that the reader can get the same results as they did by using a “free trial” of the product.

Next, the user looks to the bottom of the page, where there seems to be a set of user comments, all of them praising the product or products that are advertised — this is where we first see something suspicious. Across several of these false articles, the comments appear to show the exact same text, sometimes with even the same usernames as other sites.

There is obviously some kind of correlation. Although this appears to be true, most users who purchase these products do not look at multiple versions of these similar pages of what appears to be a fast-growing network of interconnected fake news sites.

Once customers have convinced themselves into buying the product, they are led to a product (or products) website which promises a free trial for a very low price. What they do not know about this, however, is that they are giving their credit card data to a company that will charge it automatically after the trial ends. In about 14 days, the user receives a charge on their credit card for an excessive amount of money, usually from about $80 to $100 (USD). All attempts to contact these companies and cancel their shipments usually prove to be futile.

What these sites have is a large amount of legal copy located at the bottom of each site, stating their right to charge the user. This site, a fake news article claiming to offer teeth-whitening benefits, has several paragraphs of fine print, including this: “…Upon signing up for the 10 day trial membership you will be charged up to $4.97 depending on various shipping and initial offer promotions at that time but not more than $4.97 upon signing. If not cancelled, you will be charged $89.97 upon completion of the 10 day trial period. Monthly thereafter or 30 days from the original order date, the charge will reoccur monthly at a total of $89.97 until cancelled…,” the site says.

Practices like this have alerted the Better Business Bureau, an American organization that studies and reports on the reliability and practices of US businesses. In a press release, a spokesman from the BBB spoke out against sites like this. “Many businesses across the country are using the same selling model for their products: They lure customers in with claimed celebrity endorsements and free trial offers, and then lock them in by making it extremely difficult to cancel the automatic delivery of more products every month…,” said the report that denounced the websites.

When a user looks at several of these sites, they notice that all of them have the same exact structure. Because of this, Wikinews decided to look into where some of the domains were owned, and if they were all in fact part of one company.

However, the results that Wikinews found were ones that were not expected. Out of the three random websites that were found in Internet ads, all using similar designs and methods to attract the customers, came from three different locations in three countries and two separate continents. The first came from Scottsdale, in the United States, while the next two came from Vancouver and Hamburg. There is no location correlation, but surely, there has to be something that connected these sites together. We had to look even further to try to find a connection.

There is some correlation within the product’s contact information. A large amount of the teeth-whitening products analyzed actually shared the same phone number, which lead to a distribution center located in St. Petersburg, Florida, and several other similar distribution centers located across the Southern United States. But, that explains only one of the categories of products that these websites cover, teeth whitening.

What about the other products? The other products such as weight loss and work-at-home kits all trace back to similar distribution centers in similar places. So, what do we make of all of this?

There is obviously some company that promotes these products through the fake news advertisements, but that company is nowhere to be found on the websites. All contact information is given on the product pages, and websites are copyrighted under the name of the domain, not a company. Whatever company has been the setup for these pages has been very good at hiding themselves from the Internet, as there is no information across the web about that mysterious large advertiser.

As a result of customers buying the products and having unauthorized charges on their credit cards, a large volume of complaints are currently present on awareness sites, complaint sites, and even the Better Business Bureau. Several customers point out that they were not informed of the steep charges and the company made it extremely difficult to cancel their subscription, usually resulting in the loss of several hundred dollars.

• “The trial offer was to pay for $3.95 for the cost of the shipping for one bottle. I noticed shortly after placing the order I had a charge on my credit card for $149.95. Unknown to myself the company charges for a membership if you don’t cancel within 14 days, I cancelled within 18 days…When I called the customer service number they told me the decision has been made and my refund request was denied. When I questioned the person on the other line about what I was getting for my $149.95 she told me I was not getting anything because I cancelled the membership.“

?“Tamara”, in a post to the Ripoff Report

• “This is a “free sample” scam: Pay only postage and handling and get a free sample of a tooth whitening system, they say. I looked for the “catch,” something that would indicate that there’d be hidden or recurring charges, but didn’t see anything, and ordered. Sure enough, a couple of weeks later, I see a charge for $88.97 on my bank statement…When I called, the guy answering the phone had obviously answered the same angry question many, many times: “Why has your company charged $88.97 to my card?” “Because you didn’t cancel your subscription in time,” he said tiredly.“

?“Elenor”, in a post to the Ripoff Report

One notable lawsuit has occurred as a result of these articles. Some of the articles about work at home kits specifically advertise things like “work for Google”, or “job openings at Google”. However, Google asserts these claims as false and has taken the case to court, as it is a copyright violation. “Thousands of people have been tricked into sending payment information and being charged hidden fees by questionable operations,” said Google in a statement.

The BBB has received over 3,000 complaints about products such as the ones that Google took offense to. The lawsuit has yet to begin in court, and no date has been set.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

At least two men in Sweden were arrested after security officials at the Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant discovered traces of an explosive material on a plastic bag. Oskarshamnsverkets Kraftgrupp OKG operates the plant, which is one of three nuclear power plants in Sweden.

Reports say that on the outside of a bag was Acetone peroxide, or TATP, primarily used as a high yield explosive, but is also an organic peroxide used in making chemicals for cleaning.

The unidentified men in their 40’s to 50’s, who were contractors and welders hired for doing work at the plant, were stopped as they entered the plant. Authorities were called to the scene along with the bomb squad, who sealed off parts of the plant when they detected the explosive material on a bag’s handle. Security detected the material in what is described by CNN as a “routine” security check. Police believe it was on one of the man’s hands when it rubbed off onto the bag, but no bomb was found after an extensive search. Both men have been charged with attempted sabotage and are still undergoing interrogation. Both face sentences of up to two years in prison.

Plant officials state that the plant has never received a threat “not in the past, not now, and we have no threat for the future,” said President of OKG, Lars Thuring. “The only thing that we have found is this trace of explosives in the bag.”

TATP is “very unstable, very sensitive to both friction and shocks,” said Swedish Defense Research Agency expert, Svante Karlsson. A small amount could cause serious damage to someone handling the material which is described as ‘Mother of Satan’. Would-be ‘shoe bomber’ Richard Reid used the substance in an attempt to blow up American Airlines flight 63 from Paris, France to Miami, Florida in 2001. The same substance was also used in the July 2005 bombings in London, England.

The plant’s reactors, where the men were scheduled to work, were turned off on May 11 for routine maintenance. The rest of the plant’s operations were not interrupted.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Two passengers on a Mediterranean cruise ship were killed by a rogue wave on Wednesday. The incident occurred off the north-east coast of Spain. The ship, named the Louis Majesty, had left from Barcelona, Spain and was headed for Genoa, Italy.

The giant wave broke the windows on deck five of the ship, resulting in two fatalities as well as another fourteen injuries. The two victims were German and Italian citizens. Following the incident, the ship returned to Barcelona. The ship, carrying over 1300 passengers, is expected to continue its journey after the injured are moved from the ship for treatment.

According to French officials, there had been no previous trouble with the ship. The waves were believed to have been 26 feet (8 meters) high. The ship is 660 feet (200 meters) long, and had 732 cabins onboard.

Friday, August 12, 2011

A car fatally crashed into three individuals in the British city of Birmingham, England. The three men, aged 31, 30, and 21, died during a second consecutive night of violent events in Birmingham.

The incident occurred at approximately 0100 BST (0000 UTC) Wednesday morning in the Birmingham inner-city region of Winson Green. The men were attempting to protect property from nearby riots. Witness reports say that the vehicle contained as many as three passengers and drove at a speed of fifty miles per hour without stopping after the crash.

Police have since recovered a vehicle and arrested a 32-year-old male in association with the incident, on a charge of murder. According to Chief Constable Chris Sims, the details of the incident West Midlands Police have would indicate that “the car was deliberately driven”.

Tariq Jahan, the father of one of those killed, said his son, 21-year-old Haroon Jahan, was attempting to protect the area from nearby violence and unrest. Jahan said he had attempted to perform CPR at the scene of the incident. Jahan said his son was “a very good lad, a good man starting at the beginning of his life and had his whole life ahead of him. I’ve got no words to describe why he was taken and why this has happened and what’s happening to the whole of England.” Jahan said violent acts like this which killed innocent bystanders made “no sense”.

A statement released from West Midlands Police says that “detectives are treating [this incident] as murder. Three men were taken to hospital where two later died from their injuries. A third man was in a critical condition but confirmed dead at around 6:30AM. West Midlands Police have launched a murder inquiry, arrested one man in connection with the incident and recovered a vehicle nearby which will be examined by forensics experts,” the force stated. Police have requested that individuals contact them if they have any information about the incident. About 200 people from the Asian community have gathered at the hospital where the victims were transported after the crash. Two of the victims were known to be brothers. All three of them were reported to be Pakistani Muslims.

The West Midlands has seen other instances of violent behavior. Thefts have taken place in the city centre of Birmingham, West Bromwich and in Wolverhampton. The charges being brought against suspects on remand for court appearances include public disorder offences, such as violent disorder and aggravated burglary. Six police officers have experienced minor injuries as a result of the violence.

According to police, a scrapyard fire which occurred in Birmingham is unrelated to recent violence. Two ambulances were attacked in two separate incidents with objects being thrown at the vehicles. Ambulance staff were left uninjured in both cases. Ambulances have appeared on thirty-five occasions in West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and various parts of Birmingham. Thirty-one individuals were given ambulance staff treatment, with nineteen receiving hospital treatment, albeit for practically minor assaults in most cases.

In Wolverhampton and West Bromwich, there have been reports of roads and streets being closed. Wolverhampton and Birmingham have experienced significant travel disruption, with buses not entering city centres last night. One vehicle in Birmingham and two in West Bromwich have been set alight amongst the violence. Various businesses have also been targeted, such as M&S and a high fidelity shop in Birmingham. A jewelry business in Wolverhampton has been robbed of ornaments, watches and money.

Yesterday, British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg condemned the violent actions of individuals, claiming there was “simply no excuse whatsoever for the violence, looting and destruction”. Below is a picture gallery of the damage caused by public disorder in Birmingham Tuesday night:

Friday, March 11, 2011

File:Fukushima-1.JPG

Japan’s government has declared its first ever “nuclear emergency” after pressure rises in the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, combined with a minor radiation leak, caused a 10 km radius around the plant to be evacuated. An attempt to relieve the pressure inside the containment vessels of the plant has been delayed.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company’s 40-year old nuclear facility, 270 km NE of Tokyo, reported mechanical difficulties with its cooling system, although the automated shutdown systems worked correctly. With the core reaction shut down the plant is no longer actively generating heat, but the fuel rods continue to generate excess heat and radiation and need constant cooling.

The cooling system runs a constant flow of water to take the heat away from the submerged fuel rods, but the pumping system requires electricity to operate even after the plant is no longer producing electricity itself—generally from back-up diesel or natural gas generators.