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Sunday, July 31, 2005

Egyptian riot police and government supporters have dispersed Saturday demonstration against President Hosni Mubarak’s fifth re-election campaign.

Several hundred demonstrators from Kifaya, a movement against re-election of Mr Mubarak, as well as from other pro-reform organisations were to gather in Cairo’s main square, but they were attacked by the security forces and plain-clothes police on their way.

Eyewitnesses reported that the protesters were beaten, kicked in the head, and finally thrown into police trucks.

19 members of Kifaya were arrested and they are still held, according to the organisation statement. Ayman Barakat, Mr Mubarak’s most serious opponent in the upcoming election was among those arrested, but is now freed.

Mr Mubarak announced that he would stand in the election on Thursday. Under international pressure he introduced several serious constitutional reforms, including first in 24 years presidential elections with more than one candidate. However, opposition leaders say that is ‘no guarantee’ the elections will be fair.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

The Internet group Project Chanology today held protests critical of the Church of Scientology. The protests marked what would have been the 49th birthday of Lisa McPherson, who is claimed to be a victim of the Church of Scientology’s practices. Lisa died in 1995 during a running of what Scientologists refer to as an Introspection Rundown, a procedure intended to help Church members deal with a psychotic or deeply traumatic event.

Protests were planned throughout the day in 14 countries and over 50 different cities. The estimation of total protesters world wide for Feb. 10, 2008 is 9,250 people.

Wikinews had correspondents at a number of protest locations to report on the events. This article was updated throughout the day with reports from around the globe.

Thursday, July 7, 2005

A Florida man is being charged with 3rd degree felony for logging into a private Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity) Internet access point without permission. Benjamin Smith III, 41, is set for a pre-trial hearing this month in the first case of its kind in the United States.

This kind of activity occurs frequently, but often goes undetected by the owners of these wireless access points (WAPs). Unauthorized users range from casual Web browsers, to users sending e-mails, to users involved in pornography or even illegal endeavours.

According to Richard Dinon, owner of the WAP Smith allegedly broke into, Smith was using a laptop in an automobile while parked outside Dinon’s residence.

There are many steps an owner of one of these access points can take to secure them from outside users. Dinon reportedly knew how to take these steps, but had not bothered because his “neighbors are older.”

Saturday, June 30, 2007

The United Kingdom’s Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC), a division of the security agency MI5, has raised its threat level to critical. Critical denotes that a terrorist attack is expected imminently. The threat is noted as being from al-Qaida, groups associated with al-Qaida, and other Islamic extremists. The change was made as a result of an earlier incident where a burning jeep drove into Glasgow Airport, which has been linked to the attempted London car bombings of the previous day.

MI5 also indicated that, although the threat comes principally from al-Qaida and related networks, Northern Ireland-related terrorism remains a threat.

In a press release Saturday, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said, “I can confirm that JTAC has raised the national threat level to critical. This is in response to the events of the last 48 hours. Critical is the highest level of threat, and the threat level will be closely reviewed on a regular basis. Appropriate security measures have been put in place.”

A terror alert system was set up by the UK government to keep the public informed about the level of threat to the UK from terrorism. According to the Home Office, the likelihood of a terrorist attack taking place in the UK is identified in following threat levels:

• critical – an attack is expected imminently
• severe – an attack is highly likely
• substantial – an attack is a strong possibility
• moderate – an attack is possible but not likely
• low – an attack is unlikely

Wednesday, December 24, 2014With the English-language Wikinews continuing to increase the amount of original content published, we take a look back at some of the eighty-plus original reports from our contributors during 2014.

Wednesday, December 7, 2005

The United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has begun to address concerns raised by the EU, the Council of Europe, and several member countries about the CIA’s detention practices upon her arrival in Germany for a European tour that began Tuesday.

“As a matter of US policy, the United States’ obligations under the U.N. Convention Against Torture, which prohibits, of course, cruel and inhumane and degrading treatment, those obligations extend to US personnel wherever they are, whether they are in the United States or outside the United States,” said Rice, speaking from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev on Wednesday.

Media reports and Human Rights groups have alleged that the CIA transported renditioned prisoners through European countries, which could violate European laws and the sovereignty of countries involved. Secretary Rice claimed that the United States has respected the sovereignty of other countries, and that it has not transported detainees from one country to another for the purpose of interrogation using torture, and has not transported anyone to a country when we believe he will be tortured.

“We consider the captured members of Al-Qaeda and its affiliates to be unlawful combatants who may be held, in accordance with the law of war, to keep them from killing innocents. We must treat them in accordance with our laws, which reflect the values of the American people. We must question them to gather potentially significant, life-saving, intelligence. We must bring terrorists to justice wherever possible,” Rice told reporters before she left from Andrews Air Force base on Monday.

Rice said that European nations should realize that interrogations of terrorist suspects have produced information that has saved European lives. However, Secretary Rice provided no specific cases.

“Secretary Rice made extra-legal rendition sound like just another form of extradition. In fact, it’s a form of kidnapping and ‘disappearing’ someone entirely outside the law,” said Tom Malinowski, a Human Rights Watch official in Washington.

The CIA practice known as “extraordinary rendition” is used to interrogate terrorist suspects outside the U.S., where they are not subject to American legal protection.

“Kidnapping a foreign national for the purpose of detaining and interrogating him outside the law is contrary to American values,” said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on the Khalid El-Masri case. “Our government has acted as if it is above the law. We go to court today to reaffirm that the rule of law is central to our identity as a nation.”

The ACLU feels the government has to be held to account over “extraordinary rendition”.