John Reed on Orwell, God, self-destruction and the future of writing

Thursday, October 18, 2007 It can be difficult to be John Reed. Christopher Hitchens called him a “Bin Ladenist” and Cathy Young editorialized in The Boston Globe that he “blames the victims of terrorism” when he puts out a novel like Snowball’s Chance, a biting send-up of George Orwell‘s Animal Farm which he was inspired to write after the terrorist […]

NTSB releases updates on status of 3 major US investigations

Sunday, June 17, 2007 The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the agency responsible for investigating transportation accidents in the United States, released updates on three major investigations on June 14. The NTSB, well known publicly for its involvement in the investigation of aviation incidents which involve harm or loss of human life, is also an agency that oversees the transportation […]

Simon’s Rock College tests Alan Turing theories with ‘Imitation Game’ experiment

Tuesday, April 19, 2005File:PICT4422.jpg File:GuessingGame01.jpg On Saturday April 16, students at Simon’s Rock College in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and Dr. Richard Wallace of the A.L.I.C.E. AI Foundation for their first time tested Alan Turing’s thought-experiment. The Imitation Game, based on the original Turing model for testing the ability of humans to recognize artificial intelligence (AI), was carried out with nearly […]

Iran to conduct missile defense exercise

Saturday, September 26, 2009 The Iranian government has announced that the nation will be participating in a missile defense test which could take place as early as tomorrow. According to the IRNA, Iran’s official news agency, the test is an annual exercise aimed to “maintain and develop” defense capabilities of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. The exercise is named ‘Great Prophet […]

Hamshahri newspaper plans cartoon response

Tuesday, February 7, 2006The Iranian newspaper Hamshari daily has stated that it will publish anti-Semitic cartoons in response to the Danish Mohammad cartoons. The newspaper, owned by the Tehran city council, says that the anti-Semitic cartoons will lampoon the Holocaust, following denials by the Iranian government that the Holocaust even happened, and will show “America and Israel’s crimes and plundering”. […]

Report urges Kenya to ban plastic bags

Wednesday, March 9, 2005File:Plastic bag stock sized.jpg They are cheap, useful, and very plentiful, and that is exactly the problem, according to researchers. A report issued on Feb. 23 by a cadre of environment and economics researchers suggested that Kenya should ban the common plastic bag that one gets at the checkout counter of grocery stores, and place a levy […]

Chinese Foreign Ministry confirms arrest of bookseller Gui Minhai

Thursday, February 8, 2018 On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed they had detained Hong Kong-based bookseller Gui Minhai. Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said, “Gui Minhai broke Chinese law and has already been subjected to criminal coercive measures in accordance with the law by relevant Chinese authorities”. According to Minhai’s daughter, Chinese police arrested Gui in Beijing in January. 53-year-old […]

Senior UK politicians talk at Confederation of British Industry conference

Monday, November 21, 2016 UK Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn both spoke at the annual Confederation of British Industry conference today, talking about Britain after its planned ‘Brexit’ from the European Union, and future plans for business. May formally announced plans to cut corporation tax from 20%, without giving details, in order to discourage businesses from […]

Wikinews interviews You-peng Wang of Taipei Electrical Commercial Association

Sunday, November 11, 2007 Besides becoming a political stomping ground for the Pan-Green and Pan-Blue coalitions, there are other changes from past years of Taipei Audio Video Fair (TAVF). With those changes in mind, Wikinews reporter Rico Shen interviewed You-peng Wang, chairman of the Taipei Electrical Commercial Association (TECA), the main organizer of TAVF, about the 60th year anniversary of […]