Top Stories
Switzerland citizens vote Yes to freedom of circulation to new EU states Switzerland citizens have voted yes to the freedom of circulation to the new EU states, a result of 56% supporting and 44% opposing. Bomb explodes in Belarusian city A bomb exploded in the Belarusian city of Vitebsk, injuring about forty-six people.

Featured story
FBI recruits for "War on Porn" The FBI's Washington Field Office began last month an internal recruitment drive to staff a new anti-obscenity squad. The squad will not be concerned with child pornography, but instead focus on pornography that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults.

Wikipedia Current Events
U.S. Army PFC Lynndie England is found guilty by a military court in connection with the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal. A sentencing hearing is scheduled to begin September 27. Anti-Iraq War activist Cindy Sheehan is arrested while protesting outside the White House.

Wikipedia Current Events
Northern Ireland peace process: Chairman John de Chastelain of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning announces in a Belfast, Northern Ireland press conference that the weapons, ammunition, and explosives of the Provisional Irish Republican Army have been "put beyond use". "We are satisfied that the arms decommissioned represent the totality of the IRA's arsenal.", the general said. Unionists, such as Ian Paisley, have expressed cynicism. Imad Yarkas is convicted in Spain of conspiracy with al-Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks and sentenced to 27 years. Driss Chebli, was convicted of collaborating with a terrorist group and sentenced to six years, Al Jazeera journalist Tayser Allouni was also convicted of collaborating with a terrorist group and sentenced to seven years, while Ghasoub al-Abrash Ghalyoun was acquitted on all counts. Conflict in Iraq: Five school teachers were killed in an insurgent attack in Iskandariya, south of Baghdad At least 7 people die when a car-bomb explodes as they queued at the police academy in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. • Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Israeli Air-strikes on Palestinian targets continue, with the Israel Defense
Forces firing missiles in Gaza, knocking out the power supply to the East of the city, the Khan Yunis refugee camp and Rafah. Hamas had earlier declared an end to rocket attacks following pressure from the Palestinian National Authority and Egypt. • Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District is the first direct challenge brought in United States federal courts against a public school district curriculum mandating the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution. Opening arguments are set for today in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania District Court.

FDA recalls foreign meat used in aid for victims of Hurricane Katrina

The American Food and Drug Administration has recalled operational rations (MREs) donated by Britain to help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

The Daily Mirror insinuated that the majority of the 400,000 rations donated by Britain, at a cost of millions of pounds, are set to be destroyed at a plant in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Washington Post reported, on September 23, 2005, that a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed that the food was being held at the facility but denied any plans to incinerate the rations donated by Britain.

Nevertheless, the move has infuriated aid workers who hasten to point out that "Under NATO, American soldiers are also entitled to eat such rations, yet the starving of the American South will see them go up in smoke because of FDA red tape madness." One aid worker was quoted as saying that "the world's richest nation couldn't organize a piss-up in a brewery and lets Americans starve while they arrogantly observe petty regulations. Everyone is revolted by the chaotic shambles the US is making of this crisis. Guys from UNICEF are walking around spitting blood."

An FDA spokesman said the rations had not been inspected but were automatically deemed "unfit for human consumption" due to Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE or colloquially "mad cow disease") fears. He observed that 70 pallets of vegetarian MREs were inspected and approved on September 13th. Aid workers claim that, today, BSE is much more of a problem in the U.S. than in Britain.

Food donations from Spain and Italy are also being held by the FDA due to similar concern, as well as thousands of gallons of pear juice from Israel. Licensing regulations have also prevented foreign nations from sending doctors and other medical personnel.

IRA decommissioning complete - de Chastelain

A report confirming that the IRA has fully decommissioned all of its armaments has been submitted to the British and Irish governments on Monday (September 26, 2005).

The Chairman of the decommissioning body, General John de Chastelain met representitives of both governments, before releasing details of the report at a press conference in Belfast. A partial catalogue of the arms stock was included, as well as the statements of two independent observers present at the decommissioning process. The observers are a Catholic priest, and a Methodist minister.

Both witnesses stressed their independence and de Chastelain commented that it was clear from their observations that the weapons had been gathered from individuals and put beyond use. De Chastelain refused to be drawn on details of the exact numbers of weapons decommissioned, the IRA having agreed to decommissioning based on confidentiality. The decommissioning panel did make comments that the weapons decommissioned did corrispond with the estimates of weapons held, included a mix of new and old weapons, including surface to air missiles and heavy machine guns.

General de Chastelain, along with Andrew Sens and Tauno Nieminen, has been in Ireland overseeing this latest round of decommissioning since September. Before now, they had been allowed to witness three acts of decommissioning. However, lack of details in the reports provided afterwards meant that opponents questioned the moves.

Statements from both governments, as well as the major Northern Irish political leaders, are expected later on Monday.

The IRA announced that it was calling an end to its armed campaign in July, and ordered members not to take part in any other activities. The Unionist paramilitary UDA had withdrawn from the decommisioning after initial talks in 1999. de Chastelain indicated inventory of decomissioned weapons will not be published untill full paramilitary decommisioning is complete.

Initial reactions

DUP MP Nigel Dodds said that decommissioning was always required for "building and instilling confidence in the unionist community", and that "it was absolutely vital to have that visual aspect."

UUP leader Sir Reg Empey said that the report needed to make clear that absolutely all arms had been put beyond use.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said that both governments must now move forward with implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

Sinn Fein's Alex Maskey called the day "historic", commenting that the responsibilty now rests with the DUP and the governments to move forward.

During the press conference, General de Chastelain faced critics who questioned the truthfulness of the process. He responded with "We have no Doubt ... We have nothing to gain by misleading you."

Microsoft launches MSN adCenter

Microsoft announced today the official launch of MSN adCenter in France and Singapore. adCenter allows advertisers to target specific demographics using information provided by Microsoft's Hotmail and Microsoft Passport Network users.

"The launch of adCenter in France and Singapore is a great first step to delivering on our global vision to connect advertisers to consumers in a much more meaningful way," said Yusuf Mehdi, senior V.P. of MSN Information Services & Merchant Platform.

MSN adCenter logo

Advertisers will be able to target ads based on geographic location, gender, age range, time of day, and day of the week. If MSN has no information on the visitor it will display ads based upon keywords. Additional features include cost estimator, and a site analyzer that will recommend keywords based on the content of the advertiser’s website.

MSN currently uses ads by Yahoo. MSN has not yet said what they plan to do with the Yahoo ads, but they are expected to slowly phase them out. MSN has a contract for Yahoo ads that runs through 2006.

adCenter has been in testing in France and Singapore since March. Testing in the US will begin during October. Microsoft plans to eventually start selling ads on websites other then MSN.

This initiative is a part of a broader strategy that Microsoft has launched against Google. Google's AdWords service, in operation for several years, allows advertisers to bid on specific keywords and ensure ad placement on the company's search engine and other online properties. Microsoft's chief executive vowed to "kill Google" in an expletive-laden tirade against the firm, according to US court documents filed by Google.

Many internet users choose to block web page advertisements from both Microsoft and Google, using several different techniques of ad filtering, such as adblock in the firefox web browser.

Indonesian bird flu death toll rises to six

A 27 year old woman who was hospitalised with bird flu symptoms last week, died in hospital this morning. Test results confirmed that she, and a five year old girl who died last week, had died for the H5N1 virus which has already killed dozens of people across Asia.

She's the sixth person in Indonesia to die from bird flu, and at present there are at least 34 people hospitalised in the country with symptoms of the virus.

There is concern that a widespread outbreak could occur as people in Indonesia frequently keep poultry or pet birds in their homes. For this reason, Indonesian Government will deliver 40,000 doses of the anti-viral drug by the end of this week, with a further 40,000 provided by Australia.

Fernando Alonso becomes new Formula One World Champion

Renault driver Fernando Alonso finished third in the Brazilian Grand Prix, held at the Autodromo Carlos Pace near Sao Paulo. McLaren drivers and championship rivals Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikonnen finished first and second respectively; although Alonso's third place decreased his lead in championship points over Raikonnen, his closest rival, to 23, he nonetheless was able to secure the 2005 Drivers' World Championship. Since the winner of a Formula One Grand Prix earns 10 points and only two races remain, Raikonnen no longer has a mathematical possibility of becoming World Champion.

Alonso thus ends the five-year long reign of Michael Schumacher at the top of Formula One. At 24, he also became the youngest Formula One World Champion, ahead of Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi, who was 25 when he took the crown in 1972. He is also the first Spaniard to take that title.

Even though the Drivers' Championship is over, the Constructors' Championship will most likely go down to the wire during the last two races of the season in Suzuka (Japan) and Shanghai. Even though Renault has led the Championship for most of the season, Raikonnen's recent victories in the Hungarian, Turkish, Belgian and Brazilian Grand Prix have given McLaren a two-point lead over Renault, ensuring that both teams will fight hard for every point in the final races.

The race commenced with an incident between David Coulthard and Antonio Pizzonio touching wheels, forcing the latter's Williams-BMW into his teammate Mark Webber's car, putting all three of them out of the race (Webber eventually did manage to rejoin after lengthy repairs). The incident necessitated the deployment of the saftey car until the track was cleared.

Guantanamo prisoner seeks UK citizenship, asylum

Australian Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks has made application to gain British citizenship. All nine British citizens that had previously been held in Guantanamo Bay have been released following lobbying by the British government.

The decision to make an application was made after Hicks made a chance comment about his mother's British citizenship when talking about the recent "Ashes" cricket series with his lawyer Major Michael Mori.

The ABC reported that a spokesperson from the British High Commission in Canberra has said that the application could take up to a year to process.

The Law Council of Australia issued a press release on September 21, 2005 asserting that if the proposed military trial of David Hicks goes ahead in its current format then it is shaping up to be a "true travesty of justice".

David Hicks has been been held without trial for nearly four years and for much of that time he was held without any charges having been made. He is currently scheduled to face a military commission and is the only Guantanamo Bay detainee facing a commission hearing.

About Wikinews
We are a group of volunteer journalists whose mission is to create a diverse community where citizens from around the globe (including you) can collaborate to report the news on a wide variety of current events. By making our content perpetually available for free redistribution and use, we hope to contribute to a global digital commons. Got news and no computer? Call the Wikinews Hotline +1-866-653-4265 (toll-free in the U.S.) +1-202-742-5918 (outside the U.S.)
License
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Articles published in this Print edition were created by Wikinewsies. To view a copy of this license, visit: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor San Francisco, California, 94105, USA
Audio Wikinews
Audio Wikinews is a public domain, non point-of-view news radio program recorded daily. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Audio
About Wikinews Print Edition
For more information about Wikinews Print Edition visit: http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Print

Today in History

September 27 :

1825 - Locomotion No. 1 hauled the first train on opening day of the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the first railway to use steam locomotives and carry passengers.

1905 - Albert Einstein published the article "Does the Inertia of a Body Depend Upon Its Energy Content?", introducing the equation E=mc².

1940 - The Tripartite Pact was signed in Berlin by the major Axis Powers — Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and the Empire of Japan.

1988 - Led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy was founded in Burma (now known as Myanmar).

1996 - The Taliban drove President Burhanuddin Rabbani of Afghanistan out of Kabul, executed former President Mohammad Najibullah, and established the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Quote of the Day

“The awful daring of a moment's surrender, which an age of prudence can never retract, by this, and this only, we have existed.”

~ T. S. Eliot

Tuesday, September 27, 2005	Wikinews	Page 4

If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit www.wikinews.org

September 27, 2005	The free-content news source that you can write!	Page 4

If you would like to write, publish or edit articles, visit en.wikinews.org

Wikinews Back Page

Jake Novak

2005-09-26T20:49:33

Jake Novak