Friday, May 5, 2006

Australian Prime Minister John Howard and federal industry minister Ian MacDonald today announced that the federal government would be providing Ford Australia with a AU$52.5 million (US$40.4 million) “financial assistance package”. Additional assistance will also be provided by the Victorian state government.

According to Mr Howard, the injection will secure Ford’s manufacturing operations in Australia “for the long term”.

From the package, AU$40 million will be used for the design and manufacture of Ford’s next model Falcon and Territory vehicles, which will be built in Australia.

Despite being given a major facelift in 2002 and another in 2005, the Falcon’s bodyshell dates back to 1998. The current Falcon will need to serve the company until at least 2007 when the new model is anticipated. In the meantime, it will face stiff competition from the completely new Holden Commodore (the Falcon’s major competitor) which will be released in the second half of this year.

The additional AU$12.5 million will be spent on the development of a light commercial vehicle platform, which will be built overseas and marketed to around 80 countries. Mr Howard said that the light commercial project would involve construction of a research and development centre, which will become the base for R&D projects in the region.

Mr MacFarlane said that the research facility was exciting for Australia and that it would put the Australian automotive in the spotlight.

“The funding has helped Ford Australia secure the largest automotive R&D project ever undertaken in Australia which is equally exciting news for local Ford employees and Australian component producers” he said.

“The project will see Ford Australia become a centre for automotive design and engineering excellence in the Asia Pacific region which will bring spin-off benefits for the broader industry,”

“This opportunity will put both Ford Australia, and the Australian automotive and components sectors on the world map as far as our automotive design and engineering capabilities are concerned.” Mr MacFarlane said.

Mr Howard claims that the projects will create 273 jobs and secure the future of the “iconic” Ford Falcon, which has been built in Australia since 1960.

The financial package is conditional upon Ford Australia giving the Australian automotive component industry an opportunity to supply components for the vehicles produced by the two projects.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

The Blunkett diaries, being serialised in the Guardian, claim that Gordon Brown opposed the war against Iraq. Only at the last minute did he give in, according to the diaries, when he realised that Blair would sack him otherwise.

Gordon Brown, interviewed by the Guardian, said he did not think Blunkett had ever said such a thing and that, if he was reported as having done so, he was being misquoted.

The diary entries are contemporary with the events and were recorded shortly after the Cabinet meeting on Iraq.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

German migrant marine rescue charity Sea-Eye on Sunday renamed their ship after Alan Kurdi, a three-year-old Syrian child who drowned offshore of Turkey. Relatives of the boy attended the renaming ceremony on the Spanish island of Majorca.

Kurdi, his brother, and his mother were among eleven migrants who died in a storm on the Mediterranean Sea in 2015; they had, his surviving father says, paid people smugglers to take them from Turkey to Greece in a small inflatable boat. A photograph of his remains on a Turkish beach drew widespread attention. The accident happened during the height of the European migrant crisis, which saw a large spike in immigration to the continent.

“This day is very hard for me, as I re-experience many memories,” said his father, Abdullah Kurdi, following the ceremony. “It’s people with good heart in this organization. So my boy’s name stands for something good and his little soul can find … peace.” Abdullah Kurdi now resides in Iraq. The boy’s aunt, Tima Kurdi, also attended the ceremony.

Sea-Eye spokesperson Carlotta Weibl said “The name ‘Alan Kurdi’ shall be a reminder of what our work is really about. It is not about ships, captains, NGOs [Non-Governmental Organizations] and clashes with misguided politicians. It is about actual persons, like Alan, [and his brother and mother], who drown in the Mediterranean daily[, and] it is about the endless pain and grief their loved ones have to feel.” Sea-Eye credit themselves with around 14,000 lives saved during 60 rescues since commencing work in 2016. Their ship, MV Alan Kurdi, was previously MV Professor Albrecht Penck.

Turkey sentenced two people smugglers to four years of prison each for their roles in the events surrounding Kurdi and his fellow migrants’ September 2015 deaths. Kurdi’s image lead to international public calls for more effort to assist migrants from Syria; since then, anti-immigration groups have increased their numbers and activities in Europe.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Governor Bobby Jindal, a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Louisiana, appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday and said he supports teaching intelligent design (ID) in public school as “the very best science.” Jindal, who was elected governor in 2007, is a Hindu convert to Catholicism who takes the Bible literally.

In his exchange on the Sunday morning talk show, “Some want only to teach intelligent design, some only want to teach evolution. I think both views are wrong, as a parent.”

In a September 2007 debate he supported the view of creationism saying, “Personally, it certainly makes sense to me that when you look at creation, you would believe in a creator.”

Recently, the Louisiana House of Representatives passed legislation, which the National Center for Science Education said “opens the door to creationism in public school science classes.” The bill is currently on his desk.

Jindal is currently considered a possible Vice President candidate for John McCain’s U.S. Presidential campaign.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Viktor Schreckengost, the father of industrial design and creator of the Jazz Bowl, an iconic piece of Jazz Age art designed for Eleanor Roosevelt during his association with Cowan Pottery died yesterday. He was 101.

Schreckengost was born on June 26, 1906 in Sebring, Ohio, United States.

Schreckengost’s peers included the far more famous designers Raymond Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes.

In 2000, the Cleveland Museum of Art curated the first ever retrospective of Schreckengost’s work. Stunning in scope, the exhibition included sculpture, pottery, dinnerware, drawings, and paintings.

A compilation of brief news reports for Sunday, March 14, 2010.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Palestinian medical officials have said that two Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip were killed by gunfire from Israel on Saturday, according to security sources and Palestinian officials.

According to witness reports, the men were collecting scrap metal when they were killed near the border; Israeli officials, however, said that the men were trying to shoot rockets into Israel. An Israeli military spokeswoman said that the army had nothing to do with the shooting.

The head of Gaza’s emergency and ambulance services, Mo’aweya Hassanein, said to media that ambulances were dispatched to the area, but were still waiting for permission from Israeli authorities to reach the scene.

On Sunday, the IDF said in a statement that an Israeli Air Force craft attacked a terror cell preparing to fire projectiles from the southern Gaza Strip into Israel on Sunday evening.

Palestinian medics and the IDF say Sunday’s air strike killed three members of the Islamic Jihad group in central Gaza.

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

A survey by SonicWALL, a Sunnyvale, California-based company, reports that 10% of worldwide telecommuters are nude while working, finding 12% for men and 7% for women, respectively.

A gender gap also exists for showering on work-at-home days, with 44% of women showering, while only 30% of men did. The survey also found that 39% of both sexes wear sweats while working from home.

The survey also covered less racy topics, including opinions on productivity. 76% felt that working at home increased productivity.

The number of telecommuters has increased sharply in recent years. For example, 43% of U.S. government employees telecommute at least part of the time, up from only 19% one year ago.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, the race for the White House also includes independents and third party candidates. These parties represent a variety of views that may not be acknowledged by the major party platforms.

As a non-partisan news source, Wikinews has impartially reached out to these candidates, throughout the campaign. The most recent of our interviews is North Carolina, Tom Millican, an independent corporate manager and Vietnam veteran.