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Anti-ACTA activists protest across Europe

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 18:20:02 GMT

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Internet

Sources [edit]

"Anti-ACTA day: Angry crowds take action" — RT (TV network), February 12, 2012
Dave Lee. "Acta protests: Thousands take to streets across Europe" — BBC News Online, February 11, 2012
Josie Le Blond. "ACTA ignites concerns about threat to Internet freedom" — USA Today, February 11, 2012

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European cold spell kills hundreds

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:39:37 GMT

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Weather

Sources [edit]

"Winter Tightens Icy Grip Across Europe" — Voice of America, February 8, 2012

"Deadly Cold Snap: European Deep Freeze Refuses to Relent" — Spiegel Online, February 7, 2012

"Europe’s deadly cold snap should ease from next week, UN agency says" — UN News Service, February 7, 2012

AFP. "Deadly cold snap 'to get worse'" — The Daily Telegraph (Australia), February 4, 2012

"Europe’s homeless dying in arctic conditions" — Euronews, February 3, 2012

"Cold weather death toll passes 100 in Ukraine" — BBC News Online, February 3, 2012

Laura Smith-Spark. "Europe's cold snap claims more lives" — CNN, February 3, 2012

"Cold snap takes heavy toll in Eastern Europe" — Deutsche Welle, February 3, 2012

"Homeless facing cold all over Europe" — Euronews, February 2, 2012

External links [edit]

For the current warnings across Europe see: Meteoalarm

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Azerbaijan win 2011 Eurovision Song Contest

Sun, 15 May 2011 13:57:51 GMT

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Eurovision Song Contest

Sources [edit]

"Eurovision Song Contest 2011 Final" — Eurovision, May 14, 2011
"Azerbaijan wins the Eurovision Song Contest" — BBC News Online, May 15, 2011
"Winner's Press Conference: "We want to bring Europe together"" — Eurovision.tv, May 15, 2011
"Eurovision 2011: Semifinals results revealed" — ESC Today, May 15, 2011

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Ten children killed in Estonian orphanage fire

Sun, 20 Feb 2011 22:26:33 GMT

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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Estonia

Sources [edit]

"Estonia children's home fire kills 10" — BBC News Online, February 20, 2011
"Fire kills 10 children in Estonian orphanage" — CBS News, February 20, 2011

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Estonian soldier killed in southern Afghanistan

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:52:32 GMT

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Estonia

Sources [edit]

"Estonian soldier killed in southern Afghanistan after insurgent ambush" — The Canadian Press, August 31, 2010
"Estonia mourns fallen soldier" — The Baltic Times, August 31, 2010

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18 hospitalized after gas attack in school in Valga, Estonia

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:26:01 GMT

Friday, October 9, 2009

Estonia

Sources [edit]

Katrin Jüriso. "Valgas viidi haiglasse 18 gaasi sisse hinganud õpilast" — ERR, 09 October 2009
Marko Liibak. "Kaks koolipoissi pihustasid Valga gümnaasiumis gaasi - haiglasse viidi 18 last" — Valgamaalane, 09 October 2009
Merili Nael. "Valga politseinik: turvakaamerad koolides on abiks" — ERR, 09 October 2009

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Europeans go to the polls to elect Members of the European Parliament

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 14:07:15 GMT

Monday, June 8, 2009

European Parliament logo

Over the course of the last four days, people across the European Union went to the polls to elect Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as part of the European Parliament election, 2009. Voting began on Thursday in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and parts of Ireland. It continued on Friday across the rest of Ireland and parts of the Czech Republic. On Saturday the countries of Cyprus, France (for part of Outre-mer), Italy (day 1), Latvia, Malta, Slovakia and the Czech Republic all voted. On Sunday, the final day of polling, the remaing countries of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy (day 2), Lithuania, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia and Sweden voted. Votes were released last night and will continue to be released over the course of today with the exception of Netherlands, which has broken rules and partialy released them on Friday.

The current President of the European Parliament, Hans-Gert Pöttering

The European Parliament is divided into constituencies, which have a group of representatives (the MEPs). Each constituency elects them proportionaly. The amount of MEPs representing a political party depends on the percentage of votes they gain. For example, if 50% of the electorate of a constituency vote for the x party then 50% of the MEPs in that constituency will be from the x party. In total there are 736 MEPs up for election by approximately 500,000,000 Europeans across 27 member states making it the largest transnational election in history.

The elections didn't quite go to plan across the Netherlands, as the European Commission have asked that Dutch officials give an explanation to results they released. As countries across Europe vote on different days, the results of the election can only be released on the last day (Sunday), so that the results in other countries will not influence the decission made by people in countries that are still voting. Despite this, the Netherlands released some of their results on Friday: 92% of the votes have currently been counted. Further controversy arose from the results themselves. Results so far show that far-right Dutch Member of Parliament, Geert Wilders's party the Party for Freedom (PVV), appears to have come second behind the Christian Democratic Appeal. Wilders is facing prosecution in the Netherlands for an anti Islamic statement and was refused entry to the United Kingdom on grounds of the intent to incite hatred.

It had initially been foreseen that the Treaty of Lisbon would have entered into force by the time of these elections, making them the first to be held under its provisions. However, primarily because of the failure of the referendum in Ireland, the framework established by the Treaty of Nice will be used again. Amongst other differences, the number of MEPs to be returned depends upon which rules are in effect: while 736 MEPs will be elected under the Nice rules, this number would have increased to 751 if the Lisbon Treaty were in force. A further change that Lisbon would have brought was an increase to the powers of Parliament, including powers over the appointment of the President of the European Commission.

In the previous election, German Hans-Gert Pöttering of the centre-right EPP-ED won with 34% and Martin Schulz of the Socialists came second with 26%. Despite this, during the last term the two leaders shared, each serving approximately two years in office.

European Parliament election, 2004 - Final results at 20 July 2004
Group		Description	Chaired by	MEPs
	EPP-ED	Conservatives and Christian Democrats	Hans-Gert Pöttering	268
	PES	Social Democrats	Martin Schulz	200
	ALDE	Liberals and Liberal Democrats	Graham Watson	88
	G–EFA	Greens and Regionalists	Daniel Cohn-Bendit Monica Frassoni	42
	EUL– NGL	Communists and the Far Left	Francis Wurtz	41
	ID	Eurosceptics	Jens-Peter Bonde Nigel Farage	37
	UEN	National Conservatives	Brian Crowley Cristiana Muscardini	27
	NI	Independents	none	29	Total: 732	Sources: [1][2][3][4][5]

Europeans have also been voting in local elections of County Councils in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

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Related news [edit]

Wikipedia has more about this subject:

European Parliament election, 2009

"United Kingdom elects first British National Party members of European Parliament" — Wikinews, June 8, 2009

Sources [edit]

"Dutch far right in poll triumph" — BBC News Online, June 5, 2009
"Final round of marathon EU vote" — BBC News Online, June 7, 2009
"Voting in 19 EU states for Parliament" — RTÉ, June 7, 2009

External links [edit]

European Election results

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Wikinews Shorts: December 13, 2008

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:44:05 GMT

A compilation of brief news reports for Saturday, December 13, 2008 .

1 President-Elect Obama's inaugural donations to be listed online
2 Scientists detect black hole at center of Milky Way Galaxy
3 Zimbabwe accuses United Kingdom of causing cholera epidemic
4 Colombia extradites drug lord to the United States
5 Rare snowfall strikes southern United States
6 Pin-up queen Bettie Page dies at age 85
7 Estonian law to allow voting by cell phone

President-Elect Obama's inaugural donations to be listed online [edit]

President-Elect Obama in Austin, TX during the campaign. (Courtesy of Roxanne Mitchel)

The Presidential Inaugural Committee says it is "taking unprecedented steps to insure transparency in the public reporting of donors" by listing the names of individuals or organizations who donate over $200 towards President-Elect Barack Obama's upcoming inaugural.

Logging onto http://www.pic2009.org/page/content/donors/ will show you a current list of over 169 current donors who have given at least that amount, and for most of the donors, much more. Donors include movie stars, real estate moguls, and sports stars, many of whom also contributed to Obama's presidential campaign.

The Presidential Inaugural Committee states that it has raised almost $10 million dollars to cover the inaugural; and while that may seem like a large amount, the spending record for an inaugural is held by the current president, George W. Bush, with $42.8 million spent on his 2004 inaugural.

Nikita Stewart. "Inaugural Donations to Be Listed Online" — The Washington Post, December 13, 2008
Emily Cadei. "Obama Has Raised $10 million" — CQ Politics, December 12, 2008

Scientists detect black hole at center of Milky Way Galaxy [edit]

A simulation of the black hole.

American and German astronomers have detected and confirmed that there is a 'super-massive' black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It is approximately 27,000 light years from Earth, and four million times bigger than the Sun. Scientists say it plays a significant role in forming all galaxies.

The 16-year study was performed using two telescopes located in Chile. They discovered it by tracking the movement of over two dozen separate stars. The study will be published next month in The Astrophysical Journal.

Sources

Matt Schofield. "Massive black hole confirmed at heart of our galaxy" — Kansas City Star, December 10, 2008
Pallab Ghosh. "Black hole confirmed in Milky Way" — BBC News Online, December 9, 2008

Zimbabwe accuses United Kingdom of causing cholera epidemic [edit]

An ally of Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, has said that a cholera epidemic in the country, which killed hundreds of people, was caused by the United Kingdom.

Ndlovu said of the outbreak that it was a "genocidal onslaught on the people of Zimbabwe by the British." It was compared to a "serious biological chemical weapon".

This comes just a day after President Mugabe announced that the cholera epidemic had been stopped, contradicting aid workers saying that the crisis was only getting worse.

Mugabe has already accused Western powers of planning to use the epidemic as a reason to oust him.

Sources

"UK caused cholera, says Zimbabwe" — BBC News, December 12, 2008
DPA. "Zimbabwe says Britain 'planted' cholera in 'genocide' bid - Summary" — The Earth Times, December 12, 2008

Colombia extradites drug lord to the United States [edit]

Montoya's mugshot

Diego Montoya, who is alleged to be one of the Colombia's most powerful drug lords, has been handed over to the United States authorities by Colombia to face trial. Montoya will face 12 charges, including those of murder, money laundering, and the trafficking of drugs. If convicted, he will serve no less than twenty years in prison.

Montoya was the leader of the Norte del Valle cartel, which is reported to have exported 70% of all the cocaine sold in both the European Union and the United States at its height. He was on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation's "Top Ten" most wanted fugitives.

Sources

"Colombia hands 'drug lord' to US" — BBC News, December 12, 2008
"Colombia extradites top drug suspect Diego Montoya to US" — dailypress.com, December 12, 2008

Rare snowfall strikes southern United States [edit]

Snow has started falling in some southern states of the US, including Louisiana and Mississippi. As much as eight inches of snow were recorded, and thousands of people were left without power - one of Louisiana's largest power suppliers, Cleco Corporation, reported ten thousand outages. Forecasters warned of dangerous driving conditions, and some flights at Louis Armstrong International Airport, located near New Orleans, were affected.

In New Orleans, snow fell today for the first time in four years. The largest snowfall amount for the city ever recorded is about 5 inches, on December 30, 1963.

Sources

"Southern US hit by rare snowfall" — BBC News, December 12, 2008
"Rare snow covers south Louisiana, Miss." — Netscape News, December 12, 2008

Pin-up queen Bettie Page dies at age 85 [edit]

Bettie Page, a model who became famous for her pin-up photos, has died at the age of 85. Page died of complications from a heart attack on Thursday, December 11.

She was born Bettie Mae Page on April 22, 1923 in Nashville, Tennessee. She was also one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy magazine.

Sources

"50s pin-up queen Bettie Page dies" — BBC News Online, December 12, 2008
AP. "1950s pinup model Bettie Page dies in LA at 85" — Associated Press, December 12, 2008

Estonian law to allow voting by cell phone [edit]

The Parliament of Estonia has passed a law that will allow citizens to vote by mobile phone in the 2011 parliamentary elections. Voters will need free, authorized chips for their phones.

In last year's elections, Estonians voted online. The country's Reform Party proposed mobile voting in September 2007.

Sources

Jari Tanner. "Estonia to vote by mobile phone in 2011" — Associated Press, December 12, 2008
The Baltic Times staff and wire reports. "Lithuania ready for e-voting, but Estonia's already onto m-voting" — The Baltic Times, September 27, 2007

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Finland, Estonia and Greece ratify the EU's Treaty of Lisbon

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 19:10:00 GMT

Thursday, June 12, 2008

European Union

Sources [edit]

Wikipedia has more about this subject:

Treaty of Lisbon

"Finnish Parliament ratifies Lisbon treaty" — NewsRoom Finland, June 11, 2008
"EU welcomes ratification of Lisbon Treaty by Greece" — Xinhua, June 12, 2008
"Estonia ratifies Lisbon Treaty (EU)" — Isria.info, June 11, 2008
"Greek Parliament ratifies Lisbon Treaty" — ANA-MPA, June 13, 2008

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Sarkozy ends French job ban for Eastern Europeans

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:07:27 GMT

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Nicolas Sarkozy at the Charlemagne Prize ceremony in 2008.
Image: Aleph.

During a one-day visit to Warsaw on Tuesday French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced that his country would lift job restrictions on the citizens of some of the European Union's former communist states. He also promised a deal aimed at bringing Ukraine closer to the bloc but seemed to play down its chances of membership.

France was part of a majority of EU states that imposed employment restrictions on citizens of Poland and other countries that joined the European Union in 2004. The limits now in place for workers from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia will be lifted on July 1. However, jobs in France will remain restricted for workers from Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2007.

"I am going to announce this during my speech in Parliament," Sarkozy said when asked about media reports on the matter. "Poland is one of the six great countries of Europe. The EU is based on the free movement of people. Poland is also our strategic partner." Of "old EU" member states, only Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Germany now maintain the ban. Norway and Liechtenstein – non-EU countries that are part of the European Economic Area – also restrict access to their job markets for citizens of the countries that joined the union in 2004. Switzerland, which has bilateral agreements with the EU on free movement of people, also restricts employment for those countries. Under EU law, these restrictions must be lifted by 2011.

Sarkozy also told a joint news conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on Wednesday that Ukraine would be offered closer cooperation with the European Union during a French presidency of the bloc, which starts on July 1, but said Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko told him that Ukraine did not want to join the EU outright.

"I've met with the president of Ukraine and his objective is not membership, rather closer cooperation on various levels. I will have opportunities to make such proposals," he said.

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Sources [edit]

"Sarkozy Ends French Job Ban" — New Warsaw Express, May 29, 2008
"France to let in eastern workers" — BBC News Online, May 28, 2008

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Dima Bilan wins the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest for Russia

Sun, 25 May 2008 12:56:47 GMT

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Russia

Sources [edit]

Wikipedia has more about this subject:

Eurovision 2008

"Medvedev, Putin congratulate Bilan on Eurovision win: "One more triumph for all Russia"" — International Herald Tribune, May 25, 2008
"UK land at dismal last place in Eurovision as Wogan warns he may quit 'political' contest" — Daily Mail, May 25, 2008
"TERÄSBETONI Places 22nd In EUROVISION Finals" — Blabbermouth.net, May 25, 2008
"Russia scoops Eurovision victory" — BBC News Online, May 24, 2008
"Sweden tipped to win Eurovision" — BBC News Online, May 20, 2008

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Estonia elects Toomas Hendrik Ilves as President

Sat, 23 Sep 2006 17:41:35 GMT

Saturday, September 23, 2006

Toomas Hendrik Ilves, currently a member of the European Parliament, was elected today to be the fourth President of Estonia. In the first ballot of the third round of elections, the first one not in Parliament but in an enlarged "Election Council", Ilves, 53, received 174 votes, against his opponent, incumbent Arnold Rüütel's 162. Ilves formerly served twice as Estonian Foreign Minister, and before that as Ambassador to the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Ilves will begin his five-year term in October.

Sources [edit]

Mirjam Mäekivi. "Toomas Hendrik Ilves valiti 174 häälega Eesti presidendiks" — Postimees, September 23, 2006

Deutsche Presse Agentur. "1ST LEAD: Estonians elect former exile as new president" — Raw Story, September 23, 2006

The Associated Press. "Ilves wins Estonia's presidential election" — International Herald Tribune, September 23, 2006

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Fourteen dead as passenger helicopter crashes off Estonia

Wed, 10 Aug 2005 19:20:02 GMT

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Baltic Sea

Fourteen people are presumed dead after a passenger helicopter of the Finnish company Copterline crashed into the Baltic Sea, 5 km off the coast of Estonia.

After hours of search, the wreck was found with a sonar at a depth of approximately 60 meters. The cabin is damaged but has remained in one piece, and passengers were found dead inside the cabin. Lifting of the wreckage is being planned at the moment.

The Sikorsky S-76 was on a scheduled passenger flight to Helsinki from Tallinn, the Estonian capital. The craft came down just three minutes after take-off at 12:43 pm (GMT+3). According to an eyewitness, two loud bangs were heard before the craft crashed down. No smoke or fire were seen after the bangs.

On board were six Finnish, four Estonian and two American passengers as well as two Finnish crew members. Both of the pilots were experienced, with over 10 years of flight experience in the company.

Estonian rescue helicopters and boats have been sent, a Finnish rescue helicopter and mini submarines also at the scene.

Investigation of the causes of the accident is underway, but one possible reason is the bad weather as the area has been suffering from severe storms recently, the winds at the time are believed to have been 17-20 metres a second. "Many of the helicopters safety measures failed", said the spokesman from Copterline. The safety measures include the ability of the craft to glide down in case of engine failure and the ability to float on water, both of which seemed to have failed. Copterline, one of the largest helicopter airlines in Europe, has cancelled all upcoming flights today, but are continuing as scheduled tomorrow morning.

An overview in Estonian (some pics & timeline)

Sources [edit]

"Helicopter crashes into Baltic with 14 on board" — Reuters, August 10, 2005

"Helicopter crashes in Baltic Sea" — BBC, August 10, 2005

"Kopteriõnnetuses hukkus 14 inimest" — Delfi, August 10, 2005

"Naissaare lähedal kukkus alla kopter" — Postimees, August 10, 2005

"Copterline'i kopter kukkus Tallinna lähedal merre" — Minut, August 10, 2005

Associated Press. "Copter down in Baltic, 14 missing" — CNN News, August 10, 2005

Helsingin Sanomat (International Edition). "All feared dead after helicopter with 14 aboard crashes in the sea off Estonian coast" — Helsingin Sanomat, August 10, 2005

Helsingin Sanomat. "Copterlinen kopteri pudonnut mereen Tallinnan edustalla" — Helsingin Sanomat, August 10, 2005

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Russia voids border treaty with Estonia

Sat, 02 Jul 2005 04:50:24 GMT

Monday, June 27, 2005

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told RIA Novosti during a visit to Helsinki that the Russian Federation had decided to revoke its signature from the border agreements it signed with the Estonian government in Moscow on May 18.

The move comes just one week after the Estonian Riigikogu ratified the border document which slightly amends the border that has been used since Estonia regained its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

A source inside the Russian Foreign Ministry told Itar-Tass that the preamble to the document as ratified by the Estonian parliament was "unacceptable" because it mentioned the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920, by which the Russian Socialist Federal Republic recognized the independent statehood of Estonia.

Alexander Yakovenko, a spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry told Gateway 2 Russia, another Russian news wire, that this set up a situation where Estonia could claim land from Russia. Estonia lost 5 percent of its territory to Russia when authorities delineated the Estonian Soviet Federal Republic from the Russian Soviet Federal Republic in 1945.

However, the Estonian Foreign Ministry has reiterated its stance that the border treaty seals the border with Russia, and the preamble makes no claims to Russian territory.

"The Estonian side has repeatedly assured that it has not linked any new issues to the border treaties, and thus, the Russian side's assertion that Estonia has added new aspects to the treaty is ungrounded," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Estonian and Russian officials first agreed upon the border treaty in 1996, and then initialed them in 1999, according to the website of the Estonian Foreign Ministry. The preamble included with the treaty signed in May stated that the agreement would have no impact on other issues concerning Estonian-Russian bilateral relations and Urmas Paet, the Estonian foreign minister said in a statement on June 27 that Estonia has no land claims to Russia.

"Russia does not have the will to normalize relations with Estonia and, I would say, even with the European Union and NATO," explained Marko Mihkelson, the deputy chairman of the Estonian foreign relations commission in a statement.

"This is because here, indeed, we are talking about Estonian-Russian border, which is not only a border between the two states but also a border between the European Union and Russia," he said.

Estonia is now urging Russia to reconsider its stance, while Lavrov told reporters in Helsinki that the two parties will have to start from scratch.

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English Wikinews RSS feed.

Anti-ACTA activists protest across Europe

Related news [edit]

Sources [edit]

European cold spell kills hundreds

Sources [edit]

External links [edit]

Azerbaijan win 2011 Eurovision Song Contest

Sources [edit]

Ten children killed in Estonian orphanage fire

Sources [edit]

Estonian soldier killed in southern Afghanistan

Sources [edit]

18 hospitalized after gas attack in school in Valga, Estonia

Sources [edit]

Europeans go to the polls to elect Members of the European Parliament

Related news [edit]

Sources [edit]

External links [edit]

Wikinews Shorts: December 13, 2008

Contents

President-Elect Obama's inaugural donations to be listed online [edit]

Scientists detect black hole at center of Milky Way Galaxy [edit]

Zimbabwe accuses United Kingdom of causing cholera epidemic [edit]

Colombia extradites drug lord to the United States [edit]

Rare snowfall strikes southern United States [edit]

Pin-up queen Bettie Page dies at age 85 [edit]

Estonian law to allow voting by cell phone [edit]

Finland, Estonia and Greece ratify the EU's Treaty of Lisbon

Related news [edit]

Sources [edit]

Sarkozy ends French job ban for Eastern Europeans

Sources [edit]

Dima Bilan wins the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest for Russia

Related news [edit]

Sources [edit]

Estonia elects Toomas Hendrik Ilves as President

Sources [edit]

Fourteen dead as passenger helicopter crashes off Estonia

Sources [edit]

Russia voids border treaty with Estonia