This candidates page is integrated with the daily pages of Portal:Current events. A light green header appears under each daily section – it includes transcluded Portal:Current events items for that day. You can discuss ITN candidates under the header.
Blurbs are one-sentence summaries of the news story.
Altblurbs, labelled alt1, alt2, etc., are alternative suggestions to cover the same story.
A target article, bolded in text, is the focus of the story. Each blurb must have at least one such article, but you may also link non-target articles.
Articles in the Ongoing line describe events getting continuous coverage.
The Recent deaths (RD) line includes any living thing whose death was recently announced. Consensus may decide to create a blurb for a recent death.
All articles linked in the ITN template must pass our standards of review. They should be up-to-date, demonstrate relevance via good sourcing and have at least an acceptable quality.
Nomination steps
Make sure the item you want to nominate has an article that meets our minimum requirements and contains reliable coverage of a current event you want to create a blurb about. We will not post about events described in an article that fails our quality standards.
Find the correct section below for the date of the event (not the date nominated). Do not add sections for new dates manually – a bot does that for us each day at midnight (UTC).
Create a level 4 header with the article name (==== Your article here ====). Add (RD) or (Ongoing) if appropriate.
Then paste the {{ITN candidate}} template with its parameters and fill them in. The news source should be reliable, support your nomination and be in the article. Write your blurb in simple present tense. Below the template, briefly explain why we should post that event. After that, save your edit. Your nomination is ready!
You may add {{ITN note}} to the target article's talk page to let editors know about your nomination.
The better your article's quality, the better it covers the event and the wider its perceived significance (see WP:ITNSIGNIF for details), the better your chances of getting the blurb posted.
When the article is ready, updated and there is consensus to post, you can mark the item as (Ready). Remove that wording if you feel the article fails any of these necessary criteria.
Admins should always separately verify whether these criteria are met before posting blurbs marked (Ready). For more guidance, check WP:ITN/A.
If satisfied, change the header to (Posted).
Where there is no consensus, or the article's quality remains poor, change the header to (Closed) or (Not posted).
Sometimes, editors ask to retract an already-posted nomination because of a fundamental error or because consensus changed. If you feel the community supports this, remove the item and mark the item as (Pulled).
Voicing an opinion on an item
Format your comment to contain "support" or "oppose", and include a rationale for your choice. In particular, address the notability of the event, the quality of the article, and whether it has been updated.
Pick an older item to review near the bottom of this page, before the eligibility runs out and the item scrolls off the page and gets abandoned in the archive, unused and forgotten.
Review an item even if it has already been reviewed by another user. You may be the first to spot a problem, or the first to confirm that an identified problem was fixed. Piling on the list of "support!" votes will help administrators see what is ready to be posted on the Main Page.
Tell about problems in articles if you see them. Be bold and fix them yourself if you know how, or tell others if it's not possible.
Add simple "support!" or "oppose!" votes without including your reasons. Similarly, curt replies such as "who?", "meh", or "duh!" are not helpful. A vote without reasoning means little for us, please elaborate yourself.
Oppose an item just because the event is only relating to a single country, or failing to relate to one. We post a lot of such content, so these comments are generally unproductive.
Accuse other editors of supporting, opposing or nominating due to a personal bias (such as ethnocentrism). We at ITN do not handle conflicts of interest.
Comment on a story without first reading the relevant article(s).
Police in Norway evacuate the area surrounding the U.S. embassy in the capital Oslo after a suspicious package was discovered. It is later confirmed as a false alarm. (Reuters)
At least 21 people are killed in two car bomb blasts in Baghdad, Iraq. (BBC)
Advertiser accuses Facebook of fraud after discovering that 80% of the clicks they're paying for are from bots, and not actual potential customers. (Business Insider)
Following the @ reply and # hashtag, social media service Twitter introduces the $ symbol, a way for users to click on stock symbols and see related tweets. (CNN Money)
German global financial services company Deutsche Bank announces plans to cut 1,900 jobs. (Reuters)
In artistic gymnastics, the United States of America's women's team known as the Fierce Five (composed of members Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Jordyn Wieber, McKayla Maroney, and Kyla Ross) wins the Olympic gold medal in the artistic team final, the second ever women's team gold medal for the United States, and the first to be won at an Olympics held outside the USA.
A power grid failure in Delhi leaves more than 300 million people without power in northern India. Minister for Power Sushilkumar Shinde announces that all those affected should have power restored within "hours". (Reuters)
Article:Maeve Binchy (talk·history·tag) Blurb: Maeve Binchy(pictured), whose novels have been translated into 37 languages and sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, dies in Dublin. (Post) News source(s):[1][2] Article updated
Nominator's comments: The northern power grid failed, leaving 360 million people across Delhi, UP, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and HP without power since 2.30 am IST. Described as worst one in 11 years. Most of it has been restored around 7/8 am IST. It is not fully restored yet, and certain remote parts will not have power till about mid afternoon IST. 200 passenger trains were stalled. The Delhi metro which transports 2 million people daily was halted from between 6 am to 8.45 am. Only hospitals, security establishments, airports, etc had power. Major traffic jams as traffic signals werent working. TL;DR: Life was paralyzed across most of Northern India. On a Monday morning. Chocolate Horlicks (talk) 07:21, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Support on notability once updated Obviously top news for India, also on front pages of NYT and BBC. One of the worst blackouts in India's history, with 30% of the country without power. Given the amount of coverage of this, it might be better to have an article on the blackout itself rather than linking to Electricity sector in India if possible. Khazar2 (talk) 14:23, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks--luckily, my daughter stayed asleep so I could keep trucking away. This probably has enough content now to be considered for the main page; I think I've rounded the corner into start class. Khazar2 (talk) 22:28, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Support - Not only is this obviously a big story in India -- and likely to have longer-term consequences, but it has received significant international attention. A nice little article exists, suitable for use in ITN. One U.S. news media outlet pointed out that the population without power was larger than the population of the U.S., leading me to think that this could be the largest electricity outage in history, as measured by population affected. --Orlady (talk) 23:00, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Support- this is certainly now notable enough with an article on it and lots of coverage in the media along with impacting a large number of people. BritishWatcher (talk) 23:48, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Support but suggest adding "affecting 360 million people" as, speaking as Western hemisphere resident, "7 states" doesn't give me much size influence, but 360 million people does. --MASEM (t) 01:22, 31 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Needs update the Romanian presidential impeachment referendum, 2012 has no background explaining why this is taking place, or what the consequences are. --76.110.201.132 (talk) 14:51, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Supportper FormerIP's conditions. Since this appears to be final whether yay, nay, or "too low a turnout", I'm also good either way. Khazar2 (talk) 18:38, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
In terms of finality, we can probably go ahead and post. It's still an "estimate", but it's an estimate from the official body overseeing the election, and it doesn't even seem close (4.1% short of the needed turnout). Haven't checked the current state of the article, though. Khazar2 (talk) 22:32, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Actually it is not absolutely sure that the turnout is below 50% since the figures do not appear to take into account people who voted away from their residence. Nergaal (talk) 23:19, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
This should give you a good idea of what's going on. It is very complicated, and has had the adverse effect of splitting the country between supporters and opponents of the President. Master&Expert (Talk) 23:23, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Not ready In fact I am about to tag this with a neutrality template. According to news broadcasts I heard earlier the President had explicitly advocated that his supporters do not vote in the referendum. With this in mind the current lede that portrays his survival as a mere legal technicality as opposed to legitimate will of the people is grossly unfair: the lack of support for the President was a clear political strategy on his part. Crispmuncher (talk) 04:46, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that's a good change to make, but it seems like something that can be cleared up with a single additional sentence to the lede rather than requiring a tag. Khazar2 (talk) 04:48, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Check out the tweaking I just did and let me know if it's mutually agreeable; we can continue the discussion at the talk page. Khazar2 (talk) 04:52, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict)It's looking a lot better now and I'd consider that issue addressed. Didn't get around to looking at it sooner since I've just been drafting several pages of legalise that needed to be in today. And no, Nergaal, there is no partisanship going on here: I'd never even heard of him until this arose. It simply can't be asserted to be NPOV to cite limited turnout as the reason the poll failed when that turnout was in itself a tactical position adopted by the President. Crispmuncher (talk) 06:24, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Support. Notwithstanding the results, the event was a major one. We usually do not have headlines like this one either, so I'm cool with it. ComputerJA (talk) 05:44, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose, with the note that some of the above support rationales may be out of date. The result of the referendum appears to be that the poll is invalid because turnout was too low. I might have supported if there were a result, and I'm convinced that most of those above supported on the presumption of there being a result. But we cannot seriously be thinking about posting a referendum that failed because people didn't turn up!? The fact that the low turnout may have been a tactical ploy is interesting (and something I would mention if this blurb inexplicably goes up), but doesn't alter the notability of the story. By the way, the article has been 3x expanded in the last two days, so a DYK nomination might be a realistic alternative. —WFC— 07:26, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The notable thing is that the PM/President power struggle came to a head, and the President won. The fact that he won it by boycott rather than by straight vote doesn't make it less notable to me. Khazar2 (talk) 14:25, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support Top story on BBC and Al Jazeera at the moment, dominating world news. Article looks like it could use a little cleanup, but I'm starting in on that now. I also cleaned up the grammar in the blurb a bit--hope you don't mind, MCJ -- Khazar2 (talk) 12:44, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Strong support - top story. also want wikipedia to make people aware of the syrian regimes atrocities and the russian and chinese support of the atrocities... assad will soon fall.--BabbaQ (talk) 12:54, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose Syria is in a civil war, and battles will continue to be fought. Civilian deaths, while tragic, are in the 100s, not 1000s or 10000s. Maybe when the battle is over if it has some larger impact on the overall course of the war, I can support. But right now 100 civilians are dead, in a war zone, it's simply not news. Sorry. --76.110.201.132 (talk) 14:47, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Update: It's obvious this city is an important stronghold, and a lot rides on this battle, but I still think it's best to wait until the battle is over. The TV is bored and it's talking about something that started 12 days ago. --76.110.201.132 (talk) 15:32, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Very strong support — Syria's largest city, with a population of over two million people, becoming the centre of a bloody battle between regime loyalists and rebel forces. I should think this is fairly significant news in and of itself, but when you really think about the situation, it starts to become quite harrowing. For those living in stable democracies, imagine this — your city winds up in the middle of a war. You hear tanks blasting outside your home, you're sick to your stomach in fear over whether you'll be safe inside your house. You have no idea what's going to happen, if your friends and family are OK, if anything will ever be the same again. Sitting in a corner in the fetal position with your heart racing and your whole body trembling with terror. You're scared. You just want it to end. You've never experienced it before, have you? Neither have the people in Aleppo. This is the reality they're facing today. Master&Expert (Talk) 22:52, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
All of which is terrible, but the country is at war, and that's how it goes. Further, it's been at war for many months. This is a status update, and seems heavily charged with "boo to the dictator Assad and long live a free Syria". The war won't be won on Wikipedia. Wait until the battle is over, please. --76.110.201.132 (talk) 23:10, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
My thesis argument remains that a bloody battle in a city of over two million people is worthy of being included on ITN. The rest of my comment was an aside. Master&Expert (Talk) 23:25, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
As I've indicated my support above, I do agree that this is a pivotal battle. But my concern is that the article and the tone of some of the support arguments here do not even bother to make a pretense of being neutral. Not saying human rights violations did not occur before, nor am I condoning them but not everyone sees this as "Brutal regime crushes helpless people". Some see it as US/NATO fanning civil war and destabilizing a sovereign country. There are insurgent/separatist/revolutionary movements throughout the world - as long as they campaign through peaceful protests and democratic means, its all fine - but the moment they take up arms, its the stated policy of almost all governments (or where the US/NATO does not favour them, "regimes") to put them down by force. Russia (Chechnya), Sri Lanka (Tamil Eelam), Pakistan (Baluchistan/Waziristan), Thailand (South Thailand), almost all African states, I can go on. And forget pointing fingers at other countries, the Indian government allows peaceful protests in Kashmir, the North East and Maoist dominated areas. But the moment they take up arms, they are put down by force (and IMO, rightly so). Since we are now friends with the US, its not a "regime" oppressing "freedom fighters" but a democratic nation fighting terrorism. If the US were to arm the Kashmiri fighters, its not like we will just stand around, we would have to use more force to put them down. If you amass rebel fighters within a heavily populated city, the government/regime will have no option but to go after them. It's fine to have a POV, and its natural that your POV will, in most cases, coincide with that of your government, but to use Wikipedia to promote it, is not fine. Chocolate Horlicks (talk) 02:12, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that there's some soapboxing here in the supports, but it's also led into by perfectly valid arguments--in BabbaQ's case, that this is a top international story, and in M&E's case, that it's a large-scale battle in a nation's largest city. As for the tone of the article, that's probably an issue better raised on the article page (or better yet, if you'd be up for doing some direct editing to fix it). I'll take another look, too. Khazar2 (talk) 02:18, 30 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Weak oppose based simply on lack of prominent international coverage--doesn't seem to be on the current front page of New York Times, BBC, CNN, or Al Jazeera, despite having happened today. Khazar2 (talk) 18:53, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I realize it's a personal choice, but I'm not a fan of the approach of amateur Wikipedia editors (myself included) overruling the professionals on what news stories are the most significant. A few days ago, for example, you strongly opposed the posting of Oswaldo Payá's controversial death to the main page as not notable enough, though it had easily twenty times the prominence of this item. (Indeed, Paya continues to be front-page news on the BBC today, a full week after his death). I realize an encyclopedia has different goals than even the most dignified news source, but as the "In the News" section, I think it's useful for us to generally parallel what's in the news; hence, the vote. Khazar2 (talk) 19:55, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The main impact (Tropical Storm Khanun making landfall) was about 10 days ago, which would explain why its not on the front pages of various things.Jason Rees (talk) 19:19, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
In that case, the blurb probably needs to be changed to "North Korea's KCNA news agency raises the death toll from Tropical Storm Khanun to at least 88 people dead and more than 60,000 homeless" or something like it; if the actual flooding happened ten days ago, it's technically too late for that part to be an ITN posting. Khazar2 (talk) 19:31, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Support — 88 people killed and 60,000 more being driven out of their homes by massive flooding is pretty major news in any country. In North Korea, catastrophe seems to be the norm: totalitarianism, poverty, famine, human experimentation, slavery, thought control, incarceration, isolation, repression. Master&Expert (Talk) 23:08, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Oppose for now. At the present time, the ITN box badly needs stories that do not begin "At least XX people are killed...". Formerip (talk) 23:17, 29 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
The Syrian Armed Forces renew a bombardment of the city of Aleppo. (Reuters)
Sixteen civilians, including five children and four women, are killed in bombing attacks of the Syrian army in Yalda village, south of Damascus. (Albawaba)
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urges countries to bridge differences ahead of a deadline for a draft of a new global agreement to control international arms sales. Despite this, no agreement is reached. (BBC), (Miami Herald)[permanent dead link]
76.110 - I imagine you're refering to the ceremony but you're right to leave it ambivalent; it could be the finish of the whole damn games before we get a decision on any consensus, and which article to link to. Sigh. Pedro : Chat 21:09, 27 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, we are. And we're going to wait for the article to be properly updated too. Please keep all the discussion in the nomination that already exists below. Modest Geniustalk21:10, 27 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
I accept the slapped wrist Mr. Genius - even if you didn't actually get it right (below) about the events that took place prior to the offical opening, we will all bow to you better knowledge about where to place comments on this page. Pedro : Chat 21:24, 27 July 2012 (UTC)[reply]
Nominators often include links to external websites and other references in discussions on this page. It is usually best to provide such links using the inline URL syntax [http://example.com] rather than using <ref></ref> tags, because that keeps all the relevant information in the same place as the nomination without having to jump to this section.
For the times when <ref></ref> tags are being used, here are their contents:
In the news toolbox
