Wikipedia:In the news/Candidates

This page provides editors a forum to suggest items for inclusion in Template:In the news (ITN), a protected Main Page template, as well as the forum for discussion of candidates.

This candidates page is integrated with the daily pages of Portal:Current events. Under each daily section header below is the transcluded Portal:Current events items for that day (with a light green header). Each day's portal page is followed by a subsection for suggestions and discussion.

Suggestions

In order to suggest a candidate:

• Start, find or modify a blurb directly in the light green box for that day's Current events.
• Update an article linked to from the blurb to include the recent developments, or find an article that has already been updated.
• Nominate the blurb for ITN inclusion under that day's ITN Candidates subheading, emboldening the link to the updated article.

  For standard entry styles, please see WP:In the news section on the Main Page/Style.

Plaza Murillo surrounded by soldiers In Bolivia, troops led by Juan José Zúñiga storm the presidential palace in an attempted coup (pictured). WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is released from prison as part of a U.S. plea bargain. Protesters attack the Parliament Buildings in Nairobi, Kenya, leaving 19 people dead and at least 160 others injured. A fire at a lithium battery factory in the South Korean city of Hwaseong leaves at least 23 people dead, many of them Chinese migrant workers. Ongoing: Israel–Hamas war timeline Russian invasion of Ukraine timeline Sudanese civil war timeline Recent deaths: Margarita Voites Lothar Gall Romay Davis Howard Bernstein Joshua Wade George M. Woodwell view - page history - related changes - Edit (admins only)

There are criteria guiding the decision on whether or not to put a particular item on In the news, based largely on the extensiveness of the updated content and the perceived significance of the recent developments. Submissions that do not follow the guidelines at Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page will not be put into the live template.

Sample candidate discussion

• The item on widgets seem to have been adequately updated. --and sign & date your entry 12:00, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

It doesn't seem to have any references for the new content. --They've also signed their comment 12:06, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

I went ahead and added some citations. It should be ready now. --User's Name 12:07, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Looks good. Posted. --Responding administrator 12:10, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

And so on. When continuing the discussion please refrain from using dot points/bullets to allow the candidates to stand out from the discussion. Indent your comments for clarity.

Please refrain from straight support or oppose votes; instead the discussion can focus on the relative merits of the available candidate items.

June 18

June 18, 2008 (2008-06-18) (Wednesday)

• Brazil celebrates the 100th year of the Japanese Immigration. (Folha Online)
• Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed survives an assassination attempt. (BBC News)
• The Parliament of the United Kingdom ratifies the Treaty of Lisbon. (Bloomberg)
• The United States and China agree to negotiate an investment treaty and to cooperate more closely on energy security and global pollution. (AP via Google News)
• The European Parliament passes legislation to allow undocumented aliens to be held in detention centres for up to 18 months and banned from European Union territory for five years. (The New York Times)
• Mexico reaches an agreement with industry groups to fix the prices of 150 food items as a result of accelerating inflation. (Bloomberg)
• Sudan and former southern rebels start deploying joint forces in the troubled Abyei region as part of an agreement. (AP via Forbes)
• Russian prosecutors charge three men in the murder of journalist Anna Politkovskaya. (BBC News)
• China and Japan agree to joint development of the Chunxiao gas field in a disputed area of the East China Sea. (BBC News)
• Relatives of Srebrenica massacre victims open a case in a Dutch court against the United Nations and the Netherlands for the failure of the Dutchbat force to prevent the killings. (BBC News)
• The Gujjar community of the Indian state of Rajasthan achieves a compromise recognition as a special category of Other Backward Class in the state's affirmative action program, comparable to the status of Banjaras and Rabaris. (BBC News)
• American golfer Tiger Woods will miss the rest of the golf season to have additional surgery on his left knee. (MarketWatch)
• Romanian villagers vote to re-elect a dead man as their mayor, to prevent his living rival winning. (BBC News)
• The High Court of South Africa extends affirmative action benefits of the Black Economic Empowerment program to members of the South African Chinese community. (BBC News)
• Six laptops containing information on about 20,000 patients are stolen from a London hospital. (BBC News)
• Afghan and Canadian forces begin an offensive against the Taliban in the Arghandab District of Kandahar. (Press Association via Google News)
• Israel agrees to a truce starting Thursday with the Hamas-led government in the Gaza Strip. (BBC News)
• Israel suggests peace talks with Lebanon to end the 60-year Israeli-Lebanese conflict. (The Guardian)
• Sweden votes in favour of the FRA law, allowing all e-mails and phone calls to be monitored. (The Local)

ITN Candidates for June 18

Afghan and Canadian-led ISAF forces begin an offensive against the Taliban in the Arghandab District of Kandahar. --TheFEARgod (Ч) 14:02, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Support Article is updated, pretty important event in Afghanistan (At least to us Canadians, since we're the majority of the NATO forces in the "battle"). I would suggest changing NATO to ISAF, though. And, by the way, the Romanian mayor thing is fucking hilarious. --PlasmaTwa2 17:11, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I agree, I took the liberty of editing the hook to be more accurate and do a better job reflecting exactly what is in the portal blurb. Random89 21:00, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Support, as article is very good, info-wise, and really looks like a good Wikipedia article. Also, good to have some war-related hooks on ITN. BobAmnertiopsis_{ChitChat Me!} 21:19, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Posted. This is a good one, thanks.--Pharos (talk) 21:52, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

June 17

June 17, 2008 (2008-06-17) (Tuesday)

• Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama opens the U.S. general election campaign with a narrow lead over Republican John McCain. (Reuters)
• Demonstrators in the Moquegua Region in southern Peru release 48 police officers who they had held hostage for a day. (CNN)
• The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2008 NBA Finals. (NZ Stuff)
• President Nicolas Sarkozy announces that France intends to return to the military structure of NATO for the first time since Charles de Gaulle led it out of the organisation in 1966. (AFP via Google News)
• Iraq:
  • A military judge dismisses charges against a United States Marine Corps colonel of failing to investigate the Haditha killings. (AP via Google News)
  • A car bomb at a bus stop in northern Baghdad kills at least 51 people and injures another 75. (AFP via Google News)
• In its annual report, the UNHCR says the number of refugees in the world rose to 11.4 million in 2007 from 9.9m in 2006. (AP via Forbes)
• Tsutomu Miyazaki, known as "The Otaku Murderer", is executed by hanging in Tokyo for the murders and cannibalization of four young girls in 1988 and 1989. He was hanged with two others, each convicted in separate, unrelated murders. (The Times)
• In the aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the Chinese government faces growing criticism from grieving parents who allege that corrupt and shoddy construction was behind the disproportionately high number of collapsed school buildings. (Christian Science Monitor)
• Lebanese security officials say that clashes between pro-government and anti-government lead to three deaths in the villages of Taalabaya and Saadnayel in eastern Lebanon. (AP via Google News)
• The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions calls a one day strike for July 2 in protest at the President of South Korea Lee Myung-bak's economic reform plans. (Reuters via The Guardian)
• Summer 2008 China region floods: Large areas of southern China are hit by the worst floods in decades with Guangzhou and Shenzhen worst affected. So far, 63 people have died and 1.66 million have been evacuated. (AFP via Google News)

ITN Candidates for June 17

NBA Finals

• The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers to win basketball's NBA Finals, beating their own record for most championships won by a single team. [1]

According to my mole the Celtics would win Game 6 so... --Howard the Duck 05:46, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Remember this should only be posted when the article is up to scratch, NOT before Nil Einne (talk) 10:56, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Usually right after the game someone will add a game summary (NBA.com also has a game summary right after the game) so having issues as what happened on the NHL blurb should not (hopefully) happen. --Howard the Duck 14:27, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

It ought to go onto the Current portal first. Kevin McE (talk) 14:34, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

It will fulfill all of the necessary criteria once the game is over (if the Celtics win). This is a routinary post as per WP:ITNSPORTS. --Howard the Duck 14:44, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

And all of the previous games have been sufficiently covered at Portal:Current events/Sports. --Howard the Duck 14:46, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Should we expand the blurb to mention that this would be there 17th title? 5:15 02:25, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

No, that's just trivia. --PlasmaTwa2 05:16, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

I thoughtlessly boldly posted a Celtics blurb, but I didn't think to look at the suggestions here first, so I used my own wording. My apologies for that. My (current) version reads: "The Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in six games to win the 2008 National Basketball Association Finals." I think the wording is okay, but I'll understand completely if there's a more preferred version you'd like to replace it with. --Bongwarrior (talk) 06:50, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

You probably could just shorten it to "NBA". Most people will know what your talking about, I think. --PlasmaTwa2 08:17, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

If it'll be shortened to "NBA" better phrase it as "basketball's NBA Finals" since a lot of people who don't wish to see American sporting events at ITN won't get it. --Howard the Duck 09:07, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

It has nothing to do with what peple want to see: it is to do with avoiding abbreviations that would be unfamiliar to large numbers of readers. Kevin McE (talk) 14:17, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Sure, it has nothing to do with unfamiliar to large numbers of readers. I bet the people who follow the UEFA Champions League would have to think quite an amount of time to remember what "UEFA" means. Lets have a rule to avoid acronyms altogether. --Howard the Duck 14:38, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

But most people know the NBA and the Champions League, but not the National Basketball Association and UEFA. Let's not blindly ban all acronyms.

Let's change this blurb to

• "In basketball, the Boston Celtics defeat the Los Angeles Lakers to win the 2008 NBA Finals."

No need for complicated piping and unfamiliar wording. --199.71.174.100 (talk) 21:48, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Paul Pierce, 2008 NBA Finals MVP

Can we have a picture of the NBA Finals MVP, Paul Pierce (right, need cropping before use) on ITN, please? Tiger Woods' pic has been on ITN for two days now. --199.71.174.100 (talk) 22:12, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Flood in China

• Large areas of southern China are hit by the worst floods in decades with Guangzhou and Shenzhen worst affected, and at least 63 fatalities and 1.66 million people evacuated.

If flooding in mid-west USA has featured, where the scale is far less dramatic and cost in human life less than 20% of this, it would appear to be parochialism of the wost kind to not include this. Kevin McE (talk) 14:32, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Support, as, like Kevin McE said, it would be absolutely unfair to include the US's flooding but not this. BobAmnertiopsis_{ChitChat Me!} 16:06, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Over 1 million displaced => support. Thue | talk 16:39, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Really many catastrophes in China recently... Support inclusion, significant event. --Tone 17:57, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Posted. Please update these articles before nominating them. I had to update this one with the information from the blurb myself.--Pharos (talk) 20:50, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

June 16

June 16, 2008 (2008-06-16) (Monday)

• Chadian rebels take the town Biltine as they move toward the capital N'Djamena. (BBC News)
• Hundreds of Taliban militants swarm in the Arghandab District of Kandahar Province with the Afghan government sending reinforcements to the nearby city of Kandahar. (The New York Times)
• Same-sex marriage in California comes into effect following a court ruling on May 15, 2008. (Reuters)
• International Criminal Court judges severely criticize prosecutors in the case against Thomas Lubanga. (BBC News)
• Israel and Syria conclude talks on the Golan Heights issue held in Turkey. (BBC News)
• An official of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that effect food crisis on Somalia is creating a worse humanitarian situation than the War in Darfur. (BBC News)
• Tiger Woods defeats Rocco Mediate in a playoff to win the 2008 U.S. Open Golf Championship. (AP via The New York Times)
• The European Union agrees to tougher sanctions against Iran for its alleged nuclear weapons program with the United Kingdom freezing assets of Iran's largest bank Bank Melli. (AP via Google News)
• France announces plans to cut 54,000 defense jobs and push for a stronger European Security and Defence Policy as part of a new defense strategy. (AP via CNN)
• South Korean construction workers join truck drivers in going on strike seeking higher pay and lower fuel costs. (Reuters)
• Japan turns away a Taiwan activist boat near the disputed Senkaku Islands in a protest against a ship collision last week. (Reuters)
• Heavy rainstorm and major flooding continues in the South China region. Millions of people are affected in Anhui, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong. Tens of thousands of victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake are evacuated due to heavy rains as 65 people are dead or missing with flood warnings on the Yangtze River and Pearl River amongst other rivers. (AFP)
• At least 12 police officers are killed and many more people wounded by a suicide bombing outside a police station in the town of Vavuniya in northern Sri Lanka. (BBC News) (AFP via Yahoo! News)

ITN Candidates for June 16

Tiger Woods

• In golf, Tiger Woods defeats Rocco Mediate in a playoff to win the 2008 U.S. Open, his 14th major victory.

The 2008 U.S. Open Golf Championship, an approved event on Wikipedia:Sports on ITN, will decided on a playoff on the 16th. I suggest the item mention both Woods and Mediate, no matter who wins. - BanyanTree 04:23, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

How's the blurb above? Support as nominator. -- Grant.Alpaugh 06:25, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

That wording seems about right. There's not really a need for support/opposition for an item here. It's already pre-approved, being listed on the sports page. - BanyanTree 06:57, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

That'll be his, not their before the ordinal number of the victory, but I'm sure the posting admin would notice that. Kevin McE (talk) 12:22, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Woods has won it: blurb adjusted. Kevin McE (talk) 20:30, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Posted. --- RockMFR 20:35, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

• I suggest using a picture of Tiger Woods (above right) on ITN. --199.71.174.100 (talk) 23:24, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Support A major sporting event with huge media coverage. --Ryan Delaney ^talk 05:22, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

• Academy Award-winning special effects and makeup artist Stan Winston passes away at age 62.

Support as nominator. The death of a man who has created/been involved with some of the greatest special effects in Hollywood, such as Terminator 2 and Jurassic Park. He arguarably was also one of the tops in his profession still, due to recent work like Iron Man. --PlasmaTwa2 22:33, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

He may be at the top of his field but "suffering for seven years with multiple myeloma" Nil Einne (talk) 04:28, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

So what, the only deaths that can make it on itn are crashes and heart attacks? --PlasmaTwa2 04:31, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

No, the death of people in high ranking office, and deaths which have a major international impact can be on ITN regardless of whether they are unexpected. However, the deaths of people at the top of their field should only be placed on WP:ITN/C if they are unexpected. Tim Russert was perhaps a bit of a borderline case, a better example would be Steve Irwin. Perhaps another example would be Diana although her death could perhaps also be seen to have a major international impact given her involvement in various campaigns. You may want to see Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page/Death criteria if you are still confused or don't agree with the current death criteria. Nil Einne (talk) 10:53, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Strange would when Russert can get on it, then. Irwin's was the ultimate unexpected death. We all knew it was going to happen, we just didn't know when. --PlasmaTwa2 17:29, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

No, this death is not a big enough deal to endorse posting obituaries. --Ryan Delaney ^talk 05:22, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

June 15

June 15, 2008 (2008-06-15) (Sunday)

• Anjouan, an island part of the Union of the Comoros, hold its first presidential election since the 2008 invasion of Anjouan which ousted Mohamed Bacar. (AFP via Google News)
• Six members of the Kuratong baleleng Philippines crime gang, as well as a police officer are killed in a shootout with police officers in Manila. (AFP via Google News)
• August: Osage County wins the 62nd Tony Award for best play while In the Heights wins best musical. (AP via Google News)
• The American International Group (AIG), the world's largest insurance company, removes Martin J. Sullivan as its CEO due to losses caused by the subprime mortgage crisis. (Reuters)
• Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate will play in an 18-hole playoff to determine the winner of the 2008 U.S. Open Golf Championship. (The Washington Times)
• Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr claims that he is developing a new force to fight United States forces in Iraq. (CNN)
• Afghanistan
  • The President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai warns the Taliban that he will send forces into Pakistan in hot pursuit of militants. (AP via Google News)
  • More than 15 Taliban insurgents are killed as NATO and Afghan forces attempt to recapture the hundreds of prisoners who escaped following the Kandahar prison raid. (Reuters)
  • The Prime Minister of Pakistan Yusuf Raza Gillani warns that Pakistan will not tolerate incursions over its borders. (BBC News)
• Heavy rain in southern China causes flooding with at least six people dead, four missing and 150,000 people evacuated from Guangdong and Guangxi provinces. (AP via Google News)
• Japanese rescue squads resume the search for missing people after the 2008 Iwate earthquake including seven people feared buried by a mudslide at a hot springs hotel in mountains outside the town of Kurihara, Miyagi. (BBC News)
• The constitution of Kosovo comes into effect. (BBC News)

ITN Candidates for June 15

• A new constitution comes into force in Kosovo, whose February declaration of independence has been

recognised by 43 United Nations member states.

A new constitution is arguably a more important issue than changes of govt chosen under such a constitution, so if we post changes of government, we should post substantial changes of constitution at a formative stage of a nation's history. I believe my suggested phrasing is sufficiently NPOV, but in the light of the sensitivity of the issue, it would be good to have opinions on it. Kevin McE (talk) 17:01, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Support Therequiembellishere (talk) 18:06, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Oppose, solely because Kosovo is not its own country (At least in my opinion) --PlasmaTwa2 23:09, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

My suggested phrasing deliberately acknowledged the less than universal acceptance of its independence. Kevin McE (talk) 06:21, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Posted. It don't detect a bias in the suggested wording, and the controversial nature of Kosovo's political status is itself one of the things that make the item interesting. Also, 24 hours is up and this is the most reasonable candidate up. Less arguing, more updating and suggesting please. Thanks, BanyanTree 00:45, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

• Taiwan recalls its de facto ambassador to Japan over a Taiwanese fishing boat sank by Japanese patrol vessel in the waters of the disputed Tiaoyutais or Senkakus. Taiwan's premier Liao Chao Hsiuan promised earlier Taiwan would not rule out going to war if the captain of the boat was not released. http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/foreign%20affairs/2008/06/15/161051/Taiwan%2Drecalls.htm http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/foreign%20affairs/2008/06/14/160913/Captain%2Dof.htm China Post

Please post this to Portal:Current events, per the procedure posted at the top of the page, and post here emboldening the link to the updated article. - BanyanTree 23:57, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

June 14

June 14, 2008 (2008-06-14) (Saturday)

• Argentine police arrest farm leader Alfredo de Angeli and 14 other farmers in an order to end the farmers strike. (Bloomberg)
• Condoleezza Rice, the United States Secretary of State, criticises a planned expansion of Israeli housing in East Jerusalem as "not helpful" to the Middle East peace process. (AP via Google News)
• The Space Shuttle Discovery lands having successfully completed mission STS-124. (Reuters) (NASA)
• The President of the United States George W. Bush and the President of France Nicolas Sarkozy warn Syria to break with Iran and state that they will not allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. (AFP via Google News)
• A fire breaks out at Campsfield House, a privately run Immigration detention Centre near Oxford in the United Kingdom. (BBC News)
• A roadside bomb in Farah Province of Afghanistan kills 4 United States troops. (AP via Google News) (AP via Google News)
• The magnitude 6.8 M_w 2008 Iwate earthquake shakes Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures on Japan's main island of Honshū, killing at least 6 people and injuring at least 8 others.(BBC News) (AFP via News Limited) (AP via Forbes)
• The French Defense Ministry announces France is increasing its military presence in Djibouti following border clashes with Eritrea. France has a mutual defense agreement with Djibouti. (Xinhua)

ITN Candidates for June 14

Esbjörn Svensson

• Swedish jazz star pianist Esbjörn Svensson (pictured) dies tragically in a diving accident off a small island near Stockholm. Hapsala (talk) 20:08, 17 June 2008 (UTC)
• Nominate: The magnitude 7.0 2008 Iwate Earthquake shakes Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures on Japan's main island of Honshū, killing at least 2 people and injuring at least 8 others. Spencer^T♦C 15:12, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Support. I suggest: A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shakes Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures on Japan's main island of Honshū. Thue | talk 18:39, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Okay, but we've used the moment magnitude scale in the past, so how about: A magnitude 6.8 M_w earthquake shakes Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures on the Japanese island of Honshū. (6.8 is the magnitude on this scale).Spencer^T♦C 19:40, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Posted. Thanks, BanyanTree 00:10, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Hi. Um, how about: "A magnitude 6.8 M_w earthquake occurs in the Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures on the main island of Honshū in Japan", for gramatical and tone-neutrality consistency, or at the very least add a "the" between "shakes" and "Iwate"? Thanks. ~AH1^(TCU) 00:58, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Iwate Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture are proper nouns so don't need the "the". The sentence could also be written "A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shakes the Iwate and Miyagi prefectures on Japan's main island of Honshū," but I don't see the need for a "the" in the current version. Similarly, the template currently states "a tornado hits a Boy Scout camp in Iowa", rather than "a tornado hits a Boy Scout camp in the state of Iowa". Am I missing something grammatically? - BanyanTree 01:11, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

June 13

June 13, 2008 (2008-06-13) (Friday)

• The Chamber of Deputies of Haiti rejects Robert Manuel, who was the second nominee for the post of prime minister after Jacques-Édouard Alexis resigned in April 2008. (AP via Google News)
• A Taliban attack on a prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan allows almost all of the 1150 inmates to escape, including 390 Taliban inmates. (AP via Google News) (Reuters)
• A Zimbabwe judge orders the police to bring Tendai Biti, the arrested Secretary-General of the Movement for Democratic Change to court on Saturday. (Zimbabwe Guardian via All Africa)
• Kim Jong-hoon, the South Korean Minister for Trade, heads to the United States to push for additional safeguards against mad cow disease in talks with Susan Schwab, the United States Trade Representative as protests continue in South Korea over the decision to resume importing beef from the United States. (VOA)
• June 2008 Midwest United States floods:
  • The Governor of Iowa Chet Culver declares that 83 of the 99 counties in Iowa are disaster areas as flooding leads to evacuations in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines. (AP via Forbes)
  • The upper Mississippi River is closed to shipping as three people die in Indiana and three in Iowa. (Reuters)
• Nouri al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq, states talks with the United States on a long-term security agreement have reached "a dead end". (AP via The International Herald Tribune)
• A hydrogen sulfide leak at a fertiliser plant in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in China, kills six people and injures 28. (AFP via ABC News Australia)
• At least 40 people are injured on Sagar Island in the Ganges delta in clashes between supporters of the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and local Muslim villagers. (BBC News)
• Finance ministers from the Group of Eight meet in Osaka, Japan with rising food and oil prices high on the Agenda. (AFP)
• Pakistani lawyers hold a protest rally in Islamabad to demand the reinstatement of judges sacked by the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf. (BBC News)
• The People's Republic of China and Taiwan agree to regular civil aviation flights across the Taiwan Strait for the first time since 1949 with flights limited to weekend charters. (Reuters via The Guardian)
• Irish voters reject the Treaty of Lisbon in a referendum, thus putting into question the reform programme of the European Union. (RTÉ)
• The Station nightclub fire: Sealed Air pay a US$25 million settlement for manufacturing foam used in the club. 100 people died in the disaster. (AP via Google News) (Wikinews)
• American political news reporter Tim Russert dies after collapsing at the NBC Washington D.C. Bureau offices where he worked. (AP)

ITN Candidates for June 13

• • Irish voters reject the Treaty of Lisbon in a referendum, thus putting into question the reform programme of the European Union.

Significant implications for 25 nations. Two ministers of state have effectively admitted that the proposal has been rejected by the people. Kevin McE (talk) 12:58, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Definitely will be at the top of ITN soon: do we want to wait a few hours till the result is official or go now that Dermot Ahern has conceded defeat? --jnestorius^(talk) 13:31, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Only one constituency still to declare, and even a 100% yes vote there would not tip the balance[2]. It is now mathematically certain, by published figures, that the result will be No. Kevin McE (talk) 16:08, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Official announcement has been given... now Kevin McE (talk) 16:13, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

27 nations, not 25, will be affected (Romania and Bulgaria joined over 18 months ago...) 217.44.234.105 (talk) 17:31, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

This is huge news. Why isn't it up yet? DJLayton4 (talk) 18:04, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Support.--Avala (talk) 17:52, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Added. Thue | talk 18:44, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

• NBC's Tim Russert dies suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 58.

Russert was at the top of his profession and his unexpected death has dominated news coverage in the United States. If that doesn't meet the ITN death criteria, I don't know what does. Support as nominator. -- Grant.Alpaugh 21:11, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Oppose While certainly a preeminent journalist in the US, and although his death was certainly unexpected, i must oppose this on the grounds that his death will not have a great effect on either journalism in the United States or the politics he covered so extensively. Thethinredline (talk) 22:48, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Support. As the longtime host of the longest-running television show in the world, Russert was indeed an important figure in both journalism and politics. His death impacts both areas significantly. Lovelac7 23:02, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Oppose largely unheard of outside the US. --Stephen 00:18, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Support I am not American but an Israeli living in Israel - yet I believe this event is of worldwide significance. For example, it was the top headling at the BBC World news, and it is reported on Israel's radio news (it was too late for today TV News) and internet news sites. As one of the most important American journalist, Tim Russert was known worldwide, and in recent years could be watched outside Norht America (both through MSNBC on the web, and CNBC on TV). Personally, I will deeply miss him. eman (talk) 01:08, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Oppose per Stephen. Currently not in the top 9 non-UK stories on the BBC: only 3rd on the Americas section (behind R Kelly and flooding). The international interest criteria seems to have been written out of the criteria page as part of the overhaul to present new procedures with little or no discussion. Kevin McE (talk) 08:33, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Support Whether or not his death has international impact is debatable, but the national impact is certain. No matter what criteria for a death making ITN one believes in, I believe that Russert makes it- he was the preeminent person in his (very important, very public) field, and his death was amazingly unexpected. Though I have no evidence to back this up, I think his death will have a larger effect on US journalism than Thethinredline does.

Also note that I would make the blurb something along the lines of Journalist Tim Russert, host of NBC's Meet the Press, dies at age 58., perhaps (or perhaps not) mentioning the cause of death. -- a not-signed-in Kicking222 01:23, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Oppose, mainly because his death is way less notable than many others that have not gone up. Last week it was Yves Saint Laurent, for example. It's not as though a heart attack is some crazy unexpected way to die young either. Plenty of 58-year-olds die of heart attacks, so if one was to oppose Yves Saint Laurent because he was old and expected to die, I don't really see a difference there. Mangostar (talk) 03:43, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Rebuttal. Past precedent is the biggest obstacle to ITN reform. Several editors, including myself, are trying to broaden the death criteria for ITN. However, whenever a notable death occurs, another editor always brings up the "we didn't post so-and-so's death, so we shouldn't post this one either." This argument is flawed. Yes, there were some very important figures whose deaths weren't listed (Saint Laurent, Clarke, Ledger, et al.), but the only way we're going to change this is to Be bold and ignore the mistakes of the past. Lovelac7 04:36, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Comment I don't personally know whether your comment add much to the discussion. Whether or not the death criteria needs reform, it doesn't appear to me like this case is a good example of it. Russert is completely different from Saint Laurent and Clarke who's deaths could hardly be classified as unexpected. Ledger was hardly on the top of his field, unlike Russert appears to be. If you want to argue that it's dumb we may put up Russert but we didn't put up Saint Laurent and Clarke, then go ahead, but that doesn't appear to be your argument Nil Einne (talk) 11:20, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Weak support I don't think it's helpful to bring Saint Laurent, Edmund Hillary, Pavarotti, Arthur C. Clarke, etc into the discussion. Given their age and/or previous medical history, their deaths could hardly be classified as unexpected which was why they were rejected. From the sound of it, Tim Russert's death although perhaps not an extreme shock can still be mostly classified as unexpected. Whether or not they aforementioned people are 'more important' then Russert is therefore completely irrelevant and dumb to even consider. Heath Ledger is a different case. His death was quite clearly unexpected but he was hardly the most noteable of actors (i.e. he was not at the top of his field), and was rejected for this reason. From a brief read through of the above discussion and the article, it appears Russert is probably close to being the top of his field. The article also appears to have a substanial update (although the updated part clearly needs work). Nil Einne (talk) 11:20, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Support. Ordinarily, this should be a no, but from what I have seen, ITN has been flooded with items that have been more parochial in nature recently. I don't see why this one should be any different. (Weren't we supposed to refrain from supports and opposes? Or is that now allowed again?) MookieZ (talk) 12:32, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Support GlassCobra 13:36, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Let's try to refrain from hit and run votes. Spencer^T♦C 15:14, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Support This was a sudden death of a person who was the host of the longest running TV show...this clearly qualifies as the sudden death of a person at the top of their field. Meets criteria b. Spencer^T♦C 15:14, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Added. -- tariqabjotu 19:48, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

It has since been removed by one of the much maligned "hit-and-run" admins who do not habitually check itn/c. Could someone perhaps put it back on since it seems to have consensus here? Thanks. Random89 20:57, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Also, there is a fairly significant update about his death, which happened while in the midst of conducting his everyday work. Random89 20:59, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

I think this is ridiculous, there is no way this man's death is of international significance or great importance. --78.151.119.228 (talk) 21:15, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Comment - I wish to publicly apologize for my swift deletion of this news item. However, at the risk of courting controversy, I wish to also point out that I believe nowhere on Wikipedia does 60% of net Support votes (six support, four oppose) equal consensus. That coupled with my own judgment, which may at the time have been swift, but which I took to the level of believing that no consensus existed to promote this item. Maybe this is one of those many times when my swift first judgment was the incorrect one to make. Thank you for letting me vent, and I apologize for any inconvenience caused. Bobo. 02:20, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

If only that same attitude was taken with admins who place items on the template without so much as floating the idea on this page. But then again I guess that would burst the bubble that they are not super users... -- Grant.Alpaugh 02:34, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Also, please keep in mind (I know you're an admin, but still) that voting means nothing as far as consensus goes. Arguments are what matters. If 100 people vote against something without providing any justification, all it takes is one justified support for the item to have a "consensus" to support, at least strictly speaking. -- Grant.Alpaugh 02:39, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

(ec)One of the ideas introduced in the recent reform to keep ITN from stagnating, like it has historically, was to introduce a bias for inclusion. To be specific, only lack of consensus keeps items from being posted, and 'no consensus'-items may be posted. These are still early days and all the tradeoffs remain to be seen, but certainly one of them will be that more items that are considered marginal will get posted. The recommended response is not removal, but suggesting/posting items to rotate the offending item off faster. - BanyanTree 03:06, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

In response to Grant's last post, this is precisely one of these occasions where admins have great trouble determining what is a "good" non-biased argument, and tend to look for a process-oriented solution. Vote counting is certainly the most obvious process, but it's only valid as long as there is a decent body of arguments to weigh. I certainly would post something like this based on a nom only if I really enjoyed multiple users yelling at me. - BanyanTree 03:06, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Right, but that was never the case. There was always a decent number of people supporting the inclusion. -- Grant.Alpaugh 03:18, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Support Perhaps the most important US broadcast journalist, and still very active - certainly among the most respected. As long as this is English Wikipedia and national politics in the US is of global interest, the death of such an important US political journalist is noteworthy. Slrubenstein | Talk 12:15, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Strongly oppose including this, just as I would have opposed including Richard Carleton. If this was O'Reilly, maybe, because he has an internation reputation. I don't think that Russert has a worldwide significance to merit ITN inclusion. Daniel (talk) 13:53, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Richard Carleton's death can hardly be described as unexpected, definitely no where near to the degree of Russert. With a publicly known pre-existing heart condition and prostaste cancer, plus being 4 years older (given that Russert was starting to get close to the age where it's not really that unexpected). And the current ITN death criteria makes no mentioned of 'worldwide signifance'. (For that matter, ITN has NEVER mentioned anything about worldwide significance.) The specific criteria we are discussing is the old 5b here since we never really reached consensus on a reformed criteria, and in any case AFAIK all reformed criteria proposed were intended to be more 'liberal' then the existing ones, and all it says is "the deceased was a key figure in their field of expertise, and died unexpectedly or tragically". While Russert may be a bit borderline on the unexpected part, I think considering the various factors, it falls on the side of unexpected (heck they even did an autopsy.) Nil Einne (talk) 15:17, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

• Support This is a very big deal and the media coverage is enormous. --Ryan Delaney ^talk 05:23, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Strongly oppose It's a joke that Russert's (who was he?) untimely death was included, but certainly not surprising. This is proof of the merkincenric nature of this website. Perhaps Wikipedia should be renaled Merkinpedia.

June 12

June 12, 2008 (2008-06-12) (Thursday)

• Wildfires in northern California lead to the evacuation of residents in Paradise, California and Bonny Doon, California. (AP via The Guardian)
• Ecuadorean police arrest four men including three Colombians on suspicion of plotting an assassination of the President of Ecuador Rafael Correa. (AP via International Herald Tribune)
• Tendai Biti, the Secretary of the Movement for Democratic Change in Zimbabwe, is arrested in Harare. (AFP and ABC News Australia)
• Four thousand homes in Cedar Rapids, Iowa are evacuated as the Cedar River floods due to heavy rain in recent days. (CNN)
• David Davis, the Conservative Shadow Home Secretary resigns as the Member of Parliament for Haltemprice and Howden in order to contest the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, 2008 on civil liberties issues. (The Times)
• The Salmonella outbreak in the United States caused by tainted tomatoes continues to worsen with 228 victims in 23 states. (Bloomberg)
• The United States Secretary of Defense Robert Gates invites Pakistan and Afghanistan to participate in an investigation of the Gora Prai airstrike. (AP via Forbes)
• Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles sets a world record of 12.87 seconds for the 110 metre hurdles at a Golden Spike meet in Ostrava, Czech Republic. (Associated Press)
• More than 80 countries and international aid organisations meet in Paris to develop a strategy for delivering billions of dollars in aid to Afghanistan. (AFP via The Australian)
• The People's Republic of China and Taiwan begin their first formal talks in a decade on improving cross-strait relations. (AFP)
• Irish voters go to the polls for the Twenty-eighth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland to enable ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon of the European Union. (RTÉ)
• In Boumediene v. Bush, the U.S. Supreme Court holds that foreign terrorism suspects held at Guantánamo Bay have constitutional rights to challenge their detention there in US courts. (The New York Times)
• Washington Capitals forward Alexander Ovechkin wins the Hart Memorial Trophy as most valuable player for the National Hockey League 2007-2008 season as well as the Art Ross Trophy for most points and the Rocket Richard Trophy for top goal scorer. (TSN)
• Bill C-61, An Act to amend the Copyright Act, is tabled in the second session of the 39th Canadian Parliament by Minister of Industry Jim Prentice, in efforts to better comply to the WIPO treaty. (CBC News)

ITN Candidates for June 12

Nom Cross-Strait relations item. - BanyanTree 08:39, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Please only use the bullets for blurb wordings so that they stick out from the discussion. -- Grant.Alpaugh 15:32, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

The article needs some updating. Otherwise, a fair candidate. --Tone 09:00, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

I actually think the section "Inter-government" is the most informative update I've seen recently. However, it does perhaps need more refs, now that I take another look... - BanyanTree 11:54, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Even if the article's good, it has a weak support from me...because I'd like to hear about the results of those formal talks. Spencer^T♦C 14:21, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Posted.--Pharos (talk) 23:13, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Is there an article about the Irish voting? Spencer^T♦C 14:21, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Nom Irish referendum item. Anxietycello (talk) 14:43, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Please only use the bullets for blurb wordings so that they stick out from the discussion. -- Grant.Alpaugh 15:32, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Support when the result is known. However, if positive, it may be more reasonable to wait until all the countries ratify the Lisbon treaty. If negative, put it on straight forward. --Tone 15:04, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

While ITN tries to avoid "mid-process" items, this seems to be significant enough to merit some attention. I would be more supportive if it was worded to point out that this is the only country that has to ratify by popular referendum, rather than legislative vote. - BanyanTree 22:32, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Nom Boumediene v. Bush item. This is a landmark decision, the New York Times called it "historic". ––Bender235 (talk) 18:25, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Note: Decision mentioned in a single sentence. Spencer^T♦C 22:12, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, hopefully one of the editors specializing in Supreme Court cases will get to this in time for ITN. Though we'll take updates from anyone.  ;) - BanyanTree 22:32, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Actually, it appears that the lead has a nice big update, which has one reference. Also, I would prefer not to bold-link an article with a big yellow tag on the top, as well as an orange one in the body, though that's more peripheral to a decision. I have posted on the talk there asking folks to add more refs. - BanyanTree 02:10, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Ugh, re-evaluated and it's become less structured as time has gone by. - BanyanTree 00:28, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Second that. It's the classic story: Guy meets American soldiers, soldiers kidnap guy, guys sues the President and wins. President too ignorant to find out. Guy and President live happily ever after. Potatoswatter (talk) 22:41, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Please do not use ITN/C for personal/political commentary and focus your comments on the the degree to which the article has been updated, as well as the perceived significance of the item. - BanyanTree 00:00, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

The floods in the Midwest, especially in Iowa, are a pretty big story at the moment. --- RockMFR 14:42, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

• Flooding continues in the Midwestern United States, with evacuations of thousands of homes.

Support the article seems good. Spencer^T♦C 15:17, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

June 11

June 11, 2008 (2008-06-11) (Wednesday)

• Kosovo adopts a national anthem named "Europe"; composed by Mendi Menxhiqi, it comes without lyrics in any language to avoid offending the newly independent state's Serbian minority. (International Herald Tribune) (B-92)
• The United States Food and Drug Administration has received 167 reported incidents of Salmonellosis from eating tainted tomatoes in 17 states with New Mexico and Texas the worst affected areas. (Reuters)
• NASA launches the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) from Cape Canaveral, Florida. (AP via Google News)
• June 2008 tornado outbreak sequence: A tornado at the Little Sioux Scout Ranch near Little Sioux, Iowa kills four Boy Scouts and injures several others. (Des Moines Register) (AP via Yahoo! News) (Atlanta Journal-Constitution) (National Public Radio)
• Cuba introduces a wages system where workers are paid according to productivity rather than all workers in the same job receiving the same income. (Miami Herald)
• The Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper apologises to tens of thousands of the indigenous peoples of Canada for more than a century of abuses of First Nations, Inuit and Métis at residential schools set up to assimilate them into Canadian society. (SBS) (AP via Yahoo! News)
• The United States House of Representatives votes today on whether to refer Articles of Impeachment against George W. Bush introduced Monday evening by Rep. Dennis Kucinich to a committee. (The Washington Post)
• InBev, the world's largest brewing company makes an unsolicited $46 billion takeover bid for United States brewing company Anheuser-Busch. (AFP via Google News)
• Estonia, Greece and Finland ratify the Treaty of Lisbon. (Xinhua) (The International Herald Tribune)
• Norway legalises same-sex marriage. (Pink News)
• The last King of Nepal Gyanendra of Nepal departs from Narayanhiti Palace for the last time after Nepal is declared to be a republic. (CBC)
• The Metropolitan Police launches an inquiry after top secret British government intelligence on al-Qaeda is found on a train going from Waterloo Station to Surrey. (BBC News)
• Sheikh Hasina, a former Prime Minister of Bangladesh detained on corruption charges, is released to seek treatment in the United States. (Bloomberg)
• Stojan Župljanin, a wartime Bosnian Serb police commander is arrested near Belgrade and will be sent to the Hague where he will face trial for alleged war crimes. (Reuters via TVNZ)
• Former basketball referee Tim Donaghy accuses other referees in the National Basketball Association of rigging games, including Game 6 in the 2002 Western Conference Finals, allowing the Los Angeles Lakers to win that game, the series, and ultimately the 2002 NBA Finals. (ESPN)
• President George W. Bush says that he wants to solve the Iran issue peacefully but "all options are on the table" in a joint media conference with the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel. (Reuters)
• The British House of Commons considers anti-terrorism legislation extending the period of preventive detention to 42 days with a close vote expected due to a backbench revolt in the Labour Party. The House eventually passes the bill by 315 votes to 306. (Press Association via Google News) (Press Association via The Guardian)
• Japan's House of Councillors passes a censure motion against the Prime Minister of Japan Yasuo Fukuda, the first such motion to be passed since World War II. (BBC News)
• Afghanistan:
  • Airstrikes targeting militants have killed at least 31 people including some civilians. (AP via Google News)
  • Reports claim that at least 10 Pakistan Army soldiers have died in an apparent United States-led air strike near the border with Afghanistan with eight Taliban militants also killed. Pakistan condemns the airstrike as "unprovoked and cowardly". The U.S. has released video of the strike showing the militants fighting in order to justify the attacks. (BBC News) (Reuters)
• Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels overrun the Irukkulampiddi Sri Lankan Navy outpost killing at least 10 sailors. (AFP via Google News)
• Taiwanese negotiators led by Chiang Pin-kung, Chairman of the Strait Exchange Foundation, travel to the People's Republic of China to conduct talks on improving Cross-Strait relations. (BBC News) (AP via Yahoo! News)

ITN Candidates for June 11

I'd support the LTTE item, but LTTE is protected as of now because of a dispute, and it really shouldn't be at Sri Lanka Navy. (And it's not). Spencer^T♦C 10:53, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I would be OK with most items on the Current events portal if they had decent updates. - BanyanTree 12:48, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

• Japan's House of Councillors passes a censure motion against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the first such motion to be passed since World War II.

Decent update and historic import. It will also push the Ainu item off, so there won't be three Japan items on at the same time. - BanyanTree 13:09, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

No comments? Posted. - BanyanTree 22:30, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

The Gora Prai airstrike story is a headline in all news sites --TheFEARgod (Ч) 19:00, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Its article looks pretty bad, and needs some serious cleanup before I would consider it. Spencer^T♦C 19:19, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Um, what "all news sites" are you referring to? No apparent mention on CNN, BBC or CBC, and that was just a quick check. The Tom (talk) 19:23, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Currently #2 on BBC and the "photo item" on The Washington Post. Still, I agree with Spencer's assessment. BanyanTree 22:20, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Item has been greatly expanded since I last checked. Does anyone have a suggested wording? The wording of the portal item appears messy. - BanyanTree 01:30, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Can you clarify? --→ Ãlways Ãhëad (talk) 04:01, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

I wanted to see if anyone had a suggested wording for the item to be put on ITN. There's doesn't seem to be, so I have come up with some wording and posted. Thanks, BanyanTree 04:27, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Note that the tornado strike on a Boy Scout strike in the US appears to be attracting attention. An update has begun at June 2008 tornado outbreak sequence and may be ITN quality in the near future. - BanyanTree 03:10, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

• One of a series of tornadoes hits a Boy Scout camp in western Iowa, resulting in at least four deaths.

Note that, despite nominating, I think that this is less impactful that the Pakistani airstrike and would suggest placing it under that item, assuming that people are supportive of posting. - BanyanTree 04:39, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Modify - updated article is now Little Sioux Scout Ranch - BanyanTree 09:37, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm not big on the wording...it sounds like multiple tornados hit the same boy scout camp...I was under the impression that it was over a big area and the boy scouts got hit by one of the tornados. Spencer^T♦C 14:23, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

You're right. I reworded and posted. - BanyanTree 22:18, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

June 10

June 10, 2008 (2008-06-10) (Tuesday)

• Two Kenyan ministers – Roads Minister Kipkalya Kones and Assistant Home Affairs Minister Lorna Laboso – die in a plane crash near Narok in western Kenya while traveling to campaign in by-elections. (BBC News)
• President of Venezuela Hugo Chávez revokes an intelligence law that opposition groups and the Roman Catholic church claim would have forced citizens to become government informants and asks the National Assembly to develop new legislation. (Bloomberg)
• A Moroccan court sentences 29 people to prison sentences for recruiting people to fight for militants in Iraq. (Reuters)
• President George W. Bush attends the final United States-European Union summit of his Presidency with agreements to tighten sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program. (AP via Google News)
• United States Republican senators block moves to levy a windfall profits tax on oil companies. (MarketWatch)
• Water from the Tangjiashan Lake, created in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, floods the abandoned town of Beichuan. (Reuters)
• South Korea's cabinet, led by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, offers to resign following widespread protests at decisions to resume US beef imports in South Korea. (BBC News) (CNN)
• Sudan Airways Flight 109 crashes on landing at Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan, with around 200 on board. The death toll is 28 with 66 people unaccounted for.(CNN) (BBC News) (AFP/Reuters via ABC News)
• A series of strong thunderstorms track through Southern Quebec, causing heavy damage south of Montreal and leaving over 250,000 people out of electricity. Champlain Bridge is closed for several hours after a wind gust causes seven semi-trailers to tip on their side. (CBC) (SRC)

ITN Candidates for June 10

• Sudan Airways Flight 109 crashes on landing at Khartoum International Airport in Khartoum, Sudan, with around 200 on board. At least 100 people are estimated to have died.

Support as nominator. Anonymous101 (talk) 20:09, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Oppose as article creator; the flight number isn't even confirmed yet (that's a bit of minor original research on my part, but right now it's the only one that fits) and the article consists of a paragraph and a quote. It's not nearly ready for front page yet, I don't think. --Golbez (talk) 20:34, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Weak support, definately is notable enough to be on the news section, but it doesn't have an article that covers it well enough. bsrboy (talk) 21:05, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Oppose, as article is short, gives little information on the crash, and doesn't have fully formatted citations. BobAmnertiopsis_{ChitChat Me!} 21:39, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

It appears to me that the issues raised have been addressed in the past several hours. Can I ask commenters to revisit the item? Thanks, BanyanTree 06:28, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

OK, the timer's gone yellow, this is the only viable candidate, nobody has commented and the issues raised appear to be addressed. Posted. - BanyanTree 13:04, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

• Following widespread protests against the resumption of beef imports from the United States, the Prime Minister of South Korea Han Seung-soo and his cabinet offer to resign.

Support as nominator (at least if/when the article is updated). -- Grant.Alpaugh 05:12, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Support when (if) they actually resign. --Tone 08:16, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Note: Article not updated. Spencer^T♦C 10:52, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Support When resignation happens. Hobartimus (talk) 15:45, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Ditto When resignation occurs. BobAmnertiopsis_{ChitChat Me!} 15:53, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Again, no update. It might be a good idea not to formally nominate items that don't have any associated update. - BanyanTree 21:50, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Disagree, it is a bad idea to post items that have not been nominated, while nominating items might get people involved in updating the related articles. -- Grant.Alpaugh 15:15, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

I'm not convinced that ITN nominations channel editors to potential items, but I'm willing to be convinced. - BanyanTree 03:14, 12 June 2008 (UTC)

Chinese dam breach is an ITN-worthy story as well, I think. Updated and sourced article, great impact as one of the earthquake consequences. --Tone 08:16, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Please only use the * for blurb wordings so that we can keep them seperate from the discussion. -- Grant.Alpaugh 18:00, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I've been looking for Sichuan earthquake blurb, but the info on the most recent developments at Tangjiashan Lake (I assume you mean that to be the emboldened link) is a bit fuzzy - e.g. only one sentence on the new sluice channel and very little detail on the engineering effort. Also, Beichuan is not a town, though Reuters apparently can't figure that out. - BanyanTree 11:28, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

The town (whatever that is) is evacuated not abandoned. There were still people living there at the time of the quake. Abandoned implies it is the remains of one of those towns relocated when they built the dam. --Lemmey talk 12:17, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

"when they built the dam" betrays the fact that you have not read the article or the Reuters link. Kevin McE (talk) 17:56, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I have read both, Thankyou Mr Quoteman. Obviously, I was talking about the 3 gorges dam. If a betrayl exists here, it does not lie in my words. --Lemmey talk 18:21, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Of course. Very remiss of me not to guess that you were referring to a different construction, more than 400 miles away, on a different river, that was not referred to in either the article or the link. As you say, obvious if I had thought about it. Kevin McE (talk) 19:16, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Its the same river system and its upstream, exactly in the area where over a million people were moved from to make way for the lake. Leave it to Kevin to twist a wording suggestion into a personal attack. --Lemmey talk 19:24, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

You two play nice or I'll send you to bed without any supper. - BanyanTree 21:50, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I side with Lemmey as he's at least entertaining. -- Grant.Alpaugh 23:56, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

June 9

June 9, 2008 (2008-06-09) (Monday)

• French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner warns Ireland, saying the Irish would be the "first victim" if they reject the EU Treaty of Lisbon. (RTL France)
• June 2008 Midwest Flood: A stalled storm system in the midwest of the United States causes further heavy flooding in Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin with storms on the weekend causing 10 deaths in four states. (The New York Times)
• Pakistan lawyers begin a "Long March" of protests against the Government of the President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf calling for the reinstatement of judges dismissed last year including the former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. (The Guardian)
• 24 miners are rescued from the Ukrainian coal mine collapse with 12 still missing and one reported fatality. (Reuters)
• A further three British Conservative MEPs (Robert Atkins, Sajjad Karim, and John Purvis) are facing allegations of financial abuse, following the resignation of two fellow members from European Parliament positions last week. (The Independent) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Times) (The Courier)
• Ali Al-Naimi, the Saudi Arabian oil minister calls for a meeting of oil producing and consuming nations to discuss record oil prices. (AP via ABC News)
• Apple, Inc. introduces a new iPhone with 3G capabilities, a GPS, and new features. The device is called iPhone 3G. (Business Week)
• IBM and Los Alamos National Laboratory break processing speed barrier with the world's first petaflop computer, Roadrunner. (Network World)
• The body of businessman Travis Alexander is found in his home in Mesa, Arizona. It is believed he was murdered. [http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2008/06/13/20080613mr-victim0614.html

ITN Candidates for June 9

• IBM, Los Alamos break processing speed barrier with world's first petaflop computer.(Network World)

nominate & support: seems to be clearly news worthy. --Imagemonth (talk) 19:52, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Is there an updated article that could be bold-linked? This seems important, but I would like to see an article with citations to show this. Random89 20:14, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

It appears to be FLOPS, which has one updated sentence. This would need more updated content before I would post it. - BanyanTree 22:05, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Actually, I just realized it's IBM Roadrunner. That's in better shape but it could still do with a few more citations. What do folks think? - BanyanTree 03:29, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I like it, especially since it has its own Wikipedia article. Not exactly "big news" but certainly "in the news" and the article is already more informative than any of the news coverage I had seen of this. Dragons flight (talk) 03:39, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

strong support a cursory look at google news will illustrate that it is newsworthy and international in scope. Definitely deserves front page mention, in the above edited version (which links the IBM roadrunner article). --Steve Johnsenson (talk) 04:41, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Posted. The article has gained quite a few more citations than it had before. - BanyanTree 11:17, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

• Following a coal mine collapse in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, 24 miners are rescued with 12 still missing and one reported death.

Nominate Ukraine mine one; some good news, a little bad, and in Eastern Europe, for some balance. BobAmnertiopsis_{ChitChat Me!} 20:11, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

The article one the collapse is currently only 2 paragraphs long (but quite well sourced). A bit of expansion would be nice, but I suppose this could go up as is if needed. Random89 20:15, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

I'll try and work on it. BobAmnertiopsis_{ChitChat Me!} 20:40, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Support. -- Grant.Alpaugh 23:45, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

The article looks decent...though as usual, picture are good (but the chances are slim). Weak, Weak Support...only one miner was killed and 13 went missing: Generally this isn't a big mine accident. I only support because it has its own article. Spencer^T♦C 23:56, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

Support as mine safety is more encyclopedic than a stabbing spree. --Lemmey talk 00:30, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

Posted. Thanks, BanyanTree 00:44, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

No, thank you. BobAmnertiopsis_{ChitChat Me!} 00:56, 10 June 2008 (UTC)