Wikipedia:In the news/Candidates/March 2007

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Archived discussion for March 2007 from Wikipedia:In the news section on the Main Page/Candidates.

March 31

where are the administrators, nobody leaves comments???!!! --TheFEARgod (Ч) 12:11, 1 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well done on the wording BTW. Nil Einne 19:09, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 28

  • "The United Kingdom freezes all bilateral contacts between them and Iran until the Iranian seizure of Royal Navy personnel is resolved." I am not sure how to appropriately word it, so I think that will need to be worked on.72.10.96.197 15:03, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This should just be added to the existing item:
Iran's Revolutionary Guards detain fifteen British Royal Navy personnel assigned to HMS Cornwall (F99), alleging they illegally entered Iranian waters; the United Kingdom freezes all bilateral contacts as a result.
Nil Einne 05:21, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with what you posted above, it should be added as such and reworded that way, can an admin please make the change. The great kawa 06:10, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hello, anybody there? It would be nice if we actually had some working admins, as I am tired of seeing the Canadian election as the "major" world news of the past week. This deserves a lot more attention!!!72.10.96.197 14:36, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Admins tend to be hard to come by at this time I believe. Besides that, I'm not sure if it should move as a result of this, I suspect not so the Quebec thing will remain the 'major' item (although the top item is not the major item, it is simply the latest & besides that as we keep repeating ITN is not a news ticker so we aren't talking about major news anyway) Nil Einne 15:52, 29 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There are lots of admins out there on the wiki, but there only seem to be one or two admins who come by here regularly every once in a while. It could take some more hours, I believe, but if you write it they will come. Maybe I'll become an admin in some months time and will finally be able to do it myself :). Seriously though, I believe the ITN section is a very usefull and important piece of information for getting behind the news headlines as it were. It's too bad it can't always be up-to-date. Feer 14:02, 30 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It has been four days since the election. Can't we just have an update on other events? Like the one above? --Howard the Duck 02:37, 31 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 27

Perhaps if and when this legislation becomes law and is enacted. --Monotonehell 10:04, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 26

IIRC there's been hostages held longer in the past. If there's some actual news released on this subject other than some arbitrary milestone passed then perhaps. --Monotonehell 10:11, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This article gives a good background to the item in the media's attention and seems like a major step and therefore of interest. I support its inclusion. --Monotonehell 10:11, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 25

lol. undemocratic election. Oh well. Better than what's on the Mainland. Regardless of its "undemocratic" nature, Hong Kong's first-in-charge winning reelection is probably significant enough to be included on the main page. Colipon+(T) 06:43, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The wording is bordering on POV. Also not notable enough for ITN inclusion, only heads of state or similar are mentioned, which in the case of SAR of HK, under the current arrangements, would be the president/premier of PRC. --Monotonehell 15:56, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wording changed. Since HK gets considerable autonomy and is usually mentioned separately from the Mainland in international statistics/news, this should be treated like a head of government reelection (eg US president, UK prime minister (in general election)), which is notable. Also see 282 articles on google news.203.109.167.159 19:40, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
States in unions (US, Australia, Europe etc) also have considerable autonomy. They wont be included either. As general news this won't get in; another option, is this item gaining substantial interest in the media for any unusually notable reasons? --Monotonehell 20:37, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Come on, even the Quebec election and an agreement in Northern Ireland, also parts of other countries, are notable. 203.109.167.159 07:20, 27 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The HK election seems to be a 'business as usual' item whereas the two other items you've compared it to are unusually notable. Is there anything unusual about the HK item I'm ignorant of? --Monotonehell 10:13, 28 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 24

March 23

  • French space agency CNES released its UFO files to the public through its website on Thursday. -Nima Baghaei (talk) 17:49, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Sounds like a fun item. If there isn't a substantial update to the article it would make a good DYN item. --Monotonehell 19:14, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
i support this item; UFO's are definitely an international "phenomenon" 69.119.239.138 12:47, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
No substantial update has been made, possible to use it? (:O) -Nima Baghaei (talk) 15:15, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Unfortunately not, also my DYK recommendation isn't valid as it's not new or newly unstubed. --Monotonehell 15:59, 25 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The article hasn't been updated enough as yet. If this improves then I'd support this item. --Monotonehell 19:14, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
May be better to expand March 2007 British Marines incident rather than the article about the boat. --199.71.174.100 21:30, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
All these "2007 incident blah blah" articles smell of newspaper style reports. In an encyclopedia events should be associated with their parent subjects. Right now we have 100s of disparate event article stubs that will need to be deleted or merged in the future. --Monotonehell 22:12, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Not nescesarily. If done properly, these can be made into perfectly respectable articles in their own right - for an example, I have written 2006 Kolkata leather factory fire from scratch into a GA-class article. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 23:19, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The example you give is an example of a legitimate use of that title format. I'm speaking of the many articles that are being started just to report news. Then get abandoned when editors lose interest. Things like Death of Bob Woolmer when Bob Woolmer's article already exists and has a section on his death. Also a lot of little articles that document individual skirmishes in larger wars that really need to be merged to their parent articles. We are ending up with a load of disparate stubs instead of GA-class articles like your example. --Monotonehell 15:13, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I can still see the benefit of giving it a seperate article; it has implications that far exceed merely the history of the vessel - political tensions etc. Provided someone works hard on this article, it will be a perfectly decent standalone article. The skirmishes and the Death of Bob Woolmer ares still probably over the top, though - although 2007 Bernard Matthews H5N1 outbreak could easily have been covered in the section in the parent article, it was improved by another editor into another GA-class article (I happened to run into it when nominating something of my own for GA). By the way - any chance of the articles in today's section above going up? As examples of how it's done? ;-) Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 15:48, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
it consists of one paragraph; not encyclopedic as of now 69.119.239.138 12:48, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Insurgents and Somali and Ethiopian forces clash in Mogadishu, 16 people are killed. It's an on-going war, but this last battle is getting a lot of press; some pics of the city are available from that article. --Peta 05:19, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]


  • The Playstation 3 is launched in Europe. The seventh generation is now available worldwide.

I dunno im just browsing ideas Ahadland 14:24, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

ITN doesn't participate in promotional events. --Monotonehell 19:14, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Why not, if its news. --Brent Ward 23:09, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Surely the PS3 being launched in Europe is considered news. I wouldn't say it was big enough news to be on the main page, but I don't think it would be advertising to put that there. Cream147 Shout at me for doing wrong 23:12, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Same as the recent launch of Windows Vista. ITN does not serve to help marketeers promote their product. If there was some unusually interesting social impact associated with the launch, like large scale riots, then it would be worthy of inclusion. Otherwise it has everything in common with the thousands of other products released each year, which also wont get an ITN entry. --Monotonehell 15:17, 24 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 21

HMS Tireless
HMS Tireless
  • Israeli sources claim that Alan Johnston was abducted by the same groups that captured Gilad Shalit, a claim which is strongly denied by the groups. – new development today in Johnston's kidnapping. – Chacor 16:50, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • There has been a major update in the circumstances surrounding Bob Woolmer story below. I think the article has been updated enough now for ITN and the latest circumstances further confirm that this is def a death that qualifies under ITN criteria. Posting here since old enteries tend to get ignored Nil Einne 05:07, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
ditto, it is the preeminent event in that sport as well 69.119.239.138 11:29, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that it should be listed. But only when the verified results of the autopsy are released. It's still all media speculation, not encyclopedic as yet. :( --Monotonehell 11:39, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
CNN and the BBC have reported that the autopsy results are inconclusive, and that the police are treating this as "a suspicious death." I don't know if that means that there's more to this than we may imagine, or that it is jargon to describe an uncertainty as to the cause of death. Deputy commissioner Mark Shields has indicated that "any sudden death will be treated as suspicious until we can show otherwise and that is what we will do." I suggest:
Feel free to reword to improve. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 12:42, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
How about "...dies the day after Pakistan are knocked out of the 2007 Cricket World Cup..."? Stephen Turner (Talk) 15:49, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, I like that wording. Can we please have this put up now? I fail to see any reason why it isn't up yet. Mikker (...) 16:11, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
That wording implies a causal relation between the elimination from the CWC and Woolmer's death, something that hasn't been established. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 16:21, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, the fact is Woolmer did die the day after Pakistan was eliminated. We don't know why he died yet, one possibility is that there is a causal relationship, another is that it's purely coincidental. I don't see how the wording above implicitly favours either interpretation. Mikker (...) 16:45, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Let's use another wording, to clarify what I meant: suppose we write "Bob Woolmer dies a day after eating two bananas he bought at a local supermarket" (corny example, I agree, but bear with me). That wording would imply that the eating of the bananas played some role in his death, or at the very least is relevant enough to be mentioned in conjunction with his death. I don't see how the elimination of Pakistan is relevant in regards to Woolmer's death. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 16:55, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's relevant because it's a major line of enquiry, whether or not it turns out to be causally related in the end. Just as the bananas could reasonably be mentioned if there was some suspicion that they might have been involved. Stephen Turner (Talk) 17:33, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
From what I've gathered, no line of enquiry has been made public, and the police have refused to comment on any possible cause. So where have you learnt that this is a major line of enquiry? AecisBrievenbus 19:01, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's most certainly a line of inquiry: this article claims marks were found on his neck, indicating a possible murder. There have also been stories in the Pakistani media about a murder plot. One motive for such a murder is, of course, Pakistan's not qualifying for next stage of the world cup. Besides, any investigation into an unusual death has to consider the possibility of murder/suicide and any investigation of murder/suicide has to consider possible motives. The coach of a cricket-obsessed nation dying the day after its embarrassing elimination from the world cup is most certainly a plausible motive for murder/suicide. It's also something that should have gone up on ITN ages ago. Mikker (...) 19:19, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The article indicates that it is a line of speculation among the media. There is no mention of this being a line of enquiry of the relevant authorities. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 11:20, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
(redent) Some of you are failing to see the distinction between a newspaper's activities and an encyclopaedia's activities. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. We should only report established verified facts. Media speculation is part and parcel of the infotainment aspect of a newspaper. Any unverified information has no place in Wikipedia. Please form your arguments around this underlying principle. --Monotonehell 09:25, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not making any speculation, I only said that it was a line of enquiry. Which it surely is, unless Mark Shields is very, very stupid. But I don't really care about the exact wording, only that it should be there. Stephen Turner (Talk) 10:23, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
That wasn't directed at you specifically. Just a general note as most people are focusing on getting the "wrong" item listed. Wikipedia and ITN are NOT news reports. What's important here is listing his sudden and unexpected death. Since my last edit the article has been improved to a point that I believe that it meets the criteria for listing. After a discussion on its talk page the amount of rampant non-encyclopedic speculation has been toned down. May I suggest something like:
That sounds suitably neutral. I would just add one more clause — "unexpected death during the 2007 Cricket World Cup" — if there's room for it. Stephen Turner (Talk) 12:10, 22 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

No more shilly-shallying - this should be on the Main Page. -- ALoan (Talk) 00:31, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I entirely agree. I could see both sides until the latest development, but I think it's now fairly unambiguous. --Cherry blossom tree 00:36, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have done it myself, but I am not an ITN regular, so please let me know if I have broken anything. We had an image - what happened to it? Not free? -- ALoan (Talk) 00:40, 23 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 20

Seems like a possible candidate, but perhaps we should wait a day for the article to stabilize? --Monotonehell 15:41, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I endorse putting this up: "Former Vice President of Iraq Taha Yassin Ramadan is executed by hanging for his role in the 1982 Dujail massacre." Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 12:51, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I support CFK's version. --Fsotrain09 16:07, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • "The Government of the United Kingdom adopts legislation prohibiting school students wearing the Muslim veil and other religious items in the name of security."
Or something along these lines as this is a fairly major development in Anglo-Islamic relations —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ahadland1234 (talkcontribs).
Oppose.
  1. There is no article about it, which is a prerequisite.
  2. Your summary is wrong and biased. The government has issued guidance to schools that they may ban the full-face veil (niqab). This is in line with an earlier court decision that such a ban may be justified. As I understand it, there has been no legislation, no general prohibition, and no ban on religious dress other than the full-face veil.[2] The situation is entirely different than the ban in France.
Stephen Turner (Talk) 11:33, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
To be fair who mentioned religious dress? Are you also arguing that this is not a significant development. It is not biased it just shows lack of understanding, I heard it on a news programme mere minutes ago, the article on the programme mentioned that the government had adopted legislation. Ahadland 11:49, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Sorry, I should have said "no ban on religious items other than the full-face veil". I'm not in tune with the Muslim community, but I don't think it's that significant because it was already decided by the court case and the guidance only reflects that judgment (if they'd wanted to stop schools banning it, they would have had to introduce new legislation). Also because the full niqab is very rare in Britain — it's not like they banned the normal headscarves. Stephen Turner (Talk) 11:59, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Its not just the veil that they're banning —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Ahadland1234 (talkcontribs).
All arguments over the situation aside, the point here is that there doesn't seem to be an article on Wikipedia. ITN is not a news service. Please see the criteria and procedures for ITN. --Monotonehell 15:39, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well do you agree that somebody should create an article on it. Half of the things mention in ITN are fairly recent articles. 82.36.182.217 16:03, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 19

An Israeli Ministerial committee declares the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict a war. --TheFEARgod (Ч) 14:00, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure if renaming something that happened last year is terribly notable. A rose by any other name, and all that. Is there any major International repercussions leading from this one sentence update that I'm ignorant of? --Monotonehell 16:55, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This development is a "semantic reinterpretation" of an event that is no longer current. There are no substantial developments in the conflict/war itself, so I don't think this is enough to warrant inclusion. As Monotonehell said, a rose by any other name etcetera. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 12:53, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Ulyanovskaya Mine disaster in Russia. At least 74 miners are dead. --ajvol 20:04, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Reworded: A methane gas explosion at the Ulyanovskaya Mine in the Kemerovo Region of Siberia kills at least seventy-five miners. Article is now 2.7KB, by the way. Still probably needs expansion before it gets up on ITN. Nishkid64 21:08, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 18

Bob Woolmer
Bob Woolmer

Bob Woolmer(pictured), the Pakistan cricket coach, has died in a Kington hospital following his team's early departure from the 2007 Cricket World Cup caused by an upset loss to Ireland. He was 58 years old.--Thugchildz 18:48, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Im telling you guys, this world cup is full of headlines and upsets, surprises, tragedies and this sad death of the Bob Woolmer. We demand a line saying somthing like "The drama of 2007 Cricket World Cup continues"! This is not even fair because there weren't even any trageties in the olimpics or the fifa world cup but with so many having in the cricket world cup we still are not going to get a line?--Thugchildz 18:48, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I do think this should go on as it does meet the ITN death criteria (unexpected/surprise & noteable in his field; also arguably it's going to effect current events a fair amount) but the article may need to be update a little more first. In any case, I've listed in in portal as required (well I think I've done it right, not sure) Nil Einne 19:46, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It is unexpected/surprise, no one would have thought it was going to happen. His is a very very notable cricket coach,one of the world's greatest coaches, he's credited for modernizing cricket coaching, Woolmer worked with the South African team before coaching Pakistan. He used a trademark style of coaching with a laptop always with him to analyze and reflect to the situations, he embraced innovation and was at the forefront of many new developments in the game. It will effect the current events(reactions of the Pakistani fans, players experts has changed, their mind has been taken of their loss to ireland,and everyone's mourning this death). It already has a section of the world cup death in his article. Its casting a shadow over the whole world cup and how is that not notable? The whole cricketing world is mourning his death. His death clearly should be mention on INT.--Thugchildz 19:55, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Why is this not up yet? The whole cricket world is mourning his death and you guys aren't taking it seriously? just look at [cricinfo](leading cricket web site). Everyone, from the ICC(sports governing body) to players and experts are mourning this death.--Thugchildz 01:45, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I'd recommend this, it's unexpected and happened at the World Cup. --Howard the Duck 05:30, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I support the inclusion of this news item, although I would like to distance myself from the rest of Thugchildz's remarks. Stephen Turner (Talk) 10:13, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Woolmer is one of the most well-known and influential cricket coaches in the world, his death was most certainly unexpected and this happened in the middle of the world cup, right after the team he coached was unexpectedly eliminated from the tournament. Imagine José Mourinho dying mysteriously right after Chelsea being eliminated from the Champion's League... Mikker (...) 15:53, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
No one's actually suggested that this shouldn't be included and yet you're all carrying on like it's been rejected. At the time Nil Einne said that the article needed work, the article did need work. It seems to have been updated enough now. Although it contains a little too much speculation (albeit based on news sources) I'd like to see it properly updated after the post mortem is concluded. But at this point I believe it satisfies the criteria. The original suggestion was a little sportif orientated and almost reads that the loss caused his death, perhaps something more like this: --Monotonehell 16:14, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Btw, check out his obituaries in the Telegraph and The Times. See also the Cricinfo.com page dedicated to him and tributes from various cricket players, commentators, etc. Mikker (...) 16:11, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
What's written in other sources isn't of interest to ITN candidates, those sources need to be included in the article or introduced on the article's talk page for inclusion. One of the criteria for listing is that there exist a substantially updated article on wikipedia. That was the only concern with this item's inclusion. Not how big a story it is in the media. --Monotonehell 17:04, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Firstly, please chill out. Secondly, these sources are listed in the Woolmer article (external links...). Thirdly, of course it's relevant what other sources say: I was reading this stuff anyway (as I'm into cricket...) and thought that in case non-cricket fans wanted more info on whether this is n.b. enough for ITN, whether the article is updated enough etc. I could simply point them quickly and easily to the best sources. Mikker (...) 17:13, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm chilled :) Sorry if I was terse. What I was saying is that links to external sources should be brought up in the article and on its talk page, not here. If they have been incorporated into the article properly there should be no problem seeing that the article meets the International interest criteria. Posting a load of sources here doesn't really help when the issue is whether the article has been substantially updated as per the other criteria or not. What helps in that case is getting the article up to scratch. --Monotonehell 17:46, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Breaking news! Foul play has been suspected. The police reportedly found marks on Woolmer's neck. Check the article. It will generate more news now. Grumpygrumpy 03:00, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

With this, I suggest; "Pakistani cricket coach, Bob Woolmer, dies in his hotel room during the 2007 Cricket World Cup, a death police regard as suspicious".--HamedogTalk|@ 04:05, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Add my support. Rothery 14:33, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Adding my support as well. --Bluerain talk 16:00, 19 March 2007 (UTC) Just to clarify, I'm refering to Bob Woolmer's death, not the rugby tournament.--Bluerain talk 16:11, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The Six Nations should stay off ITN because it's not the top level competition in the sport of rugby, unlike 2007 Rugby World Cup this October. --74.14.18.212 16:05, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If we have to choose between Woolmer and this, I suggest the former go up. Otherwise put both up. (Besides, the Trident story that this would remove assuming Woolmer goes up first isn't at all important and isn't ITN worthy in the first place). Mikker (...) 16:17, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There's no choosing between items, each item is judged on its own merits. The rugby comp probably isn't(?) a top level competition and so doesn't escape the strict no-scoreboard practice of ITN, the Woolmer article does however escapethe strict criteria for no-obituaries practice. --Monotonehell 17:04, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The Six Nations Cup is arguably the second biggest rugby event in the world after the World Cup, and can roughly be compared to the UEFA European Football Championship. I think it is notable enough for ITN. If Woolmer is put up, I think we should be careful to avoid making any link between the elimination of Pakistan from the World Cup and his untimely death. I do think that we should choose between these two: having two sports-related items on the top of ITN would create an imbalance. But there is a way to deal with it, since France won the Six Nations before the blurb about the Finnish elections was put up. That would make the order of ITN: Woolmer - Finland - France rugby - China - Bornean Clouded Leopard. Tsvangirai probably needs to be taken down as well, to make way for the two new items. AecisBrievenbus 18:06, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If it's the second then it's not the ultimate competition level and so as per usual practice should not be mentioned in ITN. But that's the question, where same sports have multiple top level competitions how do we choose what gets in and what doesn't? Is the 6 nations over seen by the same organisation as the (rugby) World Cup?
EDIT: Answering my own question. The rugby union article says that the World Cup is the most important with the six and tri-nations being under that.
I don't see any reason to worry about having two sports related items at the top of the list - there's no subjective order here so I don't think we should start reverse-discriminating. Just let the items update to the top drop off the bottom naturally. When considering additions we should also consider which ones will be removed, just remove them when their time is up. --Monotonehell 18:30, 19 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's not fair if the Six nation goes up because ICC champions trophy didn't go up and it was the second most important tournament after the world cup. And so that shouldn't go up.--Thugchildz 06:08, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There's no precedent on ITN selections. None. Nil. Nada. --Howard the Duck 06:40, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 17

  • I've suggested some photos below of the National People's Congress building. Thought I'd mention it here since from previous experience people don't tend to notice new photo suggestions down there Nil Einne 11:19, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The leopard image may be better on ITN. No need to mention what building that is and explain that it's the venue of the Congress. Much simpler. --199.71.174.100 22:23, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Pakistan is out of the 2007 Cricket World Cup after losing to Ireland in one of the biggest upsets in world cup history. Ireland who are making their debut at the world cup qualifies for the second round.

I really think we should get a line like " the cricket world cup continues", there are so many upsets and headlines, its fair to have it like that.--Thugchildz 05:08, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed with the above reasoning about fairness, even though it was a major upset by Ireland. However, I'd prefer waiting until the World Cup is actually over, then announcing the winner on ITN. Until then, we're just taking up space with a fairly uninteresting line that is more tokenism than actual news.--Phil500 (Talk / Contribs) 08:36, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, wait till South Africa wins the final, then put it on ITN :-). Mikker (...) 09:45, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This is news, though: Cricket supporters in Bangladesh break the state of emergency laws banning marches and processions following Bangladesh's upset victory over India at the 2007 Cricket World Cup.
I'm sure someone could phrase it better, but this is genuinely out-of-the-ordinary stuff. Sam Vimes | Address me 10:27, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It would be if there were an updated article somewhere on Wikipedia. I'm not seeing anything in any of those links mentioning it. --Monotonehell 11:00, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Er, the third paragraph of the now bolded article? :) Sam Vimes | Address me 11:10, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't know if we should have a continues line but I do think we should mention both the Bangladesh and Ireland victories (provided we have appropriate updated articles of course). We already have an example of why the Bangladesh victory isn't just about cricket. For an example of why the Ireland victory/Pakistan defeat similar isn't just about cricket, [3] Nil Einne 10:54, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Standard ITN practice is to only mention the result of the final of any sporting competition. Wikipedia is not a newspaper, and ITN is not a scoreboard. --Monotonehell 11:00, 18 March 2007 (UTC) Ninja edit hey?: What I said above, this is something we should include when there's an updated article and if the item is worded in a way to focus on the news, not just a stealth way to get sports results on the front page, which will cause complaints. --Monotonehell 11:07, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
New reports suggest seven dead, and six still trapped in the plane. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 11:04, 17 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
According to the Russian Government, 7 were killed and 10 seriously injured. Interfax Camptown 12:36, 17 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Added. The precedent with the Indon crash a couple of weeks ago makes adding this relatively uncontroversial. The only thing that will be a pain is that the number of fatalities will need to be updated with the article (currently at "at least seven"). Daniel Bryant 07:50, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 16

Definitely ITN-material if and when he is fired. It's best to wait until it happens. AecisBrievenbus 23:05, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The author of Alan Johnston has nominated his article for DYK. Let's not ruin his chance over there. He may want this over there instead. --199.71.174.100 22:30, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Looks like it won't make it to DYK, and it's still a current news event, so maybe an ITN mention would help get editors to that page. – Chacor 16:39, 21 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This person is not "officially" in the record books, but BBC and many other websites state that he turned 116 years old today (03-16)... —dima/s-ko/ 21:42, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
He is not the oldest man in the world, since he has not been recognized as such. And even if he were, I don't think his 116th birthday (happy birthday btw, Mr. Nestor, if you are reading this) is not notable enough for inclusion. Him breaking Jeanne Calment's record in September 2013 would be another matter though. AecisBrievenbus 21:49, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Sadly, these unfortunate friendly fires have happened too often. I'd be more supportive of this suggestion if this case escalates into an international (larger) incident between the US & UK authorities. --PFHLai 16:05, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Afaik this is the highest-profile friendly fire incident of the Iraq War, and it has already led to tensions between the British government and the American Ministry of Defense. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 16:10, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The update amounts to one sentence and isn't substantial enough to warrant inclusion. I agree with PFHLai that if the incident causes more fall out in the future which is added to the article then it should be reconsidered. --Monotonehell 16:24, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The best option would probably be to bold shooting rather then Matty Hull IMHO. While it's true FF incidents happen all the time, this one was particularly noteable for whatever reason. I'd have to weakly agree tho that I'm not sure whether the conclusion is itself enough to warrant ITN even though the incident may be Nil Einne 01:52, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Bornean clouded lopoard
Bornean clouded lopoard
The article was created today, and is of a respectable size. A new mammalian species is an unusual event. In this case, the leopard was a known animal, but was believed to be a variety of the Clouded leopard. Research in 2006 established that it was significantly different, but it was only on 14 March 2007 that it was officially declared a new species. (WWF)-gadfium 05:40, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm tempted to support this, but is it in the spotlight of the World's media? If not then this would make an excellent DYK candidate. --Monotonehell 08:42, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I take that back, it's all over the wires. I must have missed the news somehow --Monotonehell 08:44, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Posted. Thank you for nominating this for ITN, instead of DYK. --PFHLai 15:50, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Why not also use the picture? Camptown 20:56, 17 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you, just about to suggest that myself. Colipon+(T) 05:03, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You are welcome. It's now on MainPage. Please add more to the article if you can, Colipon. Thank you. --PFHLai 05:13, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If it's called the People's Republic of China, say "People's Republic of China". No need to add an unnecessary, inaccurate and perjorative modifier if it's not absolutely critical. -- 我♥中國 05:28, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Perjorative ??? Huh... I have no idea !!! Have I just insulted my own country without knowing it ? Yikes ! 我 also ♥ my 中國, you know, Miborovsky. I don't know how or why it would be perjorative, but I would like to apologize to all my fellow Chinese. I am banning myself for the rest this month. :-( --PFHLai 16:31, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well, name ONE instance where "Communist China" is NOT used perjoratively... -- 我♥中國 23:05, 17 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Do my edits count ? I ain't refuting that the term can be and has been used perjoratively, Miborovsky, but I didn't know about this till you brought it up. Maybe I should read more. It doesn't matter what I intended to say. If it can be perceived as derogatory, it was bad to put on MainPage. I am still banning myself the rest of this month. I've made edits today (requested, not on ITN), and I'll make up for today's ban on the first day of the next month. --PFHLai 12:06, 20 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I've reworded the item to avoid the "Communist China" moniker. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 05:39, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for fixing this so quickly, Josiah. --PFHLai 16:31, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Perhaps use this image --->>> instead?Colipon+(T) 06:44, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'm afraid, with the current 100px size restriction, it would be hard to fit this on ITN and still display the Great Hall of the People properly. (Looks squished, somehow. And the 2 guys in front ruins the view.) I tried cropping, but it still doesn't look good on my screen. Does anybody else wanna try ? --PFHLai 16:31, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
How this? Looks good to me but often people don't agree. Nil Einne 11:17, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Alternatively, I manually shrunk the image with Irfanview. It's actually better then the wikimedia version IMHO, would be good if some sharpening could be applied perhaps although maybe that's too complicated and/or won't work with many images Nil Einne 11:17, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 15

I don't see any mention of this in the Google article. Am I being blind? --Monotonehell 04:15, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't see it in Portal: Current events, either. -- PFHLai 05:01, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 14

  • The UK House of Commons votes to renew the country's aging Trident missile system despite significant opposition within the Blair government. --Peta 23:59, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Posted. I copied Peta's updated materials to British replacement of the Trident system, which I think is a more relevant page. --PFHLai 01:07, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's amazing what you can find on wp if you look hard enough :) --Peta 01:11, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
How about *The Blair Government wins the support of the House of Commons to renew the Trident nuclear missile system, despite significant revolt from Labour Party MP's RHB Talk - Edits 00:54, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
OK. I've more or less the same thing on MainPage now. --PFHLai 01:14, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Does anyone have a good pic of a non-US Trident missile ? Or a pic of the Vanguard subs that is PD-free ? Image:Vanguard class image.jpg's copyright status is iffy. --PFHLai 01:56, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Erm. How is this significant enough for ITN? Mikker (...) 06:17, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It hits all of the criteria for addition. --Monotonehell 09:13, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It was the first time MPs had been given the chance to vote on whether Britain should remain a nuclear power, and the biggest backbench rebellion since the beginning of the Iraq war. Maybe we should mention that 'significant opposition from Labour MPs' was actually a 'backbench rebellion by Labour MPs'. --74.14.20.46 14:16, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Is it of global significance? No. Is it of global interest? No. Does it therefore meet the criteria? No. Mikker (...) 15:20, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
When it comes to nuclear weapons, yes, IMHO, there is international interest. Not that many countries have nuclear weapons. There was a chance to reduce one, and they blew it. Oh, well.... (Hey, at least this story is more interesting than some dirty army hospital in the US last month, btw.) --PFHLai 16:01, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]


Here's a source if you need it.[4]--Richard 00:37, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Not posted (yet). Relevant new materials are lacking in the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed article. The one new sentence about the confession has no references. [5] Please update the article with more current information. Thanks. --PFHLai 00:51, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The article has been updated further with sources. I support adding this item, but I wonder about the wording: should we note the context of the confession (the military tribunal at Guantánamo Bay), or the fact that the only source for the confession is a Pentagon-provided transcript? I don't doubt his confession myself, but I know some people who would — especially given the likelihood that he's been torturedsubjected to coercive techniques.
We could also use the image at right to replace Chirac. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 04:56, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I might be missing something, but the article still ends with "As of 2006, Mohammed has not yet stood trial." There doesn't seem to be any info on what is happening now. --Peta 05:12, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, well spotted. I've amended that. What d'you think would be a good wording for the item? —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 06:12, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
My suggestion: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, long considered to be a terrorist mastermind, confeses to his involvement with al-Qaeda. Blood Red Sandman (Talk) (Contribs) 07:37, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I posted the item, along with a cropped version of the picture. I went for the word states instead of confesses to dodge the issue of the reliability of an (almost certainly coerced) statement. Confesses implies the statement is true while states has no connotation either way. -- tariqabjotu 15:15, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
CNN is reporting that he's admitted to personally being the man who beheaded Daniel Pearl. Should this be added to the ITN item? Dismas|(talk) 15:29, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
BBC reports it as well. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 15:48, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'd support replacing the mention of Operation Bojinka (which was planned but didn't actually happen) with the murder of Pearl (which did). Daniel Pearl has been updated. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 18:59, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Is Image:AQ00107.jpg really PD ? I ain't so sure. Who took the photo of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ? Is there a link to the source ? --PFHLai 16:07, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It's now tagged as a fairuse pic, so I've taken it off MainPage for now. Commons:Image:Giant Lake on Titan.jpg is back on. --PFHLai 16:57, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Water on Titan
Water on Titan
There's a NASA image accompanying the AP story which could probably be used to illustrate our story too, since NASA images are public domain; however, I haven't been able to find the source on NASA's website so that we can upload it with proper attribution. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 09:27, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The update is fairly small so far, but the articles provide a good deal of background info and so I support this item. But perhaps the bold item should be Cassini-Huygens? --Monotonehell 11:27, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The image that comes with the press release was cropped from [6], which is already in the article. howcheng {chat} 17:02, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I have a hard time trying to fit the pic with Lake Superior onto ITN without making things messy and complicated. Anyone want to try ? --PFHLai 01:53, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah, I couldn't make that work either — I had hoped that NASA had the version without Lake Superior somewhere, because that would have fit better. But if that's an AP derivative of the NASA image, we can't use it (although some talented Wikipedian — not me — could probably make the same crop). —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 04:58, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Why don't we just use this (at right)?--Pharos 05:10, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Good idea. Done. —Josiah Rowe (talkcontribs) 06:16, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Hmmm... where's the lake ? --PFHLai 06:18, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
There! *points* --Monotonehell 09:15, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Generally entertainment news doesn't find its way into ITN (it's not very encyclopedic, more tabloid), unless it's notable by its unusualness. Also this is a very local concern and doesn't meet the International interest criteria. --Monotonehell 14:22, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Some context: this is a very long suspension, usually handed out only for doping offenses. The fight after the match has probably received more attention than the match itself. It has an international interest in the sense that it involves two leading clubs/teams from two leading national competitions (Serie A and Primera Division) in the leading club football competition in the world, with players of about ten countries involved. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 14:26, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If any sports item is going onto ITN this week, I'd rather have 2007 Cricket World Cup. --PFHLai 01:59, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I wonder of Ron Artest made it since we're talking of long suspensions... --Howard the Duck 04:27, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Posted. (Thanks, Peta. I've been waiting for this for a while.) --PFHLai 00:42, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 13

Posted. --PFHLai 00:01, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
A -draft- bill that effects a single country doesn't seem important enough for ITN. The EU climate change pledge from a few days ago was far more news worthy. --Peta 23:39, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The Trident missiles can take over that spot, I suppose. Is there an updated article about the EU climate change pledge ? --PFHLai 00:53, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 12

  • Rafael Tzuriel, it is not every day that an ambassador is recalled for being found drunk near sm gear, ball gagged and his hands tied. Intangible2.0 20:15, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, boy ! poor guy ! (laughs...) I'd rather not embarrass this fella anymore by putting him on Wikipedia's MainPage. Tabloids can do this and they'll do a much better job than an encyclopedia would ever do. If you insist, please post a headline on Portal: Current events first (as per ITN guideline #1), and expand his mini-stub into a decent article. Thanks. --PFHLai 22:36, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I don't think this should be added to ITN. There is nothing notable about this event and this person above tabloid level. AecisBrievenbus 22:49, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
/broken record/ Wikipedia is not a newspaper, further it is not a tabloid newspaper. --Monotonehell 03:59, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]


I can't believe this isn't up here yet. It's so important and should be up there for the whole length of the world cup with updates as to what stage of the world cup it is on. Sfdasfr 03:33, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'd rather wait till we have a winner. ITN should not be used as a scoreboard or a news-ticker, IMO. --PFHLai 03:59, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Last year in the Commonwealth Games and the FIFA World Cup Wikipedia didn't take that attitude!! Just because cricket (which is an FA) isn't popular in parts of the world doesn't mean it doesn't deserve the same treatment as the soccer or the Commonwealth Games! The Cricket World Cup (which is an FA) should not be treated with partiality! Sfdasfr 04:05, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
We shouldn't ever follow precedents on ITN. --Howard the Duck 10:32, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Last year ? There were complaints about ITN becoming a scoreboard last year. This is not about cricket or any sport. If you disagree, you may want to bring this up on Template talk:In the news. If you really want 2007 Cricket World Cup mentioned on ITN ASAP, please improve Cricket World Cup 2007 Opening Ceremony into a decent article and add that to Portal:Current events/Sports, then you may have a chance. Otherwise, this won't appear on MainPage till we have a winner (or something notable happens). --PFHLai 04:28, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The previous examples of the Commonwealth Games and World Cup were aberrations from the intent and purpose of ITN, which is to provide background information on things that are the current focus of the news media, not to replicate the news media's purpose. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia, Wikinews is a newspaper, we should not tread on our sister project's toes. --Monotonehell 12:55, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I could support a "Cricket World Cup starts" item, and obviously something when the final is played, but definitely not a running update. --Cherry blossom tree 17:01, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I concur - while all matches and developments do not deserve headline news, the commencement of the tournament does deserve a mention amongst the headlines. This World Cup is being contested by 16 countries from amongst 97 countries that sought to participate in the World Cup. The commencement of this event is of international importance and interest and has been covered so by the international media as well as domestic media of several countries. Chocolate Horlicks 17:49, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Cricket World Cup 2007 Opening Ceremony is not ready for MainPage. Perhaps we can put "2007 Cricket World Cup starts..." on ITN when the first match is actually played tomorrow. And this should not stay on ITN for the length of the tournament. --PFHLai 18:01, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Support a metion of the tournament starting, and when there is a winner it should go up too, but this should not receive a continuous mention throughout it's duration. And Howard the Duck is right, Wikipedia is not a bureaucracy, and we do not have to do B, simply because we also did A. We do not have a policy of legal precedent. Thethinredline 20:48, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

PFHLai's right... Cricket World Cup 2007 Opening Ceremony really needs to be improved - all of us asking for a headlines mention ought to try and improve it, but there seems to be little relevant stuff that can be added so we might as well go with the idea of putting "2007 Cricket World Cup starts..." Chocolate Horlicks 01:35, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

TFA now has the Cricket World Cup article featured. But aside from that, the opening of regular competitions are not unusually notable. Any sort of "business as usual" event is not appropriate for ITN. For example the annual US State of the Union Address wasn't mentioned recently. As it shouldn't unless some unusually notable event occurred surrounding it. WHEN something like that occurs, and then IF there's a suitable article (not a stub) that contains sufficient background information of the kind that a casual reader would expect to find in an encyclopedia beyond what a newspaper would contain, THEN the item can be considered for inclusion. Remember people: the focus of ITN is encyclopedic not newspaper-like. --Monotonehell 04:07, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Well at least say it's started now... Sfdasfr 06:56, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
As stated above. Notable sports should only mentioned in ITN when there's a resolution. Further there must exist an article that has been substantially updated with current information, that can only occur after the event has concluded as it must be verifiable. ITN's purpose is not to advertise events, it is to provide encyclopedic background information on items that are currently in the World's media. --Monotonehell 10:52, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

After midnight UTC tonight, i.e. when Cricket World Cup is no longer on MainPage as the TFA, I wouldn't mind seeing

on ITN. However, the '2007 Cricket World Cup' page must be updated with game stats and a short prose about the game, referenced of course. I also suggest merging Cricket World Cup 2007 Opening Ceremony into the '2007 Cricket World Cup' page. After a day, when more matches have been played, perhaps the line should change to

And we should let this line move along the ITN template and disappear in a few days. (Let's not use ITN as a daily scoreboard.) When we have a winner on April 28, then we can have another line on ITN. How is this ? Hope everyone is happy this way. -- PFHLai 14:14, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Not posted (yet), due to lack of prose about the opening ceremony and the first match on the 2007 Cricket World Cup page. --PFHLai 00:05, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

This should be revisited when the competition comes to an end and a winner is confirmed as per standard practice. Not before. --Monotonehell 11:31, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Yes. As per standard practice, if there is a lack of prose about the competition in the article, this will not be featured on ITN even when we have a winner. Just simple stats and a line saying who won will not be considered an adequate update. --PFHLai 13:15, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Fair enough. Is this the approach we are going to use for the Olympics next year? -- ALoan (Talk) 18:18, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It better be! Please dont hold double standards and so if the cricket world cup didn't get a line so shouldn't the olimpics or the fifa world cup. Also the final of the world cup should get more than a line because its a big deal--Thugchildz 21:58, 14 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Probably, but 2008 is kind of too far ahead. Maybe a number of cricket-loving admins can start a revolution and change the ITN rules before the end of 2007 Cricket World Cup. :-)
I tried to keep 'similar' (slightly lower, I'm afraid) standards during the past Winter Olympics and it was quite hard. It wasn't just one page, but a whole set of pages. I think it was luge (+ 1 other sport, I forgot which one) that never got onto ITN because all the updates were tabulated stats. For individual events, the gold medalist must have a wikipage, but there were a few copyvios that prevented certain events from appearing on ITN. It was chaotic. And people complained ..... it was not fun. I wish whoever running ITN during the 2008 Olympics good luck.
If anyone really want 2007 Cricket World Cup to appear on ITN, please update the page. Thanks. The purpose of ITN is to showcase well updated pages, you know. Write something. Just a few lines about the match. Who was the 'Player of the Game'? Why? Anyone making his international debut ? Anyone made a new personal best ? Any team running a winning/losing streak?... Something..... --PFHLai 00:23, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This approach should be taken equally with all events. The Olympics is difficult however as it isn't one competition with one outcome, it's a collection of events that has several "finals". So unless we only look to the medal tally at the end I'm unsure how to give it justice without turning ITN into a scoreboard. Something we'll all have to think about before next year. --Monotonehell 02:01, 15 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

2007 Cricket World Cup group stage have a paragraph about every game! And just to let you know already something big happened! The Irish making their debut, tied with Zimbabwe (3rd tie in history). Can we please get a line when the super 8 stage start? because big things happen all the time and its hard to request and then get them up in time. Plus the super 8 page and the group stage page have and will continue to have a paragraph update after every game. So please consider giving a line for the super 8 which will start on Tuesday 27 March.--Thugchildz 01:20, 17 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Also, Herchelle Gibbs scored six sixes off an over and thus scored the maximum of 36 runs of one over. Which is the first time such a thing has happened in cricket. There is still time to mention the Cricket World Cup. The 2007 Cricket World Cup group stage is brilliant! I can't imagine why you haven't put it up still. Sfdasfr 04:16, 17 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Can we please get a line in the ITN, this world cup is all upsets and headlines. Today Ireland and Bangladesh(both "minnows" and was very much unexpected to win) Beat two of the favorites -Pakistan and India. This is the Irish debut world cup and in this they qualified for the second round. Thats big. It got front page(6 columns) in the Irish heading news paper. This is world cup is global and have teams from all the continents and deserves a line in the ITN because its not possible to get big things like this up in time.--Thugchildz 23:20, 17 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The globalization of cricket is increasing day-by-day with Ireland defeating former champions and cricketing heavyweight Pakistan and Bangladesh beating Asian cricket superpower India, which was one of the favourites to take the cup. When will this globalization reach Wikipedia??? Sfdasfr 01:03, 18 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 11

The topic may be ITN-material but a two-sentence update may be too little. Furthermore, please add citations to news sources in Jacques Chirac#Announcement of intention not to seek a third term. Thanks. --PFHLai 02:04, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Posted. Someone may want to add even more to the article. Thanks. --PFHLai 15:57, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 10

I've not worked on these articles, but as it fulfills the criteria and the article's been updated, I thought I'd nominate it. Kaushik twin 09:41, 10 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Please post a headline on Portal: Current events first, as per ITN guidelines. And please add citations to reliable sources to the Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry article. The article needs references. Thanks. --PFHLai 22:01, 10 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Please cite the news sources in Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry#Suspension 2007. Thanks. --PFHLai 02:07, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Now posted. --PFHLai 15:07, 13 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 9

The article is not substantial enough to provide the background information for inclusion. The item isn't listed at current events. The item doesn't meet the international interest criteria. Please review the criteria for inclusion. Did you mean to place this at DYK?--Monotonehell 11:39, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes. Sorry. --PaxEquilibrium 23:17, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I would oppose putting this up. What makes this item any less different from the selection contests in the other 41 countries taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest? I would only support putting up the final result of the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 on May 12. Cows fly kites T/C/Main/Rule 15:37, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 7

I support for this, to name that Australian journalists and diplomats were there as passengers. It could be a contentious airplane disaster news in the coming ddays. — Indon (reply) — 08:59, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Already posted (not by me) with a lower death toll at 21. Pls confirm the number. --PFHLai 15:19, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I support putting this up, but I don't see the link between this plane crash and the two earthquakes that would warrant merging these into one blurb. AecisBrievenbus 11:30, 8 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I concur. I've removed the reference to the two earthquakes. --PFHLai 20:22, 8 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
My kneejerk reaction was that it's not notable due to the self reference angle. But after a few moments' reflection, I support this inclusion, if we can find the right wording for the item. It's a bit of a wake up for those who implicitly trust the open nature of Wikis in general as instantly self correcting works. Perhaps something like:
It might be leaning toward the editor's side of the editor/reader dichotomy for the main page, but I think it's something that should be highlighted and not buried. --Monotonehell 21:36, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Another possibility could be:
My only concern with that being it's length being slightly on the long side. That said, yours works well too. Blood Red Sandman Open Up Your Heart - Receive My EviLove 21:46, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'll pass, as this seems quite minor to me. It's not Hwang Woo-Suk faking stem cell research that attracted the world's attention. Just one bad user, amongst thousands and thousands around the world. BTW, pls be reminded that news items should be posted at Portal:Current events first, as per ITN guidelines. Thanks. --PFHLai 22:41, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This is now on MainPage as a DYK. --PFHLai 23:02, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I've posted it on Portal:Current events, but way down at March 3. Even so, it is only recently the story has become more important. I think it's important we display it prominantly, as that way it shows that we have no intention of hiding the problem away, that we can 'come clean' and admit what's gone wrong. Blood Red Sandman Open Up Your Heart - Receive My EviLove 07:33, 8 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
While I understand that, I don't really know if it's wise to go against normal ITN practice for this especially since even if the attempt is to 'come clean' it's going to be seen as self-referring. Perhaps some people would say it doesn't violate normal ITN practice but IMHO it does. Yes it received some fairly noteable coverage for a wikipedia issue e.g. it was somewhere in my local paper (NZ Herald) but I don't think it comes anywhere close to normal level of international interest and notability for ITN items. Nil Einne 18:58, 8 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Essjay controversy was pulled from DYK very quickly yesterday. The article has become a battleground for editwarriors and is currently protected with ongoing disputes. As such, it should not be featured on ITN. --PFHLai 19:48, 8 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
If it had that problem on DYK, imagine the problems of ITN. Despite it being my idea, I too must now oppose it's apearance. Blood Red Sandman Open Up Your Heart - Receive My EviLove 17:46, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 6

Already posted hours ago (not by me). -- PFHLai 00:41, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
More detail needed in article, just a stub as of now. 69.119.239.138 12:24, 6 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
March 2007 Sumatra earthquakes still appears too stubby to be featured on MainPage. -- PFHLai 00:41, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 5

  • Russian prosecutors say suicide is the likeliest explanation for the death of Ivan Safronov, a military columnist who died after having fallen from the fifth floor of the Moscow building where he lived. --Nom by Camptown 13:15, 5 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
So there's no story then? --Monotonehell 06:16, 6 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I understand that practically everybody except the prosecutors believe that he was murdered. --Bondkaka 08:31, 6 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Again, it's all accusation and speculation at this point. There's no verifiable information other than his death. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia not a newspaper. We need a substantial and informative background article on a subject before we can include an item in ITN. --Monotonehell 09:37, 6 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ivan Safronov is now on MainPage as a DYK. --PFHLai 19:42, 8 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 4

  • The 2007 National People's Congress, China's parliament, opens in Beijing. Premier Wen Jiabao delivered his government report (similar to US State of the Union address). It was on the main page (number 1 for three days, in fact) last year. Colipon+(T) 03:28, 5 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Just having another annual meeting doesn't seem enough for ITN these days. I'd suggest a headline to highlight Wen's pledges and announcement. Perhaps the following:
--PFHLai 07:50, 5 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Okay. The 2007 National People's Congress opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with a report from Premier Wen Jiabao focusing on environmental concerns, narrowing the wealth gap, controlling housing prices, and "resolute opposition" to Taiwan independence. Colipon+(T) 02:39, 6 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I remember from the tv news last night that there was something "exceptional" about this particular sitting. Any idea what that was and if it's notable enough to include in ITN? Otherwise this is nothing special as far as ITN is concerned. --Monotonehell 06:15, 6 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree. As with my comments when the US/Bush state of the nation speech came up, unless the speech is particularly noteable it's unsuitable for ITN IMHO. If Wen Jiabao annouced that he intends to turn China into a real democracy within 5 years and protect human rights allowing international observers unrestricted access to ensure both, that would be a noteable speech for example. Nil Einne 17:54, 6 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yeah... I think this item seems too much like 'business as usual', just another annual report, so to speak. I wonder if the approval of the huge military budget would be "exceptional" enough. --PFHLai 00:40, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I think the military budget, along with the largely populist speech made by Wen is definitely enough to fit the "exceptional" status of a news item. So I propose the following:
The 2007 National People's Congress opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, with a report from Premier Wen Jiabao focusing on unusually populist issues such as the environment, housing prices and cracking down on corruption, as well as an unprecedented raise in the Chinese defence budget by 17%.

Whoever reviews the piece can get rid of any unnecessary or not-notable info. Colipon+(T) 03:46, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Please excuse my ignorance, Colipon. What do you mean by "unusually populist issues" ?
Also, the article on the 10-day meeting right now is mostly about Wen's annual report. What's in the agenda for the other 9 days ? Is that huge military budget approved yet ? --PFHLai 15:17, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wen's report, and a few laws to be passed on the last few days are the most important parts of the session. "unusually populist issues" refers to the fact that Wen's speech has toned down the Communist Party's usually political rhetoric and focused greatly on ordinary issues concerning the general populace. Like I said, you can change the wording. Colipon+(T) 04:34, 8 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

And more recently, the landmark property bill is a historic moment for China. [7] [8] Colipon+(T) 00:00, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Legislation on private asset ownership in a communist country ? That's quite interesting. This should be on ITN as soon as it's rubberstamped by the Congress and documented in the wikiarticle. Passing that huge defence budget would work as well. --PFHLai 00:50, 9 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

It seems there is a consensus to put this item up. I suggest that we do so or that we expand the article in such a way that it can be put up. Cows fly kites Main: Aecis/Rule/Contributions 16:05, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

To continue, please see above #March 16. --PFHLai 05:03, 16 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 3

  • "Best in years" total Lunar eclipse (news) will be in less then 24 hours. Is it worth main page ? --TAG 04:55, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
You'll need an article in Wikipedia documenting what happened, which requires noteworthy things to have already happened, or there'll be nothing to write about. Please check back after the eclipse and after you've updated the relevant articles. Whether this goes on MainPage depends on how those articles get updated. (If something special happens, a brand new article may be created.) A series of nice pictures of the eclipsed moon would be nice start, IMO. Happy editing. --PFHLai 07:25, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Not completely true PFHLai, with predictable astronomical events of note (eg best viewing opportunity of a comet or in this case a best in years lunar eclipse) it is worth putting an item in ITN, as after the fact isn't much of a service in these cases. We did recently with the January comet viewing. The need for after-the-fact verification for such events isn't as great, as it would be a unique and notable event indeed that would cause the Moon to go off course. A link to the Lunar eclipse article provides sufficient background information to those wondering what a lunar eclipse is and that article has been updated to note the next event and its viewing opportunities. Perhaps something like...
  • A Lunar eclipse, that is expected to be the best viewing opportunity in years, will occur on the 3 March and be partly visible over the eastern Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Western Australia. --Monotonehell 09:27, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Actually the comet was after it was no longer visible in the northern hemisphere and after it had been visible in most or all of the southern hemisphere for a few days (I'd already seen it in Auckland) and was starting to fade (although it was staying in the sky for longer and going higher so may have been easier to see). It was still visible in the southern hemisphere for a while longer but it wasn't exactly before the event and we already had a good article by the time. I'm not saying we should do the same, obviously the eclipse is fairly short, few minutes or hours event actually I personally think it would have been good to mention the comet earlier, just pointing out the it wasn't really the best eg Nil Einne 22:12, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'll pass due to lack of new prose (updates) on the Lunar eclipse article. Can't use 3 March 2007 lunar eclipse on MainPage as it's on AfD. I like the new pictures, though. Wish I could find an excuse to use one of them. --PFHLai 23:01, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks all ! It was listed "On this day..." section on main page. --TAG 23:19, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Picture at Image:Ildaktivister.jpg. Feer 01:01, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Due to its unknown copyright status, we cannot use this pic. Perhaps a picture from Commons:Ungdomshuset can be used instead. --PFHLai 07:02, 5 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ungdomshuset
Ungdomshuset
created --Hojimachongtalk 07:34, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The original Ungdomshuset article is already updated substantially following the riots. I don't know if the riots warrant a seperate article. This page is for suggesting news headlines for the ITN section on the mainpage, not for page creation requests. Thanks for creating the page anyway. Feer 14:30, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Posted a shorter version. --PFHLai 07:27, 5 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 2

I don't see why the tornado outbreak isn't on ITN when just a couple weeks ago we had the February 2007 North America winter storm up there. Granted, this latest storm has half as many deaths so it's not as sensational as the previous storm but it is affecting quite a large area. Dismas|(talk) 14:06, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'll pass, as you mentioned, it's not as sensational as the previous storm. Furthermore, there is a more severe natural disaster elsewhere this week. I'm waiting for a wikiarticle about the flood in Bolivia [9]. If we put this US tornado item on MainPage and ignore the Bolivian flood with a much higher death toll, there will be many people screaming about a pro-US bias/emphasis again. --PFHLai 17:39, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I find it very sad to see a discussion about which of two disasters with human death is more "sensational" 69.119.239.138 13:22, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Especially since Wikipedia is not a newspaper and such "cover story" measures don't factor into the criteria for inclusion. --Monotonehell 14:42, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
While perhaps 'sensational' isn't the best word I would argue we do in fact consider such details. There are many disasters which results in deaths all the time. Other then the obviously lack of articles which excludes a number of them, we have to and do consider international interest and this is dependent on things like the size of the area affected, the number of people affected (whether dead, injured or displaced), the economic cost, the frequency etc. Nil Einne 22:20, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Yes, "sensational" is not a good choice of vocabulary in this discussion.
The tornado outbreak is not the biggest weather-related news on Portal: Current events, so it's not a strong candidate for ITN. --PFHLai 23:14, 4 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Posted. --PFHLai 07:03, 3 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

March 1

Estonia
Estonia
Interesting, if this is indeed the first case of e-voting, it may be worthy of an inclusion. However I think the focus needs to be placed on the process not the article about the election which is content poor. Any other information/opinions on this? --Monotonehell 11:37, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
It seems to be true, and the e-voting via the internet is a part of an EU-program. The election is on Sunday, March 4, so the article will probably be expanded as of that day; I highlighted the general article as regards to e-voting in Estonia, although I gather that the election is more important... Camptown 15:39, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Well the election itself can't be placed in ITN until the official results are verified (ITN standard practice). I'm looking more at the angle of the e-voting itself, but being mostly ignorant of the facts, I'm relying on others to advise on this. --Monotonehell 17:16, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
This isn't the first incidence of e-voting, my wife (who is Dutch), voted via the internet in the Dutch parliamentary elections several months ago (we live in New York). Thethinredline 22:36, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Who won ? Any official results yet ? --PFHLai 07:51, 5 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Posted already (not by me). -PFHLai 00:33, 7 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

February 28

  • I'm suggesting this as an update to Romano Prodi's status (as long as it's still up):
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and his goverment survive a vote of no confidence in the Italian Parliament. Lockesdonkey 00:44, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I thought the lower house of the Italian Parliament won't be voting on this till Friday. I'd wait. --PFHLai 01:28, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
OK, then:
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and his goverment survive a vote of no confidence in the Italian Senate.
It was the Senate that caused the problem, anyway. Lockesdonkey 02:36, 1 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Posted. I didn't use the word 'survive', though. Sounds a bit "chatty". If it's a proper technical term, I can re-edit ITN to change it. --PFHLai 15:36, 2 March 2007 (UTC) Or ask another admin when I'm not logged in. --PFHLai 17:42, 2 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Was the bombing actually directed at Vice President Cheney, or was it it just an incredible coincidence that the bombing occured while he was there? Because if it was directed at him, i definitely think an assasination attempt of someone like the US Vice President would merit ITN attention. Thethinredline 00:30, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The BBC have reported: "The Taleban said they carried out the attack and that the attacker was trying to get to Mr Cheney, who was on an unannounced visit to the region." [10] CNN has reported: "The Taliban claimed responsibility and said Cheney was the target. Cheney was unhurt in the attack. ... The vice president had spent the night at the sprawling Bagram Air Base. He ate breakfast with the troops, and met with Maj. Gen. David Rodriguez, the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. He was preparing to leave for the meeting with Karzai when the suicide bomber struck about 10 a.m. (12:30 a.m. ET), sending up a plume of smoke visible to reporters accompanying him." [11] And according to Al Jazeera: "Cheney, who was on a unannounced visit to the region, was staying in a room at the base where he had to stay the night after bad weather forced postponement of his trip to Kabul. "At 10 a.m. I heard a loud boom," Cheney told reporters. "They moved me for a relatively brief period of time to one of the bomb shelters nearby," he said. "As the situation settled down and they got a better sense in terms of what was going on, I went back to my room until it was time to leave." The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that the bomber was targeting the American Vice-President. "We wanted to target ... Cheney," Taliban spokesman Mullah Hayat Khan told Reuters by phone from an undisclosed location." [12] It might be bluff or propaganda conceived after they found out that Dick Cheney was at the scene. But if they are correct, it would mean a high-level leak/spy in Afghanistan or the US. AecisBrievenbus 00:40, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • No idea how to spin it into a suitable sentence but surely the Shanghai Stock Market drop & its effects needs reporting here. -- PageantUpdatertalk | contribs | esperanza 00:50, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree with putting this up if the plummet continues tomorrow. Afaik the stock markets in Asia are about to open, and Europe will open in about 8 hours time. The problem is that there's not an updated article yet. As far as the wording is concerned, I suggest: "Stock markets around the world plummet after rumours about illegal share trading and fears of accelerating inflation in China." Or shorter: "A slide on the Shanghai Stock Exchange sends stock markets around the world plummeting." In both cases the word plummet(ing) would contain the link to the updated article. AecisBrievenbus 01:06, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Wikipedia is not a newspaper. Even though I understand this to be the biggest drop on Wall Street since Sep 2001 - Until some appropriate source we can cite, records any notable effect on the global economy, and that information is added to a article that is more than a simple "it happened" stub; *breaths* we can't add it to ITN. --Monotonehell 11:16, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that Wikipedia is not a newspaper, but Wikipedia would be a very good place to link all the stock market slumps around the world together, provide context, etcetera, all in one article. The slump seems to be continuing today, with the FTSE 100 losing 52 billion pounds off its total value in two days. AecisBrievenbus 12:41, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I agree that this global market sell-off should be listed. Also, it is just as worthy to be listed on the front page as a major weather storm (which we have had many on the front page in the last 6 months) 69.119.239.138 13:12, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
looks like 3 in favor, 1 against (ahh, gotta love consensus) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.119.239.138 (talkcontribs)
Perhaps, but please be reminded that this is not a vote, but a discussion, and that Wikipedia is not a democracy. Most important problem at the moment is the lack of an updated article about this event. As long as that is missing, the event cannot be added. AecisBrievenbus 13:19, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]