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The Free Speech Coalition was launched today in New Zealand due to the "grave threat" on New Zealand's free speech the Electoral Finance Bill has, according to co-founder, Cameron Slater, who spoke to Wikinews. David Farrar, author of Kiwiblog; Cameron Slater, author of Whale Oil Beef Hooked blog; and Bernard Darton, leader of political party, Libertarianz, compose The Free Speech Coalition trust set up to educate the "woefully informed" New Zealand public and campaign against the "draconian aspects" of the Bill. The Electoral Finance Bill w

A Washington, D.C. student of Georgetown University has been arrested on suspicion of a hate crime, in which he allegedly beat up another man because the victim was gay. News reports confirm that the victim - who also goes to the same school - recognized the alleged assailant, because of his profile and photos on Facebook. Washington DC Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier announced yesterday that Philip Cooney had been arrested after a warrant was issued for the September 9 attack, which occurred in the 1400 block of 36th Street NW (Between

An Oakville, Ontario woman married a man on New Zealand radio station The Edge after winning reality show Three Strangers and a Wedding. Chantelle Swanson, 26, had only talked to Paul Court, her husband and who is a 29-year-old horse driver, through the telephone. Invercargill Mayor and marriage celebrant Tim Shadbolt conducted the ceremony. "They're great, and I know they will stand by me even if my family won't. It's about him and I, making it work," Swanson said. Swanson had met with all three families of the three "groom's" prior to mak

Symphonic power metal band Nightwish have released Dark Passion Play, the album with the highest production costs in the history of the band's native Finland. When drummer Jukka Nevalainen was asked the overall cost of the new album, he was quoted as saying “Roughly half a million... We don’t know the exact sum down to the euros and cents as yet.” Half of this cost was incurred in London, United Kingdom, over an expensive eight days at the Abbey Road Studios, during which time the London Session Orchestra, the Metro Voices Choir, a gospel choi

Kenji Nagai, 50, a Japanese video journalist shot dead in Myanmar (Burma) this Thursday, is alleged to have been shot intentionally, a report says. On Friday Japanese television station Fuji TV aired a film in which Nagai had been shown. In that film, VOA reports Nagai was "thrown to the ground by a soldier and shot at close range." Tokyo based Yomiuri Shimbun reports the anonymous local testimonies of that incident: Nagai was shot from a near distance while he filmed the anti-government demonstration. The local testimonials state that military

The United States announced today that an airstrike against a house in Yusufiyah, Iraq on Tuesday completed its mission, killing insurgent commander Abu Usama al-Tunisi and two others. The airstrike, by an F-16 carrying two 500 lb bombs, came hours after a tip that al-Tunisi would be holding a meeting that day. However, al-Tunisi had been reported dead more than a year ago. The Tunisian militant had come to American attention during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004, and had overseen anti-aircraft missions and participated in t

Mark Scott is running for the Libertarian in the Ontario provincial election, in the Toronto—Danforth riding. Wikinews' Nick Moreau interviewed his regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign. Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as indepen

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki has announced that he will run for the Australian senate in the upcoming federal election. Kruszelnicki will be number two on the Climate Change Coalition's New South Wales Senate ticket. "I'm in the business of communicating important ideas. I've dedicated my life to it. This is another way to continue that dedication. And I'm looking forward to the opportunity to talk about the big questions in a political context. The personal is political," Mr Kruszelnicki said in a media release. According to his ABC bio, Kruszelni

At least 11 new species of life have been discovered in the rainforests of Thua Thien-Hue Province in Vietnam in a region of the forest described as the "Green Corridor." The discovery was made by researchers from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Among the new species are five orchids and at least three other species of plants, two butterflies and a snake. At least ten more species of plants are believed to be new species but are still being studied. "You only discover so many new species in very special places, and the Green Corridor is

The long awaited finale in the "Halo" series, "Halo 3", has beaten the previous record of opening day sales held by "Spiderman 3" of US$151 million. In the United States, "Halo 3" got $170 million worth of retail sales in the opening day alone. The game by Bungie Studios is available in 37 countries, which means the exact opening day figure will be much higher. More than one million Xbox Live subscribers logged on to play "Halo 3" against each other over the Internet in the first 20 hours of launch, according to Microsoft Game Studio's corpor

The Law Council of Australia has criticised both major parties for failing to commit to increases in legal aid funding. The LCA said that the Greens and Democrats have both committed to an immediate increase of $140 million, but that Labor and the Coalition are still yet to make any commitment. Law Council President Tim Bugg said, “The Budget surplus in 2006/07 was $17.3 billion; this year it is projected to be $10.6 billion – yet we’re supposed to accept that a fraction of this amount cannot be spared to assist less fortunate Australians pur

John Vanderslice has recently learned to enjoy America again. The singer-songwriter, who National Public Radio called "one of the most imaginative, prolific and consistently rewarding artists making music today," found it through an unlikely source: his French girlfriend. "For the first time in my life I wouldn't say I was defending the country but I was in this very strange position..." Since breaking off from San Francisco local legends, mk Ultra, Vanderslice has produced six critically-acclaimed albums. His most recent, Emerald City,