Wikinews:Print edition/Wikinews Weekly/0

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This is the trial run for Wikinews Weekly.

Wikinews Weekly Volume I, Issue 1 Week of April 3, 2010

Wikipedia and sister projects prepare new, easier interface
Sunday, March 28, 2010

This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation.

Wikipedia, one of the top ten websites on the internet, will soon be receiving a face lift. The first part of the change is a new skin called Vector. This skin, currently used on Wikinews, will be enabled for Wikipedia on April 5th and provide a more updated look and feel. The second part will change the toolbar when editing, and is intended to ease common tasks. Both changes are important to encourage new people to edit and update content. The improvements have been tested by more than 500,000 beta-testers.

The wiki code will also be improved; editors will be able to change tables data and other elements with an easy form, in addition to editing an article while watching it.

On the other hand, the staff of Wikimedia requests more editors to add and update articles in their wikis. Wikipedia is a website maintained by users in unprecedented numbers. Maintenance and updating processes are dependent on just one percent of their users. Based on some statements, less than a thousand users do the maintenance and updating work.

Jenson Button wins 2010 Australian Grand Prix
Sunday, March 28, 2010

McLaren driver Jenson Button won yesterday's FIA Formula One 2010 Qantas Australian Grand Prix on the Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit at Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia. Button placed fourth behind both Red Bull cars and Alonso's Ferrari, but took advantage from an earlier tyre change from intermediate to slick and won the Australian GP for the second time in his career.

Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel led for the first half of the race, missing a corner after a brake failure.

The quick pace for Renault of Robert Kubica resulted in a second place finish after starting ninth, ahead of the Ferrari cars of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso. His team-mate, rookie Petrov, went out after an error on his tenth lap.

Button's team-mate, Lewis Hamilton, and Vettel's team-mate, Mark Webber, closely followed Kubica and the Ferraris, but after an unsuccessful overtaking attempt from Lewis, the Australian driver knocked his car's rear and they found themselves in the gravel. This opened the way for Nico Rosberg finishing fifth for Mercedes ahead of Hamilton.

While in the gravel, Webber was overtaken by Vitantonio Liuzzi (Force India) and Rubens Barrichello (Williams).

The top ten was closed by seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), who struggled behind Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) for most of the race, after a contact with Alonso in the first corner from the start. Race spectators saw only fourteen of the 24 drivers reach the finish line.

Championship standings currently are still topped by Alonso with 37 points, Massa and Button coming four and six points behind respectively. Ferrari now lead the constructor's standings with 70 points, sixteen points ahead of McLaren.

Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek gets hero's welcome in hometown
Sunday, March 28, 2010

Residents of the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Illinois celebrated Evan Lysacek Day last Friday. Held in honor of the gold medalist in figure skating at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, the day started with a rally at the former Naperville resident's high school, Neuqua Valley High School.

Neuqua awarded Lysacek its first-ever Distinguished Alumni Award. He was the first American since 1988 to win the gold in men's figure skating, having started the sport since he was eight. Despite being busy with other engagements and starring in the TV show Dancing with the Stars, Lysacek was excited about the opportunity to visit his hometown.

He also took the opportunity to thank his former teachers, who he said worked hard to keep him caught up in his studies amidst his hectic skating career. "I've been waiting to get back home and celebrate with the community that's backed me and been so instrumental in my development as a person, as an athlete and take this opportunity to say thank you, not just to the community but more so to the faculty here," he told the crowd at Neuqua.

The skater's achievements have inspired the residents of his hometown. "I was inspired by what he showed me. He showed that I can do anything I want to do," said Neuqua student Gbenja Okubaja. At a Chamber of Commerce lunch held later that day, Naperville Mayor A. George Pradel awarded Lysacek the key to the city, saying "I don't know what it opens, but I've been told its already opened the hearts of everyone here in Naperville." In response Lysacek joked, "I hear it opens all the banks here in Naperville."

Afterwards Lysacek attended a fundraiser held in honor of skater and long-time friend Stephanie Joseph, who died of cancer at the age of 21.

Russia removes two timezones
Monday, March 29, 2010

The Russian government has decided to remove two of its eleven timezones in the country's first step towards time reform, first started by president Dmitry Medvedev last November. The affected regions were Chukotka, the eastern-most province of Russia, which was moved back an hour, as were Samara and Udmurtia, which are now on Moscow time.

The changes were implemented on Saturday night, when most of the country was due to put their country ahead for summer time. Rather than moving their clocks forward, the affected areas did not adjust their clocks.

"It's possible that this could also aid the strengthening of Russia's position as a link in the global information infrastructure," Medvedev remarked earlier this month.

"Reducing the number of time zones is very efficient for managing, for coordinating activities, and for maintaining the connection of far-off regions to the center of the country," commented Arkady Tishkov, who is a deputy science director of the Geography Institution of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Tishkov speculated that the number of time zones could eventually be reduced to six.

Meanwhile, an online petition has been posted opposing the time change for the Samara province which has garnered close to 13,000 signatures. "Trips take place to many regions of the country and world where time, understandably, does not correspond with Moscow," the text of the petition read, adding that "[i]n the winter, darkness will come almost at lunchtime, which isn't convenient and is psychologically quite difficult."