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Monday, June 2, 2008

South African media have reported that police staff in South Africa were arrested on allegations of fraud. Police said Saturday that nine people including six employees of the South African Police Service were arrested in Mpumalanga.

A spokesperson for the police service, Captain Leonard Hlathi, said that the other three individuals have resigned from the police. Hlathi said that the individuals were arrested for fraud, corruption and theft, and allegedly defrauded South Africa of approximately R2.5-million (about US$327,000) between 2003 and 2007.

“This was a syndicate that has cost the police service more than R2.5million and we believe we have made a breakthrough,” said Hlathi.

Hlathi told the South African Press Association that the investigation began in April 2007 and showed that the suspects registered companies in the South Africa police database, though no existing files were found for the companies themselves. He said that three out of the five companies were found not to exist. The suspects were arrested on Friday by the Mpumalanga organized crime unit.

“We have a warrant of arrest that we are happy to execute against you right away. You are now under arrest on charges of fraud and you have the right to remain silent if you so wish,” said Superintendent Obed Ngwenya, police organized crime unit head, prior to arresting one of the individuals.

The individuals arrested appeared in the Nelspruit magistrate’s court on Friday. They were released with a subsequent court date set for June 21.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

An eight-month old boy, Andrew, was attacked and killed by a Doberman Pinscher in Brooklyn, New York. The dog was a three-year old named Mackabee, who is also neutered.

The grandmother was babysitting the boy. While she was in the kitchen she heard the boy scream and ran next door to a neighbor for help. The neighbor took the dog off the boy, rescued him and brought him to his house to try and perform CPR on the boy, while he called 911 for help.

Police said the baby’s head was in bad shape and the dog broke the boy’s skull. Andrew was sent to Kings County Medical.

The doctors tried to save his life by working on him for nearly an hour, but the boy died at 3:06 pm local time. The parents of the child were not home at the time of the incident. The dog was shot with a tranquilizer and was sent to a care center. The city Department of Health is investigating. The dog may have to be put down because of the incident.

According to the US Centers for Disease Control, the Doberman Pinscher is not frequently involved in fatal attacks on humans in comparison to several other dog breeds such as German Shepherds , Rottweilers and others.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Official pressure on the Hare Krishna community near Almaty in Kazakhstan is mounting, according to Norwegian religious rights organisation Forum 18. Following on from the demolition of homes at the end of last year three more home owners have been issued with demolition notices. If the owners fail to demolish their own houses the authorities have warned they will do so themselves and charge them for the cost.

Thirteen homes owned by members of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness were bulldozed last November, although other homes in the village owned by non-Hare Krishna residents were not touched. Gauhar Beyeseyeva of the Kazakh Foreign Ministry is quoted as saying (to the members of the Hare Krishna commune) “We were denied the OSCE chairmanship specifically because of you people.”

Amanbek Muhashov, the chair of the committee for religion under the justice ministry told the Kazakh daily Kazakhstanskaya Pravda that some of the group members acquired land for the settlements by giving misleading information and thus the property did not conform to local regulations. This is refuted by the members of the community.

The OSCE’s Advisory Council on Freedom of Religion or Belief examined the dispute in detail last year and concluded that “state sponsored action has been focused upon members of the Hare Krishna community in a manner that suggests they have been targeted on the basis of their religious affiliation,” and that “this raises serious issues regarding the enjoyment of the freedom of religion and belief.” The Advisory Council also stated its “willingness to meet with the Kazakh authorities in order to discuss the situation and to extend its good offices to assist in the resolution of that dispute”. The Kazakh authorities have thus far given no official answer to the Advisory Council’s 27 November 2006 offer.

A. Kravchenko, the head of the prosecutor-generals denied any “religious implications” in the legal proceedings.

On 29 January Viktor Golous, Chair of the Hare Krishna Community, was summoned to a court hearing to continue the case on the ownership of the commune’s farm. At the same time, demolition notices were served on three more Hare Krishna home owners, who were told that they must demolish their own homes within five days. According to Forum 18 no previous notices had been given to any of the three Hare Krishna targets in regards to any claims filed against them, court hearings or court rulings. Thus they were unable to file an appeal and defend their property.

Golous appeared in court on January 30th with request that that – due to the short notice given – the hearing should be adjourned at least until lawyers were able to appear. Judge Jurhan Zhailybayev accepted the application for an adjournment and told Golous that he could leave as notice of the new date of the hearing would be sent to him. However, after Golous left the court, Judge Zhailybayev ruled – with only one of the three defendants present – that the Hare Krishna-owned farm should, in fact, be confiscated.

Members of the ‘Sri Vrindavan Dharm’ community in Karasai district question who is benefiting from the confiscation of their property?

Rati Manjari of the Hare Krishnas told Forum 18 on January 20th that “by this new claim the authorities are preparing to cancel a 2005 Supreme Court decision that the Hare Krishna community are the bona fide purchaser and user of the land.” She suggested that the authorities plan – “after they win this case” – to appeal to the Supreme Court to annul the Hare Krishna community’s purchase and thus ownership of the land.

Sunday, January 21, 2007

In the United Kingdom, an anti-pollution operation is under way after the stricken ship MSC Napoli started to leak dangerous heavy fuel oil.

The heavy fuel oil that is leaking from the beached Italian ship is extremely dangerous for the environment. Fear of pollution increased after the ship was further damaged during storms last Thursday. MSC Napoli was beached by Devon coastguards after it suffered heavy structual damage in the gale force storms of Thursday, 18 January 2007, that wreaked havoc across Northern Europe. The ship, which contains 160 containers of hazardous chemical substances, is listing at 35 degrees.

The entire 26-man crew was rescued by navy helicopters Thursday after severe gales. Cracks were found on both sides of the ship, but the current oil leak was not expected.

Around 2,400 containers were carried by the 62,000 tonne ship, some of which contain potentially dangerous hazardous chemicals.

The Coastguards have reported that up to 200 of the containers carrying materials such as perfume and battery acid are loose from the ship and they are looking for missing containers. South African stainless steel producer Columbus Stainless confirmed on Friday that there was at least 1,000 tonnes of nickel on board MSC Napoli.

A hole in the ship flooded the engine room and there’s now fears that the ship will break up. Saturday MSC Napoli was towed to Portland when a ”structural failure” forced the salvage team to beach it. As the storms have continued MSC Napoli has been further damaged.

The authorities have warned people about the pollution, which already has reached the beaches at Devon, but many want to see it on their own. Police have closed Branscombe Beach as more than 20 containers have broken up scattering their contents along the beach.

Sky News reported Sunday that the costs of the accident might be very high as thousands of pounds worth of BMW motorbikes, car parts, empty oak barrels and perfume might get lost in flooding containers.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A Pembroke Pines, Florida teenager killed himself Wednesday, November 19, while broadcasting on the live video site Justin.tv. After making suicide threats and being encouraged by Justin.tv viewers and Bodybuilding.com forum members, Abraham K. Biggs, 19, committed suicide by taking an overdose of opiates and benzodiazepine, which had been prescribed for his bipolar disorder.

Biggs first began blogging about his planned suicide 12 hours before the actual event. He died after taking pills and lying on the bed in front of the webcam. After the broadcast, viewers who apparently thought it was a hoax posted messages such as “OMG”, “LOL”, and “hahahah”.

Hours later, after being alerted by viewers who had noticed that Biggs had stopped breathing, law enforcement and paramedics arrived, discovered his body, and covered the camera. The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office has reportedly confirmed Biggs’ death.

According to Montana Miller of the Bowling Green State University, the circumstances of this case were not shocking: “If it’s not recorded or documented, then it doesn’t even seem worthwhile. For today’s generation it might seem, ‘What’s the point of doing it if everyone isn’t going to see it?'”

Biggs’ sister Rosalind was angry that neither the website nor its viewers reacted soon enough to save him. “They got hits, they got viewers, nothing happened for hours,” she said. She described him as “very happy” and “friendly and outgoing.” “On a normal day, you couldn’t really tell that he got as low as he did.” However, he did have relationship problems with his girlfriend, according to a friend.

Mental health professionals have warned about the possibility that other mentally troubled people would copy his actions. According to Dr. David Shaffer of Columbia University, “Any video showing it as heroic or romantic or glamorous could reduce the anxiety people might feel about suicide. It becomes a respectable behavior and lowers the threshold of suicide.” He and other psychiatrists recommend that potentially suicidal teens talk to others and “tell what’s going on.”

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The final farewell train in the first series of Shinkansen super-express, called zero-kei (0 Series), ran through western Japan Sunday afternoon from Shin-Osaka to Hakata. 0 Series has served in Japan since 1964, undergoing some model changes, and was retired from regular runs at the end of the last month. Extra farewell runs were scheduled for three days, with all seats allowed to be reserved, and this was the final run.

On Sunday in Shin-Osaka station, a farewell ceremony for Shinkansen 0 Series began at 14:30, where those who contributed to its debut were invited. Around 14:45, the train slowly appeared to enter Track 20. The head and tail cars changed roles, and the train got ready by 14:48 as HIKARI 347 bound for Hakata. And, at 14:56, blowing a long horn, the 0-Series train left for the final trip.

Japanese news media report that approximately 2,800 people gathered to see off the final departure, so did many in the stations the train stopped by. Lastly, the train arrived at Hakata as scheduled at 18:01, welcomed by about 1,600 fans.

Shinkansen network was launched on 1 October 1964, just before Tokyo Olympic Games, with a route connecting the capital Tokyo and Osaka City (now operated by JR-Central). The route for 0-Series trains was gradually extended to the west, which in 1975 reached Hakata area of Fukuoka City (now by JR-West).

Shinkansen 0 Series has a characteristic round face with a part like a shallow bowl, and was nicknamed “dango-bana” or “dangoppana” (literally, “dumpling nose”). At the time of its debut, 0 Series ran at a maximum speed of 210 km/h, which was the world’s highest. HIKARI, meaning beam or light, was the name of trains for the faster service. Even while more modern and faster series were rising, 0 Series continued to serve for some years, but in 1999 it ceased from JR-Central services, and in March 2000 from regular HIKARI runs of JR-West.

According to the media, remaining 0-Series Shinkansen cars are destined to be scrapped. Some other cars, which were withdrawn earlier, are preserved in museums including one in Osaka and National Railway Museum in the U.K.