Saturday, December 8, 2007

Before the Ministry of Education removed the title the “Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness” along the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, members of the public and politicians from Pan-Greens and Pan-Blues battled and demonstrated there, but 5 reporters were hit by a truck near the National Central Library when they made a SNG live report.

According to witnesses and Chien-chiang Wang from Formosa Television, they witnessed the driver deliberately stepping on the accelerator after he hit a reporter and braked. Even though the suspect, Sheng-lou Peng was under arrested by the police, he caused the public indignations and was punched by a protester.

Due to the incident, politicians from Pan-Greens and Pan-Blues argued for the responsibilities again. Eventually, a legislative candidate named Feng Mei maliciously said: “It’s a show, SO WHAT?!” This behavior without respects on hurt reporters caused outrages from voters from Pan-Greens and Pan-Blues and Mei’s neighborhoods.

Politicians from two coalitions like Premier of the Republic of China Chun-hsiung Chang, KMT 2008 Presidential Candidate Ying-jeou Ma, Magistrate of Taipei County Hsi-wei Chou, Minister of the Government Information Office Chih-wei Hsieh, and current President of the Republic of China Shui-bian Chen all criticized on this incident and hoped 5 hurt reporters can recover soon.

Friday, April 11, 2008

The public consultation into the proposed wind farm in Avonmouth, Bristol, United Kingdom closed today. According to a video released by Bristol City Council the proposal was for two wind turbines to be produced to “help power local public services” and “reduce the council’s carbon footprint.”

The Energy Director of the Bristol City Council claimed in the promotional video that not reducing the carbon footprint would be a “failure in our [the council’s] duty to tackle climate change.” He also said that the council would face fines from the European Union if the targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not met. In addition to this it was also claimed in the video that the amount of electricity used by the council needs to be reduced as they currently spend five million pounds per year for electricity. He finished by saying that one way the council can cut their greenhouse emissions is by producing their own “green electricity.”

Councillor Mark Bradshaw of the Bristol City Council was also featured in the video. He explained the proposals by saying that “we [the council] propose to build two wind farms on a former industrial site.”

Saturday, July 12, 2008

In what regulators have described as the second-largest bank failure in the history of the United States, IndyMac Bank has been closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision and placed under the conservatorship of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) due to plummeting shares and the start of a run on the bank. This is the fifth FDIC-insured failure of the year.

The FDIC has said that it will transfer all insured deposits and substantial assets, to the new IndyMac Federal Bank which, as the name implies, is controlled by an agency of the federal government. The aim is for the transfer to be completed by Monday.

In a press release, the FDIC attempted to reassure customers by saying that, “insured depositors and borrowers will automatically become customers of IndyMac Federal, FSB and will continue to have uninterrupted customer service and access to their funds by ATM, debit cards and writing checks in the same manner as before.” As an FDIC-insured bank, all FDIC accounts are guaranteed up to US$100,000. The FDIC has also placed a special advance, guaranteeing any funds over $100,000 for 50 cents to the dollar.

This move by the FDIC is expected to cost the organization at least four billion USD per year.

In the days leading up to the conservatorship, market analysts have predicted the failure of IndyMac due to the fact that it was shedding jobs and closing many of its branch offices.

Sunday, March 7, 2021

On Friday, after three earthquakes hit near both the Kermadec Islands and about 105 km off New Zealand’s east coast, people across New Zealand were instructed by the government to stay away from beach and shore areas.

The first earthquake hit at 2:27 AM local time at a depth of 10km, and registered 7.1 according to Radio New Zealand. It was felt across the North Island and parts of the South Island. Two 7.4 and 8.1 earthquakes were recorded near the Kermadec Islands by New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). Radio New Zealand reported more than a dozen aftershocks, some as strong as 5.4, were recorded.

NEMA had issued a warning around 9:45 AM there was a land and marine threat and flooding was expected on the Northland coast from Cape Reinga to Whang?rei and Ahipara, as well as New Zealand’s East Coast from Matata to Tolaga Bay. However, this advice was later revised. At 2:48 PM, the tsunami warning was cancelled. The newer notifications mentioned “Strong and unusual currents and unpredictable surges will continue for up to another 24 hours”, and residents were instructed to “remain vigilant and take extra precautions”.

On Instagram, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern posted “Hope everyone is OK out there – especially on the East Coast who would have felt the full force of that earthquake”. Minister for Emergency Management Kiri Allan stated in a press conference all of ?p?tiki had been evacuated, and “people have done the right things in the regions by picking up and packing up and staying calm.”

Friday, November 20, 2009

The Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Irish Minister for Sport, Taoiseach and Facebook social network groups are requesting a replay of the controversial FIFA World Cup play-off between Ireland and France in the interests of Fair Play. The FAI lodged an appeal with FIFA and also contacted the French Football Federation (FFF), it appears FAI hopes FFF may agree that a replay is fair play. Both captians, Thierry Henry and Robbie Keane, have called for a replay.

The Irish supporters, who in the past have won the FIFA Fair Play Award, are angry after a blatant double handball by Thierry Henry enabled France to score the extra-time goal that cost Ireland entry to next year’s FIFA World Cup finals in South Africa. Most Irish anger has been directed at FIFA, although French captain Thierry Henry has admitted handling the ball.

FAI has argued that there is a strong precedent; in 2005 where FIFA invalidated the result of a FIFA World Cup qualification match between Uzbekistan and Bahrain on the basis of a technical error by the match referee. However, Law 5 of the Laws of the Game state that: “The decisions of the referee regarding facts connected with play, including whether or not a goal is scored and the result of the match, are final.” and a source at Fifa headquarters in Switzerland said that “there is no way the game can be replayed”. The generic concept of fair play is a fundamental part of the game of football and the Fair Play Campaign was conceived largely as an indirect result of the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico, when the handball goal by Diego Maradona.

The referee Martin Hansson and (referee’s assistants) Stefan Wittberg and Fredrik Nilsson were unable to see the incident but didn’t ask Thierry Henry if he handled the ball. Its hoped the mistake won’t cost the Swedish referee’s a place in South Africa. FIFA’s Fair play policy is playing by the rules, using common sense and respecting fellow players, referees, opponents and fans. The French union representing the nation’s gym teachers declared outrage at what it called “indisputable cheating.”

Minister for Sport Martin Cullen wrote to FIFA president Sepp Blatter urging him to call a rematch in the interests of fair play. Taoiseach Brian Cowen raised the issue with French president Nicolas Sarkozy on the fringes of last night’s EU summit. French Prime minister François Fillon said “neither the French government nor the Irish Government should interfere in the functioning of the international federation”.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

The first two days of New York Fashion Week have debuted fashions similar to past years. Since Friday’s opening of what is the world’s largest fashion show, many designers have unveiled their newest designs. These include turtleneck sweaters and miniskirts. However, the ubiquitous fashion staple seen on the runway has been incorporated in designs that are even shorter than in past years.

Major labels Nicole Miller, Lacoste, BCBG, and Baby Phat debuted their styles in the first two days of the week-long extravaganza, nominally the official unveiling of the Fall 2008 styles and leading up to similar fashion shows in Los Angeles, London, Paris and Milan. If the first two days of Fashion Week are any indication, another year of miniskirts are in vogue, partnered with tights, which were widely expected to go out of fashion for 2008.

Day one kicked off with a Red Dress Campaign fashion show, aimed at educating people on the dangers of heart disease. Among the celebrities to walk in red gowns for the Red Dress fashion show were Rita Moreno and Liza Minnelli.

Talk of a budding recession in the United States has sparked fears in the couture world, in which a lackluster fashion season can make or break many designers, both up-and-comers and established names. New York designer Nanette Lepore has led the charge to save money by only debuting two different collections a year.

New York Fashion Week runs until Friday. Designers yet to unveil their fall lines include Oscar de la Renta, Anna Sui, Bill Blass, Michael Kors, Vera Wang, and Diane von Fürstenberg.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Since the August 20 release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, who was convicted of planting a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103, there has been growing controversy surrounding the events which led to his release. Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in-flight in 1988 as the aircraft flew over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 people on board and eleven more on the ground. Al Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted of the bombing.

In recent years, the British government has negotiated oil development deals with Libya. As part of the negotiations, at least three UK ministers traveled to Libya in the months leading up to Al Megrahi’s release.

Leaked letters from UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw to his Scottish counterpart, Kenny MacAskill, stated that it was in the “overwhelming national interests” of the UK to include Al Megrahi in prisoner transfer agreements which were part of the oil trade deals. These letters have lead to widespread speculation that the British government influenced the Scottish decision to release Al Megrahi.

Al Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds as he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. However, this diagnosis was called into question as The Times revealed that the health director of the Scottish Prison Service, Dr. Andrew Fraser, relied on the advice of a general practitioner instead of an oncologist, when issuing his recommendation for release.

When Al Megrahi returned to Libyan soil, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi thanked Gordon Brown and Queen Elizabeth for his release.

Saif al-Islam Muammar al-Gaddafi, the son of Muammar al-Gaddafi, has stated that during the prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) phase the trade negotiations, the Al Megrahi case was not specifically named, yet it was implied.

“The fight to get the [prisoner transfer] agreement lasted a long time and was very political, but I want to make clear that we didn’t mention Mr Megrahi. At all times we talked about the PTA. It was obvious we were talking about him. We all knew that was what we were talking about,” he said.

In Scotland, the release of Al Megrahi has caused significant debate. A poll conducted for the BBC by ICM Research found that 60% of Scots thought the Scottish Government was wrong to allow the release. 68% believe the decision was made fore reasons that did not pertain to Al Megrahi’s health.

“No one I think seriously believes we made any other decision except for the right reasons,” First Minister Alex Salmond said on Wednesday. “I think it was the right decision. I also absolutely know it was for the right reasons.”

“We didn’t think that the Lockerbie decision should be linked to trade or oil decisions by anyone who looked at the coincidence that the prisoner transfer agreement was being negotiated at the same time as commercial contracts,” Salmon also stated.

The UK Prime Minister’s office stated Monday that, “There was no deal over [the] release of al-Megrahi nor could there ever be, since all decisions were for the Scottish, not U.K. government.”

“The central assertion in this story is completely untrue and deeply misleading,” Downing Street added.

Correspondence released on Tuesday by the UK government shows that Abdulati Alobidi, the Libyan minister to Europe warned of “catastrophic effects for the relationship between Libya and the UK,” if Al Megrahi were to die in prison in Scotland.

When Salmond asked Straw what the national interests of the UK were, Jack Straw replied, “Having sponsored terrorist attacks in the past, it [Libya] is now an important partner in the fight against terrorism.” Libya approved a large oil exploration contract to BP within days of the letter.

Libyan officials have said that since al-Megrahi’s return to Libya, his health has deteriorated. He was not part of the 40th anniversary celebrations for Gaddafi’s coup d’état held on Tuesday.