Author: Admin

Monday, December 12, 2005

Cronulla Beach in Sydney, New South Wales was the scene of racist mob-violence yesterday. In what has been described as disgusting, un-Australian and shameful behaviour, participants in a 5000-strong mob assaulted people suspected of being of Lebanese origin. The angry, alcohol-fuelled crowd also turned on anyone who tried to help the victims, including police, security guards and ambulance officers.

Following an attack on two lifeguards earlier in the week, allegedly by men of Lebanese descent, a protest had been organised via text messages and a small number of usenet postings.

Sutherland Shire Mayor Kevin Schreiber says inflammatory text messages calling for revenge attacks fueled the violence. Mr Schreiber said the heavily-circulated messages ensured troublemakers went to the southern Sydney beach looking for a fight. Police had patrolled the area all weekend after text messages began circulating among the community calling for vigilante responses to unwelcome visitors on the beach.

“The sending out of that text message was foolish and irresponsible and ensured that people from all over Sydney came to Cronulla looking to cause trouble and this was further fueled by alcohol,” said Mr Schreiber.

Sydney’s popular talk-back radio station 2GB also promoted Sunday’s event. Breakfast announcer Alan Jones has been accused of “fanning the flames.” Callers who recommended vigilante action were not discouraged to take the law into their own hands. Mr Jones, notorious for inflammatory comments, repeated the text message for Cronulla residents to defend their territory several times.

As the crowd marched along the beach and foreshore area, waving Australian flags, the crowd chanted racist slogans, with many wearing clothes bearing racist sentiment.

Middle Eastern men were openly targeted and assaulted. A young Muslim woman wearing a veil was chased into a kiosk on Cronulla beach. Police tried to move her away from the chanting crowd but were unable to reach the security of the command post. While the woman and police officers hid in the kiosk, a crowd surrounded the kiosk and shouted “Kill the Lebs”, while others climbed on top of the kiosk.

As police horses and special operations officers formed a line and pushed the crowd away, they were bombarded with beer bottles. After half an hour, an ambulance arrived at the kiosk and people were loaded into it. The ambulance, transporting six injured youths, escorted by police and police horses, was also bombarded with beer bottles. One struck an ambulance officer on the head. His colleague suffered lacerations to the arm.

Monday, July 8, 2019

On Friday, Youssef Chahed, the Prime Minister of Tunisia, signed a government decree banning anyone wearing a niqab from entering a public institution or government offices. A niqab is a face-veil, which covers almost the entire face, and is commonly worn by Muslim females as a religious garment.

“Chahed signed a government decree that bars any person with an undisclosed face from access to public headquarters, administrations, institutions, for security reasons”, a government official said. This decision comes after a couple of suicide bombings took place in the country’s capital, Tunis, last month. Reportedly, two people were killed and at least eight people were injured in a suicide bombing that happened on June 27. According to eyewitness reports, the suicide bomber wore a face veil covering, the niqab. In the span of one week, at least three suicide bombings took place in Tunisia. The militant organisation, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, claimed responsibility for all three attacks.

Speaking to Agence France-Presse, the president of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, Jamel Msallem, said, “We are for the freedom to dress, but today with the current situation and the terrorist threats in Tunisia and across the region we find justifications for this decision”. A member of the Tunisian Parliament, Samir Dilou said, “Tunisia is facing terrorist attacks, so every measure which is led by security motives is understandable”.

After an attack in the capital city in 2015, a bill was proposed in 2016 for banning the niqab, but was not passed. Souhail Alouini, a member of Parliament, said, “We proposed a bill in 2016 about this subject and it has still not been debated […] Maybe it is time now.”

Tunisia’s neighbouring Muslim-majority African countries including Algeria and Morocco have cited security concerns to impose bans on niqabs. Previously, another Islamic religious garment, the hijab, was banned in Tunisian public offices during Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s Presidency. That ban was lifted in 2011.

Sunday, April 23, 2017

More than fifteen people were killed near the police station in Yerpedu, Andhra Pradesh, India after a heavily loaded truck lost control on Friday afternoon at about 1:45 P.M. IST (0815 UTC).

People, mostly from the village of Munagalapalem, were gathered to protest local illegal sand mining. The truck hit an electric pole, and destroyed nearby shops and vehicles causing a short-circuit and fire. Tirupati Urban Superintendent of Police R Jayalakshmi said the truck crushed some people under its wheels; six people were killed that way according to Renigunta deputy superintendent KS Nanjndappa. Other people died due to the short circuit and the fire. More than fifteen people were injured including the police station’s chief inspector and the sub-inspector. Reportedly at least ten were in a critical condition.

The driver fled after the accident. Victims were taken to hospitals in Tirupati, and Chennai and Vellore in Tamil Nadu. N Chandrababu Naidu, Andhra’s Chief Minister, said via Twitter, “State Cabinet has announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh [0.5 million] to the families of the deceased.”

Monday, December 26, 2005One year on from the Indian Ocean tsunami, the world’s grief and compassion returned to the tsunami-battered coastlines of the Indian Ocean, where at least 216 000 people lost their lives. Under a clear sky and before a gentle sea, the world commemorated those lost their lives, in one of the worst natural disasters that the modern world has experienced.

Since the Indian Ocean tsunami, patchy progress has been made on the return to a normal life for those who lived through the experience. Efforts to implement a warning system similar to that coordinated by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii have past a number of significant milestones. Tourist resorts in many places have been rebuilt, and many visiting them at this time do so as a form of remembrance. Yet still there remain those who may never recover from the tragic events of one year ago. Some $13 billion was pledged to relief and recovery efforts, of which 75 percent has already been secured.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Natural Balance Pet Foods has recalled some of its wet and dry food for cats and dogs after several owners said that their pets were becoming sick. The company urges owners to stop feeding their pets the food immediately.

The brands recalled include Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food.

Last month, Menu Foods recalled all of its 60 million products of dry and wet dog and cat food after pets began to fall ill and in some cases died of kidney failure.

“Natural Balance, Pacoima, CA, is issuing a voluntary nationwide recall for all of its Venison dog products and the dry Venison cat food only, regardless of date codes. The recalled products include Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, Venison and Brown Rice dog treats, and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food. Recent laboratory results show that the products contain melamine. We believe the source of the melamine is a rice protein concentrate. Natural Balance has confirmed this morning that some production batches of these products may contain melamine,” said a press released issued by Natural Balance.

The FDA states that the “investigation remains open and active, and the agency continues to follow leads to get closer to the root cause of the problem and to ensure that all contaminated product is removed from the market.”

“The source of the melamine appears to be a rice protein concentrate, which was recently added to the dry venison formulas. Natural Balance does not use wheat gluten, which was associated with the previous melamine contamination,” said the press release.

Bags, cans and zip lock bags of the food are expected to be the most affected.

“The products are packaged in bags, cans and zip lock treat bags and sold in pet specialty stores and PetCo nationally. No other Natural Balance products are involved in this voluntary recall as none of our other formulas include the rice protein concentrate,” added the press release.

The company states that the food, Venison & Brown Rice Dry Dog Food and Venison & Green Pea Dry Cat Food, are the only brands affected by the recall.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

After an early morning fire began, four out of the nine people living at the Riverview Individual Residential Alternative group home located in Wells, New York were killed by the blaze. The Sunmount Developmental Disabilities Services Office, which supervises the home, told the media that the fire started at approximately 5:30 AM Eastern Daylight Time. Two staff members were at the home at the time, who safely evacuated four of the five survivors.

The names of the residents killed in the fire were not able to be released due to New York’s Mental Hygiene Law, but are able to be identified as two adult men, aged 32 and 52, and two adult women, aged 43 and 60. A 71-year-old male was injured in the fire, and was taken to a hospital in Utica, a nearby city. The other four residents have been relocated to an unnamed group home. Both staff members are also being examined at the hospital.

“On behalf of all New Yorkers, I wish to extend my heartfelt condolences to the families, loved ones and friends of the four victims and to continue to pray for the full recovery of those five people and two staff members who survived this incident. I also want to express my thanks and appreciation for the first responders and volunteers who worked swiftly and diligently to respond to this tragedy,” David Patterson, the governor of New York, said to the media.

The exact cause of the fire has yet to be determined. However, the New York Civil Liberties Union stated that “the blaze appears to have been an electrical fire and the sprinkler system was knocked out immediately.” They also called for “an immediate investigation into the causes of and contributing factors of the fire.”

The New York State Department of State Office of Fire Prevention and Control is currently investigating the causes of the blaze, with help from New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the New York State Commission on Quality of Care and Advocacy for Persons with Disabilities.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

If you are in the market for new bedding, and not too concerned with the new United States guidelines for mattress fire resistance, now might be a good time to buy. Mattresses sold in the U.S. must meet new federal guidelines for flammability starting on July 1.

The flammability of mattress sets sold in the U.S. is subject to a new mandatory federal regulation requirement passed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on February 16 last year. The requirement, costing mattress manufacturers an estimated $100 million to meet, is scheduled to take effect on July 1. The commission anticipates that the new standards will save 270 lives and 1,330 injuries per year from mattress fires.

“We’ve passed a new open flame regulation and the whole idea behind the regulation is to make sure that if a mattress catches on fire that the fire burns slowly enough that people have enough time to get out of the house and get away,” said Hal Stratton, chairman of the CPSC

Radio and TV advertising spots are reacting to the new regulation by discounting prices on mattresses that fail to meet the new guidelines. Sales made in the mattress industry, like the automobile industry, are highly negotiable on price. The new regulation does not appear to have much “teeth” for mattresses already in the distribution pipeline, but it is a new law that is a bargaining position for potential buyers.