magyarazurben.net

Thursday, February 9, 2006

Two Indonesian women, 23 and 27, have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza. They are in “serious condition but seem to be improving,” said Hariadi Wibisono, a senior health ministry official. They are being treated in the designated bird flu hospital, Sulianti Suroso in eastern Jakarta. It is believed that both women had contact with infected poultry. This brings Indonesia’s number of confirmed cases of the virus to 25.

A 26 year old female farmer in Fujian, China whose surname is Lin, also has the deadly H5N1 virus. She was admitted to the hospital in January, but it was only confirmed on Wednesday that she had the virus. Some of the people that have come in close contact with the woman are under observation by local health officials. Her current condition is reported as stable. This is China’s eleventh confirmed case of the virus.

Julie Hall of the Beijing-based World Health Organization said that the latest patient was “highly likely to have had contact with sick animals,” but the WHO is still waiting for information on how she could have gotten the disease.

Some experts believe migrating birds from China’s Qinghai Lake nature reserve are spreading the virus; however, there others who believe it’s shipments of poultry and poultry products along with poultry manure.

As avian influenza confirmed in Nigeria, “We shouldn’t assume that is just in Nigeria” said David Nabarro, the United Nations’ coordinator for bird flu and pandemic influenza. “The outbreak in Nigeria means [we] have another central point for the virus to become embedded into the poultry population.”

About 20 countries have reported outbreaks of the virus in birds which has sickened people who come in contact with the infected birds. If the rate of human infection continues to increase, so does the chance the virus will change into a form easily transmitted by humans.

Friday, March 18, 2011

A week ago today, at 2:46 pm JST, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of the T?hoku region in Japan. The earthquake created an extremely destructive tsunami that spawned 10 metre (33 ft) high waves just moments later. The tsunami travelled 10 km (6 mi) inland causing massive destruction in the country’s northeast, including crippling a nuclear plant.

The earthquake and resulting tsunami have left 5,692 dead and over 9,506 missing, with nearly 450,000 homeless. The death toll is expected to rise.

In this special photoessay, Wikinews looks at the earthquake and tsunami, the destruction that resulted and efforts to bring aid to the Japanese people.

Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Namibian government has refused to remove value added tax (VAT) on the price of milk. The Namibian Dairy producers organization requested the Namibian directorate of local income in May 2006 to follow the example of South Africa and declare fresh milk as a basic need upon which no taxation is applicable.

Mnr. Calle Schlettwein, permanent Secretary of the Namibia Ministry of Finance said the decision not to discard VAT on milk is because of two reasons: “This industry is already receiving advantages because of Article 26 of the African Customs Union (SACU),” he said.

“Secondly, the ministry cannot decrease the country’s tax basis. Namibia is a country that spend more than what it can collect through tax. We cannot afford to discard VAT on fresh milk.”

The price of fresh milk is to climb by 50c in the beginning of April 2007 following increases in production costs to producers. The dairy industry has warned of a collapse of the industry and a dependence on foreign imports if prices are not increased to match rising production costs.

Wednesday, February 13, 2019

The Hotel Arpit Palace in the Karol Bagh area of the Indian capital, New Delhi, caught fire yesterday morning. At least seventeen people died and 35 were rescued, according to officials, some of whom were hospitalised.

Many of the affected guests were Indian; the Myanma embassy confirmed two Buddhist pilgrims from Myanmar also died. The area is popular with visitors, with budget hotels and shopping districts. Firefighters dispatched around 30 vehicles; personnel reportedly had control of the blaze by 8:00am local time. No cause was immediately known, but a fire officer said wooden panels led to corridors becoming unusable for escape.

Local media reported most of the deceased suffocated. One child was, according to the fire service, among the dead. The hotel’s website estimated 120 people were in the 25-year-old building at the time. A judicial inquiry was ordered, according to police. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted “Deeply saddened by the loss of lives” and offered “condolences to the families of those who lost their lives. May the injured recover soon.”

According to eyewitnesses, the deceased child and his mother were among victims who leapt from the burning hotel. The top floor has been extensively damaged and blackened by the blaze. Satyendra Jain, the city’s home minister, said “Buildings can only be constructed up to four floors in Delhi[…] This hotel had been built up to six floors. It’s gross negligence on the part of the officers who allowed the extra floors to be built. The entire hotel has wooden panelling, this shows carelessness on the part of the owner.”

Fires are common in India. Activists claim safety standards are routinely ignored.

Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Joshua J. Goyette allegedly confessed to breaking into a Saxonburg, Pennsylvania retirement home and beating 86-year-old Gertrude “Trudy” Johanson in the early morning of June 25, 2005. The crime, which shocked the small community north of Pittsburgh, was not the only one which occurred recently at area retirement homes. Goyette is also suspected in a May incident where another apartment at the Commons of Saxonburg was broken into through a first floor window and the 90-year-old woman inside was groped while she slept.

Goyette, 25, has addresses listed in court documents in New Bedford, Massachusetts; and in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, his mother’s home.

The alleged confession was given last Thursday, June 30, 2005, in New Bedford, Massachusetts, to Pennsylvania state police investigators. Goyette is currently being held in the Butler County prison in lieu of $300,000 cash bond. He faces charges of attempted homicide, aggravated assault, burglary and criminal mischief.

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

On Wednesday, the Indian Supreme Court declared that preventing women of age 10–50 from entering the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala was “arbitrary” and unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court began on Tuesday the hearing for the public interest litigation filed by petitioners including the Indian Young Lawyers Association. A panel of five judges — Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice RF Nariman, Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice Indu Malhotra, and the Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra — heard the case of traditional prohibition of the entry to the temple based on a woman’s age.

For centuries, women within the age range when females generally have monthly menstrual cycles were prevented from entering the Lord Ayyappan’s temple. Ayyappan was considered celibate. Earlier this year, the Travancore Devaswom Board made it compulsory for women to produce an age proof in order to enter the temple. Ravi Prakash Gupta, one of the representatives of the petitioners, said, “Mere sight of a woman does not affect anyone’s celibacy if one has take[n] the oath of it, otherwise, such oath has no meaning.” Menstruation has been considered taboo in Indian society, and women were barred from entering the kitchen or a temple during the menstruation cycle.

A number of fundamental rights, mentioned in the Indian Constitution; including the right against discrimination on the basis of gender or sex, per Article 15; right to freedom of practice of any religion per Article 25; and abolishment of untouchability in Article 17; were considered in this case.

Citing Article 25 (1) of the Indian constitution, Justice DY Chandrachud said, “All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.” Chandrachud went on to say, “This means your right as a woman to pray is not dependent on a legislation. It is a constitutional right. Nobody has an exclusionary right of entry to a temple”.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra said, “On what basis do you deny the entry. It is against the Constitutional mandate. Once you open it for public, anybody can go.” Misra also said, “In a public place of worship, a woman can enter, where a man can go. What applies to a man, applies to a woman.”

Saying the state government is “bound to obey” the Supreme Court’s verdict, Kerala’s Minister K Surendran said, “The state government’s stand is that women should be allowed to offer prayers in Sabarimala Temple […] Devaswom board now has the same opinion as that of government.”

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm.

Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions.

In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management, structure and culture. We have also invested in new systems, implemented new processes, enhanced adviser supervision and improved training.”

An investigation by Fairfax Media instigated the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division and ASIC.

Whistleblower Jeff Morris, who reported the misconduct of the bank to ASIC six years ago, said in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald that neither the bank nor ASIC should be in control of the compensation program.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

North Korea’s official news agency is reporting that the country has finished removing all its spent nuclear fuel rods, over 8,000 of them, from the main reactor in the Yongbyon nuclear plant.

The rods could be reprocessed for several months to extract weapons-grade plutonium. Officials say the rods could be able to provide enough plutonium to make two nuclear bombs.

This could possibly signal that North Korea is preparing for a nuclear arms test. North Korea may already have enough materials to make six nuclear bombs.

North Korea has also announced plans to continue operating the Yongbyon facility, as well as to begin construction on a larger reactor.

Friday, January 4, 2019

An apartment building collapsed on Monday in Magnitogorsk, a city in the Ural region of Russia. A suspected gas leak led to an explosion, followed by the ten-storey building coming down. A total of 39 are confirmed dead, officials told state media, adding that rescuers ended their work yesterday. Some reports suggest a deliberate criminal act.

The 1973 building was home to over 1,000 people; 48 apartments were damaged. Rescuers, working in temperatures well below freezing, according to the emergencies ministry recovered at least ten survivors from the debris on Monday. The building was evacuated. Over 1,000 rescuers responded.

The Investigative Committee and the Federal Security Service (FSB) said they believe gas, which leaks relatively frequently in Russia, was the trigger for the disaster which occurred at 6am as many occupants slept. President Vladimir Putin was briefed, and flew to Magnitogorsk on Monday, observing the rescue mission and visiting the wounded in hospital. In a meeting that day he was told by Emergencies Minister Yevgeny Zinichev of “presumably between 36 and 40 people under the rubble”, while Chelyabinsk regional Deputy Governor Oleg Klimov indicated 68 people were missing.

Search and rescue was suspended on Tuesday, with Zinichev describing the “real threat of [another] part of the building collapsing” as making it “impossible to continue working in such conditions”, and work launched to stabilise the remaining structure. He estimated this would take 24 hours. Cranes were used to hoist workers into position to demolish sections deemed dangerous. Rescue work resumed on Wednesday, with additional bodies recovered increasing the confirmed death toll from fourteen to 31.

“The search and rescue operation is complete,” Deputy Emergency Situations Minister Alexander Chupriyan told TASS on Wednesday. Chelyabinsk’s governor has promised each victim will be subject to a payout of one million rubles.

Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova indicated on Monday the chances of those trapped being found alive were already diminishing. On Tuesday an eleven-month-old boy, identified only as Ivan, was rescued alive and flown to Moscow for treatment of injuries including frostbite, leg fractures, and head trauma. He was found under rubble, still in his cot after having been trapped for over 30 hours. Ivan’s condition was on Wednesday reported to not be life-threatening.

The Emergencies Ministry said six deaths were of children.

On the night of Monday to Tuesday another explosion hit a gas-powered minibus in the city. Officials said three people died; their identities were not provided. Both explosions took place on Karl Marx Avenue, within two miles of each other.

The FSB denies the two explosions are related; reports describe speculation the disaster’s cause was not in fact a gas leak. One news site, Znak.com, claims FSB sources have ascribed the explosion to terrorism. The Investigative Committee says it has found no trace of explosives despite Znak.com claiming an anonymous source described a second-floor apartment being used as an explosives depot ahead of a planned shopping centre bombing. Znak.com further reported its source said that apartment’s tenant moved in the day before the blast.

Regional governor Boris Dubrovsky said FSB officers were present where the minibus exploded outside the local administrative building, but said this too was unrelated to the other explosion. Znak.com reported its source said “three terrorists” were killed in a firefight on Monday night, while footage from the scene showed the vehicle burn amid what sounds like gunfire.

The website further reported its anonymous source claimed a fourth offender escaped and remains wanted. Monday saw armed police with dogs searching a second apartment block in Magnitigorsk. Residents there told the press the officers claimed to be seeking a bomb.