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Tuesday, June 5, 2007File:Swan Hill3.jpg

Eleven people have been killed, and more than 20 injured, when a V/Line passenger train and a semi trailer collided at a level crossing on the Murray Valley Highway in northern Victoria, Australia. At least 13 more are still missing and are believed to be trapped in the wreckage.

The collision, which occurred at 1:40 p.m. local time, was approximately 10 km north of the town of Kerang, on the Swan Hill railway line.

The train involved in the accident was a service from Swan Hill, which departed at 1:00 p.m. from Swan Hill railway station, and was destined for Melbourne. The train was comprised of a locomotive and three carriages.

Witness reports say that the semi-trailer collided into the second of the three carriages, and then detached the third carriage from the remainder of the train and causing it to derail. The whole side of the second carriage was ripped open from the direct impact of the semi-trailer.

The injured have been transferred from the scene to hospitals in the area, including Kerang and Mildura, by ambulance. Helicopters and light aircraft have been used to transfer patients to Melbourne, as local hospitals struggle with the sudden influx of patients. The driver of the semi-trailer has been moved to the hospital in Mildura in “critical condition”, according to police at the scene.

The train had 39 people on board the 1:00 p.m. service, according to train documents. This included three staff employed by the train operator V/Line, who have all been accounted for and are not injured. Of the 36 passengers on the train, it has been reported that 23 have suffered injuries.

Reports say six people were airlifted to Melbourne for treatment, however one has since died. The remaining 17 have been moved to regional hospitals, including the temporary relief centre in Kerang, according to a Rural Ambulance Service spokesperson.

Although there are still 13 people unaccounted for, police say it is possible that some had bought tickets and were therefore listed on the train manifest, but did not end up catching the service.

Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks is expected to fly to the crash scene this evening. He has ordered a full investigation into the incident. Federal Minister for Transport Mark Vaile has offered Federal government assistance from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to help with the investigation. The Prime Minister John Howard has offered the Victorian government any additional aid that is requires in the aftermath of this incident.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Hurricane Katrina has rekindled debate over the controversial Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, in the U.S. House of Represenatives. Congressional Democrats feel that among the hundreds of thousands of victims of Katrina, many of whom have lost all their possessions and are coping with relocation, those that declare bankruptcy should be granted the protections of the previous law. 32 Democrats have sponsored a proposal that would delay implementing certain parts of the law to “insure that we do not compound a natural disaster with a man made financial disaster.”

The new bankruptcy law affects anyone whose income (as of the six months before filing) was over the state median income. Democratic legislators point out that many hurricane victims who manage to find work will be suffering from wage reductions, making them unable to effectively deal with their previous debts. Among U.S. states, Louisana and Mississippi have the fourth and third lowest median incomes, respectively. Democrats also feel that it is unfair to require repayment by bankrupted Hurricane Katrina victims while citizens in other states with similar incomes would pay nothing.

F. James Sensenbrenner, Republican from Wisconsin and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, has denied a hearing on creating an exception in the law for the purposes of Katrina relief. He noted that “If someone in Katrina is down and out, and has no possibility of being able to repay 40 percent or more of their debts, then the new bankruptcy law doesn’t apply.”

The Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 has been heavily criticized by consumer rights’ organizations. The Consumer Federation of America argues that “[the] new requirements, coupled with strict deadlines for production upon the penalty of an automatic dismissal are difficult for the most organized person to meet, never mind someone who has had his or her home destroyed by Katrina.”

Opponents of the bill also argued that it makes the government “a bill collector for private companies”, and could lead to criminal prosecutions over matters best left in civil courts, and theoretically even to life imprisonment under federal three-strikes laws. Such opponents view the bulk of the act either as “bought and paid for” by the Credit Card Industry, who spent millions lobbying in support of the bill, or else as an unfortunate compromise between the lobbyists for banks and bankruptcy lawyers, such as the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). Nathalie Martin, of ABI, said that “Many people will still qualify to file for Chapter 7,” which means liquidation of assets in exchange for cancellation of debt.

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Warner Music Group first quarter earnings rose sharply mostly from growth in digital music sales offsetting falling CD sales. Warner Music sells digital music to several online services including Apple’s iTunes at wholesale. The company’s first-quarter revenue from digital music sales doubled to US$69 million, accounting for 7% of overall revenue. Madonna, Green Day, and James Blunt are signed to subsidiary labels of Warner.

Warner Music has undergone restructuring after being sold in 2004 by former parent company Time Warner. Cutting costs, exploiting current assets, and digital music has been the company’s focus since going public in May.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

On Monday, at the 58^th Grammy Awards ceremony, Canadian singer The Weeknd won his first Grammy Award, Best R&B Performance, for his song Earned It, which was also featured on the soundtrack of the 2015 Fifty Shades of Grey movie based on E.L. James’s erotic novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

The Weeknd also won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album for his second studio album Beauty Behind the Madness. Abel Tesfaye — The Weeknd — had seven nominations in total including Record of the Year for his song Can’t Feel My Face and Album of the Year.

The YouTube video of the song received more than 179 million views and more than 1.1 million likes.The Weeknd was also nominated for Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance, but British singer Ed Sheeran won the golden gramophone for his song Thinking Out Loud.

Last year, Beyoncé won the Award for Best R&B Song for Drunk in Love featuring her husband Jay-Z.This awards ceremony marked the first Grammy wins for The Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Ed Sheeran.

Sunday, February 27, 2005A last gasp effort is underway to prevent the deportation of Montserratian refugees from New York City, U.S.A., to the disaster-stricken volcanic island they fled ten years ago.

Representative Major Owens (D, NY), of Brooklyn, is hoping the outpouring of support for victims of the Asian tsunami will save the refugees from returning to an island with an active volcano that is at constant risk of a further catastrophe.

Until last year, the Department of Homeland Security had allowed the families to stay in the United States under a special designation called “Temporary Protected Status”. But in July, secretary of homeland security, Tom Ridge, withdrew the status—not because it was safe to return to Montserrat, but because the volcano would remain active for decades to come and therefore was no longer a “temporary” danger. On February 27, the city’s estimated 100 Montserratians and their families will be forced to leave or risk deportation. A further 200 families, many of them living in Boston, are also under threat.

Earlier efforts to win a reprieve for the Montserratians were blocked by anti-immigrant forces in the House of Representatives, led by congressman Tom Tancredo, of Colorado, Rep. Owens said. But he added that a new bill, which he introduced at the end of last month, might be more popular in the wake of the Asian disaster.

“We hope that the approaching emergency situation plus the drama of the tsunami will help change some of the attitudes about this,” Rep. Owens said. “And some of the people who opposed this legislation on the basis that they opposed immigration, will see that it is not about immigration but about coming to the relief of people who have been victims of a natural disaster.”

Meanwhile, New York’s tiny Montserratian community must wait and hope. For those not fortunate enough to have married a US citizen or to have found an employer willing to sponsor them, the coming weeks are crucial.

Pearl Ryner, 40, a refugee who works as a medical technician at the King’s County Hospital in Brooklyn, said she refused to get married just so that she can stay in the United States. But she is a single mother with four children and she does not want to uproot her family and start over again.

“I worry. I cry. I am still hoping,” Ms. Ryner said. “What do I do? Where do I begin? How do I pick four kids up and take them away? If I buy a plane ticket, where do I go? These are questions that I do not have an answer for.”

The Department of Homeland Security has suggested that because Montserrat is a British overseas territory, Montserratians should go to the UK. But the refugees say they have no relatives or friends they can stay with in the UK, and that they have made homes and started careers and lives in the United States.

If the refugees are deported to Montserrat it will be to a 35 square-mile island, two-thirds of which is buried beneath volcanic rubble and ash. The capital, Plymouth, in the south east of the island has been abandoned, and there is a housing and employment shortage.

The Soufriere Hills Volcano erupted in 1995, but the British Foreign Office website warns that the volcano remains active. Heavy rain can cause mud-flows, and people suffering from breathing problems risk airborne dust and volcanic ash. The collapse of a lava dome in 2001 spewed clouds of ash that affected Puerto Rico, a self-governing territory of the United States, 200 miles away.

Moreover continued volcanic activity is triggering landslides that have caused two tsunamis in Montserrat during the past ten years. The first, on December 26, 1997, created a wave three meters tall, which rolled northwards along the coast. The second, in July 2003, measured about four meters and traveled to Guadeloupe 30 miles away.

Sherry Coriette, 28, who works for a major retail company in New York, said that she still has not decided what to do. “I have a good job, I pay my bills,” Ms. Coriette said. “Eight years ago I left with nothing and now I am having to face starting all over again.”

Matthew Dunn, chairman of the New York Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said that as long as there was a potential for danger, the United Sates should offer the people of Montserrat a safe haven.

“I would argue that is what our country is all about: helping and protecting people,” Mr. Dunn said. “But the biggest shame in all of this is that because there is so few of them, they do not have a big enough voice.”

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Satire site Uncyclopedia, a parody of online encyclopedia Wikipedia, has been labeled by the Malaysian government as dangerous. The Internal Security Department of Malaysia issued the warning today, saying that the site has “messages and information insulting Malaysia”.

The warning notes the creation date of the website as being 5 January 2005, and hosted by Wikia, Inc., both of which are correct. However, it claims Wikia owns Wikipedia; Wikipedia is a charitable non-profit website owned by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation, while Wikia is an independent, for-profit company.

The report evidently mentions that Uncyclopedia covers Malaysian “history, culture, the political leaders, the government, the national song and the name / history of the national flag,” none of which is “correct”. They accuse the website of helping to reinforce a bad international image of their country.

There are no reports of the site being blocked from access within the country, only this statement, which urges Malaysians not to circulate the content.

Uncyclopedia’s article on Malaysia begins:

The site has fired back with a parody article posted at the site under their UnNews section, titled Uncyclopedia Internal Security Department warns on Malaysia. The article suggests that the “Internal Security Department of the Uncyclomedia Foundation,” which is a facetious and fictitious parent organization of Uncyclopedia, identifies Malaysia “as a dangerous country… It warned its people not to use the country today.”

There are forty-seven individual language editions of Uncyclopedia, including Tolololpedia, which is written in Bahasa Melayu, the Malay language. This is in addition to fictional “language” editions which include Oscar Wilde, Newspeak, N00b, White Supremacist, and Re: PharmaccgRy.