Monday, October 10, 2005

The government of Saudi Arabia blocked access to Google‘s Web blogging service Blogger, Yahoo!‘s photo sharing website Flickr, and the diary service LiveJournal as well as some other websites through their nationally run Internet Services Unit (ISU) last Tuesday. As a result, English-speaking Saudis were prevented from publishing blogs, reading journals, or viewing pictures on Flickr.

The Saudi Arabian government uses a filtering service provided by the United States-owned company Secure Computing. Similar blocking services have been implemented in other countries, such as The People’s Republic of China.

In the past, the ISU had, on and off, blocked access to BlogSpot.com’s free hosting service. However, according to activist organization Reporters Without Borders, “blog services [applications] had not until now been affected by the ISU’s filters. The complete blocking of blogger.com, which is one of the biggest blog tools on the market, is extremely worrying. Only China had so far used such an extreme measure to censor the Internet.”

On Thursday, access to Blogger.com was restored, but Flickr and LiveJournal remained inaccessible. The ISU did not release any public statement about the blocking or restoration of service to any specific website.

[edit]

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Wikinews reporter Iain Macdonald has performed an interview with Dr Isabella Margara, a London-based member of the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). In the interview Margara sets out the communist response to current events in Greece as well as discussing the viability of a communist economy for the nation. She also hit back at Petros Tzomakas, a member of another Greek far-left party which criticised KKE in a previous interview.

The interview comes amid tensions in cash-strapped Greece, where the government is introducing controversial austerity measures to try to ease the nation’s debt-problem. An international rescue package has been prepared by European Union member states and the International Monetary Fund – should Greece require a bailout; protests have been held against government attempts to manage the economic situation.

Monday, July 7, 2008

The Philippine shipping company Sulpicio Lines has asked a court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) stopping the Board of Marine Inquiry (BMI) from proceeding with its investigation into the loss of MV Princess of the Stars. The passenger ferry capsised and sank off Sibuyan island on June 21 during Typhoon Fengshen (known locally as Typhhon Frank) with hundreds of casualties.

Sulpicio told the Manila Regional Trial Court that both Republic Act 9295 and the Domestic Shipping Development Act of 2004 removed the BMI’s power to investigate maritime incidents and that the investigation the board launched on June 25 is “irregular, illegal, and null and void”. They say only the Maritime Industry Authority is allowed to investigate accidents at sea.

Sulpicio also described the investigation as an ‘inquisition’ that was biased against Sulpicio from the start. They say “prejudgment” has increased the “pervasive negative publicity” surrounding the line, since negative accusations are most often published in newspapers. The company says one comment the board made was “Your vessel is not stable!” “You have no business being a safety officer!”

As a result Sulpicio is seeking ?650,000 from the BMI. This is split down as ?500,000 in moral damages, ?100,000 lawyer’s fees and ?50,000 further costs.

The House Committee on Transportation also launched its own inquiry into the disaster today. The case for the TRO will be heard tomorrow.

Monday, October 8, 2007

The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) has investigated Milan and their goalkeeper Dida over the incident with the Celtic fan that led to his substitution against Celtic. A fan ran on to the field immediately after Celtic striker Scott McDonald scored the eventual winning goal and appeared to have slightly touched Dida. Dida ran after the fan for a few steps before falling to the ground. UEFA have already investigated Celtic for lack of security for the same incident.

The charges were based on Article 5 Paragraph 1 of UEFA’s disciplinary regulations, which states that “member associations, clubs, as well as their players, officials and members, shall conduct themselves according to the principles of loyalty, integrity and sportsmanship”.

The case were heard on October 11 by UEFA’s Control and Disciplinary Body. The outcome of these cases were as follows: Celtic FC were fined £25000, 50% of which is kept in a reserve tank and if Celtic have any further problems in two years UEFA will keep it, but if they don’t they will get it back. A.C Milan goalkeeper Nelson de Jesus Silva “Dida” was banned for two games but is appealing. If found guilty he could find himself with a four-game champions league ban.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Australia’s much awaited first match of the 2006 tournament ended in a 3-1 win over Japan in the opening game of Group F, Monday.

In what amounted to a dramatic last 10 minutes Guus Hiddink’s side overturned Japan’s single goal lead as the searing heat of the Fritz Walter Stadium, Kaiserslauten, made Australia’s all-out-attack brand of football too hot to handle.

Australia had faced disciplined and organised Japanese defending for 84 minutes of the game. Captain Tsuneyasu Miyamoto looked impressive while goalkeeper Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi made key saves against Australian captain Mark Viduka – including a double one in the first half.

The Socceroos might consider themselves unfortunate for the goal they conceded. It was disputed with questions of goalkeeper interference. In any event, on 25 minutes Mark Schwarzer failed to reach a cross looped in from the right; the ball sailed over his head and into the net.

The match had good passing, inventive plays; both sides played with three defenders and encouraged attacking football, with much of the play in and around the penalty areas. After second half substitutions, Australia ended the match with three forwards over six feet in height and this may have made the difference.

But had Japan scored from a number of good opportunities they made the Australian come back may not have been enough.

The equaliser on 84 minutes owed to similar element of luck or goalkeeping error as the first goal. The Japan keeper missed a throw from the left. The ball fell loose to midfielder Tim Cahill, close to the penalty spot. The substitute drove the ball low through the legs of players to score.

Then the Japanese may feel unfortunate – a minute later Tim Cahill appeared to up-end a Japanese player in his penalty box. No penalty was given; the score remained 1-1.

Zico, the Brazilian manager of the Japanese team who had been minutes from successfully guiding his team to a first game win, then watched as Tim Cahill on 89 minutes scored his second from the top of the semi-circle; with much deftness, he curled the ball in off the right post. Kawaguchi had no chance.

At this point the Japanese, in the 30-plus Celsius heat, seemed to be exhausted while the Australian substitutes were just warming up. Substitute John Aloisi used his pace to beat Yuichi Komano and put the ball in the bottom left corner for the third goal.

There were seven cautions in the game and a total of 33 fouls. However; it was Australia, who had more cautions and committed twice as many fouls as their opponents, whose extra aggression paid in the end.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

The New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado has reached a financial settlement with its founder (and former head of National Association of Evangelicals) pastor Ted Haggard. Haggard stepped aside as senior pastor in the Church in November 2006, when a male prostitute claimed that he had engaged in a three year relationship with Haggard and that the two used methamphetamine.

Haggard, who was publicly critical of homosexuality, has agreed to leave the church he founded and led for two decades with a promise that he will not discuss the scandal, will move out of Colorado Springs, and will not reveal how much his financial settlement is.

On February 4th, Haggard sent an e-mail to New Life members stating, “We all wanted to know why I developed such incongruity in my life. Thankfully, with the tools we gained there, along with the powerful way God has been illuminating his Word and the Holy Spirit has been convicting me and healing me, we now have growing understanding which is giving me some hope for the future.”

Rev. Tim Ralph said, after Haggard completed a three-week counseling program, “He [Haggard] is completely heterosexual.”

However, Mike Jones, the man who had allegedly had a 3 year relationship with Haggard publicly replied, “Give me a break.” Adding, “He’s been performing oral sex on me for three years. You don’t change that in three weeks.” And “Until he’s honest with himself, he’ll never be happy.” Jones is currently writing a book detailing his relationship with Haggard due out in summer 2007.

According to interim senior pastor Ross Parsley, at services on Sunday February 18 the panel will “provide any necessary clarification of (Haggard’s) restoration process and give us a report on the New Life staff.”

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

According to reports, a man protesting the G20 Summit in London, England has died after collapsing at a protester camp.

Sky News says the man collapsed on the street inside a camp close to the Bank of England and when found he was still breathing, but efforts by paramedics to rescue him failed and he was pronounced dead at an area hospital. The name of the person and cause of death are not yet known, but several people were injured earlier in the day. The police claim that protestors threw bottles at them while trying to rescue the protestor.

The London Ambulance Service reported that “we received a 999 call at 7:24 pm from a member of the public reporting that a man had fallen over and was unconscious, but was breathing. [They] made extensive efforts to resuscitate him both there and on the way to hospital.”

Earlier in the day a minimum of 20 protesters broke into the bank and according to reports vandalized furniture, broke windows and cut the telephone lines to the building.