Wednesday, March 8, 2006

At least 250 members of Australia’s emergency services personnel in New South Wales have been informed that they could die from exposure to fatal levels of asbestos following emergency response training south of Sydney.

Members of the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) unit are thought to be at risk. They were told last week they may contract life-threatening illnesses following training on a demolition site at Holsworthy Army Barracks. The site was created to simulate rescues in the event of a terror attack or natural disaster. It has been regularly used by emergency services personnel since 2004.

Some of the emergency services personnel spent up to three weeks at a time crawling through the rubble.

Reports claim that when notified last week, senior personnel were left devastated. It can take decades for asbestos related illnesses to appear and can take up to 30 years before those exposed can be cleared of infection.

In addition to the emergency service personnel, doctors, nurses and hazardous material personnel could also be at a mild risk. Even Morris Iemma, premier of New South Wales, who visited the site has been warned he could be at risk.

According to The Daily Telegraph, a repected Sydney newspaper, it has been established that “No proper tests were done at the site before it became a training ground for hundreds of top-level rescuers in 2004″,”Personnel were kept in the dark for up to a year about the asbestos before being told last week”,”NSW public officials and a host of ministers may have been exposed”,”Ambulance chief Greg Rochford and Mr Mullins have been at the site and must face a health clearance”, and”The Dust Diseases Tribunal is conducting an investigation into the long-term impact the mass exposure could have on emergency services in NSW.”

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Monday, February 14, 2005

Three U.S.-government sources have reported the existence of U.S. military drone flights made over Iran, carrying surveillance equipment and particle filters capable of detecting nuclear materials. Confusingly, U.S.-military sources denied the overflights.

Iranian military personnel said they were aware of them, and sightings had prompted a number of UFO reports in the area of Iranian nuclear installations. They viewed them as provocative and probably designed to trick the Iranians into turning on their radar so that the US could determine potential targets.

Because Iran does not have political ties with the US, it has formally issued its objections to the flights through Swiss diplomats.

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Wednesday, April 25, 2007

The Iranian police forces have faced criticism from Ayatollah Hashemi Shahrudi, the head of the judiciary who was appointed by Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for their re-invigorated campaign to do away with un-Islamic dress.

Ayatollah Shahroudi proclaimed, “Tough measures on social problems will backfire and have counter-productive effects.” Others have, of course, made it clear that un-Islamic dress can lead to moral corruption, engender innumerable vices, and hurt the Islamic character of the nation.

Some believe that no one had any issue with the creation of an Islamic atmosphere. The core of the matter revolves around the implementation of the Islamic dress code; additionally, heavy-handed measures should be shunned. For instance, Mehdi Ahmadi, information head of Tehran’s police, told Al Jazeera: “Some citizens may complain about the way the law is being enforced but they all agree with the plan itself.”

According to one student, “You simply can’t tell people what to wear. They don’t understand that use of force only brings hatred towards them, not love.” Nevertheless, Hojatoll-Islam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, Iran’s interior minister who is in charge of policing, prognosticated positive feedback from the populace when he said, “People are unhappy with the social and moral status of the society. They expect that the fight against social insecurity be properly implemented.” Thus, Hujjat al-Islam Pour-Mohammadi re-iterated the necessity of proper implementation and methodology towards the restoration of morality in the Islamic Republic. Islamic officials and religious people affirm that this is indispensable to promote righteousness, curb sin, and bring open sinners to justice.

Following the Islamic Revolution in 1979, hijab became mandatory in Iran for every woman including foreigners after over 98% of citizens voted for an Islamic government. Women may face caning up to 74 strokes for failing to observe hijab. In this recent crackdown, the authorities have arrested many citizens throughout the country. Not only have women been taken into custody for their hair being uncovered on their foreheads and tight clothes that show body shapes, For men they need to cover from knee to their waist as according to Sharia. Even a foreign journalist was detained because the photograph on her press card was indecent.

It has not been clear whence the directive for the re-newed clampdown emanated. Some have blamed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad while Gholam Hossein Elham, the government spokesman, stated to reporters, “The police work as agents of the judiciary to confront crimes. The government as an executive body does not interfere in the affairs of the judiciary.” The following pre-election speech seems to corroborate this latter statement:

Friday, February 10, 2006

Archaeologists have discovered a tomb, referred to as KV63, in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings. It is the first such discovery since Howard Carter’s 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun‘s tomb. The discovery was made by a team from the University of Memphis. Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement that five intact sarcophagi that all contained mummies and 20 large storage jars that were sealed with pharaonic seals had been recovered.

American archaeologist Kent Weeks, who was not part of the team but had seen photographs of the site, told the Associated Press that “It could be the tomb of a king’s wife or son, or of a priest or court official”. The find refutes the long held belief that the Valley of the Kings has little left to discover. According to Weeks: “It’s ironic. A century ago, people said the Valley of the Kings is exhausted, there’s nothing left,” he said. “Suddenly Carter found Tutankhamun. So then they said, ‘Now there’s nothing to find.’ Then we found KV5. Now we have KV63.”

KV63 is located in the area between KV10 (Amenmesse) and KV62 (Tutankhamun), in the very centre of the Valley’s eastern branch and near the main crossroads of the network of paths traversed by thousands of tourists every day. The tomb was found at a depth of some three metres beneath the ground. The burial site is believed to date from the latter portion of the 18th dynasty (ca. 14th century BC), but the occupants have not yet been identified.