Tuesday, August 11, 2009

24 people had to be rescued by fire fighters after a mechanical fault caused a roller coaster to stop mid journey at the California’s Great America theme park in Santa Clara, California, United States.

The Invertigo roller coaster malfunctioned at around 12:15 p.m. (PDT) leaving some riders stranded as high as 80 ft from the ground. The ride was stuck for several hours, and the last passenger reached the ground at 5:45 p.m.. None of the riders were injured during the incident.

The theme park released a statement saying that the cause of the fault was a faulty lift chain. They added that getting the ride fixed was “priority number two while the passengers safety was the number one priority.”

One of the stuck passengers was Shannon Brown who said “there was a lot of noise, parts went flying. A big, heavy piece of metal went flying. It gave a pretty rough stop — knocked my glasses off.”

Passengers were given water as they waited in 90(F)-degree heat. Fire captain Scott Kouns said, “It was a hot day in the Santa Clara with temperatures in the 90s. Any length of time trapped on a roller coaster would be uncomfortable, to say the least, and it took at least an hour to get the first person off the ride.”

After the riders were rescued, the theme park offered complimentary soft drinks and pizza.

Friday, May 25, 2018

At around 2:30 AM local time on Wednesday, a 60-year-old man was arrested by deputies of Saint Johns County Sheriff’s Office for aggravated assault using a deadly weapon. According to the police report, John Jay Smith had verbally confronted Egyptian students of a student-exchange programme in a parking lot in Saint Augustine, Florida, United States.

Per the police report, Smith asked the students if they were US citizens. During the verbal confrontation, Smith pulled out a pocket knife and an electric stun gun. Smith told the students, “Get out of my country. You do not deserve to eat here.” According to First Coast News, Smith reportedly said, “Get the fuck out of here you don’t deserve American food”. The students were eating hamburgers near a McDonald’s restaurant.

Charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, trespassing and burglary, the 60-year-old told the deputies, “They killed my son”. The attacker added his son was a Marine who was killed in Afghanistan, though his claims were not verified. One of the students, 23-year-old told Omar Abdelmoaty told The Washington Post, “We didn’t do anything to anybody. We’re just students”. None of the students were more than 23 years old.

John Smith was released on Friday on bond. In the report, police wrote, “statements made by the defendant to the victims showed that he only committed the acts due to the victim’s religion”. Abdelmoaty told The Washington Post that all the students were Muslims.

[edit]

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Heavy rains in western Indonesia have triggered landslides across the region that have killed dozens of people. Meanwhile, other areas were devastated by major flooding, with water reaching two metres high in some locations.

Search and rescue chief Eko Prayitno in Java told reporters that police, soldiers and volounteers were working together to attempt to reach survivors, some digging with their hands or traditional tools. Heavy equipment is available and efforts are underway to get it into place, he said, but blocked roads are making such efforts difficult.

Prayitno also said that a single landslide in the Karanganyar region buried 61 people who were attending a dinner to celebrate a successful clean up of a house affected by another landslide, which had caused no injuries. “They were having dinner together when they were hit by another landslide… At least 61 people were buried.” Landslides affected the region over a four hour period from 01:00 a.m. to 05:00 a.m. local time. Meanwhile, seventeen people are feared dead in the neighbouring district of Wonogiri, which has also been hit by landslides after twelve hours of nonstop torrential rain.

Andi Mallarangeng, spokesperson for president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, told reporters “The president sends his deep condolence, and has ordered Home Minister [Mardiono] to inspect the scene [in Karanganyar] and monitor the emergency responses.”

Many fleeing residents have attempted to salvage their possessions, with some using tyres to float television sets and refrigerators to dry ground. Another single massive slide in Tawangmangu, a mountainous resort, buried 37. Metro TV News was told by an eyewitness, identified only as Karsidi, that “Those people were gathering for a tea break during communal works after the rains, and suddenly the land collapsed onto them.”

The affected regions spread across Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi. The population distribution in Indonesia has worsened the situation, with many people living on river flood plains to utilise the fertile soil and many more living in inaccessible mountain regions. The total death toll is estimated at up to 81 people, and eyewitnesses and local media report that thousands of homes are affected.

Landslides are common in Indonesia, where large-scale rainfall is a regular occurrence. This is often exacerbated by deforestation. However, Heru, head of the local disaster coordinator agency in Karang Anyar, commented that “The forest in the area is thick,” and consequently he did not believe deforestation was a causal factor. The region he is responsible for has recorded 36 deaths and 30 more buried in thick mud near the banks of the Bengawan Solo river. Meanwhile Julianto, another provincial government official, said “The landslides took us by surprise. This is the first time in the last 25 years anything of this scale occurred here in Central Java.”

Julianto also commented that thousands of people displaced from their homes by flooding and landslides have been forced into temporary accommodation in buildings and tents provided by emergency response teams.

Today’s disasters coincide with the third anniversary of the Asian tsunami, which killed an estimated 230,000 people. A tsunami drill on Java was unaffected as the seasonal poor weather did not have an adverse affect on the area of the drill.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Rafiq Qureshi, the father of Rubina Ali, a child star of the Academy Award winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, has been accused of trying to sell his daughter. Qureshi was brought in for questioning by Indian police after a British news agency made accusations that he tried to sell his daughter. Ali played the character Latika.

Ali was the youngest actress in the movie, only 9 years old. She currently resides in a very poor area of Mumbai with her step-mother, father, and brother. Funds have been set up for Ali’s education and the local government has agreed to give housing to the children in the family.

News of the World says the alleged sale came to light during a sting operation performed by the news agency. They allege that Qureshi tried to sell his daughter for US$290,000 (£200,000) to his brother-in-law Rajan More.

“On Sunday, Rubina’s mother Khurshid complained to us that her ex-husband was trying to sell her daughter, saying she saw some reports on television to that effect,” said deputy Indian police commissioner, Nisar Tamboli to Reuters. Police say he tried to sell Ali to his brother-in-law because the family was not happy with the amount of money Ali was getting from her role in the film. More says Ali is not happy with living with her father.

“I have to consider what’s best for me, my family and Rubina’s future. We’ve got nothing out of this film,” said Qureshi as alleged by News of the World who also alleges that Ali’s brother Mohiuddin was in on the plan.

The family denies any wrongdoing and denies they tried to sell Ali.

“We never thought that we would have to face this. We are poor people, for us, our children are everything. Why would we give her away like that?,” said Moinuddin Qureshi, the uncle of Ali.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the incident.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

The International Watch Company (IWC) is organizing an on-line auction to take place in the period from December 13 to December 20, 2006. The proceeds of the auction will be used for offering support to a charitable organization – Association Vol de Nuit/Vuelo Nocturno. The main task and responsibility of the association lies in taking care of Buenos Aires children who live in reduced circumstances.

Association Vol de Nuit/Vuelo Nocturno, a humanitarian institution, was established in 2003. The Foundation has built close cooperation with the city’s schools, homes and other organizations helping street children. The proceeds of the IWC on-line auction are to be benefited to the major projects carried out by the Foundation.

Da Vinci is the name of a rarity timepiece chosen by the IWC to be put for auction. The watch itself was developed back in 1990 as a part of a limited edition of just 110 pieces. It represents a stainless steel model featuring a white dial in English which is provided with a perpetual calendar function. The exclusive watch is on the list of the most sought-after items among connoisseurs of High Horology.

This is the ninth time the IWC is holding an auction for charitable purposes and every time dozens of watch collectors and enthusiasts take part in the event. The bidders are invited to visit the official site of the Company.

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

On Saturday, Israel won its fourth victory, first since 1998, at the Eurovision Song Contest, held at Lisbon’s Altice Arena in Portugal. Netta Barzilai’s song Toy won 529 points from public and professional judges. Cyprus and Austria finished second and third respectively with 436 and 342 points.

Out of 43 countries participating this time, 26 countries including hosts Portugal and the Big Five — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom — competed in the finals. The competition began on May 8. Spain and United Kingdom finished in the bottom five while the hosts and last year’s winners, Portugal, ended up at the bottom of the vote ranking; collecting respectively 61, 48, and 39 points.

Israel won the first semi-final round with 283 points. The 25-year-old Netta won the HaKokhav HaBa competition earlier this year to represent the country in this contest. Netta performed Toy, written by Doron Medalie and Stav Beger, with a Chicken Dance and chicken noises. With a lot of scat singing involved, the song lyrics included, “I’m not your toy; you stupid boy”. Her performance included 112 Maneki-nekos, Japanese beckoning cats used as lucky charms, which were placed in two shelves.

Apart from the Japanese Maneki-neko dolls, Netta wore a kimono; a Japanese dress, styled her hair in two buns as well as referenced Pokémon, a Japanese anime and video game, in her song, which led to some people including Portuguese writer Joana Ramiro to point out cultural appropriations in her performance. “Can I, however, ask if anyone here has already commented on the quite shocking Japanese cultural bastardisation-appropriation going on in Netta’s song?”, Ramiro tweeted.

Shortly after the contest began, last year’s winner Salvador Sobral called Toy “a horrible song”. In an interview with Wiwibloggs, Sobral said, “YouTube thought I would like the Israeli song. I opened it and a horrible song came out of it.” After winning the contest in Ukraine last year, Sobral had said, “We live in a world of disposable music; fast food music without any content. I think this could be a victory for music with people who make music that actually means something […] Music is not fireworks; music is feeling. So let’s try to change this and bring music back.” Toy’s performance used strobe lighting and quirky noises.

After Netta was declared the winner, she said, “Thank you so much for choosing different. Thank you so much for accepting differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity. Thank you. I love my country. Next year in Jerusalem.” Previously, Israel won the contest in 1978 and 1979, and 1998.

UK’s artist SuRie, who performed Storm, was interrupted in her performance when a stage invader snatched her microphone. UK was given another chance to perform, but SuRie declined after discussing with her team. SuRie said, “We had that conversation, but I was really proud of that performance.” “You don’t get to do the 100m sprint at the Olympics again because your shoelace is untied or something. You had that one shot and that was my moment, and we didn’t need to repeat that […] We had those conversations backstage, I saw the reaction and faces of my team, who were very proud of the recovery and the power of that, and we didn’t need to go again”, the British singer added.

As the winner of this edition of the competition, Israel is to host next year’s competition. Last year, then 27-year-old Salvador Sobral won the competition, receiving 758 points for the song Amar Pelos Dois, a ballad written by his sister.

For the preparations of next year’s contest, Israeli Deputy Health Minister Ya’akov Litzman wrote a letter to Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev asking shabbat, the Jewish holy day to rest, not to be violated. In the letter, he wrote, “In the name of hundreds of thousands of Jewish citizens from all the populations and communities for whom Shabbat observance is close to their hearts, I appeal to you, already at this early stage, before production and all the other details of the event has begun, to be strict [in ensuring] that this matter does not harm the holiness of Shabbat and to work in every way to prevent the desecration of Shabbat, God forbid, as the law and the status quo requires”. Last year, he submitted resignation after Jewish workers were made to undertake railway work on shabbat. That time, both Israeli welfare minister Haim Katz and Israeli transportation minister Yisrael Katz expressed potential threat to passengers if the railway work was postponed.

Saturday, January 21, 2006

Rescue teams are attempting to save the life of the whale which has been swimming in the London Thames river over the past few days. The northern bottle-nosed whale, which had gotten weaker and weaker, became beached this afternoon. Rescue teams quickly moved the whale onto an inflatable pontoon, keeping the whale in water but with its blowhole above the surface.

Experts then tried to evaluate the condition of the whale by performing ultrasound checks to see how much blubber and blood the whale has, and by taking some blood tests. The breathing rate of the whale was around four inhalations per minute.

The pontoon is currently being towed by a barge slowly downstream.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue team lead the rescue effort. They hope to be able to release the whale in as deep water as possible, but only if it is in good enough health. If the whale is considered to be in too weak a condition to survive, it may be euthanised, experts have said.

The rescue mission is being filmed by television crews, including from helicopters, and broadcast live onto rolling news channels. Mark Stevens, a member of the British Divers Marine Life Rescue team reported on the situation live on TV using a mobile phone, direct from the scene where he was standing in the water. At one point he asked the BBC to tell their helicopter to fly higher, as the noise made the whale’s breathing rate temporarily go up.

The whale sightings have captivated the British public, with spectators lining the banks of the Thames to take photographs and try and spot the whale. However, the inital surprise at seeing the whale soon turned to concern as experts fear for the whale’s long term health. Initial plans to transfer the whale from the barge “Crossness” to a deep-sea ship have been abandoned as the condition of the whale deteriorates, but it is still hoped to release the whale in the Thames estuary.