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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Ikeda Kanako, a 21-year-old senior student of the Meiji Gakuin University and the first daughter of celebrity surgeon Yuko Ikeda, was kidnapped at about 1225 (UTC+9), June 26, 2006, in Shibuya, Tokyo.

A bullet was fired and one officer slightly cut when police stormed a Kawasaki apartment to rescue the girl.

Kanako was dressed in a white light half-sleeved cardigan, blue jeans with a bistre belt made of leather, a spring green camisole and carried a bag of Vuitton when she was abducted at a bus stop.

She was found unharmed 13 hours later by Japanese police at a condominium located in Nakahara-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa. The young woman’s make-up was not disordered; Kanako’s long brown fringe was not disheveled at all and she was wearing what she had been when she was kidnapped.

The kidnapping of Kanako was a big story in Japanese media in June, 2006. The story appeared in many newspapers as the front-page news on June 27, 2006.

Kanako and her kidnappers had been in touch with her mother using Kanako’s mobile phone. The effort to free her was helped greatly by a woman who witnessed the moment Kanako was taken; she wrote down the license plate of the van and other details.

Police traced mobile phone calls and were able to locate the van in Kawasaki where they detained two of the kidnappers as they went shopping.

One conspirator Li Yong, 29, from China, led the policemen to the apartment and tricked Kaneo Ito, 49, from Japan, to open the door. Ito managed to discharge one bullet before being restrained by an assistant police inspector, the first man in the room.

The other man involved in the kidnap of Kanako was Choi Gi Ho, 54, from South Korea. Kanato was freed unharmed.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department arrested three men on suspicion of conspiring to kidnap a woman and hold her to a reported 300 million yen ransom.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Erica Powell OBE, who was the Private Secretary to Kwame Nkrumah, President of Ghana and later to Siaka Stevens, President of Sierra Leone, died last month at the age of 86. She died at Peterborough on June 5, 2007. She was made an MBE in 1958 and OBE in 1960.

Erica was born on March 15, 1921 at Brighton in Sussex England into a middle class family. She trained as a secretary and then as a teacher. She worked with Barclays Bank during World War II. She was the top candidate in the 1940 London Chamber of Commerce Shorthand and Typewriting exams.

In February 1952, the Crown Agents for the Colonies offered her the position of “Private Secretary (Female)/Gold Coast” which later became the title of her autobiography. She ended up working as the Private Secretary to the Governor of the Gold Coast, Sir Charles Arden-Clarke. While working for the Governor, she became a close friend and confidant of Kwame Nkrumah, then bidding for Ghana’s independence from the United Kingdom. Her closeness to Nkrumah led to her being dismissed in 1954 and being sent back to the UK.

Powell returned in January 1955 to work for Kwame Nkrumah, a position she held till 1965, a year before his overthrow. Her close relationship and loyalty to Nkrumah bred a lot of rumours both in Ghana and the UK. It also brought a lot of resentment from various quarters. She kept in contact with Nkrumah while he was in exile in Guinea until his death in April, 1972.

She later worked for Siaka Stevens as his private secretary from 1970 to 1979. She attended Nkrumah’s funeral in 1972 as part of the official Sierra Leone delegation.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Nintendo has released its newest video game console in North America. Known as the Wii, the system and games have an MSRP of US$249.99 and US$49.99 respectively. The North American release is to be followed by the December 2nd launch in Japan and the December 8th launch in Europe.

Launched officially at midnight, more than a thousand people gathered in New York’s Time Square to be among the first to buy one of the Wii. In contrast to the crowds that have challenged crowd control officials over the last two days in connection with the launch of Sony’s Playstation 3, the Wii crowds have been much calmer. Many observers attribute this to the fact that Nintendo had more than ten times as many Wii consoles available on launching day than Sony did for their PS3 that had been hounded by part shortages in manufacturing right up to the day of launch.

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said that several tough choices had been made in the design of the Wii. The company decided to develop a new way of playing games with revolutionary controllers instead of following the PS3 and the Xbox down the road of stunning graphic and multimedia options. This produced a console with a much talked-about sensor/controller design and the lowest price point of the three major consoles. While not having a DVD player or high-definition TV capabilities, the Wii retails for about $250 while its competitors the Xbox 360 and PS3 retail for about $400 and $600 respectively.

While the Wii will launch with several games available, one of its advertised advantages is that the new console is largely compatible with older games made for the GameCube, giving the new console an instant and extensive launching library. A GameCube controller will be needed to play GameCube games with the Wii. Several hardware items that GameCube games may be expecting, such as the modem or broadband adapter or the GameBoy player are not supported on the Wii.

Across the country in Los Angeles about 500 people were waiting for the doors to open at Universal City Walk’s Game Stop store. Fearing that the Wii introduction might be as contentious as the PS3 debut just a few days ago, the store handed out numbered wristbands to the throng. No problems were reported.

Friday, May 6, 2005

Three months after the FBI raided the offices of the Dorean Group in Union City, California, neighboring companies in the same office park have received letters claiming that rent for the office park should now be paid to the Dorean Group. The owner of the office park, Hanover Properties, insists that they have not sold the park and called the Dorean Group’s claim fraudulent.

The first letter from the Dorean Group, dated May 2nd, 2005, purported to “inform [the tenants] of the change in ownership of the property [the tenants] now occupy,” and asked that “payment of rents be sent” to the principals of the Dorean Group. The letter also included notarized documents authorizing the sale by an alleged agent of the current owner, Hanover Properties, a “Julia Pantibratyuk.”

On the subsequent day, Hanover Properties responded in a letter to the other tenants of the park. They noted that they had not sold the office park to the Dorean Group, but that they had evicted the Dorean Group from the premises on April 26. They added that, “We do not know who Julia Pantbratyuk^[sic] is.”

The letters were provided to Wikinews reporter Pingswept by an employee of one of the companies in the office park.

Saturday, April 17, 2010

In a new setback to the Thai government’s efforts to ease mounting political tensions, protest leaders escaped from their hotel Friday after security forces arrived to arrest them.

One, Arisman Pongruangrong, climbed down three floors using a rope, and was rushed away by supporters thronging the building. The police say Arisman led recent rallies at the national parliament, the election commission, and satellite transmission bases.

Officials earlier Friday said the government is preparing to arrest people linked to violent clashes with security forces last Saturday.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, Thai security chief, announced the raid on the hotel as it was unfolding, saying that a Special Forces unit had closed in around a downtown Bangkok hotel.

“As I am speaking, the government’s special team is surrounding the SC Park Hotel, where we have learned that there are terrorists and some of their leaders hiding,” Suthep said.

A spokesman for the governing Democrat Party, Baranuj Smuthararaks, says arrest warrants have been issued for those suspected of being involved in the violence. Some of the suspects have been identified from photos taken during the clashes.

“Right now the government’s focusing on issuing warrants for acts of terrorism by the people who fortunately have been captured in action [in photos] by both the local and international media,” he said.

According to the New York Times, as many as five protest leaders had been staying at the same hotel as Pongruangrong. Those leaders later appeared together at a protest rally in Bangkok.

“I would like to thank all of the people who saved me,” Arisman said. “You have saved democracy.”The government says armed men infiltrated protester ranks Saturday and fired on troops trying to disperse a rally. Five soldiers and 19 protesters died during the clashes.

Thailand is facing its most severe political crisis in almost 20 years. The anti-government movement, led by the United Democratic Front against Dictatorship or UDD, demands that the government step down and call fresh elections.

UDD supporters, known as red shirts, have held protests in Bangkok for more than a month.

The UDD largely supports former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006 and remains overseas to avoid a jail sentence for corruption. Mr. Thaksin has strong support among the rural and urban poor, as well among some sections of the army and police.

Some parties in the governing coalition want to set a clear time frame for elections to ease tensions. But the government says it will only call elections once the political situation has cooled.

Saturday, September 4, 2021

Latrobe City in Victoria, Australia recorded its first COVID-19 case in over seven months, after it was announced a person in Traralgon had tested positive to COVID-19 on Sunday.

The case has been linked to Melbourne’s current outbreak. The Victorian government’s COVID-19 response commander Jeroen Weimar confirmed “this individual travelled to a funeral in Melbourne”, and no other people within the person’s household are at risk.

The case – which is Latrobe City’s first active case since January 12 – is one of 92 community transmission cases recorded on Sunday in Victoria. There are currently two COVID-19 testing sites in Latrobe City – one at The Healthcare Centre at 185-189 Princes Drive in Morwell, the other at Australian Clinical Labs at 10-12 Grey Street in Traralgon.

A drive-through testing site began operating at 12PM on Sunday, which is located at Dorevitch Pathology in Latrobe Regional Hospital. A pop-up testing site has also been established at the Gippsland Regional Indoor Sports Stadium. Both sites are located in Traralgon.

Concerning COVID-19 testing, Latrobe City mayor Sharon Gibson told Wikinews via email “I would like to see support from the Government for further Testing Stations to be opened across our City and additional Vaccination doses made available, so that anybody wanting to be vaccinated is able to do so as quickly as possible. We are willing to work with the relevant Agencies to ensure this can be rolled out ASAP.”

Independent state MP for Morwell Russell Northe called for more government support in testing Latrobe City residents. Through email, Northe told Wikinews “I have called upon the State Government to increase the number of testing options for our community given the current demand. Unfortunately despite the best efforts of testers many locals have been turned away from being tested [on Sunday] which understandably has left quite a few residents feeling upset and anxious.”

On Sunday, two COVID-19 exposure sites were recorded in Traralgon, both located at the Traralgon Centre Plaza. One was the Coles supermarket, exposed on August 22 between 11:45AM and 12:05PM, and the other is the food court, exposed on August 27 between 11:10AM and 11:15AM.

Two more exposure incidents were added yesterday – an additional exposure at the above food court between 12:25PM and 2:45PM on August 22, and an exposure at the Traralgon Woolworths on Seymour Street on August 23 between 5:20PM and 5:45PM. Anyone who visited these sites has been urgently advised to receive a COVID-19 test and self-isolate until they receive their results.

In regards to the earlier announcement of exposure sites, Sharon Gibson called upon people who had visited them or had symptoms to get tested. She said “I would urge people to be tested if they were anywhere near the Exposure Sites and if they have any symptoms at all, please go and get tested. Now it is especially important to follow the public health advice.” Gibson added “I would hope the person who has tested positive recovers quickly. As this is the last thing they need, considering they were at a funeral and would be grieving.”

National Party federal MP for Gippsland Darren Chester spoke to Wikinews via email, stating “with [Sunday]’s news of a positive case in Traralgon, it’s important to follow the public health advice, particularly around checking in, physical distancing and hand hygiene. The advice is clear, if you have symptoms, please get tested. Thanks to our frontline staff who are working hard to keep our community safe. I encourage everyone who is eligible for vaccination to make a booking and get the jab, to protect you, your family, and the wider community.”

Russell Northe expressed his hope the circumstances would be handled well in regards to the exposure sites. He wrote “there are a number of local exposure sites which have been announced and hopefully health authorities and contact tracers are able to get on top of the situation prior to it becoming a major issue like we have seen in other communities such as Shepparton.” The City of Greater Shepparton recorded nine COVID-19 cases on Sunday, adding to a total of 92 active cases in the area.

Northe also stated “many community members were shocked to learn on Sunday of an active COVID case in the region. The Latrobe Valley has been without COVID for many months and people are drained and tired by the continuation of lockdowns particularly given the absence of COVID in our community. Obviously the news [on Sunday] is very concerning but I thank local residents who have responded by going to get tested at the earliest possible opportunity.”

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s bodyguards have been accused of saying racial slurs to parents of an Islamic school in south Mumbai, India. The parents have told the media that the bodyguards said “YOU BLOODY INDIANS AND YOU BLOODY MUSLIMS” when they came to pick up their children from the school. The 3 bodyguards were arrested and later released on surety of Rs 25,000.

Brad Pitt appeared in an interview with NDTV and denied all charges on the bodyguards. He said that the bodyguards were fathers too and would never say such a thing. Pitt also said that he would have never even chosen bodyguards who weren’t tolerant towards other religions. “I have to say that we are horrified by these allegations,” Pitt said in an interview for NDTV, which will broadcast tonight.

The incident occurred when the gates of the school, in which they were filming, were opened up to allow parents to pick up their children.

Tuesday, March 8, 2005

The British national airline, British Airways has announced that the former CEO of Aer Lingus, Willie Walsh is to be their new CEO. Mr Walsh is to replace the current CEO, Australian-born Rod Eddington in September after his retirement.

Willie Walsh started as a cadet for Aer Lingus at the age of 17, later becoming a captain of the airline. In 1998, he became the chief-executive of the airline’s charter subsidiary Furtura, and later in 2000 chief finance officer. In the wake of 11th September 2001, he became the chief-executive of Aer Lingus, itself. Worried about what happened to Swissair and Sabena, he looked at the rival Irish airline Ryanair for inspiration and made Aer Lingus in effect a no-frills airline, such as replacing the infamous turquoise uniforms with polo shirts and promoting via the Internet.