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Saturday, September 22, 2007

The Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office said yesterday that pop music super-star Britney Spears was facing charges for a hit and run offence and driving without a valid drivers’ license.

Charges were filed following an accident in which police allege Spears smashed her car into another vehicle in a parking area in August of 2007.

She could face a maximum of six months in jail and US$2,000 in fines if convicted.

A group of paparazzi recorded a video Britney steering her car into another vehicle on August 6 as she tried to pull into a parking spot in a Studio City lot.

Kim Robard-Rifkin was the owner of the other car and she filed a police report three days after the accident. The 59-year-old nurse found out that it was Spears who ran into her car after watching a video on a celebrity website.

Robard-Rifkin said, “I simply want my car fixed, the same as I would fix somebody’s car if I had done that.”

Spears will be arraigned on October 10.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

On Saturday 1400 BST, Northamptonshire Police were alerted by an HGV company that a Spar delivery vehicle had gone missing because it had not come back to base.

A search discovered the truck on the A605 near Warmington, England. The truck was found in a lorry park near a Jet filling station. The cab was unlocked and the curtains were drawn at the time.

When the police looked inside, they discovered a nine-year-old girl who had been strangled to death. A search by police officers then discovered a forty-year-old man’s body hanging from a tree close to the lorry park.

Detective Chief Inspector Tricia Kirk said: “I cannot begin to imagine what the family are going through, and we have family liaison officers with them trying to answer any questions that they may have. At the moment, we are treating it as a murder-suicide. We believe the little girl was murdered and the man then committed suicide.” She also said, “While we have not yet ruled out the involvement of a third party, the evidence strongly suggests that it is unlikely that anyone else was involved in the two deaths. This is a tragic incident for two families and we are working closely with them as part of our investigation.”

A police spokesman said, “Both bodies were taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary last night so that forensic post mortems could be carried out.”

The man and the girl cannot be named at this stage but the police have said that the man is the girl’s stepfather and that both came from the West Midlands. It is thought that the girl had regarded the trip as a “treat”.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

The New Zealand police who are investigating the deaths of male twin babies say that they suffered from serious head injuries.

The two babies were named Chris Kahui and Cru Kahui. They lived in a auckland house with 12 family members. Child, Youth and Family have removed two other children living at the Mangere home.

The police are investigating a double homicide after the two babies were taken off life support at Starship Hospital, Auckland. The twins were admitted to Starship on Tuesday June 13. At the time of admission they both suffered from head injuries and one suffered from a broken thigh.

A post-mortem revealed that the babies had died from numerous injuries and brain damage, however police cannot tell if any of the injuries were historical.

New Zealand is ranked third for the rate of child murder in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

A compilation of brief news reports for Wednesday, August 4, 2010.

BP (British Petroleum) engineers began injecting drilling mud into the capped Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico as the first part of a “static kill” procedure intended to permanently stop the flow of oil into the Gulf coast. Earlier in the day, the multi-national energy company ran “injectivity tests” to find out if the well, which had been leaking for months, could withstand the pressure of the procedure, which is meant to plug up the oil that isn’t flowing because the well has been capped. The procedure, unlike the “top kill” attempted in May, is designed to proceed slowly.

After a day-long delay, BP declared that the procedure could safely begin and that company’s senior vice president, Kent Wells, said that the afternoon pressure test “went exactly as planned”.

The company also said that the “static kill” was only half the solution, with the other half being two relief wells that are planned to plug the well from the bottom.

Sources

• Lauren Frayer. “Crews in Gulf of Mexico Begin ‘Static Kill’ Procedure” — AOL News, August 3 2010

• Dan Vergano. “BP starts ‘static kill’ to snuff oil well slowly, surely” — USA Today, August 3 2010

An illegal immigrant accused of driving drunk has been charged with killing Sister Denise Mosier, a nun, and severely injuring two other nuns. Carlos Martinelly Montano, 23, has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and involuntary manslaughter, following a car crash which occurred at 8:30 AM EDT on Sunday (0030 Monday, UTC). The man has also been charged with felony driving under a revoked drivers license. The car accident occurred in Virginia, USA’s Prince William County. Police also said that Montano is an illegal immigrant awaiting deportation and has also repeatedly been charged with drunk driving.

The US Department of Homeland Security stated that Montano had been released in 2008, with immigration judge’s review of his case pending. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano called the accident “a horrible thing” and saying, “this is a horrible case. Why is it that this individual was still out driving? He was in removal proceedings. Why were the removal proceedings taking so long?”

All three nuns were driving to a retreat at the Benedictine Monastery in Bristow, Va when Montano crashed into their car. Montano has been treated for injuries.

Sources

• Kathleen Miller, Associated Press. “Police: Illegal Immigrant Driving Drunk Kills Nun” — AOL News, August 3 2010

• Stephen Dinan. “Illegal immigrant who killed nun in accident was released by feds” — The Washington Times, August 2 2010

On Wednesday, Kenyans will vote on a new constitution that intends to fix many of the country’s political problems like widespread corruption and heightened ethnic divisions. Wednesday has been declared a public holiday so more people can vote.

Billie O’Kadameri of Radio France International described opposition that arose from an alliance of churches and political leaders. Warnings of disruption in opposition areas have marred what the government initially hoped would be a united vote in support of the proposal.

However, Salim Lone, senior adviser to Prime Minister Raila Odinga, said that “[Kenyans] are united as we have never been since independence more than 45 years ago,” and, “Virtually all Kenyans, from across the political and ethnic divides, want this constitution”.

The new constitution would restrict the president’s power, gives the people a bill of rights, gives more power to local governments and encourages land reform. However, the Kalenjin tribe claims that the new land reform would lead to the taxation and even seizure of their lands.

The last time a major vote was held (the Kenyan presidential election in 2007), violence left almost 1,500 people dead and over half a million displaced.

Sources

• Jeffrey Gettleman. “Kenya Stakes Reinvention on Constitution Vote” — The New York Times, August 3 2010

• “Calls for calm ahead of Kenya constitution vote” — Radio France Internationale, August 3 2010

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Russell Korus is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the Ontario provincial election, in the Vaughan riding. Wikinews’ Nick Moreau interviewed him regarding his values, his experience, and his campaign.

Stay tuned for further interviews; every candidate from every party is eligible, and will be contacted. Expect interviews from Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, New Democratic Party members, Ontario Greens, as well as members from the Family Coalition, Freedom, Communist, Libertarian, and Confederation of Regions parties, as well as independents.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

A New Jersey state senator has filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn a federal law banning sports betting in 46 states.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, a Democrat representing portions of Union County, filed the suit Monday, arguing the 17-year-old law is unconstitutional because it treats four states differently than the other states.

Under the law, sports betting is prohibited in all states except Delaware, Oregon, Montana and Nevada, although only the latter two currently allow wagering.

“This federal law deprives the State of New Jersey of over $100 million of yearly revenues, as well as depriving our casinos, racetracks and Internet operators of over $500 million in gross income,” Lesniak said in a statement to the press.

The 39-page lawsuit is believed to be the first challenge to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992. New Jersey missed a 1994 deadline that would have allowed it to join the other states when the law was implemented.

Atlantic City officials and their political allies have argued allowing sports betting would give all the states a new source of revenue needed in the face of a staggering recession.

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine was not involved with the lawsuit, but he said legalizing sports betting would help Atlantic City and said it was “worth pursuing”.

Legalizing sports betting in New Jersey could bring the state more than $50 million in annual tax revenue, according to officials from the Interactive Media Entertainment & Gaming Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based consultant for the electronic gaming industry, which joined Lesniak as a plaintiff in the lawsuit.

“This is about more than revenue,” said Joe Brennan Jr., chairman of Interactive Media Entertainment. “It’s about jobs and economic activity.”According to 1999 study, $380 billion in illegal sports betting occurs in the state each year.

New Jersey, in particular, is facing a difficult budget season, and the Atlantic City casinos are in what the Associated Press called a “financial meltdown”. Eleven of the city’s casinos suffered their biggest revenue decline in 30 years last month.

Delaware is reported to be considering regulating sports betting, which New Jersey backers of the lawsuit said adds a sense of urgency to the issue.

“We cannot afford to be naive about illegal sports betting,” New Jersey State Sen. Jeff Van Drew said in a statement to the press. “It’s happening right now, and is funding other criminal enterprises which are far more dangerous.”

The New Jersey Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, the Thoroughbred Breeders Association of New Jersey and the Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association of New Jersey were also listed as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Saturday, June 11, 2005

The inflation rate in Ireland, as measured by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), edged upwards to hit a five month high in May at 2.4%. This represents a 0.2% rise on the previous month when the rate stood at 2.2%.

The major contributors to the rise were increased transportation, healthcare, and education costs. In April the EU25 average rate of inflation was 2.1%, with Latvia having the highest rate at 7.1% and Sweden the lowest at 0.4%.

Despite the increase in the rate, Irish inflation remains very low – having hit 7% during 2000 and remaining around the 5% until the beginning of 2003. Another major factor easing any worries about the increase is Ireland’s very strong GDP growth – expected to be around 5.5% this year

On an annual basis the cost of footwear and clothing have fallen by 2.7% whilst energy costs have soared by 10.4%. The cost of food, furniture, and communications also fell over the last 12 months.

The Consumer Price Index is made up of over 55,000 prices consisting of 613 headings which cover over 1,000 different items.