Thursday, February 24, 2011

According to CBS 3, the four Americans taken hostage after their yacht was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Oman in the Indian Ocean have been killed. Pirates hijacked their yacht, named The Quest, on February 18.

The U.S. Naval ship that was following the yacht, which was traveling off the coast of Somalia, heard gunshots and attempted a rescue operation. Naval personnel had been negotiating with pirates when the incident occurred. After boarding the vessel, soldiers killed 2 pirates and detained at least 13 others. During the process they discovered that the pirates had shot and killed all four hostages.

“The forces discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds,” said a statement issued by the U.S. Central Command.

The hostages were identified as Scott and Jean Adam, husband and wife who owned the yacht, from Marina Del Rey, California. Their two friends were Phyllis Macay and Bob Riggle from Seattle, Washington. Two other bodies were found on the yacht, believed to be pirates. The party was taking place in a race with other boats, which started in Thailand, when they decided to leave it after scheduled stop in Mumbai, India. Reports say they spent some of their time distributing bibles around the world. They changed course and were hijacked by the pirates off the coast of Oman.

Thursday, August 27, 2015

Austrian police today found an estimated 20–50 decomposing corpses in an apparently abandoned lorry.

Roadworkers who spotted the vehicle, which had been there since yesterday at least, alerted police. Responding officers found it full of corpses. The lorry is on the so-called “Eastern Motorway”, the A4, close to the Hungarian border. It was on the hard shoulder between Neusiedl and Parndorf, closer to Parndorf.

The victims are thought to have suffocated. Police are seeking the driver. The Krone published an image of a non-articulated food lorry on the hard shoulder, which they report is the vehicle in question. The photo shows a pool of dark liquid on the ground beside the vehicle.

Video from a passing motorist shows at least one helicopter on-scene. The truck, which has pictures of meat on the side, shows branding for Slovakian food firm Hyza. Earlier today the company’s website sported an apparent anti-immigration graphic, which has since been removed.

Wikinews got in touch with Hyza. “We are truly sorry about [the] tragedy” they told us in a statement. They said they have checked GPS trackers on their fleet and all their vehicles remain in Slovakia. The statement says the lorry in question was one of 21 Hyza vehicles sold on last year. It was then sold again and exported to Hungary, where it is now registered. Hyza told us the new owners have not changed the branding on the vehicle. According to the Bild newspaper, Agrofert — the parent company of Hyza — said in a statement the new owners were required to do so.

Hyza says they will “actively cooperate with Slovak police”, and “express [their] sincere condolences to the bereaved families.”

Interior Minister Johanna Mikl-Leitner called it “a dark day” and called for European Union-wide measures to protect immigrant refugees and tackle human traffickers. Neighbouring Hungary is constructing a border fence across its entire frontier with Serbia. Yesterday alone saw a record 3,241 attempts to enter Hungary illegally, according to authorities there.

Conflict in Syria and other parts of the world has led refugees to Europe. Once inside, they can move freely inside the Schengen Area, which covers most of the EU.

Austrian police earlier this week arrested three motorists suspected of people smuggling. One driver is accused of moving 34 people, ten of them children, into Austria from Serbia. The group were left by the roadside near Bruck an der Leitha and reported struggling to breathe in the van.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Citizens in the Australian city of Bathurst in Central-Western New South Wales have turned out in the hundreds on top of Mount Panorama to observe tonight’s lunar eclipse. Those who turned out for the spectacle were treated to live music and purple flags with lighting to take on a mystic theme.

Mount Panorama provided perfect conditions for the show, with minimal light and clear skies. Just before 7 p.m. AEST the eclipse began to be visible with the Earth beginning to shadow the Moon, by 8:37 p.m. AEST the top of Mount Panorama was bathed in an eerie red glow as the moon glowed deep red.

Michael Stanton, a local astronomy fan told Wikinews “this is just great, we have music and this visual delight to see”.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

June Callwood, Canadian Journalist, humanitarian, and activist, died today of cancer at age 82.

Callwood, born June 2, 1924 in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, first became a journalist for Brantford Expositor and later for The Globe and Mail, she began doing freelance journalism for magazines including Maclean’s, hosted several television shows for the CBC and Vision TV, and wrote 30 books. In 2003, she was diagnosed with cancer and refused treatment so she could continue her activism, but just this month the disease began to worsen until her death this morning at Toronto‘s Princess Margaret Hospital. Just last month a biography entitled June Callwood: A Life of Action was written by author Anne Dublin.

Callwood left a significant legacy of activism and community service. She helped to found the Toronto AIDS hospice Casey House, the youth hostel Digger House, Nellie’s hostel for women, PEN Canada, and the Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation. Callwood was also a past spokesperson for the Campaign Against Child Poverty.

Casey House (June Callwood) is named after her son, Casey Frayne, who was killed in a motorcycle accident involving a drunk driver, in 1982 at the age of 20.

In 1978, she was made a member of the Order of Canada, she became an Officer with the Order of Canada in 1985, and became Companion in the year 2000. In 1988, the Order of Ontario was awarded to her and in 2004 a street in Toronto was named after her. Her last interview was on CBC’s The Hour hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos in 2005.

Callwood is survived by her husband, Trent Frayne, her two daughters, Jessie Frayne, Jill Frayne, and her son, Brant Frayne.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

The United Nations’ former top official in Afghanistan has accused Pakistan of impeding negotiations between the Taliban and Western nations.

The official, Kai Eide, said that the arrests of high-ranking Taliban officials by Pakistan had led to the disruption of talks between the Taliban and the United Nations in Dubai. According to Eide, the two parties had conducted “talks about talks,” but they had broken down completely after Pakistan’s arrests. In an interview with the BBC, he said that “the Pakistanis did not play the role that they should have played.” Pakistan’s actions have prompted some speculation that the country was opposed to a peace deal between Western nations and the Taliban, or wanted to take a greater part in the talks. Pakistan, however, has denied the arrests were intended to disrupt talks between the UN and the Taliban.

Eide said that the talks between both sides had begun around a year ago, and had continued until several weeks ago, with a pause for the Afghan elections. While other avenues for communication exist, including via the Afghan government, Eide said that it would take at least several weeks for such talks to resume after the disruption.

Peace talks between the two sides are widely seen as necessary to gain peace with the Taliban, although the approaches taken by European countries and the United States are almost opposite. The US announced a significant military buildup in Afghanistan last fall, and is trying to weaken the Taliban military before engaging in talks. Western European countries are pushing for more immediate negotiations, and officials such as David Miliband, British foreign secretary, are focusing on engaging all but the most militant members of the Taliban.

Saturday, May 23, 2009

A passerby pushed a man, who was threatening to commit suicide, off Haizhu Bridge in Guangzhou, China.

The 66-year-old passerby, Lai Jiansheng, told China Daily that “I pushed him off because jumpers… are very selfish. Their action violates a lot of public interests.”

Lai initially volunteered his services to police to persuade the man not to jump, but police rejected these. Following this, Lai broke through a police barrier to push the man.

The pushed man, Chen Fuchao, survived with spinal and elbow injuries, because he landed on a partially-inflated air cushion 8 metres (26 feet) below. Lai was taken away by police.

The man threatening to jump was in 2,000,000 yuan (U.S.$293,000) of debt.

At least 12 people have threatened to jump off the bridge since the start of April, causing “traffic … to become worse” according to a spokesman for the Guangzhou public security bureau.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

The Long Beach Redevelopment Board voted last night to walk away from negotiations over the Filipino Baptist Fellowship church property. Eminent domain action, authorized at the March 13 meeting, was not addressed.

During the opening comment period, the attorney for the church, John Eastman, noted his difficulty in speaking on the question, since the agenda did not indicate what question was before the board. The board chair, Thomas Fields, replied that it was not appropriate for the board to answer questions during the public comment period.

After a five minute open session, the board recessed to discuss the church property in closed session. Fifteen minutes later, the board returned and announced that negotiations with the church were over.

Attorney Eastman and Rev Agustine, pastor of the church, conferred with long-time City Clerk Jan Pittman to clarify the meaning of the decision. She said that she understood the decision to mean that the board would not proceed with eminent domain. Responding to questions, she said that eminent domain proceedings are held in the city of Norton, and that no further notice would be due to the church if eminent domain proceedings were initiated.

The church property is located in Long Beach on Atlantic Avenue, a four lane road with two parking lanes. Most of the properties in the two block area have been acquired by the city and razed. The east side of the street was redeveloped five years ago with the construction of single family housing. The west side of the street is expected to be developed with higher density housing, but plans have not been announced. The city’s redevelopment project was begun in 1996. The Filipino Baptist Fellowship purchased the church in 2002, in the open market.