Archives 2021

Monday, November 29, 2010

A Mexican professional wrestler has been shot dead after arriving in his hometown of Coyoacán, Mexico City. Ignacio Jimenez, 33 performed under the name El Hijo de Cien Caras. His death was announced by fellow wrestler El Hijo del Santo over his Twitter page.

Jimenez was killed along with Adela Luna, a women reported to be in her 40s. Their bodies were found in a truck and had to be identified by a doctor. No one has been arrested for the murder yet.

Santo said in his Twitter announcement: “I very much regret the death of a great teammate, the Son of Cien Caras, traveled in all our tours in Europe, rest in peace … A big hug to the family of One Hundred Faces. By this means, my sincere and respectful condolences.” Jimenez had travelled with Santo several times and previously worked as his partner.

An investigation has been opened by the Ministry of Public Security.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Following the Pilkhana massacre which occurred February 25 and 26 leaving 74 dead and the inferno at the Bashundhara City shopping mall complex March 13 leaving seven dead, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said security measures are being tightened countrywide across Bangladesh.

Fire drills will be enacted at all key-point installations (KPI). Fire fighting systems will be examined by the fire brigade and the public works department (PWD) to ensure functionality. Security measures will be enhanced supplementing areas under private security such as at the Bashundhara City Complex.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence Department requires modernization and needs new equipment to fight fires past the sixth floor of buildings. The Fire Brigade says it needs turntable ladders, snorkels, foam-tenders, lighting units, emergency tenders, fireproof uniforms, and rescue ropes for fire fighting and rescue operations. Transportation to fires is also an issue due to narrow roads, low electrical wires and congestion.

The Bangladesh National Building Code requires fire fighting equipment installed in buildings over seven floors. This code is to be monitored by authorities to ensure compliance with the new guidelines and to make sure buildings are being maintained.

The Bashundhara City Complex opened Monday for shoppers two days after Friday’s blaze. A probe is underway to determine the cause of the fire and to assess structural damage.

Loss of life was minimized as the blaze broke out on a Friday, the beginning of the weekend in Bangladesh, so offices in the upper floors were empty. The lower eight floors are used for shopping and the upper floors are all Bashundhara Group offices.

The mall is valued at Tk 7.0 billion (US$100 million). It is not known if the complex is covered by fire insurance.

It is estimated that it will take over two years to rebuild the area damaged by flames which were burned down to a skeleton. Bashundhara City’s technical advisor, Latifur Rahman, estimated damages at Tk 2.0 billion (US$29m).

Only one television cameraman has been allowed in to film the burnt area. None of the 2,500 shops, cinemas or cafes were burnt by the inferno. The seventh and eighth floors still experience smoke damage, and there was water damage to merchandise.

A three member committee is currently investigating the cause of the fire which will consist of Iqbal Khan Chowdhury, joint secretary of the ministry, representatives of the police, IGP Noor Muhammad, and fire brigade, Director General Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah. The committee is required to report within the week with their findings. The forensics department is also sifting through the burnt remains.

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries has also formed a committee which has begun interviewing witnesses and recording their testimony alongside the government committee.

It has been discovered that 150 closed circuit cameras were not being used when the fire started. Another mystery is why the mall fire fighting system has been found unused.

“In the shopping mall there is an ultra-technology elevator which runs even without electricity but we have found that locked,” Iqbal Khan Chowdhury, joint secretary (Police) of the home ministry, said. “Why the fire burnt so fiercely is a matter to think. We have to see if there was any incendiary substance there. These matters seem to be mysterious.”

Mall management has been asked to submit substances and items which would have been in the upper floors when the fire started. The fire erupted on the 17th floor and spread quickly to the two floors above and engulfed the three floors below. The aerial ladders belonging to the Fire Service and Civil Defence reached as high as the 13th floor of the 21-storey building.

Videos have been sent to the United States (US) for examination to assist in determining the cause of the fire and to help in the damage assessment. Experts from the US are expected to arrive soon.

Firefighters were brought to the rooftop of the 20-storey tower by helicopter. The only fatality in this operation was Baki Billa, a firefighter of Bashundhara City firefighting department, who fell when climbing down a rope from a helicopter to the roof of the building. Three other firefighters made the transition safely. At this same time, the chief security officer was safely rescued by the Bangladesh Air Force helicopter, a Bell 212. Six security officers of the complex also lost their lives.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Today, in the French National Assembly, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced all flights to and from Brazil are to be suspended for concerns of Lineage P.1, a contagious variant of the COVID-19 virus which reportedly originated in Brazil.

Castex’s announcement was met with “scattered applause”, according to the Associated Press (AP). In his announcement, Castex said, “the situation is getting worse and so we have decided to suspend all flights between Brazil and France until further notice”. While a report from RT TV said the data from March 16 indicates Lineage P.1 represents 0.5% of all COVID-19 cases in France. Opposition politicians have urged the French government to take preventative measures. Member of the Socialist Party Boris Vallaud said this suspension was “necessary and a very good decision”.

Lineage P.1 spreads faster between young people, according to the observations made by the Brazilian health institute Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. The Foundation also said cases in Brazilians in 30s, 40s and 50s increased 565, 626 and 525% respectively, since the beginning of January, and an increase in the overall population of 316%. It is also more transmissible by as much as 2.2 times, and 25–61% more able to reinfect those infected with another strain earlier. According to RT TV, the Brazilian variant has two distinct mutations: N501Y, which increases transmissibility and E484K, which reduces vaccine efficacy and natural immunity from past infection of another strain.

France is currently in its third wave of coronavirus infections, with a report from AP stating over 99 thousand COVID-19 related deaths and The Brussels Times reporting over 5900 treated in intensive care units as of yesterday, the most since seen in mid-April last year. The report also stated this figure is likely to rise. There have been 41-60 thousand positive tests of the coronavirus over Easter weekend. AP said there are at least 5.1 million cases in France in total, the highest in Europe. Seven per cent of the population has been fully inoculated against COVID-19, and 21% have received the first dose, The Brussels Times reported. “Restrictive measures”, including on travel, movement and in-school education has been imposed nationwide since April 3, and a curfew of 7 pm–6 am is under effect in metropolitan France.

Though the variants originating in Brazil and South Africa account for under four per cent of infections in France, the variant Lineage B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom accounts for around 80% of the infections, Minister of Solidarity and Health Olivier Véran said. Véran said, “we are seeing a retreat of these variants because they are less contagious than the English one”.

Thursday, November 2, 2006

Winter Haven, Florida police chief Paul Goward was tired of seeing fat hanging out over the belts of some of his officers. So he posted a memo to encourage the so-called ‘jelly bellies’ to get in shape.

The memo, entitled ‘Are You A Jelly Belly?’ didn’t single anyone out, and, apart from the title, didn’t call anyone names.

Goward, a former deputy police chief in Wichita, wrote “If you are unfit, do yourself and everyone else a favor. See a professional about a proper diet and a fitness training program, quit smoking, limit alcohol intake…Don’t mean to offend, this is just straight talk. I owe it to you.”

It provided a list of 10 reasons cops should get fit. Goward said that overweight cops poorly represent the profession, are liable to ‘poop out’ when chasing suspects, and may have to use a higher degree of force.

In the end, Goward resigned from his position as police chief.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Longtime Los Angeles architect Thom Mayne was awarded this year’s Pritzker Architecture Prize. Established in 1979 to honor “consistent and significant contributions to humanity,” the prize is considered by many to be the highest honor in the field. The award includes a bronze medallion and US$100,000. Mayne was the first American to receive it in 14 years; previous American recipients include Robert Venturi (1991) and Frank Gehry (1989).

Mayne earned his architecture degree from the {{w|University of Southern California|University of Southern California]] in 1968. A few years later he founded his own architecture school, the Southern California Institute of Architecture, which remains to this day. He then moved to Los Angeles, where in addition to running a firm, Morphosis, he teaches architecture at UCLA.

Mayne’s earlier work, considered “angry” and “brooding”, was outside of the architectural mainstream. His style was often called bold and audacious. This style has recently become more accepted, as Morphosis won contracts to design government buildings in California, Oregon, and Washington, DC. The firm also designed an Olympic village in Queens, in preparation for the city’s 2012 Olympics bid.

On receiving the prize, Mayne said, “This is such a big deal….it is not in my nature to think about being the one who prevails. For my whole life, I’ve always seen myself as an outsider.”

Sunday, September 18, 2005

San Francisco police have recovered a laptop stolen on March 11 from the University of California, Berkeley. The laptop was left unattended in the Graduate Division and contained personal information on 98,369 graduate students and applicants going as far back as 1976. This information included names, birth dates, addresses, and Social Security numbers.

The Silicon Valley forensic lab which analyzed the laptop said it had been reformatted, making it very difficult to determine if the data had been accessed. “There’s nothing in the Police Department investigation that points to any type of identity theft or credit card theft” said university spokeswoman Janet Gilmore.

The laptop was stolen by an unknown woman, who sold it to Shuki Alburati, who sold the laptop to an unsuspecting South Carolina man. Shuki Alburati was arrested on June 8 for receiving stolen property; he has been charged with one misdemeanor count.

He claims he didn’t know the laptop, a new IBM X40 worth $2,429, was stolen. He purchased the laptop from the woman, who said it wasn’t stolen, for $300 or $340. A few days later, on April 19, he placed the laptop on eBay. The winning bidder was a man in South Carolina who bought the laptop for $1,195.50. Police have said this man is not a suspect. Police were alerted by IBM after the man called IBM for tech support.

Shuki Alburati has pleaded not guilty. He claimed “It’s unfair, I didn’t know it was stolen.” His trial is scheduled for Sept. 30 before Superior Court Judge Michael Gaffey in Oakland. The woman who stole the laptop has not yet been found.