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Wednesday, October 21, 2015

The Recorder of London, His Honour Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC, today set a provisional timetable in the case against Stephen Port, an alleged serial killer. January 9 was set for a plea and case management hearing. The trial has been scheduled for April 2016, and is currently expected to last four weeks.

Port, 40, attended the hearing from HMP Pentonville via videolink. He spent the ten-minute hearing looking down, and spoke only to confirm his identity. He wore a bright yellow and green prison-issued uniform designed to make him highly visible should he escape.

Port faces four counts of murder and four counts of “administering a poison with intent to endanger life or inflict grievous bodily harm”. He is alleged to have given overdoses of recreational drug GHB. He allegedly murdered the men at his home before dumping the bodies, after finding victims online using gay dating services.

He was charged on Sunday. On Monday he appeared before a Magistrates’ Court which sent the case to today’s hearing at the famed Old Bailey courthouse. Port has not applied for bail and remains in custody.

The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission concerning what police called “potential vulnerabilities in [our response] to the four deaths.” Police only linked the deaths a week ago on Wednesday, when they were passed to serious crime investigators.

Three of the deaths occurred last year. Anthony Patrick Walgate, 23, was found dead on June 19, 2014 in Cooke Street. Port lives in Cooke Street. The other three alleged victims were found in the vicinity of St. Margaret’s Church on North Street. Gabriel Kovari, 22, was discovered dead on August 28. Daniel Whitworth, 21, was found dead the following month on September 20. Fourth alleged victim Jack Taylor, 25, was found a year later on September 14.

Whitworth and Kovari were known to each other, according to testimony at the inquest.

Port was arrested following a police appeal to trace a man seen with Taylor shortly before his death. Police at the time released security footage of Taylor’s movements, with an officer telling the press “the man captured on CCTV may well be the last person to talk to Jack.”

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Actor David Tennant made an announcement Wednesday at the National Television Awards in the United Kingdom that he will end his time portraying the Tenth Doctor on the long-running BBC science fiction drama Doctor Who in 2009. The announcement came as part of Tennant’s speech accepting the outstanding drama performance award at the program.

Tennant, 37, is currently portraying the lead in a production of Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and accepted the award by videolink. He was up against Doctor Who co-star Catherine Tate, who portrayed his companion Donna Noble. Doctor Who was recognized with the award for most popular drama program.

“I love this part, and I love this show so much that if I don’t take a deep breath and move on now I never will, and you’ll be wheeling me out of the Tardis in my bath chair,” said Tennant in his address to the audience in attendance at the Royal Albert Hall. “TARDIS” refers to the time machine and spacecraft operated by Tennant’s character known only as “the Doctor”, and stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space.

Tennant will again inhabit the TARDIS as the Tenth Doctor for the upcoming Doctor Who Christmas special, “The Next Doctor“, and will portray the Doctor in four additional specials set to air in 2009. A new actor will play the Doctor for the program’s 2010 series.

Tennant had initially been interested in portraying the Doctor in the 2005 series, but that role went to Christopher Eccleston. The series had previously been dormant since 1996, with Paul McGann in the lead role. Tennant has said that it was his childhood dream to play the Doctor. This is not his first time being recognized at the National Television Awards for his role as the Doctor. In 2006 he received the award for most popular actor, and again in 2007. In 2006 Tennant beat out actor Tom Baker as the favorite doctor, in a survey of readers of Doctor Who Magazine.

The Doctor comes from a race of Timelords, and has the ability to “regenerate” and change appearance when his health is failing. Actors including Russell Tovey, James Nesbitt, Paterson Joseph, John Simm and David Morrissey have been mentioned in the media as possibilities to portray the 11th incarnation of the Doctor.

Russell T. Davies, the program’s current executive producer, commented to BBC News on the end of the Tenth Doctor and his work with Tennant: “I’ve been lucky and honoured to work with David over the past few years – and it’s not over yet, the Tenth Doctor still has five spectacular hours left! After which, I might drop an anvil on his head. Or maybe a piano. A radioactive piano. But we’re planning the most enormous and spectacular ending, so keep watching.” Steven Moffat will replace Davies as executive director of Doctor Who in 2010.

Tennant began his work as an actor with roles in theatre, and progressed to starring roles on television programs including Blackpool and Casanova. He has recently returned to theatre roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has received praise for his work in Hamlet and Love’s Labour’s Lost.

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The development application for a McDonald’s restaurant at Minyama, on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in Australia, has been rejected by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council.

“We knocked back a Hungry Jack’s on Nicklin Way because of the nuisance code,” said divisional councilor Chris Thompson. “We already have a 24-hour McDonald’s at Mooloolaba, only one kilometre away, and there are already [anti-social] issues at that site.”

Local residents previously vowed to fight any McDonald’s development at the proposed site due to the risk of anti-social behavior. Protest group spokesman John Meyer-Gleaves was “over the moon”.

“It’s not often you knock Maccas [McDonald’s] over,” he said.

Mayor Bob Abbot said Minyama was in some ways more suitable than Mooloolaba. However, he was concerned about the proximity to a residential estate.

The rejection is expected to be ratified at an ordinary meeting of the council on Thursday.

“It needs to be endorsed or ratified by council at its ordinary meeting on Thursday and then it will become a statutory decision of council,” Chris Thompson said. “I’m reasonably pleased with the outcome.”

Thursday, June 21, 2018

On Tuesday, Mehbooba Mufti resigned as the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir state after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) broke their three-year alliance with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). BJP’s decision to dissolve the alliance came after a meeting chaired by BJP President Amit Shah.

The BJP National Secretary General Ram Madhav said, “It has become untenable for the BJP to continue in the alliance government.” “We have tried to put a full stop to the ceasefire violations of Pakistan. PDP has not been successful in fulfilling its promises. Our leaders have been facing a lot of difficulties from PDP in developmental works in Jammu and Kashmir”, he added. Military operations in Jammu and Kashmir were suspended for the Islamic holy month of Ramzan, but on Sunday, the national government decided to end the ceasefire.

Ram Madhav said, “The security scenario has deteriorated, causing serious concern about the protection of basic fundamental rights of life, free speech.” Last week, on June 14, a journalist was killed in Jammu and Kashmir. Recently, the United Nations had released its first-ever report on Kashmir, calling on both India and Pakistan to prevent human rights violation in Kashmir region.

Following the announcement of BJP, Mehbooba Mufti tendered her resignation and said, “The alliance had a bigger motive. I have submitted my resignation to the governor and told him that we are not looking to explore other alliances.” Of the 87 seats in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, PDP has 28 seats, while BJP has 25. Other parties declined to form an alliance. Ram Madhav said the party had “decided that the reins of power in the state be handed over to the Governor.”

Per section 92 of the Jammu and Kashmir constitution, the governor assumes the functions of the state government as well as powers exercisable by any state authority. For the governor’s control over the state, it needs to be formally approved by the President of India. On Wednesday, President Ram Nath Kovind, who is on an international trip, approved the transfer of control to Governor Narinder Nath Vohra after he signed files for the imposition of governor’s rule when he arrived in Suriname. According to a spokesperson for the Home Affairs ministry, the president approved Governor’s rule with “immediate effect”. However, Vohra’s term as Jammu and Kashmir governor is to end on June 25. Previously, in 2013, he received an extension from the national government to continue his role as the governor.

Jammu and Kashmir has previously been under governor’s rule on eight occasions, most recently in 2016 after the death of then-Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed.

Wednesday, May 4, 2005

A new, refurbished cafeteria at the Romanian Palace of the Parliament in Bucharest has opened for the use of parliamentarians. The new cafeteria, which has mahogany furniture and leather draped armchairs, was officially opened yesterday, and is situated at the entrance to the Senate headquarters in the Palace of the Parliament.

Members of Parliament said they were not satisfied with the former cafeteria in the Palace, saying that it didn’t have proper tables and chairs to sit on. Many parliamentarians expressed their satisfaction at the opening of the refurbished dining venue, saying that they can now drink a cup of coffee “in a civilised manner” before sessions.

Bucharest’s Palace of the Parliament (Palatul Parlamentului in Romanian) is the largest building in Europe and the third largest building in the world, with an area of approximately 350,000 m². It contains both houses of the Romanian Parliament (the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate), as well as the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MNAC). It is also frequently used as a function centre.

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

The tomb of former general secretary of the Hungarian Socialist Workers’ Party, János Kádár, located in Budapest, Hungary in the Kerepesi Cemetery, was vandalised on Wednesday night.

Vandals accessed Kádár’s casket by cutting a 40 cm hole into it and then removed some of his remains, police have confirmed. Reports say the urn containing his wife’s ashes was also stolen. In addition, the vandals wrote “murderer and traitor may not rest in holy ground” on a memorial to communist leaders near Kádár’s tomb.

“Not all the grave site was dug up. Experts are going to open the casket but as far as we can tell through the hole that has been cut into the coffin there are bones missing,” said Endre Kormos, a spokesman for the Budapest Police Department. The damaged coffin has been removed by authorities for further athropological investigations. Police also said a plate of marble that was covering his grave was also stolen.

Kádár was a controversial and important figure of the 20th-century Hungarian history. He was the leader of the country in the period of Goulash Communism, when Hungary had one of the most liberal systems in the Eastern Bloc, however, he also assisted the Soviet troops in crushing the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, and is held responsible for the jailing and execution of revolutionists, including Imre Nagy and other members of the government.

The Hungarian Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany, the center-right opposition party Fidesz and other political parties condemned the act, the Russian Pravda reports.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

A review this week by Wikinews of US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaints about student loans in the United States shows Sallie Mae leads all lending institutions in complaints. Of the 4,851 complaints dating back to March 2012 when the CFPB first began collecting student loan data, 2,262 or 46.6% of all complaints were about the lender. US Federal Reserve data from 2010/2011 shows Sallie Mae is the nation’s largest student loan lender, responsible for 25% of the market

The other major lenders in this space include Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, PNC, and Discover. In complaints, AES/PHEAA came in second with 546, or 11.3% of all complaints. Wells Fargo, Citibank and JPMorgan Chase each had between 5% and 7.5% of all complaints, totaling 918 complaints between them. 78 other lending institutions round out the list of organizations with complaints filed against them for student loans.

Few of the complaints originate from people with problems with federal student loans. Less than 1%, 35 total, are for these types of loans, with Sallie Mae accounting for the bulk of complaints with 17 total. 14 other lending institutions have 3 or fewer complaints. For non-federal student loans, Sallie Mae is still the leader for complaints, with 2245 or 46.6% of all non-federal student loan complaints.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sorts complaints into three issues: Problems when you are unable to pay, Repaying your loan, and Getting a loan. None of the federal loans had complaints about getting a loan. For non-federal loans, 65.5% of the 4,816 complaints related to loan repayment. Sallie Mae led in total complaints in this category with 1467. They were followed by AES/PHEAA with 356, Wells Fargo with 231, Citibank with 201, Discover with 158, JPMorgan Chase with 154, ACS Education Services with 143, and KeyBank NA with 116. CFPB says loan repayment issues include a basket of claim types including “fees, billing, deferment, forbearance, fraud, and credit reporting.” Problems when you are unable pay accounts for 30.8% of the complaints. Sallie Mae had 698 complaints. They were followed by AES/PHEAA with 181, JPMorgan Chase with 106, Wells Fargo with 104, Citibank with 70, and KeyBank NA with 58. Many of the complaints are, according to the CFPB, because borrowers have difficulty getting deferrments on loan repayment as a result of being unable to find employment.

The total complaints against Sallie Mae for September of this year is 2 fewer than the same time last year. The company’s performance this year compared to last year has been mixed. March and June numbers were down over 150 complaints from the same month a year before. April, May, July and August all saw increases of 17–43. Of the top six lenders by volume of complaints, only AES/PHEAA and Citibank saw drops every month between March and September from the total volume in the previous year. Wells Fargo had a gain of 1 in August and 6 in May from the previous year. JPMorgan Chase had a difference of 0 from the same month last year for April, 3 more this year for May, and 4 more for August. Discover saw an increase every month from the same period last year except for September. When the total complaints differences from year to year for March to September are counted, this year has 571 fewer complaints against the top six lenders.

Most, 1470, of the complaints against Sallie Mae were closed with explanations. 10.2% were closed with monetary relief. 7.7% were closed with non-monetary relief. 2.1% were closed with relief and 12.1% were closed without relief. AES/PHEAA’s complaint closure picture was much different. 40.1% of AES/PHEAA’s 546 complaints were closed with non-monetary relief, 35.3% were closed with explanations and 21.2% were closed without relief. Of the eight lending institutions with 100 or more complaints filed against them, Discover was the institution most likely to result in a closure with monetary relief with 12.9% of all their closures ending this way. Citibank was the institution with the highest percentage of closures ending with no relief at 26.0%.

Complaints over student loan lenders were geographically distributed, coming from 3,447 different zip codes. The largest cluster of complaints is for 20001, a Washington D.C. zip code with 10 complaints originating from there. 07950, the zip code for Morris Plains, New Jersey, and 37013, the zip code for Antioch, Tennessee, each had 8 complaints originating from them. Zip codes for Patchogue, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Washington D.C.; and Arlington, Virginia each had 7 complaints originating from them. By volume of complaints by state, New York led with 497, with California second with 467, Pennsylvania third with 303, Florida fourth with 288 and Ohio fifth with 219 complaints. US Territories largely occupied the bottom spots. The Northern Marianas Islands, with a population of around 50,000, had 1 complaint. The U.S. Armed Forces – Pacific had 3. North Dakota and U.S. Armed Forces – Europe had 5 complaints each. South Dakota had 7. Wyoming had 8. Puerto Rico and Alaska had 9 each. Rounding out the bottom five states by volume of complaints, Mississippi had 11.

With the possibility of a United States government federal shutdown looming on October 1, student loans may be impacted because of potential for an automatic increase in interest rates.