Monday, September 15, 2008
One Hit News
Fast food chain McDonald's has stopped offering a musical toy with its Happy Meals that was found to emit dangerously loud sounds.
The toy, which resembles a mobile phone, was recently tested at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and found to produce a noise of 115 decibels[.]
Danish members of social networking site Facebook have growing concerns in privacy issues. Copenhagen Post:
The commission wants to know if the personal information posted on a person's profile is covered under Danish law when users log onto the Danish version of the website, or by California law, where the Facebook company is registered.
The terms and conditions of signing up to the website include a clause that allows for the terms to be changed without any notice to the user. The user also loses any right to the information they post of their personal profile.
[...]
This term is in clear conflict with Danish personal data laws, because in Denmark it is illegal to save information about people for ever and use it commercially behind their backs,' H�yrup told Politiken newspaper.
Five bombs explode in New Delhi. Saudi Gazette:
At least five bombs exploded in quick succession in crowded markets and streets in the heart of India’s capital New Delhi Saturday, killing at least 30 people and injuring a 100 others. The Indian Mujahideen militant group, which says it has carried out several major attacks in recent months, sent an e-mail to local television stations claiming responsibility for the attacks.
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Police say the Indian Mujahideen is an offshoot of the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India.
Czech Republic not joining up as member of the International Criminal Court. Prague Post:
In 2001, when the Chamber of Deputies quietly rejected two proposals that would have paved the way for ratification of the Rome Statute — the international treaty that would have brought the Czech Republic under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court —
[...]
Seven years later, the Czech Republic has still not ratified the Rome Statute, and holds the dubious distinction of being the only member of the European Union failing to do so.
Balcony jumper John Hogan asks his children to forgive him. The Herald:
The father who leapt from the fourth-floor balcony of a Crete hotel with his two children, killing his six-year-old son, spoke for the first time yesterday about his "moment of madness".
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The 34-year-old, from Bradley Stoke, near Bristol, said he prayed every night to his children for forgiveness and kissed the picture of the son he killed.
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Hogan insisted he was not evil, blaming his action on a moment of madness. "I want people to understand that while some might think of me as evil, I was psychologically ill," he said.
"Please believe me, those five to 10 seconds of insanity were not John Hogan. I've pushed my body and mind to try to find those seconds of madness. I could not and still cannot believe I could ever hurt my two innocent babies."
Handgun Amnesty yields minimal forfeitures. Aftenposten:
During the last gun amnesty in 2004, nearly 36,000 weapons were handed in to the Police. The present amnesty has only turned up 2,323 guns.
During the amnesty, which lasts from the beginning of May to the end of September, the public can turn in unregistered and illegal weapons to the Police without having to fear prosecution, writes daily paper VG.
Jobbik commenter banned. Budapest Sun:
A reader,who posted on far right Jobbik party’s English language forum at Jobbik.com was banned from the site simply, he says, for disagreeing with other posters.The Budapest Sun knows the real identity of the man (who posted under the nickname “scorpio”), but has agreed to withhold his real name and address.Scorpio posted on Jobbik’s forum in connection with the South Ossetian crisis.
Although his comments were “moderated” (ie deleted), the dispute between him and other posters can be reconstructed by a few quotes that were left in the replies.
[...]
“As Hungarians, I told them they should be ashamed of themselves because of what our fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts and uncles fought for in 1956,” Scorpio told The Budapest Sun.
Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan asked to intercede in prison sentencing for Reports Without Borders. Kabul Press:
Freedom of expression organisations Reporters Without Borders and ARTICLE 19 call on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to intercede on behalf of former journalist Ahmed Ghous Zalmai and Mullah Qari Mushtaq, who were sentenced yesterday by a Kabul court to 20 years in prison for publishing a Dari translation of the Koran. Dari is the Farsi (Persian) dialect spoken in Afghanistan.
"We appeal to the president’s spirit of tolerance and ask him to intercede on behalf of two men who have been given extremely severe sentences," the two organisations said. "Their aim was not to violate Islamic law, but only to promote the Koran among the Persian-speaking peoples. We are appalled that men whose intellectual and religious intentions were honest and humanistic have been punished in this manner, and we call for their release and acquittal."
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has a new enemy: Women. Iran Press:
In one of his last sermons before his death, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini warned of "three threats" to his vision of Islam: the US, the Jews and women. Two decades later, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad thinks he has the United States and the Jews in hand - and is moving on the third "enemy."
[...]
But women continued to fight a regime that deemed them subhuman. Their resistance prevented the mullahs from abrogating pre-revolutionary laws limiting gender discrimination. Thus, women succeeded in keeping their right to vote and win public office.
[...]
Last month, Ahmadinejad presented a draft bill designed to "re-Islamize" the status of women. He claimed that the Shah had used laws inspired by "Zionist-Crusaders" to deal with women's issues.
His new law would restore men's Islamic right to divorce their wives without even informing them. Men would also be absolved from paying alimony.
Outlawing gangs; should it be a crime simply to belong to a gang? New Zealand Herald:
Corrections Minister Phil Goff is weighing up the idea of outlawing gangs, based on a ban just introduced across the Tasman.
South Australia launched its crackdown this month with the declared aim to "get gang members to leave the gang or leave the state" by making it illegal for members to even talk to one another. Breaching the ban can lead to up to five years in prison.
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Put prison cells inside football stadiums in order to deal with abusive, rowdy and drunk fans. Corriere della Sera:
“If necessary, we’ll put cells in football grounds to hold anyone who commits an offence”. The statement came from the Italian football league chairman, Antonio Matarrese, who was attending the presentation of a ministry of the interior-sponsored communication campaign against stadium violence.
Gay police officers' convention set for September 26 in Italy. Corriere della Sera:
The rule in Italy is: “ask no questions, tell no lies”. Vito Raimondi says: “I’ve met colleagues in clubs who turned away as soon as they saw me."
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi set to be White House guest in October. Life In Italy.
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What IS this?
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Life on the beach in Rio. Sydney Morning Herald:
Five kilometres of glistening bodies, the fusion of Africa, Portugal and indigenous Brazil, unfurl before the awkward visitor. It is the flesh that ebbs and flows; the azure water remains still and immovable.
[...]
"Why does everyone always stand up on the beach here?" a pale English tourist grumbles, rhetorically. "In Australia everyone lies down."
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