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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

The government of the United Kingdom has outlined its plans for the development of the Britain’s railway network in a white paper presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Transport, Ruth Kelly.

Ruth Kelly described the report as “the most ambitious strategy for growth on the railways in over 50 years” and announced that capacity will be increased to cope with an expected 20% growth in passenger numbers over the next seven years through a £10 billion investment.

The government is to continue to limit the rate of increase of regulated tickets, which include standard season and saver tickets, to a maximum of 1% above inflation, and plan to introduce a simplified ticketing structure of four basic ticket types.

Today’s announcement also extended the government’s commitment made in March of this year to fund extra carriages. An additional 300 brings the total to 1,300 carriages to be acquired to relieve overcrowding.

The impact of the investment the government has outlined will be concentrated in tackling areas of high overcrowding on the rail network. In particular, Ms Kelly has highlighted a number of key projects. These include the improvement of Reading and Birmingham New Street stations and the approval of the Thameslink modernisation programme.

150 stations across the network will be upgraded and refurbished at a cost of £150 million.

The largest opposition party, the Conservative Party, greeted the release with much scepticism, saying that the paper contains “reheated announcements that are years later than promised”. A spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats described it as a “missed opportunity” to encourage more people to use trains in favour of cars or planes and suggested that much of the investment outlined in the document had been announced before.

George Muir, of the Association of Train Operating Companies which represents the companies providing passenger train services on the British rail network, said that the white paper is the “first plausible plan for expanding the railway” in recent years.

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Dramatic developments today have revealed new information about last Thursday’s bomb attacks on London. One person has been arrested after a series of raids in Leeds.

The four men alleged to be responsible for the bombings travelled by train from Leeds to King’s Cross on Thursday morning, where they were seen on CCTV at 8.30am. Three of them, likely British citizens of Pakistani origin, came from Leeds while another joined them en route. One of the three from Yorkshire was reported missing by his family at 10pm that evening.

Three of them then boarded underground trains. The fourth alleged bomber – the man reported missing from Leeds – died onboard the bus, but there are no clear reasons for why he did not follow the same pattern as the others. It has been confirmed that at least three of the four bombers died in the blasts. Forensic evidence and items belonging to all of the men were found in the debris of the target vehicles.

Police also found a car at Luton train station, which is on the route from Leeds to King’s Cross. A series of controlled explosions was carried out on the car. It is understood that one of the bombers drove equipment in the car to Luton, while the others travelled by train.

Materials used to make explosives were also found at one of the houses in Leeds.

A second car was found on the property of a recovery company in Leighton Buzzard; it had been ‘routinely recovered’ from Luton train station on the evening of Tuesday, July 12. Bedfordshire Police, working in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police and the British Transport Police, sealed off the area within a 50 metre radius of the vehicle. The area was re-opened at 9.30pm BST, although a police presence remained until the next day. It has not yet been revealed why the car was towed away or what was contained inside it.

Friday, May 26, 2017

On Wednesday, in the UEFA Europa League final, Manchester United defeated Dutch capital-club Ajax AFC 0–2 to win the Europa League title and qualify for the UEFA Champions League group stage despite finishing sixth in the Premier League this season. A deflected goal from Paul Pogba’s left-footed shot in the first half and a flick goal by Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the second half ensured that José Mourinho’s side lifts its third trophy in this season, previously winning Community Shield and the EFL Cup.

Before the kick-off, a one-minute silence was observed at the Friends Arena, Stockholm, for the victims of a suicide attack in Manchester Arena on Monday. The English side had just 33% ball possession in the entire match, completing 192 passes out of 276. A comparatively young Ajax team, with the average age of the starting lineup no more than 23 years, had 88% passing accuracy, with 565 successful passes. Manchester United had better numbers for defense, recovering 64 balls – 22 more than Ajax, and had almost twice as many ball clearances as the Dutch counterpart. A total of 32 fouls were committed in the match, and the official booked six players – three players of each side received a yellow card.

At the age of 17 years and 285 days, Ajax’s Matthijs de Ligt became the youngest player to play in the Europa League final, while Marcus Rashford became the youngest winner of the tournament at the age of 19 years and 205 days.

A deflection off Davinson Sánchez from Paul Pogba’s left-footed shot gave United an early lead. Ajax’s shot-stopper saved Antonio Valencia’s close-range strike. Another attempt in the first half by Ajax’s Bertrand Traoré was saved by Sergio Romero. The half time ended 0–1. Minutes into the second half, Armenian midfielder Mkhitaryan scored a goal just in front of Ajax’s net, which doubled Manchester’s lead. Five players were booked in the second half. Ajax’s attempts in the final minutes of the game were stopped by Romero, not giving them a chance to reduce the difference.

Last season, Premier League club Liverpool FC lost the Europa finals against Spanish side Sevilla FC. United is the first English club to win the Europa since 2013. This season’s Premier League winners Chelsea won the tournament four years ago against Benfica at Ajax’s ground, Amsterdam ArenA. Since then, Sevilla has added three Europa titles to their collection.

After the match, Ajax’s coach Peter Bosz said, “We’re obviously disappointed. I didn’t see the Ajax team I’m used to, pressing and competing for first balls. We weren’t good enough. Often, to win finals you must first lose them. It’s all new for all my team. They will learn a lot from it and if we keep the squad together they will be stronger for it.” Bosz’s first season as Ajax’s coach ended trophy-less.

Manchester United’s boss José Mourinho said, “We are in the Champions League in the right way and for me the right way is winning the Premier League or winning the Europa League. We were not strong enough to win the Premier League but we were strong enough to win the Europa League and we are back in the Champions League. The club now has every trophy in world football. We fought hard for this since the beginning. We totally deserved the win. I am so happy to see all the players, including the boys with the crutches, with the trophy.” The Portuguese has won two Champions League titles – one each with FC Porto and Inter, and two Europa titles – the first one with Porto.

United became the fifth team after Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Juventus, and Ajax to win all three major UEFA trophies – European Cup Winners’ Cup, the European Cup (rebranded as Champions League) and UEFA Cup (rebranded as Europa League). They are to face the winner of Real Madrid and Juventus in the Champions League final in the UEFA Super Cup scheduled on August 8 at the Philip II Arena in Skopje.

“We are in the Champions League in the right way and for me the right way is winning the Premier League or winning the Europa League.”

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

American blues musician Pinetop Perkins, a first generation Delta bluesman, died in Austin, Texas, on Monday at the age of 97. His death was announced by his agent, Hugh Southard. Perkins suffered from a cardiac arrest as he took a nap and paramedics failed resuscitate him. During his 80-year career Perkins remained active until the end, even performing publicly as recently as last month.

A boogie-woogie piano player, he was a guitarist until a knife fight damaged his left arm. He was primarily a sideman. Throughout his career he worked with several big names including Sonny Boy Williamson, Ike Turner and slide guitarist Robert Nighthawk. He worked for Muddy Waters for more than a decade, including playing on Muddy’s great comeback albums of the late 1970s. He was 75 before an album was released under his own name.

Perkins also made history this year by becoming the oldest Grammy award winner. He won the best traditional blues album at February’s ceremony for his album, Joined at the Hip: Pinetop Perkins & Willie “Big Eyes” Smith.

Tributes have been paid to Perkins. Southard said “That drive to keep playing the blues kept is what kept him alive.” He also commented on Perkins simple lifestyle saying “Two cheeseburgers, apple pie, a cigarette and a pretty girl was all he wanted.”

Perkins was born in in 1913 in Mississippi and grew up on a plantation there. In a 2008 interview in No Depression he said, “I grew up hard. I picked cotton and plowed with the mule and fixed the cars and played with the guitar and the piano. What I learned I learned on my own. I didn’t have much school. Three years.”

He left behind no family and will be buried in his hometown of Belzoni, Mississippi. He had been living with an associate in Austin since 2004.

Monday, April 23, 2018

On Friday afternoon, Swedish electronic dance music artist Tim Bergling, stage name Avicii, was found dead in Oman’s capital Muscat, stated his publicist Diana Baron. Baron did not specify the cause of Bergling’s death in the statement and added, “the family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time.” Bergling was 28 years old.

Born on September 8, 1989, in the Swedish capital Stockholm, Bergling released his first single in 2007. His single Levels, released in 2011, received a Grammy Award nomination. He released his debut album True in 2013; singles from True include Hey Brother and Wake Me Up. In October 2015, he released his second album Stories. Bergling has won American Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards. He received second Grammy nomination for Sunshine, which he collaborated with David Guetta.

In 2014, Bergling collaborated with Carlos Santana and Wyclef Jean to release We Will Find a Way, one of the anthems for that year’s FIFA Men’s football World Cup in Brazil. In March 2014, Bergling was hospitalised. He had surgery to remove his gall bladder and appendix that year, and had previously suffered from pancreatitis in 2012. He announced quitting touring in early 2016, after performing at the Ultra Music Festival.

Speaking to Billboard magazine, Bergling said he stopped touring for the health complications. He added, “The scene was not for me. It was not the shows and not the music. It was always the other stuff surrounding it that never came naturally to me […] I’m more of an introverted person in general. It was always very hard for me. I took on board too much negative energy, I think”.

In his twelve-year career, Bergling collaborated with Madonna, David Guetta, Jon Bon Jovi, Rita Ora, Coldplay, Aloe Blacc and Robbie Williams. Bergling had about eleven billion streams on music streaming platform Spotify. Bergling released his final EP called AV?CI (01) in 2017, which was nominated for a Billboard award recently.

In an interview with VEVO Lift, Bergling explained about his stage name saying, “the name Avici means the lowest level of Buddhist hell”. He said he added an extra ‘i’ since someone else was using that name on MySpace.

After Bergling’s death, pop singer Madonna tweeted, “So Sad……. So Tragic. Good Bye Dear Sweet Tim. ? Gone too Soon.”

Saturday, January 29, 2011

U.S. Prohibition Party presidential candidate Jim Hedges of Thompson Township, Pennsylvania took some time to answer a few questions about the Prohibition Party and his 2012 presidential campaign.

The Prohibition Party is the third oldest existing political party in the United States, having been established in 1869. It reached its height of popularity during the late 19th century. The party heavily supported the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which banned the sale of alcohol, and resulted in the US period known as Prohibition (1919–33). It was repealed in 1933. The party has declined since this period, but has continued to nominate candidates for the presidential election.

In 2003, the party split into two factions. Preacher Gene Amondson and perennial candidate Earl Dodge were nominated for the presidency by their respective factions. After Dodge’s death in 2007, the party reunified and named Amondson as its sole presidential nominee for 2008. During the election, Amondson was interviewed by Wikinews. He died in 2009, leaving an opening in the party for 2012.

Jim Hedges is a longtime Prohibition activist, who holds the distinction of the first individual of the 21st century (and the first since 1959) to be elected to a political office under the Prohibition Party banner. In 2001, he was elected as the Thompson Township tax assessor, and was re-elected to the post in 2005. He served until his term expired in 2010. Hedges declared his intent to run for the Prohibition Party presidential nomination on February 18, 2010. This marks his first run for the presidency.

Monday, January 31, 2005

New York, USA – Students and professors at New York‘s Hamilton College have raised protests over an invitation to the controversial ethics professor, Ward Churchill, to participate in a panel at the college. The main objection is related to comments by Mr. Churchill, chairman of the ethnic studies from the University of Colorado, who in a paper written after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, compared the victims of the attack to “little Eichmanns“.

Churchill’s paper, entitled “Some People Push Back”, charges that all American citizens are complicit in the “genocide of 500,000 Iraqi children,” which he maintains occurred during the Gulf War as a direct result of military actions and the destruction of infrastructure and the water supply. Due to their inaction and empowerment of the American government, he compares American citizens to “Good Germans.” He also charges that the inhabitants of the targets of attack, namely the Pentagon and World Trade Center, have a dubious claim to the title “Innocent Civilians,” as the Pentagon was a military target and the WTC was home to many who he alleges profited from the Iraqi Genocide.

Administrators defended Professor Churchill’s appearance despite the fact that some considered his views repugnant and disparaging.

According to Hamilton College spokesman Michael DeBraggio: “Hamilton, like any institution committed to the free exchange of ideas, invites to its campus people of diverse opinions, often controversial.”

The University of Colorado’s Interim Chancellor Phil Distefano said in a statement:”I wish to make it clear that Professor Ward Churchill’s views of the events of 9/11 are his own and do not represent the views of University of Colorado faculty, staff, students, administration or Regents. While I may personally find his views offensive, I also must support his right as an American citizen to hold and express his views, no matter how repugnant, as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution.”

The professor’s opinions divided New York’s Hamilton College, where Churchill is scheduled to speak. Jessica Miraglia, a student at Hamilton, created a poster defending the professor reading “You don’t have to agree with them in order to learn from them.”. Sophomore Matt Coppo, who lost his father in the World Trade Center attacks was angered over the invitation to Churchill. “Knowing that I’m paying for a person to disrespect my father, it doesn’t go over too well in my mind.”

Two congressmen from Colorado asked professor Churchill to apologize for comparing victims of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack to Nazis. Professor Churchill has said that he will not back off his statement.

Thursday, February 24, 2005

A paste containing synthetic tooth enamel can seal small cavities without drilling. Kazue Yamagishi and colleagues at the FAP Dental Institute in Tokyo say that the paste can repair small cavities in 15 minutes.

Currently, fillers don’t stick to such small cavities so dentists must drill bigger holes. Hydroxyapatite crystals, of which natural enamel is made, bond with teeth to repair tiny areas of damage.

Yamagishi and colleagues have tested their paste on a lower premolar tooth that showed early signs of decay. They found that the synthetic enamel merged with the natural enamel. The synthetic enamel also appears to make teeth stronger which will improve resistance to future decay. As with drilling, however, there is still the potential for pain: The paste is strongly acidic to encourage crystal growth and causes inflammation if it touches the gums.

The paste is reported in the journal Nature.