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Sunday, June 26, 2005

Maureen Faibish of 711 Lincoln Way San Francisco, CA was arrested on June 24, 2005 on the charge of child endangerment in the actions leading up to the death of her son, 12-year-old Nicholas Faibish, who was mauled by one or both of her two pit bull dogs, Rex 2 and Ella.

Nicholas was discovered dead in the front bedroom of her home at approximately 15:15 PDT on June 3, 2005, by his mother, who had left the house to run some errands. She had locked her son in the basement to keep him away from the dogs. “I put him down there, with a shovel on the door.”, Faibish said in a telephone interview to the San Francisco Chronicle. “He had a bunch of food. And I told him, ‘Stay down there until I come back.’ Typical Nicky, he wouldn’t listen to me.”

Faibish stated that she believes that her son had walked in when Rex 2, a male pit bull, was attempting to mate with Ella, a female pit bull who was in heat at the time. She stated that Rex 2 had been acting possessively prior to the incident. A police officer shot and killed Ella in order to gain entry to the apartment. Rex 2 was captured and removed to an animal shelter. “The police killed the wrong dog if you ask me.”, Faibish said.

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Former England football manager, Bobby Robson CBE, will undergo surgery to remove a tumour on his brain today.

Bobby Robson is 73-years-old, and has managed various soccer teams such as England, Newcastle United, Ipswich, Barcelona, PSV Eindhoven, Fulham, Sporting Lisbon and FC Porto. Currently, he is employed as a consultant for the Republic of Ireland team, but will miss their opening Euro 2008 qualifier against Germany in Stuttgart on 2 September. He has had cancer surgery 3 times prior.

Bobby Robson said:

“The tumour is in my brain, which sounds bad, but it is in a position where it can be removed relatively easily and it’s extremely small – the size of a grape – which indicates they have caught it early.”

Robson was taken to hospital on 5 August 2006 after complaining about feeling unwell 10 minutes before the start of an Ipswich match. He was discharged on 7 August, and on 20 August it became apparent the incident was due to a brain tumour.

Friday, May 1, 2009

At approximately 06:00 a.m. (00:30 GMT) Wednesday, between four and seven people were killed when an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) passenger train crashed into a stationary freight train at Vyasarpadi Jeeva station, in Chennai, India. Between eleven and twenty persons were injured, and rushed to General Hospital in Chennai.

Officials are unsure of the number of persons aboard the passenger train, which was operated by an unknown person. “It is not clear who operated (it),” said S. Jayanth, acting general manager of Southern Railway. The operator of the EMU train was not in the train when it left 15 minutes to half an hour before the scheduled departure time. It is said some passengers did board the passenger train.

The EMU train ignored all signals, and drove about 7 kilometers (4 mi) at high speed, jumping tracks, before colliding with the goods train.

The driver of the goods train, Arumugam, has been confirmed as one of those who has died. The goods train was traveling between Arakkonam to Chennai. The motorman, guard and assistant jumped from the goods train sustaining fractures.

“We heard a loud noise and saw several compartments in flames. The smell emanating from bodies from the mangled coaches was nauseating,” said M.N. Selvi, a nearby resident.

The platforms at the Vyasarpadi Jeeva station were destroyed, and electrical cables were torn down. The EMU train caught fire in the collision destroying two compartments completely. The other compartments were thrown from the tracks. The freight train was loaded with oil tanks, however reports indicate that only the EMU train was set ablaze.

All train services were canceled for a time on one of the busiest rail lines of India. “Train services are disrupted due to the mishap but we hope to restore the services in two to three hours time,” an Indian Railways spokesperson.

Railways Minister Lalu Prasad announced that an inquiry will be held.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

On Monday, Hungarian daily newspaper Magyar Nemzet revealed a deal whereby, on October 29, Hungarian state-owned enterprise HDT Védelmi Ipari Kft. (HDT Limited) acquired Austrian mortar and shell manufacturer Hirtenberger Defence Group. Hirtenberger Defence Group also acknowledged the deal.

In the deal, Austrian, United Kingdom and New Zealand production sites are to be kept, with market sales expected to cover for the price in the long run. A government-guaranteed loan covered the costs, but the exact figure was kept secret.

The November 4 issue of Magyar Nemzet published an interview with Gáspár Maróth, the Hungarian Government commissioner responsible for defence, defence industries and coordinating defence modernization, in which the deal was announced. On the same day, the Hirtenberger Defence Group issued a corresponding press release.

While not naming any other bidders, Maróth said the Hungarian bid won after lengthy negotiations, out of mulitple competing offers. He said he expects no political turmoil between the neighboring Austria and Hungary over the sale. He also noted the acquisition fits into the Hungarian “outward investment” ^{((hu))Hungarian language: ?t?kekihelyezési} strategy of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The Austrian partner asked for the price to be kept secret, but the commissioner stated the purchase was financed by a loan, so it is not a burden on the state budget. With government resolution No. 1430/2019, the state issued an indemnity bond to cover for HDT’s 38.8 million euro loan, and daily Népszava covered the story with a headline pointing out that amount as the presumed price. The creditor Hungarian Development Bank is state-owned as well. Already-queued orders won’t leave idle capacity for some years, Maróth said, and paying back this loan seems realistic; unnamed industry experts called this dubious to Népszava, as the market is saturated and margins are thin, while noting this kind of equipment is needed by the Defence Forces.

The company structure remains unchanged and all sites continue to operate, but Hungarian engineers are to join the research and development team. Maróth pointed out it would have been much more costly and time-consuming to research mortar technology than to acquire it this way. He noted, “the army modernization does not just cover buying ‘hardware’ but technology transfer as well.” ^{((hu))Hungarian language: ?a hader? modernizációja a „vas” megvétele mellett a tudástranszferre is kiterjed.}

Népszava noted the purchase appeared to circumvent the Ministry of Defence. HDT Limited was registered on August 6, 2019 and is under the aegis of Hungarian National Asset Management, Inc.

To modernize its military, in 2018, Hungary licensed Czech firearm technology and started assembling firearms in Kiskunfélegyháza, then agreed with Airbus to open a helicopter parts factory as a joint venture in Gyula.

US President Trump has called for NATO members to increase military spending. According to a March 14, 2019 NATO press release, Hungary spent an estimated 1.15% of its GDP on military expenditures in 2018; NATO guidelines call for 2%. Maróth noted the military had been “effectively disarmed” ^{((hu))Hungarian language: ?gyakorlatilag lefegyverzett} by 2010, when Viktor Orbán regained the prime ministry of Hungary for his second term. Hungary launched a military development program dubbed “Zrínyi 2026” in 2017 to address structural and financial challenges faced by the Defence Force and to renew its equipment.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The Bush administration officially notified Congress Monday of its intention to sell sophisticated precision-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia. The action, coinciding with President Bush’s visit to Saudi Arabia, is part of a broader U.S. effort to bolster Gulf allies in the face of a more assertive Iran. VOA’s David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The Bush administration has already briefed Congress on its arms sales plans for Saudi Arabia. Monday’s announcement sets in motion a 30-day period in which the House and Senate can block the plan with a joint resolution – an action that appears highly unlikely.

Under the proposed deal, worth more than $120 million, the United States would provide Saudi Arabia with 900 kits and associated equipment to convert conventional gravity bombs into GPS-guided smart-bombs, known as JDAMs.

The weapons are a mainstay of the U.S. military arsenal and their accuracy would vastly enhance the capability of the Saudi Air Force, which has top-of-the-line U.S.-made fighter-bomber aircraft.

The sale is part of a broader $20-billion arms package for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates last August on a mission to the Gulf, aimed at shoring up U.S. allies concerned about Iranian influence in the region.

Several elements of the broader package including sales of Patriot anti-missile systems to Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, and upgrades for Saudi Arabia’s AWACS airborne command and control planes, have already gotten congressional assent. Officials here say they also expect the Saudi J-DAMS sale to proceed despite concerns expressed by some congressional supporters of Israel.

At the time the Gulf weapons sales package was announced last year, the Bush administration also committed to a 10-year, $30-billion arms package for Israel, representing a 25 per cent increase in annual U.S. arms aid to that country.

Briefing reporters, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said the administration has assured Congress it would do nothing to upset Israel’s military edge over potential enemies in the region.

“We’ve spent a lot of time assuring that we abide by our commitments to a qualitative military edge for Israel,” said Sean McCormack. “This is something that President Reagan first talked about and it’s been reiterated and reconfirmed by each successive president after that. We’re committed to maintaining that qualitative military edge for Israel.”

Israel itself has not protested the pending sale. Israeli officials have said they anticipate being provided with a new-generation U.S. smart bomb more capable than J-DAMS, which have been in service for more than a decade.

A spokesman for House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, a prominent advocate for Israel in Congress, said he does not intend to push a resolution of disapproval.

However one House member, New York Democrat Anthony Weiner, said he would introduce such a measure and already has more than 30 co-sponsors.

Critics of the package have faulted Saudi Arabia’s record in combating terrorism and advancing political reform. Under questioning here, Spokesman McCormack said the Saudi government has made “quantum leaps” in action against terrorist cells and financing in recent years and has begun the process of reform, though not necessarily at a pace that would please some critics.

Two-thirds majorities of the members in both houses would be required to block the sale and officials here say chances for that appear nil.

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