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Lord Falconer proposes bill to legalise assisted dying for terminal ill in UK

Thu, 09 May 2013 12:32:42 GMT

Thursday, May 9, 2013

United Kingdom

Sources [edit]

"Lord Falconer to press on assisted dying law" — BBC News Online, May 7, 2013
John Bingham. "Lord Falconer begins parliamentary bid to legalise 'assisted dying'" — The Daily Telegraph, May 7, 2013
"Right to die: Paul Lamb takes up Tony Nicklinson fight" — BBC News Online, April 18, 2013
Steve Doughty. "David Cameron: Assisted dying is a danger to our society" — Daily Mail, September 22, 2009

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FanFiction.Net adult content purge felt across fandom two weeks on

Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:50:36 GMT

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Saturday, June 16, 2012

FanFiction.Net's purge removed stories from Harry Potter, Naruto, Twilight, Hetalia - Axis Powers.
Image: alixe75 on ffdotnetrants.

Two weeks ago, FanFiction.Net purged the site of much of the adult content, surprising many fan fiction readers and writers; leaving several archives on the Internet unprepared for a deluge of new users, problems continuing to this day. FanFiction.Net removed around 62,000 stories after a change allowing writers under the age of eighteen to register.

FanFiction.Net spelled out the reasons for their purge on the front page of the site:

“	Please note we would like to clarify the content policy we have in place since 2002. FanFiction.Net follows the Fiction Rating system ranging from Fiction K to Fiction M. Although Fiction Ratings goes up to Fiction MA, FanFiction.Net since 2002 has not allowed Fiction MA rated content which can contain adult/explicit content on the site. FanFiction.Net only accepts content in the Fiction K through Fiction M range. Fiction M can contain adult language, themes and suggestions. Detailed descriptions of physical interaction of sexual or violent nature is considered Fiction MA and has not been allowed on the site since 2002.	”
	— FanFiction.Net

According to alixe75 on LiveJournal's ffdotnetrants, FanFiction.Net deleted 2,002 Naruto stories, 1,497 Twilight stories, 1,256 Harry Potter stories, 670 Glee stories, 364 Inuyasha stories, 364 Hetalia - Axis Powers stories, 282 Kingdom Hearts, 213 Pokemon stories, 143 Yu-Gi-Oh stories, 127 Dragon Ball Z stories and 47 Doctor Who stories amongst others. rahirah on Dreamwidth provided another statistic, "Approximately 11% of all BtVS [Buffy the Vampire Slayer] stories were zapped. That may not sound like much, but FFnet is big - that comes to thousands of stories." feckless-muse on Dreamwidth reported the purge included banning users. Despite the purge, Alexa reports no drop in traffic to FanFiction.Net.

1 Critics United
2 Fan response
3 Fan fiction archives
4 Sources
5 External links

Critics United [edit]

Note — June 20, 2012

Critics United is a subcommunity of FanFiction.Net users; this was not clearly explained in the article.

Some in the fan community blamed Critics United for the purge, and a few Tumblr users created a group to fight them. The group earned a mention on the Huffington Post.

According to feckless-muse, "people reporting these so called site violations are literally ganging up on the writers and leaving comments like the ones below en masse. The poor writers are spending hours (and in some cases months and years for ongoing fics) on their works only to be abused, bullied and then having their work deleted without notice." With these sentiments being echoed on LiveJournal, jessioriginal reported threats from the group at the same time the purge took place.

“	It's been suggested that part of the reason behind the purge were the mass-reports coming from a trollish community on FanFiction that felt they have the right to judge which stories do and do not belong on the site. Unfortunately, they are not alone. My Fatal Fanfiction story—a Fatal Frame parody revolving around the recent purge—was targeted by them. Apparently the short prologue with references to the characters, story, and setting of the game was enough for them to declare my story an original work. They have since demanded I change it or remove it, threatened me, they've reported my story, and they keep leaving those kind of reviews.	”
	— jessioriginal on LiveJournal

Two months ago, David Anderson, of Dudley, Massachusetts, created a petition condemning Critics United which drew increased interest in light of the purge. By earlier today, 224 people signed it including Danny Kleemann of Peoria, Illinois, Brian George O'Connor of Chatham, New York, Tegan Chin of Arlington, Texas, Holly Reichert of Euclid, Ohio, Claire Owen of Houston, Texas, Joanna Zhang of Charlotte, North Carolina, Amber Keystone of Monroe, Louisiana, Lily Hamilton of Charlotte, North Carolina, Allison Law of Charlotte, North Carolina and Erica Winchester of Clinton, Massachusetts who all signed today. Earlier this week, Timothy Hall signed, saying "The profiles are being deleted due to either content violations or inactivity, including the stories in connection with the profiles. Most of profile and story deletions are because of depicted content about adult or violent themes being detailed beyond its 'suggestion' even in the slightest manner."

So great was one person's anger, they created a page about Critics United on Encyclopedia Dramatica several months ago. People mentioned this and praised people trolling Critics United on Tumblr and LiveJournal as recently as yesterday.

Correction — Jun 18, 2012

the Critics United page on Encyclopedia Dramatica was created on June 6, after the purge.

Fan response [edit]

A scene from Mary West's mature rated Harry Potter fan fiction "Time for a Change"
Image: SSHGGillian.

Twelve days ago, a FanFiction.Net contributor named Charlotte Weatherly created a petition on Change.org requesting FanFiction.Net stop its own destruction by purging stories. Earlier today, the count of signatories stood at over 30,000, many offering their perspectives on why the site acted in error. Kara Bularzik's comment, liked over 270 times, said: "... I cannot believe so much valuable work is being trashed because it doesn't fit parameters that have not been strictly enforced since they were put into action. [...] What is the point of a ratings system if anything disagreeable is automatically purged? [...] I am truly disheartened, and I hope either a different course of action is taken or I wish ff.net and its future users (all within the PG reading range) the best as I sadly look for a site where one can truly 'unleash their imagination'." Zaynab Quadri's comment, liked 88 times, expressed a similar sentiment: "Writers give warnings when they write explicit content, so if anyone's reading anything they shouldn't be, that's their own fault. Let the writers have freedom of speech." Lex Black's comment, liked by 30 people, said: "Some of the best stories are being threatened by this. This rule hasn't been inforced^[sic] for ten years and limiting creativity now is ridicules.^[sic] If it upsets you, then be MATURE enough to not read it."

People continue to support the petition, with Maria Adams of San Diego, California, Matthew Sandrock of Santa Maria, California, Jessie Brown of Clinton, Mississippi, Cynthia Mora of Renton, Washington, Anis Rosdi of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, James Clarke of Cedar Point, North Carolina, Blair Ritchie of Ashland, Oregon, Rianna McMahan of Auburn, Washington, Hannah Johnson of Tuolumne, California and C.J. Concepcion of Goodyear, Arizona signing today. Discussion of the petition on a FanFiction.Net message board generated over 3,000 messages, and is still active.

On Dreamwidth, members urged FanFiction.Net users to back up their work lest it be deleted. Users auronlu, vieralynn and others encouraged people to spread the word of possible deletion.

The purge story was picked up by Hannah Ellison at the Huffington Post two days ago, who compared the FanFiction.Net purge to a book burning. Ellison went on to say, "[t]hese unpaid authors are at the mercy of the sites willing to house their work and as such must adhere to the lines drawn in the very murky sand of copyright law. Some of these authors spent months writing and editing novel length works to then have them deleted entirely, as if they were something with no artistic or cultural worth; artefacts that either follow the rules or don't." Ellison's post earned 1,900+ Facebook likes, with 50 comments on the article.

Ellison's story appeared on several Tumblr posts. xmarisolx posted her response on Tumblr a day ago, claiming FanFiction.Net was shooting itself in the foot, driving traffic to other archives such as An Archive of Our Own (AO3). candycanine, quoting Heinrich Heine, supported Ellison's book burning reference.

Talking to Wikinews, former fan fiction writer and current professional writer Angelia Sparrow indicated a lack of surprise over FanFiction.Net's actions saying, "Ten years ago they purged all the NC-17 stuff. Sounds like they just did a cleanup again. We're getting more puritanical everywhere, you know? All Romance Ebooks is strongly limiting what romances can contain."

Long time Thunderbirds fan fiction writer Tikatu told Wikinews, "The content purge hasn't bothered me at all, really, though I've been lurking around on ff.net's Critics United. They've been blamed for all the deleted stories -- never mind that they don't have enough people to have reported that many fics."

Anime fan fiction writer and artist Hurricane Islandheart defended FanFiction.Net's actions, saying "All FF.net was doing was catching up on their site maintenance and reports - people just freaked because they'd finally been caught breaking the rules." She reinforced this idea on her LiveJournal.

“	I think that's what finally killed me about fandom. That bullshit merited coverage by the Huffington Post, and all that happened was FF.net finally decided to deal with some reports and enforce their rules for a little while again. They've done this before. We did it at MediaMiner, when that site was actively moderated - reports would pile up in slack time, when all the mods were busy, and when we'd finally get a chance to look at them, some would take it as a "sudden attack" on their fics. No, it's not a "sudden attack" - you got away with breaking the rules for a while, but now, between some mods who have time on their hands and a group targeting shitty fics, they finally got caught. (For the record - my fics flagrantly disregarded the rules at FF.net, and for the last few years I had a notice up on my profile in boldface that said as much and that I was aware of it. I was never, ever, reported; I never, ever had CU comment on any of my fics; I never, ever had FF.net staff remove them. I finally got sick of the site and took them down myself a few days ago, since I've decided to make my move to AO3 permanent.)	”
	— Hurricane Islandheart on LiveJournal

Fan fiction archives [edit]

In response to the purge, users flocked to other sites and archives. Recommendations for sites included DreamWidth, LiveJournal, YourFanFiction.Com and An Archive of Our Own (AO3).

AO3 experienced down time as the site's servers could not handle the additional load from FanFiction.Net users, generating a number of 50 errors at the height of the problem. The site's parent organization, Organization for Transformative Works, not mentioning server problems on their Dreamwidth account, updated their website six days ago to discuss the situation.

“	This sudden and dramatic expansion has come about largely as a result of changes on Fanfiction.net, who have recently introduced more stringent enforcement of their policies relating to explicit fanworks which have resulted in some fans no longer being able to host their works there. One of the primary reasons the AO3 was created was in order to provide a home for fanworks which were at risk of deletion elsewhere, so we're very keen to welcome these new users, but in the short term this does present us with some challenges!	”
	— Lucy Pearson, Organization for Transformative Works

The traffic increase came on the back of Quantcast-reported increase earlier in the year, 57,201 visitors at the end of April, up from 40,560 at the end of March. Alexa reported a big drop in traffic for the archive the day of the purge and traffic has subsequently remained at above average before FanFiction.Net purge levels. This matches other organizationally reported increase. AO3 took measures to reduce server load such as disabling tag filtering, improving statistics caching, turning off alphabetical listing of users, suspending the ability for people to request invitations to and from the site. Even before FanFiction.Net's adult content purge, AO3's invitation code queue exceeded 17,000. Before the site closed registration, Tumblr user alien-rz requested a code and received a confirmation e-mail saying "You’ve been added to our queue! Yay! We estimate that you’ll receive an invitation around 2012-12-13."

FanFiction.Net users like fujiwara-nanaho registered for Dreamwidth in case FanFiction.Net removed their content.

No problems were reported by Hurricane Islandheart on MediaMiner.Org, an anime-centric fan fiction site popular in the mid-'00s that is largely absent of moderators at the moment. The site saw an increase in traffic earlier this year, going from 24,156 at end-December, according to Quantcast, to 58,558 visitors at the end of March this year.

According to Tikatu, a member of FanFiction.net Writers Unite, an eFiction software based site, YourFanFiction.com went down under the additional traffic strain. According to Tumblr users, having been created in response to the purge, the site swelled to over a thousand users including a number of Tumblr users like bluelilacflame, konata-the-espeon and getwhatyouwantorjustgetold.

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Sources [edit]

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

Hannah Ellison. "The Book Burning That Wasn't: Thousands of Works of Fiction Destroyed and No One Pays Attention" — Huffington Post, June 14, 2012
Lucy Pearson. "Update on AO3 performance issues" — Organization for Transformative Works, June 11, 2012

External links [edit]

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Police arrest train passenger for a 16-hour loud cellphone conversation

Tue, 24 May 2011 10:46:38 GMT

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

An Amtrak train

Transport

Sources [edit]

Lana Sweeten-Shults. "Sweeten-Shults: Cellphone transit nightmare shows decline in people's appropriateness" — Times Record News, May 23, 2011
Glenda Kwek. "Train passenger charged after 16-hour mobile phone chat" — Sydney Morning Herald, May 19, 2011
"Woman arrested on train for talking loudly on phone for 16 HOURS! (And she was in the quiet carriage)" — Daily Mail, May 18, 2011
"Train Passenger arrested for 16 hour phone conversation in the quiet carriage" — Metro.co.uk, May 18, 2011

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Teen charged over 'bomb attempt' at US Christmas celebration

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 14:26:11 GMT

Crime and law

Sources [edit]

"US teenager held in Oregon over Christmas 'bomb plot'" — BBC News, 27 November 2010
"Somali-American accused of plotting to bomb Oregon tree-lighting event" — CNN, 27 November 2010

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Prosecutors drop assault case against former US VP Gore

Sun, 01 Aug 2010 01:58:29 GMT

Sunday, August 1, 2010

United States

Sources [edit]

"Former US VP Al Gore 'will not face assault charges'" — BBC News Online, 30 July 2010
"Al Gore cleared of assault allegations made by masseuse" — Associated Press, 31 July 2010
Ned Potter. "Al Gore Cleared in Sexual Assault Case by Portland District Attorney" — ABC, 30 July 2010

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Delta Airlines flight makes emergency landing

Thu, 22 Jul 2010 20:38:38 GMT

Thursday, July 22, 2010

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File photo of a Delta Airlines Boeing 737-800
Image: Pylon757.

Delta Air Lines flight 1457 departing from Atlanta made an emergency landing after it blew out a tire during take-off. The flight was destined to Portland, Oregon. There are no injuries reported at this time.

The Boeing 737-800 departed from Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport Thursday afternoon. The flight was carrying approximately 160 passengers and six crew members. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said that the flight turned around when the flight crew noticed the blown out tire. The flight was forced to go into a holding pattern to burn off fuel for more than an hour before it landed. The 737 landed safely at around 1500 local time (2000 UTC).

Delta did not immediately return calls inquiring about the flight. After some time Delta Spokesperson Anthony Black told the Associated Press that the 160 passengers on board would be put on a future flight to Portland.

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Sources [edit]

This article features first-hand journalism by Wikinews members. See the collaboration page for more details.

Associated Press. "Delta Flight Makes Emergency Landing In Atlanta" — NPR, July 22, 2010
"Delta Plane Makes Emergency Landing in Atlanta" — CBS News, July 22, 2010
"Plane lands safely in Atlanta despite burst tyre" — BBC News Online, July 22, 2010

External links [edit]

Map of DAL1457 flight path

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26 motorbikes, two cars pile up in Oregon, US

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 17:11:52 GMT

Saturday, September 19, 2009

The motorcycle club is for owners of 'choppers' such as the one in this file photo

26 motorcycles and two cars have piled up on the Interstate 5 road in Oregon, United States. Two bikers have been critically injured.

The crash occurred near the Baldock Rest Area, which is just south of Wilsonville, at 2:45 p.m. Friday. The group of motorbikes, belonging to members of the Brother Speed club, was in the left (fast) lane behind one of the cars when traffic slowed down. Despite attempts to take evasive action, the bikes and car collided. The second car was hit by a motorbike that veered into the middle lane.

	There were bikes and people and gear flying
—eyewitness

The bikes were in a formation of two columns — standard for large motorbike parties. According to eyewitness Terry Scott, a silver SUV suddenly slammed on its brakes and while the leading two bikers managed to swerve out of the way, the rest were caught up in a chain reaction. "There were bikes and people and gear flying," said Scott, who had been driving with his girlfriend behind the bikes.

The crash scene was "ordered mayhem" according to Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue's captain Mike Towner. "Firefighters from Aurora and Canby were providing medical care to injured bikers as non-injured bikers tried to assist," he said.

A LifeFlight air ambulance took two bikers to hospital and eight more were taken away by ambulances. Some bikers suffered from broken bones as well as shoulder and hip injuries. KPTV quotes the club's website as saying that they are "serious about brotherhood, respect, riding fast and building Choppers."

The accident was responded to by paramedics and firefighters from various locations, including Canby, St. Paul, Woodburn and those from the multi-city Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue. The entire road was closed northbound until 4 p.m., when one lane was reopened. Investigators kept the other lanes closed until 6 p.m.

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Sources [edit]

"2 dozen motorcycles crash on I-5 in Ore." — Associated Press, September 19, 2009
"26 Motorcycles Crash On I-5 Near Wilsonville" — KPTV, September 18, 2009
"10 injured, two critically in multiple-motorcycle crash" — KVAL, September 18, 2009

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Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount's college football career ends with a punch

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:23:45 GMT

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Wikinews Sports

Sources [edit]

Connor Ennis. "Oregon Suspends Blount for Season" — New York Times Sports Blog, September 4, 2009
Anne M. Peterson, Associated Press. "Oregon suspends Blount for season for sucker punch" — Yahoo News, September 5, 2009
Pete Thamel. "Boise’s Win, Lost in the Shadows" — New York Times Sports Blog, September 4, 2009
John Hunt. "UO statement: LeGarrette Blount's actions under further review" — OregonLive.com, September 4, 2009
Chadd Cripe. "LeGarrette Blount apologizes for punching Boise State's Byron Hout" — The Idaho Statesman, September 4, 2009
"LeGarrette Blount #9 RB" — ESPN, September 2, 2009
Video recap of game: "Oregon's LeGarrette Blount Starts Fight After Loss" — ESPN, September 4, 2009
Video clip of the punch and Blount's commentary: "LeGarrette Blount On Postgame Punch" — ESPN, September 4, 2009

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FDA warning on pistachios after salmonella contamination

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 02:57:17 GMT

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Health

Sources [edit]

Daniel J. DeNoon. "1 million pounds of pistachios recalled" — ABC, March 31, 2009
Daniel J. DeNoon. "FDA: Stop Eating Pistachios, Salmonella Feared" — WebMD Health News, March 30, 2009
Garance Burke. "FDA says to avoid pistachios amid salmonella scare" — The Associated Press, March 30, 2009
"Kroger recalling shelled pistachios over salmonella worries" — Dayton Business Journal, March 30, 2009 Arkansas

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New Jersey files lawsuit against federal sports betting ban

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 23:59:52 GMT

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

New Jersey

Sources [edit]

Wayne Parry. "NJ lawmaker sues to overturn US sports betting ban" — Associated Press, March 23, 2009
Jon Hurdle. "New Jersey files suit on sports-betting ban" — Reuters, March 23, 2009
Scott Goldstein. "N.J. lawmaker challenges federal ban on sports betting" — NJBiz, March 23, 2009

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Portland, Oregon mayor admits to sexual relationship he previously denied

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 23:52:59 GMT

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Mayor Sam Adams

After an investigation by the Portland, Oregon weekly newspaper Willamette Week, mayor Sam Adams admitted he did have a sexual relationship with Beau Breedlove in 2005. The openly gay mayor said Breedlove was 18 years of age when the sexual relationship began, however the two met when Breedlove was still a minor. Adams also admitted he previously lied about the relationship and asked Breedlove to also lie about the relationship during the time Adams was running for mayor. The Oregon Attorney General's office is investigating the matter.

"In the past, I have characterized my relationship with Beau Breedlove as purely nonsexual. That is not true. Beau Breedlove and I had a sexual relationship for a few months in the summer of 2005 after he turned 18 years of age. I want to apologize to the people of Portland for my dishonesty and for embarrassing them. My job now is to come clean — I mucked it up — and to press forward," said Adams in a statement to the media.

Newspapers such as The Oregonian, Just Out, the Portland Tribune, and the Portland Business Journal, as well as the Portland Police Union have called for Adams to resign. Others such as city commissioner Randy Leonard and Multnomah County district attorney Michael Schrunk want an investigation to be launched into Adams' actions. Portland commissioner Randy Leonard expressed distraught when he heard Adams had lied about the relationship. Leonard previously defended Adams when the allegations first came to light. There are also allegations that Breedlove was only 17 when the sexual relationship started, bringing up memories of the sex scandal that tainted former mayor Neil Goldschmidt's legacy after he admitted to sex with his 14-year-old babysitter.

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"The part I'm having trouble with is the thing he did was to ask the young man to lie. That I'm having a hard time understanding," said Leonard in a statement. Adams has no plans to resign as mayor.

Breedlove met Adams in April 2005 at the Oregon State Capitol when Breedlove was an intern for then Oregon House of Representatives member Kim Thatcher. Breedlove sought Adams out for advice on coming out of the closet. Later, the two spent time together and Adams attended Breedlove's 18th birthday party.

Rumors of a sexual relationship surfaced in the fall of 2007, but Adams denied any sexual relationship at that time. Adams is currently in a relationship with reporter Peter Zuckerman.

Sources [edit]

Aimee Green. "Oregon attorney general's office will investigate Adams case" — The Oregonian, January 21, 2009
Anna Griffin and Ryan Frank. "Adams stays home as support crumbles" — The Oregonian, January 21, 2009
"Editorial boards of The Oregonian, Portland Tribune to Sam Adams: Resign" — The Oregonian, January 21, 2009
"Calls Made For Mayor's Resignation" — KPTV, January 21, 2009
"Portland mayor admits relationship with 18-year-old" — CNN, January 20, 2009
Anna Griffin. "Mayor to respond to reports of sexual relationship with teen" — The Oregonian, January 20, 2009
Nigel Jaquiss. "Adams' Admission" — Willamette Week, January 19, 2009

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Wikinews Shorts: December 17, 2008

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 03:32:38 GMT

A compilation of brief news reports for Wednesday, December 17, 2008 .

Bomb kills two at Oregon bank; suspects arrested [edit]

Location of Woodburn

Two people were arrested Tuesday after police say they were responsible for killing a state and local police officer at a bank in Woodburn, Oregon on Friday.

57-year-old Bruce Turnidge and his son Joshua, 32, face various charges including aggravated murder and conspiracy to manufacture and possess explosive materials and devices.

William Hakim, a bomb technician and Tom Tennant for the Woodburn police were both killed after they examined the bomb and had said it appeared to be a hoax. When they started to take it apart, the bomb exploded. One other officer was seriously injured in the blast.

Sources

"Father, Son Arrested In Deadly Bank Bombing" — KWTX, December 16, 2008
"Father of Oregon bank bombing suspect arrested" — Associated Press, December 16, 2008

United States interest rates cut to almost zero [edit]

US Federal Reserve

The United States Federal Reserve has reduced its key interest rate from one percent to somewhere between zero and 0.25%. This is the latest in a series of moves to try to curb the country's recession.

The Federal Reserve stated that "the outlook for economic activity has weakened further", adding that the rates would stay at their current levels for some time. The figure is the lowest it has ever been since the Federal Reserve started publishing its target back in 1990.

Wall Street reacted positively to the move, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 232.89 points to a level of 8797.10.

Sources

"US rates slashed to nearly zero" — BBC News Online, December 16, 2008
"US interest rates slashed as low as zero" — telegraph.co.uk, December 17, 2008

Bus crash in Israel kills at least 26 [edit]

A bus containing Russian tour guides crashed in southern Israel on Wednesday after it went through a roadside barrier and went down a ravine, killing no less than 26 people and injuring over 12 more.

The crash occurred near the Sinai Desert border located to the north of the resort of Eilat on the Red Sea.

Police and rescue workers quickly responded to the accident, and army helicopters airlifted survivors of the crash to a hospital in Beersheba, while ambulances sped others to Eilat.

A police investigation has been initiated. Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the police, said that it will concentrate mainly on whether or not the driver lost control of the bus as it attempted to overtake another vehicle.

Sources

"At least 26 dead in Israel bus crash" — Sky News, December 16, 2008
"Some 30 Russian tourists die in Israel bus crash" — stv.tv, December 17, 2008

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Kevin Duckworth, former NBA All-star and Trail Blazer dies age 44

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 23:35:59 GMT

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

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Former American National Basketball Association (NBA) basketball star Kevin Duckworth has died at age 44. The former Portland Trail Blazers center died on Monday of an apparent heart attack in his hotel room at Gleneden Beach, Oregon. He was in town for part of a free childrens basketball clinic being run by the Trail Blazers. His death was confirmed by the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office.

Duckworth commenced his career with the San Antonio Spurs when he was selected in the second round of the 1986 NBA Draft. He was traded after one season for fellow draft pick Walter Berry. It was during his time with the Trail Blazers that he had his most successful season. During 1988 he shot 77.0% from the free throw line and played well all-round. This performance earned him the NBA Most Improved Player Award.

The following year he was selected as an All-Star. The following seasons were also classed as a success for both Duckworth and the Trail Blazers. They made it to the 1990 NBA Finals and in 1991 he was selected as an All-Star for a second time.

He was traded to the Washington Bullets for two seasons and then later for the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers for one seasons each. After the 1996-97 season with the Clippers he retired.

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Kevin Duckworth

"Former Trail Blazers center Duckworth dies at 44" — San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 2008
Brian Hamilton. "Kevin Duckworth dies at 44" — Chicago Tribune, August 27, 2008

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FDA warning on Honduran cantaloupes after salmonella outbreaks

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 03:23:03 GMT

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Cantaloupes
Image: USDA photo by Scott Bauer.

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Salmonellosis

Miranda Hitti. "FDA Warning for Honduran Cantaloupes: Salmonella Outbreak May Be Linked to Honduran Company, Says FDA" — WebMD, March 24, 2008
Elizabeth Lee. "Elderly Georgians got salmonella linked to cantaloupes" — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 24, 2008
Associated Press. "Honduras calls US melon alert unjust, calls for proof" — International Herald Tribune, March 24, 2008
The Canadian Press. "Tainted cantaloupe hits Manitoba" — CKY-TV, March 24, 2008
"FDA Issues Warning on Cantaloupes" — Associated Press, March 22, 2008

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Jayant "Dr Death" Patel arrested in Oregon, US

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 12:15:53 GMT

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Australia

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"Patel extradition presents significant legal issues: expert" — IBN News, March 12, 2008
"Patel 'will get a fair trial'" — Australian Broadcasting Corporation, March 12, 2008
AAP. "Dr Patel in jail after US arrest" — The Australian, March 12, 2008

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Jayant Patel

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