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Monday, July 16, 2007 

In two separate incidents, men posing as members of the New York Police Department (NYPD), have invaded homes in the New York City area. In both cases, they robbed the residents, but in the most recent, they sexually assaulted a woman.

On Saturday, July 14, at 1:09 a.m. EDT (UTC-4), four men knocked on the door of a Yonkers, New York, apartment. The 33-year-old male that lives there opened the door, as the men outside wore NYPD hats and t-shirts, and had badges hanging around their necks.

The men promptly ordered the male victim to the floor. “When this guy pushed me, he had a gun in my face,” the victim said. “I could see the other guy. He motioned to the others, come on, let’s go, let’s go.” The intruders shouted “Where are the drugs?” as they ransacked the apartment.

Two of the men entered the bedroom and sexually assaulted the 30-year-old female. The couple has a five-year-old child, who was sleeping in another bedroom. “The more I resisted, the more he began to hit me,” the woman said. She said she was sexually assaulted by two of the men while her boyfriend was bound and guarded.

Police said the men then left with a cell phone, a laptop computer, a diamond ring and a gold chain. Police do not believe that they were real officers. As of this afternoon, no arrests have been made.

On Thursday, July 5, shortly after six p.m. in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn five men knocked on the door claiming to be “the police.” When the victims opened the door, they pushed their way in demanding the family give them drugs and money.

When police responded to a call reporting a robbery, they found the family, husband, wife and their daughter, tied up. The man suffered a head injury when he was pistol-whipped. Police say the robbers got away with a camera, jewelry, and US$5,000 in currency.

Neighbors told NY1 that they were stunned. “Frightened. Make you think twice before you want to open the door, you know,” said one of the neighbors. “Now you be asking for all this ID and stuff and even still you’re going to wonder, are they for real? So it’s kind of scary.”

There is no word about whether the two cases are connected. Yonkers is on the border of New York City, but is outside the jurisdiction of the NYPD.

Saturday, November 14, 2009 

The Zimbabwean government has allocated US$10 million worth of funds for the relocation of thousands of families living near the Chiadzwa diamond fields in the Manicaland province.

Murisi Zwizwai, the Deputy Mines Minister, said that the funds would be used to build houses for the residents in the area, and for developments in . “I can confirm that US$10 million has been set aside for the relocation. The relocation may take place after they have harvested their crops,” he said in an interview, as quoted by the New Zimbabwe news agency.

Zwizwai also added that “the money would be used to build new houses, clinics among others.” According to him, the residents would not be relocated until the 2009–10 agricultural season.

In a 100-day plan, the Zimbabwean coalition government noted that diamonds in the area might be a large source of funds and finance for the country, and could help revive the economy.

Thursday, April 28, 2005 

Cambridge, Massachusetts — Harvard University planners met with the Agassiz Neighborhood Council to update the community about Harvard’s construction and expansion plans in the neighborhood on April 26, the Harvard Crimson reported today. The two major topics discussed were the Northwest Science Building, which is currently under construction on Oxford Street, and the expansion of the Harvard Law School. According to the Crimson, Harvard officials outnumbered the number of community members present at the meeting.

The plans for law school expansion are still unfinished, the Crimson reported. The director of community relations at Harvard, Thomas Lucey, said that Wyeth Hall may be demolished. According to the Law School website, Wyeth Hall is “the most popular dormitory at Harvard Law School”. It is adjacent to the Berkman Center for Internet and Society on Massachusetts Avenue, just south of Three Aces pizzeria.

The Crimson also noted that Tom Murray, the project manager for the Northwest Science Building, was slated for completion by May of 2007, with landscaping completed the following spring.

A visit to the science building site by Wikinews reporter Pingswept last week verified that the pouring of cement had begun. Four large cranes had been brought to the site; one of them was being used with a clamshell attachment twice the height of a grown man to dig a deep trench. The truck “wheel wash” station marked on the site plan was operational, in the form of a man with a pressure washer, though in this reporter’s brief observations, more windshields were washed than dirty tires.

Cambridge Planning Board approves new science building at Harvard

Saturday, April 18, 2015 

Douglas Mark Hughes, a mailman for the United States Postal Service, landed his gyrocopter on the west lawn of the US Capitol on Wednesday. He told his friends he was going to do this.

The mailman was flying his aircraft into restricted airspace when he landed on the lawn. He was immediately arrested. His stated intention was to deliver letters to all members of Congress concerning campaign finance statutes. As a protective measure, the Capitol complex went on lockdown for a time.

Hughes told the Tampa Bay Times of his intentions to fly the light-weight aircraft. The paper said they alerted the Secret Service and the United States Capitol Police, but FOX News reported some disagreement about this from Capitol Police. Hughes had no contact with air traffic controllers during the incident.

The mailman said his intention was non-violent, but he wanted to spread the word about his cause. The Secret Service questioned him some months before the incident.

Hughes was charged under United States Code Title 49, concerning transportation. He was released from jail under conditions including that he must not visit the US Capitol. He is currently under house arrest.

Besides this low-flying aircraft incident, a government employee crashed a drone onto the White House property a few months ago. Also, the Secret Service conducted drone exercises to combat against possibly rogue light-weight aircraft last month.

The airspace above the Washington D.C. region is protected below 18,000 feet MSL (Mean Sea Level) with the roughly fifteen-nautical-mile-radius Flight Restricted Zone which surrounds the VHF omnidirectional range located at Washington National Airport, which handles regularly scheduled commercial flights. Pilots are not allowed to fly in the Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Special Flight Rules Area, which includes the Flight Restricted Zone, unless they have FAA authorization and are able to maintain effective communication with air traffic control with a two-way radio. Pilots must obtain a transponder code when flying under visual flight rules in this area. Law enforcement and air ambulance operations are exempted from the FAA authorization requirement if they can maintain communications with air traffic control.

The FAA was investigating this incident, along with law enforcement agencies. Police found no explosives in the aircraft.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008 

Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research have found that stressed plants produce an aspirin-like chemical, methyl salicylate. Methyl salicylate is also known as oil of wintergreen. This semi-volatile plant hormone was detected in the air above the plants in the experiments conducted in a walnut grove near Davis, California. According to the scientists the chemical may be a sort of immune response that help protect the plants.

Acetylsalicylic acid, commonly called aspirin, had originally come from the bark of Willow trees. It had never been observed to be emitted as a gas. The researchers observed spikes in methyl salicylate after nighttime temperatures dipped low, which suggested the plants were reacting to cold stress. The peaks were higher during a dry period, pointing to combined stress of cold nighttime temperatures and mild drought.

Laboratory observations have shown that numerous plants produce methyl salicylate, but this is the first time the phenomenon has been observed in nature. Previous studies have shown that plants being eaten by animals produce chemicals that can be sensed by other plants. A study conducted in 1997 found that methyl salicylate is produced by tobacco plants inoculated with tobacco mosaic virus. Emitting methyl salicylate may be a means for the plants to warn other plants about a threat.

The finding may help to more readily identify plants under stress by monitoring for the airborne distress signal.

Saturday, December 29, 2007 

Corruption-related charges have been brought against Jacob Zuma, the newly-elected leader of the African National Congress (ANC), according to his lawyer. A trial is scheduled to begin on August 14, 2008.

The charges stem from an arms deal with a French company, which is alleged to have involved bribes and fraud. Zuma’s financial adviser at the time, Schabir Shaik, was convicted in 2005 of attempting to solicit a bribe of US$72,500 per year from the arms company on Zuma’s behalf and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Zuma was fired as deputy president in 2005 by South African President Thabo Mbeki due to the scandal.

Two-term ANC leader Mbeki recently lost an ANC leadership contest to Jacob Zuma, who garnered about 60 percent of delegate votes in his win.

Zuma had been charged with corruption in 2005, but the case was dismissed on procedural grounds. Michael Hulley, Zuma’s defence lawyer, indicated that they will strongly contest the new charges in court. Hulley also suggested that the South African government’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and its anti-organised crime division known as The Scorpions, have carried out a smear campaign against Zuma.

“These charges will be vigorously defended, in the context of the belief that the Scorpions (NPA) have acted wrongly and with improper motive calculated to discredit Mr. Zuma and ensure that he play no leadership role in the political future of our country,” said Michael Hulley in a statement.

Given that the ANC has been the governing party in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, it is likely that Jacob Zuma could become the next president after general elections in 2009. Zuma has said, however, that he would resign if he was found guilty by the courts.

Thursday, July 3, 2014 

Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm.

Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions.

In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management, structure and culture. We have also invested in new systems, implemented new processes, enhanced adviser supervision and improved training.”

An investigation by Fairfax Media instigated the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division and ASIC.

Whistleblower Jeff Morris, who reported the misconduct of the bank to ASIC six years ago, said in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald that neither the bank nor ASIC should be in control of the compensation program.