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Saturday, February 26, 2011

An elderly Brooklyn, New York woman was found dead yesterday after a fire triggered by a voodoo ceremony caused a blaze in an apartment that left dozens homeless. The details of the ceremony were not clear, but sources say it led to sex.

An unidentified woman hired a Voodoo priest for $300, identified as Nelson (Pepe) Pierre, to perform a mystic ceremony meant to bring her good luck. The woman went to Pierre’s apartment, where she ended up in bed surrounded by lit candles which were mistakenly knocked over, setting the bedsheets on fire. In an effort to suppress the flames, Pierre splashed water from the bathroom sink on the sheets while his roommate, who was ironing at the time, opened a window for air. However, according to the New York Fire Department, wind gusting through the open window created a “blowtorch effect” which caused the fire to spread to the 4th floor hallway and into the 5th and 6th floors. The blaze killed one woman, three others were severely injured, and at least 20 firefighters were left with burn wounds.

In an NYFD statement, Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano said, “Time and time again we respond to tragedies that could have been so easily prevented. This fire had so many of those elements … hopefully others will learn from this tragedy.” It took hours for hundreds of firemen from dozens of companies to bring the raging fire under control.

Pierre, a man in his 60s, did not call 911 right away, but attempted to quell the fire using water from the bathroom sink. A source in law enforcement said, “Nobody sees a crime right now. It was an accident. Maybe they weren’t careful, but they did try to put it out.”

Mary Feagin, a 64-year old retired teacher, died in the blaze.

The New York Police Department is currently investigating the incident.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

On the back of new restrictions being imposed on eBay users in the United Kingdom requiring that sellers offer PayPal payments for all sales, eBay Australia is mandating that only PayPal payments will be acceptable as of June 17. PayPal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay, and charges a 30¢ transaction fee, plus a commission between 1.1% for high volume traders, and 2.4% for low value or low volume traders. These higher costs will be passed onto buyers.

Cash payment on pick up will be the only other payment option, and it may only be offered in conjunction with PayPal.

eBay has brought in this restriction under the guise of improving customer protection, bolstering its “Paypal Buyer Protection” insurance programme to allow claims up to A$20,000 instead of the previous maximum of $3,000, however as of June 17 many of the items which would exceed $3,000 are no longer covered by the programme, such as services, vehicles, real estate and businesses.

eBay Trust and Safety director Alastair MacGibbon said this change was not in response to the once-off fund established in March to refund eBay buyers who lost their non-existent holiday accommodation packages from the Melbourne eBay seller Robert Kobis. Mr MacGibbon said “It is part of a much larger initiative”.

In addition to these measures, Paypal will be withholding funds from some sellers for 21 days

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has held discussion with eBay, but declined to comment. The Australian Consumers Association spokesman Christopher Zinn said the unique use of PayPal could give rise to competition issues, however if the costs charged stayed as they were, they had no further concerns.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Six hundred Tube passengers had to be moved to safety in west London tonight after a landslide close to a station on the London Underground.

Commuters on board an eastbound Piccadilly Line train at Boston Manor Station were evacuated after around four tonnes of debris landed on the tracks. The train collided with the rubble, but London Underground said the train stayed on the tracks. There are no reports of any injuries. Due to inspections of damage caused, the Piccadilly Line has been suspended between Northfields and Heathrow. London Underground said all of the train’s passengers were led off onto the platform at Boston Manor within 15 minutes.

A spokeswoman said: “London Underground is currently assessing the impact of an embankment landslip between Boston Manor and Northfields. Initial indications are that three to four tonnes of debris has ended up on the track. An eastbound Piccadilly Line train came into contact with the debris at Boston Manor station.”

A replacement bus service is operating between Northfields and Heathrow. Tube tickets can also be used on Heathrow Connect rail services from Ealing Broadway.

Staff at London Underground are trying to clear the debris overnight in the hope of resuming service on the line on Friday morning.

Sunday, July 2, 2017

The newest version of U.S. President Donald Trump’s travel ban took effect late Thursday. It bars entry to the United States from six Muslim-majority countries, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Libya, and Syria, and all refugees irrespective of country of origin are barred for 120 days. Iraq is no longer included. Border officials have been instructed to honor existing visas, but in general no new ones are to be issued. Although some lawyers showed up to volunteer their services, U.S. airports continued to operate smoothly, without the huge scale of protests that marked the first attempt to enforce the travel ban.

A United States Supreme Court ruling handed down Monday said the ban was legal so long as it made an exemption for anyone with “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity” already in the country. The Trump administration is counting parents, in-laws, children and step-versions of these as bona fide relationships and, at the last moment, added fiancés, but discounted grandparents, grandchildren, cousins, nieces and nephews. The attorney general of Hawaii has challenged the administration’s definition of close family as too strict.

“The banning of grandmothers — of unaccompanied children — from America’s shores is a disgrace,” said David Miliband of the International Rescue Committee.

Under the current ruling, people with businesses or in ongoing educational programs are also allowed to enter or re-enter the country, and permanent residents of the United States are exempted. Although lower courts declared the travel ban tantamount to religious discrimination targeting Muslim-majority countries, the Supreme Court disregarded both those concerns and President Donald Trump’s tweets about his plans to bar Muslims from entering the United States. They declared instead the President has “a compelling need to provide for the nation’s security” that includes the right to control immigration. The Supreme Court is to give the travel ban more in-depth consideration when it reconvenes this coming October.

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Friday, November 2, 2007

Two scientists working at McGill University in Canada, reporting on their research and the research of other scientists, state in Scientific American that Vitamin D may have many uses in the human body besides building strong bones.

According to the scientists, Luz E. Tavera-Mendoza and John H. White, Vitamin D intake may also be beneficial in the prevention of cancer, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and fighting tuberculosis, influenza and inflammatory bowel disease. The researchers say that there is an emerging “widespread consensus” among experts that a large part of the population has levels of Vitamin D in their bodies that is well below optimal concentrations for health, particularly in temperate regions, due to decreased sunlight and or less time outdoors, and during or just after the winter months. One study indicated that as many as 92% of adolescent girls in Northern Europe may have deficient levels of Vitamin D and 37% have severely deficient levels.

The problem is far worse among African-Americans than Americans with lighter skin. Almost half of African-American women may be seriously Vitamin D deficient, with presumably still another fraction deficient. Furthermore, the authors say researchers at Harvard University and elsewhere believe the FDA minimum recommended daily allowance of Vitamin D is far too low. The Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) ranges from 200 to 600 International Units (IU). In fact, the authors themselves take Vitamin D supplements. The first author takes 1000 IU during wintertime and the second author takes 5,000 IU in wintertime. They do caution, however, that there is a level at which Vitamin D becomes toxic.

Similar research has also been recently performed by researchers at the Queensland University of Technology who found that many elderly were likely not getting sufficient Vitamin D due in part to insufficient exposure to the sun.

Friday, June 5, 2009

British singer Susan Boyle has been released from a private mental clinic. On May 31, Boyle was admitted by ambulance to the Priory clinic in London, England after she began to act strange in her hotel room, reportedly suffering an “emotional breakdown.”

Boyle’s brother, Gerry Boyle, told GMTV that Susan is “a lot more like herself,” and that she is “much happier.” He also added that Boyle is “now beginning to believe that, ‘Yes indeed, I will be a singer.'”

Boyle, 47, from Blackburn, West Lothian, in Scotland, came in second place on the British reality show Britain’s Got Talent (BGT). Boyle was beaten by the dance group Diversity on Saturday who got 24% of the public vote, with Boyle receiving 20%. She took the world by storm after her debut appearance on April 11 singing “I Dreamed a Dream” from the award-winning musical Les Misérables. Just a day after appearing on the show, Boyle became a YouTube sensation with her performance receiving nearly 9 million views. To date, the YouTube clip has been viewed by over 66 million people worldwide.

Traditionally, finalists of the show go on a concert tour of the UK, although producers for Britain’s Got Talent will not say whether Boyle plans to be a part of it. A spokesperson stated they are respecting Boyle’s privacy amid her health concerns. Rehearsals for the tour are reported to begin next week, with the first show starting on June 12.