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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.

Friday, July 21, 2017

A group of Afghan teenagers was awarded a silver medal for “courageous achievement” on Tuesday in the FIRST Global Challenge Robot Olympics in the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. The six-member Afghan team, which consists entirely of girls, had been denied visas to enter the United States until last week, drawing notice from critics of U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies regarding Muslims traveling to the U.S. The President later personally took action to allow the team into the country.

According to Afghan Ambassador to the United States Hamdullah Mohib, the participation of this team in this science competition shows progress in Afghanistan’s response to nearly two decades of military conflict.

The FIRST Global competition (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technlogy) was founded by Dean Kamen to encourage interest in applied science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in young people. This year’s theme was water security. For the contest, the robots were required to recognize, pick up, carry, and deposit balls colored blue and orange to represent water and pollution, respectively. Teams from different countries were arranged in groups of three, and groups faced off in pairs. The group whose three robots collectively earned the most points won that match. According to the Afghan team’s coach, Alireza Mehraban, in their first matchup, the Afghan team’s robot, named “Better Idea of Afghan Girls,” scored one or two points for the three-nation alliance with the Gabonese and Estonian teams. This year, the European team won the competition overall, with the silver medal going to Poland and the bronze to Armenia.

“We are so interested because we find a big chance to show the talent and ability of Afghans,” team member Rodaba Noori told the press, “to show that Afghan women can make robots too and we can improve in this section — [the] robotics section. We were so interested because we hadn’t long or enough time to get ready for competition but we came to United States and now we are here because of Trump intervention.”

The team arrived in Washington D.C. after many difficulties. They were twice denied visas to enter the United States. Even applying for a visa required the entire team to travel about 500 miles (800 km) from Herat, their home, to the capital in Kabul, through territory controlled by the Taliban. They made the trip twice and were turned down both times. President Donald Trump personally asked the United States National Security Council to help the girls enter the country. After some interplay between the State and Homeland Security Departments, the girls were granted “parole” status on the grounds that their entry would be a “significant public benefit.” The President has drawn both praise for helping the girls enter the U.S. and criticism for his travel ban, which does not cover Afghanistan, and for the atmosphere of hostility toward Muslims that critics blame for denying them entry in the first place.

Citing privacy rules, U.S. officials have not said why the team was initially denied visas, but Afghan Ambassador Hamdullah Mohib says there were concerns they would attempt to remain in the United States or in Canada after the contest. Afghanistan is not one of the nations covered by President Trump’s travel ban, but teams from Sudan, Iran, Libya, and Yemen, which are covered, are among the 163 teams in the competition. There were also two Syrian teams scheduled to compete, one national and one made up of refugees. Syria and all refugees are covered by the ban. The Syrian refugee team listed their country as “Hope” on the backs of their shirts and named their robot “Robogee.” Teams from Morocco and Iran both had difficulties getting themselves or their robots across the U.S. border. Team Estonia had to rebuild their robot entirely after the original disappeared in transit.

“Seventeen years ago, this would not have been possible at all,” said Ambassador Mohib. “They represent our aspirations and resilience despite having been brought up in a perpetual conflict. These girls will be proving to the world and the nation that nothing will prevent us from being an equal and active member of the international community.”

Every team in the contest was sent a collection of robot parts roughly four months in advance of the competition. The Afghan team’s supplies were delayed, leaving them only two weeks left to assemble their robot and only one day to test it before packing it up to mail to the competition site.

The competition ended on Tuesday. This is the first FIRST Global competition, and the organization plans to hold the contest in a different country every year. Next year’s competition is scheduled to take place in Mexico City.

Monday, December 3, 2007

At Thanksgiving dinner David Shankbone told his white middle class family that he was to interview Reverend Al Sharpton that Saturday. The announcement caused an impassioned discussion about the civil rights leader’s work, the problems facing the black community and whether Sharpton helps or hurts his cause. Opinion was divided. “He’s an opportunist.” “He only stirs things up.” “Why do I always see his face when there’s a problem?”

Shankbone went to the National Action Network’s headquarters in Harlem with this Thanksgiving discussion to inform the conversation. Below is his interview with Al Sharpton on everything from Tawana Brawley, his purported feud with Barack Obama, criticism by influential African Americans such as Clarence Page, his experience running for President, to how he never expected he would see fifty (he is now 53). “People would say to me, ‘Now that I hear you, even if I disagree with you I don’t think you’re as bad as I thought,'” said Sharpton. “I would say, ‘Let me ask you a question: what was “bad as you thought”?’ And they couldn’t say. They don’t know why they think you’re bad, they just know you’re supposed to be bad because the right wing tells them you’re bad.”

Thursday, March 2, 2006

Buffalo, New York —In an unanimous vote, the City of Buffalo‘s Planning Board voted to table the Elmwood Village hotel Proposal, postponing voting on legislation for up to 30 days.

The Board said its decision was due to the lack of public involvement, saying that there have not been enough meetings.

The Elmwood Village Hotel is a proposed project by Savarino Construction Services Corporation and was designed by Karl Frizlen of The Frizlen Group. The hotel would be placed on Elmwood and Forest Avenues in Buffalo, New York. In order for the hotel to be built, at least five buildings, that include both businesses and residents, must be demolished.

The Forever Elmwood Corp. is a Buffalo-based non-profit organization founded in 1994. Justin Azzarella, the Executive Director for the organization voiced support for the proposal, stating: “I am here today to lend Forever Elmwood’s support the hotel project. Particularly, Forever Elmwood is encouraged by the fact that this building follows the more stringent Elmwood Village Design Guidelines. We have been speaking with Savarino Construction, and they have promised us [Forever Elmwood] that they will engage the community further, including the surrounding Block Clubs and businesses. For that reason, while Forever Elmwood is in support of this project and the type of project that it is, we are asking also that the project be tabled so that the community can be further engaged. Specifically the surrounding Block clubs which include the Granger, Claremont, Asland and The Lincoln Parkway Block Clubs.”

“Because of the excellent work that Karl does and the game plan that they have, I think its an ideal use of this particular location. I think that this particular type of development needs to be encouraged and promoted as opposed to roadblocked,” said a man who owns five properties near the proposal site.

However, Evelyn Bencinich, a resident of Granger Place and whose house would be located directly behind the hotel said, “My property value will be depreciated or non-existent because no one is going to want to live behind a multi-story hotel. We are facing up to a year of noisy and dangerous demolition and construction. Children, pets and even drunk rebellers could wander on site and get hurt. Traffic tie-ups caused by large machinery and garbage bins is inevitable. Where will pedestrians walk? We could experience increased unsanitary flooding in our yards and basements due to the digging and cementing for the underground parking garage. Rats will be displaced into the immediate neighborhoods and be in great abundance. Once we get past the year of nightmare construction, what if you build it and they don’t come? We could ultimately have a seven million dollar rooming house on our corner.”

Patty Morris, co-owner of Don Apparel with Nancy Pollina at 1119 Elmwood also asked that the project be tabled saying, “this has only been public knowledge for less than two weeks and the public never saw the redesign. How can you vote on anything that no one has seen yet? The Board cut off Morris saying, “so specifically you don’t have any problem with it [the design] you just…” Morris then said, “Oh I am totally against this project, but thats besides the point isn’t it.”

The planning board is also concerned that the current design may still be too big.

At one point Board member Susan Curran Hoyt said, “we know you’ve cut down your number of rooms on this project, but we still see it doesn’t seem to fit the description of a ‘botique’ hotel,” and asked Eva Hassett, Vice President of Savarino Construction, “we wonder if you could reduce the rooms further.”

“One thing I didn’t talk about was the price levels of these rooms and that will be important to know. The room rate will be somewhere between US$120 and $160 a night, which is about the same price of the Hampton Inn down town and the smaller you make the hotel, the more expensive the rooms will get. We believe that we’ve made a good compromise in terms of the size of the hotel and perhaps botique means different things to different people,” said Hassett.

The board was also concerned that there is not enough parking asking, “are there alternative plans for valet parking off-site, in the event that you have a full hotel or a large event going on?”

“We are exploring several possibilities with respect to additional parking for valet and parking near-by,” replied Hassett. “We are also exploring the possibility of using the rear of 1105 Elmwood for additional parking, which would give us an additional ten or eleven spaces.”

The new design has a total of 55 parking spaces for 72 rooms, with 39 of them underground and the rest on ground level.

Hassett also said that a “parking study” will be done on the area.

Concerns that the second floor of the hotel will be too close to the property of 605 Forest were also brought up. The board asked how far the hotel would be from the property and Karl Frizlen replied saying it would “be approximately five feet from the property line,” but he also admitted that, “I do not know exactly how close the house next door” will be from the hotel, but did say “I think the house is about four or five feet away from the property line and we [the hotel] sit right on the property line.”

The board is concerned the setback from the property is not enough saying the space between the building and the hotel is “pretty narrow.”

The City’s Common Council also agreed to table the proposal also citing the need for more public engagement and the need for more organizations to respond including the Buffalo Preservation Board and the Office of Historic Preservation.

During that meeting, Hassett also said the proposal to try and get a variance to obtain the properties of 605 and 607 Forest were “now off the agenda.”

The Common Council is expected to meet and hold a public hearing about the project and the rezoning of the properties to be demolished (1119-1121 Elmwood) on Tuesday March 7, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. At the moment the properties are not zoned for a hotel.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

In a result predicted by polls, a 54.87% majority of French voters voted non in Sunday’s European Constitution referendum. Of France’s 42 million eligible voters, over 70% turned out at the 55 thousand polling stations across the country, which were open from 8:00 to 20:00 on Sunday (except in Paris and Lyon where voting finished at 22:00, and French oversea possessions and other polling centers in the Americas, which voted on Saturday in order not to have them vote when the results are already known). A 70% turnout is very large compared to Spain 42%.

The result comes as no surprise to European political commentators as opinion polls had consistently suggested that the “No” camp was on course for a strong victory. Indeed, the last opinion poll before the actual referendum suggested a 56% win for the “No” camp.

The treaty was supported by all 3 major political parties (center-left PS, center-right UMP, center-right UDF), though a significant minority of the PS, and some in the UMP, chose to oppose it.It was opposed by the French Communist Party, as well as Trotskyite movements such as the Revolutionary Communist League, other far-left movements such as the Party of the Workers, parts of the Socialist party, parts of The Greens some members of UMP, and the nationalist National Front.

According to polls, the vast majority of blue collar workers, farmers and other categories threatened by globalization and international concurrence voted against the treaty. The urban, better educated or richer population voted in favor.

Some supporters of the “No” camp have argued that the mainstream media was biased in favor of the “yes” cause, and this was supported by some analyses of times awarded by television to both camps. However, the “no” camp also waged an aggressive campaign, with the walls of major cities being plastered with posters linking the EU Constitution and the European Union to all kind of social ills, such as high unemployment.

You can read the entire proposed European Constitution at Wikisource

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

Wikinews extended invitations by e-mail on March 23 to multiple candidates running in the Texas’ 6th congressional district special election of May 1 to fill a vacancy left upon the death of Republican congressman Ron Wright. Of them, independent candidate Adrian Mizher agreed to answer some questions by phone on March 30 about their campaigns and policies. The following is the interview with Mr Mizher.

Mizher describes himself as a senior loan closer on his LinkedIn profile at BBVA USA, a Birmingham-based subsidiary of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria. He has lived in Kennedale, Texas for five years and the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area for 16 of the last 24 years. A cum laude graduate of Southwestern Adventist University, he grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and has lived for eight years in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He endeavours to bring “a never ending fight for fidelity to the Constitution and promotion of our Conservative values”, speaking to Wikinews on matters ranging from the economy to immigration.

An Inside Elections poll published on March 18 shows Republican candidate Susan Wright, the widow of Ron Wright, is ahead by 21% followed by Democrat Jana Sanchez with 17% and Republican Jake Ellzey with 8% with a 4.6% margin of error among 450 likely voters. The district is considered “lean Republican” by Inside Elections and voted 51% in favour of Donald Trump in last year’s US presidential election. This is down from 54% for Trump in 2016’s presidential election, the same poll stated.

Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Yesterday, US-based entertainment company Disney announced its plans to shut down Blue Sky Studios, the animation studio behind the Ice Age movie franchise.

“Given the current economic realities, after much consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios”, Walt Disney Studios said in the statement. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the studio will cease producing a movie-adaptation of Nimona, which was scheduled to be released next year.

Based in Greenwich, Connecticut, Blue Sky Studios was founded in 1987, and was later acquired by 20th Century FOX in 1999. Blue Sky’s control went to Disney in 2019 when Disney bought assets of FOX Studios for around US$71 billion. Blue Sky had worked on Joe’s Apartment, A Simple Wish, Alien Resurrection, and Fight Club. The studio went on to produce five Ice Age films, two Rio movies, The Peanuts Movie as well as Ferdinand, which received an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature film.

Disney also owns two other significant animation studios, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Disney has closed Radio Disney and Radio Disney Country. Disney planned last year to lay off about 32 thousand employees, many from Disney’s theme parks. Disney also sold mobile video game unit FoxNext Games Los Angeles. Disney reported a US$2.8 billion net loss in the 2020 fiscal year.