Thursday, November 13, 2008

A United Kingdom radio presenter with the BBC was fired on Saturday, and replaced, after an allegedly racist off-air phone call. Sam Mason of BBC Radio Bristol had earlier called up a taxi firm to arrange a booking for her 14-year-old daughter.

Mason asked the operator not to send an Asian cab driver. She said, “A guy with a turban on is going to freak her out.” After the operator refused Mason snapped back claiming, “You’ve managed it before.”

The original female operator had passed the call over to another operator. Mason then accused the first of having “a bad attitude”, and said, “I work at the BBC. I’m far from racist and that uneducated woman has no right to call me one.” The call then ended but she called back to complain.

The female operator who took the call was also fired from her job for illegally recording the call.

A statement from the taxi firm stated that “We confirm that a telephone call from Radio Bristol presenter Sam Mason to the company was illegally recorded by an employee. That employee was dismissed for similar offences on 3 November.”

A copy of the call was sent to British tabloid The Sun, which broke the story on Tuesday. The Sun informed the BBC.

A BBC spokesman said: “Although Sam Mason’s remarks were not made on-air, her comments were completely unacceptable and, for that reason, she has been informed that she will no longer be working for the BBC with immediate effect.”

According to BBC News, Mason, who worked at the station for only six weeks, was unavailable for comment.

The incident comes just weeks after the Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross prank call scandal involving Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

A woman has been found dead at the home of Sam Abal, the acting prime minister of Papua New Guinea. The body was discovered in the garden of the property early Monday morning. Abal’s adopted son, Teo, was arrested on Wednesday after a two-day search; he was reportedly the last person to be seen with the woman.

A murder investigation has been opened by Papua New Guinea police. Abal, currently living in a local hotel, released a statement, saying: “The alleged murder took place within the perimeters of my private home. All family members living with me are immediate suspects and are subject to investigation and questioning by police.”

Police Commissioner Anthony Wagambie commented on Teo Abal’s arrest, saying, “He was caught last night at the Pondorosa Hotel in Port Moresby and is currently being interviewed by police.”

Sam Abal has been the acting prime minister of Papua New Guinea since April of this year, when 75-year-old leader Michael Somare underwent heart surgery. Somare’s recovery has been extended but no date has been given as to his return.

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Monday, February 21, 2011

38 people were reported dead Sunday, in a Taliban attack on a bank in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The incident, orchestrated by five suicide bombers disguised as policemen and soldiers, quickly escalated into a confrontation between security forces and the invaders armed with machine guns.

After a several-hour standoff, four of the five attackers detonated their bombs while the fifth was arrested by police. A representative for the Interior Ministry told the press that “Thirty eight people were martyred which includes 21 security forces personnel and 17 civilians.” Members of the police force were apparently receiving their paychecks when the attackers entered the bank and began indiscriminately firing at guards and civilians. 70 others were also wounded.

Although officials refused to itemize the casualties, they claimed that due to the random nature of the gunfire, both security personnel and civilian bankers were killed. Attacks targeting police have become common in the Nangarhar province; this incident was the third major attack this week.

Tuesday, March 28, 2006

As many as 1.5 million government workers, members of 11 unions, went on strike on Tuesday in protest of a government decision to reduce their retirement benefits, a change which would take effect in October.

The strike closed thousands of schools, libraries and leisure centres, disrupted commuters, and reduced some facilities to emergency only staffing.

UNISON claimed that more than a million workers had joined the strike, with General Secretary Dave Prentis saying “this overwhelming show of strength from Lands End to John O’Groats has obviously taken the Local Government Association and some local councils by surprise”.

The benefits change, would effect the “85 year rule,” of the Local Government Pension scheme, which allows government employees to retire at 60 as long as the sum of their age and their years of employment sum to 85 or greater. According to union representatives, the new retirement plan is targeted at lower paid employees, leaving higher paid employees to enjoy the same benefits as before.

Ahead of the strike, the Local Government Association claimed that the changes proposed by unions “would add at least 2% a year to every council taxpayer’s bill”.

The participating unions point out this is likely to be the largest strike in Britain since 1926.

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Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Buffalo, New York –The preliminary hearing for a lawsuit against the Elmwood Village Hotel proposal has been pushed back to August 10, 2006.

The hotel would require the demolition of at least five properties owned by Hans Mobius, 1109-1121 Elmwood and would cause the closure of several businesses. Already, two businesses, Skunk Tail Glass and Six Nations Native American Gift Shop have relocated, outside the Elmwood Strip. Don apparel, H.O.D. Tattoo and Mondo Video still remain on Elmwood; however, Mondo Video is planning on moving to a new location. The hotel will be 72 rooms and will cost at least 7 million dollars to build. Savarino Construction Services Corporation would be in charge of building the hotel and Wyndham Hotels would operate it.

Attorney Arthur Giacalone says that the court date was pushed back because “the court apparently felt it did not make sense to proceed with oral argument on 7/27 if Savarino is going to re-start the process.” Giacalone also stated that the decision to adjourn until August 10 “was not my idea.” On July 13, 2006 Savarino announced that they were withdrawing the proposal to “resubmit” it to “shed the lawsuits” against the proposal.

Savarino was allegedly supposed to resubmit the proposal by the end of last week but so far has not done so. The final meeting of Buffalo’s Common Council for the summer occurred today. The Council will not meet again until September.

“If they [Savarino] took no action today, re the hotel, [that is, accepting the new application, or rescinding the prior rezoning resolution], nothing official will happen for the next 6 weeks or so,” added Giacalone also saying that if this is the case, “the court may not be willing to hear oral argument on 8/10 since we will still be up in the air about what’s going on.” Giacalone also states that he is unsure about “what they [the Common Council] did today.”

Despite the call for a “do-over” of the proposals process, Giacalone still states that his client’s position of the “pending lawsuit will not be ‘moot’ or ‘academic’ unless and until the Common Council rescinds its prior vote(s) that approved the rezoning” for the buildings on Elmwood and one property on Forest Avenues.

Sam Savarino, CEO of Savarino Construction has been contacted, but has not replied to any e-mails. Area councilman Joseph Golombeck has also been e-mailed, but also has not replied.

Friday, April 6, 2007

U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates warned that limiting funding for the United States efforts in Iraq could lead to more bloodshed in the Middle Eastern country. In an interview with radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, he said it might even lead to ethnic cleansing in Bahgdad and elsewhere in Iraq.

Gates’ comment followed a proposal from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to end most spending on the Iraq war in 2008, limiting it to targeted operations against al Qaeda, training for Iraqi troops and U.S. force protection.

Sec. Gates also said that the duration of the troop increase is not clear and that evaluating whether the Administration’s new strategy was working will have to wait till mid-summer. The Army general charged with day-to-day operations has suggested that the increased deployment may extend to early next year.