Wednesday, February 29, 2012
NSW:Macris father behind bars over drug haul
AAP General News (Australia)
08-03-2011
NSW:Macris father behind bars over drug haul
EDS: changes keyword from Ice to Macris following court appearance
By Belinda Cranston and Vincent Morello
SYDNEY, Aug 3 AAP - The father of an Ibrahim family rival is behind bars after police
allegedly uncovered enough chemicals to make $13 million worth of the drug Ice in his
car.
Stelios Macris, 73, was picked up by police on Tuesday afternoon while he was driving
a Ford station wagon along the F3 at Brooklyn, north of Sydney.
They were investigating the manufacture of methylamphetamine in the Sydney area.
It's alleged that Macris, who lives in the well-heeled Sydney suburb of Mosman, was
transporting three metal jerrycans containing 24 litres of a substance later identified
as methylamphetamine oil.
The discovery prompted a search of a home at Phegans Bay, on the Central Coast, which
police describe as a "safe house".
Inside was another 26 litres of meth oil, two firearms and ammunition, police allege.
Detective Superintendent Deborah Wallace told reporters on Wednesday the combined 50
litres was enough to make 50kg of the drug Ice.
"That has a potential wholesale value of $13 million," she said.
Macris is the father of John Macris, 37, who was allegedly targeted in a murder plot
by brothers Michael and Fadi Ibrahim and a third man, between July 2009 and September
2009.
The trio believed John was behind the near-fatal shooting of Fadi in June 2009, a court
heard earlier this year.
Stelios Macris faced Gosford Local Court on Wednesday charged with two counts of drug
possession and two counts of possessing an unregistered firearm.
Bail was not applied for and the matter was adjourned until Thursday, the court confirmed.
AAP bc/tr/ht/nb
KEYWORD: MACRIS WRAP
� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
End the suffering.
Provided by 7DAYS.ae
Japan marked the 63rd anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki with a solemn ceremony yesterday and a call for world powers to abandon all of their nuclear weapons.Thousands of children, elderly survivors and dignitaries in the city's Peace Park bowed their heads in a minute of silence at 11.02am, the time the bomb was dropped, to remember the tens of thousands who ultimately died from the blast.
"The United States and Russia must take the lead in striving to abolish nuclear weapons," Nagasaki mayor Tomihisa Taue said at the gathering, which included Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda."These two countries... should begin implementing broad reductions of nuclear weapons instead of deepening their conflict over, among others, the introduction of a missile-defence system in Europe."Britain, France and China should also reduce their nuclear arms, he added.About 27,000 of the the southwestern city's estimated 200,000 population died instantly from the bomb's explosion, and about 70,000 had died by the end of 1945.Nagasaki was bombed by the United States on August 9, 1945, three days after the western city of Hiroshima, where the blast also killed tens of thousands immediately and many more later from radiation sickness.On August 15, Japan surrendered, bringing World War Two to an end.Fukuda said Japan had to fulfill its responsible role as a nation of peaceNagasaki's toll from the bomb, nicknamed 'Fat Man', is updated every year by the Japanese government which keeps a record of victims it says die of radiation illness. It added 3,058 names to the list this year, bringing the official death toll to 145,984.
Earlier, the mayor of the city criticised countries that refuse to abandon their bombs and vowed to do more to help survivors still suffering.
[c] 2007 Al Sidra Media LLC
Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company
NSW:Drug investigation leads to 19 arrests
AAP General News (Australia)
04-07-2011
NSW:Drug investigation leads to 19 arrests
Nineteen people have been arrested as part of a nine month crackdown on the heroin
trade on the NSW north coast.
Operation Warrior was formed last year to tackle an increase in the supply and use
of heroin .. along with related property crime .. in the Taree and Purfleet areas.
Police say a total of 19 people have been arrested .. and there's been an immediate
and noticeable downturn in property crime.
AAP RTV eb/tr/af
KEYWORD: DRUGS (SYDNEY)
� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
VIC:Ryan gives thumbs down to congestion tax
AAP General News (Australia)
12-17-2010
VIC:Ryan gives thumbs down to congestion tax
MELBOURNE, Dec 17 AAP - A traffic congestion tax would not work in Melbourne, Acting
Premier Peter Ryan says.
The federal government has been urged to consider a traffic congestion tax in one of
three discussion papers released by Environment and Population Minister Tony Bourke this
week.
The productivity and prosperity advisory panel, chaired by Australian Industry Group
chief executive Heather Ridout, suggests the government should examine ways of reducing
peak time traffic through measures such as congestion charging.
Acting Premier Peter Ryan says Melbourne's public transport system could not cope with
the inevitable extra passengers if a traffic congestion tax was introduced for city drivers.
"While it works well in cities such as London, the simple fact is you have to have
a system around it which is going to be able to function to accommodate that extra traffic,"
he told reporters in Melbourne.
"We are simply not in a position in Victoria to undertake any such process, and a lot
of work is going to need to be done around the issues we are now contending with in our
transport system before any such consideration were ever given to any such charge."
AAP mj/pmu/it
KEYWORD: CONGESTION
� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
VIC:Vic police minister in car crash
AAP General News (Australia)
08-10-2010
VIC:Vic police minister in car crash
Mr Cameron will be in parliament later on Tuesday for question time, despite his accident.
Victorian Premier John Brumby said he had spoken to the minister and he was deeply
sorry for his actions.
"He's had an accident, I think we're all very grateful that there have been no serious
injuries," Mr Brumby told reporters.
"He didn't see a car, it's an accident that people can make. He wasn't speeding, he
wasn't drinking, he wasn't doing any of those things and he is terribly, terribly sorry
for what's occurred."
The premier said Mr Cameron was breath tested and returned a negative reading.
He was driving from his home in Bendigo to the central Victorian town of Malmsbury
to meet his ministerial car when the accident happened.
The airbags in Mr Cameron's car deployed but not in the other vehicle because it was
hit on the side.
The woman driver was later released from hospital, a Bendigo Hospital spokeswoman said.
AAP cmb/gfr
KEYWORD: CAMERON UPDATE 2 MELBOURNE (REOPENS)
� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Vic: Man charged with child sex offences
AAP General News (Australia)
04-01-2010
Vic: Man charged with child sex offences
EDS: Changes keyword from MINORS
By Jamie Duncan
MELBOURNE, March 31 AAP - A man who contacted teenage girls via a social networking
site and pretended he was a model and band manager has been charged with rape and indecent
assault, police say.
John Raymond Zimmerman, 24, of Screen Street, Frankston, faced an out-of-sessions court
hearing at Nunawading police station in Melbourne's east on Wednesday night.
He was charged with 16 counts each of rape and sexual penetration of a child under
16, five counts of stalking, three of indecent assault, one count of threats to kill and
one count of procuring a child for the purposes of child pornography.
The offences date back 18 months and involve three victims - two of whom were aged
14 and one who was 13 at the time of the offences.
Nunawading CIU Detective Sergeant Craig Brien told the hearing Zimmerman set up two
accounts on a social networking website, one with his own details and one with false details
and photographs purporting to be those of a 17-year-old boy.
He said Zimmerman told girls he contacted that he managed a popular teenage band and
was a model, and that he could give them an entree to the modelling world.
The first alleged victim, a 13-year-old, was convinced by Zimmerman using the false
profile to exchange intimate photographs.
Police allege he coerced her to meet him and told her he would distribute the pictures
to her family, friends and teachers.
The girl was raped on three occasions at a park near her home until Zimmerman promised
to destroy the images, police say.
The girl reported the matter to police in November last year after Zimmerman contacted
her using his original profile and demanded sex in exchange for the images.
The second alleged victim was 14 when she was contacted by Zimmerman last year.
She agreed to meet him in October last year after persistent badgering online, Det
Sgt Brien said.
The girl was allegedly raped on three occasions after Zimmerman threatened to tell
her boyfriend of their online relationship unless she had sex with him.
The accused was arrested in November last year but was released without charge pending
further inquiries and warned not to contact young girls.
A third alleged victim came forward this month, alleging she had been raped by Zimmerman in 2008.
The girl, now 16, said she and Zimmerman exchanged intimate photographs, and she was
coerced into two meetings with him in which she was raped.
He had been in contact with the girl as late as March 17, asking if police had asked
her any questions about him.
Zimmerman, a retail salesman, was arrested at his workplace in Collingwood on Wednesday
following a joint operation between Nunawading and sexual crimes squad detectives.
Two other alleged victims have reported to police, who are now investigating their cases.
Det Sgt Brien said police opposed bail for Zimmerman, saying the accused had more than
8000 online contacts, including many young girls who police would now investigate, and
Zimmerman had been in contact with his alleged victims since his arrest in November.
The bail justice refused bail, saying he "almost can't find the words to describe"
the seriousness of the alleged offences.
Zimmerman was remanded in custody to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Thursday.
Detectives have asked anyone who suspects they may have had contact with Zimmerman
to come forward.
AAP jrd/jl
KEYWORD: ZIMMERMAN (CHANGES KEYWORD)
2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
SA: Jongewaard denies trying to hide after car crash
AAP General News (Australia)
08-19-2009
SA: Jongewaard denies trying to hide after car crash
Champion cyclist CHRIS JONGEWAARD has denied trying to hide after a car crash which
seriously injured a fellow cyclist.
JONGEWAARD .. a four-time national cross country mountain bike champion .. has pleaded
not guilty in the South Australian District Court to aggravated causing serious harm by
dangerous driving .. and leaving the scene of an accident after causing harm.
JONGEWAARD's car struck his training partner .. MATTHEW REX .. when they were celebrating
Mr REX's 22nd birthday in February 2007 at a resort at Normanville .. south of Adelaide.
JONGEWAARD told the court immediately after the crash he made a decision to return
to the resort to try and get help .. not to try to hide his car or himself.
AAP RTV sl/crh
KEYWORD: JONGEWAARD (ADELAIDE)
2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
News Diary for Thursday, April 9, 2009
AAP General News (Australia)
04-09-2009
News Diary for Thursday, April 9, 2009
Good Evening News Editors and Chiefs of Staff
Here is AAP's preliminary newslist for today (not for publication).
This is a guide only and stories, local times and locations are subject to change. In
some cases times and locations may not be available. Story coverage is subject to staffing.
ADELAIDE
- No items listed.
BRISBANE
- Inquest continues into helicopter crash near Mount Isa.
- Media conference in Cairns with Noel Pearson.
- Seeking updates on missing fisherman and Chinese swimmer.
CANBERRA
0900 - Opening of National Library of Australia exhibition The Ballets Russes in Australia
1936-1940.
1000 - National Foundation for Australian Women to release survey on what women want from
May budget.
1000 - A poll on paid parental leave to be greeted with a launch party at Parliament House.
MELBOURNE
- Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Terry Moran to deliver Closing
the Gap lecture: Forging New Partnerships to address Indigenous Disadvantage in Australia.
- Minister for Resources and Energy Martin Ferguson to address Melbourne Mining Club luncheon
- Premier John Brumby to announce a new suburb in Melbourne's north.
- Federal Court to hand down its verdict on the Lawyers for Forests challenge to the federal
government's approval of Gunns' proposed pulp mill
- Committal mention for a man charged over cold case murder of his estranged wife, Marlene
Mcdonald who disappeared from her home more than 20 years ago, Melbourne Magistrates Court,
10am
- Two men to appear at Dandenong Magistrates Court charged with stealing from burnt out
houses on Black Saturday, 10am.
PERTH
- Nicole Bryan, 22, the mother accused of fatally stabbing her baby during a domestic
dispute to appear in the Stirling Gardens Magistrates Court.
SYDNEY
0800 - Sydney Royal Easter Show begins. Sydney Showground, Olympic Park.
0900 - Federal Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull at Richmond, NW Sydney, Jobs for Australia
Community Forum.
0930 - Teresa Wendy Jagla to face Waverley Local Court on AVO mention regarding Packer family.
0930 - Scott Miller, possible plea on drugs and weapons charges. Downing Centre Local Court 5.2.
1000 - Todd Munter to be sentenced for manslaughter of man in water restrictions rage.
Supreme Court St James Road.
1030 - Australian dive legend Valerie Taylor and Anthony Albanese MP open the Underwater
Bondi Experience. Marine Discovery Centre, Bondi Beach Pavilion, Bondi Beach.
1400 - Former Knox teacher Damian Vance, accused of inciting an act of indecency, expected
in Hornsby Local Court.
FINANCE
ECONOMIC NEWS
- ABS releases labour force data for April
- Melbourne Institute survey of consumer inflationary expectations for April
- Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey of consumer unemployment expectations for April
EQUITIES NEWS
Brisbane - Bank of Queensland half year result
Melbourne - Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson addresses Melbourne Mining Club
SPORT
AFL
MELBOURNE - AFL match: Geelong v Collingwood, MCG, 1940
MELBOURNE - Wrap of AFL news, including teams named for rest of AFL 3rd round.
MELBOURNE - Repeat AFL match by match panel
LEAGUE
SYDNEY/BRISBANE - Preview Sydney Roosters v Brisbane on Friday
SYDNEY - Preview Parramatta v St George Illawarra on Friday
SYDNEY - Repeat match by match preview panel.
RUGBY
PERTH - Preview Western Force v Hurricanes on Friday
CANBERRA - Brumbies name team to play Stormers on Saturday
SYDNEY - Repeat preview panel.
GOLF
AUGUSTA, Georgia - News from Aussies ahead of Masters starting late Thursday night AEST.
CRICKET
CAPE TOWN - Third ODI: Australia v South Africa, starts 2230AEST
CAPE TOWN - Australian team news ahead of third ODI.
SURFING
BELLS BEACH - Men's world tour event resumes for round 2
AAP mn/cdh
KEYWORD: DIARY NEWS THURSDAY AM UPDATE
2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Qld: Indigenous health gap exposed
AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-2008
Qld: Indigenous health gap exposed
By Gabrielle Dunlevy
BRISBANE, Dec 4 AAP - Queensland's indigenous children are twice as likely as other
kids to die before the age of five.
The inaugural Queensland Closing the Gap report for 2007-08, released on Thursday,
revealed there was a 17.7 year gap in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous
men, and 19.4 years for women.
Indigenous children are 2.1 times more likely to die before reaching the age of five
than non-indigenous children.
Among those dying before the age of five, 80 per cent were aged under one.
Indigenous Queenslanders are much more likely to suffer from chronic diseases, including
diabetes, for which they are four times more likely to be admitted to hospital.
The report also measured disadvantage in employment, housing, child protection and justice.
In the area of education, over one-third of indigenous Year 12 students do not gain
an OP (overall position) score or vocational qualification.
The unemployment rate is 23.5 per cent for indigenous people, compared to 4.5 per cent
for other Queenslanders.
Aboriginal Partnerships Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said this could not continue.
"This report ... demonstrates our preparedness to tackle hard issues like alcohol misuse
and welfare dependency and to be transparent in progress," she said.
Both the state and federal governments were making significant investments in indigenous
reforms, she said.
Meanwhile, the third quarterly report on key indicators in indigenous communities for
the period July to September 2008 delivered mixed results.
Notably, Woorabinda had the greatest drop in hospital admissions for assault, with
only one hospital admission in the September quarter compared with 11 in the June quarter.
The community went dry on July 1.
AAP gd/pjo/jfm/de
KEYWORD: INDIGENOUS HEALTH
2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Fed: Rudd won't say whether economy slowing too quickly=2
AAP General News (Australia)
08-01-2008
Fed: Rudd won't say whether economy slowing too quickly=2
Mr Rudd admitted the economy was slowing and predicted tougher times for family budgets.
"It's obviously happening out there" he told Fairfax Radio Network.
"The big challenge is, as you know, getting the balance right between not having an
economy which is plagued by high levels of inflation forcing interest rates up over the
long term, while at the same time ensuring enough activity continues to be generated in
the economy.
"We have got our (fiscal) settings as right as we can, but it is going to be tough
- tough in the sense of the impact on people's family budgets."
Mr Rudd refused to say whether Australians should brace themselves for job losses as
the economy continued to slow.
"We have had inflation running at 16-year highs as of when we came into office. That
then flows into interest rates, and we have had 12 of those on the trot going up.
"That then affects the level of activity in the economy, and that in turn affects,
ultimately, employment.
"(But) when it comes to the statistics provided by the ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics),
it is not appropriate for politicians or prime ministers to speculate on future data."
AAP mj/rl/jl/de
KEYWORD: ECONOMY RUDD 2 CANBERRA (REOPENS)
2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Tas: Taste of Hobart for New Year's celebration
AAP General News (Australia)
12-29-2007
Tas: Taste of Hobart for New Year's celebration
In Hobart .. the waterfront will come alive with food .. wine and frivolity for Monday
night's New Years Eve celebrations at The Taste of Hobart festival.
It's the highlight of the seven-day foodies event .. featuring food from 70 on-site
stall holders .. entertainment and fireworks.
The ticketed event is held annually at Hobart's Princes Wharf No.1 shed .. and is expected
to attract up to four thousand people.
Outside the shed .. a balmy forecast of 33 degrees is expected to lure up to 30-thousand
more revellers .. who'll pack the docks to watch the fireworks at 9.30 pm (AEDT) and midnight.
Hobart City Council says it'll operate a free parking service on the Domain Regatta
Grounds .. between 10 am and 10.30 pm.
AAP RTV gr/tm/wz
KEYWORD: EVE TAS (HOBART)
2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
WA: Reckless driver sought after speed camera operator targeted
AAP General News (Australia)
08-21-2007
WA: Reckless driver sought after speed camera operator targeted
PERTH, Aug 21 AAP - Police are searching for a Perth driver who almost crashed into
a mobile speed camera, narrowly missing its operator.
Police said the operator was setting up the camera on the Reid Highway, near West Swan
Road on Perth's eastern outskirts about 8.30am (WST) yesterday when the driver of a Holden
Commodore missed him by about a metre.
"When the vehicle was 20 metres away it veered sharply to the left in the direction
of the operator who managed to jump out of the way and the Commodore missed him by about
a metre," police spokesman Ian Hasleby said.
"Police allege the vehicle then veered back sharply to the right and continued along
the Reid Highway."
An eyewitness who reported the incident to the police has been asked to contact Crime Stoppers.
Police expect the driver of the car to be charged with reckless driving and assault.
AAP ah/jm/cdh
KEYWORD: CAMERA
2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
NSW: Army captain is behind rocket launcher thefts
AAP General News (Australia)
04-05-2007
NSW: Army captain is behind rocket launcher thefts
SYDNEY, April 5 AAP - An Australian army captain is the alleged mastermind of the theft
and sale of eight defence force rocket launchers, police say.
The Australian Federal Police and NSW Police Force now say eight, not seven, anti-tank
weapons were stolen from the military.
Police today arrested two men, aged 46 and 39, from Wattle Grove and Mount Annan, in
Sydney's south-west, and a 63-year-old woman from Tahmoor, south-west of Sydney, in simultaneous
police raids about 6am (AEST) today.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Terry Collins said the 46-year-old man was an army captain
who worked closely with munitions.
"We will allege that a captain in the defence force was a mastermind and a key player
in regard to the theft and distribution of these (rocket launchers) to criminal elements
in the community," Mr Collins told reporters.
"We will allege the captain had intimate knowledge and had worked very closely in the
area where he had access to those type of weapons."
MORE kjd/was/nf
KEYWORD: ROCKETS SECOND LEAD
2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Fed: I won't choose my own portfolio, says Gillard
AAP General News (Australia)
12-05-2006
Fed: I won't choose my own portfolio, says Gillard
CANBERRA, Dec 5 AAP - New deputy Labor leader Julia Gillard says she will forgo her
right to select her own portfolio on the front bench.
Instead, she and leader Kevin Rudd will work together to choose the right team, she says.
"As deputy leader I do have the entitlement to pick a portfolio, but I'm not going
to exercise that entitlement," Ms Gillard told the Nine Network.
"Instead I'm going to work with Kevin to shape the front bench team.
"The issue here isn't what's the particular job I get, or indeed anybody else gets,
the issue is how do we best have a front bench team to carry us through to the 2007 election."
Ms Gillard, who with Mr Rudd overthrew the leadership team of Kim Beazley and Jenny
Macklin yesterday, joined her leader in saying former rock star and environmental campaigner
Peter Garrett was sure to get a front bench job.
"I couldn't agree with Kevin more that Peter Garrett needs to be part of that front
bench team," she said.
"He's a great new addition to the Labor caucus and it's now time for him to step forward
and carry the arguments we know he can carry so well for Labor."
Ms Gillard swept aside questions relating to her promise earlier this year to support
Mr Beazley up to next year's election.
"Circumstances change. That was in March this year when there were some issues in the
Labor Party, and the words I spoke then I still mean," she said.
"It is about more than leadership. It's about Labor at every level making sure that
it's out campaigning in the community for change, and out there arguing with a Labor message
for what we would do differently in this country."
She deflected suggestions she might not always support Mr Rudd and defer to her own ambitions.
"We are probably eight to 10 months out from an election. It is, in political terms,
around the corner," Ms Gillard said.
"We will be focused on that election. Circumstances won't change."
AAP dep/maur
KEYWORD: LABOR GILLARD (REISSUING)
2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Fed: Canberra's bushfire season extended
AAP General News (Australia)
04-28-2006
Fed: Canberra's bushfire season extended
CANBERRA, April 28 AAP - Prolonged dry conditions and significant grass fuel levels
have forced Canberra authorities to extend this year's bushfire season into the middle
of autumn.
ACT Emergency Services Authority today said the bushfire season would run for at least
another two weeks.
Just three years after devastating bushfires ripped through the national capital, the
lack of rain has left fuel-heavy grass lands dry, and a potential fire trap.
Four people were killed in the 2003 fires and about 500 homes were lost.
ACT rural fire service chief Michael Ross says the situation is being assessed daily.
"The weather bureau is forecasting no significant variation to the weather patterns
the ACT has been experiencing over the recent months," Mr Ross said.
"We have had no good rain falls and there are none expected for the immediate future, he said.
"This has left us with some extremely dry grass lands, which has the potential to burn
very easily should we have a source of ignition, even though the air temperature is much
cooler."
AAP pv/so/evt
KEYWORD: BUSHFIRE
2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Vic road toll climbs after fatal head-on in state's east
AAP General News (Australia)
12-31-2005
Vic road toll climbs after fatal head-on in state's east
Victorian police say there's been a fatal head-on collision in the state's east ..
taking the state's road toll for the Christmas-New Year period to eight.
The national road toll is now 36.
They say crash happened this morning .. about five kilometres east of Stratford ..
on the Princes Highway.. but details are sketchy.
They say officers from the Major Collision unit are making the three hour trip to the
accident site.
The death takes Victoria's road toll for 2005 to 346 .. one more than for the same
period last year.
(EDS: AAP's Xmas/New Year road toll figures are for the period 0001 December 23 to
2359 January 6. Some state and territory police forces may use different road toll periods.)
AAP jmw/goc/
KEYWORD: TOLL VIC (MELBOURNE)
2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Vic: Man questioned by police over train sexual assault
AAP General News (Australia)
12-29-2005
Vic: Man questioned by police over train sexual assault
MELBOURNE, Dec 29 AAP - Victoria Police have arrested a man in relation to the sexual
assault of a woman as she slept on a suburban Melbourne train early today.
The woman got on the 8.55am (AEDT) Upfield train at Flinders Street station, police said.
A man entered the same carriage and sat opposite the woman.
The woman fell asleep and failed to wake at Upfield before the train returned to the city.
During the return trip, police believe the man sexually assaulted the woman between
Macaulay and North Melbourne railway stations.
The woman woke during the assault and ran from the carriage, police said.
Transit police are interviewing a 55-year-old man from Williamstown who was arrested
at 7.30pm (AEDT) today, a police spokeswoman said.
AAP mf/cdh/jlw
KEYWORD: TRAIN NIGHTLEAD
2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Monday, February 27, 2012
SA: Man appears in court for killing of gay "informant"
AAP General News (Australia)
04-21-2005
SA: Man appears in court for killing of gay "informant"
ADELAIDE, April 21 AAP - A man appeared in an Adelaide court today on a charge of killing
a homosexual who had alleged a serving South Australian MP was a paedophile.
David Richard Fraser, who turned 34 today, remained silent during his brief appearance
in Adelaide Magistrates Court charged with murdering Shaine Moore.
Mr Moore, 33, was found dead in his northern Adelaide house by police in February,
10 days after he was reported missing.
Police had been searching for him to interview him as part of their investigation into
last December's murder of another gay man, Robert Woodland, at Adelaide's Veale Gardens.
Mr Moore was not a suspect in Mr Woodland's murder but was one of several members of
the gay community police sought for interview in relation to his killing and other assaults
at Veale Gardens, a known homosexual meeting place.
Following both men's deaths, former parliamentary speaker Peter Lewis revealed they
had each contacted his office about an inquiry into the abuse of wards of the state.
Mr Lewis said the men had claimed a serving MP had been involved in illegal homosexual
activities at Veale Gardens.
However, another man who made similar allegations to Mr Lewis, convicted paedophile
Craig Ratcliffe, has since retracted his statements.
Fraser, who is unemployed and lives at west suburban Hove, made no application for
bail but his lawyer indicated bail may be sought at a later date.
He was remanded in custody to return to court in June.
AAP la/sl/was/bwlW
KEYWORD: FRASER
2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
Fed: Victoria records most road deaths
AAP General News (Australia)
12-24-2004
Fed: Victoria records most road deaths
Four of the nation's six road deaths so far this holiday season have been recorded in Victoria.
In the latest fatal accident, a man and a woman in their 20s were killed when their
car hit a pole in Melbourne's south-east this morning.
Police say the accident happened about 4am (AEDT) on Wellington Road, in Clayton.
It was the second double fatality in that state in 12 hours.
A 37-year-old woman and a 13-year-old girl were passengers in a four-wheel drive that
rolled on the Western Freeway north of Ballarat, about 120 km west of Melbourne last night.
Elsewhere, a 66-year-old man died when his ute hit a tree, south of Tullamore in central
western New South Wales, yesterday.
And in Queensland, a 17-year-old boy died in a Gold Coast hospital yesterday afternoon
following a road accident earlier in the day.
((EDS: National road toll figures are for the period 0001 December 24 to 2359 January
3, 2005. Some states and territories have different periods)).
AAP RTV rcg/jo
KEYWORD: TOLL NATIONAL
2004 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.
BREAD cures and protects
1499 ‘Cardinal Morton's Register’ ( R. W. SETON-WATSON Tudor Studies, 72) [advice from a witch living near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk] If you are willing to give your horse holy bread (panem benedictum) and holy water, your horse would not be stolen.
1537 R. WHITFORDE Werke for Housholders C. The charmer … taketh here a pece of whyte brede, and sayth ouer that breade nothynge: but onely the Pater noster, and maketh a crosse vpon the breade … than doth he nothynge els but ley that pece of breade vnto the toth that aketh, or vnto any other sore … and so is the persone healed.
1587 GIFFORD Subtill Practises of Devilles G2v. They had holy bread … that he [the Devil] could rest no where.
1648 HERRICK Hesperides 336 ‘Charmes’. Bring the holy crust of Bread, Lay it underneath the head; 'Tis a certain Charm to keep Hags away, while Children sleep. Ibid. 383 ‘Another’. In your Pocket for a trust, Carrie nothing but a Crust: For that holy piece of Bread, Charmes the danger, and the dread.
1691 R. KIRK Secret Commonwealth (1815, 6) [Scottish-Irish.] Tramontains to this Day put Bread … in Womens Bed when travelling [in labour], to save them [mother and baby] from being stollen.
1882 Folk-Lore Record 83 [Co. Wexford] If an infant is carried out after dark a piece of bread is wrapped in its bib or dress, and this protects it from any witchcraft or evil.
1887 ‘SPERANZA’ WILDE Superstitions of Ireland II 117. When a servant leaves her place, if her mistress gives her a piece of bread let her put by some of it carefully, for as long as she has it good luck will follow her.
1911 Folklore 58 [Co. Clare] In Kilnaboy … meal used to be tied up in a corner of an infant's clothes for luck when it was taken to baptism.
Digital Island Inks Sony Deal.
Digital Island has cut a deal with Sony Pictures to provide high- speed network infrastructure and management for Sony's entertainment web site. The site has video clips and information about Sony's film and movie properties. Digital Island owns a private network that's supposed to boost reliability and performance of web content and streaming media.
The company's chief media officer Adam Cohen won't talk about the financial terms of the Sony deal, but says the company charges by the gigabyte, roughly $21 for every gigabyte transmitted. He says Digital Island has 327 Internet access points and 2,600 servers sprinkled around the globe. What that means is that content is distributed across the 2,600 servers, and when a consumer requests content, it zips from the server, through the private network, and out onto the Internet through the nearest access point. Cohen said that the company has deals with AOL and a bunch of other ISPs to install an access point inside the ISP's network, which means content coming from Digital Media will never touch the real Internet, insuring an even faster ride.
Cohen called Digital Island's network two-way, meaning that consumers can send data through the network as fast as they can receive it, fast enough for voice-over-IP, and in fact, the company uses the network for its own long distance calls. It's also fast enough to deliver megabit-quality video. If somebody's using a video codec like Microsoft's Windows Media with a bit rate of a megabit a second, then it's possible to deliver video that's high-def television-quality and has six-channel surround sound.
The company also some Internet geographic mapping technology that can convert an IP address into a physical location. Cohen says Digital Island customers can use the geographic mapping to restrict content to a specific destitution, such as confining movie downloads to a certain country.
Unhappily Digital Island and rival Akamai are suing each other in patent disputes. In December, a jury in a federal court found Digital Island infringed on a patent owned by Akamai. In a separate simultaneous trial, a jury found that Akamai did not infringe on a Digital Island patent. The damages Digital Island must pay will be the subject of a separate trial.
New NetExpert performance-based pricing puts service providers in driver's seat OSI's unified management architecture enables performance-based pricing in the OSS market.
M2 PRESSWIRE-24 March 2000-OSI: New NetExpert performance-based pricing puts service providers in driver's seat OSI's unified management architecture enables performance-based pricing in the OSS market (C)1994-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
RDATE:23032000
FOLSOM, Calif -- Objective Systems Integrators (Nasdaq: OSII), the leading provider of software solutions for unified network, service, application, and process management, announced today its new performance-based pricing policy. The pricing is tiered, system-wide, performance licensing based upon operating ranges of transaction processing.
Performance-based pricing offers service providers lower entry-level costs, improved operating margins, increased cash flow, and more predictable future operating costs. It also lowers transactional unit costs as system volume increases to match a service provider's business growth and expansion.
"Performance-based pricing gives a service provider the perfect opportunity to fully understand how to manage its ongoing and future operational costs and match them to business goals," said James T. Olsen, OSI vice president marketing. "OSI is leading the Operations Support System (OSS) market in establishing performance-based pricing, which positions us to be a growth partner with our customers. The company's integrated solutions under our Unified Management Architecture (UMA) give our customers a clear growth path as they expand their operations, integrate new technologies, and grow their business. Now, with our performance pricing, OSI enables them to cost their operations in the same way. This is an important step in our strategy to make UMA a standard in communications networks."
e-Communications Transforms Network Environment
Historically, the industry has forced service providers to procure software based on the licensed number of hosted processors. The major drawback, especially in environments that require high performance and distributed processing, is that software performance and system architectures tend to be artificially limited, and additional expense is necessary to expand the system coverage often without gaining any increase in transaction processing. In today's "Internet-driven" world, traditional business methods no longer fit. Networks are now driven by e-communication, they are distributed, and they are virtual. The products and business structures that enable them must reflect this prevailing environment.
e-Communications Requires a New Pricing Model
OSI's progressive performance pricing removes client/server instance-based pricing and opens the use of all NetExpert solutions to any deployment configuration a network or application provider requires-with unlimited gateway clients and servers. It mirrors the software industry's trend of basing the cost of software applications and solutions on the value actually derived from their use by each individual customer.
Chris Simon, OSI vice president, global market management, described the benefits this brings to OSI's customers. "We have made the flexibility and power of UMA affordable for entry-level customers. They no longer have to turn to short-term tactical solutions; they can deploy an integrated system for service assurance, delivery and usage-one that will grow with them as their business expands. UMA offers the unique ability to manage, filter, optimize, and control a service provider's transaction-processing environment.
"We have also found performance-based pricing to be very attractive to our current customers as they expand their operations and customer base through new technologies and business strategies. They now have unrestricted use of NetExpert servers and gateways, so they can configure their systems for maximum scale and performance. This creates an unshackled-growth operations environment for service providers who compete in the fast-paced global communications market. In addition, our performance pricing goes hand-in-hand with our entry into the ASP market this quarter, as these e-business companies price their own services on a usage basis."
About OSI
Objective Systems Integrators (http://www.osi.com) offers advanced software solutions for automating the management of dynamic communications services, networks, devices, applications, and business processes.
OSI's family of products is built on its Unified Management Architecture (UMA), for integrated, cost-effective management of service delivery, assurance, and usage. With the UMA, service providers can differentiate themselves in the marketplace by providing high levels of service, automating the processes that link back office operations to the network, and maintaining flexibility for growth and change. OSI's Reference Platform Model (RPM), which consists of Sun Microsystems carrier-grade servers and Oracle Corporation databases, is intended to meet today's requirements for network scale and rigorous performance through its integrated architecture and leading technology.
More than 250 customers around the world have installed OSI's open NetExpert-based unified management systems in wireline, wireless, IP/data, and Application Service Provider environments. OSI (Nasdaq: OSII) has headquarters in Folsom, California with offices worldwide.
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data prepared by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).
NorthPoint Establishes First National DSL Footprint; Expands Network to 24 Major Metro Areas Spanning More Than 700 U.S. Cities And Towns.
NorthPoint Network Now Covers All ILEC Territories With Launch of Service in
Denver, Phoenix, Portland and Seattle
SAN FRANCISCO, July 6 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthPoint Communications (Nasdaq: NPNT) today established the only national digital subscriber line (DSL) network with the launch of its award-winning high-speed Internet access service in Denver, Phoenix, Portland, and Seattle. With the launch of service in these major U.S. markets, NorthPoint is the only DSL provider to offer service in all six incumbent local exchange carrier territories. NorthPoint's presence now spans more than 700 cities and towns across 24 metropolitan regions nationwide.
"NorthPoint is the only DSL provider to deliver truly nationwide coverage and this offers our network service provider partners a distinct competitive advantage," said Liz Fetter, NorthPoint's president and chief operating officer. "The demand for DSL-based broadband local access is booming across the U.S. and NorthPoint offers its partners the most expansive network to capitalize on this opportunity."
NorthPoint DSL is available from nearly 150 national and regional network service provider partners nationwide, including Internet service providers, competitive local exchange carriers, long distance carriers, value-added resellers and others. National service providers Flashcom, Frontier, Phoenix Network and PSN.net will offer NorthPoint DSL in each of the four new regions. NorthPoint's high-speed Internet access is available immediately in Denver and Portland. NorthPoint will launch service in Phoenix and Seattle in two weeks. Partners in each region include:
Denver -- Flashcom (www.flashcom.com), Frontier (www.frontiercorp.com), ICG Communications (www.icgcom.com), Phoenix Network, PSN.net (www.psn.net) and Verio (www.verio.com).
Phoenix -- @Work (www.work.com), Flashcom, Frontier, IXC Communications (www.ixc-comm.com), Phoenix Network and PSN.net (www.psn.net).
Portland -- @Work, Flashcom, Frontier, MegaPath (www.megapath.net), Phoenix Network, PSN.net and Verio.
Seattle -- Flashcom, Frontier, Phoenix Network, PSN.net and Verio.
NorthPoint DSL is designed to meet the needs of small and midsize business customers as well as home based businesses and telecommuters. According to industry analysts, business adoption of DSL is expected to grow at annual rate of 155 percent with small businesses leading this growth. More than one million small businesses are investing in Internet connectivity every year.
NorthPoint DSL uses standard telephone lines to provide access to the Internet at speeds up to 1.5 Mbps. Once limited to dial-up modem access and speeds of 56 Kbps at best, DSL offers small and midsize businesses "always on" Internet access at speeds that will support advanced applications once reserved only for large businesses that can afford expensive "T1" connections.
NorthPoint pioneered the use of "symmetric" DSL (SDSL) as the DSL technology of choice among business customers. NorthPoint DSL provides two- way symmetric bandwidth to support the full spectrum of today's "push" and "pull" enterprise applications. SDSL service provides fractional T-1 speeds at a fraction of the cost, delivers superior network performance, and is easier to configure than ISDN. In addition, businesses can easily migrate to higher speeds as their Internet applications grow and their bandwidth needs increase. NorthPoint's DSL service ideally matches business usage patterns and supports a range of business applications including intranets, extranets, virtual private networks (VPNs), email, electronic commerce, Web hosting, and more.
About NorthPoint
NorthPoint Communications, based in San Francisco, is a national, facilities-based competitive local exchange carrier dedicated to providing affordable, dedicated high-speed Internet access over existing phone lines using digital subscriber line (DSL) technology. The company operates DSL- based local networks in 24 major markets, representing 37 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), and will expand its service to 28 markets, or 61 MSAs, by the end of 1999. Upon completion of its planned expansion, NorthPoint's DSL network will pass 4 million businesses and 30 million homes. NorthPoint provides DSL-based Internet access service -- at speeds up to 1.5 Mbps, more than 25 times faster than common dial-up modems -- through national and regional Internet service providers, CLECs, long distance carriers, value- added resellers and other partners. For additional information, visit www.northpointdsl.com.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this release which are not historical facts may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements. Such statements are indicated by words or phrases such as "anticipate," "estimate," "projects," "believes," "intends," "expects" and similar words and phrases. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statement as a result of certain risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the company's dependence on strategic third parties to market and resell its services, intense competition for the company's service offerings, dependence on growth in demand for DSL-based services, ability to raise additional capital and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. Prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company disclaims any obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events or developments.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Life Insurance Purchasing Habits Changing as One in Four Consumers Now Prefer to Buy Direct.
New LIFE and LIMRA Study Examines Changes in Insurance Planning Attitudes and Behaviors
WINDSOR, Conn. and ARLINGTON, Va., July 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- It has long been said that life insurance is a product that is sold, not bought. Yet a new study finds that Americans' preferences for purchasing life insurance are shifting towards direct buying methods. While two thirds of consumers (64 percent) still prefer to buy life insurance from an insurance or financial professional, that number is down from 1996, when 8 in 10 (80 percent) preferred to buy the product face-to-face. Today, more than one in four adults (26 percent) prefer to purchase life insurance direct via the Internet, mail or over the phone.
"'Obviously, the Internet has fundamentally changed consumers' buying practices over the past 15 years," said Marvin H. Feldman, CLU, ChFC, RFC, president and CEO of the LIFE Foundation. "Recognizing the growing consumer interest to use the Internet to conduct research and buy life insurance, life insurance companies and agents have developed and implemented innovative strategies to engage and serve consumers through their websites and social media platforms that are more convenient for the customer."
Not surprisingly, younger consumers showed the most interest in purchasing life insurance through the Internet. Among those ages 25-44, a prime group for purchasing life insurance, 31 percent said they would prefer to buy direct, with three in four citing the Internet as their preferred means of direct buying.
These findings were released today by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation and LIMRA as part of the organizations' "The 2011 Insurance Barometer Study," a new, annual survey designed to increase understanding about consumer attitudes and behaviors regarding a host of insurance and financial planning matters.
The study also found that consumers generally view life insurance as a necessity, with 86 percent agreeing that most people need life insurance. However, the figure drops to 70 percent when people are asked if they personally need life insurance. Only 63 percent of individuals surveyed say they own some sort of life insurance, which is similar to other recent research conducted by LIMRA in 2010.
"Life insurance has never been as easy or inexpensive to buy, yet millions of Americans continue to put off making a purchase that they, by their own admission, say is an important one," noted Feldman.
While the percent of people who want to buy over the Internet is still relatively small compared to the percent who want to buy from an insurance agent (17 vs. 64 percent), the Internet now plays a role in eight out of ten life insurance purchases. When asked how they would use the Internet if they were to make a life insurance purchase, 59 percent say they would use it to conduct research, but ultimately buy from an insurance agent. Twenty-one percent say they would research and complete the purchase online. Among 25-44 year-olds, nine in 10 say they would use the Internet in some fashion during the buying process.
Additional findings from the research:
Consumers Want to Understand What They're Buying. When asked about factors that are important to them when buying life insurance, understanding what they are buying ranks highest among Americans (36 percent), followed by obtaining the proper amount of coverage (22 percent). Getting the best price ranked fourth out of six factors, with only 14 percent saying it was most important to them. Being certain about what they are buying is particularly important to women (39 percent say it is the most important factor compared to 32 percent of men), while men place greater importance than women on getting the best price (17 vs. 11 percent).
Concerns Over Price Hinder People from Buying More. Even though the cost of basic term life insurance has fallen by about 50 percent over the past 10 years, consumers' misperception of the cost of life insurance continues. The study found that the cost of life insurance is the top reason people give for not having enough life insurance. Of insured people who say their coverage is inadequate, 85 percent say cost has prevented them from buying more, followed by 76 percent who cite other financial priorities and 55 percent who say they don't know how much or what type to buy.
Most Desire to Leave a Legacy. By a sizable margin, the top reason people say they own life insurance is to cover burial and other final expenses (89 percent) followed by replacing the income of a wage earner (65 percent). Adults of all income levels, not just the wealthy, see life insurance as a way to transfer wealth or leave an inheritance (62 percent).
Other Financial Concerns. When asked about common financial concerns, 46 percent of adults say they are extremely or very concerned about having money for a comfortable retirement, followed next by paying for medical expenses (42 percent). Even though many Americans don't have any life insurance or are inadequately insured, only 27 percent say they are extremely or very concerned about dying prematurely and leaving family members in a difficult financial situation.
"The psychology of a life insurance purchase is very complex, and the results of this new study bear that out," Robert Kerzner, CLU, ChFC, president and CEO of LIMRA, LOMA, and LL Global. "Research like this is important because it provides a better understanding of evolving consumer trends and preferences, like the use of technology and the Internet. We hope that this annual tracking survey will provide insight to companies and producers, enabling them to effectively reach more consumers and increase the number of people owning life insurance."
About The Insurance Barometer Study
The online survey was fielded from Feb. 3 - 8, 2011 by Harris Interactive. The 2,051 respondents were between ages 18 and 75 and shared or were the sole decision maker for financial matters in the household. The margin of error in this study is +/- 2 percentage points or less. The nationwide Insurance Barometer Study is the first in a series that LIFE and LIMRA intend to conduct annually to better understand the public's opinions, attitudes and behaviors regarding life and health insurance, as well as more general financial planning matters.
About LIFE
The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE) was founded in 1994 in response to the public's growing need for information and education on life, health, disability and long-term care insurance. LIFE also seeks to remind people of the important role insurance professionals perform in helping families, businesses and individuals find the insurance solutions that best fit their needs. To learn more about these topics, please visit www.lifehappens.org.
About LIMRA
LIMRA is a worldwide research, consulting and professional development organization that helps more than 850 insurance and financial services companies in 73 countries increase their marketing and distribution effectiveness. Visit LIMRA at www.limra.com.
CONTACT: Katharine Carver (LIFE) 212-445-8210 kcarver@webershandwick.com -or- Catherine Theroux (LIMRA) 860-285-7787 ctheroux@limra.com
SOURCE The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE)
M&A valuation trends.(Mergers, IPOs, and Venture Finance: Data Points)(Professional standards)
Our colleague Bruce Hadley of SoftwareCEO.com has been tracking software mergers and acquisitions for several years, and he's just finished analyzing valuation data for 2001. Not surprisingly, Hadley reports, there was a "sobering" drop in M&A activity last year--only 83 transactions where financial details were announced, compared to 136 during the deal-making frenzy of 2000. Moreover, median deal size also dropped, "from a lofty $50.4 million in 2000 to $27.9 in 2001."
A few other trends:
* Revenue multiples are down: Revenue multiples for software deals (sale price divided by annual revenues) fell by more than half during 2001, says Hadley. In 2000, the median multiple for the deals he tracked was an "unrealistic"4.0; last year, the median was 1.8. The valuation collapse especially impacted sale prices among the top quartile of deals--for this group, median valuations plunged from 11.5 times revenues in 2000 to just 3.1 in 2001.
* The Internet is still hot: Despite the dot-com meltdown, Web and e-commerce companies still command a premium: Median sale price for 15 deals last year was 3.4 times revenues, and the top quartile hit a multiple of 9.4.
* Sellers still get a premium for all-stock deals: "There's always a risk in taking stock in lieu of cash," Hadley notes, but sellers who take this risk typically see a much higher payoff--a median multiple of 2.3 for stock-only vs. 1.3 for cash-only sales.
Software Industry M&A and IPO Roundup/2001, $195. Bruce Hadley, Software CEO.com, 5545 NW Sixth St., Tillamook, Ore. 97141; 503/842-7208.
E-mail: hadley@softwareceo.com.
2001 Software Valuations-Revenue Multiples Lowest Top Quartile Median Quartile All companies (83 deals) 0.7 1.8 3.1 Primarily software (52 deals) 1.1 1.8 3.2 Primarily services (16 deals) 0.3 0.5 1.1 Web/e-commerce (15 deals) 2.0 3.4 9.4 All-cash deals (30 deals) 0.9 1.3 2.0 All-stock deals (29 deals) 0.6 2.3 6.8 Cash + stock deals (24 deals) 0.9 1.9 3.1 Seller was private (46 deals) 0.8 2.1 4.0 Seller was public (37 deals) 0.7 1.5 2.2 Seller's revenue more than $14 mm 0.9 2.0 3.7 (43 deals) Seller's revenue less than $14 mm 0.7 1.4 2.4 (40 deals) Source: SoftwareCEO.com
JAPAN'S YAMADA DENKI EYES US$1.2 BLN IN CHINESE SALES IN 3 YEARS.
TIANJIN, China, June 10 Asia Pulse - Japan's Yamada Denki Co. (TSE:9831) will open the doors of its second Chinese store here Friday, with plans to add three more over the next three years and reach 100 billion yen (US$1.2 billion) in sales.
This new location has roughly 15,000 sq. meters of floor space, making it the city's largest volume electronics store.
Chinese sales of consumer electronics have recently slowed down. But longer-term demand is stable because such devices have become necessities, Yamada Denki Chairman Noboru Yamada told a news conference.
He said that the firm will also begin nationwide Internet sales in China in step with the opening of the new Tianjin location and that its sales target for the country is 100 billion yen in three years.
Yamada Denki opened its first Chinese store this past December in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, and plans to expand the network to a total of five over the next three years.
(Nikkei) cg 10-06 1442
IN THE KEMEROVO REGION, THE MAIN INTERNAL AFFAIRS DIRECTORATE AND THE DIRECTORATE OF THE FEDERAL DRUG CONTROL SERVICE DISCUSSED THE KEY ISSUES OF COOPERATION.
MOSCOW, Russia -- The following information was released by the Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federation:
"Interaction and prevention" -- these were the main principles of combating illegal drug trafficking determined for themselves by the Heads of the two agencies: the Regional Main Internal Affairs Directorate and the Directorate of the Federal Drug Control Service (FDCS).
These issues were discussed at the joint collegial meeting where the law enforcement agencies not only summed up the results of their joint work, but also agreed upon new forms of cooperation.
Since the beginning of the year, law enforcement agencies of the Region have registered 2208 drug crimes, including 1460 grave and 491 especially grave crimes. Over half a ton of drugs has been withdrawn from illegal trafficking: 503.6 kg, including 13 kg of heroin, 264 kg of hashish, and 215 kg of marihuana.
Colonel of Militia Evgeny Bylitsky, Head of the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate for the Kemerovo Region, noted that, along with heroin addiction, the so-called "medicinal-pharmaceutical drug addiction" is gaining momentum in Kuzbass; its most dangerous manifestation is the consumption of the highly toxic medicine desomorphine.
So far, desomorphine has been produced and consumed in Kuzbass locally, Bylitsky emphasized; however, the consequences of this drug consumption are much more awful: in most cases, the consumption of desomorphine ends in death from an overdose. Kuzbass law enforcement officers do their best to terminate pharmaceutical drug addiction at an early stage.
Not long ago, officers of the Center for Combating Crimes in the Consumer Market terminated the sale of potent drugs without prescription in one of Kemerovo pharmacies.
According to Major General Sergey Bezryadin, Head of the Drug Control Directorate, the growing number of suspects convicted of drug crimes evidences not only the trouble situation in Kuzbass, but also the effectiveness of performance of police officers. From the beginning of the year, law enforcement agencies of the Region have sent 1101 criminal cases to court.
Mr. Bezryadin also noted that thanks to the fact that internal affairs agencies focus on the so-called "street" drug-related crimes, officers of the Drug Control Service manage to concentrate their efforts on detecting and terminating organized drug-related crimes, liquidation of drug laboratories, cutting of international and interregional channels of delivery of large quantities of drugs to the territory of the Kemerovo Region.
In January 2011, officers of the FDSC Directorate cut an international channel of hashish delivery to Russia from Iran. The drug had been transported by sea to Astrakhan, wherefrom it arrived to Novokuznetsk by train, where it was seized by drug police officers. 246 packages with the drug were placed in niches of boxes with glass plates. Each package had a foreign seal. As a result of the examination, the weight of the seized drugs was identified --263 kg; the seals were of 14 various kinds. The investigation established that one the organizers of the delivery was a citizen of two countries: Turkey and Azerbaijan.
The participants of the meeting noted that as the technological progress is accelerating, the principles of work of drug criminals change as well: they are starting to use actively advanced communication technologies, such as mobile Internet and banking payment systems to make settlements for acquired lots of drugs. They even can purchase drugs through the Internet, as it was done a month ago by a dealer of smoking mixture "chocolate" detained in Mezhdurechensk by operational officers of the Criminal Department. The suspect admitted having ordered on one of the Internet sites one thousand packages of the drug "chocolate", which he was going to disseminate in the South of Kuzbass; however, he was promptly seized with the goods by law enforcement agencies.
The attendees also came to a conclusion that cocaine is becoming increasingly widespread in Kuzbass, being regularly seized. On 30 April, a drug dealer was detained in Novokuznetsk, who was transporting the largest lot of cocaine in the history of the Kemerovo Region -- about 100 grams of the substance.
Taking into account all of the above-mentioned, the Heads of the agencies came to a conclusion that their work should be mainly focused not only on operational work, but also on prevention of drug abuse, especially among the youth.
Press Service of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate for the Kemerovo Region
ART WORKSHOP STRETCHES HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS' CREATIVE SKILLS ASPIRING AND EARLY-CAREER TEACHERS MASTER TECHNIQUES OUTSIDE CLASSROOM.
NEW YORK -- The following information was released by The City College of New York:
High school student David Mendez sculpts figures for a three-dimensional study at City Art Lab.
Late every Tuesday afternoon, 16 students from nine New York City high schools convene in a studio on the third floor of Shepard Hall on The City College of New York campus. For two hours, they stretch their creative talents as early-career and aspiring art teachers get to practice their pedagogical skills outside the classroom.
"We're giving high school students the chance to explore and experiment like (college-level) art students," said Marit Dewhurst, CCNY director and visiting assistant professor of art education. "They learn outside the hierarchical structure of typical high school classes and get to make their own artistic choices."
The program, launched this spring and called City Art Lab, is part after-school course and part art education graduate student lab. It is run in collaboration with Creative Arts Workshops for Kids (CAW), a nonprofit organization that utilizes the visual and performing arts to teach life skills to children and teens. Partial support comes from the Office of the Dean for Humanities and the Arts at City College.
The high school students apply through CAW. Their skill levels are secondary to their motivation. "Beginners are welcome. They just need a desire to learn and the curiosity to explore," explained Professor Dewhurst, who added that City Art Lab is another way for City College to connect with community organizations.
City Art Lab, which runs 12 weeks, is organized as a series of thematic workshops. The first applied the theme of metamorphosis to develop drawing techniques. In the second, students worked with three-dimensional materials to explore the concept of transforming the ordinary into extraordinary.
CCNY graduate students prepare and lead the workshops, which run over three to four weeks. They also work alongside the high school youth on their own projects, helping to create a collaborative feeling inside the studio.
"We're teaching one another," said Asya Abdul Majid, a junior at Bronx High School of Science from Washington Heights. "I've never been in a place with so many encouraging teachers. I always come away inspired."
Milan McNeil, a sophomore at Cathedral High School, added she not only is learning different techniques but also how to accept criticism from other people.
"For someone like me who is already teaching, this is an opportunity to practice things I would not be comfortable with jumping into the classroom," said Julie Wilson, who is working toward her MA in art education while teaching at Urban Assembly School for Criminal Justice in Brooklyn.
In the "making the ordinary extraordinary" workshop that she co-leads, students get to create sculpture with a choice of different materials. At a recent session, students worked with everything from clay to wire. "We give them a million ways to accomplish something," she added. "They get the creative freedom to explore, and we're making art while they're making art."
Similarly, in the metamorphosis workshop students worked with pencil, charcoal, water colors or pastels. "We discussed different manifestations of metamorphosis in life and let students figure out different ways to interpret the theme," said Jeannine Armbruster, a grad student from Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood. The student interpretations ranged from harmony to deformity to adaptation to relocation.
Ms. Armbruster describes City Art Lab as "teaching in an ideal setting. The students want to be here and they are ready and willing to do art. There are no classroom management issues. To see what is possible is inspiring."
When the workshop concludes, the students' work will be exhibited in new gallery space in City College's North Academic Center building and at the CAW booth at the Hike the Heights Festival, a community event to be held June 4 in Upper Manhattan.
On the Internet:
City College MA in Art Education Program
http://tinyurl.com/43lrvdn
Creative Arts Workshops for Kids
http://www.caw4kids.org/
Additional City Art Lab Photos on Facebook
http://tinyurl.com/3k4s8ed
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Is Tajikistan's 'Google Generation' Looking For Change?
April 15 2011 (TCA) -- A growing number of articles and commentaries on Central Asian blogs and media suggest it's only a matter of time before Arab-style popular uprisings sweep through the region.
Some see Tajikistan as a possible candidate for such protests. Despite official denials that anything is amiss, steps taken by authorities in recent weeks to placate public sentiment hint at some nervousness in Dushanbe.
Tajiks just got what appears to have been their first taste of a flash mob, a protest initiated by Internet users who staged a small demonstration after exchanging comments through Facebook.
Some 30 people gathered in front of the state energy agency in the capital, Dushanbe, on April 8, protesting a severe electricity shortage that has hit the country hard in recent weeks. They also held up signs condemning nepotism and corruption in the government.
The demonstrators, mostly young men in their 20s, echoed the feelings of many Tajiks. The recent strict rationing of electricity, which leaves some households with as little as one hour per day of power, has added to a host of other miseries -- ranging from widespread unemployment to a lack of civil liberties.
Official statistics show poverty levels at around 50 percent nationwide.
Local independent media were swift to warn the country's authorities against ignoring the people's plight, and reminded them of the protests that have swept North Africa and the Middle East, unseating the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents.
"Authorities must pay more attention to the problem of ordinary people before it is too late, otherwise [issues like the electricity shortage] could become the last straw," wrote the "Ozodagon" weekly.
Google Generation
Rajab Mirzo, an independent Tajik journalist, says that in the age of the Internet and social networking, it will become increasingly hard for authoritarian leaders in Central Asia to get in the way of people coming together and sharing ideas.
"Young people -- the Google generation -- will keep demanding changes, improvements, and opportunities," Mirzo says. "Facebook, Twitter, and similar social networks enable them to get in touch, to exchange and spread information."
The triggers that apparently prompted young Arabs to take to the streets arguably exist aplenty in Central Asia. The resource-rich, predominantly Muslim region is known for its long-serving presidents, a lack of democratic reforms, corruption, and poverty.
The region already has a record of popular revolts in Kyrgyzstan, where two post-Soviet presidents were ousted by violent street demonstrations.
Officials in Tajikistan say they are confident that no revolts will happen in their country anytime soon.
"Conditions that would lead to similar events currently do not exist in Central Asia," Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrohkhon Zarifi told reporters at a press conference last week.
But as Mirzo points out: "Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said that, too, and just look at events happening there."
"What is happening in the Middle East started very quickly," Mirzo says. "No one could predict it. After events in Tunis, Qaddafi or other leaders couldn't see them spreading to their countries too."
Azimjon, a 25-year-old Tajik blogger, says social-networking sites like MoiMir, VKontakte, and Facebook are becoming increasingly popular among Tajiks.
"Most of the young people joining these sites simply seek to interact, make new friends, and post photos," the blogger says. "But there are also people who discuss social issues and start debates."
The most recent debate among Tajik Internet users was over the government's controversial decision to hand over 1,000 square kilometers of land to China to settle a long-running territorial dispute. Hundreds of Tajiks used social-networking sites to condemn the decision.
Frosty relations between the Tajik and Uzbek governments and their constant arguments over energy issues and transit routes are other popular topics among Tajik Internet users.
Government Concessions
Tajik authorities recently produced a package of changes, reforms, and amnesties that local independent media characterize as a government attempt to assuage critics.
Two jailed former opposition commanders -- Fathullo Khairiddinov, who is known as Eshoni Daroz, and Nazar Yormuhammadov -- were released from prison last month, cutting short their jail terms by several years.
Tajik courts have also begun to review the cases of dozens of opposition supporters arrested in the aftermath of a security operation in the eastern Tavildara district in 2009.
Tavildara is a one-time stronghold of Islamic opposition. The security operation and subsequent arrests had prompted outrage in the area. Several relatives of Mirzo Ziyoev, the slain opposition commander and ex-minister of emergency situations, were among those arrested.
Abdusamad Ziyoev and Mahsiddin Muhiddinov -- the ex-minister's brother and neighbor, respectively -- were found guilty of seeking to overthrow the government. Both were set free last month.
Mirzo Ziyoev's two sons had their sentences reduced by half.
President Emomali Rahmon has also abolished a law on "establishing [criminal] responsibility for destabilizing the social and political situation," which was adopted shortly after Tajikistan experienced its first antigovernment street protests in 1990.
The law was aimed at curbing opposition rallies, and stipulated criminal responsibility for organizers of public demonstrations.
Rahmon's oldest son, Rustam, widely seen as an heir-apparent, left the ruling People's Democratic Party, his membership of the party's central committee, and his seat in Dushanbe city council to take up a career in the lower-profile Customs Service.
'Listen To People'
Can such changes satisfy critics -- or ward off any risk of popular protests?
Zafar Sufi, an independent Tajik journalist, says people want concrete steps to address their concrete problems -- such as creating jobs with proper wages, fighting corruption and nepotism, and not restricting free speech.
"We don't have any major factories functioning here," Sufi says. "All Soviet-era factories are closed down apart from the aluminum plant."
He adds: "We used to have a huge textile factory in Dushanbe. We don't even produce a pair of socks today, and [instead] import them from China and Uzbekistan."
Rajabi Mirzo says he thinks free speech, transparency, and political openness are key to the government's ability to sustain public popularity.
"The government's tactic of cracking down on the media, free speech, and political opponents will backfire," Rajab says. "By silencing the media, the authorities are losing touch with the realities on the ground -- they don't know what is going on people's minds," he says. "The country's leaders shouldn't wait until they hear gunfire behind their windows. They must listen to the people today."
(THROUGH ASIA PULSE)
Dhaka Phone, RanksTel barred from operating land phone.
Bangladesh, March 25 -- Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Wednesday stopped operations of private land phone operators RanksTel and DhakaPhone again on their failure to provide the lists of subscribers.
Zia Ahmed, Chairman BRTC the telecommunication regulator of the country, told newsmen that the land phone operators could not give them the lists of subscribers.
RanksTel and Dhaka Phone stand accused of being involved in illegal call termination through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).
The BTRC permitted the companies on Tuesday to resume operations on the condition that a list of customers would be provided.
Within a difference of 10 minutes of resumption, BTRC shutdown operations of Rankstel and DhakaPhone. "We started operation at 3:00 pm. At 3:10 pm BTRC shuts down our operation", an official of Rankstel said.
He said that BTRC did not give any time limit to the companies to submit the subscribers' list. "Giving out the number of subscribers will be possible if we could start our operations ", he said.
The officials said the BTRC shut down the Rankstel without prior information like the previous time.
On March 14, the telecom regulator seized a huge number of VoIP equipment from DhakaPhone office that led to shutting down the switch room of the telephone operator.
Five top officials of the phone operator were also arrested on March 15 in this connection.
The BTRC, with the help of Rapid Action Battalion, conducted a 12-hour raid at RanksTel offices at Eskaton and Tejgaon on Thursday and shut down its operations.
RanksTel subscribers have since remained off telephone network.
With 2,88,272 subscribers throughout Bangladesh, Ranks Telecom Ltd is the largest private fixed line operator.
Published by HT Syndication with permission from The New Nation. For more information on news feed please contact Sarabjit Jagirdar at htsyndication@hindustantimes.com
Copyright The New Nation
Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company
298 Million Surfed: Opportunities for e-Government in China Analyst Opinion.
Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/fe8f83/298_million_surfed) has announced the addition of the "298 Million Surfed: Opportunities for e-Government in China (Analyst Opinion)" report to their offering.
According to a report issued last week by the state-run, China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), in 2008, 88 million Chinese went online for the first time, an increase of 42 percent over 2007. With the increase, China's internet-using population has surpassed 298 million, and now has more internet users than any country in the world
Scope
A recent study by the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) found that there are over 298 million Internet users in China
In light of this finding, this piece explores the implications for e-government
Highlights of this title
The rollout of 3G networks in China is likely to be completed by 2010
The high number of connected citizens, coupled with the central governments ambitious plans to investment in e-government, means that there is plenty of opportunity for vendors
Vendors exploring the Chinese market should be aware of the legal environment and the unique political culture around public service delivery in the country
Key reasons to purchase this title
Learn about the rapid increase in Internet use among Chinese citizens
Understand the implications for e-government in the country Key Topics Covered: Catalyst Summary Comment Ask the analyst Disclaimer
For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/fe8f83/298_million_surfed Source: Datamonitor
Keywords: Technology, Internet, Internet, Asia, China, Government, Internet Networks, Political Culture, Politics, World Wide Web, Research and Markets.
This article was prepared by Internet Business Newsweekly editors from staff and other reports. Copyright 2009, Internet Business Newsweekly via VerticalNews.com.
Pennyperformers.com "Penny Stocks that Perform" picks are -- -- SMWF, QTWW, KYUS, ITUI, GYGC, GLCC.
M2 PRESSWIRE-30 June 2008-PennyPerformers.com: Pennyperformers.com "Penny Stocks that Perform" picks are -- -- SMWF, QTWW, KYUS, ITUI, GYGC, GLCC(C)1994-2008 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD
RDATE:30062008
-- Pennyperformers.com "Penny Stocks that Perform" picks are: Seamless Wi-Fi, Inc. (OTCBB: SMWF), Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., (Nasdaq: QTWW), Kentucky USA Energy, Inc. (OTCBB: KYUS), i2Telecom International, Inc. (OTCBB: ITUI), Guyana Gold Corp. (OTCBB: GYGC) and Good Life China Corporation (PINKSHEETS: GLCC)
Sign-up for our FREE Stock Alerts at http://www.PennyPerformers.com
Jun 30, 2008 -- Seamless Wi-Fi, Inc. (OTCBB: SMWF) announced today that, as of July 1st, 2008, it is turning over to WebCenter Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of ICOA, Inc., all the hotel properties that offer Wi-Fi services provided by Seamless Wi-Fi subsidiary Seamless Skyy-Fi, Inc. for the past 3 years. After careful evaluation of Wi-Fi service providers, ICOA, Inc. was selected because of their long history in the Wi-Fi industry and the high quality of their Managed Services capabilities.
This transfer will result in certain operating savings as well as committing available capital to the growth of the recently announced re-organization of our subsidiaries, which includes newly created software development subsidiary Seamless TEK Labs, Inc. and Seamless Sales subsidiary FMSNETCHECK, LLC.
Seamless Wi-Fi, Inc. also announced that CEO and President, Al Reda, was featured in an exclusive interview with www.computeroutlook.com. In the interview, electronic experts from Computer Outlook discussed the potential of Seamless Wi-Fi's S-Gen. To hear the interview in its entirety, visit http://computeroutlook.com/dailyshows.php and click on "Daily Shows" and locate the June 20 Interview.
About Seamless Wi-Fi, Inc.
Seamless Wi-Fi, Inc. is a Las Vegas-based company quoted on the OTCBB: SMWF. Seamless Wi-Fi develops and markets secure, cutting-edge hardware and software Internet communications products and services through its three operating subsidiaries: Seamless Internet, Inc. ; Seamless TEK LABS, Inc.; and FMSNETCHECK LLC.
June 30, 2008 -- Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., (Nasdaq: QTWW) will hold a conference call to announce its Fiscal 2008 Fourth Quarter financial results. The call will be held on Monday, June 30, 2008 at 1:30pm Pacific Time (4:30pm Eastern Time).
If you are interested in participating, call the following number ten minutes prior to the starting time: (706) 643-3625, Conference ID # 53823470. An operator will check your name and organization. You will be asked to wait until the call begins.
For those of you unable to join us for this earnings call, a playback of this call will be available via telephone approximately two hours after the call until Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. Pacific time. The number for this service is (800) 642-1687 or (706) 645-9291. The call will also be available on the Company's Investor Relations web page by Tuesday, July 15, 2008:
http://www.qtww.com/about/investor_information/conference_calls/index.php
The call will also be available at its investor relations counsel's webpage at http://www.redchip.com.
For assistance with this call, please call Elaine Lovre at (206) 315-8242.
About Quantum:
Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., a fully integrated alternative energy company, is a leader in the development and production of advanced propulsion systems, energy storage technologies, and alternative fuel vehicles. Quantum's portfolio of technologies includes advanced lithium-ion battery systems, electronic controls, hybrid electric drive systems, hydrogen storage and metering systems, and alternative fuel technologies that enable fuel efficient, low emission hybrid, plug-in hybrid electric, fuel cell, and alternative fuel vehicles.
Quantum's powertrain engineering, system integration, vehicle manufacturing, and assembly capabilities provide fast-to-market solutions to support the production of hybrid and plug-in hybrid, hydrogen-powered hybrid, fuel cell, alternative fuel, and specialty vehicles, as well as modular, transportable hydrogen refueling stations. Quantum's customer base includes automotive OEMs, dealer networks, fleets, aerospace industry, military and other government entities, and other strategic alliance partners.
Quantum has also formed a new company with Fisker Coachbuild, LLC, which is called Fisker Automotive, Inc. Fisker Automotive will offer a range of environmentally friendly premium cars, incorporating Quantum's proprietary high-performance plug-in-hybrid electric vehicle architecture, known as "Q-Drive", into a unique chassis that will enable optimizing the performance and vehicle dynamics.
Jun 30, 2008 -- Kentucky USA Energy, Inc. (OTCBB: KYUS), an early stage natural gas exploration and production company, announced today that the Company has closed on a $10 million senior secured credit facility with NSES 12, LLC, a funding vehicle of New Stream Capital ("NSES"). At closing, the Company borrowed $2,500,000 and, at the sole discretion of NSES, may borrow up to an additional aggregate amount of $7,500,000 in tranches of a minimum of $2,500,000. All amounts borrowed from NSES must be used for the Company's development of its drilling program on its New Albany shale properties in the Illinois Basin in western Kentucky. This financing will provide the Company with the capital needed to begin to develop these properties. The NSES credit facility is secured by all of the properties now owned and to be acquired by the Company's operating subsidiary, KY USA Energy, Inc., and the revenues to be derived from the production of natural gas on these properties, and is guaranteed by the Company.
"We are very pleased with the structure and terms of the agreement with NSES," Steven Eversole, CEO of Kentucky USA Energy commented. "The consummation of this loan facility is an important component in the Company's growth and will assist us in the achievement of our strategic objectives. As we have previously announced, we have begun drilling at our first well site and we will provide our shareholders with drilling updates as we move forward with our drilling efforts."
For further disclosure relating to this financing, please refer to our Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, at http://www.sec.gov/.
About Kentucky USA Energy, Inc.
Headquartered in London, KY, Kentucky USA Energy, Inc. engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas resource properties, with a primary focus on New Albany shale gas in the Illinois Basin in western Kentucky. The Company is a growing independent energy company with the experience and technological expertise to develop its gas resources in the Illinois Basin's New Albany Shale.
Jun 30, 2008 -- i2Telecom International, Inc. (OTCBB: ITUI), a developer of award-winning patented and innovative high-quality Voice-over-Internet Protocol ("VoIP") products and services, today announced preliminary results for the three months ending June 30, 2008. For the 2008 second quarter, i2Telecom expects to report net income in excess of $4 million, or approximately $0.02 per share.
"We have long believed that some of the intrinsic value inherent in our expanding intellectual property portfolio could be monetized for the benefit of our shareholders, and the recent sale of our VoiceStick(R) patent will allow the Company to be nicely profitable for the second quarter of 2008," noted Paul Arena, Chief Executive Officer of i2Telecom International, Inc. "Proceeds from the patent sale also allowed us to significantly improve our balance sheet through the repayment of certain outstanding debt. Our management team and lawyers are currently evaluating additional opportunities to monetize intellectual property assets. From an operating perspective, we look forward to a significant acceleration in our revenue growth during the second half of the year, following the large-scale launch of our MyGlobalTalk(TM) service, which allows cell phone users to conveniently make long distance calls to anywhere in the world using low-cost mobile VoIP technology without having to rely upon WiFi phones or Internet access."
The Company's second quarter results benefitted from a gain of over $5 million related to the sale of a patent involving the Company's VoIP Services Access Module ("VSAM") technology, known in the marketplace as VoiceStick(R). i2Telecom International, Inc. retains a worldwide non-exclusive license under the patents for the VSAM. The transaction, which generated cash of $6.5 million, closed on May 30, 2008.
On June 23, 2008, the Company announced that it expects revenues from the sale of VOIP products and related services to exceed $5 million in the year ending December 31, 2008, compared with less than $1 million in revenues during 2007. This anticipated revenue growth will be driven by revenue-sharing and licensing agreements involving the Company's new MyGlobalTalk(TM) technology. In addition, the Company may have the opportunity to realize further gains from the monetization of a portion of its growing intellectual property portfolio.
The $6.5 million received from the patent sale, when combined with over $5 million of in projected operating revenues for the year, should result in total gross receipts in excess of $11.5 million for the year ending December 31, 2008.
Excluding VSAM-related continuation-in-part patent filings, the Company currently has patent applications pending related to over a dozen additional significant VoIP technologies, all of which are deployed today in the Company's VoIP technology offerings.
About i2Telecom International, Inc.
i2Telecom International, Inc. is a developer of award-winning patented and innovative high-quality Voice-over-Internet Protocol ("VoIP") products and services that employ best-of-breed VoIP technology and use a combination of the Company's own services network and the Internet to deliver high-quality phone calls, streaming video and text chat to customers on a global scale. i2Telecom International provides its VoiceStick(R), MyGlobalTalk(TM), Digital Portal communications and microgateway adapters for VoIP long-distance and other enhanced communication services to its subscribers. Its patent pending services technology platform is compliant with the Session Initiation Protocol ("SIP") telecommunications industry standard.
Jun 30, 2008 -- Guyana Gold Corp. (OTCBB: GYGC) is pleased to announce that a decision has been made to cancel 114,250,000 common shares. This cancellation will reduce the company's outstanding shares from 165,038,947 to 50,788,947, which represents approximately 70% of the issued and outstanding shares.
Eduard Aronov, President of Guyana Gold Corp., commented that, "This action to reduce the company's issued and outstanding shares shows the great commitment level management has for its shareholders and to the future growth of the company." Additionally he noted, "I am confident that our future revenue stream will continue to produce results that our shareholders have come to expect. These things, combined with other exciting events we see in the very near future, should make the next couple of years very exciting for Guyana Gold Corp."
Further details will be released as they become available.
About Guyana Gold Corp.
Guyana Gold Corp. is a junior mineral exploration company that specializes in identifying, acquiring and developing precious and base metal properties as well as assessing whether certain claims possess exploitable commercial and precious mineral reserves. The Company's objective is to develop a balanced global portfolio of early-to-advanced stage projects. Guyana is currently focused on gold projects in the Caribbean. In Guyana, the Company's key mineral project is located in the region of Port Kaituma.
June 27, 2008 -- Good Life China Corporation (PINKSHEETS: GLCC) is pleased to announce that the issuer has completed its private placement offering memorandum. The issuer is pleased to announce that the offering was fully subscribed for a total of $2,000,000.00.
The financing consisted of a non-brokered private placement of 225,000,000 units. Each unit consisted of one common share, and one share purchase warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.25 for two years following the closing, regardless of what the then current share price would be.
All shares issued pursuant to the placement will bear a legend restricting transfer until February 1, 2009.
Mr.Yang the company spokesperson said "The private placement was completed with accredited investors including some existing, and new shareholders from USA, Canada, England and Hong Kong. Simply, the accredited investor term is defined by various securities laws that delineates investors permitted to invest in certain types of investments, such as limited partnerships, hedge funds and angel investor networks. The term generally includes wealthy individuals, and organizations such as a corporation, endowment or retirement plans. In the USA there are specific guidelines as to who is considered an accredited investor. The reason we bring this to our follower's attention is that the issuer has received a number of inquiries from novice investors who unknowingly believe or are told that the float has increased and that some sort of immediate dilution is in effect. In fact, it is quite the opposite. While the float did increase temporarily as old and seasoned restricted shares matured, it then significantly decreased to its current level as posted on Pink Sheets. This was achieved with warrants being issued as per the issuers filings. Again, this is worth repeating, this private placement was completed with RESTRICTED SHARES being issued, and this private placement will not affect the float for some time yet to come.
Participants in the private placement include current and existing shareholders. It includes several high net worth accredited investors, including the Woo family from Hong Kong who are engaged in real estate development in the Vancouver Canada and Hong Kong area. They are investing in GLCC in this private placement and in the open market and are the issuers strongest supporters. The proceeds of the issuance will be used to further advance existing projects and expansions of new locations. In addition it will be used to launch its Check21 services in China together with its micro loan services in rural China, through its existing 1,800 existing outlets. The issuer expects to generate significant revenues from this source of funding.
The common shares of the Company are currently dually listed in the USA Pink Sheets (symbol GLCC.PK) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (Xe:L9X). The issuer is in good standings with Pink Sheets and ranked as a "Current Information" filer with its security.
About PennyPerformers.comPennyPerformers.com has become one of the premier stops for investors who wish to experience huge profits via investing in up-and-coming publicly traded companies.
Penny Performers email report service is free to those investors who sign up on our website. The alert service is designed to notify investors of undervalued and often overlooked stocks. Subscribers are introduced to OTCBB and Pinksheet companies that have the potential of showing increased activity and Standing Out from the rest of the market. To subscribe to this free service, visit the Penny Performers Report home page at www.PennyPerformers.com and select the "join now" button.
Join us at www.PennyPerformers.com for a complimentary subscription to the most exciting online financial newsletter on the market.
Disclaimer: Verify all claims and do your own due diligence. PennyPerformers.com profiles are not a solicitation or recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. PennyPerformers.com is not offering securities for sale. An offer to buy or sell can be made only with accompanying disclosure documents and only in the states and provinces for which they are approved. All statements and expressions are the sole opinion of the editor and are subject to change without notice. PennyPerformers.com is not liable for any investment decisions by its readers or subscribers. It is strongly recommended that any purchase or sale decision be discussed with a financial adviser, or a broker-dealer, or a member of any financial regulatory bodies. The information contained herein has been provided as an information service only. The accuracy or completeness of the information is not warranted and is only as reliable as the sources from which it was obtained. It should be understood there is no guarantee that past performance will be indicative of future results. Investors are cautioned that they may lose all or a portion of their investment in this or any other company. In order to be in full compliance with the Securities Act of 1933, Section 17(b), PennyPerformers.com is owned and operated by PennyPerformers.com. Neither PennyPerformers.com nor any of its affiliates, or employees shall be liable to you or anyone else for any loss or damages from use of this e-mail, caused in whole or part by its negligence or contingencies beyond its control in procuring, compiling, interpreting, reporting, or delivering this Web Site or e-mail and any contents. Since PennyPerformers.com receives compensation and its employees or members of their families may hold stock in the profiled companies, there is an inherent conflict of interest in PennyPerformers.com statements and opinions and such statements and opinions cannot be considered independent. PennyPerformers.com and its management may benefit from any increase in the share prices of the profiled companies. Information contained herein contains "forward looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals, assumptions or future events or performance are not statements of historical facts and may be "forward looking statements". Forward looking statements are based on expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made that involve a number of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those presently anticipated. PennyPerformers.com services are often paid for using free-trading shares. PennyPerformers.com may be selling shares of stock at the same time the profile is being disseminated to potential investors; this should be viewed as a definite conflict of interest and as such, the reader should take this into consideration.
Visit us for a full Disclaimer at: www.PennyPerformers.com/disclaimer.htm
((M2 Communications Ltd disclaims all liability for information provided within M2 PressWIRE. Data prepared by named party/parties. Further information on M2 PressWIRE can be obtained at http://www.presswire.net on the world wide web. Inquiries to info@m2.com)).