Wednesday, November 1, 2006

The Delhi Police used lathi(baton)-charges to disrupt striking traders when they gathered in large numbers and attempted to block traffic on the city’s streets on Wednesday morning. The 2-day old strike, protesting a Supreme Court order to seal unauthorised commercial establishments in the city, turned to a more violent note with protestors stranded several buses by puncturing their tyres.

The Supreme Court’s Monitoring committee sent a notice to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on Tuesday to resume the sealing of unauthorised shops from November 2. Initially, the sealing drive was to resume on November 1.

Private medical practitioners also joined the protest on its final day, which affected health services in the city. The traders threatened to extend their strike if MCD resumes its sealing drive.

The first two days of the strike went peacefully without having any serious violence. Traders were expecting the government to meet their demands. They met Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit to resolve this dispute.

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

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

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

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

Thursday, September 2, 2021

The state government of Victoria, Australia has today announced their intention to introduce a law to ban public displays of Nazi symbols in early 2022, as well as plans to expand the state’s existing anti-vilification laws. Currently, anti-vilification laws in Victoria only cover racial and religious status. In a press release, the state government wrote that they plan to expand these laws to “cover areas such as sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and HIV/AIDS status”. They also intend to “make civil and criminal vilification easier to prove”.

Attorney-General of Victoria Jaclyn Symes said of the planned reforms “all forms of hate are unacceptable and have no place in Victoria – expanding our anti-vilification laws to protect more Victorians sends a clear message that this vile behaviour will not be tolerated.” Victorian Minister for Multicultural Affairs Ros Spence added “Nazi symbols glorify one of the most hateful ideologies in human history. We must confront hate, prevent it, and give it no space to grow.”

In a press release provided to Wikinews, Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich stated in regards to the banning of Nazi symbols “I never lost faith that this momentous occasion would come to pass. This is a day for the history book, a joyful and profound moment which represents the culmination of a personal campaign that I have spearheaded for the last four years, and I will be lying if I didn’t admit to shedding tears of joy. Above all, this announcement is a resounding triumph for the victims of the Holocaust, the survivors and our brave diggers who died to vanquish the evil Third Reich regime, and a defeat of homegrown neo-Nazis who seek to keep Hitler’s legacy alive.”

Abramovich continued by saying “bravo to the government for rising to the challenge and declaring in a clear and unmistakable voice that the ultimate emblems of inhumanity and racism, that are meant to break our spirit and instil fear, will never find a refuge in our state. The values of democracy, equality and respect are reverberating and ringing loud throughout Victoria and will do so forever. Now Law enforcement will now have the tools they have been asking for and I look forward to attending Parliament in person when this law is passed and to celebrate this milestone.”

The opposition Liberal and National parties welcomed “the Andrews Labor Government’s commitment to ban the Nazi swastika” in a press release, writing “in recent times, Victorians have witness (sic) a deeply concerning rise in the use of the Nazi swastika to strike fear into a range of community groups, including in Beulah, Kyabram, Cranbourne and the Grampians National Park.”

Nazi flags were flown in the regional Victorian towns of Beulah and Kyabram last year. In Cranbourne, a golf club established by the Jewish community was vandalised with swastikas in May 2020, while in the Grampians, a group of approximately 30 neo-Nazis allegedly burnt a cross and were heard shouting “white power” and “heil Hitler” earlier this year.

The Liberal and National press release continued, saying “once this legislation is passed, Victoria will become the first jurisdiction in Australia to have an explicit ban on the ultimate symbol of hate. Today’s commitment is an important step towards a safer, more tolerant future.”

Shadow Minister for Multicultural Affairs Neil Angus commented on the government’s announcement, saying “the Victorian Liberal Nationals welcome today’s commitment to ban the Nazi swastika. This reform are an important step to ensuring a safer, more tolerate community and demonstrating that intolerance has no place in Victoria.”

Shadow Minister for Police & Crime Prevention David Southwick also stated “today is an important step forward for all those who have been victims of the ultimate symbol of hate – the Nazi Swastika. For too long, frontline police and local communities have been powerless to stop the Nazi swastika being used as a tool to spread hate. More recently we have seen a rise extremist nationalist and racist individuals and groups and this ban will go a long way to take away the symbol that they hide behind.”

Earlier this year in March, a Victorian parliamentary report brought 36 recommendations forward in regards to vilification laws in the state, which included banning the public display of Nazi symbols, and including the laws in the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission’s framework.

It was recommended the commission’s authority in discrimination cases be applied to vilification cases, which ABC News reported would include “the power to compel information and documents”. Additionally, the report also called for an evaluation of maximum punishments in regards to vilification offences, with the aim of giving authorities more reason to prosecute in these cases.

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Saturday, August 7, 2010

Businesses remained closed for a second day on Wednesday in the Pakistani financial capital of Karachi, to mourn Raza Haider, a leading politician of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), assassinated on Monday. Nineteen people were killed on Tuesday in revenge killings, bringing the death toll to 49 over two days. Twenty-five shops and a number of vehicles including trucks and buses were burned in a series of arson attacks across the city.

Haider was gunned down while attending a funeral near the centre of the city. An officer at the Nazimabad police station said “[t]he number of attackers and the mode of their transport are not clear, but initial investigations suggest that there were more than two people who came on a motorcycle and they were probably backed by armed men in a car. They first shot at the legislator’s guard Khalid Khan and then entered the mosque and fired at Mr Haider who was in the ablution room.”

Following the first night of revenge attacks and arson the MQM accused its main political rival, the Awami National Party (ANP), of supporting the Islamist militants suspected of the assassination. The MQM is a coalition partner with the ANP in the national government and is known as a party that holds great potential for mass mobilization in the province of Sindh.

The Associated Press (AP) said that the MQM’s accusation “appeared to reflect the complex and vicious political and ethnic fault lines that crisscross Karachi.”

The AP also said that Sharfuddin Memon, the head of the Citizen’s Police Liason Committee had speculated that Haider’s killing may be related to a government operation against “land mafias”, who illegally occupy commercially valuable land. According to the AP’s report it is alleged that some of these mafias have the backing of political parties.

According to human rights organizations there have been more than 300 political killings in Karachi this year.

By Tuesday evening the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre had received 17 dead bodies and 55 injured. The head of the hospital, Dr Seemi Jamali, said that they had transfused 200 blood units to victims of targeted violence and that 31 gunshot victims had been operated upon that day.

This week’s wave of violence and attacks began with the assassination of Raza Haider, but due to the nature of Karachi politics the exact motive behind Haider’s murder is unclear. The Associated Press commented that the city has long been plagued by political violence between supporters of rival parties “that draw votes from different ethnic groups in the city of 16 million people.” The publication said this muddied the reasons for the bloodshed.

Rehman Malik, Pakistan’s Interior Minister was quoted by media as saying Islamist militants were likely suspects. He said that Haider had been on the extremist hit list. The BBC reported that they had been told by security officials in Karachi that there is evidence to suggest the assassination was carried out by the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Pakistan’s deadliest militant group.

The BBC News website also reported that senior MQM leader Babar Ghauri had said: “Every MQM activist will now be looking to pay back the people involved in this heinous act”.

Raza Haider was laid to rest on Tuesday at the Martyr’s Graveyard in Azizabad, northern Karachi. Hundreds of MQM members and supporters attended to pay their final respects to Haider and to his guard Khalid Khan, also killed in the shooting. The funeral took place under tight security, and with activists raising slogans against the violence that has gripped the city.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Diamond Brownridge, a 5-year old girl from Chicago, Illinois, has died after a visit to the dentist. Children’s Memorial Hospital officials say that the girl was rushed to the hospital when she never woke up after being sedated for a dental procedure. She had been in a coma, on life support, since being admitted to the hospital early in the weekend.

“She passed very peacefully and beautifully,” said the hospital in a statement that the family issued.

Ommettress Travis, the mother of the girl, was asked not to remain inside the room while dentists were operating on the girl to repair two cavities and to have at least two caps replaced. Travis says after thirty minutes she was asked to come back in and found Brownridge not breathing, in the dentist chair.

Hicham Riba, a specialist and professional in anesthesia, who was also licensed, was the dentist in charge of the procedure.

“My family and I are so sad. May God bless Diamond and her family. Every time you have a tragedy like this, you pray more. I don’t think I will ever go back to a normal life after an experience like this,” Riba said in a statement on Wednesday, September 28.

According to the family, the girl had been given at least a triple dose of medicine that sedated her. Those drugs include: nitrous oxide gas, a single dose of an “oral agent” and an IV.

A judge has ordered that all equipment and materials used during the operation be protected and examined. The girl’s medical records have also been ordered to be examined.

There is no word on whether or not any charges will be filed against Riba or any of the dentist’s staff.