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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Animal rights activists have demanded that the largest coffee chain in the United Kingdom pull a new advertising campaign because they fear that it will encourage viewers to buy monkeys as pets. The demands are likely to irritate Costa Coffee, who are determined to turn over a larger profit that their arch-rival, Starbucks. Five animal welfare groups have demanded that the advert, which features a futuristic room full of monkeys attempting to use coffee machines, be withdrawn.

In a letter to the Rainforest Alliance, the charities say that “the use of wild animals in this way is contrary to your stance on conservation and, in particular, on rainforest species”. They urged the Alliance to revoke their endorsement of Costa products unless the adverts were withdrawn. The groups also wrote to the coffee chain, saying that they hoped that Costa — which has over 1,000 outlets in the UK — would “think it appropriate to cease using primates in future productions, and make the decision to withdraw the current advert”.

The pressure on the coffee giant has led to fears that the company’s relationship with the Rainforest Alliance—which “works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior”—may be under threat, since animal welfare groups have complained the new advert is in breach of the Alliance’s code of conduct. The television advertisement depicts a number of monkeys being unable to use coffee machines, before a Costa barista hand-makes a cup of coffee. The advert, which features a voiceover by actor Bill Nighy, aired for the first time on Friday. Within hours, animal rights campaigners had demanded it be withdrawn. Manufacturers of products endorsed by the Rainforest Alliance must prove they “are demonstrating [their demand for] goods grown and harvested with respect for people, wildlife and the environment”.

A spokeswoman for Wild Futures, which runs a sanctuary for victims of the primate pet trade, said that she felt that, because they had been forced to appear in the advert, the welfare of the monkeys had been “severely compromised.” She said: “With the release of this new advert, we feel the need to reiterate our long-held concerns on the use of wild animals in entertainment. While they are used in this way their welfare is severely compromised, and it has a knock-on effect in the trade in primates as pets.”

According to The Observer, “the relationship between the appearance of exotic animals in the media and a corresponding increase in demand for them as pets is well documented.” The demand to own clownfish as pets reportedly rocketed following the release of Disney Pixar’s Finding Nemo, which featured one of the orange and white vertebrates as its main character.

The Alliance refused to comment specifically on the Costa advertising campaign, but said in a statement that it “objects to the use of captive wild animals in commercial advertising where a company is seeking to highlight or promote its relationship with the Rainforest Alliance or its use of Rainforest Alliance certified commodities”. Wild Futures and other charities have, in the past, forced companies to withdraw campaigns they believe compromise animal’s rights. The European Union was forced to pull a stop smoking advert last year after objections for animal welfare groups, and car manufaturer Dodge also withdrew an advert which featured a chimpanzee after animal rights groups lodged complaints.

The Code of Practice on the Welfare of Privately Kept Non-Human Primates states that “primates used for entertainment and in the media are often removed from their social group and hand-reared, causing distress to the infant, mother and other members of the group.” The five charities have said they feel that, because the animals have been removed from their social group for the purposes of filming, Costa could be in contravention of three of the five needs as stated in the Animal Welfare Act.

Jim Slater, the marketing director of Costa Coffee vigourusly defended the adverts, insiting that “no compromise is made regarding animal welfare standards” in the adverts. “The monkeys were provided by a specialist organisation and have appeared in movies and on TV many times before.” Speaking to Bakeryinfo.co.uk before the advert was launched, he added: “Costa is enjoying double-digit like-for-like sales growth, and we aim to continue this great momentum. Independent surveys consistently prove that coffee lovers prefer Costa, and this TV commercial will help us to explain the reasons why.”

Tuesday, May 15, 2018

On Saturday, Israel won its fourth victory, first since 1998, at the Eurovision Song Contest, held at Lisbon’s Altice Arena in Portugal. Netta Barzilai’s song Toy won 529 points from public and professional judges. Cyprus and Austria finished second and third respectively with 436 and 342 points.

Out of 43 countries participating this time, 26 countries including hosts Portugal and the Big Five — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom — competed in the finals. The competition began on May 8. Spain and United Kingdom finished in the bottom five while the hosts and last year’s winners, Portugal, ended up at the bottom of the vote ranking; collecting respectively 61, 48, and 39 points.

Israel won the first semi-final round with 283 points. The 25-year-old Netta won the HaKokhav HaBa competition earlier this year to represent the country in this contest. Netta performed Toy, written by Doron Medalie and Stav Beger, with a Chicken Dance and chicken noises. With a lot of scat singing involved, the song lyrics included, “I’m not your toy; you stupid boy”. Her performance included 112 Maneki-nekos, Japanese beckoning cats used as lucky charms, which were placed in two shelves.

Apart from the Japanese Maneki-neko dolls, Netta wore a kimono; a Japanese dress, styled her hair in two buns as well as referenced Pokémon, a Japanese anime and video game, in her song, which led to some people including Portuguese writer Joana Ramiro to point out cultural appropriations in her performance. “Can I, however, ask if anyone here has already commented on the quite shocking Japanese cultural bastardisation-appropriation going on in Netta’s song?”, Ramiro tweeted.

Shortly after the contest began, last year’s winner Salvador Sobral called Toy “a horrible song”. In an interview with Wiwibloggs, Sobral said, “YouTube thought I would like the Israeli song. I opened it and a horrible song came out of it.” After winning the contest in Ukraine last year, Sobral had said, “We live in a world of disposable music; fast food music without any content. I think this could be a victory for music with people who make music that actually means something […] Music is not fireworks; music is feeling. So let’s try to change this and bring music back.” Toy’s performance used strobe lighting and quirky noises.

After Netta was declared the winner, she said, “Thank you so much for choosing different. Thank you so much for accepting differences between us. Thank you for celebrating diversity. Thank you. I love my country. Next year in Jerusalem.” Previously, Israel won the contest in 1978 and 1979, and 1998.

UK’s artist SuRie, who performed Storm, was interrupted in her performance when a stage invader snatched her microphone. UK was given another chance to perform, but SuRie declined after discussing with her team. SuRie said, “We had that conversation, but I was really proud of that performance.” “You don’t get to do the 100m sprint at the Olympics again because your shoelace is untied or something. You had that one shot and that was my moment, and we didn’t need to repeat that […] We had those conversations backstage, I saw the reaction and faces of my team, who were very proud of the recovery and the power of that, and we didn’t need to go again”, the British singer added.

As the winner of this edition of the competition, Israel is to host next year’s competition. Last year, then 27-year-old Salvador Sobral won the competition, receiving 758 points for the song Amar Pelos Dois, a ballad written by his sister.

For the preparations of next year’s contest, Israeli Deputy Health Minister Ya’akov Litzman wrote a letter to Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev asking shabbat, the Jewish holy day to rest, not to be violated. In the letter, he wrote, “In the name of hundreds of thousands of Jewish citizens from all the populations and communities for whom Shabbat observance is close to their hearts, I appeal to you, already at this early stage, before production and all the other details of the event has begun, to be strict [in ensuring] that this matter does not harm the holiness of Shabbat and to work in every way to prevent the desecration of Shabbat, God forbid, as the law and the status quo requires”. Last year, he submitted resignation after Jewish workers were made to undertake railway work on shabbat. That time, both Israeli welfare minister Haim Katz and Israeli transportation minister Yisrael Katz expressed potential threat to passengers if the railway work was postponed.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Authorities in the Mexican state of Sonora arrested 7 state officials, from the state finance department, yesterday; and charged them with negligent homicide for the deaths of 47 children in a fire at a daycare centre that occurred earlier this month.

In 2005, the Hermosillo, Mexico daycare was advised to carry out repairs in a safety inspection went unheeded. It is felt that negligence contributed to the massive fire Friday afternoon, June 5, taking the lives of 47 toddlers and infants and injuring the majority of the 142 children being cared for by six staff who were also hospitalized.

The ABC Daycare Centre installed a brightly coloured tarpaulin as a ceiling below the high roof. In 2005 the owners were advised to remove the tarp, and equip emergency exits and the main exit with larger and wider regulation sized doors. The daycare owners did not make the recommended changes, and continued to receive contracts to operate and also passed subsequent safety inspections including one a couple of weeks before the fire.

Officials have determined that the fire began in the neighboring warehouse which was used by the northern Sonora state Finance Department and contained license plates, tires, and paperwork. Nobody was working Friday and this warehouse was locked with the air conditioner left running. The air conditioner overheated, short circuited and melted its aluminum housing which began flames in the paperwork below. This neighboring warehouse had no fire alarms, fire extinguishers nor water sprinklers installed.

“The fire was caused by the overheating of an air conditioner due to continuous and prolonged use,” said Eduardo Medina Mora, the Attorney-General.

The fire and smoke rose above the wall connecting the daycare and Finance Department warehouse, and was trapped in the daycare between the tarp and the warehouse ceiling. The daycare fire alarms were installed below the tarp, and did not alert the staff to the fire trapped above the tarp until the tarp itself caught fire which instantly dispersed smoke and flames onto sleeping infants below. One of the emergency fire exits was padlocked shut and could not be used the day of the fire by rescue teams.

Seven finance department officials have been arrested on negligence and charges of negligence are to be laid also against seven others. “They are employees and officials with the Finance Department who have a direct responsibility for the warehouse where the fire started,” said Abel Murrieta, the state Attorney General.

The fire chief of Hermosillo has been removed from his position.

The wives of two high ranking state officials operated the privately run daycare under contract from the Social Security Institute. These two state officials have resigned. The owners will be charged with negligence by the state’s Finance Department. The Social Security Institute will also begin a civil lawsuit against the owners. The head of the Social Security Institute has stepped down and others have been suspended.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Australian Green leader Bob Brown has criticized the country’s media standards and ethics, calling for an enquiry regarding opinion in news. His criticism follows Transport and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese claiming there is a problematic blurring of news and opinion in stories.

Albanese said recent newspaper reports have been a “real concern”; commenting, “[t]hey’ve got to call it for what it is, and they’ve got to stop this sort of nonsense that is being put out there as legitimate media”. Wednesday saw Albanese tell reporters in Sydney that it is time for the press to act responsibly.

Senator Brown is calling for a media enquiry at the next parliamentary meeting; “[o]nce upon a time you expected that there would be opinion in editorial columns and there would be news in news columns, but that’s gone out the window.” Continuing his calls for an enquiry, he stated, “and they’re very serious questions for the media itself to ask and I think many journalists want to see, and many people involved in news want to see a review and have a say and that’s the job of parliament. That’s why I’ve put the motion in to the Senate”‘

Senator Brown has labelled national newspaper The Australian, a “viewspaper”, claiming it mixes news with editorial opinion, “[i]t’s very difficult for readers these days to be able to read news as news, as fact, as what’s happening”.

Meanwhile, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) managing director Mark Scott said there has been debate over whether a media inquiry is needed.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported Scott saying, “[a]s far as the ABC is concerned, we already have a very major inquiry under way”. Adding that no journalist at the ABC could escape the broadcaster’s editorial policies. “The same rules apply around independence, fairness, balance and impartiality across all programs […] It is the same rules that exist around television, radio, around news”.

At this time, the Australian government has not reached a decision on any possible inquiry around regulation and ownership of news media.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Global chemical manufacturer LyondellBasell — the third-largest private chemical company in the world — has collapsed. The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, as well as the Dutch equivalent. They had failed to meet a January 4 deadline on postponed debt payments, and talks with creditors failed.

Headquartered in The Netherlands, LyondellBasell is owned by private equity tycoon Len Blavatnik, who had already refused the company a loan to help deal with debt resulting from a $12.7 billion merger between Basell International Holdings and Lyondell Chemical to create LyondellBasell Industries.

The company had already appointed Kevin McShea from Alix Partners to restructure the firm. McShea was assigned speculatively prior to the bankruptcy filing. Access Industries, Blavatnik’s company, refused to extend credit as part of a loan deal brokered in March, a decision Lyondell Chemicals Company, a subsidiary of LyondellBasell, stated they were unhappy with.

LyondellBasell had postponed $280 million worth of interest payments, which Standard & Poor said placed it in “selective default” with a “rapidly weakening liquidity position”. S&P also said that LyondellBasell have debts of $26 billion in a report on the company prior to the firm’s collapse.

LyondellBasell responded with a press release, issuing the following statement: “Standard & Poor’s definition of ‘selected default’ related to our corporate credit rating should not be misinterpreted to suggest that LyondellBasell is currently in default of its bank agreements. As they stated in their press release, ‘This is a default in our opinion according to our definitions and criteria.’ LyondellBasell is not currently in default according to its agreements with its lenders.”

The company met with high oil prices shortly after the expensive merger. This was followed by a general tail-off in demand caused by the ongoing financial crisis. Investors were continuing to bet before the collapse that the firm would restructure under bankruptcy protection, leaving lenders with big losses, potentially over 90% of their investments. The cost of credit protection for LyondellBasell bonds had soared. The creditors include Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, ABN Amro and UBS.

On Thursday, an interim allowance was made by a judge for LyondellBasell to seek up to $2.167 billion of loans. There is also an emergency loan paid out of $100 million. As well as LyondellBasell, 79 affiliates have become insolvent. Citigroup has said the collapse will set them back $1.4 billion in unpaid debts.

Tuesday, April 14, 2020

In February 2017, the Iranian Chess Federation announced two teenage chess players, Dorsa Derakhshani and her younger brother Borna Derakhshani, were banned from representing the national team. The federation announced their decision although Dorsa Derakhshani had previously decided and informed the chess federation she did not wish to play for Iran.

Dorsa Derakhshani is currently 21 years old and holds the International Master (IM) as well as Woman Grand Master (WGM) titles. Her brother, Borna, plays for the English Federation and holds the FIDE Master title.

Dorsa Derakhshani was banned since she did not wear a hijab, an Islamic headscarf, while competing at the Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival in January 2017. Under the laws of Islamic Republic of Iran, hijab is a mandatory dress code. Her brother Borna Deraskhsani was banned for playing against Israeli Grand Master (GM) Alexander Huzman at the same tournament. Iran does not recognise the existence of Israel, and previously, Irani athletes have avoided playing against Israeli athletes.

Mehrdad Pahlavanzadeh, the president of the country’s chess federation, explained the decision to ban the players saying, “As a first step, these two will be denied entry to all tournaments taking place in Iran and in the name of Iran, they will no longer be allowed the opportunity to be present on the national team.” ^{((fa))Farsi language: ?????? ????? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???????? ?? ?? ????? ? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ??????? ? ???? ???? ???? ?? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ????.} He further stated, “Unfortunately, something that should not have happened has happened and our national interest is paramount and we have reported this position to the Ministry of Sports.” ^{((fa))Farsi language: ????????? ?????? ?? ????? ????????? ?????? ??? ? ????? ??? ?? ?? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?????.}

IM Dorsa Derakhshani, who currently studies at Saint Louis University in the United States and plays for the United States Chess Federation, discussed her chess career, time in Iran and the 2017 controversy, and her life in Saint Louis with a Wikinews correspondent.

Friday, December 12, 2008

A recently released report has found that elephants living in protected environments in their natural habitats live significantly longer lives than elephants kept in zoos.

The report focused on Elephants in European zoos, and it stated that “bringing elephants into zoos profoundly impairs their viability.” Georgia J. Mason, who lead the study, also stated that zoos do not need to abandon the idea of keeping elephants in captivity, although he did recommend that imports of the animal should only occur in zoos which have a track record of successfully addressing issues in elephant’s health, and have a productive breeding programme.

“Currently zoos are consumers rather than producers of elephants,” added Mason. “We feel that’s not really appropriate.”

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums criticised the findings. The organisation’s senior vice president for conservation and education, Paul Boyle, described the research as “terribly flawed.”

Boyle also stated that he did not remember any time when elephants were brought into the US for zoos. “I cannot speak for other countries,” he added “but that [the statement that elephants are imported for zoos] is not true of the United States.”

The researchers for the report were from organisations including the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the University of Guelph.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Pranab Mukherjee was appointed the External Affairs Minister while veteran Congressman A K Antony took his place as Defence Minister in a minor expansion-cum-reshuffle of his 29-month-old government by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Kannada actor-turned-politician M H Ambareesh made his debut in the Union Ministry as Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.

Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav, an RJD leader and a protege of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, who had to resign last year following allegations of influencing the police in a case of electoral malpractices against his brother, returned to the government, again as Minister of State for Water Resources.

Oscar Fernandes took over Ministry of Labour.