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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Neverland Valley Ranch, owned by Michael Jackson, is to be sold at auction on March 19, 2008, unless Jackson pays over US$24 million.

Financial Title Company, the trustee of his Santa Barbara County, California, home and amusement park, has foreclosed on the property. They notified Jackson of the foreclosure and sale on Monday. Jackson had only just recently paid an overdue property tax bill of $600,000.

The court filing, addressed to Jackson, says, “You are in default of a deed of trust … Unless you take action to protect your property it may be sold at a public sale.” Fox News published the filing.

The foreclosure includes the ranch and all possessions on the property, inside or out.

The foreclosure auction will take place in front of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse in Santa Barbara. Jackson has until then to pay $24,525,906.61 he owes the title company.

In 2006, Jackson refinanced previous loans that had been bought up by Fortress Investment Group. The $300-million loan was secured with the aid of Sony Music Entertainment. However, the Neverland property was not part of that deal.

Jackson has not lived at Neverland since June 30, 2005, when he moved to Bahrain after a rape charge and subsequent acquittal.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm.

Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions.

In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management, structure and culture. We have also invested in new systems, implemented new processes, enhanced adviser supervision and improved training.”

An investigation by Fairfax Media instigated the Senate inquiry into the Commonwealth Bank’s financial planning division and ASIC.

Whistleblower Jeff Morris, who reported the misconduct of the bank to ASIC six years ago, said in an article for The Sydney Morning Herald that neither the bank nor ASIC should be in control of the compensation program.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would ban smoking in California state parks and beaches, insisting that the bill would not help curb littering at parks and beaches.

California senator Jenny Oropeza, a Democrat and author of the bill, stated this is “already being done at more than 100 local cities and counties statewide.”

Oropeza wrote in a statement, “I’m sorry the governor did not agree with this widely supported effort to increase public awareness about the environmental threats carelessly tossed cigarettes are doing to our marine life and to the great outdoors”

The bill, called Senate Bill 4, would have allowed for a US$100 for potential violators.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

At 06:34 UTC today, an 8.8 magnitude earthquake hit Chile, triggering a tsunami in the Pacific Ocean. The tsunami has already hit the French Polynesia islands, with waves reaching two metres (six feet) high damaging to the coast. In Fiji Japanese officials expect waves 2.3 metres (7.5 feet high). Australia and New Zealand are expected to receive waves of one metre (three feet) which are expected to hit within 24 hours of the earthquake.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported that there may be “widespread damage” from the waves, saying that “authorities should take appropriate action in response to this threat.”

In a special report, Wikinews looks at how different parts of the world have been affected by the disaster.

Hawaii is expecting to receive waves reaching 2.5 meters (8 feet) high. A warning went into effect at 6AM local time – 5 hours before the expected arrival of the Tsunami; Hawaiian Governor Linda Lingle declared a state of emergency. At present, there are confirmed reports from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center of waves hitting the islands’ eastern coasts.

Additionally, the western coast of the United States – extending from California to portions of Alaska – is under a tsunami advisory.

The civil defence spokesman for the Hawaiian island of Oahu, John Cummings, encouraged people to “get off the shoreline. We are closing all the beaches and telling people to drive out of the area.”

The tsunami hit the Gambier archipelago at approximately 6:30 am local time. The Marquesas islands were hit about an hour later. Reports from the islands indicate that there was no significant damage or casualties yet. The islands followed the tsunami alert plans put in place following the major 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

In a statement, the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management commented, “[the] current assessment is for a non-destructive tsunami for New Zealand with wave heights at the shore of between 0.2 and one metre [three feet]. The first wave may arrive later and may not be the largest. Waves may continue for several hours.”

The centre, which also confirmed the initial Chile earthquake, also added that “sea-level readings confirm that a tsunami has been generated which could cause widespread damage. “Authorities should take appropriate action in response to this threat.”

The government noted that the waves were not predicted to have destructive force. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the first waves would not hit the country’s shores until fifteen hours after the initial quake.

“Stay away from the beaches. Don’t go out on the water and if you are already out on the water up anchor and head to deeper water at least half a mile off shore,” warned Coastguard Northern Region duty officer John Cowan.

Meanwhile, the Marsden Point oil refinery, the only refinery in New Zealand, put all of its operations on hold as they were waiting for further information about the strength of the expected tsunami, according to production controller Ted Rye.

“We’ve just had a report from a trader fishing boat out at the Hen and Chick islands, about 10 kilometres off the coast, and they have noticed quite a significant surge,” he remarked.

New Zealand Civil Defence Minister John Carter also appealed for residents to heed officials’ warnings and stay away from shorelines throughout the day.

The east coast of Australia was placed under a tsunami alert; the impact expected in Sydney from 8:45am local time, Sunday there, and along other parts of the New South Wales coast. Areas in Tasmania potentially affected by the quake would be under tsunami alert until 7:45am local time.

“Boats in harbors, estuaries or shallow coastal water should return to shore. Secure your boat and move away from the waterfront. Vessels already at sea should stay offshore in deep water until further advised,” read a warning by the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Center. “[…] Tsunami waves are more powerful than the same size beach waves, with the first wave not always the largest.”

The centre noted that among the areas with a “potential tsunami threat” include New South Wales state, Queensland state, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. However, it also added that the bays and harbours of Sydney would not likely be affected by waves.

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Sunday, April 13, 2008

“2008 Boao Forum for Asia” started two days ago in Bo’ao, Hainan, China, and participated with government and industrial executives worldwide. Because revolutions in the Web 3.0 era have made a major impact on global economy, several elites from the Internet industry like Kai-Fu Lee provided forecasts for this key industry in the forum.

Furthermore, Vincent Siew, the vice-president elect, provided his comments in the forum. But two coalitions (Pan-Blues and Pan-Greens) declared different comments on Siew’s participation.

But due to a hot topic of environment and greenhouse effect, Rajendra Kumar Pachauri, winner of 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, commented on this forum: “There were several sectors on energy-saving, not governments, but the public should play a great role in this global warming era.”

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Journalist, counselor, painter, and US 2012 Presidential candidate Joe Schriner of Cleveland, Ohio took some time to discuss his campaign with Wikinews in an interview.

Schriner previously ran for president in 2000, 2004, and 2008, but failed to gain much traction in the races. He announced his candidacy for the 2012 race immediately following the 2008 election. Schriner refers to himself as the “Average Joe” candidate, and advocates a pro-life and pro-environmentalist platform. He has been the subject of numerous newspaper articles, and has published public policy papers exploring solutions to American issues.

Wikinews reporter William Saturn? talks with Schriner and discusses his campaign.

Monday, October 22, 2007

With Australian Prime Minister, John Howard and Labor leader Kevin Rudd facing off in a leader’s debate on Sunday night, political analysts and body language experts declared Mr Rudd the clear victor. Experts said that Mr Rudd came across as believable and enthusiastic while Mr Howard appeared too negative.

The focus of the debate was on the economy, Iraq war, leadership and climate change.

On the economy, the Labor leader said that the cost of living had increased in Australia and that increasing the childcare rebate to 50 percent would help struggling families.

“That’s putting several thousand dollars extra into the family budget,” he said.

The Prime Minister tried to reassure voters on industrial relations, one of the key topics of the election, saying that despite his WorkChoices legislation being controversial it has largely achieved what the government aimed it to do. “Our whole design with WorkChoices was to underpin further growth in the Australian economy. It wasn’t easy. It was heavily criticised, but the general evidence is WorkChoices has been good for the Australian economy,” said the Prime Minister.

Mr Howard also ruled out making further changes to Australia’s industrial relations system saying that the government had “gone far enough”.

Mr Howard also dismissed claims that his planned AU$34 billion of tax cuts would cause inflation and a rise in interest rates.

“They will dampen wage demands that might otherwise be much stronger because of those cost of living pressures,” he said.

The leaders debated over who the genuine economic conservative was. Mr Howard said that Mr Rudd’s voting record in parliament seemed to contradict his claim. The Prime Minister warned that a Labor government would run budget deficits. “Being an economic conservative is more than a slogan in a TV advertisement, it is believing in things,” he said.

“Everyone knows Labor governments equal budget deficits and Liberal governments mean budget surpluses.”

Mr Rudd said there was now consensus between both sides of politics on economic issues and took the opportunity to remind voters of Mr Howard’s performance as treasurer in the Fraser government of the late 1970s to early 1980s. Mr Rudd said that the prime minister was a treasurer at a time of high interest rates and ran four out of five budgets with deficits. “Let’s have some honesty on the table here. Let’s get the record straight,” said Rudd.

Mr Howard dismissed his record attacking Labor’s record of interest rates in the 1980s under Bob Hawke. “There is one interest rate figure that is seared in the memory of most Australian families – the level of 17 per cent,” he said.

The Prime Minister attacked the Opposition’s front bench saying that there were far too many former union members. Mr Rudd hit back by saying that Mr Howard’s frontbench was disproportionate in its make up. “If something’s out of whack in terms of an unrepresentative group in the community, a cocktail of lawyers and former Liberal Party staffers would have to be high up the list,” he said.

The Prime Minister also used the forum to announce new climate change initiatives and an update of the role Australia is playing in Iraq. Mr Howard promised that low-income earners would be compensated for the “inevitable” rise in costs for electricity that moving to cleaner production would bring. By comparison the Labor leader reiterated his support for the Kyoto protocol and promised to ratify it if elected.

Mr Howard said that Australian commanders in Iraq would this week start discussing taking on a broader training role in Iraq to help train Iraqi soldiers.

Rudd questioned Howard on the shift of policies in Iraq and asked the Prime Minister why Australians should believe him after ruling out an increase in troop numbers before the last election, only to double them when elected. The comments sparked an argument between the two leaders with Mr Howard accusing Mr Rudd of involving the military in politics.

“You chose to use it in a very political fashion. I was providing some information to the Australian people and I was pointing out the evolving nature of the commitment of our ground forces in Iraq,” said Howard.