Saturday, September 22, 2007

Prior to the September 25 launch of “Halo 3” Microsoft Taiwan held “Mayday Fans Meeting” last Sunday (September 16) and “SBL Players Meeting” today, and set experiencing area at PAMC KMall in Taipei on continuous holidays of the Moon Festival (September 22 to 25).

A famous Taiwanese Band “Mayday” were invited by Microsoft Taiwan for the voice casting of “Halo 3” and they wrote a theme song named “Zhua Kuang (English Meaning: Crazy)” and produced its special MV with conjunction of “Halo 3” promotional videos. This special video is available before September 25 in the 5th Square of Station Front Metro Mall in Taipei.

Not only “Mayday Fans Meeting” at September 16, Microsoft Taiwan also invited Yulon Dinosaur Basketball Team players Hsueh-lin “Iverson” Li and Chih-chung “Virus” Chen have friendship matches with a 17-year-old girl player Shih-ching Wang. Ms. Wang showed her performance at the friendship matches with 3-straight-sets speedily winnings.

After the friendship matches, Microsoft Taiwan held a charity bidding event with a Xbox 360 console signed by Hsueh-lin Li and Chih-chung Chen and donated the charity earnings to Taiwan Fund for Children and Families. With the global launch of “Halo 3”, Microsoft Taiwan helped the disadvantaged and poor children with this charity bidding.

After the pre-launch series, Microsoft Taiwan will invite Ruru Wei-ru Lin at the launch day of “Halo 3” on September 25 at PAMC KMall in Taipei.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

An unnamed Polish man, 35, is being treated at a hospital in London, England after he cut off his penis with a knife at Zizzi’s pizza restaurant on Strand Street in the city of Westminster.

“We were called at 9.00 p.m. on Sunday to a restaurant on the Strand to reports of a man in possession of a knife. Officers attended to discover a man believed to be 30-40 years old suffering from an injury. He was taken to a south London hospital in a stable condition. No one else was injured and his injuries are believed to be self inflicted,” said a Scotland Yard spokesperson.

Police had to use CS tear gas on the victim in order to subdue him to get him to the hospital to receive medical attention.

Witnesses say that the man came into the restaurant, picked a knife up off the floor of the kitchen and then got onto a table and cut off his penis.

“At around 9 p.m. on Sunday, a man walked into the Zizzi restaurant on The Strand, down the stairs to the basement restaurant area and tried to enter a kitchen. Members of staff stopped him, at which he ran into a second kitchen area. The man then picked up a kitchen knife and slashed himself across the wrist and groin areas before running back into the restaurant, where he continued to stab himself,” said a spokesperson for the restaurant.

Surgeons are attempting to reattach his organ in what doctors call the first time this kind of surgery has been performed in the UK. It is not yet known if the operation was successful.

“If it doesn’t take, then you would have to re-amputate it. Attaching the penis is a very long, complex and painstaking operation,” said Francis Chinegwundoh, a urologist at St Bartholomew’s Hospital which is located in London. Chinegwundoh also said that that the victim will not feel his penis and it will not be possible for him to maintain an erection unless he uses a special machine, even if the operation were a success.

Saturday, May 26, 2018

On Wednesday, South African cricketer AB de Villiers announced his retirement from international cricket. The 34-year-old batsman uploaded a video message on Twitter saying it was a “tough decision” and he was “tired”.

De Villiers joined the national team, the Proteas, in 2004, featuring in a test match against England. Since then, the South African talisman has featured in 114 test matches for the Proteas, scoring 8765 runs. He has 22 test centuries to his name, the most recent one coming against Australia in March. South Africa went on to win the test series 3–0.

De Villiers’ batting average is above 50 in both test matches and One Day International (ODI) matches. De Villiers has featured in 228 ODI and 78 Twenty20 (T20) matches as well scoring 9577 and 1672 runs in ODIs and T20s respectively.

In a match against the West Indies at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on January 18, 2015, De Villiers scored 149 runs from 44 balls. In that match, De Villiers scored the fastest half-century in ODIs, reaching 50 runs from seventeen balls, as well as the fastest century in ODIs, with 100 runs from 31 balls.

Chris Nenzani, the President of Cricket South Africa, said, “AB is one of the all-time greats of South African cricket who has thrilled spectators around the world”.

De Villiers announced his retirement four days after he finished his Indian Premier League season with Royal Challengers Bangalore. In the video statement, De Villiers said, “I have no plans to play overseas, in fact, I hope I can continue to be available for the Titans in domestic cricket.”

Monday, July 11, 2011

China’s National Bureau of Statistics released data Saturday showing that the consumer price index (CPI) for June climbed 6.4% from a year ago. That compares with a 5.5% rise in May, which was the largest since a 6.3% increase in July 2008. The major factor contributing to this figure was the steep rise in food prices which climbed 14.4%. Pork is a major food staple in China, and its price rose 65% from last year.

Analysts predicted that China’s inflation would peak in June, but particularly worrisome was the steep rise in the cost of food from the same time last year and up from 11.7% in May, indicating that Beijing may have difficulty in controlling inflation.

China is the world’s second largest economy, having grown robustly in the last two years driven by a 2009 governmental stimulus package of $586 billion and low interest rates offered by state-owned banks. These were directed at promoting investments in real estate construction and government infrastructure projects, enabling China to lead the global recovery after the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market led to a worldwide recession.

Now Beijing is attempting to slow its fast pace of growth, fearful of inflation, by restricting bank lending and raising interest rates. High inflation along with high property values could hurt the economy. Since October, China’s Central Bank has raised interest rates five times.

Many factors are contributing to China’s inflation, including higher wages for migrant workers, increases in the prices of food and gasoline, as well as diminished output from crucial agricultural areas cause by droughts and flooding this spring.

Today, China’s Premier Wen Jiabao indicated that the war on inflation was continuing and controlling inflation was a top priority for the government, increasing expectations that interest rates would be further increased.

“We must treat stabilising overall price levels as the top priority of our macro-economic controls and keep the direction of macro-economic adjustments unchanged,” Wen said today in comments reported on the central government’s website. He had said in March that the ruling Communist Party is worried that a continuing rise in food prices could result in public protests.

Wen said the government would boost the supply of hogs to keep the price of pork stable, the price of pork being the major contributor to China’s food inflation index and the most closely watched item on it.

“If they signal any comfort with inflation, and inflation is as high as it is now, they could create an environment in which people would panic, and they can have a real problem on their hands,” said Tim Condon, Asian researcher at ING.

As markets worried about the news of Chinese inflation as well as concerns about the European debt crisis, oil dropped below US$95 a barrel today.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

A permanent memorial for the victims of the July 7, 2005 London bombings has been unveiled in Hyde Park, London, England. Today is the fourth anniversary of the bombings, when 52 people were killed by suicide bombers on board three Underground trains and a bus.

52 stainless steel columns standing 3.5m (11.5ft) tall were inaugurated in the presence of Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla Bowles, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, London Mayor Boris Johnson and Minister for London, Tessa Jowell.

Each column represented “a unique person and a unique grief” according to the Minister for London.

Jowell continued, “Each one casts a shadow just as they do – each one standing tall and proud just as they did, and each one will in an individual way absorb and reflect light just as they did.”

A 1.4 tonne stainless steel plaque with the names of the people killed was also unveiled.

Prince Charles laid a wreath on behalf of the nation. The Duchess of Cornwall left a floral tribute for the families of the victims.

The families themselves laid roses and then met the prince and the duchess.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

On Sunday Memoirs: 1939-1993 a memoir written by former Prime Minister of Canada Brian Mulroney will be released. The 1,152 page tome outlines Mulroney’s version of events during his time as prime minister.

CTV will broadcast a documentary on Brian Mulroney on the eve of his book launch. In addition, the network plans to air Triumph & Treachery: The Brian Mulroney Story on Sunday, CTV says the 90-minute special will be the most complete interview the former prime minister has ever given and his first comprehensive interview since leaving office in 1993.The Quebec French language TVA network will air a similar documentary exclusively in French later that night.

Mulroney allocates a fair amount of text commenting on his antogonist the late and former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. Mulroney believes that Trudeau lacked the moral fibre to be Prime Minister for not serving in the Canadian Forces during World War II.

Mulroney insinuates that the young Trudeau had anti-Semitic beliefs at that time , “This is a man who questioned the Allies when the Jews were being sacrificed and when the great extermination program was on, he was marching around Outremont, Quebec on the other side of the issue.”

Mulroney also blames Trudeau for scuttling the Meech Lake Accord, the 1990 pact aimed at securing Quebec‘s signature on the Constitution of Canada.

The current Prime Minister Stephen Harper supported Mulroney’s right to comment on Trudeau, “I think it’s well known Mr. Mulroney was an opponent of Mr. Trudeau,” Harper said. “He was his opposition leader and, as you know, came to power at the end of the Trudeau period when people wanted to make a change. I’ll leave it to people who were there then to fight those battles. I think it’s perfectly reasonable that they would comment. I think these are debates that are best left to some of the people who were around then and academics.”

Trudeau’s former piers and friends have rallied behind his legacy and made public comments to dampen Mulroney’s accusations.

Stephane Dion responded to Mulroney critiques with a five paragraph statement posted on the Liberal Party website, “It is regrettable that, after attending prime minister Trudeau’s state funeral and praising him as ‘an exceptional individual who served his country effectively and well … a gallant political warrior who loved his country,’ Mr. Mulroney would seem to be at such odds with his own views.”

Tom Axworthy‘s, response to Mulroney was that Trudeau should be judged by his actions once his values matured and he entered public life, not by “ridiculous” thoughts he entertained briefly in his teens and early twenties.

John R. English stated, Trudeau’s youthful views must be put in the context of the times, when most Quebecers were so virulently anti-British and opposed to what they saw as a British war that they were blinded to the evils of Hitler’s Nazism.

Saturday, January 29, 2005With just days to go before Sunday’s historic poll to choose a new government in Iraq, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has invited the people of Iraq to exercise their democratic rights.

The poll, the first free elections in a generation, faces disruption from insurgents who are totally opposed to democracy. Annan warned them not to interfere and promised continuing help from the UN for the country in the future.

Annan made his appeal in a pre-recorded message, broadcast on TV inside Iraq. “Elections are the best way to determine any country’s future; please exercise your democratic rights on Sunday,” he said. “Whatever your feelings about how the country reached this point, this election offers an opportunity to move away from violence and uncertainty toward peace and representative government.”

The UN has been providing advice and technical help to the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI), as well as $100m funding for the poll and co-ordination of international assistance. A team of 40 experts has overseen the delivery of three million tonnes of election materials and helped the IECI and Iraqi officials prepare and maintain the voters register.

Friday, September 8, 2006

From September 3 to 8, experts gathered at the 10th International Congress on Obesity in Sydney, Australia, to discuss what they call the worldwide “obesity epidemic”. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 billion people in the world today are overweight, and 300 million of those are obese. “Obesity and overweight pose a major risk for serious diet-related chronic diseases, including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, and certain forms of cancer“, a WHO fact sheet states. According to AP, experts at the conference “have warned that obesity is a bigger threat than AIDS or bird flu, and will easily overwhelm the world’s health care systems if urgent action is not taken”.

Of particular concern is the large number of overweight children. Dr. Stephan Rossner from Sweden’s Karolinska University Hospital, a leading obesity expert who was present at the conference, has warned that as a result of the increasing number of overweight children, “we will have, within a decade or two, a number of young people who are on kidney dialysis. There will not be organs for everybody”. UK-based International Obesity Task Force has said that junk food manufacturers target children, for example, through Internet advertising, chat rooms, text messages, and “advergames” on websites. Politicians are not doing enough to address the problem of obesity, including childhood obesity, the experts said.

According to Wikipedia, examples of junk food include, but are not limited to: hamburgers, pizza, candy, soda, and salty foods like potato chips and french fries. A well-known piece of junk food is the Big Mac. The US version of just one Big Mac burger contains 48% of calories from fat, 47% US Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of fat, 52% RDA of saturated fat, 26% RDA of cholesterol, 42% RDA of sodium, and little nutritional value. It also has 18% of calories from protein. According to WHO, most people need only about 5% calories from protein. Staples such as rice, corn, baked potatoes, pinto beans, as well as fruits and vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, oranges, and strawberries, provide more than this required amount of protein without the unhealthy amounts of fats or sodium, without cholesterol, and with plenty of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

Both WHO and the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define overweight in adults as a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or above, and obese as a BMI of 30 or above. To combat overweight and obesity, WHO recommends that, among other things, people should be taking the following steps

• eating more fruit and vegetables, as well as nuts and whole grains;
• engaging in daily moderate physical activity for at least 30 minutes;
• cutting the amount of fatty, sugary foods in the diet;
• moving from saturated animal-based fats to unsaturated vegetable-oil based fats.

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

On Monday, Belgian midfielder Radja Nainggolan announced his retirement from international football after he was left out of the national team squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup upcoming in June.

Radja Nainggolan, who plays for Italian club AS Roma, posted on Twitter saying, “Very reluctantly my international career comes to an end…I’ve always done everything I could to represent my country[…] Being yourself can be bothering …From this day on I will be the first fan” ^{((nl))Dutch language: ?Met veel pijn in het hart maak ik een einde aan men internationale carriere… ik heb er altijd alles aangedaan om er bij te zijn en belgie te vertegenwoordigen[…] spijtig genoeg is ECHT zijn niet goed voor SOMMIGE… En vanaf vandaag zal ik de eerste supporter zijn}.

Nainggolan announced his decision soon after Roberto Martinez, Belgium team manager, shortlisted 28 players for the Russia World Cup. Martinez travelled to Rome to inform Nainggolan about his decision before announcing the shortlisted players. Nainggolan, who turned 30 earlier this month, scored two goals for AS Roma against English club Liverpool FC in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final. In 2017, Roma club supporters voted Nainggolan the club’s Player of the Season.

Explaining his decision to leave out Nainggolan, manager Martinez said, “It was a sad and difficult decision. He is a player with a lot of class and he was voted Roma’s best player, but I’ve made my decision for purely tactical reasons.” The Spaniard added, “We know that Radja has a very important role in his club and we cannot give him that role in our squad”.

Martinez is to finalise and submit a 23-man squad for the World Cup tournament on June 4, after his team plays against Portugal in a friendly scheduled for June 2 in the Belgian capital Brussels. After Nainggolan was left out of the squad, former Belgian international Philippe Albert said, “We must be the only country in the world to be making the trip without one of the best players in the world”.

Belgium is in Group G for the World Cup, along with England, Panama, and Tunisia. Belgium is currently world number three in the FIFA rankings.