Society's ChildS


Phoenix

Gas explosion in central China coal mine kills 29 workers; 6 survive

Image
© Agence France-PresseChina's mining industry has a poor safety record with its mines considered among the most deadly in the world
A gas explosion at a coal mine in central China has killed 29 workers, Chinese authorities said Sunday.

Six other miners survived Saturday evening's blast at a state-owned coal mine in Hengyang city in Hunan province, China's State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement on its website.

Five of the workers were rescued, while one climbed out of an air shaft of the Xialiuchong Coal Mine, the statement said.

The work safety administration said rescue work was complete as no other miners were working at the time of the explosion.

Song Yuanming, the chief of the provincial coal mine safety bureau, told state broadcaster CCTV that there was a large outburst of gas in the mine 250 metres (820 feet) underground that was ignited by sparks produced by machines.

Bandaid

US: Family of Sacramento girl who needed amputations after ER delay is awarded $10 million

The family of a Sacramento girl who waited for hours for treatment of an infection that resulted in the amputation of parts of all four of her limbs has agreed to a $10 million settlement with Methodist Hospital and various emergency room workers.

The settlement on behalf of Malyia Jeffers is believed to be one of the largest of its kind in California history.

Malyia was 2 years old when her parents, Ryan Jeffers and Leah Yang, took her in November to Methodist's emergency room with a persistent fever, skin discoloration and weakness. According to their lawsuit, the parents begged for attention by doctors and nurses as Malyia's condition deteriorated.

After about five hours, the lawsuit maintains, Malyia finally was seen by a doctor and was flown to Stanford University's Lucile Packard Children's Hospital for lifesaving care. Physicians there found that Streptococcus A had invaded her blood and organs, and as a result she suffered amputations of both feet, her left hand and part of her right hand.

Stanford doctors said Malyia's sickness may have been the result of a quirk of genetics. They said they are uncertain whether a quicker response would have saved her limbs.

Family

US: Hawaii Couple's Daughter Taken Away for 18 Hours Over Alleged Sandwich Theft


A Hawaii couple's 3-year-old daughter was taken away from them for 18 hours after they were arrested for forgetting to a pay for two $5 sandwiches.

"This is unreal this could happen to a family like ours," Nicole Leszczynski told Hawaii's KHON.

The outing-turned-nightmare happened Wednesday while the family was shopping at a local Safeway.

"We walked a long way to the grocery store and I was feeling faint, dizzy, like I needed to eat something so we decided to pick up some sandwiches and eat them while we were shopping," Leszczynski told the news station.

Leszczynski, who is 30-weeks pregnant, her husband, Marcin, and daughter Zophia bought $50 worth of groceries -- but forgot about their two chicken salad sandwiches.

Alarm Clock

US - Occupy San Francisco: the teenager who was refused cancer treatment

Miran Istina, 18, joined protests after four years of being denied life-saving bone marrow transplant for leukaemia

As Miran Istina puts it, she has been living on borrowed time since she was 14. Diagnosed with cancer, she was given just months to live after her health insurer refused to provide her with life-saving surgery.

Now 18, Istina, from the city of Sisters in Oregon, has spent the past three weeks living in a tent at the Occupy San Francisco protest and says she will stay there indefinitely, despite her illness.

Dollar

US, California: Assemblywoman charged with shoplifting at Neiman Marcus

Mary Hayashi
© unknownMary Hayashi
Assemblywoman Mary Hayashi (D-Hayward) has been charged with felony grand theft after allegedly shoplifting at Neiman Marcus in San Francisco.

The incident, caught on video surveillance, occurred Tuesday afternoon when the lawmaker left the department store with a shopping bag containing items worth $2,450 that she hadn't paid for, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday.

Hayashi was charged with one count of felony theft and pleaded not guilty, the newspaper said. Neither representatives from the San Francisco Police Department nor the city's district attorney's office returned calls for comment. Her spokesman, Sam Singer, called the incident "a mistake and a misunderstanding," adding "she has never had more than a speeding ticket in her life."

He said Hayashi had planned to purchase the items - even calling a salesperson to set up the transaction on a separate floor - but then "got distracted, had a snack in the cafe" and left the store.

Attention

US: Reward Offered for the Identity of the Police Officer Who Shot Marine Vet Scott Olsen

A generous friend is offering a $4,000 reward for the identify of the policeman who shot Scott Olsen.

The officer can likely be seen in publicly available videos (see this and this). But his badge and face are not visible.

Similarly, Anonymous is already leaking names and information of officers in the Oakland P.D., but it is still difficult for outsiders to identify the shooter.

As such, the tip will likely have to come from someone within the Oakland Police Department or the other law enforcement agencies present at the protest.

Do your force proud and stand up for liberty ... identify the shooter.

Update: As this video shows, he might actually be with the San Francisco Sheriff instead of Oakland police:


See this for a detailed analysis.

House

US: Nevada Makes Illegal Foreclosures Felony

Nevada foreclosure
© Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Responding to homeowner complaints, Nevada has become the first state in the nation to make illegally repossessing a home a felony, and cash may send bankers to jail for doing such. The new law was enacted after tens of thousands of homeowners complained to lawmakers about their homes being foreclosed without proof of ownership.

The outcry of consumer complaints over illegal robo-signing tactics has produced a series of lawsuits against mortgage servicing companies and banks in Nevada, which has led the U.S. in foreclosures six straight years.

The Nevada law makes it a felony for a mortgage servicer or trustee of a mortgage to make false representations concerning a title such as claiming that they are an executive of a bank or mortgage servicer, which was the case in at least hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of robo-signings. A $5,000 fine will also be assessed if fraud is found. The law requires mortgage companies to provide a new affidavit with the amount owed on the loan, the person who is in possession of the note and the individual with the authority to foreclose on the property.

Some 26 U.S. states conduct foreclosures through the courts, but the new law does not make Nevada a judicial foreclosure state. Foreclosures have been delayed in many cases since the law went into effect Oct. 1 st.

People

Massive rally to swamp Tel Aviv, Israel


Israelis demonstrate in the center of Tel Aviv on September 3, 2011 to protest against rising housing prices and social inequalities in the Jewish state.

Following an eight-week break, a massive protest for economic justice is expected to take place Saturday in Tel Aviv. The protest's organizers are demanding that the Knesset rewrite the 2012 budget "taking into account the demands of the people."

­Organizers predict the protest, which is scheduled for 9 p.m. local time in Tel Aviv, will be the largest since the protest movement began in mid-July, Agence France-Presse reported.

The last rally took place on September 3, when nearly half a million Israelis took part in demonstrations across the country against the soaring cost of living and house prices.

Israeli journalist Bradley Burston says that the protesters are questioning resource allocation and sacred cows like the defense budget and settlements.

Megaphone

Protesters in Egypt Call on Military to Leave Power

Image
© Agence France-PresseEgyptians attend a rally calling for a rapid transition from military to civilian rule in Egypt following the February ouster of president Hosni Mubarak in Cairo's Tahrir Square. Several thousand protesters in Cairo called on the ruling military to promptly transfer power to a civilian government and exclude old regime figures from politics.
Several thousand protesters in Cairo called on the ruling military on Friday to promptly transfer power to a civilian government and exclude old regime figures from politics.

The protesters in Tahrir Square, the epicentre of Egypt's uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in February, chanted "down with the military" and called on the ruling generals to "return to the barracks."

The military assumed power after Mubarak's ouster on February 11, promising a transition to civilian rule within six months. It is headed by Mubarak's former defence minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi.

Protesters at first hailed the military for not cracking down on the uprising after Mubarak called soldiers to the streets on January 28, following attacks on police stations.

X

Air France Cancels Flights as 5-day Strike Hits

Air France
© unknown
  • About one in five flights scrapped
  • Strike over work conditions to last five days
  • Minister denounces unions for peak-period stoppage
Air France expects to cancel about 200 flights on Sunday as a result of a five-day cabin crew strike over employment terms that began on Saturday in the middle of a busy holiday period.

The carrier, which cancelled 10 long-haul flights to destinations such as New York, Tokyo, Montreal, Abu Dhabi as well as cities in West Africa on Saturday, forecast more of the same on day two of the stoppage.

Discontent among travellers appeared to have been limited to an extent by the advance warnings that reduced the number of people turning up to find themselves stranded at airports.

The airline said in a statement it was managing to ensure the operation of around 80 percent of some 1,000 daily flights, short- and long-haul, at the two major Paris airports, Orly and Charles de Gaulle on Sunday.

Several unions are urging cabin staff to strike until the end of Wednesday, raising the prospect of serious disruption during what is a busy travel period. One of their grievances is a plan to reduce staffing on long-haul trips.