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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.

Monday, May 28, 2007

Four people were killed and about two dozen injured in a bombing at a crowded market in Saba Yoi, Songkhla Province, Thailand.

The day before, a series of bombings in Songkhla’s main city Hat Yai injured 13 people. Police are investigating those attacks, which occurred at around 9 p.m. (1400 GMT) on Sunday, when seven coordinated explosions went off at stores, hotels and restaurants in a city that is popular with tourists.

In Monday’s bombing, the dead were two women and two girls, ages 4 and 8. The bomb, which exploded shortly after 4 p.m. local time (0900 GMT), was hidden in a motorcycle parked in front of the market next to a railway station.

Authorities have not concluded if the blasts are linked to the ongoing insurgency by Muslim separatists in southern Thailand. The past year has seen an escalation of violence, with almost daily fatal shootings of civilians and frequent ambush attacks on soldiers. Since early 2004, more than 2,200 people have been killed, mainly in the southernmost provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat. Thailand is predominantly a Buddhist country, but in those three provinces, the majority of residents are Islamic.

Council for National Security chairman General Sonthi Boonayaratkalin said he believed Sunday night’s bombings were only meant to cause a disturbance. Other officials compared the Hat Yai blasts to the Bangkok New Year’s Eve bombings, which they say were caused to create political tensions, though in those blasts, three people were killed.

Business analysts believe Sunday night’s bombings will hurt Hat Yai’s tourist trade, which has been struggling since a spate of bombings in 2005, including one that killed two people at Hat Yai International Airport, as well as blasts in a department store and hotel, with about 70 people wounded. In September 2006, four people were killed in a series of bombings in Hat Yai.

The latest bombings come at a tense time for Thailand. In the nation’s capital, Bangkok, security forces are on alert ahead of a court ruling expected on Wednesday that could lead to the dissolution of the former ruling Thai Rak Thai party and the main opposition Democrat Party. Since a military-led coup d’état last year, in which prime minister and Thai Rak Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted, all political activity has been banned by the junta.

Last week, King Bhumibol Adulyadej made a rare televised address as he granted an audience to the administrative court judges. He urged them to use care in their verdict. “You have the responsibility to prevent the country from collapsing,” he told them.

Authorities believe supporters of the political parties may cause trouble if they are displeased with the verdict.

Meanwhile, the nation’s constitution is being rewritten, and Buddhists are demanding that Buddhism be made the national religion, a move that experts believe will lead to an even bigger increase in violence in Muslim-dominated southern Thailand.

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Saturday, August 6, 2016

Concerns about water quality at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games have expanded to include the inside training pool: top Australian swimming coach Michael Bohl moved his Olympic athletes from the main training pool on Thursday citing fear of infection.

The team had a pre-booked session in the training pool where they would have practiced uninterrupted. However, during the session the water in the pool turned, as Bohl described, “cloudy” and “soupy looking”. Concerned about his athletes’ health, he moved them from the training pool to the busier, but cleaner, main competition pool.

Bohl took his concerns to officials and was told the matter would be looked into.

This comes off the back of other water concerns in Rio, particularly in the Guanabara Bay venue for outdoor water events. An Associated Press-commissioned study found Rio’s Olympic waterways contained as much as 1.7 million times worse viral levels than the emergency threshold in Europe or the US. As a result, athletes were advised to keep their mouths closed and avoid putting their heads underwater or risk falling ill.

Swimming events at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games are to begin today.

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Yesterday, a spokesperson for former U.S. Senator Jim Webb, a potential 2016 Democratic Party presidential candidate, attacked the Business Insider for its report Monday that Webb’s Political Action Committee (PAC) paid nearly US$100,000 (about €80,000) to Webb’s wife and daughter over the course of the past six years. Ashleigh Owens, who represents Webb’s Born Fighting PAC, accused the Business Insider of “[a]dding up numbers across several years [to create] a sensational headline”. The controversy marks the first for Webb since he became the first major candidate to open an exploratory committee last month.

Claiming the Webb family “has made quite a bit of money from [Jim Webb’s] political career”, the Business Insider reported that of US$961,515.34 raised, Webb’s PAC paid a total of US$91,999.91 to his wife Hong Le Webb and daughter Amy Webb Hogan, with US$14,834.34 and US$24,412.20 disbursed, respectively, in 2014, years after fundraising ceased.

“This story as written misrepresents reasonable compensation for real and provable work done”, said Owens in a press release. “The activities of the PAC increased in 2014 when Jim Webb decided to re-enter the political discussions of our country.”

According to Owens, in 2014, Hong Le Webb, who works as an attorney, was paid for “vetting design consultants, negotiating contracts and content management” relating to the exploratory committee website. Hogan was compensated for her work in the “administration, management and design” of websites as well as the “handling of FEC [Federal Election Commission] compliance matters”.

Webb, a 68-year-old Vietnam War veteran, served as Secretary of the Navy under President Ronald Reagan. He was elected to represent Virginia in the U.S. Senate in 2006 and served one term. Webb favors less US intervention abroad, fewer free trade agreements, and supports gun rights.

According to National Interest editor Jacob Heilbrunn, Webb’s views on foreign policy and social issues may attract “anti-war progressives as well as conservative-minded Southern white men.” The Nation labeled him the “worst nightmare” of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is widely expected to run for president in 2016.

U.S. News & World Report reported at least one Clinton operative pitched unflattering stories about Webb to media outlets since late last month.

Saturday, May 7, 2005

The 131st run for the roses in Louisville, KY is set for Saturday at Churchill Downs. Post time is 6:04pm EDT under what should be partly sunny skies and a fast track. The 20-horse field contains 10 strong contenders in what promises to be a fast pace out front in the Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Nick Zito, the 2-time derby winner boasts 5 stable horses running the race, and has the odds-on favorite Bellamy Road. The George Steinbrenner owned horse won convincingly in 4 of its last 5 trips. At its #16 post position, it will have to get out quickly, or be on the outside going into the first turn where it would have to fight for position. Given the early starting speed of Spanish Chestnut, it seems unlikely that any horse will easily set the pace.

Showing strong closing in its last 4 races is Bandini, ridden by top New York jockey John Velazquez, a 6-time Breeder’s Cup winner. If this horse can hold onto the pace, watch for him at the finish line.

For today’s 1 ¼ mile race, Jeremy Rose on Afleet Alex looks dangerous, where both horse and jockey are experienced. But it was Wilko who prevailed in their meeting at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last October.

A Chicago Tribune computer analysis predicts a win for High Fly, based on its “lack of flaws”. In that prediction they note criteria on which it was calculated, but nothing accounts for the race day excitement of roaring crowds in these 3-year-old thoroughbreds.

Last year the jammed Churchill Downs drew 140,000 people on a rainy Saturday to watch Smarty Jones win. The Derby run is the first leg in USA horse racing’s Triple Crown. The last horse to win the triple crown was Affirmed in 1978.

Friday, March 24, 2006A large explosion ripped through a research building of the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Mulhouse (ENSCMu) in Mulhouse, eastern France. Mulhouse’s mayor, Jean-Marie Bockel, confirmed that the blast killed one person and injured another. Police declared Code Red, and the neighborhood was evacuated.

According to the French Press, TF1, the victim was in his forties and had worked at the institition for about a year. A young woman was seriously injured and about a dozen people received minor injuries, with two suffering from shock. 150 firefighters were on the scene.

The ENSCMu is a technology college, with an enrollment of 8,000 and a 25-hectare campus near the town’s centre. It is known for its museum of coloring agents (Musée des Colorants), which has about 2700 samples, mainly from the second part of the nineteenth century. The museum’s database is available online in French.

The blast occurred at 11:25 GMT (12:25 local time). It is reported to have been heard two kilometres away and to have broken the windows of nearby buildings. The blast was followed by a fire that was contained by about 15:00 (local time).

The explosion’s cause is not yet clear but it is believed to have happened in a ground-floor laboratory in an annex building constructed in 1977. The lab was apparently focused on industrial safety.

Friday, November 30, 2007

A major oil pipeline in Minnesota exploded and caught fire, killing two workers. The pipeline carries oil from Saskatchewan, Canada to close to Chicago, United States, representing 16% of America’s total oil imports.

The section of the pipe that exploded was undergoing maintenance at the time to address a pinhole leak first identified three weeks earlier, and patched at the time with a metal sleeve. On Wednesday, the entire section was removed and replaced with a new one. When oil was reintroduced on Thursday morning, oil leaked where the new section joined the pre-existing pipe, triggering the fatal explosion.

The fire was extinguished later the same day.

The line is split between four separate pipes. After the explosion, all four pipes were shut down, resulting in the global price surge, but this subsided for the most part after it became clear that the three undamaged pipelines had returned to normal operation, restoring 80% of the line’s capacity, and that the accident pipe is expected to be back in use in a matter of days.

“There were no problems found in that area where the leak occurred,” reporters were told by Larry Springer, spokesman for Enbridge, the Canadian company that owns the line. High-tech equipment had been through the line in 2006 to check for any signs of problems.

Enbridge identified the deceased as Dave Mussati Jr. and Steve Arnovich, both of whom were contract workers based in Superior, Wisconsin. The damaged section of pipe is in Clearbrook, which is approximately 350 miles Northwest of Minneapolis.

Enbridge metallurgists have been sent to examine the failed section in an effort to determin the cause of the accident. Other Enbridge workers are working to clear spilled oil from the site. It is expected that once this is complete, the pipe will return to service.

Global crude oil prices temporarily spiked by over US$4 per barrel but closed yesterday slightly above original prices.