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.

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.

Monday, August 30, 2010

A deal between Sunshine Coast Grammar School headmaster Nigel Fairbairn and the Independent Education Union of Australia has ended a week of uncertainty for 22 of the Queensland, Australia school’s staff.

Last week Wikinews obtained a list of 22 middle management teaching staff allegedly made redundant, or laid off due to restructuring. The restructuring is, apparently, designed to get teachers back into the classroom.

During the week, staff, students, alumni and parents had accused the headmaster of being dishonest and not “tak[ing] a single question” on the issue.

“At 10am there were 21 teachers with big question marks over their employment but by 1pm they had the assurance they would be able to apply for new positions before external applicants,” union secretary Terry Burke said. “Mr Fairbairn said it was clearly the school’s preference to continue the employment of existing staff. It is our view the existing staff are more than capable of taking on the new positions.”

Sunshine Coast Grammar is a private Christian school approximately 95 km (60 miles) north of the state capital, Brisbane.

Teachers at Sunshine Coast Grammar school have told the Sunshine Coast Daily that they received no warning of any pending redundancies. Independent Education Union of Australia representative and school careers counselor Maria Campanini said “teacher morale is very low and people are very disappointed and disillusioned”.

Ms Campanini said that staff were saddened by the handling of the situation by headmaster Nigel Fairbairn. “We got an email announcing a meeting and I thought it would just provide some feedback about the review,” Ms Campanini said. “But the 21 teachers whose jobs were directly affected were herded into a room, Mr Fairbairn read out a prepared statement, turned on his heel and left. He didn’t take a single question. We were just left sitting there in shock.”

An anonymous staff member told the Sunshine Coast Daily that, “Some teachers, who rely on the income and whose positions were abolished, were very distraught and they had to go to class. It appears we’re not valued in the school community, not to be even asked our opinion as to what might be the best outcome, to try and make it work.”

According to Ms Campanini, one of the teachers being made redundant is 30 weeks pregnant with another returning to work after maternity leave. “It’s really stressful for all the people involved,” Ms Campanini said. “People can understand the need for restructure when it’s explained, but we’re none the wiser.”

“When it all happened on Friday, it was morning tea time and a lot of us had to go back in the classroom and teach all afternoon,” the anonymous staff member said.

Parents have accused Fairbairn of constantly changing his version of events, with one telling the Sunshine Coast Daily that, “The school board does not have independent parents on the board, which makes no sense at all. From what I have gathered, Mr Fairbairn is not interested in having parents involved in the decision-making processes.”

“Mr Fairbairn is trying to go into damage control and his story keeps changing,” said Julie Hopkins, another Grammar parent. “He’s told parents this restructure was not financially motivated but has told teachers the complete opposite thing. This is it. The gloves are off.”

Wikinews obtained a list of middle management staff allegedly made redundant, or laid off due to restructuring, by the Queensland, Australia school. Sources say that those staff have been told that they can apply for new positions that have opened up.

The list, published on the SCGS alumni Facebook page, contains the names of twenty-two staff members. Seventeen positions are reportedly being opened up, eight of which seem to significantly overlap the old ones.

The changes are, apparently, designed to get teachers back into the classroom. “We are not cutting subject choices and extracurricular activities, but retaining a student-driven curriculum that integrates with the new Australian Curriculum, in keeping with our commitment to teaching and learning opportunities,” said headmaster Nigel Fairbairn.

Wikinews understands that Fairbairn attracted criticism when he was a head teacher in Christchurch, New Zealand, where a former student claimed that Fairbairn “replaced the open and welcoming culture … with the tyrannical and oppressive one.” Fairbairn refused to comment on the criticism.

Fairbairn’s statement came under attack from 2009 graduates who, in a open letter posted on Facebook, said, “It is also hugely hypocritical to attack these teachers for not spending enough time in the classroom, when from firsthand experience the only time Mr. Nigel Fairbairn was ever sighted was during assembly (which he mysteriously stopped attending), never mind in the classroom, therefore, it is honestly astounding that he could make such unjust and incorrect statements.”

They also expressed embarrassment “to be associated with the name ‘Sunshine Coast Grammar School’ while you are at the head of the great community which Grammar once was.”

Four of the affected teachers “were the backbone of the school when [controversy surrounded founding headmaster John Burgess] happened,” a former prefect (student leader) said. “They got it through that crisis and this is the thanks they get.”

“People are angry and shocked,” they continued. “I am aware of at least 10 families who have said they will pull their children out of the school – it’s that bad.”

The student body has not ruled out protesting the schools plans. “It’s getting to that stage,” the former prefect said. “People are trying to look at it in an intelligent way but there is so much anger out there.”

Friday, January 21, 2005

Jan Nowak-Jeziora?ski, a Polish writer, journalist, legendary resistance fighter and an envoy between the commanders of the Home Army and the Polish government in exile, nicknamed Courier from Warsaw, the head of the Polish section of Radio Free Europe for a quarter of a century and an advisor to the US presidents Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter died Thursday evening, January 20 in a hospital in his native Warsaw, Poland.

Jan Nowak-Jeziora?ski fought in the Polish Army during the Polish September Campaign in 1939 as an artillery NCO. He was taken prisoner of war by the Germans in Volhynia but managed to escape and returned to Warsaw. He quickly joined the Polish resistance and in 1940 became the main organiser of the Akcja N, a secret organisation preparing German-language newspapers and other propaganda material pretending to be official German publications, in order to wage psychological warfare against German troops.

He also served as an envoy between the commanders of the Home Army and the Polish government in exile and other allied governments. During one of such missions in July 1944, he arrived in Warsaw only a few days before the Warsaw Uprising broke out. During the Uprising he took an active part in the fights against the Germans and also organised the Polish radio that maintained contact with the Allied countries through daily broadcasts in Polish and English. Shortly before the capitulation of the Polish capital, he was ordered by the Polish commander-in-chief Tadeusz Bór-Komorowski to leave the city and find his way to London. He managed to evade being captured and reached Great Britain, bringing with him large quantities of documents and photos. For his bravery and his travels through the German-occupied Europe he was awarded with the Virtuti Militari, the highest Polish military medal. He also gained a nick-name Courier from Warsaw (Kurier z Warszawy), which he later used as a title of his memoirs.

After the war, Jan Nowak-Jeziora?ski stayed in the West, initially in London and then in Munich and Washington. Between 1948 and 1976 he was one of the most notable personalities of the Polish division of the BBC radio agency. In 1952 he also became the head of the Polish section of the Munich-based Radio Free Europe. Through his daily radio broadcasts he remained one of the most popular radio personalities, both in communist-held Poland and among the Polish diaspora in the West. After giving up his posts in 1976, he became one of the most prominent members of the Polish American Congress and headed the organisation between 1979 and 1996. He also worked as an advisor to the American National Security Agency. Through his contacts with many notable politicians in the USA, he was one of the proponents of Poland’s membership in NATO (achieved in 1999).

In the 1990s, he started his cooperation with the Polish Radio and wrote a series of broadcasts titled “Polska z oddali” (Poland from Distance). Since 1990 he was also present in the Polish Television as an author of monthly programmes. In July 2002 he returned to Warsaw for good. He was an active supporter of Poland’s entry into the European Union. Most of his books, published abroad as well as those published in Poland after 1989, were best-sellers and gained him even more popularity.

For his writings, he was awarded with some of the most prestigious Polish literary awards, including the Kisiel Award (1999), Ksawery Pruszy?ski Memorial Prize of the Polish Pen-Club (2001) and the Superwiktor award for tv personalities. In 2003 he was also awarded with the Cz?owiek Pojednania prize by the Polish Council of Christians and Jews for his part in the Polish-Jewish dialogue. Finally, he was made the doctor honoris causa of many Polish universities, including the Warsaw University, Jagiellonian University and his alma mater, the University in Pozna?.

He died in Warsaw at the age of 91 on the evening of Thursday, 20 January 2005. He subscribed all of his archives to the Ossolineum Institute. In the reports of his death all major Polish daily newspapers referred to him as the Polish hero and one of the last moral authorities.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Randall Munroe is the writer of the popular webcomic xkcd. The comic is known for its geeky humor and minimalist drawing style that generally uses stick figures. Munroe worked as a contractor for NASA before writing xkcd full time in 2006.

Wikinews reporter Joshua Zelinsky interviewed Munroe at Vericon, Harvard’s annual science fiction convention.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Vernon Bellecourt, once the primary spokesperson for the American Indian Movement, died recently at age 75. Bellecourt, an Ojibwa who fought for Native rights, was perhaps best known for his opposition to Native names and mascots for sports teams.

First in the headlines in 1972, Bellecourt organized a cross-country caravan of the Movement, to Washington. Once there, members of the group occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs offices. His goal of international recognition for Aboriginal nations and their treaties found him meeting with figures like Libyan Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, and Palestine’s Yasir Arafat. In 1977 Leonard Peltier was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms for the murder of two FBI Agents during a 1975 shoot-out on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation; Bellecourt led the campaign to free him.

Most recently, he visited Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, to discuss getting free or cheap heating oil for reservations.

His work as president of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media made a much wider known mark, though. Bellecourt emphasized that he believed such names perpetuated racial stereotypes, clouding the real identities and problems facing natives.

Teams with native-related names could almost guarantee on Bellecourt showing up at major games. He twice burned an effigy of Chief Wahoo, the Cleveland Indians baseball team mascot, and both times was arrested. When the Washington Redskins of the National Football League made the Super Bowl, Vernon was there to protest. The United States Commission on Civil Rights was critical of such names by 2001, calling them “insensitive in light of the long history of forced assimilation”. Some newspapers have stopped using the names of teams with Native origins.

None of his “big four” targets have shown any indication of changing: the Washington Redskins, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cleveland Indians or the Atlanta Braves.

Post-season use of American Indian mascots were banned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association in 2005, suggesting the names are “hostile or abusive”. Bellecourt was pleased with the NCAA sanctions, but suggested such actions were only going “half way”.

The Florida State Seminole and the Illinois Illini were among the 18 colleges affected by the ban. Florida president T.K. Wetherell threatened legal action in response. The Florida Seminole tribes have endorsed the University’s usage of the name, but some out-of-state tribes were “not supportive”, according to the NCAA vice president for diversity and inclusion.

Born WaBun-Inini, Bellecourt died from complications of pneumonia on October 13, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

A compilation of brief news reports for Sunday, April 1, 2007.

Five former Maoist rebels were sworn in as ministers as part of a peace pact designed to end a decade-long insurgency that has killed more than 13,000 people in Nepal. The new government has announced assembly elections for late June, 2007. Thereafter, the new assembly is due to write a new constitution for the Himalayan nation.

Related news

• “Nepal civil war ended by peace deal” — Wikinews, November 21, 2006

Sources

• AP. “Former rebels join Nepal government” — CNN, April 1, 2007
• “Nepal elections set for June” — Al Jazeera, April 1, 2007

Under a new law that went into effect today, non-Russians will not be allowed to work as salespeople in shops and markets. The ban was presented by Vladimir Putin as a way of improving employment prospects for Russian citizens. Russian media warns that it will increase the labor costs for retailers and drive up inflation. The Federal Migration Service, a government agency, reported nearly full compliance in Moscow.

Sources

• “Trading ban targets non-Russians” — BBC News Online, April 1, 2007
• “Russia bans expats from trading” — Al Jazeera, April 1, 2007
• “Moscow markets fully meet demands of new immigration legislation” — ITAR-TASS, April 1, 2007

Today, Sunday, Google “released” their Google TiSP service. This April Fool appears on their homepage as “New! Get FREE breakthrough broadband with Google TiSP (BETA).” This directs you to a page with details of Google’s TiSP package, a package that will give you broadband after you flush a fiber-optic cable down your toilet. Google issued a press release at midnight on April 1st, 2007.

Sources

• Press Release: “Google announces free in-home wireless broadband service” — Google, April 1, 2007
• Asher Bramwell. “Google April Fools!” — Geekzone, April 1, 2007
• Garrett Rogers. “Google launches TiSP — Free wireless broadband” — ZDNet, March 31, 2007

External links

• Google TiSP

Between 100 and 200 students gathered outside the British embassy in Tehran to protest the alleged incursion into Iranian waters by the Royal Navy.The protesters threw rocks, chanted “Death to Britain” and called for the expulsion of the ambassador. Police prevented the protesters from entering the compound.

Sources

• Nasser Karimi, AP. “Protest in Iran Targets British Embassy” — Guardian Unlimited, April 1, 2007
• Edmund Blair. “Protesters pelt UK embassy as Iran row worsens” — Reuters, April 1, 2007
• “Students condemn UK navy violation of Iran’s waters” — Islamic Republic News Agency, April 1, 2007

Thursday, December 2, 2010

International police cooperation organization Interpol has put Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowers’ website Wikileaks, on its most-wanted list after a court in Sweden announced he was wanted for alleged sex crimes. Wikileaks is this week releasing more than 250,000 secret “cables” between US diplomats.

Two weeks ago, Swedish authorities ordered the arrest of Assange for suspected rape, sexual molestation and illegal use of force. Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, yesterday released a “Red Notice” calling for Assange’s arrest. Interpol stated that this type of notice is not an arrest warrant, but a request “to assist the national police forces in identifying or locating those persons with a view to their arrest and extradition.”

The incidents are alleged to have occurred in August of this year, several weeks after Assange released 75,000 documents detailing US military actions in Afghanistan. “The background is that he has to be heard in this investigation and we haven’t been able to get a hold of him to question him,” said Marianne Ny, director of prosecution in Sweden.

It was first reported that he was suspected of rape later in August, when he described the allegations as part of a “smear campaign” against Wikileaks. Wikinews reported at the time that he said “the charges are without basis and their issue at this moment is deeply disturbing.” A statement posted on Wikileaks’ website after the charges were announced defended Assange. “We are deeply concerned about the seriousness of these allegations. We the people behind WikiLeaks think highly of Julian and he has our full support. While Julian is focusing on his defenses and clearing his name, WikiLeaks will be continuing its regular operations.”

Assange’s lawyer, Mark Stephens, said that the allegations against him were made after the two women he is alleged to have raped found out that he was in relationships with both at the same time. “Only after the women became aware of each other’s relationships with Mr. Assange did they make their allegations against him,” Stephens said in a statement.

Stephens added that he had not “received a single written word, at any time, in any form, from Swedish authorities on the Swedish investigation against our client,” and he and Assange had only learnt about the case through reports in the media. “[This is] a clear contravention to Article 6 of the European Convention, which states that every accused must be informed promptly, in a language which he understands and in detail, of the nature and cause of the accusation against him,” he added.

Assange is currently residing in an unknown location. It has been reported he has attempted to disguise himself by cutting and dying his hair. He told Forbes magazine recently that Wikileaks has obtained documents containing evidence of corruption within a major US bank. He has reportedly been paying in cash and with friends’ credit cards.

Speaking about the release of the cables, he told ABC News: “US officials have for 50 years trotted out this line when they are afraid the public is going to see how they really behave.” It was reported on Wednesday that Ecuador, a country which critically opposes US policies, has offered Assange residency.

Along with the arrest, Assange is facing mounting pressure in the US over the leak of the cables. A retired CIA agent, Peter King, said Wikileaks should be designated a “terrorist organisation,” and called for Wikileaks and Assange to be prosecuted for the release.

On Monday evening, Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, condemned the publishing of the files, thought to be leaked by Bradley Manning, who served as an intelligence analyst with the US Army before being arrested.

“It is an attack on the international community, the alliances and partnerships, the conversations and negotiations, that safeguard global security and advance economic prosperity,” Clinton said. “There is nothing laudable about endangering innocent people, and there is nothing brave about sabotaging peaceful relations between nations on which our common security depends.” She added that the US “deeply regrets” the leakage of the files.

Speaking to Time magazine on the internet, Assange defended the release of the files. “It is not our goal to achieve a more transparent society, it’s our goal to achieve a more just society,” he said. He also confirmed that Wikileaks has obtained more classified material, saying:”[W]e have a lot of source material that … remains unpublished.” Assange added that it was “very important” to him that “the law is not what, not simply what, powerful people would want others to believe it is.”

Assange said in the interview with Time that all the documents had been reviewed and all names of informants had been redacted “carefully.” He said: “They are all reviewed, and they’re all redacted either by us or by the newspapers concerned.” He also said that Wikileaks “formally asked the State Department for assistance with that. That request was formally rejected.”

He was asked whether he was concerned that publishing the files could be considered civil disobedience. “Not at all. This organization [Wikileaks] practices civil obedience, that is, we are an organization that tries to make the world more civil and act against abusive organizations that are pushing it in the opposite direction,” he said. “We have now in our four-year history, and over 100 legal attacks of various kinds, been victorious in all of those matters.”

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Freezing temperatures, combined with snow over the past few days, have caused travel problems throughout Europe and been responsible for the deaths of 10 people. On Monday a strong winter storm moved across Europe, covering parts of France and the United Kingdom with several inches of snow.

The storm ranged as far as Germany, Belgium, and parts of Northern Italy. It brought with it freezing, Arctic-like temperatures ranging from -5° Celsius (23° Fahrenheit) to -10°C (14°F) in the United Kingdom and France, down to -31°C (-24°F) in central Romania and what felt like -26°C (-15°F) in Germany. Forecasters predict that the freezing temperatures may be the start of a cold spell that could affect the entire continent throughout the month.

Monday’s heavy snowstorm forced Roissy-Charles de Gaulle Airport, slightly north of Paris, to cancel most of its flights. 1,658 passengers from Air France alone were stranded at the airport after their flights were grounded due to the heavy snow and icy conditions. The passengers from the 120 cancelled Air France flights spent the night in hotels near the airport which were accommodated for by the airline.

An official from Air France stated that the passengers “will have available food and hot drinks”. Most flights were grounded until the next morning. Tuesday, an official from Roissy-Charles de Gaulle said, “It did not snow last night. The runways are clear and have been de-iced. Traffic is returning to normal.”

The frigid temperatures resulted in several school closings across France and the United Kingdom, with government forecasters from both countries predicting that the cold would stay for several days. Many schools in the United Kingdom were closed because of problems with their heating systems, while heating repair services in Britain received a record number of calls this week.

In Paris, accumulating snow and slippery ice resulted in French officials closing pedestrian access to the Eiffel Tower, one of the city’s prime tourist locations.

“We can’t put down salt because it’s metallic, we can’t use sand either because it risks getting into the elevator,” stated a press official from the Eiffel Tower. The tower remained closed on Monday and re-opened on Tuesday.

The storm has caused the deaths of at least 13 people, whether directly or indirectly. Polish government officials have reported that 10 people have frozen to death following overnight temperatures of -25°C as recorded throughout the country. Police in Germany reported that a 77-year-old mentally-ill woman also froze to death after she was reported missing from a nursing home in Weimar. Romanian officials reported that frigid temperatures killed two people and sent several to the hospital. Temperatures there were reported as low as -31°C in some parts.