السبت، 4 فبراير 2012

Lincoln Tribune

The Lincoln Tribune

Lincoln Tribune

Micron CEO Steve Appleton dies in small plane crash in Idaho
Four die during clashes in Egypt over deadly soccer riot
HRW: Syrian security forces have tortured children
UN declares end to Somalia famine
UN declares end to Somalia famine

Micron CEO Steve Appleton dies in small plane crash in Idaho

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:39 PM PST

BOISE, IDAHO (BNO NEWS) -- Micron Technology, Inc. chief executive officer and chairman Steve Appleton was killed on early Friday morning when his small plane crashed in western Idaho, the company said. He was 51.

The accident happened at around 9 a.m. local time after Appleton, the sole occupant of a single-engine Lancair aircraft, took off from an airport in Boise. "The airplane had just departed the airport and tried to return after departing and crashed just short of the runway," said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In a brief statement, the Micron Technology Board of Directors said it was 'deeply saddened' to confirm Appleton had died in the crash. "Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time," the statement said. "Steve's passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large."

Appleton, who in 1983 joined Micron, an international advanced semiconductor solutions provider, was the only person on board the small plane when it crashed in the city of Boise, which is also home to the company's headquarters.

Officials said the accident happened shortly after Appleton's second takeoff from the city's airport. As a pilot, he had previously suffered serious injuries when his small plane crashed nearly eight years ago, on July 8, 2004.

Appleton was appointed president and chief operating officer of Micron in 1991 before being promoted to the position of chairman, chief executive officer and president in 1994. He became CEO of the company in 2007.

Mark Durcan, Micron President and Chief Operating Officer, will assume the responsibilities of CEO until a successor is appointed by the Board of Directors, which will convene a meeting over the weekend. "Steve was a true friend who will be dearly missed by all of us," said Durcan. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and our team members as we all grieve this tragic loss."

Appleton is survived by his wife, Dalynn, and his children.

Four die during clashes in Egypt over deadly soccer riot

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:04 PM PST

CAIRO, EGYPT (BNO NEWS) -- Four people have died during ongoing clashes with Egyptian security forces as protesters have rallied across the country against the military regime, local media reported on Friday.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets on Thursday after 74 football fans died in a riot in Port Said, demanding justice and urging Egypt's military rulers to step down. Two protesters were killed in the port city of Suez after security forces used live rounds while defending a police station. Another protester died from pellet wounds sustained outside the Ministry of Interior in Cairo, officials said.

Meanwhile, the assistant health minister, Adel El-Adawy, announced that an army officer was killed after being run over by a military truck. An estimated 1,482 people have been injured since Thursday, most of them suffering from the effects of tear gas inhalation.

The Al-Ahram newspaper reported that approximately 1,000 protesters gathered on Friday in Cairo's Tahrir Square, chanting against the military council and for justice for those who have died. The sound of shots and ambulance sirens ferrying the injured to nearby field hospitals filled the air before Friday prayers.

On Wednesday evening, 74 people were killed and more than 300 others were injured when violent clashes erupted following a soccer match in Port Said. Security forces were widely accused of deliberately declining to intervene in the country's deadliest ever football riot.

HRW: Syrian security forces have tortured children

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:00 PM PST

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- Syrian security forces have detained and tortured children with impunity during the past year, a rights group claimed on Friday. Hundreds of children have been killed as the government continues its crackdown on rebels and protesters.

Human Rights Watch said in a report that it has documented at least 12 cases of children being detained under inhumane conditions, children being tortured, and other children being shot while in their homes or on the street. The New York-based organization urged the United Nations Security Council to demand that the Syrian government ends all human rights violations.

  "Children have not been spared the horror of Syria's crackdown," said Lois Whitman, children's rights director at Human Rights Watch. "Syrian security forces have killed, arrested, and tortured children in their homes, their schools, or on the streets. In many cases, security forces have targeted children just as they have targeted adults."

Human Rights Watch also said it has documented government use of schools as detention centers, military bases or barracks, and sniper posts, as well as the arrest of children from schools. It urged the Syrian government to stop deploying security forces in schools and hospitals.  

"Human Rights Watch has documented widespread government violence against peaceful demonstrators, systematic killings, beatings, torture using electroshock devices, and detention of people seeking medical care," the rights group said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council is currently considering a draft resolution to end the situation in Syria, where thousands of people have been killed over the past 10 months in a government crackdown against a popular uprising. The resolution calls for an immediate cessation of violence by all parties and progress towards national dialogue that leads to a peaceful political resolution of the crisis.

Syria's Ambassador to the UN, Bashar Ja'afari, has said his country rejects any "international intervention" and added that "homelands are built by their own citizens." Ja'afari has also said that Syria will continue to protect its own people against armed elements, denouncing what he termed "feverish attempts" to interfere in Syria's internal affairs by misleading world public opinion.

According to the most recent figures released by the United Nations last month, at least 5,400 people have been killed as a result of violence during the uprising. Syrian human rights and opposition activists say the figure has since surpassed 7,000 and includes hundreds of children.

In late November, the United Nations Committee Against Torture also claimed it had received 'credible reports from sources' that children are being tortured and mutilated while in detention by security forces. Claudio Grossman, who heads the 10-member expert panel, provided no specific details to substantiate the claims.

UN declares end to Somalia famine

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 07:48 PM PST

NAIROBI (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Friday declared an end to the famine in Somalia but warned that, with recurrent droughts in the Horn of Africa, hunger remains a threat, officials said.

According to a new report by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the number of people in need of emergency humanitarian assistance in Somalia has dropped from 4 million to 2.34 million, or 31 percent of the Somali population. The report said 750,000 people had been at risk of death during the height of the crisis.

"Long-awaited rains coupled with substantial agricultural inputs and the humanitarian response deployed in the last six months are the main reasons for this improvement," FAO's new Director-General José Graziano da Silva told a press conference in Nairobi after visiting southern Somalia.

"However, the crisis is not over. It can only be resolved with a combination of rains and continued, coordinated, long-term actions that build up the resilience of local populations and link relief with development," he added.

Graziano pledged that FAO will step up its current efforts in the Horn of Africa. "We can't avoid droughts, but we can put measures in place to try to prevent them from becoming a famine. We have three months until the next rainy season," he added.

The report also warned that an estimated 325,000 acutely malnourished Somali children remain at risk. The current crisis continues to affect the whole Horn of Africa region with 9.5 million people in need of emergency assistance in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, down from 13 million at the height of the crisis.

The UN declared a famine in six out of eight regions of southern and central Somalia in July last year. A state of famine is declared on the basis of at least three criteria - severe lack of access to food for 20 percent of a population; acute malnutrition exceeding 30 percent; and a crude death rate that exceeds two deaths in every 10,000 people per day.

UN declares end to Somalia famine

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 07:48 PM PST

health

السبت، 4 فبراير 2012

Lincoln Tribune

Lincoln Tribune

ليست هناك تعليقات:

إرسال تعليق