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Tuesday, March 29, 2005A team of Australian surgeons yesterday reattached both hands and one foot to 10-year-old Perth boy, Terry Vo, after a brick wall which collapsed during a game of basketball fell on him, severing the limbs. The wall gave way while Terry performed a slam-dunk, during a game at a friend’s birthday party.

The boy was today awake and smiling, still in some pain but in good spirits and expected to make a full recovery, according to plastic surgeon, Mr Robert Love.

“What we have is parts that are very much alive so the reattached limbs are certainly pink, well perfused and are indeed moving,” Mr Love told reporters today.

“The fact that he is moving his fingers, and of course when he wakes up he will move both fingers and toes, is not a surprise,” Mr Love had said yesterday.

“The question is more the sensory return that he will get in the hand itself and the fine movements he will have in the fingers and the toes, and that will come with time, hopefully. We will assess that over the next 18 months to two years.

“I’m sure that he’ll enjoy a game of basketball in the future.”

The weight and force of the collapse, and the sharp brick edges, resulted in the three limbs being cut through about 7cm above the wrists and ankle.

Terry’s father Tan said of his only child, the injuries were terrible, “I was scared to look at him, a horrible thing.”

The hands and foot were placed in an ice-filled Esky and rushed to hospital with the boy, where three teams of medical experts were assembled, and he was given a blood transfusion after experiencing massive blood loss. Eight hours of complex micro-surgery on Saturday night were followed by a further two hours of skin grafts yesterday.

“What he will lose because it was such a large zone of traumatised skin and muscle and so on, he will lose some of the skin so he’ll certainly require lots of further surgery regardless of whether the skin survives,” said Mr Love said today.

The boy was kept unconscious under anaesthetic between the two procedures. In an interview yesterday, Mr Love explained why:

“He could have actually been woken up the next day. Because we were intending to take him back to theatre for a second look, to look at the traumatised skin flaps, to close more of his wounds and to do split skin grafting, it was felt the best thing to do would be to keep him stable and to keep him anaesthetised.”

Professor Wayne Morrison, director of the respected Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery and head of plastic and hand surgery at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, said he believed the operation to be a world first.

Friday, February 2, 2007

The French government has banned the smoking of cigarettes in all public places.

The ban includes no smoking in hospitals, airports, schools, places of employment and any public area that is “closed or covered.” Eleven months from now, the ban will include restaurants and cafes.

Some members of France’s Parliament are surprised to see how quick the ban was enacted.

“Nobody, not even I, thought a year-and-a-half ago that France would abandon tobacco so fast,” said member of Parliament (MP) and an advocate of the prohibiting of smoking, Yves Bur.

Police and other law enforcement agents are required to fine anyone who violates the ban. Fines for smoking in banned areas could be as much as $88.00 [USD]. Employers who do not enforce the smoking ban could be fined at least $174.00 [USD].

At least 15 million people who live in France smoke cigarettes, but a poll conducted by the French government had shown that 76% of the country’s population was in favor of the ban. 74% of the population also backs the restaurant and cafe ban to take place in one year.

Saturday, October 14, 2006

An American inventor has patented a pair of new time formats with a footprint less than 50% of that of conventional four-digit time. The more unusual of the two new formats, called “TWELV”, dispenses with numerals altogether. In place of clock hands or digits, the new clock uses color to convey the hour and a moon image to convey the minute, which moon slowly grows throughout the course of an hour from a narrow crescent to a full-fledged circle.

The second and more approachable of the new formats retains numerical digits to indicate the minute but uses colors to convey the hour.

Early critics question whether the aesthetic benefits of the moon-clock will be sufficient to encourage users to learn the color-based time-telling system. However, the size advantages of the new system may make it particularly suitable for mobile applications, particularly cell phones, wearable computers, and head-mounted displays.

Thursday, June 8, 2006

The head of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been killed in an air strike on a building north of Baqubah city, according to the Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki.

“Today [sic] Zarqawi has been terminated,” he said Thursday, and suggested the man the United States had placed a $25 million price tag on for death or capture was located through intelligence.

“What happened today is a result of co-operation for which we have been asking from our masses and the citizens of our country,” he said.

The leader of coalition forces in Iraq, General George Casey said al-Zarqawi was killed in a two-storey safehouse about 8 km north of the city in Diyala province.

Several aides also died with him in the Wednesday evening raid by U.S. F-16 warplanes, including his key lieutenant and spiritual adviser Sheik Abdul Rahman. Some analysts believe a US counter-terrorism unit, Task Force 145, was involved in the attack.

Al-Zarqawi’s body, recovered after two 500-pound bombs had blown through his cover, was identified through fingerprint, tattoo and scar analysis and head likeness. Al-Zarqawi, whose real name was Ahmed Fadhil Nazzal al-Khalayleh, was believed to be in his late 30s when he died of injuries while US forces gave medical aid.

The first munition exploded at 6:15pm was a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb that was shortly followed by the newer GBU-38; both carried 500lb of explosives for total cost of $40,000.

The self-proclaimed frontman for Osama Bin Laden’s activities in Iraq, al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian national, is said to have been involved in the beheading of foreigners, hundreds of suicide attacks, and an insurgency against coalition forces after the Iraq war in 2003.

It had been reported Al-Zarqawi’s most recent campaign was to create problems between Shi’ite and Sunni groups in Iraq with ethnic killings.

For the Iraqi government the killing of the wanted murderer is what they sought but it remains unknown what effect the removal of this known figurehead of the Iraq insurgency will have on levels of violence in the country. Al-Zarqawi was not the only person to oppose the US-backed Iraqi government.

“Zarqawi didn’t have a number two. I can’t think of any single person who would succeed Zarqawi…In terms of effectiveness, there was no single leader in Iraq who could match his ruthlessness and his determination,” was the view of Rohan Gumaratna at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies in Singapore.

Applause was heard as Mr Maliki, with U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and U.S. Gen. George Casey, by his side, told news reporters “al-Zarqawi was terminated.”

Sources claiming to be Al-Qaeda in Iraq later confirmed that al-Zarqawi had been killed and said that they would fight the United States and the interim Iraqi government despite his death.

United States President George Bush spoke to journalists in the White House Rose Garden about al-Zarqawi’s death. “Zarqawi’s death is a severe blow to al-Qaeda. It’s a victory in the global war on terror, and it is an opportunity for Iraq’s new government to turn the tide of this struggle,” he said.

The US military also confirmed that six people were killed in the strike, including al-Zarqawi, and his spiritual adviser Sheikh Abd-al-Rahman The death toll is reported at three men, three women.[1] Some reports had said al-Zarqawi’s wife and daughter died. However U.S. officials state that there is no evidence confirming the death of al-Zarqawi’s wife and daughter.

Friday, January 26, 2007

The introduction by Yahoo Inc. of its new Internet ad sales system was successful. The company’s new feature may turn out to be very useful for Yahoo’s shares, since investors are betting on rapid growth of the company’s revenue.

When Yahoo stated that it will launch on February 5 a full version of its new system, entitled Panama, the company’s shares rose by 8 percent on Wednesday. The system, being introduced in the United States, will be launched a month earlier than Wall Street expected.

The ad system is to bring the company in closer league with the number one search engine Google Inc. Yahoo’s technology will permit various advertisers to pay for specific search terms, which are based on their popularity.

Panama will also help advertisers in targeting ads that are sent to a specific audience on the Internet. The system will allow rotating ads in accordance with their effectiveness. Google have been offering these features for several years.

Martin Pyykkonen, who is the analyst at Global Crown Capital, said that Yahoo was not as successful as Google but it still continues to strengthen its position as number 2. Although Google had a stronger software platform, Yahoo continues to register good results, which is worth something.

Pyykkonen also mentioned that he is not forecasting any shifting in wholesales, and especially a sudden fall of Google, but he is sure that Yahoo will not be far behind Google; in fact the company is to shorten the gap between the two.

The ability of Yahoo’s new system, to draw more ad dollars from customers, should boost the company’s growth in this year’s second half. Yahoo is also dealing with a potential drop in prices regarding its key branded advertising sales. This is due to the competition provided by MySpace.com and YouTube.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

The Olympic torch has returned to Chinese soil. More than 1 million Hong Kong residents and visitors ignored light showers on Friday to greet and cheer the Olympic torch relay. Hong Kong is the first Chinese destination to welcome the Olympic flame after its month-long journey across the world, spanning 19 cities.

It was the Hong Kong’s first Olympic torch relay since the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The eight-hour torch run included carrying the flame aboard a dragon boat across the Shing Mun River, and on horseback into the Hong Kong Olympic Equestrian Venue and Sha Tin Racecourse. Hong Kong, a co-host city of the Beijing Games in August, will stage the equestrian events.

“Today, the Olympic torch relay resumes on Chinese soil after its global journey across five continents. It is a great and solemn honor for Hong Kong, Asia’s world city, to be the first in China to welcome back the Olympic flame on behalf of our proud nation,” said Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

The torch relay began at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre at Tsim Sha Tsui where 1996 Atlanta Olympic gold medalist for windsurfing, Lee Lai-shan received the torch from Chief Executive, Donald Tsang. Lee then handed the Olympic flame to Olympic table tennis silver medalist Li Ching, who passed it to his doubles partner Ko Lai-Chak. Lee said, “It is one of my big moments and I am feeling the same excitement I did when I won the Olympic gold medal.”

Early in the morning, a large number of people gathered on both sides of Nathan Road in preparation for the events. Many of the spectators wore red clothes to match the colour of the Chinese flag.

One hundred and twenty torchbearers carried the torch on a 26-km route. The torch bearers passed landmarks such as the Tsing Ma Bridge and the Avenue of Stars, before it was ferried across Victoria Harbor to Hong Kong Island.

Asian Games champion cyclist Wong Kam-po was the last to the carry the Olympic torch. Wong carried the torch to the Golden Bauhinia Square in Wan Chai, where he lit the cauldron, pulling down the curtain and ending the Hong Kong leg of the torch relay.

Friday, May 5, 2006

Australian Prime Minister John Howard and federal industry minister Ian MacDonald today announced that the federal government would be providing Ford Australia with a AU$52.5 million (US$40.4 million) “financial assistance package”. Additional assistance will also be provided by the Victorian state government.

According to Mr Howard, the injection will secure Ford’s manufacturing operations in Australia “for the long term”.

From the package, AU$40 million will be used for the design and manufacture of Ford’s next model Falcon and Territory vehicles, which will be built in Australia.

Despite being given a major facelift in 2002 and another in 2005, the Falcon’s bodyshell dates back to 1998. The current Falcon will need to serve the company until at least 2007 when the new model is anticipated. In the meantime, it will face stiff competition from the completely new Holden Commodore (the Falcon’s major competitor) which will be released in the second half of this year.

The additional AU$12.5 million will be spent on the development of a light commercial vehicle platform, which will be built overseas and marketed to around 80 countries. Mr Howard said that the light commercial project would involve construction of a research and development centre, which will become the base for R&D projects in the region.

Mr MacFarlane said that the research facility was exciting for Australia and that it would put the Australian automotive in the spotlight.

“The funding has helped Ford Australia secure the largest automotive R&D project ever undertaken in Australia which is equally exciting news for local Ford employees and Australian component producers” he said.

“The project will see Ford Australia become a centre for automotive design and engineering excellence in the Asia Pacific region which will bring spin-off benefits for the broader industry,”

“This opportunity will put both Ford Australia, and the Australian automotive and components sectors on the world map as far as our automotive design and engineering capabilities are concerned.” Mr MacFarlane said.

Mr Howard claims that the projects will create 273 jobs and secure the future of the “iconic” Ford Falcon, which has been built in Australia since 1960.

The financial package is conditional upon Ford Australia giving the Australian automotive component industry an opportunity to supply components for the vehicles produced by the two projects.