August 18, 2010 - TOKYO - Panasonic Corporation, an industry leader in Full HD, 3D, and HD TV technology, unveiled the world’s first 3D camcorder for consumers. The HDC-SDT750 camcorder allows anyone to create true-to-life 3D images by simply attaching a 3D conversion lens that comes with the camcorder. The camcorder will go on sale in Japan on August 20 to be followed in other countries this fall.
August 16, 2010 - Billund, Denmark - LEGO has beaten off competition from Barbie, Action Man and the Game Boy to be named the most popular toy ever manufactured. The Danish building bricks, first launched in 1949, are still in demand today, selling out before last Christmas at many major retailers. Today they were hailed as the leaders in a revival of retro playthings, as it emerged that many of us keep into adulthood the toys we cherished most as children. Of 3,000 people surveyed aged from 20 to 40 by renowned gift website Firebox.com, half said they still had their favourites.
July 27, 2010 - LONDON - BP’s CEO is stepping down. In an announcement today, BP said that, by mutual agreement with the BP board, Tony Hayward is to step down as group chief executive with effect from October 1st. He will be succeeded as of that date by fellow executive director Robert Dudley. The 54-year-old Dudley is a main board director of BP and currently runs the recently-established unit responsible for clean-up operations and compensation programs in the Gulf of Mexico. He joined BP from Amoco after the merger of the two companies in 1998. He was president and CEO of BP’s Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, until 2008. BP said that under the terms of his contract, Hayward would receive a year’s salary in lieu of notice, amounting to £1.045 million.
A resident of Kosovo is charged in a criminal complaint with providing material support to terrorists and conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim, and injure persons abroad. Twenty-Nine year-old, Bajram Asllani, a resident of Mitrovica, Kosovo, was named in the announcement made yesterday by the US Department of Justice in Raleigh. Asllani was arrested yesterday by authorities in Kosovo in connection with a U.S. provisional arrest warrant issued in the Eastern District of North Carolina. The United States intends to seek his extradition from Kosovo to stand trial in Raleigh. In accordance with the extradition agreement between the United States and Kosovo, Asllani faces a potential maximum of 40 years in prison if convicted. Last July, eight defendants were indicted on charges of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists; conspiracy to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad; and other violations. Of the eight, most were US native-born citizens. The investigation is being conducted by the Raleigh Joint Terrorism Task Force of the Charlotte Division of the FBI and the North Carolina Information Sharing and Analysis Center. Substantial assistance was provided by the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the State Department, and the government of Kosovo.
April 30, 2010 - HELSINKI, FINLAND - Finland’s Neste Oil has begun trials of Neste Green 100 diesel produced from 100% renewable raw materials and free of any fossil oil components. The trial includes private individuals and Neste Oil employees as well as test drivers from outside the company, who will trial Neste Green 100 diesel from mid-May to mid-summer. Drivers will fill up at selected Neste Oil service stations in Greater Helsinki. Executive Vice President of Oil Retail, Sakari Toivola, said, “This is the first time anywhere that a premium renewable diesel fuel will be tested across a range of different cars.”
April 18, 2010 - RALEIGH—U.S. Attorney George E.B. Holding announced Friday a federal grand jury returned a 15-count indictment charging five employees from Blackwater World-Wide. Included in the indictment are Gary Jackson, 52, former president; William Wheeler Mathews, Jr., 44, an attorney and former executive vice president and vice president of operations; Andrew Howell, 44, general counsel; Ana Bundy, 45, former vice president of logistics and procurement; and Ronald Slezak, 65, a former armorer.
The charges include conspiring to violate a series of federal statutes resulting in the acquisitions and dispositions of firearms, in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 371; filing false ATF Forms 4473, in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 924(a)(1)(A); unlawful possession of automatic firearms, in violation of Title 18, U.S. Code, Section 922(o)(1); possession of unregistered firearms, in violation of Title 26, U.S. Code, Section 5861(d); and obstruction of justice in violation of Title 18 U.S. Code, Section 1512(b)(2)(B) and 1519.
According to the indictment, several schemes were uncovered during the investigation. Regarding the first scheme, the defendants allegedly purchased 227 short barrels compatible with M4 rifles and then had their own armorers install the short barrels on what had been long-barrel rifles, in order to facilitate the company’s performance of protective services contracts in Iraq and Afghanistan, believing they were better adapted to use inside vehicles and buildings.
The defendants desired a stock of automatic weapons for use at the company’s Moyock, N.C., facility. According to government regulations, only certain classes of federal firearms licensees are permitted very limited inventory of such weapons and are subject to both quantitative limitations and registration requirements. To evade the legal limit of no more than two weapons of any type, they allegedly arranged straw purchases with a small local sheriff’s office. Blank letterhead stationery from the sheriff’s office was provided to Blackwater, which was used to prepare letters claiming the sheriff’s office wanted to purchase 17 Romanian AK47s and 17 fully automatic M4s. The weapons were paid for by Blackwater, were immediately delivered to Blackwater upon their arrival, and were locked in Blackwater’s armory to which the sheriff’s office had no direct access.
Another scheme alleged in the indictment, was Blackwater’s hope to land a lucrative contract with the Kingdom of Jordan to build and run a training center. Jordanian officials came and toured the company’s 7,000 acre facility in Moyock. The officials were presented with one M4, three Glocks, and a Remington shotgun. Each was inscribed with the Blackwater logo and presented in a case. Subsequently, the company realized it could not account for the guns in its required records. Jackson then organized the false completion of four 4473s (one covered two guns) which were designed to give the appearance that employees had bought the guns for their own use.
In March 2009, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) let it be known that they would be coming for an inspection of XPG’s (Blackwater subsidiary) armory. Allegedly, Howell did not want any more SBRs to be found and told a subordinate that disclosing the SBRs was “not an option.” He and Bundy subsequently ordered the short-barreled guns in XPG’s armory to be moved to Blackwater’s armory where the barrels could be switched out. Only the long-barreled guns were returned to XPG. Howell then prepared a letter for the company president’s signature and attached it to an e-mail. The letter was intended to be back-dated and would have given a false impression that the President had ordered the alteration of the guns—which had already been accomplished by direction of Howell and Bundy.
The maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge and for filing false ATF forms is up to five years in prison followed by up to three years supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. For each of the charges of unlawful possession of an automatic firearms and possessing unregistered firearms, the maximum penalties are up to 10 years in prison followed by up to three years supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The maximum penalties for each of the charges of obstruction of justice are up to 20 years in prison followed by up to three years supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Nothing in the indictment should be read to suggest any wrongdoing on the part of the Kingdom of Jordan or any of its officials. The department is grateful for the assistance Jordan has provided to this investigation.
An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.
Investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI, the Department of Commerce and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Bowler represented the government.
February 26, 2010 - VANCOUVER, CANADA - The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver are coming to an end soon, and as of yesterday afternoon, the United States leads in the metal count with 28. Germany is a close 2nd with 26, followed by Norway with 19 and Canada with 15. The closing ceremony is scheduled for this Sunday evening. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games are scheduled to take place in London from July 27 to August 12. There will be an estimated 12,500 athletes participating in 300 events representing 205 nations. Great Brittan won the bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics over Paris, France; Madrid Spain; New York City in the US; and Moscow, Russia.
February 7, 2010 - GOLDSBORO - Operation Renewed Hope is continuing to provide much needed relief supplies to Haiti. Tents and tarps are very necessary, and Operation Renewed Hope through Dr. Greg Waller was able to get new tents from Coleman, Inc. at a discounted price. A group “Ministry for Haiti” bought 100 tents for $5000.00. More tents and supplies are needed. If you would like to help, contact Operation Renewed Hope at 910-987-5072 or visit them on-line at OperationRenewedHope.org.
January 23, 2010 - FAYETTEVILLE - Operation Renewed Hope, a medical missions ministry started in Fayetteville in 1991, is pushing forward with their relief efforts named Haiti Hope. ORH uses surplus supplies and equipment donated by hospitals, corporations, and manufacturers in the United States, and makes them available to areas of the world that are in desperate need. Haiti Hope is a coalition of pilots and others working together to get much needed food and medical supplies into Haiti. Aircraft are scheduled to leave a staging area in Florida Monday for Haiti with approximately 3200 lbs of food and supplies. If you would like to help with a donation to this ministry, visit their web site at OperationRenewedHope.org or call them at (910) 987-5072.
January 21, 2010 - GOLDSBORO – The Wayne Wilson-Greene Red Cross office will participate in a telethon on Friday, January 22 on WITN-TV in Greenville. The telethon is scheduled for 7 - 8 p.m. on Channel 9. The telethon benefits the Eastern North Carolina Red Cross relief for Haiti and will be followed by the National George Clooney Telethon from 8 – 10 p.m.
With the help and generosity of donations, the American Red Cross has been able to offer relief through first aid posts, hospitals, relief distribution sites, water trucking programs and family linking stations. To date, approximately 500 tons of Red Cross aid has already arrived in Haiti. Planes and trucks carrying additional assistance are arriving in the region every day
The local chapter at 600 N. George Street can accept donations, or they can be made via secure links at the national Red Cross website, www.redcross.org, or by calling 1-800-REDCROSS. Tune into WITN-TV, Channel 9 on Friday from 7 – 8p.m. to assist the Eastern North Carolina Red Cross relief for Haiti meet their goal for making a difference during this incredible time of need.