Monday, December 8, 2008

More details have emerged over the weekend after the surprise announcement last week of Honda‘s intention to sell its Formula One racing team, Honda Racing F1. The team management, Nick Fry and Ross Brawn, have already announced confidence in their ability not only to find a buyer for the team but also to deliver the performance expected of Honda’s 2009 car. Prices as low as £1 have been put forward as possible prices tags for the Northampton based team, with Honda CEO Takeo Fukui stating that “Just to make the team possible to exist, a small price tag is acceptable”.

On Saturday the Japanese car giant said that before selling the team it was going to offer British driver Jensen Button, who had given the Honda team its only victory, a way out of his recently signed multi-million pound contract with the team so he could try to get a drive with other teams. However, Ross Brawn appears eager to retain the Briton and either retain Brazilian Rubens Barrichello or sign GP2 driver Bruno Senna, nephew of legendary racer Ayrton Senna. At an industry awards dinner, Button indicated his desire for a buyer to be found for Honda, saying any buyer would get “… a great team with excellent facilities. And with the leadership of Ross Brawn, and the whole team as they are, we can come through this and be on the grid in 2009”. Button has also spoken of his shock and pain at Honda’s decision.

Ross Brawn, who was brought into the Honda team with much fan fare before the 2008 season, has spoken of his shock at finding out about the sale of the team. Brawn, who is credited with helping Michael Schumacher and Ferrari dominate Formula One for much of the last decade, indicated he was expected funding cuts and had prepared a reduced budget but hadn’t expected the full withdrawal of support that Honda announced. Brawn has also indicated understanding of Honda’s reasoning, with their sales down 40% in some markets and Honda F1’s £200m+ budget a cost they were unwilling to bear.

Though Honda has committed to providing a budget for the team until March, the budget is lower than that which had been expected and so the team has had to pull out of the crucial winter tests at Jerez. This has denied Formula One hopeful Bruno Senna another test with the team and has combined with the engine implications of Honda’s withdrawal to push the new car’s final testing from January to March, just weeks before the first Grand Prix in Australia. Ross Brawn however remains confident of competing with new Formula One frontrunners BMW Sauber and Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has tipped the team as a great buy, saying “I’ve no doubt Honda would have been in top four next year without any problems. They’ve spent a lot of money to put themselves in that position so if anyone does want to be in F1 this is a team they should look to buy. It’s a big opportunity for any company that’s run efficiently to benefit”.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

At 12:41 p.m. local time (UTC-5), a man opened fire at Dawson College, in Westmount, Quebec, Canada; the college is located near the heart of downtown Montreal. Police report at least 20 people being injured. The gunman was reportedly killed at the scene by police. Students told reporters that they heard several shots in the building at about 12:45 local time. One student told a local radio station that she saw two people who had been shot, including one who was hit at the neck. The student said a friend told her four people had been shot.

Hundreds of students fled the building, and the area has been cordoned off. Nearby Plaza Alexis Nihon and Westmount Square were evacuated and the Green line of the Montreal Metro was shut down between Lionel-Groulx and Peel. Police officers wearing bullet-proof vests are keeping people away from the college. “They’re telling me, ‘Go the other way, lady, you’re in the line of fire,'” said CBC News reporter Nancy Wood, who reported from the scene.

Local media have reported police hotlines have been established for loved ones to gain more information: +1-(514)-280-2880, +1-(514)-280-2805, and +1-(514)-280-2806. The Montreal General Hospital has also set up a hotline at +1-(514)-843-2839.

Police have reported that the situation has been neutralized as of 20:06, September 13, 2006 (UTC). Police have been told to stand down and are no longer looking for new victims or shooters.

Dawson College is a CEGEP that hosts about 10,000 students.

Friday, October 17, 2014

At about 5.00 a.m. today local time (2100 yesterday UTC), police in Hong Kong moved to clear obstacles to traffic at the intersection of Argyle Street and Nathan Road in Mong Kok, Hong Kong. For weeks the normally busy crossroads has been occupied by pro-democracy protesters and closed to traffic.

Police in riot gear cordoned off the roads and alleyways that surround the intersection, before moving in with trucks equipped with mechanical grabs to clear the roads of makeshift barricades. Also removed were tents, personal belongings, bedding and any other material protesters couldn’t retrieve in time. Many of the protesters were asleep when the police action began.

The police said they were acting to reopen the roads to traffic, not to forcibly clear the site of protesters, however the protestors were also urged to peaceably leave the site.

The police action effectively dispersed the majority of the protesters from the site. Protesters were moved onto the sidewalk by the police; when they could no longer be accommodated on the sidewalk they spilled into the alleyways, and down Nathan Road towards Tsim Sha Tsui. Once they had crossed the police cordon they were not allowed to return to the intersection. A small number of protesters remained on the pavements surrounding the intersection.

Protesters interviewed by local television station TVB said they felt the police had misled them; some said they would join protesters on Hong Kong Island, while others said they wished to remain in Mong Kok to maintain the pressure on the government.

The Mong Kok site is one of the three main protest sites of the wider 2014 Hong Kong protests. Protesters have been demonstrating in a bid for the right by the public at large to have a role in the nomination of candidates to stand for the post of Chief Executive of the territory.