Wednesday, July 11, 2012

In the United Kingdom, radio personality Chris Moyles has announced his intention to stop presenting his breakfast show, The Chris Moyles Show, on BBC Radio 1 in September of this year, having presented it since January 2004. Nick Grimshaw, who is currently a late-night presenter at the radio station, has been appointed as his replacement.

Moyles, who presents Channel 4 game show Chris Moyles’ Quiz Night, broke the record for the longest-running breakfast show on Radio 1 in September 2009, surpassing Tony Blackburn’s record from September 1967 to June 1973. The Chris Moyles Show has also achieved two Sony Awards. Moyles hosted an edition of his show in March 2011, lasting for 52 hours, which raised £2.4 million for British charity Comic Relief. It was at the time the longest radio broadcast ever. From September of this year, Moyles is to portray the role of Herod in a UK tour of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Jesus Christ Superstar.

In July 2011, Moyles had signed a BBC contract, worth a million pounds, to allow him to continue presenting his show until January 2014. According to The Guardian, Greg James had been widely anticipated to take Moyles’ position after his departure. Moyles said his position was “his dream job” and one he had “wanted since I was a child … I know some kids want to be a professional footballer or a fireman but not me, I’m a geek and I wanted to be on the radio and I wanted the biggest radio show you could get and eventually I got it.”

Moyles, who has referred to himself as the ‘saviour of Radio 1’, wished to “give [the listeners] a heads up and tell [them] that we are going to wrap it up” on his show. In a speech, Moyles said he has had “the best time of [his] life” and spoke of his belief that “it’s almost time to go, and so we’re off. I just wanted to let you know. A couple more months of us and then it’s someone else’s turn to have a go, so thanks for listening and I hope you stay with us until the end because I promise it’s going to be brilliant.”

BBC Radio 1 controller Ben Cooper considered Moyles to be “the most successful breakfast show host in Radio 1 history” and described him as “fantastic”. Grimshaw said that he “love[s] Chris and have always looked up to him as one of the best broadcasters ever”.

In contrast, Daily Mail columnist Paul Connolly criticised Moyles, calling him a “cultural barbarian” who “assault[s] our eardrums with drivel” and describing him as “deliberately, determinedly yobbish”. There have been numerous occasions when Moyles has caused controversy, such as feeling the breasts of singer Melanie Brown live on air in June 2008 while providing a running commentary as he was doing so. After his appearance on BBC television programme Who Do You Think You Are? in January 2009, he remarked: “[U]nlike a lot of the Who Do You Think You Are? shows I didn’t go to Auschwitz. Pretty much everyone goes there whether or not they’re Jewish. They just seem to pass through there on their way to Florida.” This caused the BBC to state in response: “[W]e regret that on this occasion his comments were misjudged and we are speaking to Chris and his team about them.”

Moyles said in a May 2006 programme: “I don’t want that [ringtone], it’s gay”, prompting accusations of homophobia. In his defence, the corporation explained “the word ‘gay’, in addition to being used to mean ‘homosexual’ or ‘carefree’, was often now used to mean ‘lame’ or ‘rubbish’.” The LGBT charity Stonewall subsequently awarded Moyles ‘Bully of the Year’ at their award ceremony that year. The Guardian also quoted him as saying in November 2006: “Yeah, I’m homophobic, I don’t like the gays. Sorry, it just does my head in.”

Cooper has reportedly been placed under pressure to try and decrease the age demographic of the audience of Radio 1. Having been told that the station should attempt to broadcast primarily to individuals aged between 15 and 29 by a BBC Trust review in 2009, a separate review by the body in June 2012 found that too many of its listeners were over the age of 30.

Recent figures have suggested BBC Radio 2 breakfast show host Chris Evans is more popular than Moyles’ programme. RAJAR statistics for the latest period indicate that Evans’ programme received a peak of 9.2 million listeners every week on average while The Chris Moyles Show achieved a figure of 7.1 million at the same time. During the same period last year, Moyles’ show was getting an audience of approximately 7.5 million.

Grimshaw, who is one of the presenters of youth programming block T4 on Channel 4, commented he was “super-excited to be hosting the iconic Radio 1 Breakfast Show, it’s been a dream of mine since the age of 11 and to be honest it hasn’t really sunk in yet.” Cooper describes Grimshaw as a “great broadcaster with a passion for music and a mischievous sense of humour, which has made him a hit with our listeners” and believes he will be an “excellent” replacement for Moyles, “bringing a new generation of listeners with him.”

Saturday, March 27, 2010

At least eleven people have died in a crash between a van and a tractor-trailer on Interstate 65 south of Munfordville, Kentucky. The collision occurred around 5:16 a.m. CDT (1016 UTC) yesterday morning near the 63-mile marker.

According to officials the tractor-trailer crossed the median and struck the 18 passenger van head-on. The truck then hit a rock wall and burst into flames. The driver of the truck is reported to have died along with ten passengers in the van. The family in the van were Mennonites from Kentucky on their way to a wedding in Iowa.

Officials said that one infant was killed but two other children in the van aged four and five that were in child restraint seats survived with minor injuries. Northbound Interstate 65 was to be closed until at least 4 p.m. CDT (2100 UTC) according to the Kentucky Department of Transportation.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Miami of Ohio beat the Michigan Wolverines 3–2 at the finals of the NCAA Midwest regional ice hockey tournament Sunday night at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Miami sophomore forward Alden Hirschfeld scored at 1:54 into the second overtime when his shot from the top of the left face off circle deflected into the goal off the skate of the Michigan goaltender Shawn Hunwick.

Pat Cannone led the scoring with two power play goals for Miami during regulation. It looked as though Michigan had won the game in the first overtime when Michigan’s forward Kevin Lynch appeared to score. Unfortunately for Michigan the referee blew the whistle calling a penalty just before the puck went in the net. The Miami goaltender Connor Knapp who made 53 saves in the game was named the most outstanding player of the midwest regional tournament.

This was the first multiple overtime game for the Miami of Ohio RedHawks in their 23 years. Miami will be going to the Frozen Four for the second straight year.

The Boston College Eagles advanced to the Frozen Four in a shoot out with the Yale Bulldogs. BC defeated Yale 9–7 last night at the finals of the NorthEast regionals in front of 6,054 fans at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts.

BC forward Cam Atkinson had a hat trick and an assist. Mark Arcobello of Yale also had a hat trick. In an attempt to find a way to stop the Eagles scoring Yale played three different goalies during the game. The sixteen total goals is a NCAA record for a regional tournament game. The previous record was thirteen.

This will be the 22nd time that Boston College has made it to the Frozen Four, it is the ninth for coach Jerry York and their third trip in the past four seasons. BC will face Miami of Ohio in the semifinals on April 8 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan.

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

A dock worker on the Panamanian cargo vessel Ma Altair was killed when a cable snapped and threw him through the air. Witnesses say that the 54 year old worker was struck on his right side by a 1-1/2 inch cable being used to unload steel products.

Authorities were notified at 8:10 am CDT (1310 UTC). The victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Snapped cables are a significant occupational hazard, capable of maiming and dismembering people nearby. Equipment struck by cables snapping under load is often destroyed.

Monday, July 4, 2016

On Saturday, in the quarter-final of UEFA Euro 2016, Germany defeated Italy 6–5 in a penalty shootout decider as the score was 1–1 at the end of additional time. Germany missed three penalties in the shootout, but Manuel Neuer stopped two penalties by the Italians.

Early in the first half, Bastian Schweinsteiger was substituted for German midfielder Sami Khedira following a muscle injury. The Germans had greater ball possession and also led in passing accuracy. But they had to wait till the 65th minute when Mesut Özil scored a goal. Thirteen minutes later, the lead was nullified as the Italians were awarded a penalty kick as defender Jérôme Boateng committed a handball foul in the penalty area. Stepping up for the penalty, Leonardo Bonucci scored the equaliser. This was the first goal Neuer conceded in his last 557 minutes of major tournament play. The previous record was set by Sepp Maier at 481 minutes.

The match proceeded to additional time as the score was 1–1. None of the sides could find the net in the additional time and the referee signalled a penalty shootout. Lorenzo Insigne and Toni Kroos scored their respective kicks. In the next round, Simone Zaza missed while Thomas Müller’s spot kick was saved by Gianluigi Buffon. When Andrea Barzagli scored his penalty kick and Özil missed by hitting the woodwork, Italy were 2–1 up.

Graziano Pellè missed his penalty and the Germans levelled as Julian Draxler scored. Leonardo Bonucci’s attempt to score was saved by Neuer, but Schweinsteiger wasted his chance to lead the shootout. Emanuele Giaccherini and Marco Parolo scored their spot kicks, as did Mats Hummels and Joshua Kimmich. Mattia De Sciglio’s goal was followed by Boateng’s equalising penalty. Neuer saved Matteo Darmian’s kick and Jonas Hector scored the winning penalty.

Neuer was awarded the Man of the Match award.Eighteen players stepped up for the penalty shootout equalling the record of the UEFA Euro 1980 third-place encounter. Except for these two fixtures, never has a Euro match witnessed eighteen men taking the spot kick.

Germany is to play winner of France and Iceland in the semi-final. Mats Hummels is to miss the semi-final serving a one-match ban. Striker Mario Gomez is to miss the semi-final with torn muscle fibres. Schweinsteiger pulled his knee ligaments.

Manager Joachim Löw responded to these injuries saying, “It is very bitter to lose important players in the decisive stage of the tournament. I am especially sorry for Mario. […] For us this means accepting the new situation and having to find solutions. We will do so. The quality in the squad is high and I have full confidence in all players.”

Monday, June 5, 2006

Gunmen forced their way into a building used by Palestinian Television in Khan Younis today. Approximately 15 gunmen fired toward the sky as they stormed the building shouting, “You are collaborators. You are biased. You are dirty people” the staff reported.

The armed men then discharged their weapons wildly into cameras, computers and other equipment leaving one employee of the transmission centre to say, “The whole place is ruined.” After wreaking havoc for several minutes and beating up a cameraman, the vandals left.

Palestine TV stopped broadcasting for 30 minutes in protest at the attack.

According to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the opposition Fatah party, the Hamas government has until midday (0900 GMT) on Tuesday to agree with a manifesto that touches on an issue at the heart of Palestinian politics. The script indirectly recognises Israel as it calls for a Palestinian state to exist beside Israel.

Hamas came to power in the January 2006 elections, overcoming the incumbent Fatah parliament. The party denied being involved in the attack on the television station.

Abbas has threatened a July referendum on the manifesto if parliament does not accept the treatise by the specified time.