US swimmer Phelps suspended over ‘pot pipe’
Friday, February 6, 2009 United States swimmer Michael Phelps has been banned from competition and his training stipend revoked for three months by USA Swimming after Phelps was photographed smoking from a glass pipe, often used for smoking cannabis. The picture was published last Sunday by British tabloid News of the World. USA Swimming, which is the governing body of swimming in the United States, however said that no “anti-doping” rules had been violated. “This is not a situation where any anti-doping rule was violated, but we decided to send a strong message to Michael because he disappointed so many people, particularly the hundreds of thousands of USA Swimming member kids who look up to him as a role model and a hero,” it stated. “Michael has voluntarily accepted this reprimand and has committed to earn back our trust.” HAVE YOUR SAY Should Phelps have been punished at all? If…
Bomb blast damages buildings in Athens
Friday, March 20, 2009 Two buildings have been damaged in a bombing in Athens, Greece on Thursday. The target was a building owned by an agency that manages state real estate. Nobody was injured in the blast, but the building’s entrance was damaged. A nearby store and a parked car also sustained damage. The homemade device, which consisted of explosives placed inside a plastic bag and tied to a pole close to the target, damaged the Hellenic Public Real Estate Corporation building. The area was cordoned off by police after the explosion, which occurred at 9:30 p.m. local time yesterday. Bomb disposal experts checked the area following the explosion, while anti-terrorism officers began their investigation. The building is about 250 yards from the Athens police headquarters, and is also close to the Supreme Court. No claim of responsibility has yet been made, but the Greek conservative government has been attempting…
IndyMac Bank placed into conservatorship by US Government
Saturday, July 12, 2008 In what regulators have described as the second-largest bank failure in the history of the United States, IndyMac Bank has been closed by the Office of Thrift Supervision and placed under the conservatorship of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) due to plummeting shares and the start of a run on the bank. This is the fifth FDIC-insured failure of the year. The FDIC has said that it will transfer all insured deposits and substantial assets, to the new IndyMac Federal Bank which, as the name implies, is controlled by an agency of the federal government. The aim is for the transfer to be completed by Monday. In a press release, the FDIC attempted to reassure customers by saying that, “insured depositors and borrowers will automatically become customers of IndyMac Federal, FSB and will continue to have uninterrupted customer service and access to their funds by…
G7 says “all available tools” will be used to solve crisis
Saturday, October 11, 2008 In the midst of the intensifying global financial crisis, finance ministers and central bankers of the G7 nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom – met in Washington, D.C. and released a joint statement. With failures of large financial institutions in the United States, the crisis rapidly evolved into a global crisis resulting in bank failures in Europe and the Americas, and sharp reductions in the value of stocks and commodities worldwide. The crisis further lead to a liquidity problem and the de-leveraging of world assets, which further accelerated the problem. The crisis has roots in the subprime mortgage crisis and is an acute phase of the financial crisis of 2007–2008. After the meeting, a joint statement was released with a commitment to “stabilize financial markets and restore the flow of credit.” The statement outlined five steps to achieve…
“Woofstock” dog festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Tuesday, June 12, 2007 North America’s largest outdoor dog festival came back to Toronto last weekend for its fifth year. It ran from the 9th of June to the 10th of June at Toronto’s historical St. Lawrence Market. A Wikinews reporter was there on Sunday to report on some of the events that happened on the last day. The “Woofstock” dog festival attracted as many as 140,000 people with their dogs. The festival had tons of accessories, sold under tents, to buy for dogs; food, toys, designer clothes, and more. About 400 vendors and exhibitors were there to promote their products, which also gave private dog companies or groups a chance to show their new products. The local SPCA and some animal rescues were under tents answering questions from visitors. While walking, all visitors could see the CN Tower and other very tall buildings. One of the local TV stations,…
Canada’s Astral Media Inc. to aquire Standard Radio
Monday, February 26, 2007 Canadian Astral Media Inc. will buy out Standard Radio Inc., which runs many radio stations in Canada. Standard Radio Inc. is the largest privately owned multimedia company in Canada. Montreal based Astral Media Inc. will buy all of the assets from Standard Radio Inc. for about CAN$1.2-billion. Standard Radio Inc.’s 52 radio stations, and Astral’s 29, will be brought together by Astral Media Inc. This will give Astral 81 radio stations in total. This makes Astral the largest radio operator in Canada of FM and AM radio. “With the acquisition of Standard Radio, Astral Media will not only be acquiring the best performing radio stations in the country, we will at the same time acquire a company with similar values and culture. said Ian Greenberg, President and CEO of Astral Media. “Over the past four decades the Slaight family has built a remarkable collection of strong…
Study claims to show difference between male and female brains
Wednesday, February 16, 2005 Michael Gurian, psychologist and author of “What Could He Be Thinking?“, has claimed to identify approximately one hundred structural differences between male and female brains in a recent study. Gurian comments: “Men, because we tend to compartmentalize our communication into a smaller part of the brain, we tend to be better at getting right to the issue, the more female brain (will) gather a lot of material, gather a lot of information, feel a lot, hear a lot, sense a lot.“ One major structural difference that Gurian has made clear is that males generally have more activity in the mechanical centers of the brain, while women have more activity in centers of the brain dedicated to verbal communication and emotion. A clear example of this is the hypothetical situation of giving a child a toy. He explains it as such: “That doll becomes life-like to that…
Nokia appoints Microsoft Business Division Head as chief executive
Sunday, September 12, 2010 The Finnish communications corporation Nokia announced that its Head will change on September 21. The previous chief executive Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo will continue to chair in non-executive capacity. The head of Microsoft Business division Stephen Elop will take the position. It is the first time a non-Finn becomes Nokia president and chief executive. The change follows Nokia’s fall in world markets. It includes a decrease in Nokia’s American market share to less than ten percent after failed negotiations with a number of leading American phone providers. An analyst at a market analyst company Canalys, Pete Cunningham, said, “Despite holding 38 percent market share of the smartphone market, Nokia’s failure to compete with the iPhone and high-tier Android devices, combined with its lack of progress in gaining significant traction in the United States, has led to press and investor dissatisfaction.” Some commenters suggested that Nokia chose Mr. Elop…
Category:Chennai
This is the category for Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu, India. Formerly called Madras. Refresh this list to see the latest articles. 30 June 2017: Thousands gather in Jantar Mantar and other cities to protest against mob violence 20 December 2015: Chennaiyin FC score late goal, beat Goa 3-2 to win Indian Super League 2015 11 April 2012: Massive earthquake hits Indonesia, no tsunami risk 26 December 2009: Terror alert in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai 1 May 2009: Runaway EMU train collides with freight train in India 15 May 2008: Finnair negotiating possible partnership with major Indian airlines 11 May 2007: Tamil Nadu film ‘Sivaji: The Boss’ expectations peak 17 February 2007: Sai Baba upsets Telangana activists 27 January 2007: West Indies wins the third match of the cricket series against India 11 August 2006: U.S. issues warning of terrorist attacks in India see older articles?Category:Chennai From Wikinews,…
NZ Government passes bill to legalise controversial electioneering overspending
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 A new law to govern how New Zealand political parties spend money in the run up to an election has just been passed in Parliament. The Appropriation Bill was passed by 61 votes to 50 after hours of debate. Parliament’s been under urgency to allow Member of Parliaments (MPs) to discuss the new legislation, which now validates the $1.2 million of unlawful spending before last year’s election. National, ACT and the Maori Party opposition failed to stop the passage of the Appropriation (Parliamentary Expenditure Validation) Bill and it passed by 61 votes to 50. The Green Party abstained. The Government rushed the bill through under urgency in two days, despite National putting up 130 amendments to try to slow it down. A key National amendment to make the validation conditional on all parties paying back the money was among those that failed. The bill prompted fiery…