Romanian tourism to be rebranded
Friday, May 6, 2005 Romania’s National Authority for Tourism (ANT) announced that they would promote tourism in Romania through a new branding strategy, in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development. The director of ANT, Marius Critonescu, said that the branding exercise will be “a significant component of the Romania’s development as a new tourist destination of international level.” He also added that the development of an integrated brand for Romanian tourism will promote a more positive image for the country, thereby increasing the number of tourists and investors. In recent times, there has been quite a lot of investment in “national branding”, especially in the field of tourism, as most marketing experts believe that branding for a product or a country is theoretically the same thing, and that the same strategies and approach should be used for both. Concerning the Romanian tourism rebranding, international tourism and marketing…
Russian mathematician declines Fields Medal
Tuesday, August 22, 2006 A Russian mathematician, Grigori (“Grisha”) Perelman, who is credited proving the Poincaré conjecture declined to accept the Fields Medal, regarded as the highest honor in the field of mathematics. The Fields Medal, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of mathematics”, was awarded this year to Andrei Okounkov (Russia/US), Terence Tao (Australia/US) and Wendelin Werner (France) in addition to Perelman. The award was handed out by King Juan Carlos of Spain and is accompanied by a C$15’000 (approximately US$13’400 or 10’400EUR) cash prize (less than the one million Euros that come with the Nobel prize). Nominees have to be under 40 years, because the founder of the award, Canadian mathematician John Charles Fields wanted the medal to be a stimulus for future endeavours. Perelman submitted two papers in 2002 and 2003 outlining a proof for Thurston’s geometrization conjecture, which in turn, implies a proof for the…
Pakistan’s intelligence agency said to support Taliban
Sunday, June 13, 2010 A report from the London School of Economics claims that the intelligence agency of Pakistan, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), has close ties to the Taliban in Afghanistan. According to the report, the ISI actively provides the Taliban with services such as funding, weapons, and the training of troops. Additionally, the report, which is based on interviews with members of the Taliban, says that numerous ISI officials are part of the Taliban’s council of war, the Quetta Shura, although some Taliban commanders say that all Quetta Shura members have ties to the ISI. A senior Taliban official said that “[i]t is impossible to be a member of the Quetta shura without membership of the ISI.” Taliban commanders said that the ISI has specifically provided support to or encouraged strategies such as attacking specific NATO military installations or infrastructure essential to NATO operations such as roads or bridges…
News briefs:August 2, 2010
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7 Important Things To Check Before You Select An Electric Lift Chair
Click Here To Know More About: Bean Bag Beans Australia Bean Bag Beans 7 Important Things to Check Before You Select an Electric Lift Chair by Dan Greenwood An electric powered lift chair is one of the most helpful things someone with poor balance or muscle weakness can own. While not perfect for everyone, a good lift chair will enable the user to follow medical instructions about keeping legs elevated and reduce the chance of a fall while standing up and sitting down. However, if someone chooses the wrong chair it can be not only uncomfortable, but downright dangerous. Electric lift chairs look like standard recliners, which means that they do not stand out as “medical equipment” in any home. These chairs use the power of a motor to raise and lower the entire chair. When the owner is ready to sit or stand the chair slowly rises up or…
Grandfather held in Guantanamo dies of cancer
Monday, December 31, 2007 Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) reported a fifth Guantanamo captive, named Abdul Razzak, died in captivity, on December 30, 2007. JTF-GTMO asserted that Razzak had complained of abdominal pains in September 2007, and had begun to receive cancer therapy in late October 2007. JTF-GTMO estimated that he was born in 1939. According to the JTF-GTMO press release that announced his death: Abdul Razzak was assessed to be an experienced jihadist with command responsibilities and was assessed to have had multiple links to anti-coalition forces. He was detained in Guantanamo as an enemy combatant, consistent with the international law of Armed Conflict. Abdul Razzak was one of the few Guantanamo captives who continued to attend his Combatant Status Review Tribunal and his annual Annual Review Board hearings. Abdul Razzak had disputed all but one of the allegations against him, at each opportunity, and had provided his JTF-GTMO…
Íngrid Betancourt returns to France
Friday, July 4, 2008 Freed hostage Íngrid Betancourt arrived in France today, two days after being rescued from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who had kept her captive in the Colombian jungle for more than six years. Standing alongside President Nicolas Sarkozy at a military air base southwest of Paris, Betancourt said, “I cry with joy.” The Colombian-French politician was greeted at the air base by the President and the First Lady, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, along with some supporters. “I have been dreaming for seven years of this moment. I owe everything to you,” she said, thanking France for pressuring Colombia to “think of other than military options”. She added, “France is my home and you are my family.” Sarkozy said her safe return shows people in difficult situations that “there is hope, light at the end of the tunnel.” After the welcome at the air base, which was…
Wikinews Shorts: March 26, 2012
This article mentions the Wikimedia Foundation, one of its projects, or people related to it. Wikinews is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. A compilation of brief news reports for Monday, March 26, 2012. Contents 1 Australian Broadcasting Company releases content to Wikimedia under free license 2 3.1 earthquake aftershock rattles central Virginia 3 Central Chile rocked by second earthquake in 24-hours 4 Tiger Woods secures first PGA Tour win in 30 months 5 New leader of Hong Kong chosen while protestors seek ‘true democracy’ In lieu of the Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) turning 80 this year, they have decided to release a collection of historic audio and visual content under a Creative Commons free license for use on Wikipedia and for use by the public. Project officer Liam Wyatt hopes that “this release from the Australian public broadcaster will be the beginning of an ongoing relationship with the Wikimedia projects…
Australia Votes 2007: Liberals promise personal income tax cuts
Tuesday, October 16, 2007 With the election campaign just beginning, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has promised AU$34 billion in personal income tax cuts over the next three years. That is on top of $31.5 billion announced in May, and $36.7 billion announced in 2006. The new tax cuts are based on new projections for growth in the Australian economy. The Treasury estimates that the economy will expand by 4.25% in the 12 months to June 2008, up from growth of 3.75% predicted in May. The Government has challenged the Labor opposition to announce their tax policy immediately. “The biggest, boldest tax plan that we’ve seen in a long time is presented yesterday, it deals with participation, competitiveness, building capacity in the Australian economy, and what does Kevin Rudd say? Nothing,” treasurer Peter Costello said. “He better have an answer today.” Costello described the government tax policy as “very responsible”…
Former Japanese prime minister Hashimoto indicated his retirement
Friday, August 12, 2005 On the 11th August, the former Prime Minister of Japan Riyutaro Hashimoto, age 68, formally indicated he would not run for the Okayama 4th constituency of the House of Representatives, the Lower House of Japan, due to defectiveness of his physical condition, possibly nominally. Since the current prime minister Junichiro Koizumi had resolved that House, an election will be held on September 11. The next day of that announcement, on the 12th, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) executive committee showed they had no intention to recognize him as a candidate to proportional representative constituency. There might be no possibility for him to run for the coming election as the LDP candidate and his political career would inevitably end. On the July, 2004 it was reported that Hashimoto did not state the donation of 1 hundred million yen from a lobbist organisation in the annual political financial…