British conductor Edward Downes and wife die in double assisted suicide
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 British conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Joan took their lives at a Swiss assisted suicide clinic on Friday, July 10, 2009, according to a statement from their family. Lady Downes, 74, was afflicted with terminal cancer, and Sir Edward, 85, was nearly blind with increasing hearing difficulties. These disabilities had forced him to give up conducting. Having no religious beliefs, the couple decided against holding a funeral. The statement read, “After 54 happy years together, they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems. They died peacefully, and under circumstances of their own choosing, with the help of the Swiss organisation, Dignitas, in Zurich.” Many who knew the couple as friends said that Sir Edward was not terminally ill, but wanted to die with his wife, who he had been with for more than 50 years. Sir…
Germans and Arabs establish a search engine that competes with Google
Wednesday, April 26, 2006 In the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Seekport, a German and Saudi founded technological company, began to start on a web-search engine dedicated to the Arabic language called Sawafi. According to Arabic marketing officials, it is predicted to compete with the popular web-search engines, such as Google or Yahoo. Sawafi’s goal is to be as successful as the Chinese web-search engine, Budai, which in China, which has made a great improvement to its marketing businesses. Although internet access is low in the Middle East, Sawafi wishes to reach the other Arab communities in North America or Europe.
Tunisia casts vote in first free election
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Voters in Tunisia went to the polls on Sunday in the first elections for the country since the events of January this year, when President Ben Ali was toppled after twenty three years by the revolt which triggered the Arab Spring. The electoral commision announced that 90 percent of the 4.1 millon registered citizens in the electorate had voted. 3.1 million citizens were eligible to vote but unregistered. It has been predicted that Ennahda, an Islamist party, will become the single largest party with about 40 percent of the vote, short of a majority. The actual result, according to election officials, should be released late Monday or Tuesday. an important step forward There were queues hundreds of metres long throughout Tunisia from early morning. The polls started closing at around 19:00 local time (1800 UTC) but those already queued were allowed to vote. United States President…
John Reed on Orwell, God, self-destruction and the future of writing
Thursday, October 18, 2007 It can be difficult to be John Reed. Christopher Hitchens called him a “Bin Ladenist” and Cathy Young editorialized in The Boston Globe that he “blames the victims of terrorism” when he puts out a novel like Snowball’s Chance, a biting send-up of George Orwell‘s Animal Farm which he was inspired to write after the terrorist attacks on September 11. “The clear references to 9/11 in the apocalyptic ending can only bring Orwell’s name into disrepute in the U.S.,” wrote William Hamilton, the British literary executor of the Orwell estate. That process had already begun: it was revealed Orwell gave the British Foreign Office a list of people he suspected of being “crypto-Communists and fellow travelers,” labeling some of them as Jews and homosexuals. “I really wanted to explode that book,” Reed told The New York Times. “I wanted to completely undermine it.” Is this man…
Former Satyam CEO Raju, his brother and CFO arrested and detained in profit-fraud scandal
Monday, January 12, 2009 Byrraju Ramalinga Raju, founder and chairman of Satyam Computer Services, and his brother, B. Rama Raju, the company’s managing director, were arrested late Friday by Andhra Pradesh police. The brothers were placed under judicial custody in a Hyderabad, India jail and will remain there until January 23. Facing charges of criminal breach of trust (Section 406 of IPC), criminal conspiracy (Section 120-B), cheating (Section 420), falsification of records and forgery (Section 468), and fraudulent cancellation of securities (Section 477-a), they face up to ten years imprisonment if convicted. After 18 hours of interrogation by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) at the state police headquarters, the Raju brothers were sent to the Chanchalguda prison and slept Saturday night on the floor along with 26 other low-risk inmates. S. Bharat Kumar, the Rajus’s lawyer, asked the magistrate to issue orders for health monitoring. “His blood pressure is fluctuating…
Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO apologies for financial planning scandal
Thursday, July 3, 2014 Ian Narev, the CEO of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, this morning “unreservedly” apologised to clients who lost money in a scandal involving the bank’s financial planning services arm. Last week, a Senate enquiry found financial advisers from the Commonwealth Bank had made high-risk investments of clients’ money without the clients’ permission, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars lost. The Senate enquiry called for a Royal Commission into the bank, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Mr Narev stated the bank’s performance in providing financial advice was “unacceptable”, and the bank was launching a scheme to compensate clients who lost money due to the planners’ actions. In a statement Mr Narev said, “Poor advice provided by some of our advisers between 2003 and 2012 caused financial loss and distress and I am truly sorry for that. […] There have been changes in management,…
Colorado College Tigers win 41st annual Great Lakes Invitational tournament
Friday, December 30, 2005 The Colorado College Tigers beat the Spartans of Michigan State University in men’s ice hockey on Friday, for the title of champions of the 41st annual Great Lakes Invitational ice hockey tournament at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. The Tigers, the team chosen to be invited into the tournament and appearing for the first time since 1965 in the tournament, led with a 5-0 lead during the second period, after which Michigan State switched goalies. The Spartans put freshmen Jeff Lerg into net, replacing Dominic Vicari, who was earlier given a penalty for his contact with a member of Colorado’s team in front of the net. Michigan State junior Tyler Howells scored two goals during the second period, and Colorado student Brett Sterling made the Tiger’s final goal for the night. Colorado College took first place in the invitational, and Michigan State ended in second place,…
Emporio Armani Classic Chronograph Navy Blue Dial Ar1787 Mens Watch}
Submitted by: Jasson Cnz Emporio Armani is a brand that rules the upper echelons of the world of fashion. However, when it comes to watches, they are comparatively new but they are coming up fast. So far, they have been extremely successful in filling the gap between high quality and a low price and have been able to showcase fine specimens that are crafted with precision European craftsmanship. That way, the Armani is a brand that has gone a long way and has made a good impression in the world of stylish horology. Prestige meets brand power and exclusivity in the Valente range from Emporio Armani, which also need no introduction. Neither of the products it comprises; still, the Emporio Armani Classic Chronograph Navy Blue Dial AR1787 Mens Watch needs a mention for its chunky yet classy appearance. The watch brings together two distinct properties that are poles apart, which…
‘Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography’ released, $100 million lawsuit in planning stages
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography, a biography of actor Tom Cruise written by journalist Andrew Morton, was released in the United States yesterday amidst the potential for a US$100 million lawsuit against its publisher, St. Martin’s Press. The book will not be published in Australia, Britain, and New Zealand due to strict libel laws in those countries. Morton had previously written the biography of Diana, Princess of Wales, Diana: Her True Story. The book has reached number nine on Amazon.com‘s list of top sellers. The book describes Cruise as the No. 2 leader of the Church of Scientology, blames Scientologists for the breakup of Cruise and actress Nicole Kidman, and states that Cruise’s latest mission is to recruit David Beckham and wife Victoria into Scientology. The book also describes how some Scientology followers thought that Cruise’s wife Katie Holmes was impregnated with frozen sperm from L.…
FBI arrests, charges man over nude videos of US presenter Erin Andrews
Sunday, October 4, 2009 The FBI have arrested a man and charged him with interstate stalking over allegations he was responsible for nude videos of United States sports news presenter Erin Andrews. The videos appeared on the Internet earlier this year. The FBI believes seven videos of Andrews were made in Nashville, Tennessee in September last year while another one was made in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is believed that the suspect, Michael David Barrett, 48, stayed each time in a room next to Andrews and modified her room’s peephole with a hacksaw in order to take the videos with his mobile phone. Barrett was returning from a trip to Buffalo, New York on Friday when he was arrested at Chicago‘s O’Hare International Airport. He has been held over the weekend and made an initial court appearance in Chicago on Saturday. It is alleged that Barrett tried to sell the videos…