Bush reacts to the Iraq Study Report
Friday, December 8, 2006 When introducing the Iraq Study Group Report to a Senate Committee, former Secretary of State James Baker emphasized that all the 79 recommendations in the report complemented each other and had to be taken together. This was not a “fruit salad” from which one could pick and choose. Despite this, President Bush is giving indications that he is going to do just that. While agreeing that the Report had some good points to make, he said that he had also asked the Pentagon, the State Department and other government agencies to reflect on the Iraq situation and report their conclusions to him. The report proposes progressive changes to the role of the troops deployed in Iraq, from combat to the training of Iraqi forces and the withdrawal of all combat troops by early 2008, depending on local conditions. The President made it clear that matters concerning…
G20 protests: Inside a labour march
Wikinews accredited reporter Killing Vector traveled to the G-20 2009 summit protests in London with a group of protesters. This is his personal account. Friday, April 3, 2009 London – “Protest”, says Ross Saunders, “is basically theatre”. It’s seven a.m. and I’m on a mini-bus heading east on the M4 motorway from Cardiff toward London. I’m riding with seventeen members of the Cardiff Socialist Party, of which Saunders is branch secretary for the Cardiff West branch; they’re going to participate in a march that’s part of the protests against the G-20 meeting. Before we boarded the minibus Saunders made a speech outlining the reasons for the march. He said they were “fighting for jobs for young people, fighting for free education, fighting for our share of the wealth, which we create.” His anger is directed at the government’s response to the economic downturn: “Now that the recession is underway, they’ve…
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,…
Fat Free Desserts Can Be Your Sweet Treats
By Guido Nussbaum Man has always liked sweet things. In times past they braved bee stings before they learnt to control the bees. Later came sugar from cane so precious that in earlier times it was used more as a condiment is today, merely being sprinkled over food. In more recent times, beets, parsnips, carrots and other foods that are naturally sweet have all been used to provide that sugary flavour. Then, with modern dietetics we began to realise that eating lots of very sweet, fat heavy foods wasnt the best for the human body. But we still like that little treat. Hence the popularity of low fat desserts. Biscotti 1-1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking powder 9 tablespoons low fat spread 3/4 cup sultanas 2 eggs, beaten grated zest of 1 lemon or orange 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons water…
Craig Lowndes and Jamie Wincup become “Kings of the Mountain”
Monday, October 9, 2006 On Sunday the 888 Race Engineering team of Craig Lowndes and Jamie Wincup took out this year Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 and took the first ever “Kings of the Mountain” trophy – in honour of Peter Brock – home. The race was plagued with 10 safety car appearances with a little over a third of the field be wiped out, with Mark Skaife, the race favourite, being knocked out in the first lap. It’s the first year this Peter Brock Trophy is given to the winners. The top ten result were as follows: Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup : Team Betta Electrical : Ford Falcon Rick Kelly/Todd Kelly : Toll HSV Dealer Team : Holden Commodore James Courtney/Glenn Seton : JELD-WEN Motorsport : Ford Falcon Russell Ingall/Luke Youlden : Caltex Racing : Ford Falcon Steven Richards/Paul Dumbrell : Jack Daniel’s Racing : Holden Commodore Paul Morris/Steve Ellery : Siromet Racing : Holden Commodore Steve Owen/Tony Longhurst : Autobarn Racing : Holden Commodore…
Space Shuttle Endeavour lands in California
Monday, December 1, 2008 After windy and stormy conditions in Florida prevented its planned landing at Kennedy Space Center, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) decided to redirect the space shuttle Endeavour to California. It touched down successfully at Edwards Air Force Base at 1:25 p.m. local time, or 21:25, November 30, 2008 (UTC). NASA normally prefers to land space shuttles at its home base, Kennedy Space Center. In this case, NASA will have to transfer Endeavour atop a jumbo jet from California to Florida at an estimated cost of US$1.8 million. NASA had launched mission STS-126 on November 14 with eight astronauts led by Commander Christopher J. Ferguson. The mission was intended to make improvements to the International Space Station, including a new bathroom, sleeping quarters, and urine recycling system. The crew also successfully cleared metal shavings from a jammed solar wing rotary joint, which had affected energy…
Smoke from massive warehouse fire in Buffalo, New York USA can be seen 40 miles away
Monday, May 14, 2007 Buffalo, New York — A massive warehouse complex of at least 5 buildings caught on fire in Buffalo, New York on 111 Tonawanda Street, sending a plume of thick, jet black colored smoke into the air that could be seen as far away as 40 miles. As of 6:40 a.m., the fire was under control, and firefighters were attempting to stop it from spreading, but could not get to the center of the fire because of severe amounts of debris. Later in the morning, the fire was extinguished. “The fire is mostly under debris at this point. It’s under control, but it’s under some debris. We really can’t get to it. We’re just going to have to keep on pouring water on it so it doesn’t spread,” said Thomas Ashe, the fire chief for the North Buffalo based fire division who also added that at one…
Navajo group files fourth lawsuit against Trump Administration over U.S. national monument site
This article is a prepared story. It describes an event that is scheduled or expected but has not yet occurred.If this article is ready to be developed, change the {{prepare}} tag to {{develop}} This article is a prepared story. It describes an event that is scheduled or expected but has not yet occurred.If this article is ready to be developed, change the {{prepare}} tag to {{develop}} Friday, December 8, 2017 Today, a federal judge heard the first of several lawsuits filed against the U.S. government over the Bear’s Ears National Monument. Yesterday, the Utah Dine Bikeyah, a Navajo nonprofit, posted the fourth and latest of several lawsuits against the Trump Administration over plans announced Monday that would split the Bears Ears National Monument into several smaller parcels and greatly reduce its overall size. The Conservation Lands Foundation, Archaeology Southwest, Friends of Cedar Mesa, Society of Vertebrate Paleontology, Access Fund, and…
Looted, possibly contaminated body parts transplanted into USA, Canadian patients
Monday, March 20, 2006 Fears of contaminated bone and skin grafts are being felt by unsuspecting patients following the revelation that funeral homes may have been looting corpses. Janet Evans of Marion Ohio was told by her surgeon, “The bone grafts you got might have been contaminated”. She reacted with shock, “I was flabbergasted because I didn’t even know what he was talking about. I didn’t know I got a bone graft until I got this call. I just thought they put in screws and rods.” The body of Alistair Cooke, the former host of “Masterpiece Theatre,” was supposedly looted along with more than 1,000 others, according to two law enforcement officials close to the case. The tissue taken was typically skin, bone and tendon, which was then sold for use in procedures such as dental implants and hip replacements. According to authorities, millions of dollars were made by selling…
Australians need bigger toilets
Tuesday, March 7, 2006 Standards Australia, the non-government standards setting organisation in Australia has indicated that it is reviewing the weight limit for toilet seats as they need to accommodate the “increasing size of humans”. Obesity levels have been rising for years in Australia. Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that the percentage of Australian men who are overweight or obsese rose 10 percent in the last ten years to 62 percent. The number of females who are considered overweight or obese rose 8 percent to 45 percent. Standards Australia is considering recommending strengthening loos for larger users. They say experts will examine the seats “from the perspective that people are getting bigger.” Standards Australia says as the community’s weight increases, and many more Australians are in the heavier categories, toilet regulations have to be updated. General manager of standards development Colin Blair says toilets are currently required to meet…