Thursday, November 8, 2007 What you are about to read is an American life as lived by renowned author Edmund White. His life has been a crossroads, the fulcrum of high-brow Classicism and low-brow Brett Easton Ellisism. It is not for the faint. He has been the toast of the literary elite in New York,…
Bank of America leads Consumer Financial Protection Bureau complaints about mortgages
Thursday, October 3, 2013 A review this week by Wikinews of US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) complaints about mortgages in the United States shows Bank of America leads all lending institutions in complaints. Since mortgages complaints were recorded in December 2011, 77,622 total have been added to CFPB’s database. 29.2% of these complaints involved…
Food with cancer-causing dye recalled in Britain
Saturday, April 30, 2005 The British Food Standards Agency (FSA) has announced a recall of foods containing banned dyes which increase the risk of cancer. The food products were sold at the Tesco, Waitrose, and Somerfield supermarkets. A Bristol company called “Barts Spices” found the illegal Para Red substance in their Barts Ground Paprika, which…
Toxic chemical spills in the Ohio River
Thursday, March 1, 2007 At least 10,300 gallons of a toxic chemical, Cumene, also called isopropyl benzene, which is generally used in paint thinner, fuels, and rubber, spilled from a barge after it hit a wall of an underwater moveable dam in the Ohio River between Illinois and Kentucky, according to the United States Coast…
Australian health workers to close intensive care units in Victoria next week
Thursday, March 13, 2008 Members of Australia’s Health Services Union (HSU) will go on strike in Victoria next week in a dispute over stalled wage and career structure negotiations. Over 5000 physiotherapists, speech pathologists and radiation therapists will walk off the job next week, effectively closing the state’s 68 largest health services. The strike will…
India: Maharashtra plastic ban comes into force
Monday, June 25, 2018 On Saturday, the plastic ban in the Indian state of Maharashtra came into force. In an attempt to minimise pollution, the state government has introduced a ban on single-use plastics. The leader of the Yuya Sena political party, Aaditya Thackeray, said on Twitter, “The ban on single use disposable plastic cups,…
Musharraf quits as chief of army staff in Pakistan
Thursday, November 29, 2007 President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan gave up his uniform in a ceremony yesterday in Rawalpindi. He handed power over to General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the headquarters of the Pakistani Army, after being the leader of the army for nine years. In his final address as leader of the army, he…
Republican leaders in US want more tax relief in economic stimulus
Monday, January 26, 2009 As the newly inaugurated Barack Obama administration continues to push for a US$825 billion stimulus package to aid the struggling United States economy, some Republican legislators say they will not vote for such a plan without the inclusion of more tax cuts and less “unnecessary” spending. Arizona Senator John McCain, Obama’s…
Southern Australian munitions factory explodes
Wednesday, May 10, 2006 An Australian munitions factory exploded in South Australia. Two people were killed, another two were injured and one is still missing. The factory produced explosives for quarrying, civil engineering and the military. The explosion leveled everything within 100 metres and could be heard from 70km away. Emergency services have been held…
UK hostage Peter Moore released in Iraq
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 Peter Moore, a British IT consultant and computer programmer who was taken hostage by Iraqi militants during a May 2007 militant raid on the finance ministry in Baghdad, has been released alive and in good health. He is the only known survivor of a group of five hostages, consisting of himself,…