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    Worldwide markets fall precipitously

    Monday, October 6, 2008 Stock markets around the world have fallen dramatically today. This is following the ongoing events in the financial world, including the US Government’s $700 billion bail out of the financial sector. As of 14:48 UTC, the primary UK index, the FTSE 100, dropped in value by 6.50% (323.65 points) to a point even further below the 5000 mark at 4656.60. The Dow Jones, was down 3.76% at 16:08 UTC, a slight increase from earlier today. The Dow Jones currently has a value of 9936.94 points, below the ten thousand mark. The Nasdaq index has fallen by 100.12 points to 1847.27, while the DAX was 6.62% lower…

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    NASA’s Juno spacecraft enters Jupiter orbit

    Wednesday, July 6, 2016 Yesterday, NASA announced their spacecraft Juno has reached Jupiter orbit. It was launched almost five years ago to investigate the largest planet of the Solar System, especially its past. Charles Bolden, NASA administrator, said, “Independence Day always is something to celebrate, but today we can add to America’s birthday another reason to cheer — Juno is at Jupiter”. He also added the spacecraft would help study the evolution of the Solar System and explore Jupiter’s radiation belts. NASA spent US$1.1 billion for Juno. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) reported Juno was confirmed in Jupiter’s orbit at 0353 UTC. Including the camera, the probe has nine scientific…

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    Campaigners angry at new British police tracking system

    Thursday, May 12, 2011 Civil liberties campaigners have reacted angrily to the announcement that the largest police force in Britain has purchased a revolutionary computer system which will allow them to track everything a person does online in a three-dimensional graphic. The Metropolitan Police service, responsible for policing London, announced the purchase of Geotime, a computer program which can correlate information from satellites, mobile phones, social networking websites, IP logs and financial transactions. The software is already used by the U.S. military. This latest tool could also be used in a wholly invasive way and could fly in the face of the role of the police to facilitate rather than…

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    Copiapó, Chile mining accident: in depth

    Wednesday, October 13, 2010 The rescue of the Chilean miners trapped in the San José Mine in Copiapó, codenamed Operación San Lorenzo (San Lorenzo Operation), began on Tuesday night, at around 20:00 local time (23:00 UTC). Florencio Ávalos was the first miner to be rescued, at 00:12 local time (03:12 UTC) on Wednesday. He was wearing a shirt signed by all his fellow miners. “The first miner is already with us. We saw it all, him hugging his wife Monica and his son Byron,” said President Piñera shortly after the first rescue. “We still have a long journey.” “This will be recorded on every single Chilean heart forever,” Piñera added.…

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    China’s consumer prices rise to a three-year high in June as food prices soar 14.4 percent

    Monday, July 11, 2011 China’s National Bureau of Statistics released data Saturday showing that the consumer price index (CPI) for June climbed 6.4% from a year ago. That compares with a 5.5% rise in May, which was the largest since a 6.3% increase in July 2008. The major factor contributing to this figure was the steep rise in food prices which climbed 14.4%. Pork is a major food staple in China, and its price rose 65% from last year. Analysts predicted that China’s inflation would peak in June, but particularly worrisome was the steep rise in the cost of food from the same time last year and up from 11.7%…

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    Preparations for inaugural Bathurst International Motor Festival begin

    Wednesday, February 22, 2006 The Bathurst Regional Council has begun preparing the Mount Panorama motor racing circuit for the inaugural Bathurst International Motorsport Festival (BIMF) to be held between April 13 and 16, 2006. The Mount Panorama motor racing circuit is considered to be the home of motorsport in Australia. Council’s staff have been busy cleaning the facilities, erecting signage, checking pedestrian bridges and inspecting the track surface for the past few days. The BIMF will be the first event to be held at the 6.2 kilometre circuit over Easter since 2000. In 2000, Event Management Specialists held the first motorcycle racing event since 1990, but due to EMS going…

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    Law will delay University of Minnesota strike

    Tuesday, August 28, 2007 A law was passed that will prevent clerical, technical and health care workers from striking when the University of Minnesota students return to classes on Tuesday, however, the new law makes no guarantee about workers striking on Wednesday. According to Jan Johnson, with the Minnesota Bureau of Mediation Services, both sides do wish to avoid a strike if at all possible. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have filed for a ten-day notice to strike, however, the ten-day notice to strike law requires that the tenth day of the cooling-off period fall on a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or a holiday,…

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    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…

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    Comedian Jon Stewart to host 78th Academy Awards

    Friday, January 6, 2006 American comedian and Daily Show anchor Jon Stewart has been chosen to host the 78th Annual Academy Awards. This is not Stewart’s first time hosting an awards show as he hosted the Grammys in 2001 and 2002. His choice by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shows their continuing attempt to target a younger viewing audience. Last year’s host was Chris Rock, also a comedian who is popular with young adults, whose performance and jokes at the expense of celebrities irked some Academy members. The Academy has also been seeking an Oscar host with the appeal of popular hosts such as Billy Crystal, Johnny…

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    Canadian government tax processing computers back online

    Thursday, March 15, 2007 The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) announced today that computer systems involved with the processing of tax returns for individuals are back online. Tax processing had been halted on March 6, 2007, due to a computer glitch. The source of the problem had been traced back to software maintenance performed on March 4. In an update on the CRA website, dated March 14, Michel Dorais, Commissioner of the Agency, stated that all of the databases had been restored and CRA employees are processing the backlog of returns and payments. Tax processing for businesses had not been affected by the computer shutdown. In his statement, Dorais thanked taxpayers…