Author: Admin

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

In an unexpected move, US Airways has placed a $8 billion bid for Delta in the morning of November 15, 2006, rallying the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed at 12,251.71, a record high.

The offer to buy Delta once the Atlanta-based airline emerges from bankruptcy protection by the middle of 2007 would give Delta’s unsecured creditors $4 billion in cash and 78.5 million shares of US Airways stock. Delta has yet to file its own plan of reorganization.

If completed, the deal would combine two of the oldest and most storied airlines in the United States. Delta started as a crop duster in the 1920s and grew to make its base at Atlanta-Hartsfield the nation’s largest airport. US Air started as a mail carrier in the 1930s and has gone through several mergers and two bankruptcies.

“Consumers will have more choice and more reach, and a carrier that has a cost structure of a low-fare carrier,” US Air CEO Doug Parker said in a phone interview.

The last airline deal of this magnitude, United Airline’s proposed purchase of US Airways, was blocked by the Justice Department on antitrust grounds in 2001, just before the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.

Management of Delta have not endorsed the deal, stating they wish to prevail as independent. On Wall Street, however, US Air (up $6.64 to $57.57) investors welcomed the proposal, sending the carrier’s stock soaring more than 12 percent in midday New York Stock Exchange trading. Investors also were pleased with Delta, with shares soaring 19 percent but then going back to modest gains. If the deal is completed the airline would operate under the name of Delta but nothing is set in stone.

Friday, November 10, 2006

The New Zealand government has said that it prefers building a new stadium at Auckland’s waterfront to host the grand final of the 2011 rugby world cup, instead of upgrading Auckland’s current stadium, Eden Park.

The preference was made public by the Honourable Trevor Mallard who is the minister for the rugby world cup that will be hosted in New Zealand in 2011.

The new stadium hasn’t yet been confirmed and is awaiting November 24, which is the date when the Auckland council will give the government their views on the two options available to them; waterfront or upgrade.

According to Mr Mallard the waterfront will cost altogether around NZ$497 million compared to the cost of an upgrade of Eden Park of $385 million. However that pricing is only based on concept drawings at this point in time. The government will provide half of the funding for the waterfront stadium but they will only provide funding for the Eden Park upgrade if it was considered to be for regional purposes and not a national stadium.

Mr Mallard said: “The government has decided that a waterfront location is the option that can most meaningfully contribute to the Government’s vision for Auckland as a truly world-class, international city. This has been a finely balanced call with little difference between the two options in terms of cost and construction timelines. Advice from the experts shows that both can be delivered on time.”

The greatest concern facing the government is if they will be able to build the new stadium in time but construction will being in December 2007 to be finished by 2010, and also investigators said that it would be possible. “We have had advice from Australasia’s leading stadium designers, engineers, architects and construction experts. There is a unanimous view that the waterfront stadium is a challenge, but eminently achievable,” Mr Mallard said.

“In making its decision, the government believes that a sports stadium has the ability to contribute to the identity of Auckland and New Zealand. A national stadium will be as much a focal point of Auckland’s landscape as Rangitoto or the Sky Tower. We also believe the construction of an iconic facility such as this will help drive Auckland’s aspirations for the development of the waterfront and CBD.”

Referring to the upgrade of Eden Park, Mr Mallard said: “One of the greatest concerns is that its application for consents has unacceptable uncertainty as to the timing and outcome of the consents within the construction time available. There is also risk around the lack of flexibility in a residential area around construction times, should delays or problems with construction arise.”

The government will also need to pass a special bill that will enable them to build the required options because of consent issues.

The government had also considered these following options: Eden Park (various options), CBD waterfront (various options), North Harbour Stadium, Manukau Harbour (adjoining Westfield station), The former Carlaw Park, Mt Smart Stadium, Avondale Racecourse, The Auckland Domain and Jade Stadium.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Chemotherapy is usually associated with a collection of side effects ranging from digestive problems to hair loss, but a study published this week in Human Reproduction demonstrated that female cancer patients may find they have something in common with much younger women in one specific area — their ovaries.

Scientists from the University of Edinburgh examined donated ovarian tissue from fourteen female cancer patients, most of whom had Hodgkin lymphoma, and compared it to tissue from healthy women. They found the samples from women who had been treated with a specific chemotherapeutic regimen known as ABVD not only contained greater numbers of dormant ova — egg cells — than those from women treated with harsher regimens but also more than samples from healthy women. ABVD is named for combining several drugs known as adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine.

These reproductive cells were not merely more plentiful in ABVD patients. They also appeared immature, “new” in the words of lead researcher Evelyn Telfer. This challenges the conventional belief that girls are born with all the ova they will ever have and the numbers can only go down as the cells are either used up by the reproductive cycle or succumb to damage or natural aging. However, further research is needed to confirm this. The study covered relatively few patients by scientific standards, and David Albertini of the Center for Human Reproduction in New York has suggested the cells may not actually be freshly grown. Instead, they may have always been there and were merely rendered more detectable by ABVD treatment.

The ability to grow new egg cells may have significant implications for women in Western societies, many of whom postpone childbearing to establish careers, sometimes into their late thirties or forties. However, Telfer warns against making use of these findings too soon: “There’s so much we don’t know about the ovary. We have to be very cautious about jumping to clinical applications.”

The experiments had been discussed earlier this year at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

The winner of the British television reality show Celebrity Big Brother, Shilpa Shetty expressed her gratitude to Prime Minister Tony Blair during a meeting at the U.K. Houses of Parliament.

The Bollywood actress observed prime minister’s question time in the Commons before meeting Mr Blair himself. She thanked him for his support, describing him as “very sweet.”

The visit took place following an invitation by Labour MP for Leicester South, Keith Vaz, who led calls for action against the treatment of Ms Shetty during her stint on the reality TV show. Celebrity Big Brother was criticised by public and politicians alike last month after Ms Shetty’s treatment by other contestants erupted in an international race row.

Today, she told reporters she had thanked the PM for his support “to me and my country”.

Her visit drew widespread media attention and she was greeted at Parliament by a media scuffle, including over 20 reporters from her native India.

“To see how so much respect has been bestowed upon me has truly been an honour,” she added.

According to organisers, the Commons chef had even prepared a special dessert in her honour “Shilpa’s delight” and she was also introduced to Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell.

The actress was crowned winner of Celebrity Big Brother, following confrontations with fellow housemates Jade Goody, Jo O’Meara and Danielle Lloyd who were accused of bullying and racism. Despite denying the claims, all three lost most of their major endorsements and Jade and Danielle’s partners are said to have left them.

Politicians became embroiled in the proceedings when media regulator Ofcom received more than 40,000 complaints from viewers.This resulted in the row reached both the House of Commons and India, where chancellor Gordon Brown’s bridge-building visit was overshadowed by controversy caused by the programme.

In the evening, Ms Shetty travelled to the city of Leicester to meet with members of Keith Vaz’ constituency. Reena Combo, editor of British Asian entertainment magazine Ikonz, was one of the guests. Ms Combo felt the visit would boost a sense of belonging amongst Leicester-South’s largely Asian population.

“I think it’s wonderful to see Shilpa Shetty taking the time to visit the people of Leicester. There has been a great deal of national interest in Shilpa since her appearance on Big Brother but many of the people here, especially the Asian community, have been fans of the Bollywood star for much longer so it’s nice to see her rewarding her loyal supporters.”

“She has over the last few weeks become an inspiration to many and become very much a part of British life.”

As yet, the Bollywood actress continues her tour of the country as an unofficial ambassador for the Indian film industry and has been invited to attend a Commonwealth reception at London’s Marlborough House on March 12, where she will be meeting with the Queen.

Monday, December 19, 2005

Rocket company SpaceX, notorious for repeatedly pre-announcing its first flight on Wikinews, cancels its latest attempt and defers further flights until 2006.

This latest launch attempt on the 19th December was cancelled due to structural issues with the first-stage fuel tank of the Falcon 1 rocket. An electrical fault caused a valve to shut inappropriately, and as fuel drained out a vacuum was created causing the side of the fuel tank to buckle inwards.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

The online payment service PayPal has received a banking licence in Luxembourg, promoting it to the status of a bank. As a consequence PayPal will move their headquarters to Luxembourg.

Since 2004 PayPal had the status of an Electronic Money Issuer supervised by the U.K. Financial Services Authority. Having an official bank status opens new prospects for the company: “This will allow us to actively scout retailers in different European countries. With our British licence, we could only do that in the U.K. itself, and in other countries we could only react to requests of the retailers themselves,” Christopher Coonen, General Manager of PayPal Southern Europe and Benelux, explained.

The change will not affect existing customers dramatically, says Coonen: “We are going to inform them of the new status, and they will have to accept our terms of service again.” He also said that for now, there were no plans to use the new licence to offer traditional banking services, but the possibility was being evaluated by PayPal. Working with local partners would be an option to accomplish this, according to Coonen.

The British newspaper The Daily Telegraph speculates that the move is part of a strategy to compete with Google’s payment service Google Checkout, which launched in the U.K. last month.

PayPal has 130 million users worldwide, and 35 million customers in Europe. Payments via its mother company eBay continue to make up 60% of PayPal’s revenues. More than half of Britain’s internet users have a PayPal account.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

With a state by-election coming up in Victoria, Australia, many minor parties and independent candidates will be looking to gain a seat in the Legislative Assembly. Liz Mumby is one of the independents.

“I am a medical sales professional, a wife and mother and a small business owner,” says Mumby, the Division of Altona. “I don’t come from a political background, I live in the real world.” She argues that “we should not limit the debate to public transport issues just because the retiring member was the Minister for Public Transport.”

Wikinews reporter Patrick Gillett held an exclusive email interview with Mrs. Mumby.