Thursday, April 21, 2005 U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law Wednesday a major bankruptcy reform bill, making the most sweeping changes to the laws of personal bankruptcy in the past two decades. Bill S.256 is predicted to reduce the chances of filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy for 30,000 to 210,000 families per year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. […]
Wall dividing island of Cyprus torn down but divisions still stand
Friday, March 9, 2007 On Thursday March 8, 2007 the government of the Southern Greek part of Cyprus used heavy machinery to allow its military to tear down the five-meter high concrete wall on the Green Line that divides the island. The wall has stood in the Cyprus capital of Nicosia for more than 40 years. It has been a […]
Strong earthquake hits Pakistan, north India, Afghanistan
Saturday, October 8, 2005 The strongest earthquake (7.6) that South Asia experienced in the last century caused widespread damage across Pakistan, North India, and Afghanistan this morning. Strongest hit was apparently Kashmir. Tens of thousands of people are feared dead. The epicenter was close to Muzaffarabad, 138 km to the north of Islamabad, and also caused severe damage from both […]
Water main bursts in west Edinburgh; traffic, utilities disrupted
Saturday, May 28, 2011 In Edinburgh, capital of Scotland, part of an underground water piping system has exploded, forcing local residents to be evacuated. The pipe broke around 03:30 BST (0230 UTC) today, within Allan Park Road, causing flooding in the Slateford area of the city. A spokesperson for Scottish sewerage and water corporation Scottish Water explained: “Early this morning […]
Wikinews interviews Jim Hedges, U.S. Prohibition Party presidential candidate
Saturday, January 29, 2011 U.S. Prohibition Party presidential candidate Jim Hedges of Thompson Township, Pennsylvania took some time to answer a few questions about the Prohibition Party and his 2012 presidential campaign. The Prohibition Party is the third oldest existing political party in the United States, having been established in 1869. It reached its height of popularity during the late […]
Ottawa plans tax windfall to deal with budget surplus
Sunday, October 9, 2005 Canada’s federal government has announced a new program that plans to share unexpected budget surpluses with ordinary citizens. It should be introduced in Ottawa as early as Friday. The Surplus Allocation Act would share any surplus equally between tax cuts, new spending and debt relief. It would not replace Canada’s $3 billion emergency fund. Under existing […]
Apes and birds are able to plan ahead: psychologists
Friday, May 19, 2006 According to psychologists in Leipzig, Germany, apes and some birds are able to plan their actions ahead of time. Psychologists Nicholas Mulcahy and Josep Call at Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology say that apes are able to save tools to use at a later time, that will assist them in retrieving food. The results of […]
Find me all the red balloons; MIT wins DARPA challenge
Monday, December 7, 2009 A team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) won the challenge to find ten 8-foot (2.4 metre) weather balloons spread across the continental United States, just nine hours after the event’s start. In a test of the nation’s social networking skills, the US Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) offered US$40,000 (€26,900) to […]
Global markets plunge
Friday, October 10, 2008 Stock markets across the world have fallen sharply with several seeing the biggest drop in their history. Asian markets saw the biggest sell-off. The Nikkei dropped 9.62% to reach a 20 year low. Japan also saw a collapse of a mid-size insurance company, Yamato Life Insurance Company, which declared bankruptcy. The Hang Seng, which was one […]
US Congress House panel OKs big cut in public broadcasting funds
Saturday, June 11, 2005 A House subcommittee voted Thursday to sharply reduce the federal government’s financial spending for Fiscal Year ’06, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help produce such shows as Sesame Street and Arthur. The spending cutbacks far exceeded even those requested by the White House. Among initiatives slated for reduction are $39 million for conversion to digital programming […]