Monday, October 5, 2009

Thousands of rebels in Nigeria’s volatile Niger Delta have surrendered their weapons, after they accepted a government offer of amnesty, reports say.

Local rebel leader Government Tompolo arrived in Warri on Sunday, after promising to support Nigerian president Umaru Yar’Adua in return for a pardon. He was among the heads of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities (FNDIC), blamed for halting a large portion of oil in 2003 from the Nigerian west delta.

The leader of another group, the Ijaw Niger Delta Vigilantes, Ateke Tom, and five thousand fighters also surrendered arms in the city of Port Harcourt. However, Tom said that his group would restart attacks if the Nigerian government did not follow up on their promise to invest in the area, saying that “if they refuse to develop our region we will go back to the creeks.”

Other rebel groups had refused to disarm until their main demands were discussed, but the government said it was unwilling to negotiate until weapons were surrendered. Niger Delta’s religious and community leaders had mounted pressure on the militants to embrace the peace process.

With their disarmament, the government’s pledge to resolve years of violence that has stopped the flow of one million barrels of oil per day appears to be on course. President Umaru Yar’Adua, whose 60-day amnesty offer commenced on August 6, said that the government is keen to build upon the success so far achieved.

Since 2006, militant activities have crippled operations of oil companies in southern Nigeria, resulting in a steep decline in production. Nigeria, one of Africa’s two biggest oil producers, derives more than 90 percent of its foreign exchange earnings from oil.

Friday, November 7, 2014Albuquerque, New Mexico —Online entertainment is a booming market, and plenty of players are making their play; back in March of this year The Walt Disney Company bought the multi-channel network Maker Studios. What is web entertainment, and the arts therein? And, who are the people venturing into this field? Wikinews interviewed Mario Lucero and Isabel Ruiz, the founders of Heaven Sent Gaming, a small entertainment team. This group has been responsible for several publications, within several different media formats; one successful example was aywv, a gaming news website, which was #1 in Gaming on YouTube in 2009, from September to November; Heaven Sent Gaming was also the subject of a referential book, released in 2014, entitled Internet Legends – Heaven Sent Gaming.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Belinda Stronach, Canadian MP for Newmarket-Aurora crossed the floor from the Conservatives to join the Liberals just days before a scheduled confidence vote in the Liberal government. She was immediately rewarded by being appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and Minister responsible for Democratic Renewal.

“I’ve been uncomfortable for some time with the direction the Conservative party was taking,” Stronach said. “I regret to say that I do not believe the party leader is truly sensitive to the needs of each part of the country and just how big and complex Canada really is.”

She disagreed with the party on its stance on the federal budget, same-sex marriage, and Conservative leadership’s alliance with the separatist Bloc Québécois to bring down the government.

Two days after Stronach switched parties, the ruling Liberals won a crucial vote for their budget by a single vote. If Stronach had not joined the Liberals and voted for the budget, the government would have fallen, forcing a new federal election.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Dell Inc., a global leader in computer hardware manufacturing and sales, announced yesterday that it will delay filing of its annual performance report, the Form 10-K, required for compliance with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Nasdaq listing rules.

In a press release, Dell explained that an audit committee of the company’s board of directors is carrying out an investigation into accounting and financial reporting issues. The company stated that it would delay filing of the 10-K since the investigation had not been completed.

The internal investigation has found evidence of accounting errors, misconduct, and deficiencies in areas of financial control.

The chairman of Dell’s audit committee, Thomas Luce III, indicated that the delay in filing would extend past the April 3, 2007 deadline as well as an April 18, 2007 extension date. “As we move toward the conclusion of our investigation, we are committing the time and resources required to ensure a thorough and comprehensive review and resolution of all identified issues and the implementation of appropriate remedial measures,” said Luce.

The investigation is to determine whether the restatement of any financial disclosures are warranted, based on the accounting errors identified. The probe will also assess whether there are deficiencies in Dell’s internal control over financial reporting.

Friday, May 5, 2006

Australian Prime Minister John Howard and federal industry minister Ian MacDonald today announced that the federal government would be providing Ford Australia with a AU$52.5 million (US$40.4 million) “financial assistance package”. Additional assistance will also be provided by the Victorian state government.

According to Mr Howard, the injection will secure Ford’s manufacturing operations in Australia “for the long term”.

From the package, AU$40 million will be used for the design and manufacture of Ford’s next model Falcon and Territory vehicles, which will be built in Australia.

Despite being given a major facelift in 2002 and another in 2005, the Falcon’s bodyshell dates back to 1998. The current Falcon will need to serve the company until at least 2007 when the new model is anticipated. In the meantime, it will face stiff competition from the completely new Holden Commodore (the Falcon’s major competitor) which will be released in the second half of this year.

The additional AU$12.5 million will be spent on the development of a light commercial vehicle platform, which will be built overseas and marketed to around 80 countries. Mr Howard said that the light commercial project would involve construction of a research and development centre, which will become the base for R&D projects in the region.

Mr MacFarlane said that the research facility was exciting for Australia and that it would put the Australian automotive in the spotlight.

“The funding has helped Ford Australia secure the largest automotive R&D project ever undertaken in Australia which is equally exciting news for local Ford employees and Australian component producers” he said.

“The project will see Ford Australia become a centre for automotive design and engineering excellence in the Asia Pacific region which will bring spin-off benefits for the broader industry,”

“This opportunity will put both Ford Australia, and the Australian automotive and components sectors on the world map as far as our automotive design and engineering capabilities are concerned.” Mr MacFarlane said.

Mr Howard claims that the projects will create 273 jobs and secure the future of the “iconic” Ford Falcon, which has been built in Australia since 1960.

The financial package is conditional upon Ford Australia giving the Australian automotive component industry an opportunity to supply components for the vehicles produced by the two projects.

Monday, January 31, 2005

Metlife announced on 01/31/05 that they were going to acquire Travelers Life and Annuity from Citigroup. Travelers Life and Annuity is an insurance underwriter. MetLife is a large life insurance and annuities underwriter. MetLife will have to borrow a lot of money to pay for the company, so rating agencies like S&P warn that the AA credit rating of MetLife might be lowered. This would cause the interest rates at which all of MetLife’s debt must be repaid to increase.

Citigroup committed to continue distributing Travelers life insurance and annuities through its Smith Barney stock brokers, Primerica agents, and Citibank branches.

Citigroup was previously known as Travelers Insurance before it bought Citicorp. First the Property and Casualty business of Travelers was spun off, and now the life insurance division has been sold off. This is primarily because insurance underwriters get a lower price to earnings multiple from the stock market because of the cycles and uncertainty associated with the insurance business. Also, having an insurance underwriter and a bank together does not usually create “cross-sell” opportunities, because consumers and businesses almost always buy life insurance and annuities through brokers who have a duty to give them other options. Citigroup will continue to sell insurance through its brokers as before.

Friday, September 23, 2022

Thursday, scientists at the University of California San Diego reported in the journal Science of the Total Environment that a type of polyurethane already used in biodegradable land-based products can also break down when immersed in seawater. This polyurethane is already used as a substitute for plastic in foams and shoes.

The research team performed their experiments at the Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial Pier and Experimental Aquarium. They cut the polyurethane into cubes similar in size and shape to those naturally formed by EVA plastics. They wrote that several types of marine bacteria and fungi stick to the polyurethane and break it down to its component chemicals, which they then consume for food. The polyurethane microbes had already made detectable progress when the scientists checked the samples after four weeks in the water.

“Improper disposal of plastic in the ocean breaks down into microplastics and has become an enormous environmental problem,” said study co-author Stephen Mayfield, director of the California Center for Algae Biotechnology. “We’ve shown that it’s absolutely possible to make high performance plastic products that also can degrade in the ocean.”

Humans deposit roughly 8 billion kg of plastic in the ocean each year, where it can be mistaken for food by marine organisms. Natural forces break the plastic into the small pieces that we call microplastic, while larger chunks forms near-islands, such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. By mass, about half the patch is commercial fishing waste, such as discarded nets, but reducing the amount of post-consumer plastic in the ocean would still make a considerable dent in the planet’s plastic problem.

This type of polyurethane is can be used to make flip-flops and parts of other shoes, which make up a considerable portion of the world’s plastic waste.

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