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Icelandic Internet bank suspends UK accounts

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

The Icelandic internet bank, Icesave, has suspended all 300,000 of its UK customer accounts, leaving account holders in the United Kingdom unable to withdraw or deposit any funds. A message on its website posted this morning states:

“We are not currently processing any deposits or any withdrawal requests through our Icesave internet accounts. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our customers. We hope to provide you with more information shortly.”

The internet bank, owned by the Icelandic bank, Landsbanki (Landsbankinn), which was recently nationalised in an attempt to rescue it, has been hit by the global financial crisis. Reports from the United Kingdom suggest that the traders and city are preparing for the parent company to be declared insolvent, leaving customers to recover their monies through a financial compensation scheme being backed by the Icelandic Government. The plan will cover the first € 20,887 (Approx £16,300 / $28,720), the remainder of the customers funds being recovered through the UK’s own financial compensation system.

Following the decision to nationalise Landsbanki, the Icelandic Prime Minister, Geir Haarde, who introduced and signed the emergency legislation into law, stated:

“What we are doing here is saving a banking system – saving the domestic banking system – and making sure that it can function properly. And I think, also, through our declaration on domestic deposits in these banks and saving institutions, we have been able to avoid a run on the banks here, and therefore prevent it.”

In describing and explaining its actions in nationalising the bank, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority issued this brief statement:

“Based on new legislation, the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority (IFSA) proceeds to take control of Landsbanki to ensure continued commercial bank operations in Iceland. Domestic deposits are fully guaranteed, as declared by the government. Landsbanki’s domestic branches, call centres, cash machines and internet operations will be open for business as usual.”

In response to the deepening world financial situation, the Dutch government has this afternoon increased its savers protection from €38,000 to €80,000 effective immediately, to help secure the financial status of its savers within Holland. Icesave also has a Dutch branch, icesave.nl – their website was unreachable at the time of this article.

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Australian police seize one tonne shipment of ecstacy

Friday, April 15, 2005Police in Melbourne have seized over a tonne of ecstacy in a shipment of tiles from Italy. Four were arrested on Thursday and early Friday relating to the shipment, which the Australian Federal Police has called the biggest shipment of street-ready ecstacy pills in the world.

The four men were charged with aiding and abetting a prohibited import, according to ABC radio. Five million tablets were seized, with a reported street value of US$190 million (AU$250m). Two were additionally charged with attempting to possess a prohibited import.

Federal police were continuing to investigate a crime ring behind the shipment, a spokesperson told News24.com.

Federal Agent Mike Phelan said: “The AFP is now working with its counterparts in Italy and other parts of Europe to identify any overseas links with this latest seizure.”

X-rays taken of the shipment, which arrived in Port Melbourne earlier in the week, had revealed anomalies inside eight pallets which were stacked with tiles, said a report from Australian Associated Press.

Police then monitored the shipping container until it was delivered on Thursday to a suburban Melbourne factory, where two men were arrested, according to the News24.com report. Agents searched a dozen homes and businesses across Melbourne and arrested two more men early on Friday. All four suspects were due to appear in court later on Friday.

Federal Justice Minister Chris Ellison praised the AFP, the Australian Customs Service and the Australian Crime Commission involved in the operation, which he told Australian Associated Press had been ongoing since January.

“This big seizure sends a very clear message to those who want to traffic drugs to Australia, you will be caught and face very serious penalties,” Senator Ellison told the news agency, saying the shipment “could have wreaked havoc”.

“Anyone who says this sort of seizure does not slow the supply of drugs is quite obviously out of touch with reality.”

The previous largest Australian ecstasy haul occurred in November 2004 in Sydney, when 1,800 pounds of ecstasy tablets and powder were seized, Australian Federal Police (AFP) told Reuters, compared to this shipment’s weight of 2,240 pounds.

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British Airways flight makes emergency landing in Iceland, terrorism ruled out

Saturday, August 26, 2006

A British Airways (BA) flight from London to Denver made an emergency landing at an airport in Iceland today after smoke was seen emerging from an oven in the aircraft’s rear kitchen.

A BA spokesman said that the Boeing 777 landed safely at Keflavik Airport. He added that the plane’s 268 passengers left the craft unharmed.

A spokeswoman from the Iceland Civil Aviation Administration ruled out any terrorist involvement. She added: “They were 50 miles from Keflavik when it was thought there was a fire. But it turned out to be only smoke.”

The flight should complete its journey to the US tomorrow. Passengers are spending the night in a hotel.

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Turkish homeless man burns to death after being neglected

Friday, January 19, 2007

On one of the very crowded streets of Istanbul, Turkey, an elderly homeless man died of burns thought to have been caused by a fire he lit to warm himself. The police officers who came to help could not extinguish the fire with the small bottles of water which they had.

The man was seen earlier in one of the most crowded streets of Istanbul screaming “I do not have a blanket, someone stole my blanket!”. He was offered a cookie and a coat by two passers-by before someone called an ambulance. He was refused admittance to two different hospitals because he lacked identification, and the ambulance eventually left him where he was picked up.

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NASA sets launch date for Space Shuttle Discovery

Saturday, March 7, 2009

After almost two months of delay, NASA has set March 11 as the launch date for Space Shuttle Discovery. On February 22, NASA had stated that they indefinitely delayed the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery, which was originally scheduled for takeoff on February 12. Launch was then further delayed until February 25 before being delayed indefinitely on February 22. NASA cited the need for additional time to evaluate the shuttle’s hydrogen fuel flow control valves.

Liftoff is set for nighttime on Wednesday, March 11, at approximately 9:20 p.m. (EST) from Launch Complex 39A in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The official countdown to launch will commence Sunday, March 8.

“The team came through, worked hard and was efficient. It’s time now to step back and think of everything else we need to watch before launch on the 11th. There’s no better team than this one and I thank them for putting the right analysis together,” said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA.

NASA wanted to perform additional tests on the valves which control the amount of hydrogen fuel pumped into the external tank when the shuttle is taking off before making a decision to launch. When Space Shuttle Endeavour went into space in November 2008, one of the valves broke. NASA fears that if one breaks off on this mission, then it could damage the outside of the shuttle.

The current scheduled mission, STS-119, is set to fly the Integrated Truss Structure segment (“S” for starboard, the right side of the station, and “6” for its place at the very end of the starboard truss) and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The arrays consist of two 115-foot-long arrays, for a total wing span of 240 feet, including the equipment that connects the two halves and allows them to twist as they track the sun. Altogether, the four sets of arrays can generate 84 to 120 kilowatts of electricity – enough to provide power for more than 40 average homes.

Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery’s crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata.

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2,000 face redundancy at English steelworks

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Corus Group, the world’s fifth largest steel producer, announced on Friday that it may be forced to mothball its steelworks in Redcar, England. This move would threaten the jobs of the works’ 1,920 employees.

Corus may be forced to close its Teesside operations as a consortium has refused to honour a 10-year contract with Corus’ Teesside Cast Products, which accounted for 78% of the plant’s operations. Corus’ chief executive, Kirby Adams, said he was “extremely disappointed that the consortium members have seen fit to take this irresponsible action.”

Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, said “it is essential that Corus does everything it can legally, and with the government’s assistance, to reinstate the agreement”. Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister, shared this view saying, “We are doing everything in our power to ensure that the contract is upheld.” Mandelson also said “we are not prepared to reconcile ourselves to the inevitable closure of this plant”.

The leader of Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, Councillor George Dunning, said “Today is like being hit by a mini earthquake compared to what’s happened in the past.”

Martin Callanan and Stephen Hughes, Tory, and Labour MEPs for North East England, supported the idea that the government should subsidise wages in the plant on a temporary basis. Hughes and Fiona Hall, Lib Dem MEP, suggested that the government should apply to the EU’s Globalisation Adjustment Fund. Hall said “if the worst comes to the worst and jobs are indeed lost, I trust the Government will change its mind and support an application to the European Globalisation Fund in order to fund skills training for those who have lost their jobs.”

This move could “bring to an end a fine heritage of steelmaking at Teesside”, according to Adams. Steelworks in Teesside, which previously belonged to British Steel and Dorman Long, produced steel for famous structures like the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Corus had said it was likely there would be a “very significant number of redundancies” and a 90-day consultation period is due to begin.

Corus’ owner, Tata Steel, are also facing difficulties with another UK operation, automobile company Jaguar Land Rover.

Finance

Payday Advance Uk: Resourceful Finance In An Instant

Payday advance UK: resourceful finance in an instant

by

Tim Kelly

Most of the people in UK, especially those who are employed are struggling a lot these days due to financial crisis. With a diminishing income and higher expenses, even maintaining a strict monthly budget is of no help. Moreover, there are other expenses as well, which come up without any prior warning. The cash gap that follows is hard to fill, until and unless you opt for external financial aid. In these circumstances, payday advance come in handy, as it is crafted fro the sole purpose of providing monetary aid that enables the people to take care of the unexpected expenses.

Payday advance is basically a short term loan, where the applicant can derive instant funds to tackle expenses on needs like paying medical bills, store and other utility bills, loan installments, tour expenses and so on. The amount sanction is based on the applicants up coming payday. It means that the amount is made available for a short term period of 15- 30 days. You are free to borrow any amount in the range of 100- 1500 in a hassle free manner.

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Since the amount is made available for a short term period, there is no need of pledging any collateral. The amount is further advanced without any credit check, thus paving the way for applicants with a history of bad credit problems to get hold of the funds. With no collateral and no credit check, the approval will come instantly as the processing is fast.

However, in order to qualify for the advance, you have to meet some of the criteria s laid down by the lender. Only those who are employed for the past few months with a fixed monthly income are considered eligible. A valid checking account is also required and that the age of the borrower should be more than 18 years.

The terms and conditions are quite reasonable. But prior to the availing of payday advance, a little research of the online market using the online services will definitely help you to get a better loan deal. Besides, applying online is considered to be safe and reliable.

Payday advance UK tackles all your monetary problems by offering monetary assistance, when you need it the most.

Tim Kelly is an expert in finance having completed her LLM in Finance (Master of Laws in Finance) from Institute for Law and Finance at Frankfurt University. She is currently working with Bad Credit Payday Loan as a financial advisor. To find speedy payday advance uk, bad credit payday loans, advance payday loans, payday loans, cash payday loans that best site’s you need visit

bad-credit-payday-loan.net/

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com

Uncategorized

California public school requires RFIDs on students

Saturday, February 12, 2005

Sutter, CA –An elementary school in northern California has been testing a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag-based identification program on its 7th and 8th grade students since January 18th, 2005. According to the ACLU, this is the first time that public school students in the United States have been required to wear devices that enable automatic identification. RFIDs have previously been used to track students in Japan.

RFID tags contain antennas to enable them to receive and respond to radio-frequency queries from an RFID transceiver, enabling identification of pupils when they are in the vicinity of the detectors.

Each student is required to wear an ID card on a lanyard around their neck. An RFID tag, manufactured by local Sutter corporation Incom, is attached to the card. The school has installed RFID detectors at the doors of seven classrooms as well as the bathrooms, though they claim that the bathroom units were not turned on, and subsequently been removed after complaints from parents.

While some parents have complained about the system, local high school teacher Tim Crabtree told the San Francisco Chronicle, “It’s baffling why so many people are bothered by the district being able to tell them where their kids are at,”

On the other side, the San Francisco Chronicle quotes the 13-year-old daughter of Michelle and Jeff Tatro as saying:”Look at this. I’m a grocery item. I’m a piece of meat. I’m an orange.” Another couple in Sutter, Michael and Dawn Cantrall, filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU. The complaint centered on the violation of privacy and concerns about safety.

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American animator Jack Zander dies, aged 99

Thursday, December 20, 2007File:Puss Get the Boot.jpg

Jack Zander, the animator whose career lasted from the “golden age” of theatrical animation into the 1980s, has died at the age of 99 on Monday, December 17.

Born in May of 1908, he helped animate the Tom and Jerry cartoons with William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, including Puss Gets the Boot (1940), The Night Before Christmas (1941), Fine Feathered Friend (1942), and Sufferin’ Cats (1943).

Zander was nominated for an Outstanding Animated Program Emmy in 1981 for Gnomes, and in 1984 he won the Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists’ Golden Award.

Cabling

Ive Passed My Electrical Training On An Electrician Course What Next?}

Ive Passed My Electrical Training on an Electrician Course What Next?

by

Pion Smith

So youre a qualified electrician. What now? Well, many electrical contracting companies and certainly if youre self employed will require you to purchase and own your own tools of the trade. During your electrical training your course provider will have touched on what the standard and indeed the most useful tools to own are to support you in your role following your Electrician Training Courses.

The electrician’s trade requires use of a range of hand and power tools and instruments. Usually an electrician will have a personal set of hand tools and general-purpose test instruments, with the more costly power tools or instruments provided by the employer or business. Some are used as part of electrical training on an electrical course.

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Some of the more common tools are:

Pipe and tube bender, Lineman’s pliers, Diagonal pliers (also known as side cutters or Dikes), Wire strippers, Cable cutters, Highly leveraged pliers for cutting larger cable, Rotosplit, Multimeter, Step-bit, Cord, rope and/or fish tape (Used to ‘fish’ cables and wires into and out of cavities),Crimping tools, Insulation Resistance Tester and Knockout punch for punching holes into sheet metal to run wires or conduit. These are not all essential as discussed during your electrical course.

Other general-use tools with applications in electric power wiring include screwdrivers, hammers, reciprocating saws, drywall saws, metal punches, flashlights, chisels, adjustable slip-joint pliers and drills, Ground Fault Indicator Tester and Test lights. Specialist tools are often explained as part of an Electrician Training Courses.

Even after your electrician course is complete. Many training organisations such as Delta Electrical Training have qualified lectures on hand for advice and guidance. Where appropriate other electrical training courses may be available to offer additional support and guidance in your new role.

In terms of post certification from your electrician course, there are a range of support areas and forums online as well as job boards that can offer further information about electrical engineering best practice and also the most beneficial Electrician Training Courses to undertake.

Delta Electrical Training

a Lancashire based leading provider of electrical training to the electrical installation industry. Our reputation for excellent service delivery and outstanding candidate success rate is unrivalled both in Lancashire and throughout the UK. For more details on

electrical course

please visit our website

deltaelectricaltraining.co.uk

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Ive Passed My Electrical Training on an Electrician Course What Next?}