Archive for June, 2010

US airlines eke out US$12 million profit in first quarter

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

US airlines in the first quarter of 2010 managed to eke out a US$12 million profit, mostly from “ancillary” services like checked baggage fees, pet transportation fees and more.

Compared to the first quarter of 2009, checked baggage fees soared 33% to $769 million. The airlines also reaped $554 million in reservation change fees, and made $534 million from other ancillary sources; such services (including checked baggage fees, reservation change fees, etc.) made up 21.7% of Spirit Airlines’ income, the highest in the industry.

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Braidwood Inquiry finds Dziekanski tasering in British Columbia unjustified

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Speaking at a June 18 media conference following the release of the report on the second phase of the inquiry into the events at Vancouver International Airport on October 14, 2007 Mr. Braidwood concluded “that the constable was not justified in deploying the weapon, and that neither that constable nor the corporal honestly perceived that Mr. Dziekanski was intending to attack any of the officers. I also concluded that the two other constables, during their testimony before me, offered patently unbelievable after-the-fact rationalizations of their police notes and their statements to the [RCMP Integrated Homicide Investigation Team] investigators.”

RCMP Commissioner William J.S. Elliott responded to Mr.Braidwood’s report in a press release saying “The RCMP acknowledges that its handling of this incident failed at many levels and we agree that events that took place at the Vancouver International Airport on October 14, 2007, should have unfolded differently. It is clear that our policies and training in place at the time were deficient. We acknowledge that the actions of our members who dealt with Mr. Dziekanski also fell short, including the fact that our officers did not take enough time to try to de-escalate the situation and did not provide an appropriate level of care to Mr. Dziekanski.”

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Explosion at University of Missouri-Columbia leaves four injured

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

An explosion at the University of Missouri-Columbia (Mizzou) on Monday afternoon left four people injured, authorities say.

The explosion occurred in a science laboratory in Schweitzer Hall around 2:20 p.m. CDT (1920 UTC) Monday. The source of the explosion was first thought to have been a 2,000-pound (907.2-kilogramme) hydrogen tank, but fire officials later said that this was not the case. The cause of the incident is currently under investigation by the Columbia Fire Department.

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US Senator Robert Byrd dies at age 92

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Senator Robert Byrd, the longest serving member of the United States Congress died yesterday at the age of 92.

A spokesman for the Democratic Senator from the state of West Virginia said Byrd had been hospitalized since last week. At first he was thought to have been suffering from heat exhaustion and severe dehydration but other medical conditions developed. On Sunday, his condition was described as “serious”.

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Czech train derails, at least one dead

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

According to media reports, at least one person was killed and several more were injured when a train derailed in the Czech Republic yesterday. The incident occurred near Ústí nad Labem in the north of the country.

As a result of the crash, the train was seriously damaged. At least six people were injured with wounds of varying seriousness, all of which were hospitalised; conflicting media reports, however, suggested that the number of hurt passengers was substantially more. According to Czech media, the dead man was the train’s driver.

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Eleven alleged Russian spies arrested in US

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The United States announced the arrest of eleven people accused as acting as spies for Russia, breaking up what the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) called a “long term, deep cover” spy ring within the US.

Those arrested were, according to the US government, members of a spy ring that had existed for several years, involving Russian agents adopting civilian identities. All are charged with acting as unlawful agents for Russia, which carries a sentence of a prison term up to five years. Nine were charged with money laundering, a crime that carries a prison term of up to twenty years.

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Wikimedia Foundation addresses controversial content conflict

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

The Wikimedia Foundation has taken action in response to last month’s image controversy on their Commons project, requesting Executive Director Sue Gardner to examine the issue, and communicating with the wider community about their concerns.

Ms Gardner has hired fellow journalist and former broadcasting executive Robert Harris to carry out this study. Ms Gardner and Mr Harris worked together for seventeen years at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

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Australian Prime Minister announces new cabinet

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Australia’s first woman prime minister (PM), Julia Gillard, has announced the cabinet she’ll be taking to the federal election, with no mention of former PM Kevin Rudd.

The Australian Labor Party (ALP) voted Mr Rudd out of parliamentary leadership in a special caucus election last week. “The new leader elected unopposed is Julia Gillard and the deputy will be Wayne Swan,” Senator Michael Forshaw told media after the caucus.

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Jimmie Johnson wins 2010 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 NASCAR race in New Hampshire

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson won his second consecutive race of the season on Sunday during the 2010 Lenox Industrial Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. It was his fifth victory in the 2010 season of the US’s leading professional stock car series, drawing him level with Denny Hamlin for the most wins. The victory earned Johnson 180 points, moving him closer to point leader Kevin Harvick, but he is still 105 points behind in second position.

With eight laps remaining, Kurt Busch, who was running second, bumped Johnson to become the leader, but Johnson returned the favor a couple laps later to the lead the final two laps. Johnson said, “Kurt knocked me out of the way. At that point, I thought, I don’t care if I win or finish. I’m going to run into him one way or the other … I tried once and moved him. (I thought) I’ve got to hit him harder. The second time I did and moved him out of the way.” Tony Stewart finished in the second position, ahead of Kurt Busch and Jeff Gordon in third and fourth. Ryan Newman, Clint Bowyer, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Joey Logano and A. J. Allmendinger rounded out the top ten positions. The race had total of four cautions and sixteen lead changes among nine different drivers. Kasey Kahne led the most laps by leading 110.

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EU agrees bank bonuses limit deal

The European Union agrees a deal placing new limits on bankers’ bonuses, linking them to salaries and long-term performance.

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