News about Layouts

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 

News Corporation, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has made the decision to abandon a deal to take full control of broadcasting company BSkyB. The decision came amidst pressure from the British public and politicians, as British parliamentarians from the government and opposition parties prepared to vote in the House of Commons in London to urge Murdoch to drop the deal.

The Murdoch move followed a series of damaging revelations about alleged phone hacking offences by journalists at the News of the World, which published its last edition on July 10. Labour leader Ed Miliband said the decision was “a victory for people up and down this country who have been appalled by the revelations of the phone hacking scandal and the failure of News International to take responsibility”.

More…

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 

Three blasts occurred in Mumbai Wednesday evening in one of the busiest areas of the city. It has been estimated that 21 people have been killed and up to 113 injured. According to a regional government official, Prithviraj Chavan, the explosions were “a co-ordinated attack by terrorists.”

More…

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 

Television producer and creator of shows The Brady Bunch and Gilligan’s Island Sherwood Schwartz has died at the age of 94. His daughter Hope Juber announced his death. The cause of death was announced by his son Lloyd as natural causes. Schwartz had a career that lasted six decades after he starting writing jokes for Bob Hope’s radio show in 1939.

After his brother got Schwartz a role on Hope’s writing staff he went onto work for the Armed Forces Radio and became a writer for the radio series The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. He first entered television when he started to write for the show I Married Joan in the 1950’s. Schwartz got his big break when he became head writer for The Red Skelton Show. He won an Emmy award in 1961 for his work on the show.

More…

Wednesday, July 13, 2011 

The Russian tour boat Bulgaria, carrying 208 people despite being certified to carry only 120, sank Sunday on Russia’s Volga river. On Tuesday, prosecutors opened a wide ranging investigation into Russia’s transportation industry, including an examination of the failure of governmental regulation and safety inspections of the tour boat industry.

Around 80 people were saved and perhaps as many as 128 drowned, including up to fifty children caught in a playroom. Children were undocumented passengers who came aboard with their parents. Rescuers equipped with helicopters are currently looking for survivors, and teams of 50 divers are searching the vessel and say that people are still trapped inside. But officials hold little hope that more survivors will be found.

More…

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 

Many factors of a child’s birth and the condition of the newborn are linked to the future development of autism, but no single factor has been identified as the cause, a meta-analysis of forty previously published research studies concludes.

Autism refers to a cluster of neurological developmental disorders, ranging to mild and severe, that interfere the child’s ability to adjust normally, including defects in normal communication and social interaction.

More…

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 

Ahmad Wali Karzai, the half-brother of the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, has been shot dead in Kandahar. Wali Karzai was head of the Kandahar Provincial Council at the time of his assassination. The perpetrator was Sardar Mohammed, the head of security in charge of protecting Karzai. Mohammed was killed instantly after the assassination.

More…

Tuesday, July 12, 2011 

A recently-published international study shows that in long-term couples, men are more satisfied with their relationships, and women are more satisfied with their sex lives.

The study, which also says that men enjoy cuddling (i.e. hugging and kissing) more than women, was published in the Archives of Sexual Behaviour by the Kinsey Institute in Indiana University Bloomington. More formally known as the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, the organization is also known for reporting in the 1940s that young adults were having sex. The report observed more than 1,000 couples from the US, Japan, Germany, Spain, and Brazil. All of the survey participants were aged 40 to 70, and all of the couples had been together for at least a year. The average duration of the relationship was 25 years.

More…

Monday, July 11, 2011 

China’s National Bureau of Statistics released data Saturday showing that the consumer price index (CPI) for June climbed 6.4% from a year ago. That compares with a 5.5% rise in May, which was the largest since a 6.3% increase in July 2008. The major factor contributing to this figure was the steep rise in food prices which climbed 14.4%. Pork is a major food staple in China, and its price rose 65% from last year.

More…

Monday, July 11, 2011 

More…

Monday, July 11, 2011 

Syrian forces have raided the city of Homs, and has killed at least one civilian and injured twenty from machine gunfire and armor activity in heavily populated areas. This raid is reportedly the heaviest since troops were deployed to the city two months ago in an effort to crush dissent against the country’s President Bashar al-Assad, who’s family has ruled the country for 41 years, from ongoing protests.

More…