Archives October 2018

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

A full crowd showed up at the Guiseppe Meazza in Italy today to watch AC Milan take on Scottish side Celtic. The first leg of the matches ended in a goalless draw, as both teams were spirited in defense. Kaka and Inzaghi played as frontmen for AC, while Vennegoor of Hesselink and Jiri Jarosik were the strike pair for Celtic.Milan had the first chance of the game early when Kaka found room and flashed a shot towards the bottom corner, but keeper Artur Boruc got down well to make the stop. Celtic then had a valid penalty claim after only 6 minutes when Jarosik’s volley looked to be blocked by the hand of Maldini, but referee Konrad Plautz waved away the appeals. Celtic’s defense continued to play well, and they limited Milan’s chances to long ranged shots. Lee Naylor then performed defensive heroics for Celtic as he took the ball away from the open Inzaghi, who was waiting to tap the ball in at the back post. Kaka had two more shots from range at the net, but neither were on target. Naylor again saved Celtic by clearing the ball off the line from a Kaka attempt.Over an hour had passed when Gord Strachan sent Thomas Graveson on for Celtic in place of Jarosik, and the Dane almost scored right away. He struck a fine shot at the net, but Massimo Oddo did well to block the attempt. Milan counter attacked quickly, and Kaka saw his attempt also blocked by a defender. McManus and Naylor were forced to clear headers off the line from Ambrosini and Inzaghi, both occurring after corners. Maldini then had a header at the Celtic net, but Boruc was again in the right place to make the stop. Celtic had another claim for a penalty when Nakamura was brought down in the area, but the Austrian referee again waved away all appeals. Boruc was again forced into action from a Seedorf free kick, which he was able to deflect out with a hand. Kaka then shot towards the goal, but the crossbar saved Celtic from going a goal down. As 90 minutes approached, Celtic had two well positioned free-kicks, but could take advantage of neither, and the game entered extra time.It took Milan little time to go ahead in the extra period, and the scorer would be no other than the Brazilian Kaka. The youthful striker put on a burst of speed to beat out the tired Celtic defenders and blasted the ball through Borucs legs to give the homeside the lead. The game continued however, as the Champions League works on full extra time, and Celtic still had 27 minutes to equalize. It was Milan who pushed however, and Andrea Pirlo twice forced Boruc to make saves. Then Kaka, in search of a brace, sent a volley over the net after being left alone during a corner kick. Gravesen’s long effort for Celtic was easy pickings for Dida, and Craig Beattie headed a good chance over the bar. Celtic vainly tried to tie the game, bringing on Kenny Miller, but AC finished the game comfortably, and advanced to the next round of the tournament.

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

United Kingdom cable TV operator NTL has agreed to buy Telewest Broadband for $6 billion USD (3.4 billion pounds). NTL’s and Telewest’s service territories do currently overlap. The acquisition is expected to save the companies 1.5 billion pounds.

NTL has agreed to pay $23.93 for each Telewest share, in cash and NTL stock. Current Telewest shareholders will own approximately 25 percent of the combined company. While both companies operate exclusively in the UK, they are listed in New York on the U.S. NASDAQ exchange.

Once the acquisition is complete, the combined company will have 5 million customers in the UK . Competitor British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) has almost 8 million. The combined company will also be the second-largest residential telephone company in Britain behind BT Group plc.

If the deal is approved, regulators and both companies shareholders’ should close in the first quarter of 2006.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

In raids that were part of Operation Mokpo, police seized a massive weapons haul from a suburban house.

Officers from Britain’s Metropolitan Police arrested a 55-year-old man after two houses and a business were raided in Dartford, South East of London.

The firearms include hundreds of shotguns, semiautomatic guns and automatic weapons.

Operation Trident officers and Polsa (Police Search Advisor) search teams carried out three search operations early morning though majority of weapon was found in a three bed room house.

“This is the biggest firearms haul we have ever had,” Det. Chief Superintendent Kevin Davis said. “Guns are mounted on every available wall space in the property and live ammunition was found lying on the floor.”

A simultaneous operation is underway in New Jersey, USA.

This was the biggest success for Operation Mokpo, launched 18 months ago after a series of shooting by rival gangs in North London.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Grameen Bank of Bangladesh has made the first loans to U.S. citizens who do not have a bank account. Grameen Bank is experienced in micro-financing in its home country, lending money to poor women that want to start small businesses.

Since the start of the mortgage-crisis more people in the U.S. tend to turn to fringe financial institutions bypassing the mainstream bank institutes. “Now is a good time because of … the subprime crisis and that highlights the issue that the financial system is not perfect,” , says the bank’s founder and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Grameen Bank started in 1976 by lending a total amount of $27.00 to 42 Bangladesh women. To date the bank has made over $6.5 billion in loans to 7 million people in Bangladesh.

Grameen Bank’s first loans of approximately $50,000.00 in total in the U.S. was to a group of women in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City. Garmeen Bank plans to offer $176 million in loans in New York City the next five years, and after that expanding into business as remittances and mortgages all over the U.S., as it has done in Bangladesh.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Ford Motor Company, the U.S. car maker, will reportedly pay €57 million (US$78 million) for a 72.4 percent stake in the Romanian assembly plant Automobile Craiova, a Romanian official said Friday.

“The offer of Ford Motor Company for a 72.4 percent stake is €4.1556 per share or €57 million overall,” said Sebastian Vladescu, head of the State Property Agency (AVAS), after opening Ford’s improved offer. Vladescu added that the contract may be signed on September 12, during the auto show in Frankfurt.

The Romanian government bought back the Craiova-based car maker from Daewoo Motors, in late 2006 for US$51 million. As the Korean company was bankrupt, the government had to pay another $10 million for debts stemming from past loans. Ford is the only bidder for the purchase of the factory.

According to Washington Post, many auto-part makers have set up in the new European Union member country, attracted by cheap labor, favourable tax rates and the rising output of Renault’s Dacia plant. The vice president of Dacia, Constantin Stroe, said that the price Ford offers is not important. “It’s important to have the factory working as soon as possible”, he added. “With this production facility, Romania will become an important auto production center in Europe”, concluded Stroe, cited by HotNews.

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Viktor Schreckengost, the father of industrial design and creator of the Jazz Bowl, an iconic piece of Jazz Age art designed for Eleanor Roosevelt during his association with Cowan Pottery died yesterday. He was 101.

Schreckengost was born on June 26, 1906 in Sebring, Ohio, United States.

Schreckengost’s peers included the far more famous designers Raymond Loewy and Norman Bel Geddes.

In 2000, the Cleveland Museum of Art curated the first ever retrospective of Schreckengost’s work. Stunning in scope, the exhibition included sculpture, pottery, dinnerware, drawings, and paintings.

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

A man named George Schultz in Parksville, British Columbia is selling the boat from old TV series Gilligan’s Island at the cost of $99,000. The cruiser, originally cost about $290,000 in the 1960s.

“There have been a couple of modifications, so it doesn’t look exactly like the original,” said Shultz, a boat broker who’s selling the 36-foot Wheeler Express Cruiser for fellow Parksdale resident Scotty Taylor. “But it’s still the original boat.”

Originally, the boat’s name was The Blue Jacket.

“Just for the show, for a stage name, it was called the S.S. Minnow,” Shultz said. The name was a reference to Newton Minnow, once chairman of the FCC.

“He just liked the boat, he wanted to restore it, it was a nice looking boat, a wooden boat, a classic and he likes classic boats,” said Shultz. “The hole in the hull was actually the least of the repairs – the interior needed a lot more work”.

Someone later stole the plaque on the boat, but the 46-year-old boat still has the round life preserver with S.S. Minnow emblazoned on it and the skipper’s chair.

Thursday, February 17, 2005

CARACAS, Venezuela –The Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on February 14, 2005 in Caracas, Venezuela. Brazil and Venezuela signed agreements of cooperation on many areas. According to the Brazilian government this was a strategical encounteur. This meeting is the first of three meetings that President Lula will have with South American Presidents in three days. The scheduled meetings are with the presidents of: Venezuela (February, 14), Guiana (February, 15) and Suriname (February, 16).

President Lula was accompanied by the following comitiva: the Minister of Development, Industry, and External Trade Luiz Fernando Furlan, the Minister of Finance Antônio Palocci, the Minister of Foreign Relations Celso Amorim, the Minister of Health Humberto Costa, the Minister of Mines and Energy Dilma Roussef, the Minister of Tourism Walfrido Mares Guia, the President of Petrobras José Eduardo Dutra, the President of National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES) Guido Mantega, the President of Eletrobrás Silas Rondeau Cavalcante Silva and the Special Secretary for Aquaculture and Fisheries José Fritsch. In addition a delegation of executives representing enterprises from Brazil accompanied the President.

The Brazilian Ministry of External Relations told the trip aims the construction of a strategical alliance and commercial integration between both countries. The Brazilian Presidential Advisor Marco Aurélio Garcia said:”With this gesture, Brazil will consolidate one of its major political goals, which is the constitution of a South American community of nations”. He added: “These agreements with Venezuela are strategical. We want this agreement as a model for other agreements in the region.”

According to President Lula the integration of the Latin America is the priority number one of his government. Days before the arrival in Venezuela and commenting about the trip Lula said: “We’re going to do the same thing in Colombia and in other countries in which integration is no longer a campaign speech but part of the way we deal with real things, day to day”.

The integration of the Latin America is the politics repeatedly proposed by Lula during the meetings of the Foro de São Paulo. According to him and the others members of the Foro there must be a integration among all the left parties and governments of Latin America. The union aims to be an alternative and opposing force to the politics and influence of the richest countries, mainly the United States. Among the organizations which are usually participants of the Foro de São Paulo are: Communist Party of Cuba, Colombian Communist Party, Communist Party of Bolivia, Communist Party of Brazil, Workers’ Party, Paraguayan Communist Party, Peruvian Communist Party, Socialist Party of Peru, National Liberation Army, Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity, Tupamaros.

On December 4, 2001 during the 10th edition of the Foro de São Paulo in Havana Lula said:”A shoal of small fish may mean the finishing of the hungry in our countries, in out continent. We should not think as the History ended on our journey by the Earth. Even it happens just once, or with one gesture, let’s effectively contribute to the improve the life of millions of human beings who live socially excluded by this neoliberal model.”[1]

In Venezuela, once again, he brought out the integration wish: “This is the biggest dream I am carrying, that we can negotiate collectively, not like one country, but like a set of countries so we can do that our people may have the chance to conquer the full citizenship.”