Business

The U.S. Dollar fell to an all time low against the Euro after data from the U.S. heightened concerns regarding an economic recession. The U.S. currency traded at 1.444 versus the Euro and reached a 26-year low against the British Pound. An index that measures US consumer confidence fell in October to 95,6 points while in August U.S. home prices declined 4,4%, the biggest fall of the past six years. The data bolsters speculation that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates in the next meeting. The U.S. central bank is set to decide on inte

Whether the Civil War, World War II or the Iraq War, it can be challenging to face how conflict penetrates the psyche of a nation and surfaces in the nuances of life. There are thousands—if not millions—of individuals who indulge in fantasies others would deem perverse that have their nascence in some of the darkest moments of human history. It is possible someone you know pays a person to dress like a German Nazi to treat them like a “dirty Jew”, or to force them to pick cotton off the floor like a slave. An S&M dungeon is a place where t

Tony Blair, United Kingdom's former Prime Minister, made his first public appearance since stepping down as PM yesterday at a speech entitled Global Relations: A Conversation with Tony Blair to an audience of about 2,400 in Calgary, Alberta from noon to 2:30 p.m. in the Telus Convention Centre, sponsored by Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD Canada Trust). Lunch was served with an authentic Alberta beef steak. Alberta premier Ed Stelmach, Calgary mayor Dave Bronconnier, and other public officials were there. "Congratulations on winning a third term. As

Lisa-Marie Corlett, a woman who lives in Christchurch, New Zealand has found a one centimeter wide pebble that supposedly shows the image of the Virgin Mary. She found the pebble while walking on a beach on the South Island of New Zealand. Since finding the pebble, Coolett has stated that she has had some "good luck" lately, despite the fact that she does not practice any religion. Coolett put the pebble up for auction on the popular New Zealand internet auction site Trade Me with a buy now of NZ$70,000. Later, she lowered the buy-now price t

With Australian Prime Minister, John Howard and Labor leader Kevin Rudd facing off in a leader's debate on Sunday night, political analysts and body language experts declared Mr Rudd the clear victor. Experts said that Mr Rudd came across as believable and enthusiastic while Mr Howard appeared too negative. The focus of the debate was on the economy, Iraq war, leadership and climate change. On the economy, the Labor leader said that the cost of living had increased in Australia and that increasing the childcare rebate to 50 percent would help

A final report released today has found pilot error to be the cause of the crash of Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 in Indonesia on March 7, 2007. 21 people were killed when the Boeing 737 airliner, carrying 140 people, overshot the runway at Adisucipto International Airport, near Yogyakarta. It crossed a road and then struck an embankment, bursting into flames, before stopping in a rice field, some 252m from the end of the runway. The pilot is found to have been singing as he began the final descent, in direct contradiction to the Garuda Basic Op

Torture proliferates American headlines today: whether its use is defensible in certain contexts and the morality of the practice. Wikinews reporter David Shankbone was curious about torture in American popular culture. This is the first of a two part series examining the BDSM business. This interview focuses on the owners of a dungeon, what they charge, what the clients are like and how they handle their needs. When Shankbone rings the bell of "HC & Co." he has no idea what to expect. A BDSM (Bondage Discipline Sadism Masochism) dungeon i

After "Taiwan Orbis & Standard Chartered Bank Charity Walking" last week at Guandu Nature Park, the main organizer Alcon Taiwan held a hiking activity with "Love Your Eyes Without Computing" topic at Taipei Municipal Fude Elementary School and Tiger Mountain Trail in Taipei City, Taiwan. This is the third year Alcon Taiwan held a similar activity after hiking last year and 5KM running around Taipei City Hall two years ago. At the Press Conference two weeks ago, Alcon Taiwan announced a questionnaire about "Acknowledgment on Eye-Caring and Eyes

Some say history tends to repeat itself. Today marked a day in history, when 20 years ago, the United States Dow Jones Industrial Average market crashed, on what is known as 'Black Monday'. The crash sent the market tumbling down 508 points, losing nearly 24%. On Friday, the Dow Jones nearly broke that record when the market closed at -366.94 points, down almost three percent. Several factors could be to blame for the loss, one being Turkey's government approving a measure on October 18 to send Turkish troops into Iraq in an attempt to take o

The 7th Taipei International Hardware & DIY Show, organized by Kaigo Taiwan (The representative of Koelnmesse in Taiwan) and Koelnmesse GmbH, started on October 18-20 at Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 3. This show has 183 participants using 300 booths to exhibit accessories and tools on esoteric fabricating, home-living applications, and security. With people in Taiwan valuing on the quality of home-living, the organizer set a pre-show pavilion of "2008 Taipei Home & Lifestyle Fair" and invited B&Q & HomeBox holding DIY workshops fo

American preservationists breathed a sigh of relief in August as the Farnsworth House, a Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed house widely considered a masterpiece of modern architecture, was spared by flooding along the Fox River in Plano. Storms deluged much of the Midwest, causing rivers throughout the region to overflow their banks. At the Fox River in Plano flood waters spilled over four acres of the 58-acre Farnsworth House site. Waters continued to rise through August 24, until they were just 18 inches from the front door. According to th

With the election campaign just beginning, Australian Prime Minister John Howard has promised AU$34 billion in personal income tax cuts over the next three years. That is on top of $31.5 billion announced in May, and $36.7 billion announced in 2006. The new tax cuts are based on new projections for growth in the Australian economy. The Treasury estimates that the economy will expand by 4.25% in the 12 months to June 2008, up from growth of 3.75% predicted in May. The Government has challenged the Labor opposition to announce their tax polic