Business

In an unexpected move, US Airways has placed a $8 billion bid for Delta in the morning of November 15, 2006, rallying the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which closed at 12,251.71, a record high. The offer to buy Delta once the Atlanta-based airline emerges from bankruptcy protection by the middle of 2007 would give Delta's unsecured creditors $4 billion in cash and 78.5 million shares of US Airways stock. Delta has yet to file its own plan of reorganization. If completed, the deal would combine two of the oldest and most storied airlines in

John McCain, a prominent U.S. Senator from Arizona will launch a 2008 exploratory committee next week, said Republican Party officials. According to an official, McCain has already opened a bank account for the committee. Aides to McCain say the senator will discuss whether to seek the presidency with his family over the Christmas holiday, and make a final decision thereafter. This decision was later disputed by a McCain advisor, but later evidence showed that McCain in fact has opened a bank account for an exploratory committee. McCain's tea

An 11-year old daughter of an Afghan widow was abducted, raped and then traded in exchange for a dog and a sum of cash by warlords in Aliabad district of Kondoz province in north of Afghanistan, the mother alleged. The mother, while crying, told the Afghan women's association RAWA, "A month ago at 11 o'clock of night armed men entered my house and after beating and threatening me by gun, abducted my only daughter." She said that it was later found that her daughter had been raped and exchanged for a dog and a sum of money to another person. T

The Indian Railways (IR) has tied up with the Canadian transport solutions major Bombardier Transportation to produce electronic freight locomotives in the country for the proposed Rupee (Rs) 22,000-crore (one crore is 10 million) dedicated freight corridors on the eastern and western routes. Bombardier produces regional aircraft and business jets to rail transportation equipment. Bombardier Transportation officials have met Railways' officials for exploring the option of setting up a greenfield electronic freight locomotive manufacturing f

The Royal Canadian Legion are upset over the distribution of white poppies at a store in Edmonton, Alberta. Veterans in Canada sell red poppies to remember the soldiers that fought in War which is now called Remembrance Day. Michael Kalmanovitch, owner of The Earth's General Store, who has been selling white poppies for the past three years, says the white poppies symbolize the hope for peace. A veteran at the Royal Canadian Legion says that white poppies are an insult and may infringe on the legion's trademark. "If he, Kalmanovitch [the own

World Trade Organization (WTO) has officially invited Vietnam to become a member of their organization. Vietnam is the 150th nation to join the WTO. Now that the country has joined the WTO, Vietnam will have more access to overseas markets, but will be forced to cut high import tariffs, thus reducing the budget by as much as 21%. Vietnam has proclaimed its intention to leave the ranks of the world's poorest countries by 2010, and will become a WTO member 30 days after official approval from its National Assembly. Joining the WTO will force a

Polish Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński has ordered the pharmaceutical company Jelfa to halt production following revelations that Jelfa had placed mislabelled medication on the market, whose use could be potentially fatal. Jelfa distributed vials labelled as Corhydron, a hydrocortisone used to treat allergies and inflammation, but in fact containing Suxamethonium chloride, a drug normally used to cause muscle paralysis during emergency surgery. The Health Ministry has appealed to people suffering from asthma or allergies to check their me

Angry traders continued to protest against the Supreme Court's order in favour of resuming the sealing drive in New Delhi. They damaged public property and blocked traffic during the protest. Police halted over 1,500 traders from various part of the city who were vandalising public transport by blocking and pelting stones on the roads after the SC's order to resume the drive. According to CNN-IBN, the drive will affect about 5,40,000 shops and 27,00,000 traders across the city. Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All

Air America Radio filed for bankruptcy on October 13th, with close to $20 million in liabilities. A recent memo from ABC has suggested that Air America's financial problems are partially the result of the loss of revenue from 90 corporate advertisers who requested their ads not be run on stations who carry Air America. It is common for U.S. advertisers to avoid the time slots of controversial shows, such as Rush Limbaugh. However, the practice of blacking out the entire affiliated station is relatively unusual, raising the question of whether

Telecom New Zealand has announced that it is going to sell its Yellow Page Group business and is expecting at least NZ$2 billion. The Yellow Page Group includes the Yellow Pages, White Pages (which includes both offline and online services), New Zealand Retirement Guide and New Zealand Tourism Online. However Chief Financial Officer, Mark Bogoievski, will not comment on how much the reserve price is. The company says that the money they get from selling the directories will be used to repay almost $3.5 billion worth of debt. Theresa Gattung,

Prime Minister Blair has pointed to the great opportunities afforded by tackling climate change. One company in London has cornered 80% of the carbon trading market, part of the green goldrush created by the Kyoto Climate Change Treaty. This company, Climate Exchange plc, now dominates the carbon exchange markets, increasing its turnover from 95 million tonnes of carbon last year to 257 million in the first eight months of this year. Climate Exchange plc is now valued at more than £160 million Climate Exchange plc was founded by James Cameron

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward's councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto's ridings is Scarborough-Agincourt (Ward 39). Two candidates responded to Wikinews' requests for an interview. This ward's candidates include Wayne Cook, Mike Del Grande (incumbent), Samuel Kung, Lushan Lu, Sunshine Smith, and John Wong. For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006. Wayne Cook 51-year-old Wayne Cook is a business consultant, regarding trade in China. Q: Describe the three m