Business

Four people, including Televisión Nacional de Chile (TVN) journalist Roberto Bruce Pruzzo, are confirmed dead after a Chilean military plane crashed near the Robinson Crusoe Island of the Juan Fernández Archipelago on Friday. Twenty-one people were aboard, with such figures as prominent Chilean television presenter and co-host of breakfast programme Buenos Días a Todos (Good Morning Everyone) Felipe Camiroaga Fernández, and businessman and founder of the Desafío: Levantemos Chile (Challenge: Let's Bring Chile Up) project Felipe Cubillos. The a

Research led by the head doctor of the New York Fire Department, Dr David Prezant, has concluded that firefighters who attended Ground Zero, the site of the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City, are 19% more likely to have cancer than similar firefighters who did not. The study was published in the September 3 issue of The Lancet. The research compared 8927 firefighters who attended the World Trade Center to 926 of their colleagues who did not, over seven years. Dr James Melius from the New York State Laborer's Health Fund said the ne

Tropical Storm Irene, recently downgraded from a hurricane, passed over New York City at about 0900 local time (1300 UTC) today, bringing heavy rain and winds up to 65 miles per hour (96.6 km/h). Flooding has been reported in New York City, where the Hudson River spilled over its banks into Manhattan and the East River briefly flooded. Floods were also reported in Brooklyn. Water was reported to be inside Battery Park and near the New York Mercantile Exchange. The water level of New York Harbor is as much as four feet higher than normal, with

A former Wikileaks employee has destroyed 3,500 unpublished leaks to Julian Assange’s site, and taken the site’s encrypted system to create a spinoff project. Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Assange’s former right-hand man, left Wikileaks last year after a disagreement between the pair; and, has now demolished files sent to the Wikileaks site such as the US no-fly list, Bank of America documents and "detailed information about 20 neo-Nazi groups". Domscheit-Berg took the whistle-blower site's submission system to create a rival-site, OpenLeaks, conse

A new law which seeks to utilise reusable energy and minimise cost impact on consumers is under development in Japan. The new law, which would be effective from July 1 next year, would seek to reduce Japan's dependency on nuclear power. The new legislation would urge power utilities to cut costs by purchasing renewable energy from outside companies and private businesses. Japan's decision has been referred to as opening the door on renewable energy, which currently only contributes to six percent of Japan's energy sources. Politicians have am

On Monday, Judge Rodion Kireyev declined the second request to release Yulia V. Tymoshenko, who was jailed last Friday for contempt of court. Tymoshenko faces trial in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, facing charges of abuse of office and exceeding her power as Prime Minister. Prosecutors charged Tymoshenko in May 2011 for overstepping her powers by signing a gas deal with Russia in January 2009. Investigators believed the gas price agreement was too high and caused the Ukrainian economy to lose at least US$182 million. As a result of these init

Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer announced Thursday at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire that he will officially run for the Republican Party's presidential nomination in 2012. Roemer, who had explored a bid for the past several months, wants to focus his campaign on the issues of campaign finance reform and fair trade. Roemer, 67, served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1980s as a member of the Democratic Party. He was elected governor in 1987 and served once again as a Democratic Party member before swit

Google has confirmed that it has "received formal notification," that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating its business practices. The acknowledgment was posted on the internet search engine company's blog Friday. Google said it was unclear about the nature of the probe. A broad FTC investigation would cause the company be tied up in defending itself for years, and according to Bloomberg, might well be the government’s biggest antitrust case since the Microsoft probe. The FTC will likely launch an anti-trust investigation,

Heavy June rainfall has forced China to evacuate more than 550,000 people from their homes. Massive floods have devastated the central and southern parts of the country, causing rivers to overflow their banks and triggering mudslides. The rains follow the worst drought in China in over 50 years, which has decimated crop yields. Overall, 40 rivers have risen above safe limits, stressing dykes and dams including those on China's largest waterway, the Yangtze River, which is flooding downstream while experiencing a severe drought near its

R.J. Harris, a potential candidate for the U.S. Libertarian Party's presidential nomination, took some time to speak with Accredited Wikinews Reporter William Saturn about his campaign and issues positions. Harris is an officer in the United States Army National Guard, currently serving in Afghanistan. He is also in his third year as a law student at the University of Oklahoma College of Law. Harris previously worked as an Air Traffic Controller and small business owner. He plans to enter the race in September after completing his tour in Af

The BBC Television Centre has been placed up for sale by the corporation. Plans to sell the centre originally came forward in 2007 but the BBC only appointed Lambert Smith Hampton, a commercial property consultant, in November of last year. The building which is based in Shepherds Bush, London was opened in 1960 and is the home of BBC News and BBC Vision. The BBC stated they were interested in preserving parts of the building while setting up a "hub for creative businesses and a visitor destination." According to the head of BBC Workplace, Ch

A man claiming to have attached a bomb to his body has been arrested after a stand-off with police officers in a town in Hertfordshire, England. Police were notified of the incident at the Co-operative Bank on Market Street, Watford at approximately 1020 BST (0920 UTC) Thursday. A number of armed officers attended. Noises resembling bangs were heard at approximately 1320 BST (1220 UTC); the male suspect was placed under arrest at about 1345 BST (1245 UTC), just over three hours after the incident began. According to a spokeswoman for the polic