blownlight.com – Page 489

7.1 magnitude earthquake strikes Araucanía, Chile; no tsunami warning

31 January, 2021

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Sunday, January 2, 2011 A strong earthquake struck central and southern Chile on Sunday evening. The earthquake reached a magnitude of 7.1, and occurred at 20:20:16 UTC (17:20:16 local time), at a depth of 16.9 kilometers, according to the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was centered near the town of Tirúa; 70 kilometers northwest […]

42 West Papuan asylum seekers get temporary Australian visas

31 January, 2021

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Friday, March 24, 2006 The Australian government has granted temporary visas to 42 of the 43 West Papuan asylum seekers who arrived by boat in January. The group accuse the Indonesian military of “conducting genocide in their homeland.” The 36 adults and seven children spent five days at sea in a traditional outrigger boat before […]

Ex-head of Qantas freight operations in US jailed for price fixing

31 January, 2021

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Saturday, May 10, 2008 Bruce McCaffrey, who was formerly the vice-president in charge of freight operations in the United States for Australian flag carrier Qantas, has been sentenced to eight months imprisonment and fined US$21,000 by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) for his involvement in a major air cargo price fixing cartel. McCaffrey is […]

Cambodian lawmaker calls for ASEAN website to be blocked over missing land

31 January, 2021

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Saturday, June 2, 2007 Thirty-five square kilometers, or 13.5135755 square miles, or 3,500 hectares or 8,648.68835 acres. However you figure it, it’s a sizeable chunk of land. And it’s missing from Cambodia on the website for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, a 10-member regional body of which Cambodia is a member. The […]

Car bomb kills at least three in Dagestan, Russia

31 January, 2021

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Thursday, January 27, 2011 According to police, at least three civilians were killed and three others injured by a car bomb in the Republic of Dagestan in Russia. Reports say the blast occurred outside the Karavan Cafe in Khasavyurt and only killed those inside the cafe. An unconfirmed report says one of the injured died […]

Cuban funds tied to Lula campaign, Brazilian magazine alleges

31 January, 2021

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Sunday, October 30, 2005 Brazil —Former advisors to Brazilian Minister of Finance Antonio Palocci have claimed that three million US dollars from Cuba were used in the 2002 political campaign of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The accusation was printed by the Brazilian magazine Veja in its issue circulating this week. According to Veja, Rogério […]

Mary Barra appointed as General Motors chief

31 January, 2021

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Tuesday, December 10, 2013 The United States’s largest car manufacturer General Motors today named Mary Barra as its new chief executive. Barra, 51, will be the first woman to lead a firm in the American auto industry. She has been with General Motors for 33 years, and is currently the global head of product development. […]

McCain ad questions Obama’s benefit to families

31 January, 2021

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Thursday, August 7, 2008 The latest advertisement for United States Republican presidential candidate John McCain is questioning Democrat Barack Obama’s benefit to families. Last week the BBC reported that the McCain campaign had released an advertisement comparing Obama to American celebrities Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, calling him “the biggest celebrity in the world.” McCain’s […]

Water main bursts in White Plains, New York, US

31 January, 2021

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Thursday, August 13, 2020 On Monday, a water main broke in the US city of White Plains, New York, cutting off the water supply to most of the city. The burst pipe caused a huge crater to form in a major intersection in the heart of the city, flooding the streets. Emergency crews were on […]

Ottawa plans tax windfall to deal with budget surplus

31 January, 2021

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Sunday, October 9, 2005 Canada’s federal government has announced a new program that plans to share unexpected budget surpluses with ordinary citizens. It should be introduced in Ottawa as early as Friday. The Surplus Allocation Act would share any surplus equally between tax cuts, new spending and debt relief. It would not replace Canada’s $3 […]