Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has urged US MPs to raise taxes on wealthier Americans to cut Washington’s huge budget deficit, saying the move would not dampen investments or jobs. In a New York Times opinion article, the chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway proposed a tax increase on Americans who make at least $US1 million per […]
Month – August 2011
Japan marks 66th anniversary of World War II surrender
Japan marked the 66th anniversary of its surrender in World War II on Monday with somber remembrances across the country and a memorial in Tokyo led by the emperor. The ceremonies come as the country struggles to recover from this year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami. Emperor Akihito, whose father made the unprecedented 1945 national radio […]
Agent Orange buried on Okinawa, vet says
In the late 1960s, the U.S. military buried dozens of barrels of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange in an area around the town of Chatan on Okinawa Island, an American veteran has told The Japan Times. The former serviceman’s claim comes only days after Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said that he would ask the U.S. […]
England is a sick society: Riot Victim
A woman who was forced to leap out of her burning home after it was set alight during the London riots has described English society as “sick”. Polish national Monika Konczyk, 32, said she came to Britain five months ago seeking a better life — but nearly lost it during the disorder that devastated London. […]
Rome police bust Colosseum ‘gladiator’ gang
Italian police have arrested 20 gladiator impersonators in an undercover sting aimed at ending a violent racket operating around Rome’s most famous tourist sites, Italian press reported on Thursday. Police disguised as gladiators, dustbin men and members of the public raided the gang made up of seven families working with five tourist agencies. The modern […]
Nepal bans smoking in public
NEPAL has banned smoking in public and threatens to punish repeat offenders with steep fines. Airports, hotels, restaurants, government offices and public transport will now be smoke-free under the new law that went into effect on Sunday. Health Ministry official Komal Prasad Acharya says government workers will issue fines of 100 rupees to people violating […]
Tortoise gets artificial limb
The artificial limb put on an African tortoise in the US did not come from a high-tech prosthetics lab. It came from a hardware store. The castor-style wheel cost about $7, said the two Washington State University veterinarians who installed it on the tortoise after amputating a damaged front leg. They say the wheel was […]
Space station to plunge into ocean at end in 2020
A RUSSIAN space official said on Wednesday that once the mammoth International Space Station is no longer needed it will be sent into the Pacific Ocean. It’s a plan that’s long been in the works and is a step to avoid the station becoming dangerous space junk. It was supposed to plunge into the ocean […]
China’s Ai Weiwei hits out at government on Twitter
CHINESE artist Ai Weiwei on Tuesday made his first anti-government comments since his release from detention, using Twitter to hit out at the treatment of colleagues and fellow dissidents. Mr Ai, who has made few public comments since he was freed in June after three months in detention, said colleagues who were incarcerated ‘because of […]
Hong Kong scientists ‘show time travel is impossible’
HONG Kong physicists say they have proved that a single photon obeys Einstein’s theory that nothing can travel faster than the speed of light – demonstrating that outside science fiction, time travel is impossible. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology research team led by Du Shengwang said they had proved that a single […]