Tuesday, January 1, 2008 Today at midnight, the Republic of Cyprus and the Republic of Malta, both small island states in the Mediterranean and former British colonies, adopted the euro as their official currency; less than four years after their accession to the European Union. Because Cyprus and Malta are in different time zones, Cyprus adopted the euro one hour before Malta did the same. In both countries the euro was welcomed with outdoor celebrations,…

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Thursday, March 2, 2006 Last week, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced it had launched seven lawsuits against operators of websites it claims had been “facilitating the distribution of copyright works”. In its announcement, the MPAA said it had commenced legal action against the following BitTorrent tracking sites: isohunt.com, bthub.com, and torrentbox.com, which are all owned by the same person; torrentspy.com; niteshadow.com as well as ed2k site ed2k-it.com and Usenet search engines nzb-zone.com,…

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Friday, August 21, 2009 A spokesperson for Michael Jackson‘s family has confirmed that the funeral of Michael Jackson will be postponed from what would have been his 51st birthday—August 29. Family spokesman Ken Sunshine has said that the date for the burial of the King of Pop would be pushed back to September 3. The reason for the change of arrangements was not specified. Details of the burial place and the original date were released…

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Monday, January 4, 2010 The United States and the United Kingdom closed their embassies in Yemen Sunday, pointing to ongoing terrorist threats. The closures came after the two nations pledged to boost counter-terrorism support to the Yemeni government. The American embassy’s website said the threats come from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group linked to the failed Christmas Day airplane bombing attempt in the United States. The message in part said, “The U.S. Embassy…

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Saturday, February 12, 2011 In the final quarter of 2010, airline Air Canada (TSX:AC.B) earnings rose to 134 million CAD, 42 cents per share, capping a sharp return to profitability in 2010. The year resulted in the company’s highest-ever earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation, and rent (EBITDAR) of $1.39 billion, 707 million more than the previous year. Operating income for fourth quarter was reported as $85 million, which compared very favourably with an $83…

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Tuesday, August 21, 2007 Babar Ghauri, Federal Minister for Ports and Shipping, has told reporters at a press conference that an investigative team has been formed to look into the causes of a suspicious fire two days ago at the Karachi office of the Pakistan National Shipping Corporation (PNSC). One office worker was killed and four firefighters were injured in the multi-storey blaze. Another man had to be rescued from the roof via helicopter. 31…

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Friday, May 28, 2010 A man accused of being a serial killer has appeared in Bradford magistrates court in West Yorkshire today charged with three counts of murder. 40-year-old Stephen Griffiths is accused of killing Suzanne Blamires, 36, Susan Rushworth, 43, and Shelley Armitage, 31, all prostitutes. Griffiths, a former van driver with a degree in psychology and studying for a PhD in criminology, gave his name as “Crossbow Cannibal” when asked. He has been…

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