Global News Summary 19 June 2009
Carrots cause Swedish bomb scare
A Swedish art project has disturbed the southern Swedish city of Orebro. By caricaturising a bomb using carrots attached to an alarm clock with wires and authentic tape Swedish police received numerous bomb scare phone calls. Conny Blom, the artist who was responsible for the scare and set up of the displays was participating in an open-air arts festival through the request of a local art gallery.
Ethiopia plans new rail system
Ethiopia has been surviving with only one railway running from the country’s capital Addis Ababa to the neighbouring country of Djibouti. Now the Ethiopian government has announced plans to build a new railway, it will be mainly used for transporting goods around the country. There are now future plans to build a new rail system and take advantage of the country’s huge ‘untapped’ hydro power potential.
Boy not allowed life-saving transplant in Japan
Hiroki Ando is an eleven-year-old boy who suffers from cardiomyopathy, a condition which causes inflammation of the heart. Hiroki is in desperate need of a transplant, but under current Japanese law is very unlikely to receive one. Japanese law prohibits anyone under the age of 15 from donating organs, making Hiroki’s transplant impossible in his own country. In a bid to rescue their son, Hiroki’s parents have raised $1.7 million (£1.2m) in donations to send him to New York for surgery.
Sainsbury’s bring green power to the checkout with ‘kinetic plates’
In a revolutionary move Sainsbury’s in Gloucester, South West England have become the first European chain supermarket to implement ‘people powered’ checkouts. The new technology will capture the energy from vehicles travelling over kinetic road plates placed around the car park. The driver will experience no disturbance when driving over these plates but it is hoped to produce up to 30 KWH of green energy every hour, more than enough energy to power the supermarkets checkouts.
Frozen sharks importing cocaine
In an effort to eradicate drug cartels in South America, President Felipe Calderon has sent 45,000 troops and federal police officers across Mexico. The drug gangs have become more creative and are going to greater lengths to smuggle their drugs in and out of the country. On 16 June Mexico’s navy seized more than a ton of cocaine being smuggled into America. The cocaine slabs were found stuffed in more than 20 frozen shark carcasses on board a container ship in a port in the southern Mexico state of Yucatan.
Exxon Mobil face big interest payment
On 16 June, Exxon Mobil was ordered to pay US $500 million (£305m) in interest on punitive damages caused by their oil spill off Alaska back in 1989. This added payout will be double what the affected Alaskan natives, fishermen, business owner and any others involved originally received when the case first came to court in 1994. The damage was caused when the super tanker crashed dumping 41.64 million litres of crude oil, it affected 1930 km of coastline and the environment is still recovering.
Romanians flee homes after attack
More than 100 Romanians, about 20 families were forced to flee their homes in South Belfast and seek shelter on 16 June. The families were held in a single house before they were transported by police to church halls and leisure centres where they could spend the night. Both Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Northern Ireland Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness condemned the attacks on these people’s homes. Those seeking refuge are said to be terribly scared and upset over the recent attacks, some do not even want to return to their homes.
Mekong dolphins are facing extinction
The river Mekong starts in China and flows through Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam. It is home to freshwater dolphins, but due to increased pollution levels these dolphins are now facing extinction. The World Wide Fund for Nature reports that only 64 to 76 Irrawaddy dolphins remain in the river Mekong. Monitoring the river has shown more than 50 calves have died since 2003, higher toxic levels of pesticides, mercury and other pollutants are said to be the cause.
German blue chip firms throw weight behind North African solar project
A new and hugely ambitious plan to fuel Europe with solar energy within a decade has been unveiled. Twenty blue chip German organisations are joining together to form a consortium with the goal of utilising solar power in the deserts of North Africa. The project will involve transporting the green energy over to Europe. If successful this would be the biggest ever solar energy initiative. The project is known as DESERTEC and is estimated to coat near to €400 billion (£338bn). The consortium is due to meet 13 July in Munich.
World Bank: China GDP ‘growing respectively’
The World Bank has predicted a 7.2% economic growth in China during 2009. The World Bank suggests its recently implemented fiscal policies, created in reaction to the current global financial situation, have enabled such economic growth. The fiscal policy included an injection of 4 trillion Yuan (£356bn) into the economy to try and counteract declines in industries and export growth. Although exports currently remain low, government-influenced investments and house sales have improved with importing levels starting to recover.
Weather forecast for July 2080
Predictions for future weather forecasts suggest that the wet British summer climate of today will become unrecognisable by the year 2080. One projection indicates the South-West of England will have a perfect climate for growing vine grapes, sweetcorn and sunflowers - suggesting fields will look more like a traditional French landscape. The temperature increase by 2080 could be as much as 4C but higher in the cities, for example London could get as hot as 41C. Along with higher temperatures is an increased risk of flooding and draught in parts of the UK, ultimately this will have a detrimental affect on the land and house prices.
Benefit scam: man dresses up as his dead mother
In order to claim thousands of dollars in benefits Thomas Parkin dressed up as his deceased mother. Mr Parkin was arrested for alleged fraud after impersonating his dead mother and trying to renew her driving licence. Irene Parkin had been dead for six years and in what has been dubbed a ‘brilliant’ scam Thomas Parkin, with the help of his accomplice Mr Rimolo, had claimed $117,000 (£71,000) in government benefits. Detectives say that it was his large hands that played a part in giving him away, however, even after substantial evidence has been collected Mr Parkin and Mr Rimolo deny all the charges against them.
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