Author: Admin

Sunday, April 24, 2005

New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced last Wednesday that it has agreed definitively to merge with Chicago-based Archipelago Exchange (ArcaEx) and form a new publicly traded, for-profit company known as NYSE Group. This announcement was followed two days later by NASDAQ®, which independently announced a definitive agreement to purchase Instinet Group.

Archipelago and Instinet are innovative e-trading (electronic trading) companies, and formerly were the two largest American rivals to NYSE and NASDAQ, in recent years taking increasingly large portions of their market share. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other regulatory agencies still have to review and approve the transactions, particularly with respect to US securities law and antitrust law, in order to ensure that the marketplace remains lawful and competitive.

Other pending issues for NASDAQ include obtaining the approval of Instinet shareholders, as well as customary closing conditions. NYSE must obtain the approval of its members and Archipelago shareholders.

These changes, a reaction to increased e-trading competition and a changed regulatory environment, will result in NASDAQ and NYSE trading each other’s shares and attempting to grab market share, which many hope will drive down transaction costs and ultimately benefit consumers. However, at least one commentator, Dan Ackman writing in Forbes, has noted that the trading commission at the NYSE currently averages less than a nickel (US$0.05) per share, and was less enthusiastic about potential efficiency gains from electronic trading at the exchange.

The transactions are also intended to make the two leading American stock exchanges more globally competitive with such exchanges as the London Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the Australian Stock Exchange located in Sydney.

Tuesday, May 3, 2005

Approximately 9,000 Romanian miners will be made redundant in 2006, slightly more than the 7,000 which are expected to be laid off this year. This comes as part of a government program for 2005-2008 which seeks to maximise efficiency in Romania’s mining industry, as well as reduce the number of mines and quarries in the country, while progressively bringing down the number of workers in this industry. As agreed with the European Union as part of accession negotiations, Romania must cease to provide major state aid to mining companies after 2007, when the country will become a member of the EU. Until then, it must gradually reduce subsidies to state-owned mining companies, in order to comply with European Union competition law.

Romania’s mining industry currently employs 47,000 people, quite significantly less than the 175,000 it employed in 1997, before restructuring took place. A major reform in the industry took place between 1997-2000. This time around, from 2004 onwards, restructuring is expected to be more gradual. Out of the workers who have been laid off from 1997 onwards, around 100,000 have accepted voluntary redundancy, while 8,000 have retired and 12,000 have found other jobs in the private sector. By 2010, the government expects that more than 340 mining units will be closed throughout the country.

Friday, July 4, 2008

For the second year in a row, American competitive eater Joey Chestnut defeated his Japanese rival Takeru Kobayashi at the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in New York City, after a tie forced a five hot dog eat-off to be held.

After ten minutes of hot dog eating, two shorter than in previous years, Chestnut and Kobayashi were tied at 59 frankfurters. But after the rare tiebreaker, 24-year-old Chestnut emerged as the winner, claiming a $10,000 prize and a mustard-yellow belt. “It was crazy,” he said. “I’m just a normal guy eating hot dogs on the Fourth. You can’t overcomplicate it.”

Kobayashi, whose loss last year shattered a six-year winning streak, said that a sore jaw and a tooth problem may have altered his performance. “If I put one more mouthful in, I could’ve won”, the 30-year-old Nagano native said through a translator. “I lost because I wasn’t quick enough in the rematch.”

This year, the 22 competitors were under a 10 minute time limit, unlike the 12 minutes used for previous contests. The reason for this, according to Nathan’s, was the discovery of a document from 1916, which revealed that the original competition was 10 minutes long.

Thousands gathered at Coney Island to watch the annual event, which has become one of the more colorful traditions of America’s Independence Day.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Indian cricketer Virender Sehwag yesterday announced his retirement from international cricket matches and the next Indian Premier League season. Opener Sehwag played his last test match in March 2013 against Australia. He scored 8,586 runs, including 23 centuries, in 104 test matches, with a batting average of 49.34.

Sehwag, who turned 37 yesterday, said on Twitter “I hereby retire from all forms of international cricket and from the Indian Premier League. A statement will follow.” He stated he has not retired from first-class cricket matches, and he is also scheduled to appear in the Masters Champions League in February 2016.

Also known as the Nawab of Najafgarh, Sehwag is the only Indian cricketer to score a triple century in test matches, making 309 runs against Pakistan in 2004 and 319 against South Africa in 2008.

Sehwag stated, “I have always done what I felt was right and not what conformists thought to be right […] God has been kind and I have done what I wanted to do, on the field and in my life, and I had decided some time back that I will retire on my 37th birthday.”

Fellow Indian cricketers praised Sehwag when news of his retirement broke. Sachin Tendulkar referred to Sehwag’s “tremendous achievements” and “superlative performances”, V. V. S. Laxman called him “a pure entertainer”, and Ajinkya Rahane described him as “an inspiration to billions of cricket fans across the world.”

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Voters in the small Channel Island of Sark, a Crown dependency of the British Crown, have voted in their first democratic election, bringing an end to almost 4½ centuries of feudal rule.

Voting in the election opened at 10:00 local time (UTC) today, and closed at 18:00. The result is expected to be announced at 22:00.

57 candidates were competing for the votes of the 474 residents eligible to participate in the election, to win 28 seats.

Roger Olsen, the first person to vote in the election, commented on the transition to democracy. “Sark has an opportunity to express itself, to determine its own destiny,” he commented. “We like to make our own decisions. Now we’re set up to do exactly that,” he continued.

He also stated the he believed the island needed “fresh eyes, new blood and a new perspective”.

Suzie Thorpe, the next voter, commented on the issues which concerned her during this election. “We need a good sustainable economy. But we don’t want the island to change too much. We don’t want any helipads, thank you.”

Sark was the last feudal state remaining in the Western world, and the transition was forced by European human rights legislation that requires democratic governments.

Thursday, October 22, 2020

2020 Melbourne Lord Mayor candidate Wayne Tseng answered some questions about his campaign for the upcoming election from Wikinews. The Lord Mayor election in the Australian city is scheduled to take place this week.

Tseng runs a firm called eTranslate, which helps software developers to make the software available to the users. In the candidate’s questionnaire, Tseng said eTranslate had led to him working with all three tiers of the government. He previously belonged to the Australian Liberal Party, but has left since then, to run for mayorship as an independent candidate.

Tseng is of Chinese descent, having moved to Australia with his parents from Vietnam. Graduated in Brisbane, Tseng received his PhD in Melbourne and has been living in the city, he told Wikinews. Tseng also formed Chinese Precinct Chamber of Commerce, an organisation responsible for many “community bond building initiatives”, the Lord Mayor candidate told Wikinews.

Tseng discussed his plans for leading Melbourne, recovering from COVID-19, and “Democracy 2.0” to ensure concerns of minorities in the city were also heard. Tseng also focused on the importance of the multi-culture aspect and talked about making Melbourne the capital of the aboriginals. Tseng also explained why he thinks Melbourne is poised to be a world city by 2030.

Tseng’s deputy Lord Mayor candidate Gricol Yang is a Commercial Banker and works for ANZ Banking Group.

Currently, Sally Capp is the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, the Victorian capital. Capp was elected as an interim Lord Mayor in mid-2018 after the former Lord Mayor Robert Doyle resigned from his position after sexual assault allegations. Doyle served as the Lord Mayor of Melbourne for almost a decade since 2008.

Monday, June 14, 2021

Arthur Oliver Kostendt, a candidate running in the mayoral election of the US city of Cleveland, Ohio set to take place November 2, discussed his campaign and policies with Wikinews this spring.

According to Cleveland Scene, 29-year-old Kostendt is a member of the Cuyahoga County, Ohio Republican Party but has referred to his campaign as “casual”. According to his web site’s personal biography, he was a cadet for the Army Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), scout platoon leader for the 2nd Squadron of the 107th Cavalry Regiment of the Ohio Army National Guard and logistics officer for the 1st Battalion of the 145th Armored Regiment. He served in Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and assisted coalition force detachments in Southeast Asia.

Kostendt is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and summa cum laude graduate of Cleveland State University. He writes he uses an apostrophe to abbreviate his middle name as “Arthur O’Kostendt” instead of the customary period after the O to emphasise his Irish heritage.

A poll published May 5 by Baldwin Wallace University, which does not feature Mr Kostendt, has Dennis Kucinich and Basheer Jones leading in the mayoral race by 17.8 and 13.3 points, respectively, with a margin of error of up to five per cent either way. 48% of those surveyed were undecided. Incumbent mayor Frank G. Jackson, who won the 2017 Cleveland mayoral election with 59% of the vote, is eligible for a fifth term but announced on May 6 he would retire.