? April 15, 2010
April 17, 2010 ?
April 16
Prime Minister of Vanuatu ousted in vote of no confidence
Thursday, December 2, 2010
The prime minister of Vanuatu has lost his seat after a motion of no confidence. Edward Natapei was ousted after the vote, passed at 30 votes to 15, took place in parliament. Natapei was out of the country at the time of the vote, attending a climate change summit in Cancun, Mexico.
The vote took place after several members of parliament became unhappy with Natapei’s decisions. He had tried to suspend five members of parliament from the house. There was also concern about his support for Frank Bainimarama, the military leader of Fiji. Natapei supported Bainimarama when he took over as leader of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the trade group of the South Pacific.
This is not the first time that Natapei has lost his seat. In 2009, he lost his post when he failed to notify parliament that he left the country. He was on an official visit to Trinidad and Tobago at the time. Natapei took the post of prime minister in 2008. Sato Kilman, the deputy prime minister until the motion was passed, has been sworn in as Natapei’s replacement.
Honda Civic tops Canada’s list of most stolen cars
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The 1999 and 2000 year model Honda Civic SiR tops the list of Canada’s most stolen cars.
Consumer popularity also assures the cars will be popular with thieves. Its the second year in a row the Honda SiR has topped the list.
Rick Dubin Vice President of Investigations for the Insurance Bureau of Canada said “The Civics are easy targets.”
Dubin said that once stolen, the cars are most often sold to “chop shops” where thieves completely dismantle the vehicles. The automobile’s individual parts are worth more than the entire car.
The sheer numbers of the cars and their lack of theft deterrent systems make them thieves’ preferred choices.
1999 and 2000 Honda Civics do not come with an electronic immobilizer, however all Hondas from 2001 and onward are equipped with an immobilizer. Immobilizers will be mandatory on all new cars sold beginning September 2007. The devices enable an engine computer to recognize an electronic code in the key. If the code in the key and the engine don’t match exactly, the vehicle can’t be started.
In third place was the 2004 Subaru Impreza, while the 1999 Acura Integra came in fourth, with the 1994 Honda Civic rounding out the top five.
In sixth place, the 1998 Acura Integra, and the 1993 Dodge Shadow completed seventh.
When asked why early model vehicles are selected, he said that, “auto thieves continue to find it easier to steal older vehicles lacking an IBC-approved immobilizer. We’ve seen this trend developing for several years, and these results confirm it.”
Another Honda automobile, the 1996 year model Civic filled eighth place, with the 2000 German Audi TT Quattro in ninth.
The American 1996 Chevrolet/GMC Blazer rounded out the top ten.
None of the above cars had an electronic immobilizer.
A Guide To Common Job Interview Questions And Answers
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By Gail Kenny
I think I’m yet to meet anyone who actively enjoys the job interview process. Sure, there are those infuriating people who suffer from no job interview stress and glide through the meeting as if their careers didn’t depend on it, but even they don’t actually enjoy it – they just don’t let it affect them. And 90% of the time, this external confidence is simply because they know exactly what to expect from the job interview questions.
How do they know? Simply because interviewers are an unoriginal breed and there’s a set of questions which have served us fine for years. We won’t change if we don’t have to! There’s the occasional wildcard job interview question, but even those will usually be a variant of these (phrased differently, but looking for the same sort of response) or they’ll be so off the wall that they’re just looking for honesty and a candidate who isn’t intimidated.
This list of job interview questions and answers isn’t exhaustive (if it were, this article would extend for several pages), but it provides the basic questions that it helps to be prepared for. I’m going to be writing another article in the future about the very tough interview questions that some vindictive employers ask and how to deal with them, so watch this space if you find this list useful.
So, here’s my beginner’s guide to answering interview questions
‘Tell Me a Little About Yourself’
This is a peculiar one and may serve a few purposes – the most important of these, I believe, is allowing you to get comfortable in the job interview environment. An interviewer who dives straight in to the interrogation is going to see a lot of anxious candidates. There isn’t a set answer here, because it’s such an open question – just see it as a short speech to promote yourself. Briefly outline your recent work and any significant achievements you’ve earned along the way.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BytXjoytU20[/youtube]
It’s essential you don’t go on and on when answering this interview question, babbling about everything from your childhood to your current job – they’re looking for an overview of who you are, and if you ramble, you’ll have defined yourself as a rambler!
‘What would you say your strengths are?’
Every interviewer loves this question, because it gives them quick answers. It’s also one of the better ones to be asked in a job interview, because it gives you a free license to shamelessly self promote! The key concern here is not to go overboard – if you do, you’ll come across as conceited. It’s also wise to tailor your answer to this question to the type of role being advertised. Read the job description carefully, and match your skills to the question – if it’s a role that involved a lot of proofreading, then mention your meticulous attention to detail, if it’s a copywriting position, emphasise how articulate you are – and so on.
Don’t lie here, because it’ll be really obvious and embarrassing when you’re found out. If you claim to be articulate, but struggle to put two sentences together without misusing a word, your credibility will be damaged and you won’t be working for the company any time soon.
‘What’s your main weakness?’
The flip side to the gift of the ‘strengths’ question is this beast. A weakness is undoubtedly a bad thing, so why would you want to bring it up in a situation where your aim is to sell yourself. The best way of answering this interview question, in my experience, is damage limitation. Provide an (honest) weakness, but then point out the steps to limit its hindrance. If you point out your lack of organization, but then explain this is why you make liberal use of postage notes to counter the problem, it becomes less of a weakness and more of a strength: you recognize your own limits and make amends.
‘Why are you looking to leave your current job?’
Now this is a bit of a mean question. Everyone must have a reason for looking to work elsewhere, otherwise they’d be sat at their desk working and not attending a job interview elsewhere. Often this needn’t be a problem, especially if the role you’re applying for is in a different industry (‘I’m looking for a change of direction’) or a different part of the country (‘I’m looking to relocate’). The trouble comes when you’re looking for work in the same industry and in the same city – the main reasons people looking to move being a low salary, clash of personalities, a dislike of policy or jumping before they’re pushed. Needless to say, none of these will impress your interviewer. The best way of countering this is to state your ambitions and point out that you’re looking to move up the career ladder at a company with more scope for progression. This shows you’re motivated and ambitious, and turns a potential negative into a glowing positive.
‘Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?’
I’ve seen variants of this where the question is 3, 5 or 10 years time but the point of it is always the same: to scope out your ambitions. If the role has an expected path of progression, then suggesting that you hope to impress them enough to progress upwards in the company will not only state your ambitions clearly, but will express your loyalty by stating you can see yourself here for the long haul.
If the role seems to show less progression and they’re asking the question to ensure you won’t abandon ship after 6 months, then you can play it safe in another way: ‘Well, in 5 years I’d like to be managing a team, but it’s entirely possible that I will enjoy this role enough to be doing something similar’. Just make sure you mention a career thematically linked – the interviewer doesn’t want to hear ‘I want to be an astronaut’ if they’re hiring for the role of salesman!
‘Why do you want to work here?’
Clue: The answer to this one isn’t ‘I saw an advert and it pays well.
What the interviewer is looking for here is evidence you actually give a damn about the company that’s hiring. It’s actually a great opportunity, disguised as a tough interview question: if you’ve read up about the company (the internet is the best source for this) then you should be fine. Just make sure you can find a reason why the company’s philosophy will be good for you. This is usually very easy, as company websites are written to sell them as benevolent employers at the forefront of their industry.
‘Any questions?’
This is often a trick question in many ways, and isn’t just the act of courtesy it can first seem. Even if the interviewer has asked it free of any ulterior motive, then it’s still a great opportunity to display your enthusiasm once again. If you ask lots of questions about the company, and your rivals meekly reply ‘no’, then you will come across as the enthusiastic candidate with initiative, while they will have failed to distinguish themselves. Make a mental note of any points you’d like them to elaborate on during the job interview and make sure to ask them at the end. If all else fails, the fall-back question of ‘when will I know’ is always a banker.
As I said earlier, this list is far from exhaustive, but the areas the interviewers are looking to find out about you are covered here. If you keep in mind the kind of answers here, you should be prepared for all but the most vindictive interviewer – and I’ll deal with how to answer their tough interview questions in my next article.
About the Author: Gail Kenny is the managing director of Puregenie – a recruitment agency for
online jobs in the travel industry
. The site caters exclusively to talented individuals with skills and experience to succeed in the online environment.
Source:
isnare.com
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Iran to reduce nuclear enrichment in exchange for sanctions reduction
Monday, November 25, 2013
Yesterday in Geneva, Iran and the P5+1 nations — the five permanent members of the UN Security Council; United States, United Kingdom, China, France, and Russia; plus Germany — reached a six-month deal over Iran’s nuclear enrichment programme. Iran is to reduce its nuclear activities in return for a lifting of some economic sanctions.
Iran has agreed to not build any new enrichment facilities, to halt enrichment of uranium past a purity of 5%, to “neutralise” a stockpile of nearly 200kg of enriched uranium of a purity of nearly 20%, to not install new centrifuges, and to disable a number of existing centrifuges. They also have to allow access for inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to a number of sites including Natanz and Fordo, as well as information on the reactor at Arak.
In return, the P5+1 is to provide “limited, temporary, targeted, and reversible” relief from economic sanctions including removal of specific trade sanctions on precious metals, including gold; the automotive sector; and oil. The sanctions relief is worth around US$7 billion (about €5 billion).
In Tehran, Iran’s negotiators were welcomed home at the airport by a gathering of supporters holding placards. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians reportedly watched coverage of the negotiations through the Iranian night.
Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, told reporters, “[i]n this agreement, the right of [the] Iranian nation to enrich uranium was accepted by world powers”. The United States contests this.
US president Barack Obama welcomed the deal: “For the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear program, and key parts of the program will be rolled back.” He said the provisions of the deal “cut off Iran’s most likely paths to a bomb”.
British prime minister David Cameron said the deal was an “important first step” and Iran was “further away from getting a nuclear weapon”.
John Kerry, the United States Secretary of State, appeared with British foreign minister William Hague at a press conference in London. Kerry told reporters: “Now the really hard part begins, and that is the effort to get the comprehensive agreement, which will require enormous steps in terms of verification, transparency and accountability”.
Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of Israel, said the deal was a “historic mistake” and said the Iranians had agreed only to “cosmetic concessions” that “can be undone by the Iranians within weeks”. “Israel”, he said, “is not bound to this agreement while Iran is committed to the destruction of Israel. Israel has the right to protect itself in the face of any threat. I wish to reiterate that as the prime minister of Israel — Israel will not allow Iran to develop nuclear military capabilities.” He also said: “Iran is receiving billions of dollars in relief in the sanctions without paying any sort of price. Iran is receiving written approval to violate UN Security Council resolutions”.
Naftali Bennett, the Israeli economic minister, warned of the prospects of a nuclear Iran: “If in another five or six years a nuclear suitcase explodes in New York or Madrid, it will be because of the agreement that was signed this morning”.
A spokesman for President Obama stated: “the United States will remain firm in our commitment to Israel, which has good reason to be skeptical about Iran’s intentions”. Obama phoned Netanyahu on Sunday to try and reassure him.
Wikinews’ overview of the year 2007
Monday, December 31, 2007
What would you tell your grandchildren about 2007 if they asked you about it in, let’s say, 20 year’s time? If the answer to a quiz question was 2007, what would the question be? The year that you first signed on to Facebook? The year Britney Spears and Amy Winehouse fell apart? The year author Kurt Vonnegut or mime Marcel Marceau died, both at 84?
Let’s take a look at some of the international stories of 2007. Links to the original Wikinews articles are in bold.
Do You Need A Two Car Garage In Wilmington, De?
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byadmin
Do you currently have an attached one-car garage that is not big enough to house your vehicles? Maybe you have an attached two-car garage that you want to turn into a living space. Regardless of the scenario, you need to find a builder who exclusively builds structures such as garages, dog houses, animal shelters, and storage facilities. Doing so will make it easier to make improvements to your property.
What Does the Builder Build?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZZEtUCIkUw[/youtube]
For example, if you contact a contractor who provides buildings such as a two-car garage in Wilmington, DE, you will also want to make sure that he or she can build similar types of structures. You want to make sure that he or she takes great pride in his or her work and that he or she can meet all your structural and building requirements.
That is why the contractor should know how to build more than two-car garage structures. He or she should be able to handle a variety of building tasks so you can upgrade your property with more proficiency. By choosing a custom builder, you will find that you can get the garage you need in a smaller space of time. You can also have the building built with fewer distractions and disruptions.
Customizing Your Garage
That is because a builder of two-car garage buildings knows all about the customization process. He or she will work with you from the start of the project until its completion to make sure that you are fully satisfied. He or she can also offer the same type of service when he or she builds other similar structures. Use this contractor for all your needs along these lines.
Who to Contact Online
If you would like to know more about building a two-car detached garage, contact Greentreestructures.com today online. Take time to review the product and build offerings before you make a final decision. Obtain a free quote by calling the company at any time during regular business hours.
International AIDS conference begins in Toronto
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Twenty-four thousand delegates from over 132 countries are expected to attend the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto this week
Delegates include scientists, politicians, health care workers, government and non-governmental officials, people with AIDS and celebrities. In attendance will be Bill and Melinda Gates, Bill Clinton, Richard Gere, Olympia Dukakis and Sandra Oh.
The theme of the conference is “Time to Deliver” and is meant to focus attention on the need to meet past promises to increase funding for treatment, care and prevention. The conference began on August 13th and is scheduled to end on August 18th.
There is growing frustration with the failure of developed countries to provide drugs to combat the AIDS crisis in the developing world, particularly Africa.
“What the Western world has to do is deliver on its promises, which it never does. It always betrays the people of Africa,” Stephen Lewis, the UN secretary general’s special envoy for HIV-AIDS in Africa, told CBC News.
In the week leading up to the conference, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates announced a donation of US$500 million spread over five years to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Gates and former US President Bill Clinton will be sharing the podium during this week’s conference.
International AIDS conferences have usually been attended by world leaders, particularly the leader of the host country. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been criticized for snubbing the conference by sending his health minister, Tony Clement, to attend in his place. The prime minister, who is touring Canada’s far north this week, officially declined his invitation to attend three weeks ago.
“It’s a dreadful mistake in political judgment, and it’s not excusable,” said Lewis, who was Canada’s Ambassador to the United Nations in the 1980s. “It’s a lost opportunity to tell the world how Canada feels about this pandemic.
“The Arctic sovereignty issue will still be there on August 18 (when the AIDS conference ends),” said Lewis. “Forty million people worldwide carry this virus, and most will die preventable deaths. What greater scourge is there than that?”
This is the second major international event Canada has hosted which Harper has snubbed. Last month, he did not appear in Montreal for the 2006 World Outgames, a celebration of elite gay, lesbian, and transgendered athletes.
The AIDS conference is expected to be the largest in history and will be ten times the size of the first which was held in Atlanta in 1985. It has become a biennial event and is convened by the International AIDS Society (IAS), an independent association of HIV professionals, with more than 7,000 members from 153 countries.
Surgeons reattach boy’s three severed limbs
Tuesday, March 29, 2005A team of Australian surgeons yesterday reattached both hands and one foot to 10-year-old Perth boy, Terry Vo, after a brick wall which collapsed during a game of basketball fell on him, severing the limbs. The wall gave way while Terry performed a slam-dunk, during a game at a friend’s birthday party.
The boy was today awake and smiling, still in some pain but in good spirits and expected to make a full recovery, according to plastic surgeon, Mr Robert Love.
“What we have is parts that are very much alive so the reattached limbs are certainly pink, well perfused and are indeed moving,” Mr Love told reporters today.
“The fact that he is moving his fingers, and of course when he wakes up he will move both fingers and toes, is not a surprise,” Mr Love had said yesterday.
“The question is more the sensory return that he will get in the hand itself and the fine movements he will have in the fingers and the toes, and that will come with time, hopefully. We will assess that over the next 18 months to two years.
“I’m sure that he’ll enjoy a game of basketball in the future.”
The weight and force of the collapse, and the sharp brick edges, resulted in the three limbs being cut through about 7cm above the wrists and ankle.
Terry’s father Tan said of his only child, the injuries were terrible, “I was scared to look at him, a horrible thing.”
The hands and foot were placed in an ice-filled Esky and rushed to hospital with the boy, where three teams of medical experts were assembled, and he was given a blood transfusion after experiencing massive blood loss. Eight hours of complex micro-surgery on Saturday night were followed by a further two hours of skin grafts yesterday.
“What he will lose because it was such a large zone of traumatised skin and muscle and so on, he will lose some of the skin so he’ll certainly require lots of further surgery regardless of whether the skin survives,” said Mr Love said today.
The boy was kept unconscious under anaesthetic between the two procedures. In an interview yesterday, Mr Love explained why:
“He could have actually been woken up the next day. Because we were intending to take him back to theatre for a second look, to look at the traumatised skin flaps, to close more of his wounds and to do split skin grafting, it was felt the best thing to do would be to keep him stable and to keep him anaesthetised.”
Professor Wayne Morrison, director of the respected Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery and head of plastic and hand surgery at Melbourne’s St Vincent’s Hospital, said he believed the operation to be a world first.
Poor Credit Mortgage Leads, To Avoid Or Not To Avoid
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By Jay Conners
These days with the mortgage industry being the way it is, mortgage brokers and loan officers may be finding it tougher and tougher to close deals for people with poor credit.
Although avoiding poor credit mortgage leads all together may not seem like such a bad idea these days for some loan officers, all may not be lost.
If you are willing to reconsider the purchasing of mortgage leads with poor credit, here are a few things to look for.
For starters, look for a mortgage lead company that allows for you to view your mortgage lead before you buy it.
Also, make sure the mortgage leads you buy are fresh mortgage leads. Avoid the recycled mortgage leads because the information will be dated and inaccurate.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn5Bb0dQNNs[/youtube]
Most mortgage lead companies have a comment section on their mortgage leads. The comment section allows for the consumer to get a little more specific so a loan officer such as yourself will have a better understanding of their needs.
By having the ability to view a mortgage lead in its entirety including a comment section, you will be able to get a good handle on the customer’s situation, what their needs are and wether or not you believe you have the resources to help them.
For instance, if the customer lists their credit score in the comment section of the mortgage lead, you will have a very clear idea of what you will be working with and if you have lenders available to go to should you buy the mortgage lead.
If the customer posts a comment such as ‘In foreclosure, the bank is coming tomorrow, need help fast,’ You will know that it is too late to help this person and to avoid buying the mortgage lead.
In short, viewing a mortgage lead with a comment section can give you the best indication as to wether or not you have the resources available to you to help the person.
As you already know, the LTV plays a huge role when it comes to a financial institutions decision as to wether or not they will fund the loan.
So look for the mortgage leads where the customer has a lot of equity in their home. This will help soften the blow when it comes to poor credit, or at least help their chances of being approved.
Another thing you can do is expand your resources, seek out the wholesale lenders who will still consider working with poor credit.
I realize finding these lenders will be tough, but the more tools you have to work with and the more lenders you have relationships with, the more deals you will close.
About the Author: Jay Conners has more than seventeen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry. He is the owner of jconners.com, a mortgage marketing and resource site for loan officers. He is also the owner of callprospect.com, a mortgage lead company.
Source: isnare.com
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