28 March 2014

Sports highest accolades and the cost to compete

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It's been a mixed bag in the sporting world with a few coming out tops while some struggled and other fought even tougher battles.

Winners


Sebastian Vettel has been named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year along with Missy Franklin who was named the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year.

Karrie Webb won the LPGA Tour's Founders Cup tournament shooting an 8-under-par 63 to clench the title.

Following the money


The Dodgers have knocked the Yankees off baseball's payroll perch with an average salary of $4million.

After a lengthy legal battle Bernie Ecclestone has been left with a $6.6million legal bill despite winning.

Red Bull's billionaire owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, has threatened to quit if the sport does not meet his needs after the disqualification of Ricciardo.

Behaving badly


Shaq is under police investigation for an assault that took place last year.

South Korea have lodged a complaint with the International Skating Union over judging of the women's figure skating at the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The Miami Open was temporarily delayed due to a suspicious package left outside resulting in the bomb squad being called in to investigate.

Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder faced criticism after starting a foundation for Native Americans but still refuses the change the name of his team.

Condolences and best Wishes


Argentine tennis star Juan Martin del Potro had wrist surgery and will mist the rest of the season.

Formula 1's former chief doctor claims there were "serious lapses" in the treatment of Michael Schumacher which may have worsened his condition.

19 year old Navy football player Will McKamey has passed away, 3 days after collapsing during practice.


21 March 2014

Money, who's in control?

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Money kept it's momentum even with government interventions, policies and preventative measures.

The people in charge


Russia's actions over Crimea have landed it in hot water with the international community who have only one hand to play... sanctions. According to the US State Department Russia was hit with "Real Economic Pain" over it's handling of Crimea. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) contacted investments firms with exposure to Russia to make sure they were properly managing risk. Initial sanctions were met with defiance with some under sanction threatening to take their business elsewhere.

The Federal Reserves chairman, Janet Yellen, hinted at raising rates shaking markets around the world.

The Justice Department reached a $1 billion settlement with Toyota over it's response to consumer concerns.

Taiwan students took over Taiwan's legislature over a trade deal with China which they fear gives mainland too much influence.

Retail Therapy


Chinese e-commerce giant, Alibaba, has confirmed it will list in the United States aiming to rise $10billion.

Labelux, the owners of Jimmy Choo, said it may float the business for £1billion but is still in talks with investments banks.

An investigation into the recent suicide of fashion designer L'Wren Scott reveals her company was in debt of $6.5million.

Currencies


Mt.Gox managed to find 200,000 bitcoins valued at $116million in an old format digital wallet.

Bitcoin's have been used to purchase a $500,000 Villa in Bali in what is considered the largest Bitcoin purchase ever.

A new £1 coin was introduced to prevent counterfeiting and is set to be introduced in 2017.

General


Unskilled and destitute workers have become hiring targets for the decommissioning of the Fukushima nuclear plant as finding skilled labour becomes more difficult.

BP bids $41.6 million to return to drilling in the gulf after it's disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010.


14 March 2014

What happened to Flight MH370?

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Boeing 777 By Charaka Ranasinghe via Wikimedia Commons
On Saturday 8 March 2014 Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was reported missing after communication had been lost with the Boeing 777 on a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers on board.

Initial Confusion


Problem's began when communication was lost as the aircraft entered a well known communication blind spot. At one point it was thought that the aircraft had turned around and was heading back. The plane at one point was thought to have been tracked heading West to Strait of Malacca which has since been denied by the Malaysian air force chief.

Interpol disclosed that two stolen passports had been used by unidentified individuals on the ill fated flight. The suspects with the stolen passports were initially described as having "Asian features", they were later identified as Iranian.

Search and Rescue Operations


Originally an oil slick was discovered by search parties which turned out to be non related. Vietnam then reported detecting signals from the aircraft off it's South Western coast.  Chinese satellites reported seeing debris in the South China Sea but was later confirmed by Vietnam that there was nothing in the flagged area.

The Malaysian search team has now moved West towards the Indian Ocean. A US Navy ship was ordered to the Indian Ocean to assist in searching for the missing plane.

Speculation


The latest's assumptions have investigators suspecting the pilots involvement as certain signals must have been manually disabled while automatic signals from the engines continued to log data remotely for hours after loss of communication. Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein dismissed the claims. New military data suggests the plane could have been flown directly towards Andaman Islands.

Questions as to whether or not spy satellites had managed to track the aircraft. Since the incident numerous space organizations have joined the search. Various tools have been made available online to allow the public help join the search.

What do you think happened? Was it an accident or something more sinister?


7 March 2014

All eyes on Hollywood

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The Oscars took place Sunday with a plethora of moments worth mentioning and as usual the famous took it all in their stride.


The Good


At first it looked like the Oscars would be a damp squib with constant rain however the show kicked off with Ellen DeGeneres bringing the hilarity with jokes flowing thick and fast. Along with the jokes, host Ellen DeGeneres organized the most retweeted selfie reaching over 2 million retweets.

Winners of the night included Matthew McConaughey for Best Actor, Jared Leto for Best Supporting Actor, Lupita Nyong'o for Best Supporting Actress and Cate Blanchett for Best Actress. The Best Movie award went to 12 Years a Slave.

It didn't all go smoothly with John Travolta apologizing for mispronouncing Idina Menzel name when introducing her on stage. There was also Bat kid drama when the segment was dropped and all blame landed unfairly on Andrew Garfield.

As part of her daytime show Ellen gave everyone a peak behind the scenes at the Oscars with appearances from Jennifer Lawrence, Will Smith and Channing Tatum.

The Bad


Charlie Sheen punched a hole through the wall of a tattoo joint after taking Vicodin.

Amanda Bynes thanked fans via Twitter while she works on her mental health issues.

Chris Brown has been diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder and Insomnia and PTSD.

George Lopez was arrested for public intoxication when he was drunk in his car outside a Casino in California.


The Loving


Recently engaged Scarlett Johansson is expecting first baby with fiance Romain Dauriac.

Gwen Stefani gave birth to another baby boy with husband Gavin Rossdale naming him Apollo Bowie Flynn Rossdale.

Kelsey Grammer is having his 6th child. It is the 2nd baby with Kayte Walsh.

Robin Thicke has been trying to win back his estranged wife Paula Patton by proclaiming his love for her at a recent concert.




1 March 2014

Fighting for their rights

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The world has seen it's fair share of fighting of late and it hasn't been fought in a war zone but instead much closer to home.

Ukraine


Protests in the Ukraine began after President Viktor Yanukovych decided against an agreement with the European Union in favour of closer ties with Russia. After weeks of turmoil and protests the agreement was eventually signed.

Protests continued to rage on even with an interim President in place. The former Presidents mansion was over run with protestors who discovered his extravagant lifestyle. Incriminating files were also discovered dumped in a lake.

Since President Viktor Yanukovych departure Russia has had various warships on standby in the Crimean peninsula and the United States warning Russia over any intervention.

Companies associated with former President Viktor Yanukovych have also been targeted in a corruption investigation.

Venezuela


Venezuelan anti-government protestors have been protesting due to high levels of criminal violence and lack of basic goods and demanding President Nicolas Maduro step down.

An outspoken ex-general of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was caught in a standoff at his home with security forces.

Students have also been setting up roadblocks in Caracas halting transport escalating the standoff. This has come after the death toll rises since early February.


Thailand


Anti-government protests have been raging since 2013 over Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and an amnesty bill pardoning two politicians on murder charges.

Attacks on protestors by government forces have resulted in deaths as tensions escalated.

Protestors have since targeted companies linked to Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra keeping pressure on the Prime Minister despite more deadly attacks.

Uganda Gay Bill


Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed the controversial anti-gay bill this week making it illegal for people to be gay and imposing harsh penalties.

The action has resulted in a backlash with the World Bank postponing a loan to the country and with donor countries slashing aid to Uganda.

Arizona Gay Bill


In Arizona, Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill which would allow business owners to essentially discriminate against gay people to "protect religious freedom".

Many spoke out against the bill with the Major League Baseball releasing a statement condemning the proposed bill and Apple also urging the Governor to veto the bill.