Dubai’s bounced-check convicts go on strike

The Media Line Staff United Arab Emirates David Rosenberg / The Med – Christopher Renehan, a 38-year-old Irish national and building contractor, is looking at at least five more years in Dubai’s Central Prison and he has had enough. Seven months into his jail term, he declared a hunger strike last week and has since [...]

China’s economic growth slows to 8.1 percent

Linda Young – AHN News Writer Beijing, China (AHN) – News that economic growth in China fell to 8.1 percent during the first three months of the year caused oil prices to fall on world markets, along with stocks on U.S. exchanges. China is the world’s second-largest economy. The 8.1 percent growth in China’s gross [...]

Mortgage rates virtually unchanged in latest week

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Mortgage rates remained virtually unchanged in the week ended April 5, another mixed signal about the pace of the economic recovery in the United States. According to the latest report out Thursday by mortgage giant Freddie Mac, the 30-year fixed-rate average remained just [...]

Employers tie financial rewards, penalties to health tests, lifestyle choices

United States (KaiserHealth) – Once a year, employees of the Swiss Village Retirement Community in Berne, Ind., have a checkup that will help determine how much they pay for health coverage. Those who don’t smoke, aren’t obese and whose blood pressure and cholesterol fall below specific levels get to shave as much as $2,000 off [...]

‘Joe the Plumber’ wins GOP nod in Ohio congressional election

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter Toledo, OH, United States (AHN) – Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe the Plumber,” the working class icon of the 2008 presidential campaign, has laid down his wrench and plunger for a chance at a stint in Congress. Wurzelbacher, who outspent his opponents six to one, only narrowly won [...]

The Parent Trap

Washington, DC, United States (KaiserHealth) – Chris St. Clair’s mother was firmly rooted in Breckenridge, Texas, population 6,000, with its three traffic lights and two grocery stores. She had graduated from the local high school and knew how many times the banks had changed names. She didn’t intend on leaving. But in 2009, the 82-year-old [...]

Senegal under President Wade

Dakar, Senegal (IRIN) – As Senegalese presidential elections approach on 26 February, the grassroots M23 and “Y’en ai marre” (“Enough is enough”) opposition movements continue to hold daily protests across the country against the decision that incumbent President Abdoulaye Wade can run for a third term. Thus far, six people have been killed in clashes [...]

Empire State Building planning $1 billion IPO

Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Here’s your chance to own part of the iconic Empire State Building. Owners Empire Reality Trust have filed to sell up to $1 billion of its Class A common stock, in a real estate investment trust offering (REIT), allowing ordinary investors a [...]

The coming nursing home shortage

United States (KaiserHealth) – The latest casualty of the Great Recession may soon be the nation’s elderly. Cuts in government payments for patient care and less construction of new nursing homes are already taking a toll. Add to this the aging baby boom generation and you have a worst-case scenario in which older people who [...]

The Egyptian army’s invisible hand

The Media Line Staff Cairo, Egypt Joseph Mayton / The Media – Mahmoud Yussif runs a mobile phone shop here in the Egyptian capital. He fields customers in rapid-fire succession explaining his products thoroughly, answering questions quickly and efficiently, and locating in seconds a cellphone or anything else in his small but crowded shop. Started [...]

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