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Why recession can be good time to start business

published by You on 24 January, 2009 - 19:20

Why recession can be good time to start business

The UK is officially in recession and the next few months will bring more job losses, more gloomy statistics and more hardship.

But it could also provide an opportunity for some people to start their own business.

In the early 1990s, during the last recession, thousands of people who were made redundant decided to set up on their own.

So for some people, redundancy turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Robyn Jones is a successful businesswoman who runs her own catering company, Charlton House Catering. This year it's likely to have a turnover of £80 million.

The company employs around 2,000 people and has over 150 clients, but it was not an easy start.

S Ossetia 'war crimes' condemned

published by You on 23 January, 2009 - 20:23

S Ossetia 'war crimes' condemned

Both Russia and Georgia violated the laws of war when they clashed in South Ossetia last August, failing to protect civilians, Human Rights Watch says.

The New York-based international rights organisation has produced a report on the conflict, based on more than 460 interviews done in the region.

The group accuses Georgia of attacking South Ossetia "with blatant disregard for the safety of civilians".

"Indiscriminate" Russian air and ground attacks killed many civilians, it says.

Call for justice

Russia allowed South Ossetian forces to kill, beat, rape and threaten civilians, Human Rights Watch (HRW) says, demanding that those responsible be brought to justice, and their victims compensated...

Infant calls cops to dad's dope plantation

published by You on 22 January, 2009 - 14:10

Infant calls cops to dad's dope plantation

A British Columbia man can consider himself well and truly busted after his 11-month-old son accidentally dialled 911, leading cops to dad's dope plantation.

According to the Canadian Press, Mounties received an emergency call from a residence in White Rock last Friday morning, but "whoever was on the other end of the line hung up". At the house, no one answered the door, so they entered the premises to find a "startled" 29-year-old male who insisted he hadn't made the call.

Chinese milk scam duo face death

published by You on 22 January, 2009 - 14:04

Chinese milk scam duo face death

Two men have been given the death penalty for their involvement in China's contaminated milk scandal.

The former boss of the Sanlu dairy at the centre of the scandal was given life imprisonment.

They were among several sentences handed down by the court in northern China, where Sanlu is based.

The scandal, in which melamine was added to raw milk to make it appear higher in protein, led to the deaths of six babies and made some 300,000 ill...

Read more @ BBC News

'Polite' Britons died on Titanic

published by You on 21 January, 2009 - 19:43

In my quest against selflessness, I find this tale of woe:

'Polite' Britons died on Titanic

More British passengers died on the Titanic because they queued politely for lifeboats, researchers believe.

A behavioural economist says data suggests Britons in that era were more inclined to be "gentlemanly" while Americans were more "individualist".

Women with children had a 70% better chance of survival than men in such an environment, he told the BBC.

The Titanic sank during its maiden voyage in 1912 after hitting an iceberg, with the loss of 1,500 lives.

David Savage, from Queenland University of Technology, studied the disaster to look at how people react in life and death situations.

Downturn 'hitting women harder'

published by You on 21 January, 2009 - 02:31

Downturn 'hitting women harder'

Female workers are being hit harder than ever before by the effects of the current downturn, a report suggests.

A study by the TUC union showed the redundancy rate among women had risen by 2.3%, almost double the rate for men, since last year.

It said more women were in work and more households depended on a woman's wage than in previous downturns.

It also found many job losses were occurring in retail and hospitality, where more women than men work.

The study, published ahead of Wednesday's unemployment figures which are expected to show another big rise in the jobless total, also found women now earn more than men in a fifth of couples.

Fresh attacks on Pakistan schools

published by You on 19 January, 2009 - 13:40

Fresh attacks on Pakistan schools

Taleban militants have blown up another five schools in north-west Pakistan, officials say, despite a government pledge to safeguard education.

The schools were destroyed in the town of Mingora in troubled Swat district.

The Taleban issued an edict in December that private schools must close by 15 January as part of their campaign to ban education for girls.

Meanwhile the Khyber route for supplies into Afghanistan was temporarily closed on Monday after a militant attack.

'Scared'

The attacks in Mingora took place despite a curfew. No-one was hurt as the winter holidays had begun.

South Asian heart disease gene found

published by You on 19 January, 2009 - 01:39

The heart disease mutation carried by 60 million

he worst luck in the world? Muscle protein gene mutation in one in 100

Heart disease is the number one killer in the world and India carries more than its share of this burden. Moreover, the problem is set to rise: it is predicted that by 2010 India's population will suffer approximately 60% of the world's heart disease. Today, an international team of 25 scientists from four countries provides a clue to why this is so: 1% of the world's population carries a mutation almost guaranteed to lead to heart problems and most of these come from the Indian subcontinent, where the mutation reaches a frequency of 4%.

Kosovo's poisoned generation

published by You on 18 January, 2009 - 22:33

Kosovo's poisoned generation

A small child is sweeping the yard outside her home - anywhere else the scene would be touching - but here in the Cesmin Lug refugee camp in northern Kosovo, it is tragic.

The children are sick with lead poisoning.

The camps were built close to the Trepca lead mine and smelting works.

The factory was closed by order of the UN administration in Kosovo, in 2000. But the slag heaps were never cleaned up.

The lead blackens the children's teeth, blanks out their memory, and stunts their growth.

The children swing between bursts of nervous hyperactivity, and something like a coma. Some have epileptic fits.

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