Top News Stories –
Banker viewing topless women caught out on Australian TV –
A banker was caught logging on to look at pictures of topless women in his office – not realising a television news reporter was speaking live to camera just a few feet away. The worker was sat at his desk at Australia’s Macquarie Bank with his back to the camera as he looked at the images, apparently totally oblivious to the business analyst breaking news about interest rates in front of him. One of the pictures has been identified as actor Orlando Bloom’s model girlfriend, Miranda Kerr. (See Video of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Miranda Kerr
CIA allows agents to moonlight –
The CIA is allowing operatives to moonlight by selling their espionage expertise to financial firms, according to a new book. In one instance, agents worked at a New York hedge-fund consulting firm that wanted to draw on their skills in “deception detection” – the art of picking up clues in body language and conversation to ascertain when executives might be lying. Officials said that the out-of-hours work did not compromise national security and was only allowed once CIA officers had submitted full details of the work and been granted permission. [Daily Telegraph]
Groundhog Day: Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter –
Punxsutawney Phil has emerged on Groundhog Day to see his shadow – meaning winter will last another six weeks. German tradition holds that if the hibernating animal sees its shadow in Pennsylvania on Feb 2 – the Christian holiday of Candlemas – winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early. The Inner Circle of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club annually announces Phil’s forecast at dawn on Gobbler’s Knob, about 65 miles (105 kilometres) northeast of Pittsburgh. Phil’s announcement came before hundreds of onlookers who huddled as temperatures hovered around 15 degrees (-9 Celsius). The Groundhog Club says since 1887 Phil has predicted more winter weather by seeing his shadow nearly 100 times, but there are no records for nine years. (See List of the Day) [Daily Telegraph]
Video of the Day –
Macquarie Bank Employee busted looking at nude photos of Miranda Kerr live on TV
List of the Day –
Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions –
Year | Prediction |
---|---|
1887–1888 | “Long winter” |
1889 | No record |
1890 | “Early spring” |
1891–1897 | No record |
1898 | “Long winter” |
1899 | No record |
1900–1901 | “Long winter” |
1902 | “Early spring” |
1903–1933 | “Long winter” |
1934 | “Early spring” |
1935–1941 | “Long winter” |
1942 | “War clouds have blacked out parts of the shadow.”[13] |
1943 | No appearance (World War II) |
1944–1949 | “Long winter” |
1950 | “Early spring” |
1951–1969 | “Long winter” |
1970 | “Early spring” |
1971–1974 | “Long winter” |
1975 | “Early spring” |
1976–1982 | “Long winter” |
1983 | “Early spring” |
1984–1985 | “Long winter” |
1986 | “Early spring” |
1987 | “Long winter” |
1988 | “Early spring” |
1989 | “Long winter” |
1990 | “Early spring” |
1991–1994 | “Long winter” |
1995 | “Early spring” |
1996 | “Long winter” |
1997 | “Early spring” |
1998 | “Long winter” |
1999 | “Early spring” |
2000–2006 | “Long winter” |
2007 | “Early spring” |
2008–2010 | “Long winter” |
2011 | “Early spring” |
2012 | “Long winter” |
2013 | “Early spring” |
2014–2015 | “Long winter” |
Other News Stories –
- Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of espionage, while the latter detains one Russian and expels four others. (BBC) (RIA Novosti) (Kyiv Post)
- A hearing whether to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy is held in the United States allowing the possibility of openly gay people to become active-duty members of the United States armed forces. (BBC)
- The World Food Programme announces the number of hungry people in Sudan has quadrupled since August 2009 to 4.3 million. (AFP)(Emirates News Agency) (Taiwan News)
- China says that relations will be undermined if U.S. President Barack Obama meets the Dalai Lama. (BBC) (China Daily) (CBC)
- Continental Airlines and five men go on trial for their alleged role in the crash of Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde flight, that killed 113 people in 2000. (Reuters)
- The Lancet medical journal issues a full retraction of a paper that caused a 12-year international controversy over alleged links between the MMR vaccine and autism. (BBC) (Reuters)
- Finance Minister of Germany Wolfgang Schaeuble says that the German government will buy stolen information on Swiss bank accounts, offered in a CD that contained 1,500 names in exchange for 2.5 million euros, to pursue tax evasion. (Bloomberg)
- Nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards are announced. Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead the way with nine nominations each, and are both among ten nominees for Best Picture, the first time more than five films have been up for consideration since 1943. (CNN)
- Paul Volcker testifies before the Banking Committee of the United States Senate about the so-called “Volcker rule,” an administration proposal to separate banks from hedge funds and have them close down their risk-taking prop desks. (L.A. Times)
News from Wikipedia – please support this valuable resource