Business

Yesterday, former UK shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle announced her withdrawal from the Labour Party leadership contest after losing to ex-Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Owen Smith in an informal contest for support of MPs (Members of Parliament) in opposition to current leader Jeremy Corbyn in the contest. She says she will support Smith with all her "enthusiasm and might". Ms. Eagle and Mr. Smith agreed whichever got the least nominations from MPs and MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) would drop out of the lead

Quentin Letts, a UK political columnist and sketch writer, publicly apologized yesterday after he mocked disabled broadcaster Andrew Marr. Letts was reviewing former BBC business editor Robert Peston's new ITV television show for the Daily Mail on Sunday when he made the comments. In his column he said Marr, who suffered a stroke in 2013, was like "Captain Hop-Along, growling away on BBC One, throwing his arm about like a tipsy conductor". Letts posted an apology on his Twitter page after a critical article by Roy Greenslade, which appeared in

Yesterday, over one hundred tons of ivory was burned in Kenya. The elephant ivory's estimated worth on the black market was about $170 million and the rhinoceros ivory's around $70 million. The fire was lighted by the Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta. Celebrities Kristin Davis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman, George Soros, and Elton John were also there. Kenya Wildlife Service director Kihili Mbathi says the ivory has no worth for them. Only the living animals matter. Kenya, Tanzania, and other countries heavily affected by illegal hunting

Businessman Rocky De La Fuente took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the U.S. Democratic Party's 2016 presidential nomination. The 61-year-old De La Fuente resides in San Diego, California, grew up in Tijuana, and owns multiple businesses and properties throughout the world. Since getting his start in the automobile industry, De La Fuente has branched out into the banking and real estate markets. Despite not having held or sought political office previously, he has been involved in politics, serving as the first-ever Hi

Former mayor of Toronto, Canada Rob Ford died yesterday morning aged 46, following a cancerous tumor found in his abdomen in 2014 and two more in his bladder in 2015. A statement issued by Ford's chief of staff Dan Jacobs called Ford a "dedicated man of the people" who "spent his life serving the citizens of Toronto." The former mayor, whose father, a businessman, served on the Ontario Provincial Parliament, was elected mayor in 2010. Before entering office, he had served as a councillor for Ward 2 Etobicoke North, a district in Toronto. He

The US federal National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) yesterday concluded a "series of errors" by flight crew caused a business jet crash near Boston, Massachusetts last year. Seven were killed when the Gulfstream IV overran a runway. The NTSB found the pilots failed to conduct preflight checks, mistakenly took off with flight control systems locked in position, and then failed to abort takeoff until too late. Manufacturer Gulfstream was criticised for an inadequate safety system; the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was accused o

The US economy added 173,000 jobs in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. The unemployment rate fell from 5.3 to 5.1 percent, the lowest since April 2008. Although August job gains were lower than most economists forecast, job growth numbers for June and July were revised upwards by a combined 44,000. Average job gains over the past three months stand at 221,000, compared to March-May's 189,000 monthly average. Over the past twelve months, job growth has averaged 247,000 per month. Average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percen

Continuing a trend of steady employment growth, the United States economy added 215,000 jobs in July, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.3%. "Job growth is quite strong," stated Jim O'Sullivan, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, a data analysis firm in New York. "This pace of employment growth is clearly strong enough to keep the unemployment rate trending down." Average hourly earnings rose 0.2%, marking a rebound after growth stalled in June. Wages have grown by 2.1% over t

Two daughters of blues legend B.B. King are claiming on Monday that he was poisoned by business manager LaVerne Toney and personal assistant Myron Johnson. The allegations were made by daughters Karen Williams and Patty King in affidavits provided by their lawyer to the Associated Press. "I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances," Williams and King said in identically worded sections of the affidavits. "I believe my father was murdered." Williams and King also allege that family members were prevented f

Former Thai prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has begun her trial in Bangkok on Tuesday for alleged negligence in a rice subsidy scheme. If convicted she could face up to ten years in jail. The subsidy scheme was designed to prop up rice prices by spending billions of dollars to acquire the crop at high rates over the market rates. It has been alleged by her political opponents that this was a way to gain support from poor rice farmers. "I am confident that I am innocent and I hope the court will give me justice and allow everything to proc

Police detained a nine-year-old after a blaze started in a wholesale market in Huizhou, Guangdong, southern China on Thursday afternoon. Seventeen died. According to police the child was playing with matches in a warehouse on the top-floor of the four-storey Yiwu Commodity Mall. Soon the entire floor was engulfed, leading to an eighteen-hour rescue mission involving 270 firefighters with 45 vehicles. Nine market managers have also been detained. The complex includes restaurants and a cinema. The cinema's bathroom, on the top floor, became a t

The death toll from Wednesday's plane crash in Taipei, Taiwan reached 40 today with the recovery of five more bodies. There were 58 on board when TransAsia Airways Flight 235 crashed into the city's Keelung River. Fifteen survived and three more remain missing. Tzu Chi Foundation volunteer Lee Hung Shu-ying said today cold weather meant the families of the missing believe their loved ones are dead. The Aviation Safety Council is investigating. The plane was in the air for minutes before banking steeply, hitting an elevated road, and crashing