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Grameen Bank of Bangladesh has made the first loans to U.S. citizens who do not have a bank account. Grameen Bank is experienced in micro-financing in its home country, lending money to poor women that want to start small businesses. Since the start of the mortgage-crisis more people in the U.S. tend to turn to fringe financial institutions bypassing the mainstream bank institutes. "Now is a good time because of ... the subprime crisis and that highlights the issue that the financial system is not perfect," , says the bank's founder and 2006

After a second election on Friday Václav Klaus, a center-right conservative, has been re-elected to a five-year term as President of the Czech Republic. He was one of three candidates, opposing Jan Švejnar and Jana Bobošíková. Needing 140 votes, his victory was narrow with 141 votes. Klaus' chances to be re-elected were boosted when Czech Social Democratic Party (ČSSD) senator Evžen Snítilý announced he would vote for Klaus prior to the session. Snítilý had left the voting session in the third round of the first attempt on February 9, and he

Two recent polls have shown that the residents of the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England would prefer to live in Scotland. Located 57 miles from Edinburgh, Scotland and over 300 miles from London, Berwick was a frequent bone of contention in the border wars between the independent kingdoms of England and Scotland, changing hands at least 13 times between 1147 and 1482. Under the Treaty of Perpetual Peace agreed in 1502 by the English King Henry VII and the Scottish King James IV, Berwick was declared to be "of the Kingdom of England but not

Speaking in his radio address on Saturday, George W. Bush said that the US will lose its ability to carry out surveillance against suspected terrorists abroad as the US Congress did not approve a renewal of the law which allows the US Intelligence agencies to record phone calls without a warrant. Mr. Bush started by saying that "At the stroke of midnight tonight, a vital intelligence law that is helping protect our nation will expire." Right from the opening of his speech, he made it clear that he believed Congress should have passed the bill

Troubled U.K. bank Northern Rock is to be nationalised, the first such move since the 1970s. The Treasury made the decision after a long period of uncertainty which began in September 2007 when it was revealed that the bank had approached the Bank of England, as lender of last resort due to problems raising funds in the money markets. The move means that bids from Virgin Group and a proposal for a management buyout have been rejected. In a statement by Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer, said that "in current market conditions, we d

Polls have already closed on the Republic of Cyprus in a quite important closely fought presidential election. Official results are expected in a few hours, and two exit polls suggest the three leading candidates, current President Tassos Papadopoulos, Dimitris Christofias, Ioannis Kasoulides are neck-and-neck. An exit poll on state television (RIK) gave each candidate around a third of the vote, with left-wing's AKEL party leader Dimitris Christofias, marginally ahead. However, another exit poll for the TV channel Mega suggested that president

According to exit-polls Cyprus president Tassos Papadopoulos has been defeated in the Cypriot presidential elections. In the closest election in Cyprus ever, Papadopoulos finished third, after right-winger Ioannis Kassoulides and communist Demetris Christofias. Kasoulides won 33.51% of votes, compared to 33.29% for Christofias and 31.79% for Papadopoulos. The two remaining candidates will compete again in a run-off vote next Sunday. The current election is regarded as extremely important in reuniting the Turkish-controlled northern part of the

In a press release today, California-based Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. indicated that it has voluntarily recalled just over 143 million pounds (65 million kilograms) of raw and frozen beef products, which is considered to be the largest single recall of beef products in U.S. history. The move follows an investigation by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) into allegations of animal cruelty and mishandling of cattle destined for the human food chain. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had determined that

While nearly all cover of the 2008 Presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, there are small political parties offering candidates, and those who choose to run without a party behind them, independents. Wikinews is interviewing some of these citizens who are looking to become the 43rd person elected to serve their nation from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW. First off is Long Beach, California's Frank McEnulty (b. 1956), a married father of two with an MBA (Venture Management) and BS (Accounting/Finance). Int

There were 5 games played in the National Hockey League on February 15, 2008. Game summaries Atlanta Thrashers @ New Jersey Devils New Jersey scored first on a Zach Parise goal late in the first period. Brian Gionta would give the Devils a 2 goal lead in the second period, but Atlanta would cut their deficit in half less than a minute later with an Ilya Kovalchuk goal. Todd White would tie the score on a power-play goal. The Devils would retake the lead in the third period on a goal by John Madden, but the Thrashers would score on a Mari

Former President George H. W. Bush is reported to have offered his endorsement to Senator John McCain in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. This comes as former Presidential candidate and Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney announced his support for McCain on Friday after a bitter primary battle with the Senator, which ended after Romney exited the race following less than stellar results on Super Tuesday. Romney, who once referred to McCain as a "liberal Democrat", had a change of heart as he stood by the Senator's side and described McC

In the weekend of the 2008 Taipei International Book Exhibition at the Taipei World Trade Center, several participating publishers from Comic Hall (Hall 2) and General Book Hall (TWTC Hall 1) successively held several signing, meeting, and seminar events for different reading populations. Especially in the Comic Hall, several fans had waited for a long time before the opening hour. In the Signing Area of Comic Hall, due to several notable Japanese authors arriving for the signing events, the organizers restricted the flow of participants throu