Lifestyle

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MetLife to acquire Travelers Life and Annuity from Citigroup

Metlife announced on 01/31/05 that they were going to acquire Travelers Life and Annuity from Citigroup. Travelers Life and Annuity is an insurance underwriter. MetLife is a large life insurance and annuities underwriter. MetLife will have to borrow a lot of money to pay for the company, so rating agencies like S&P warn that the AA credit rating of MetLife might be lowered. This would cause the interest rates at which all of MetLife's debt must be repaid to increase. Citigroup committed to continue distributing Travelers life insurance and an

Source: Wikinews

Lifestyle

Official figures didn't show 60% of dead Iraqi civilians were killed by coalition forces, says BBC

The BBC reported on January 27 that statistics released by the Iraqi Ministry of Health showed that Coalition forces killed 60% of the civilians that died in the period July 2004 to January 2005. The figures, normally available only to the Iraqi cabinet, show a total of 3,274 Iraqi civilians were killed and 12,657 wounded during the continuing conflict. These figures exclude the deaths of known insurgents. However according to the Iraqi Ministry of Health, the BBC misunderstood the matter. According to the previous story from BBC these figu

Source: Wikinews

Lifestyle

Chinese Hostages Freed in Iraq

The Chinese Embassy has confirmed a report by the Al-Arabiya television station that the eight hostages held hostages in Iraq four days ago had been released unharmed. Al-Numan Battalion, the militant group holding the men had threatened to kill them if China failed to clarify its position on Iraq. It reportedly said in a videotape that the hostages were being freed after China said it had advised its citizens not to travel to Iraq. "The Islamic Resistance Movement, al-Numan Battalion, has decided to release the eight citizens as a goodwill g

Source: Wikinews

Lifestyle

Jefferson Airplane drummer dies at 66

Spencer Dryden, the drummer of the legendary American rock band Jefferson Airplane, passed away on Tuesday, Jan. 11. He was 66. Dryden suffered from stomach cancer and heart disease. Spencer Dryden was a member of Jefferson Airplane during the band's heyday. He replaced original drummer Skip Spence and played with Jefferson Airplane at the legendary Woodstock and Altamont rock festivals. Dryden left the band in 1970 to play with New Riders of The Purple Sage, a country rock band formed by members of the Grateful Dead. He was married three ti

Lifestyle

Third case of BSE reported in Canada

Another confirmed case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE, or "mad cow disease") was reported today to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The infected cow was found in the province of Alberta, where two previous cases of BSE have been reported in the past year. The cow itself was born in March of 1998, mere months after a ban placed by the CFIA to stop the use of any feed which might contain any "specified risk material"-- material that is known to carry the BSE agent. The cow's origin is still unknown. The CFIA is now in contro

Lifestyle

U.S. and U.K. governments warn citizens against travelling to areas hit by tsunamis

The U.S. State Department issued public travel warnings, advising United States citizens to avoid travelling to areas affected by the recent Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunamis. The announcements cover Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and affected areas of Thailand. The warnings are set to expire on January 25, 2005, and urge citizens to postpone all non-essential travel to the regions. The U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office also carries Travel Advice notices covering many of the countries hit by the tsunamis, and similarly