Discovery‘s six astronauts will learn on Sunday whether they have the final all-clear to fly home as analysts examined the space shuttle’s heat shield for potential micro-meteorite impacts. Nasa declared Discovery‘s left wing free of damage on Saturday, hours after the shuttle undocked from the International Space Station.
Two spacewalking astronauts on Monday replaced broken hardware deemed crucial for the completion of the International Space Station, a new success for Nasa in the six-day-old Discovery shuttle mission. Astronauts Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers replaced a broken cable reel of the orbiting laboratory’s construction equipment transporter.
Two astronauts floated out of the International Space Station (ISS) on Monday to repair equipment crucial for the completion of the orbiting laboratory. Astronauts Mike Fossum and Piers Sellers, who arrived at the ISS last week aboard the Discovery shuttle with five other colleagues, started the second of three planned spacewalks.
Enron founder Kenneth Lay, who was convicted of helping perpetuate one of the most sprawling business frauds in United States history, died on Wednesday in Aspen, Colorado. He was 64. Lay died of a heart attack, his pastor in Houston said. ”Apparently, his heart simply gave out,” said Pastor Steve Wende of Houston’s First United Methodist Church.
Many former friends of Enron founder Kenneth Lay refused to comment on his death on Wednesday as they sought to distance themselves from a man convicted of one of the largest corporate frauds in United States history. A Republican party fund raiser, Lay golfed with presidents and was hailed as a business visionary and generous philanthropist prior to Enron’s spectacular meltdown.
A four-year-old boy who underwent a marathon 11-hour operation to repair his face, which was ravaged by dogs in his native Kenya, was set to leave Houston on Tuesday and return to Oklahoma City. His guardians, Larry and Frances Jones, said Daniel has been a blessing in their lives. ”I think he can be a role model for other children,” said Frances Jones.
Doctors were set to begin the reconstruction on Thursday of the face of a four-year-old Kenyan boy who was mauled by dogs when he was an abandoned newborn. Daniel Wachira, who lost much of the left half of his face in the attack, was expected to be in surgery for about 11 hours to reconstruct his jaw with one of his ribs.
Just how much time former Enron chiefs Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling spend in prison could hinge on how much of the more than -billion lost in the company’s crash is deemed their responsibility. Under federal sentencing guidelines, the felons easily face more than 20 years in prison if investor loss tied to their actions exceeds -million or more.
Former Enron chief executives Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay were found guilty on Thursday of fraud and conspiracy charges related to the spectacular 2001 meltdown of the energy giant. Skilling (52) was found guilty of 19 of 28 counts of fraud and conspiracy and faces a maximum penalty of 185 years in jail.
Jurors deliberated for a fifth day on Wednesday in the fraud trial of former Enron chief executives Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay, after a separate trial of Lay before a judge on banking charges concluded. The eight women and four men, who have already debated for about 24 hours over four days, have given no indication of their progress.
The prosecution and defence rested their cases on Monday in the trial of former Enron executives Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay after 14 weeks of intense questioning of the key figures in one of the biggest collapses in corporate history. The court adjourned and closing arguments will be heard next week before the jury starts its deliberations.
So far in Enron founder Kenneth Lay’s fraud and conspiracy trial, a slew of prosecution witnesses have pointed the finger at him while a few — including his co-defendant, former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling — spoke up for him. On Monday, he aims to speak for himself.
Australian Stuart Appleby captured his second United States PGA event of the season, taking the by firing a final-round five-under par-67 Sunday on to win by a record-tying six strokes. Appleby finished 72 holes at Redstone Golf Club on 19-under-par 269 to defeat American Bob Estes by six strokes.
Fifth-seeded Tommy Haas dominated Andy Roddick on clay again, beating the number one seed a fourth straight time in a quarterfinal at the United States Men’s Clay Court Championship on Friday. Haas rallied from one set down to win 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-4 in a matchup that Roddick said could have been the final. It was two years ago.
Vince Spadea of the United States reached the quarterfinals of the ATP US Clay Court Championships on Thursday as an ailing Marcos Baghdatis retired from their second-round clash. Baghdatis, the surprise Australian Open runner-up, was trailing 6-2, 3-1 when he called it quits, complaining of a nerve problem in his lower back.
Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus rallied in the second set to beat Jesse Witten of the United States 6-4, 7-6 (2) on Wednesday as his rowdy, flag-waving fans shouted and stomped to the beat of throbbing music in the first round of the United States Men’s Clay Court Championship.
Former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling spent nine weeks listening in large part to his former underlings say or imply that he misled investors by saying all was well at the energy giant when accounting tricks and weak ventures fed financial rot. Now he’s fighting back, having logged three days testifying in his fraud and conspiracy trial with a fourth on Thursday and more to come next week.
A former Enron broadband unit executive faces cross-examination this week after damaging the defence with his testimony in the fraud and conspiracy trial of company founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling. Kevin Hannon told jurors that Skilling said ”They’re on to us” in a May 2001 meeting of top executives regarding a boutique analyst firm’s criticism.
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/ 24 February 2006
A former Enron vice-president of investor relations testified that in the months before the company failed in late 2001, she witnessed behavior by top company executives that concerned her but did not think crimes were being committed. ”I observed events that I thought were wrong, so I did make a conclusion. I didn’t make a conclusion that it was legal or illegal,” Paula Rieker said under cross-examination.
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/ 22 February 2006
As a vice-president of investor relations and corporate secretary for Enron’s board, Paula Rieker viewed the energy trading giant’s inner workings as it rose to be a Wall Street darling and then imploded in scandal. Rieker on Tuesday testified how former chief executive Jeffrey Skilling ordered abrupt last-minute changes to two quarterly earnings reports in 2000 to please analysts and investors.
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/ 19 February 2006
United States oil-services contractor Willbros Group has confirmed that nine employees, including three Americans, were kidnapped on Saturday in Nigeria by guerrillas who attacked a Niger Delta oil terminal. Willbros ”has not, at this time, been contacted by the group which has claimed responsibility”, it said.
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/ 21 November 2005
Doubts are being cast on the guilt of a Texas man executed more than a dozen years ago after the crime’s lone witness recanted and a co-defendant said he allowed his friend to be falsely accused under police pressure, the Houston Chronicle reported on Sunday.
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/ 23 September 2005
Tens of thousands were on the highways fleeing Hurricane Rita, but at Kilkeanny’s Irish Bar in downtown Houston the party was still on. As the powerful storm churned toward the Gulf Coast, the Texas oil metropolis and fourth-largest United States city was eerily deserted except for very few places like Kilkeanny’s, where the bar was packed with beer drinkers and the loudspeakers blared electric blues.
Nasa said on Wednesday that engineers have launched an elaborate review into why pieces of foam insulation fell off the space shuttle Discovery‘s fuel tank, hoping to clear the way for more manned space flights.
The crew of the United States space shuttle Discovery focused on Sunday on transferring cargo to and from the International Space Station after two astronauts walked in space and tested repair techniques. Discovery will spend an extra day in orbit, Nasa announced on Saturday.
Gabriel Gomez scored the deciding goal in a penalty kick shootout here on Sunday to advance Panama past South Africa into the Concacaf Gold Cup football tournament semifinals. Panama and South Africa played to a 1-1 draw after two extra 15-minute sessions and the quarterfinal was decided in a shootout, which Panama won 5-3 to advance.
South Africa and Guatemala played to a 1-1 tie in one of the final first-round games of Gold Cup play at Reliant Stadium on Wednesday night. Mexico played Jamaica in the late match. South Africa, playing its second straight tie after a 3-3 stalemate against Jamaica on Sunday, finished first-round play with a 1-0-2 record. Guatemala ended the first round with an 0-2-1 record.
A retired public school teacher who was so frugal that he bought expired meat and secondhand clothing left ,1-million for his alma mater, Prairie View A&M — the school’s largest gift from a single donor. Whitlowe Green (88) died of cancer in 2002. He retired in 1983 from the Houston Independent School District, where he was making 000 a year as an economics teacher.
Within weeks of dazzling Wall Street by lying about the capabilities of its new broadband network, Enron faced a daunting task in living up to the hype. Kenneth Rice, the former head of the defunct broadband unit, said pressure escalated further when Enron stock jumped to from within a day of an analysts conference in January 2000.
Vijay Singh, newly inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame, defeated John Daly on the first play-off hole on Sunday to become the first player to win back-to-back Houston Open titles. Two-time Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal of Spain finished third on 277.
Top-seeded Andy Roddick was broken twice in the first six games on Saturday before charging back to dominate Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-4, 6-2 and reach his fifth straight final at the US Men’s Clay Court Championships. In Sunday’s title match, Roddick will face France’s Sebastien Grosjean.
Top-seeded Andy Roddick needed just 58 minutes to beat qualifier Matias Boeker 6-2, 6-3 on Tuesday in the first round of the US Clay-Court Championships. Defending champion and third-seeded Tommy Haas of Germany also won, beating Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 6-3, 7-5.