Word: april
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...fewer people will die from cigarettes because of it than are dying now. Past tax hikes have showed that smoking is price sensitive: Fewer kids start smoking and more smokers quit with each increase in the cost of a pack. Government "quit lines" got record numbers of calls on April 1, the day the current tax took effect. Restaurant smoking bans have also helped; so have ad campaigns about the dangers of smoking. Finding any and every way to deter and defeat the habit - including outlawing cigarettes and levying fines (no, not jail terms) for possession - would be a huge...
Bomb scares: two words that Northern Ireland had long consigned to the linguistic trashcan. But this week, bouts of public violence - both real and threatened - made a foreboding return to news bulletins and everyday conversations in the province. On April 1, two men were shot in the legs in so-called "punishment attacks" in Belfast and Londonderry. The day before, petrol bombs were thrown at a historic Orange hall in Belfast while a meeting of the Protestant Orangemen was taking place inside (nobody was injured). And security alerts at schools, leisure centers and gas stations - all hoaxes so far - continue...
...Afghans are in South Africa preparing for their Cricket World Cup qualifying matches, which started April 1. They got off to a good start, beating Denmark and Bermuda. A top-four finish in Johannesburg will see them go through to the main event, due to be held in various cities across South Asia in 2011. It would also crown an astonishing rise. Seven years ago, in a country defined by conflict, and which does not have a proper grass pitch even today, there was no national team. But three tournament wins in the past year, comprising 15 victories...
...associated with politics," says Humam Hamid, a sociology professor at Syah Kuala University in Aceh."They could also be purely criminal acts, which happen everywhere." Regardless, many Acehnese are predicting victory for the Partai Aceh, one of six local parties joining 38 national parties in the legislative elections on April 9. "I think Partai Aceh will get the majority but am not sure by how much," predicts Humam. A local businessman expects it to be a landslide. "I think they could get as much as 75%," says Muni Hamid...
...elections and also about maintaining the peace," says Humam, who failed in his bid to be elected governor in provincial elections in 2006. Government officials share his optimism, calling the recent series of grenade attacks "the exception, not the rule," and assert that safety precautions have been taken. "On April 9 you will see the elections carried out freely and fairly like everywhere else in Indonesia," states a confident presidential spokesman Andi Mallarangeng, who recently made a visit to the province with the President. "Those against the process of peace will be seen as going against all the Acehnese people...