Word: britain
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...Trafigura and Carter-Ruck did not take into account the power of Twitterers. By dawn in Britain, the words Trafigura, Carter-Ruck and Guardian, often accompanied by the # sign that enables Twitter users to click through to collected tweets on a tagged subject, began to crop up on the site, elbowing their way into the top-10 trending topics by midmorning. "What is Trafigura anyway????" wondered 17-year-old @ClaireMacIsaac. An immediate response came from @iannutt, helpfully directing her to an earlier Guardian story that detailed Trafigura's involvement in what the newspaper described as "one of the worst pollution...
...Britain is crawling with so-called metal detectorists, who make a hobby - and often an obsession - out of unearthing treasure from the country's rich past. Occasionally they strike gold, like Terry Herbert, a 55-year-old Staffordshire man who, it was announced Sept. 24, discovered more than 11 lb. of Anglo-Saxon gold on a farm north of Birmingham. But mudlarks, who consider themselves élite archaeologists, tend to view treasure seekers with disdain. While anyone can obtain a permit to search the five or so miles of the river's southern foreshore between Westminster and Wapping...
This being Britain, mudlarks follow protocol from a higher power. Codifying a centuries-old tradition, the Treasure Act of 1996 dictates that any object dating from before 1709 and containing more than 10% gold or silver belongs to the Queen, although the finder and the landowner must be compensated. (The Staffordshire gold has been tentatively valued at more than $1.6 million.) But mudlarks are more interested in connections to history than they are in bounty, Brooker emphasizes. Objects with emblems, seals and signatures are the most prized because they identify their former owner. "Everybody should have someone to remember them...
...Similar motivation schemes have worked elsewhere in the world. In the U.S., for example, more than a dozen states have started rewarding students with cash for improved test scores and enrollment in advanced-placement courses. In Britain, the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA), which focuses on helping children from lower-income families, awards students with monthly payments if they've met attendance and performance targets. Like its U.S. counterparts, the EMA initiative puts money directly into students' pockets to spend as they wish. In the decade since it began, the program has reversed dropout rates by more than 2% annually. (Read...
...growing differential in interest rates is only one element in this process. On the day Australia raised interest rates, Britain's Independent newspaper reported that the Gulf Arab states and China, Russia, Japan and France are working to end the use of the dollar in oil trading by 2018. Citing "Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong," the newspaper said the plan is to price oil using a basket comprising gold, euro, yen, renminbi and a new unified currency for the Gulf Cooperation Council countries...