United States and South America
Brazil
Brazil
anger over toxic UK waste - 17 July
Brazilian police are investigating after 64 containers with more than
1,400 tonnes of hazardous UK waste were found in three of the country's
ports. The authorities say that among the material which was brought in
illegally they discovered batteries, syringes, condoms and nappies.
Since the initial discovery, another 25 containers with hospital waste
were found, also apparently from England. In a statement the British
Embassy in Brazil promised "immediate steps". It said the UK
was completely opposed to any kind of illegal trade in waste. - BBC
News website
See : Britain's
dirty little secret as a dumper of toxic waste
Courts
Landmark
ruling allows apartheid victims to sue multinationals - 16
July
After seven years of pacing legal hallways, South Africa's apartheid
victims have finally received the green light from a US judge to sue
multinational corporations that knowingly aided and abetted the
apartheid regime. In her 144-page judgment, Southern District of New
York Judge Shira Scheindlin found that select defendants - including
IBM, General Motors and Ford - engaged in aiding and abetting apartheid,
torture, extrajudicial killings, denationalisation and other crimes and
could therefore be held accountable. - allAfrica
website
Keyphrase :
United States. 'Apartheid Case'
Marc
Dreier sentenced to 20 years in prison - 13 July
Marc Dreier has been sentenced to 20 years for defrauding clients and
investors of over $400 million. "I am sorry, deeply sorry for the
harm and sadness I have caused so many people", said Mr Dreier,
dressed in a dark blue suit and maroon tie, to the court. "At this
point, all I can do is express my shame and remorse". - Wall
Street Journal website
See also
:
US
seeks 145-year sentence for lawyer in fraud case - 8 July
New York Times website
[InfoUpdate 14 of 2009]
Education
Parent-paid
aides ordered out of city schools - 19 July
For years, top Manhattan public schools have raised hundreds of
thousands of dollars from parents to independently hire assistants to
help teachers with reading, writing, tying shoelaces or supervising
recess. But after a complaint by the city's powerful teachers union, the
Bloomberg administration has ordered an end to the makeshift practice.
Principals have been told that any such aides hired for the coming
school year must be employees of the Department of Education, their
positions included in official school budgets. - New
York Times website
Entertainment
Jackson's
ex-wife denies pay-off - 15 July
Michael Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe has denied reports she was paid
by the singer to give up parental rights to their two children. The New
York Post reported that Rowe agreed to take about $4m (£2.4m) to
give up her rights to children Prince Michael Jr, 12, and Paris, 11.
In a letter to the newspaper, her lawyer Eric George called the claims
"blatant falsehoods". New York Post editor-in-chief
Col Allan said the paper "stands by its story". - BBC
News website
Jackson
assets draw the gaze of Wall Street - 19 July
As the world sorts through the pieces of Michael Jackson's life
one month after his death, so, too, does Wall Street.A handful of
major financial firms have made inquiries into buying the Jackson
estate's 50 percent share of Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the company
that controls most of the Beatles song catalog, according to
people briefed on the matter. - New
York Times website
Foreign
Policy
Obama
engages the world - 13 July
With a series of rousing international speeches, President Barack
Obama has definitively recast American foreign policy, shunning the
Bush administration's leadership-centric diplomacy and engaging
directly with the people of the world. In Prague, in Cairo, in Moscow
and now in Accra, Mr Obama has translated his campaign message of
shared values, hopes and dreams into an ambitious foreign policy
agenda. He has rejected calls from within the US for an inward turn. -
BBC News
website
Human
Rights
Cheney
is linked to concealment of CIA project - 11 July
The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a
secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on
direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the
agency’s director,Leon E Panetta, has told the Senate and House
intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the
matter said Saturday. The report that Mr. Cheney was behind the
decision to conceal the still-unidentified program from Congress
deepened the mystery surrounding it, suggesting that the Bush
administration had put a high priority on the program and its secrecy.
- New York
Times website
House
launches investigation into CIA program - 17 July
The House Intelligence Committee said on Friday it was launching a
formal investigation into the concealment of a secret CIA program from
Congress that one senator said was withheld on orders from former Vice
President Dick Cheney. According to media reports, the CIA program
involved an effort to carry out a 2001 authorization by Republican
President George W Bush to capture or kill al Qaeda operatives. The
CIA said it was never fully operational. - Reuters
website
Guantanamo
Bay hearings to resume - 15 July
Military hearings are due to resume later in the US naval base in
Guantanamo Bay on Cuba. In January, US President Barack Obama signed
an order halting the controversial military trials process for
terrorist suspects. But he now says he will press ahead with the
military commissions after introducing a number of safeguards. - BBC
News website
Chaos
besets 9/11 court hearing - 16 July
Scenes of chaos have gripped a US military court in Guantanamo Bay
where five alleged 9/11 plotters were due to appear together before a
judge. All five, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed,
initially refused to attend the hearing. The judge rejected
prosecution calls for them to be compelled to attend but three did
appear after a recess. Thursday's hearing was meant to focus on
whether Mr Hawsawi and a fourth defendant, Ramzi Binalshibh, were
mentally competent to represent themselves. The US military lawyer
representing Mr Binalshibh said he suffered from a delusional
disorder. The 11 September 2001 attacks, in which hijacked airliners
were flown into buildings in New York and Washington, killed nearly 3
000 people. - BBC
News website
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