November 24, 2010 Nº 982 - Vol. 8
"I believe there is something out there watching us. Unfortunately, it's the government."
Woody Allen
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Read Migalhas LatinoAmérica in Spanish every Tuesday and Thursday. Visit the website at www.migalhas.com/latinoamerica
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Migalhas Christmas 2010
It is already this time of the year at Migalhas and the bells are ringing. It's Migalhas Christmas 2010. Publisher Editora Disal offered a copy of the pocket vocabulary 3500 words in Portuguese by Thierry Belhassen. For ease of reference, the words are classified according to the most common topics of conversations held by who travel abroad for business or tourism, such as: transportations, holidays, city life, shopping, work and leisure. We invite you to be part of this celebration. All you need to do to take your chance is to fill out a registration. Click here and read more about this wonderful serendipity.
Federal judge extends order blocking Oklahoma Islamic law ban
A judge for the US District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma on Monday extended a temporary restraining order blocking the controversial Oklahoma constitutional amendment banning the courts from considering foreign or Islamic law. Judge Vicki Miles-LeGrange said she needed more time to deal with this issue, which pits the will of the voters against the First Amendment's Establishment Clause. Still, she is expected to rule by the end of the month. The case was brought by Muneer Awad, executive director of Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Oklahoma, claiming the law is a violation of the First Amendment because it disfavors and stigmatizes his religion. Oklahoma voters overwhelmingly approved the measure in the November 2 mid-term elections with 70 percent of the vote.
Letter to the editor
Sir, I would comment on the report dealing with the Vatican’s position compared to cases of abuse and also the position with the respect to condom use. First, in cases of abuse by priests, one must take into account the cases of abuse, which occurred and are so many, and charge an exemplary punishment by the Church. The victims have not found support from Vatican. Is the fact that the Church itself has punished cases of sexual abuse committed by priests, instead of bringing these crimes to regular Courts, not protectionism? And as for the 'permission' to use condoms in some cases, it is incredibly scary: Catholics are not immune to disease! From Claudia Sinibaldi, law graduate and post-graduate degree in politics and international relations.
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1 - Sheen accused of assaulting porn star (Click here)
2 - Should Canada raise its retirement age? (Click here)
3 - Remember to be grateful, lawyers (Click here)
4 - Lawyer transitions: How to succeed in your new job (Click here)
5 - Twitter airport 'joke' trial heads to the High Court (Click here)
6 - British Columbia court to rule on anti-polygamy law (Click here)
7 - Merck not at fault in Fosamax trial, jurors say (Click here)
8 - Tax havens: stunting Latin American development (Click here)
9 - Military records allege Brazil's president-elect once guarded guerrilla weapons (Click here)
10 - Yale agrees to return Machu Picchu artefacts to Peru (Click here)
11 - Wesley Snipes off to jail (Click here)
12 - Advertise in Russian or pay the penalty (Click here)
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Jailed China tainted milk activist 'drops appeal'
A Chinese father who was jailed for campaigning over contaminated baby milk has suddenly dropped his plans to appeal, defence lawyers say. Zhao Lianhai's son was one of about 300,000 made ill in 2008 by drinking infant formula tainted with melamine. Zhao was jailed for two-and-a-half years for organizing a parents' support group and campaigning for compensation. He vowed to appeal when he was sentenced earlier this month. But lawyers working for Zhao told Chinese service they were blocked from visiting him on Monday to discuss his case. Instead they were given a note, apparently from Zhao, saying he no longer needed their services.
China senior official urges lawyers to promote social justice
A top Chinese official on Monday called on the country's lawyers to promote law enforcement and social justice and encouraged lawyers, prosecutors and government officials to build a community of support and respect. During a meeting attended by members of the country's law firms and bar associations, Zhou Yongkang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Republic of China, urged Chinese lawyers to take on more pro bono cases and resolve conflicts in order to promote social well-being. Zhou also encouraged the country's courts to hire more lawyers to act as both judges and prosecutors.
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Germany court opens country's first piracy trial in 400 years
The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg on Monday commenced the country's first piracy trial in 400 years against 10 accused Somali pirates on Monday. The suspects are charged with hijacking a ship registered in Hamburg off the Horn of Africa and face maximum sentences of between 10 and 15 years in prison. The 10 accused pirates were arrested by the Dutch navy hours after they took over the "Taipan" on April 5. The container ship's crew hid in a panic room on board the ship and avoided capture by the pirates. The case is being held in a juvenile court as some of the accused were under 18 years old at the time of the attack. One individual claims that he was as young as 13, and, in Germany, criminal charges may not be imposed on individuals who are younger than 14. Presiding Judge Bernd Steinmetz instructed the court to assume the youngest pirate was at least 14 years old at the time of the attack until the issue can be resolved.
Madagascar voters approve new constitution
Voters in Madagascar have approved a new constitution that will lower the minimum age requirement for presidential candidates, according to provisional results released Monday by the country's electoral commission. According to preliminary results, nearly 74 percent of voters approved the constitution, which will keep President Andry Rajoelina in power and allow him to run in the next presidential election scheduled for May 2011. The referendum poll, which had an approximate 53 percent voter turnout, had been overshadowed by strong political protest. On Wednesday, General Noel Rakotonandrasana allegedly led a group of about 20 soldiers into the capital city and tried to take control of government institutions and seize power from Rajoelina in a failed coup attempt. Former president Marc Ravalomanana, who was ousted last year by Rajoelina, supported the military action and saw it as an effort to promote democracy.
SAP ordered to pay Oracle $1.3bn in data theft case
German software firm SAP has been ordered by a Californian court to pay US rival Oracle $1.3bn (£820m) after losing a data theft case. The case revolved around customer-support documents and software stolen by SAP's subsidiary TomorrowNow. Oracle alleged that the German company intended to use the data to poach the 358 customers involved, and demanded $1.65bn compensation. SAP had claimed it owed only $40m, but the jury decided in Oracle's favor. The three-day trial included testimony from Oracle's chief executive, Larry Ellison, as well as SAP co-chief executive Bill McDermott.
Israeli army uses Facebook to expose draft dodgers
The Israeli army has come up with a novel way of exposing women who lie about their religious background in order to avoid military service. It is using the social networking site Facebook to check up on them. More than 1,000 women have been tracked down after they falsely claimed they were exempt from the draft because they were Orthodox Jews. The site revealed information about the women's habits and social lives, which showed they were lying. Military service is compulsory for most Israelis over the age of 18 - three years for men and two years for women.
German army 'to suspend' conscription in 2011
Germany is to suspend conscription in July 2011 and switch to a volunteer military service. Conscription of German men will end but will remain in the country's constitution.
Brazil central bank head 'ousted' as inflation rises
Brazil's hawkish central bank head, Henrique Meirelles, is to be replaced, a local newspaper has said. His successor will be the central bank's financial regulation head, Alexandre Tombini. The widely expected move by recently elected President Dilma Rousseff may pave the way for interest rate cuts. Yet data released on Tuesday showed that inflation is on the rise again, hitting 5.47% in November. This is well above the central bank's year-end target of 4.5%. The choice of Tombini, an economist, from within the bank's ranks may provide some reassurance to financial markets that Rousseff will not push as aggressively as previously feared for looser monetary policy.
Future 911 system 'may accept text and video messages'
The US Federal Communication Commission (FCC) is considering updating the 911 emergency call system to accept photo, text and video messages. Roughly 70% of 911 calls are already being made from mobile telephones. But the 911 system does not currently "support the communication tools of tomorrow. The FCC said the Virginia Tech massacre was an incident when 911 multimedia technology could have been employed. "Some students and witnesses tried to text 911 during that emergency and as we know, those messages never went through and were never received by local 911 dispatchers." But those multimedia messages may soon be answered due to broadband-enabled Next Generation 911. A system that would allow individuals to report crimes without being heard could also be used in situations ranging from kidnappings to robberies.
Fugitive CEO to pay $53 million to settle U.S. charges
Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, the software executive who fled the U.S. while facing charges for backdating stock options, has agreed to pay more than $53 million to end civil actions by U.S. prosecutors and regulators. Alexander's case is one of the last remaining criminal backdating cases stemming from the dot-com boom. More than a dozen people have been convicted of criminal charges related to backdating since 2006.
FBI widens insider trading probe with three raids
Federal authorities, intensifying an insider-trading investigation, are demanding trading and other information from some of the nation's most powerful investment firms. The FBI has raided the offices of three more fund managers. It follows legal action against another fund - Galleon Group - in the last year including charges against 23 people. Many of those accused in the Galleon case pleaded guilty and offered evidence against other defendants. The new raids come amid expectations that US prosecutors are preparing several new insider trading cases.
Tuning in to the brain's 'cocktail party effect'
Scientists are beginning to understand how the human brain accomplishes a remarkable trick. It's known as the cocktail party effect, and it's the ability to focus on the voice of one person in a room full of people who are just as loud.
Lawyers for Saddam-era deputy PM Aziz seek death sentence pardon
Lawyers for former Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister under Saddam Hussein, Tariq Aziz, on Tuesday filed a petition asking Iraqi President Jalal Talabani to pardon the former leader. Aziz was sentenced to death by hanging last month by the Iraqi High Criminal Court following a conviction on charges related to the former regime's effort to eliminate Shiite Muslim resistance efforts after the First Gulf War. The petition attacks the conviction, citing a failure to prove the crime
Alleged Nazi guard accuses Germany judges of bias
Alleged Nazi death camp prison guard John Demjanjuk issued a statement on Tuesday accusing the German judges conducting his trial of bias after the they rejected a number of defense petitions. In total, the judges rejected 23 petitions, including motions regarding whether Demjanjuk, who is Ukranian born but obtained US citizenship after World War II, is fit for trial. His family and physician argue that Demjanjuk, who is 90 years old, is too frail and in too much pain to make it through the trial. "While they silence the prison doctors and deny us the weekly clinical reports - against all Western legal and humanitarian standards - the judges rely on a court appointed medical stooge whose therapy is to shoot my father with various drugs and call him fit," Demanjanjuk's son, John Jr., said in statement appended to his father's. John Demjanjuk Sr. said, "The decision to continue with this trial is a crime of infringement of the law and a deprivation of my liberty. With this statement, I bring a charge against Judges Alt, Lenz and Pfluger for infringement of the law and deprivation of my liberty. I ask that my statement be provided to the authorities who must investigate and decide to take action regarding this serious charge."
Georgia high court rules non-English speaking defendants have right to interpreter
The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled Monday that defendants with limited English proficiency have a constitutional right to court interpreters in criminal trials. The court's decision overturned the Georgia Court of Appeals ruling denying the defendant's motion for a new trial.
Judge denies immunity claim in Virginia Tech wrongful death lawsuit
A Virginia circuit court judge ruled Monday that a lawsuit by two families whose children were killed in the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting can proceed against school administrators, despite their claims of sovereign immunity. The judge ruled that defendants Charles Steger and former executive vice president James Hyatt are not protected by sovereign immunity because of their status as administrators of a state-funded higher education institution. Visiting judge William Alexander found that, though the positions are partially funded by the state, they do not qualify for sovereign immunity protection as high-ranking government officials, echoing a similar ruling made in January. The lawsuit, seeking $10 million in damages, accuses the administrators of gross negligence for failing to warn students of the shootings immediately after the first shooting at 7:15 AM. It is being brought by families of victims Julia Pryde and Erin Petersen who opted out of an $11 million dollar settlement to which 24 of the 32 victims' families agreed in June 2008. The trial is set for next September.
Abbas slams referendum law, calling it 'obstacle to peace'
JPost, Conservative, Jerusalem, Israel
Bango sees H1 revenues fall 14% to GBP 10.61 mln
DMeurope, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands
China Gas Talks Progress, But Not on Price
The Moscow Times, Independent daily, Moscow, Russia
Royal Wedding: Bank holiday to celebrate Prince William's marriage to Kate Middleton on April 29
The Telegraph, Conservative daily, London, England
Ugly Betty actor 'killed mother with samurai sword'
The Telegraph, London, England
Iraqi envoy meets with MPR chairman
Antara News, News agency, Jakarta, Indonesia
Caribbean gets wired with help from EU, World Bank
Caribbean360, Online news portal, St. Michael, Barbados
Puerto Rico wants more Dominicans as drugs case explodes
Dominican Today, Independent daily, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Govt proposes salary caps
News24.com, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa
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