• Brief News

Swiss voters back expulsion of foreign criminals

Swiss voters have backed a referendum proposal for the automatic expulsion of non-Swiss citizens for certain crimes. Around 53% agreed that those convicted of crimes ranging from murder to benefit fraud should be deported. Fabrice Moscheni, of the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP), which drew up the measure, said "people we welcome in Switzerland should respect the rules of this country". But opponents said it was another example of increasing xenophobia. The Swiss government believes mandatory deportation could violate Switzerland's obligations under international law not to send people to countries that practice torture or execution.

India widens bank loan investigation

Indian federal investigators have announced an inquiry into 21 companies in connection with a banking loans scandal. Eight bankers have already been arrested this week, including senior executives of top state banks, accused of taking bribes to sign off loans. The Bombay Stock Exchange fell by 1% as a result of the inquiry, analysts said. The investigation is the latest in a series of corruption scandals to hit the country.

Apple beefs up legal team for patent showdowns

Apple has been the most-sued technology company since 2008, the year after the iPhone was introduced, topping Microsoft Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. These are very well-known, deep-pocketed, high-end manufacturers. Usually you have one 800-pound gorilla going after a new entrant. Here you've got 800-pound gorillas fighting each other. Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive officer, is firing back by recruiting lawyers who have fought for and against some of the world's largest companies, including Microsoft, Intel Corp. and Broadcom Corp. Broadcom won a patent dispute with Qualcomm Inc. last year that ended with Qualcomm paying $891 million in cash over four years. While many of the technological features behind smartphones have been around for years, their surging popularity has led large companies to go after one another rather than upstarts. Patents are a form of market power. We're seeing a clash of the titans. The International Trade Commission, a quasi-judicial agency, was set up to protect domestic markets from unfair trade practices. It has the power to ban imports of products found to infringe U.S. patents.

Irish Republic 85bn euro bail-out agreed

European ministers have reached an agreement over a bail-out for the Irish Republic worth about 85bn euros ($113bn). The deal will see 35bn euros go towards propping up the Irish banking system with the remaining 50bn euros to help the government's day-to-day spending. An average interest rate of 5.8% will be payable on the loans, above the 5.2% paid by Greece for its bail-out.

What's the difference between debt and deficit?

There is a difference? "The deficit is how much the government borrows each year — it's how much more it spends than it takes in in revenues," she says. "The debt is all the borrowing we've done, accumulated. So the debt is trillions and trillions of dollars because it's each year's deficit layered upon the previous years." The United States is in a dire position — with projections that the government will never be able to balance the budget, that there will always be deficits. That situation is the result of overconsuming for too long. America is over-leveraged. Leverage — or borrowing — was the theme that really put it into this crisis that they have recently endured. And, in order to help get out of it, they have had to borrow more. ... They have to figure out a way to not live beyond their means, both in the family level and in the federal government level.

Liberia agrees deal with 'vulture funds'

Liberia has reached a deal with two firms on debts dating from the 1970s. The Caribbean-registered companies - Hamsah Investment and Wall Capital - agreed that Liberia would pay back just over 3% of the $43m it owed. The companies are among what critics call "vulture funds", which buy up the defaulted debts of poor countries then demand swift repayment. The original details of the case are still unclear, but it is thought Liberia borrowed $6.5m from the US-based Chemical Bank in 1978 and that debt may have been resold a number of times. Liberia had vowed to challenge the order to repay the debt but it now seems to have decided that reaching a settlement would be the easier option. It is not known why the money now owed has risen to $43m.

Canada Supreme Court rules monitoring utility data is not a privacy violation

The Supreme Court of Canada on Wednesday ruled that the police did not violate constitutional protections by accessing a citizen's electricity usage during an investigation. The Court reversed the decision of the appellate court by finding that during their investigation of a citizen for the possible existence of marijuana farms, the police did not violate the citizen's rights by enlisting his electric company to monitor unusual patterns that could indicate illegal activities. The court held that the Canadian Constitution "does not cloak the home in an impenetrable veil of privacy," and that it would be both impractical and unreasonable to expect otherwise. It added: “Also noteworthy here is that the home itself was never directly the object of a search. The location where the search took place was not the home but the transformer box where the power lines entering the home could be accessed. After some confusion in the courts below about whether the transformer was located on Mr. Gomboc's property, it was common ground before this Court that it was not. Accordingly, no direct territorial privacy interest is engaged in this case.” The dissent argued that when a citizen gives a utility company access to information such as electricity use, he does so only under the condition that it is used for service purposes only, and kept private from other parties, including the government.

Egypt court sentences 11 for religious election campaigning

An Egyptian court on Friday sentenced 11 members of an opposition party to two years in prison for campaigning on behalf of the banned Muslim Brotherhood. The eleven were found guilty of taking part in election demonstrations and campaigning for Muslim Brotherhood using leaflets that contained religious slogans. On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern regarding the crackdown of opposition parties ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections. The Egyptian government passed constitutional amendments in 2007 that have severely limited independent judicial supervision. Muslim Brotherhood members are contesting for 30 percent of the seats in the People's Assembly as independents. Abdelmoneim Maqsud, Muslim Brotherhood's chief lawyer, told HRW that security forces have arrested 1,306 members, and have brought 702 members before prosecutors.

Is collegiality hurting law firm profitability?

Results of a survey show that more than 95 percent of law firms are done with the attorney layoffs that were so prevalent across the industry in 2008 and 2009. A number of consultants would say that 95 percent of those managing partners are probably missing the mark. Granted, many of the survey respondents were smaller-to-midsized firms, and many of the firms consultants are referring to are larger firms and those on the Am Law 200. But the overall sentiment from these analysts is clear -- firms can do more with even less. Too many firms believe the work is done when it comes to overhead cost reduction, particularly when it comes to attorneys and staff. Law firms are still too expensive to operate, and will need to take some very innovative, and perhaps extremely difficult, approaches to reducing costs even more significantly. New strategies will be needed to improve -- or even maintain -- profitability. So the dilemma for law firms would seem to be the choice between its partners bringing home less money or cutting more partners, non-partners and staff to keep profitability levels where they have historically been. A law firm's culture has a lot to do with how this question will be answered. Firms that have been run more like a corporation have already cut their ranks sizably and will probably be quicker to do so again. Other firms have taken a "let's-weather-the-storm-together" approach. After all, most law firms are partnerships and many have taken that bond to the institutional heart. The legal profession's morph into an industry has only been sped up by the recession and technological advances. It appears nearly impossible to avoid the fact that business is now a large part of practicing law.

Pirate Bay founders lose appeal

Three founders of The Pirate Bay have lost an appeal against a conviction for illegally sharing copyrighted content. The Swedish appeals court upheld the 2009 ruling against the site's founders which saw them sentenced to a year in jail and heavily fined. The ruling reduces the sentences the men face but increases fines to 46m crowns ($6.4m).

ENI signs $17bn Venezuela oil deal

Italian energy company ENI has signed a $17bn (£11bn) deal with Venezuela to develop crude oil fields and build a refinery. Working with the state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), ENI will develop a major oil field in the eastern Orinoco river basin. The two companies have committed to spend $8bn developing the oil field, with ENI taking a 40% minority stake.

New law targets dangers aboard cruise ships

Missing persons. Assault. Child molestation. Rape. Death. Those are some of the extras the cruise ship lines don't tell you about. The industry suffered a black eye for the recent nightmare cruise aboard the Mexico-bound Carnival Splendor, but that's just a small sampling of the safety issues plaguing one of America's favorite vacation modes. All sorts of dangerous incidents happen on ocean liners. But beginning next year, portions of a new federal law will give the FBI authority over crimes that occur on ships that have docked at U.S. ports. Obama signed the Cruise Vessel and Safety Act of 2010 on July 27 but it will be 18 months from the date of signing before the law is fully implemented. However, parts of it will be enforced in stages. Beginning early next year, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation must have guidelines to carry out enforcement. By summer, training standards must exist for ship personnel.

The law requires:

• Peep holes and security latches on all passenger and crew doors
• Electronic video surveillance that documents crimes to be made available to law enforcement
• Passenger security guides with information on reporting crimes to U.S. law enforcement
• Limits on crew access to passenger cabins
• Staff with knowledge and equipment to perform rape exams
• Free and immediate access to law enforcement
• Prompt reporting of crimes, which must be contained in a log

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• Weekly Magazine Review

Time
What really happened 2000 – 2010. Time Frames. The end of history? More like the start. The 21st century runs on fast-forward, and the only way to keep up is to stop and figure out what really happened.

Newsweek
The End of Transparency. The first casualty from the leaked State Department documents is going to be the very thing WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he advocates.

Business Week
The Great Copper Heist. As copper prices soar, looters nationwide are attacking electrical grids, telecom towers, transportation hubs, and emergency-service generators. How one Dallas police unit is cracking down.

The Economist
How to live with climate change. It won't be stopped, but its effects can be made less bad.

Der Spiegel
Enthüllt: Wie Amerika die Welt sieht - Die Geheim-Berichte des US-Außenministeriums

• Daily Press Review

Kuwait lawyer sues Hariri over detention
The Daily Star, Independent daily, Beirut, Lebanon

Volcano closes Indonesian airport
Daily Express, Conservative tabloid, London, England

Court orders FIRs to be filed against Arundhati, Geelani
India Express, News portal, Mumbai, India

Thai court set to rule on fate of ruling party
Malaysian Star, Online news portal,  Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Candidates call for halt to Haiti election
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand

Judge blanks Buju request to perform at concert
Caribbean360, Online news portal, St. Michael, Barbados

GUATEMALA: Legal Battle Over Wetland Oil Drilling
IPS Latin America, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Special Sunday court for street dwellers
Trinidad Guardian, Independent daily, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad

Ivory Coast votes for president
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

US President Barack Obama outlines plan to defeat Ugandan LRA rebels
CongoPlanet.com, Independent online news aggregator