October 8, 2007  nº 550  -  Vol. 5  
 

"If you run, you might lose. If you don't run, you're guaranteed to lose."

Jesse Jackson
American civil-rights leader

Insider's view: see how local concerns shape up the global world. Read the daily press review in Migalhas International

Read Migalhas LatinoAmérica every Tuesday and Thursday. Visit the website at www.migalhas.com/latinoamerica

• Top News

Musharraf wins election, still faces ouster

Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has won Saturday's presidential election. Theoretically, though, the Supreme Court could decide not to allow Musharraf to be sworn in for another term, if the court decides his candidacy is illegal. The decision on the president's election victory won't occur until Oct. 17 at the earliest.

US conciliatory over missile plan

The United States has proposed working with Nato and Russia in an attempt to allay Moscow's objections to its missile defense shield. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates will travel to Moscow next week to discuss America's controversial defense system. The US wants to place missile defense bases in eastern Europe to intercept any threat from so-called rogue states. Russia opposes the move, saying it could threaten its own defenses. Putin has said Russia will pull out of an arms treaty that limits the deployment of conventional forces by Nato and Warsaw Pact countries.

Peruvian lawyer and ex-prisoner Wwins Justice Prize

Monica Feria will receive the Gruber Justice Prize next week for her work as an attorney on behalf of hundreds of Peruvians who were killed and held illegally by their government. She was among them.

Brazilian court suspends posthumous promotion, benefits for guerrilla leader

A federal court has suspended the posthumous promotion and benefits granted to a former army officer turned guerrilla leader who fought Brazil's 1964-85 military regime. Former army Capt. Carlos Lamarca deserted in 1969 with a shipment of machine guns and assault rifles and became a commander of the Popular Revolutionary Vanguard, a hard-line guerrilla group. He was killed by the army in the backwoods of northeast Brazil in 1971. His wife and children sought exile in Cuba in 1969 and returned to Brazil a decade later. Last June, Lamarca was promoted to general by Brazil's Amnesty Commission, which awarded a general's pension of US$6,615 (€4,682) a month to his widow, Maria Pavan Lamarca, as well as a one-time settlement of US$497,223 (€351,911). The commission, created in 2001, judges cases of Brazilians who were prevented from working for political reasons during the dictatorship. But Judge Claudia Pereira Bastos Neiva ruled late Friday in favor of a petition by three groups of military officers who said Lamarca deserted and was not the victim of political persecution. The officers called the settlement excessive.

Book sweepstake

Migalhas is delighted to offer its readers, by random drawing, two copies of the book "Legal Audit in Migalhas Website: The Road Towards Institutionalizing it" (Edition: Armazém de Idéias - 311 p.), written and graciously offered by the author, the famous Jayme Vita Roso, of the office of Jayme Vita Roso Advogados e Consultores Jurídicos. Please click here to enter your information.

• Brief News

Bush: No Torture; Senator: No Info

Bush has rejected claims his administration uses torture and defended the CIA's methods. The president insisted, the interrogation techniques at issue "have been fully disclosed to appropriate members of Congress," reports the New York Times in a follow-up article today. However, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee scoffed at the president's contention, saying that the Bush administration has not kept Congress informed and has routinely withheld key legal documents. According to the New York Times, the interrogation techniques endorsed by a 2005 Justice Department memo were some of the harshest ever used by the CIA. They included head-slapping, exposure to freezing temperatures and simulated drowning, known as water-boarding.

Saudi Arabia setting up new supreme court as part of judicial overhaul 

King Abdullah  of Saudi Arabia has announced a plan to create a supreme court for the country, as well as new appeals and general courts. The new supreme court will replace the current Supreme Judicial Council, which will be relegated to handling issues involving judicial salaries and staffing under a new administrative supreme court. The changes are designed to support increasing codification of Saudi laws and standardization in sentencing. Saudi courts currently base their rulings on Islamic Sharia law , but where religious doctrine defines no specific punishment for an offense, judges can interpret the law as they see fit. Critics of the system have recently focused on seemingly inconsistent decisions imposing light sentences for some serious crimes and harsh ones for lesser offenses.

Costa Rica supports US trade deal

The President of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, has said the country has given its backing to a free trade agreement with the United States. With most of the votes counted, Arias said the treaty had been narrowly approved in a referendum. The treaty gives Costa Rica greater access to the US market. Opponents of the deal fear increased competition could ruin the country's successful economy and put the welfare system at risk. Costa Rica is the only country to hold a referendum on the Central American Free Trade Agreement, which will also covers Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.

New York opens slave burial site

A burial ground for African slaves, which had been forgotten for almost two centuries, has been opened to the public in New York. The entry to the monument, made out of stone from South Africa and from North America to symbolize the two worlds coming together, is called The Door of Return - a nod to the name given to the departure points from which slaves were shipped from Africa to North America.

Globalization is exporting emissions to China

The increasing dependenceof the Western world  on Chinese goods is contributing to a rise in global carbon emissions, a report suggests. Such reliance is adding to CO2 levels because China's factories produce more CO2 per item than Western ones. The report also says many similar goods are both imported and exported, adding needlessly to CO2 output in transport. Ecological debt means that our demands exceed the Earth's ability to supply resources and absorb the demands placed upon it.

Microsoft aims to apply spam study to HIV

Researchers at Microsoft are studying similarities between HIV and e-mail spam. The two are similar in one important respect: Both mutate as they spread. Scientists hope they can apply studies of how spam can be stopped to developing an AIDS vaccine.

Practice of hospital apologies is gaining ground

Until recently, doctors who wanted to apologize for medical errors were not allowed to do so. They were told an apology can be interpreted as an admission of guilt. But that attitude is slowly changing. The practice of apologizing for medical errors is gaining ground across the U.S., and helping hospitals avoid costly lawsuits.

 How top watchmakers intervene in auctions

Demand and prices for expensive watches have been surging, fed by global economic growth. But there's another factor behind the prices: an alliance between watchmakers and a Geneva auction house called Antiquorum Auctioneers. Watch magazines and retailers hailed the sale, at an auction in the lush Mandarin Oriental Hotel on the River Rhone. Omega trumpeted it, announcing that a "Swiss bidder" had offered "the highest price ever paid for an Omega watch at auction." What Omega did not say: The buyer was Omega itself. Auctions are much stronger than advertising.

Foreign Archbishops flock to U.S. congregations

Just as Western missionaries spread the Christian message to Africa, African and other Anglican leaders are staking claims in the U.S. In the past two years, there's been a flurry of reverse colonization as archbishops from Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Bolivia and Singapore have taken conservative Episcopal churches under their wings.

Fannie suit switch

In a fraud lawsuit against Fannie Mae, there's been an unusual change. After two years, a Boston firm that was lead counsel in the suit has been replaced by a New York firm previously uninvolved in the case -- leading to speculation that political considerations played a role.

Can shareholders sue third parties?

Wall Street's attention turns to the U.S. Supreme Court this coming week when it considers whether shareholders can sue third parties accused of aiding a U.S. corporation that defrauds its investors. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC v. Scientific-Atlanta presents the biggest securities-litigation court clash in a generation. The case may also determine the fate of Enron Corp. investors' $40 billion lawsuit against the failed company's bankers. The Securities and Exchange Commission sided with investors and warned that a ruling against them could make it harder for shareholders to recoup losses from securities frauds. But the Department of Justice, at President Bush's urging, supported businesses in a brief that cited the chilling effect a deluge of litigation would have on investment in U.S. companies.

New Delhi High Court orders a judge back to school to brush up on his law

New Delhi's High Court justices, annoyed with lower court judges who issue problematic rulings, have decided to send one of them back to law school. In an order issued late Friday, Judge R. K. Tiwari was told to return for a three-month refresher course after issuing an arrest warrant in defiance of a previous High Court ruling. The back-to-school order drew mixed reactions from India's legal community. Former federal law minister Ram Jethmalani praised the move, saying innovative steps were needed to improve the quality of legal rulings. Others, however, said the order compromised the freedom of the judiciary to exercise their own judgment.

Federal judge temporarily blocks second court-martial for Iraq war objector 

US District Judge Benjamin Settle Friday temporarily blocked a second court-martial for US Army Iraq war objector 1st Lt. Ehren Watada  that had been scheduled to begin October 9. Settle ruled that a second proceeding would include the harm that the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment  was intended to prevent, and the civilian district court had jurisdiction over the issue because Watada "has exhausted his available military court remedies with respect to his double jeopardy claim ..." Watada, a 28-year-old Honolulu native, publicly refused deployment to Iraq  in July 2006, and was charged by the Army with with four counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and one count of missing movements. His first court-martial was declared a mistrial , but the Army refiled charges  over Watada's argument that the constitutional principle of double jeopardy should prevent the army from refiling charges, as the mistrial was the result of prosecutorial misconduct.

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• Weekly Magazine Review

Time

The Changing Face Of Breast Cancer. Once a disease of the Western world, breast cancer has become a global concern. How women, doctors and communities are fighting back and bringing hope to those in need

Newsweek

Women & Power. These women leaders came from different backgrounds, but they all achieved big dreams. In their own words, they tell us how they overcame obstacles and fears. 

Business Week

Housing: That Sinking Feeling Homeowners are getting slammed as builders slash prices. The big question: Will this shock treatment help hasten the end of the painful downturn?

The Economist

The come-back kids. The American presidency is Hillary Clinton's to lose. But that doesn't make her a shoo-in just yet.

L'Express

Le drame Birman

Der Spiegel

Anatomie eines Todes

Der unwahrscheinliche Selbstmord des Uwe Barschel. Das Doppelleben und der seltsame Tod des Dr. Dr. Uwe Barschel. Interview mit Barschels Sohn Christian Albrecht über die Erinnerungen an seinen Vater und seine Überzeugung, dass es Mord war.

• Daily Press Review

Army-controlled Darfur town razed
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Rape Epidemic Raises Trauma of Congo War (New York Times)
CongoPlanet.com, Independent online news aggregator

President's Whereabouts Revealed At Last!
GhanaWeb, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Sudan: Surrender Kosheib
Human Rights Watch (Africa), International news press releases

Cuban train slams into bus killing 28
iafrica, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Don't stay in the chair for too long - Mbeki
Independent Online, News portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Jo'burg varsity students threaten fee protests
Mail & Guardian Online, Liberal, Johannesburg, South Africa

People of Burma 'need' Madiba
News24.com, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa

26 killed in bus-train collision in Cuba
Brazil Sun, Independent online news aggregator

FIFA President Blatter set to endorse VP Jack Warner in TnT elections
Caribbean News Portal, Online news aggregator

Nicaragua: New Abortion Ban Puts Women's Lives at Risk
Human Rights Watch (Americas), International news press releases

No More Party-Hopping
IPS Latin America, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

'Youth for army' - Mandatory service proposed for 18-year-olds
Jamaica Gleaner, Independent daily, Kingston, Jamaica

Peru Police Chief States he did not Sell Meteorite Fragments to U.S. Collector
Living in Peru, News portal, Lima, Peru

Sorbara rocks the fan vote
The Globe and Mail, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada

Warrant issued in shooting
Toronto Star, Liberal daily, Toronto, Canada

Eight suspected bird flu patients admitted to hospital in Medan
Antara News, News agency, Jakarta, Indonesia

Iraqi Government Probe: Blackwater Incident Claimed 17 Lives Not 11
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

India need not surrender interests to US: Left
India Express, News portal, Mumbai, India

Accident by Blueline 'shocking': HC
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India

Wilkinson kicks out Aussies
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

Dr. M moved out of ICU
Malaysian Star, Online news portal,  Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Japan mourns death in Yangon of video journalist
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand

17 suspected insurgents rounded up in Thai South
People's Daily Online, English-language, Beijing, China

The brains behind Bugmenot
Sydney Morning Herald, Centrist daily, Sydney, Australia

BJP formally parts ways with JD(S), submits letter to Governor
The Hindu, Left-leaning daily, Chennai, India

PM to hit back at election critics
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Brown to defend decision against autumn poll
BreakingNews.ie, Online news portal, Cork, Ireland

After the election that never was, Brown faces the music
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

eBay acquires Afterbuy.com
DMeurope, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

GBP 20m bill for police damages claims
icLiverpool, Online news portal, Liverpool, England

Killer of Russian journalist is known, editor says
International Herald Tribune, Independent daily, Paris, France

Jury To Retrace Diana's Last Journey
Sky News, Independent newscaster, Middlesex, England

Spiegel Interview with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner: 'I Am not a Warmonger'
Spiegel International, Liberal newsmagazine, Hamburg, Germany

Brown fightback begins as aides admit mistakes
The Guardian, Liberal daily, London, England

Dylan Thomas for Breeders Cup
The Irish Times, Centrist daily, Dublin, Ireland

Correction - Darfur town where troops killed said “burned down”
The Scotsman, Moderate daily, Edinburgh, Scotland

Blackwater guards 'killed 17', Iraq says
The Telegraph, Conservative daily, London, England

'If we get asylum we will live. If we do not we will die. It is that simple'
Times Online, Conservative daily, London, England

Portuguese Jewish Cemetery Desecrated
Arutz Sheva, Online, right-wing, Tel Aviv, Israel

Egyptian Police, Sinai Protesters Clash
Asharq Al-Awsat, Pan-Arab daily, London, England

IAEA chief to visit India as N row rages
Gulf News, Independent daily, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Israeli, Iranian diplomats meet at Chile launch of book on Zionist youth movement
Haaretz, Liberal daily, Tel Aviv, Israel

Three Iraqs Worse Than One?
IPS Middle East, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Saudi Stocks Recover Slightly
Middle East North African Network, Online financial portal, Amman, Jordan

China Evacuates 1 Million Due to Powerful Storms
Nahamet, Online news portal, Beirut, Lebanon

Turkey 'won't let' Israeli planes through to hit Syria
The Daily Star, Independent daily, Beirut, Lebanon

Red Sea volcano death toll rises 
Yemen Times, Independent weekly, Sana'a, Yemen

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