Due to traveling playing in the mud (don’t ask, trust me it’s messy), the Evening Edition will brought to you by c’est moi.
Wal-Mart wins Supreme Court sex-bias ruling
By James Vicini
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Supreme Court threw out on Monday a massive class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the biggest ever such case, in a major victory for the world’s largest retailer and for big business in general.
The justices unanimously ruled that more than 1 million female employees nationwide could not proceed together in the lawsuit seeking billions of dollars and accusing Wal-Mart of paying women less and giving them fewer promotions.
Indiana Planned Parenthood to drop Medicaid patients
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) – Planned Parenthood of Indiana will stop seeing Medicaid patients after Monday because of an Indiana law that cut the provider’s funding.
PPIN went to court last month to prevent Indiana from cutting funding to the state’s largest reproductive health care provider. U. S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said she would make a decision on whether to enjoin the law by July 1.
“Our 9,300 Medicaid patients, including those who had appointments Tuesday, are going to see their care disrupted,” Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of PPIN, said in a statement.
The Medicaid funds stopped May 11, the day Republican Governor Mitch Daniels signed a law that restricts abortions and cuts federal funding to Planned Parenthood.
There is a War on Women in this country led by men and three women
EU strives to contain Greek debt storm
LUXEMBOURG – Europe tried to set up a firewall on Monday between the financial turmoil ravaging Greece and the destinies of Ireland and Portugal, the two other bailed-out eurozone countries, and increased pressure on Athens to pass new austerity measures in exchange for saving it from default.
Eurozone governments agreed to reinforce their bailout funds to boost confidence in their ability to stop the crisis from taking down other countries and to help Ireland and Portugal emerge from their debt holes.
Syria president vows reform, critics shout ‘Liar!’
BEIRUT – Syria’s president promised a national dialogue Monday to consider political reforms, but his vague overtures to a pro-democracy uprising fell flat as protesters took to the streets shouting “Liar!” and demanding his ouster.
In only his third public appearance since the revolt erupted in March, Bashar Assad returned to a now-familiar refrain: He blamed the unrest on “saboteurs,” offered modest potential reforms, but gave no sign he’d move toward ending the Assad family’s political domination.
Tunisian ex-leader convicted in absentia
TUNIS, Tunisia – Tunisia’s former ruler and his wife were convicted in absentia on embezzlement and other charges on Monday after $27 million (euro18.97 million) in jewels and public funds were found in one of his palaces.
They were sentenced to 35 years each in prison, and fined tens of millions of dollars.
The conviction of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali and Leila Trabelsi followed a day-long trial before the Tunis criminal court. The couple went into exile on Jan. 14 in Saudi Arabia after a month-long uprising that sparked a string of other uprisings in the Arab world.
NY Senate stuck on gay marriage as rallies grow
ALBANY, N.Y. – ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – Hundreds of protesters for and against gay marriage in New York chanted, sang and sought out TV cameras Monday while the state Senate again came to no resolution on the issue in a closed-door session that barely touched on the nationally divisive topic.
Two Republican senators said the gay marriage issue that has sharply focused the efforts of opponents and advocates was only briefly discussed in the caucus. Instead, Senate Republican leader Dean Skelos is negotiating with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on religious exemptions that could be enough for Republican senators – most of whom oppose gay marriage – to send the issue to a floor where a bipartisan effort could pass it.
Coming soon to the Internet: The .whatever address
SINGAPORE – A quarter-century after the creation of “.com,” the agency that assigns Internet addresses is loosening its rules and allowing suffixes named after brands, hobbies, political causes and just about anything else.
Under guidelines approved Monday, Apple could register addresses ending in “.ipad,” Citi and Chase could share “.bank” and environmental groups could go after “.eco.” Japan could have “.com” in Japanese.
High court blocks states’ climate change lawsuit
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court unanimously ruled out a federal lawsuit Monday by states and conservation groups trying to force cuts in greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
The court said that the authority to seek reductions in emissions rests with the Environmental Protection Agency, not the courts.
EPA said in December that it will issue new regulations by next year to reduce power plants’ emissions of carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas. The Obama administration has already started controlling heat-trapping pollution from automobiles and from some of the largest, and most polluting, industrial plants.
Fresh Libya civilian deaths pile pressure on NATO
SURMAN, Libya (Reuters) – The Libyan government said Monday 15 civilians were killed in a NATO air strike on the home of one of Muammar Gaddafi’s top officials, a day after NATO admitted killing civilians in a separate aerial attack.
Libyan officials took reporters to Surman, 70 km (45 miles) west of Tripoli, to the site they said was a NATO air strike on the home of Khouildi Hamidi, a member of Libya’s 12-strong Revolutionary Command Council, led by Gaddafi.
Rescue teams were looking for survivors while reporters visited the site. Reporters were then taken to a hospital in nearby Sabrata where they were shown nine bodies, including those of two children, plus some body parts, which the Libyan government said were all of people killed in the attack.
NJ Senate OKs public-sector pension changes
TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) – New Jersey’s Democrat-controlled Senate on Monday approved changes to the state’s pension and benefits system for public workers in what Republican Governor Chris Christie called a “watershed moment” of bipartisan cooperation.
Forcing teachers, police and other public workers to pay more toward future benefits and reduce the state’s burden by potentially billions of dollars has been a top priority for Christie since he took office in 2010.
Credit union regulator sues JP Morgan and RBS
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. credit union regulator filed lawsuits on Monday against JPMorgan Chase & Co’s JPMorgan Securities and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc’s RBS Securities, alleging misrepresentation of investment vehicles backed by mortgages.
The National Credit Union Administration said the lawsuits seek damages in excess of $800 million and are related to the failure of five corporate credit unions.
TUNIS (Reuters) – A Tunisian court sentenced former president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in absentia on Monday to 35 years in jail, six months after his overthrow in a revolution helped to inspire the “Arab Spring.”
Ben Ali, who has been in Saudi Arabia since he was forced from power, was found guilty after just one day of deliberation of theft, illegally possessing jewelry and large sums of cash.
The same sentence was handed down to his wife Leila Trabelsi, a former hairdresser whose lavish lifestyle and clique of wealthy relatives were symbols of the corruption of the Ben Ali era for many Tunisians.
Europe gives Greece ultimatum: austerity for loans
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – Euro zone finance ministers gave Greece two weeks from Monday to approve further spending cuts and tax increases in exchange for another 12 billion euros in emergency loans, piling pressure on Athens to get its ragged finances in order.
After two days of crisis talks, the ministers effectively issued Athens an ultimatum, saying the Greek government, parliament and broader society had until July 3 to approve a new austerity package that includes privatization measures in order to secure the release of the next tranche of EU/IMF aid.
Missouri River flood closes 100 miles of bridges
OMAHA, Neb (Reuters) – Drivers trying to cross from southeast Nebraska into Missouri and Iowa on Monday found bridges closed for more than 100 miles for safety reasons due to flooding and heavier water flows on the Missouri River.
Authorities said water flowing over two levees in northwest Missouri’s Holt and Atchison counties on Sunday closed U.S. Highways 159 and 136 in western Missouri, affecting bridge crossings at Rulo and Brownville in southeastern Nebraska.
Michigan to take over 45 of Detroit’s failing schools
DETROIT (Reuters) – Nearly four dozen of Detroit’s poorest-performing schools will be placed in the hands of a new statewide authority next year, the latest attempt to turn around Michigan’s struggling education system.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced on Monday that a new authority, the Education Achievement System, will operate the lowest 5 percent of schools in Michigan. It will start with 45 failing Detroit schools in fall 2012 and expand to schools outside the city the following year.
Snyder, along with Roy Roberts, emergency manager for the Detroit Public Schools, announced the move at a press conference at a Detroit high school on Monday. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan joined by teleconference.
1 comments
Author