The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it harder for government employees to file lawsuits claiming they were retaliated against for going public with allegations of official misconduct.By a 5-4 vote, justices said the nation’s 20 million public employees do not have carte blanche free speech rights to disclose government’s inner-workings. New Justice Samuel Alito cast the tie-breaking vote.Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the court’s majority, said the First Amendment does not protect “every statement a public employee makes in the course of doing his or her job.” The decision came after the case was argued twice this term, once before Justice Sandra Day O’Connor retired in January, and again after her successor, Alito, joined the bench....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com
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Editor - 09:05:00 05-30-06
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 Emergency rule for E Timor leader |
East Timor's President Xanana Gusmao is taking control of the country's national security and defence in a bid to defuse mounting unrest. Emergency powers would give Mr Gusmao control of the army and police, split by internal disputes and gang violence. Mr Gusmao, a highly respected former guerrilla leader, also assumed sole charge of coordination with the Australian-led peacekeeping force. His move comes after fresh violence and looting hit the capital, Dili. Mr Gusmao said the decision to impose emergency rule, which would last 30 days, had been taken in "close collaboration" with Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri. Mr Alkatiri has been blamed by other members of the government for failing to stop the violence, which was triggered by the government's sacking of hundreds of troops after they went on strike. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5029794.stm
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Editor - 09:02:00 05-30-06
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| House hearing questions FBI raid on Hill Lawmakers, White House also discussing guidelines for any future searches |
The House is examining whether the FBI’s raid on a lawmaker’s office violated the Constitution even as Senate leaders are backing off their criticism and the Bush administration is negotiating guidelines for any such future searches.For all of the shifting landscape, House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., a loyal White House ally, made his position clear with the title of Tuesday’s hearing: “Reckless Justice: Did the Saturday Night Raid of Congress Trample the Constitution?”The hearing comes more than a week after the FBI conducted an overnight raid of the offices of Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., as part of a bribery investigation, without giving House leaders advance notice. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi issued a rare joint statement last week protesting the raid as a violation of constitutional separation of powers protections....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13046814/from/RSS/
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Editor - 09:00:00 05-30-06
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| Spain uses cash to encourage English Despite tourism, fewer than 20 percent of residents speak the language |
The Spanish government, fed up with the national reputation for not speaking foreign languages, will give young people up to 1,000 euros, or $1,300, each to study English.Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero homed in on his country’s linguistic failings in his annual State of the Nation address to parliament on Tuesday, in which he announced the subsidy for people aged from 18-30.“I have set myself the task of overcoming our traditional shortcomings with regard to languages,” said Zapatero, who cannot speak English but once tried his uncertain French in an address to France’s National Assembly. ...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13046316/from/RSS/
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Editor - 08:58:00 05-30-06
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| Philip Morris Punitive Damages Get High Court Hearing |
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider tightening the constitutional limits on punitive damages, agreeing to review a $79.5 million award won by the widow of a former smoker against Altria Group Inc.'s Philip Morris USA unit. Philip Morris, the world's largest cigarette maker, wants to overturn an award in the case of Jesse Williams, an Oregon man who smoked Marlboros for 42 years before dying of lung cancer in 1997 at age 67. The appeal says jurors improperly punished the company for the health problems of other Oregon smokers. The dispute looms as one of the biggest Supreme Court business cases in years, especially for companies that face a multitude of product-related suits. That group includes Merck & Co., which is battling more than 11,000 suits over its Vioxx painkiller, and Ford Motor Co., which faces hundreds of claims over rollover accidents involving its Explorer sport-utility vehicle. ...
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=amkAkcF2DIBE&refer=home
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Editor - 08:55:00 05-30-06
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| Attack on Iraqi Interior Ministry Kills 2 Mortars Hit Iraqi Interior Ministry, Killing 2 Government Employees; Another U.S. Soldier Dies |
Mortar rounds hit the heavily guarded Interior Ministry and a nearby park Tuesday, killing two government employees and wounding five other people, police said. The attack came a day after a CBS correspondent was seriously wounded and her two crew members and a U.S. soldier were killed in a wave of car bombings and shootings that killed at least three dozen other people. The military said another U.S. soldier had died Monday during combat in northern Iraq, raising to 2,468 the number of U.S. military members who have died since the war began in 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Amid the deteriorating security, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki held meetings aimed at finding new defense and interior ministers more than a week after his national unity government took office. Iraq's ethnic, sectarian and secular parties are struggling to agree on who should run the two crucial ministries. ...
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2019522
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Editor - 08:53:00 05-30-06
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