Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

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When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown.


Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued dozens of reports examining the flaws and offering recommendations to improve the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund, the Wall Street regulatory reform law and the initiatives to prevent housing foreclosures.

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US actor sorry for calling hit TV show 'filth'

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LOS ANGELES: The US actor on "Two and a Half Men" who called the hit TV series "filth" apologised Tuesday, as he scrambled to keep his job on what its former star Charlie Sheen said was a "cursed" show.

Angus T. Jones voiced remorse a day after a video surfaced on a Christian church's website, in which he urged viewers not to watch the top-rated comedy show.

"I apologize if my remarks reflect me showing indifference to and disrespect of my colleagues and a lack of appreciation of the extraordinary opportunity of which I have been blessed. I never intended that," he said in a statement.

He added, "I have been the subject of much discussion ... over the past 24 hours. While I cannot address everything that has been said or right every misstatement or misunderstanding, there is one thing I want to make clear.

"Without qualification, I am grateful to and have the highest regard and respect for all of the wonderful people on Two and a Half Men with whom I have worked and over the past ten years who have become an extension of my family."

19-year-old Jones, who reportedly earns US$350,000 an episode playing the character Jake in the show now starring Ashton Kutcher, attacked the program after apparently undergoing a religious revelation.

"If you watch 'Two and a Half Men', please stop watching 'Two and a Half Men'. I'm on 'Two and a Half Men', and I don't want to be on it," he said in a video posted by the Forerunner Christian Church on YouTube.

"Please stop watching it; stop filling your head with filth. Please," he said in the video.

Jones signed up for a new one-year contract in May for the show - from which Sheen was sacked last year after he gave a series of increasingly erratic and explosive interviews about the show's producer, Chuck Lorre.

Sheen said shortly before Jones' apology that he thought the series was plagued.

"With Angus's Hale-Bopp-like meltdown, it is radically clear to me that the show is cursed," Sheen told celebrity bible People magazine, referring to the fiery comet.

Sheen - who portrayed hedonistic jingle writer Charlie Harper - was replaced by Kutcher on the top-rated comedy series, which has been a hit since it was launched in 2003.

In his apology Tuesday, Jones added fulsome praise for its producers.

"Chuck Lorre, (executive producer) Peter Roth and many others at Warner Bros. and CBS are responsible for what has been one of the most significant experiences in my life to date.

"I thank them for the opportunity they have given and continue to give me and the help and guidance I have and expect to continue to receive from them," he said.

Warner Bros, which makes the show along with CBS, has remained tight-lipped about Jones' outburst. A Warner Bros spokesman, Paul McGuire, declined to comment when asked by AFP for a reaction to Jones' apology.

-AFP/fl



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India ranks 78th in guaranteeing access to civil justice

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WASHINGTON: India ranks 78th among 97 countries in guaranteeing access to all civil justice, a latest report released on Wednesday said, while its neighbouring country Sri Lanka leads the South Asian nations in most dimensions of the rule of law.

The 'Rule of Law Index 2012' report by World Justice Project's provides country-by-country scores and rankings for eight areas of the rule of law.

India, the report said, has a robust system of checks and balances (ranked thirty-seventh worldwide and second among lower middle income countries), an independent judiciary, strong protections for freedom of speech, and a relatively open government (ranking fiftieth globally and fourth among lower-middle income countries).

"Administrative agencies do not perform well (ranking 79th) and the civil court system ranks poorly (ranking 78) mainly because of deficiencies in the areas of court congestion, enforcement, and delays in processing cases," the report said.

"Corruption is a significant problem (ranking 83rd), and police discrimination and abuses are not unusual. Order and security -- including crime, civil conflict, and political violence-- is a serious concern (ranked second lowest in the world)," the report observed.

According to the report, Sri Lanka outperforms its regional peers in all but two dimensions of the rule of law.

"The country also outpaces most lower-middle income countries in several areas, ranking second in criminal justice, and third in the dimensions of open government, effective regulatory enforcement, and absence of corruption," it said.

"On the other hand, violence and human rights violations related to the legacy of a protracted civil conflict are serious problems," the report said.

Pakistan shows weaknesses in most dimensions when compared to its regional and income group peers, the report said.

"Low levels of government accountability are compounded by the prevalence of corruption, a weak justice system, and a poor security situation, particularly related to terrorism and crime," it said, adding that Pakistan scores more strongly on judicial independence and fairness in administrative proceedings.

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Pictures: Falcon Massacre Uncovered in India

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Photograph courtesy Conservation India

A young boy can sell bundles of fresh Amur falcons (pictured) for less than five dollars. Still, when multiplied by the thousands of falcons hunters can catch in a day, the practice can be a considerable financial boon to these groups.

Since discovering the extent of Amur hunting in Nagaland this fall, Conservation India has taken the issue to the local Indian authorities.

"They have taken it very well. They've not been defensive," Sreenivasan said.

"You're not dealing with national property, you're dealing with international property, which helped us put pressure on [them]." (Related: "Asia's Wildlife Trade.")

According to Conservation India, the same day the group filed their report with the government, a fresh order banning Amur hunting was issued. Local officials also began meeting with village leaders, seizing traps and confiscating birds. The national government has also requested an end to the hunting.

Much remains to be done, but because the hunt is so regional, Sreenivasan hopes it can eventually be contained and stamped out. Authorities there, he said, are planning a more thorough investigation next year, with officials observing, patrolling, and enforcing the law.

"This is part of India where there is some amount of acceptance on traditional bush hunting," he added. "But at some point, you draw the line."

(Related: "Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa's Animals, Poor?")

Published November 27, 2012

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Petraeus Scandal: Socialite Jill Kelley Fighting Back

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Tampa socialite Jill Kelley is fighting back. Today, sources close to the woman who was caught in the media crossfire during the David Petraeus sex scandal have released new letters aimed at reclaiming her reputation.


In a letter released to reporters by Jill Kelley's spokesperson, Kelley's attorney goes after a New York businessman who claimed Kelley was using her connections to Petraeus to broker a deal with the South Korean government.


"It is impossible to overlook your attempt to get your '15 minutes of fame,'" attorney Abbe Lowell wrote to Adam Victor, the president and CEO of TransGas Development Systems. "…You have the right to do that to yourself, but you do not have the right to defame our client.


"This letter is notice to you that statements you have made are false and defamatory and are intended to portray Ms. Kelley in a false light," the letter continued.


Click Here to Read Past Blotter Coverage: Jill Kelley Emails Show Her Eager to Make Multi-Billion Dollar Deal


Victor has claimed that Kelley asked for $80 million in commissions to arrange a deal between Victor and the South Korean government. Kelley was an honorary consul for the Republic of South Korean.


"While it is certainly true that Ms. Kelley communicated with you about a potential business deal, it has nothing to do with General Petraeus or other military," Lowell wrote Victor.








David Petraeus Affair: Woman Who Blew the Whistle Watch Video









Petraeus' Closed Door Benghazi Attack Testimony Watch Video









Inside the Petraeus Scandal: Did Broadwell and Kelley Profit? Watch Video





The dealings between Jill Kelley and Adam Victor were detailed in a series of emails between the two made public earlier this month. The emails appeared to confirm the New York businessman's claim that Kelley wanted a huge fee for brokering a transaction with the South Korean government.


But in his letter to Victor, Lowell denies that Kelley wanted anything close to $80 million, and says the full chain of emails reveal that "it was you (Victor) who were trying to capitalize on her contacts, and not the other way around."


Kelley and Victor were introduced at the Republican National Convention in Tampa in August by Kelley's friend, Tampa real estate developer Don Phillips. In an interview with ABC News, Phillips said he suggested that Kelley and Victor should meet because Kelley could help Victor land a deal for a coal gasification plant in South Korea.


Phillips claimed that Kelley said that Victor tried to "proposition" her "almost immediately," and said he had to cajole her into flying to New York for a second meeting with Victor.


After she met with Victor in New York, Phillips said, Kelley reported that she was no longer interested in pursuing the deal. According to Phillips, she said, "As a result of my personal investigations and business intelligence this is just not going anywhere, Don, and you just don't want to associate with this guy."


Victor, who denies propositioning Kelley, claimed she continued pushing for the deal after their meeting in New York. But sources close to Kelley say that telephone voice messages Victor left for Kelley reveal that he was the one who continued to seek Kelley's involvement, even after the Petraeus affair came to light.


Victor also claims that Kelley told him Petraeus arranged for her to be named honorary consul, and that she could use her connections with high-level Korean officials to help land the coal plant deal.


None of the emails that Victor showed to ABC News mention Petraeus. Kelley's friend Don Phillips told ABC News that Kelley has not "in any way tried to profit" from her relationship with Petraeus.






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Keeping the financial regulators on their toes

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When members of Congress need factual information and insights into the effectiveness of the financial laws put in place after the 2008 economic crisis, they regularly turn to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Orice Williams Brown.


Initially as director and now as managing director of the GAO’s financial markets and community investment section, Brown and her staff have issued dozens of reports examining the flaws and offering recommendations to improve the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) bailout fund, the Wall Street regulatory reform law and the initiatives to prevent housing foreclosures.

Read More..

Wonder Girls' Min Sunye to wed in Jan

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SEOUL: K-pop girl group Wonder Girls' management agency, JYP Entertainment, announced Tuesday that the group's leader, Min Sunye, will wed on January 26 next year, reported Korean media.

The 23-year-old star met her Korean-Canadian husband-to-be during a missionary trip to Haiti, and went public with their relationship in November last year.

JYP Entertainment said in a statement that Min will "focus on her family life" after her marriage.

The other Wonder Girls will continue working on their individual projects in the meantime.

In an open letter to her fans on Tuesday, Min, who made her debut with the Wonder Girls back in 2007, expressed that she was thankful for the support she has received from them over the years, and hoped they could share in her happiness on her wedding day.

-CNA/ha



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Akhilesh Yadav government wants to withdraw charges against 15 terror accused

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NEW DELHI: The UP government plans to drop terrorism charges in 'public interest' against 15 under-trials accused of killing 43 people in all.
Three days ago, the Allahabad high court had slammed the UP government for its attempt to withdraw prosecution against a Muslim cleric named Waliullah and his associate Shameem, who were charge-sheeted for the Varanasi blast in 2006 that left 21 people dead.

The trial court's judgment against Waliullah has been reserved and the HC said it should be left to the judiciary to determine if the accused was guilty of terrorism.

However, keen to fulfill its pre-poll promise of withdrawing 'false cases' against Muslims, the UP government plans to drop charges against 13 more terror accused, including four men arrested in 2002, under Pota, for leaking information about troop movement during the Kargil war, five terrorists charge-sheeted for involvement in the attack on the CRPF camp in Rampur in 2008, and four men arrested for being behind the serial blasts in court premises in Lucknow, Faizabad and Varanasi in 2007, as well as a blast in Gorakhpur in 2007.
The UP government has written a 13-point letter to the respective district administrations in whose jurisdiction these people were booked - asking the district magistrate, superintendent of police and government prosecuting officer in each case if the charges can be dropped in 'public interest'.

UP special secretary Rajendra Kumar wrote to the district magistrate of Varanasi on October 31, and to DMs of Barabanki and Rampur on September 3, asking for their opinion on withdrawing the cases.

"Furnish details on the evidence against the accused as per the case diaries and give your opinion on the withdrawal of cases against them," the letter said.

The UP government is backing its step based on a report submitted this September by retired district judge RD Nimesh, regarding the four arrests made for the 2007 court blasts, which killed 14 people.

The Mayawati government had in 2008 initiated a judicial inquiry into arrests of Mohammad Tariq Kajmi of Rani ki Sarai village in Sarai Meer police station area of Azamgarh, Mohammad Khalid Mujahid of Madiyahun area of Jaunpur district from Barabanki and Sajjad and Tariq Hussain, both belonging to J&K.

Mohammad Tariq was also accused of a blast in Gorakhpur in 2007.

The report raised strong doubts on the involvement of the said four men in the court blasts.

Khalid Mujahid's family in fact deposed before the retired judge, giving evidence that he was present in Jamia Tul-Sahait madrasa in Jaunpur district, where he was teacher, on November 23, 2007, as per the attendance register, while police accused him of bombing the Lucknow court premises that day.

Khalid's signatures were also found on notebooks of 50 children studying there.

Then there is the case of four men from Rampur in UP - Javed, Taj Mohammad, Mahsood and Mumtaz Mian - arrested by the UP special task force in 2002 under Pota, for leaking classified military information to Pakistan during the Kargil War.

The police charge sheeted them on February 2, 2003, saying they had sent details by fax to ISI in Pak of Indian Army's movement from Bareilly and Meerut to Kashmir during the war.

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Space Pictures This Week: Space "Horse," Mars Rover, More

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Co. Paying Just $1,200 for Each Factory Fire Life

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A company that makes clothes for Sean Combs' clothing brand ENYCE and other U.S. labels reassured investors that a factory fire that killed 112 people over the weekend would not harm its balance sheet, and also pledged to pay the families of the dead $1,200 per victim.


In an announcement Monday, Li & Fung Ltd., a middleman company that supplies clothes from Bangladesh factories to U.S. brands, said "it wishes to clarify" that the deadly Saturday night blaze at the high-rise Tazreen Fashions factory outside Dhaka "will not have any material impact on the financial performance" of the firm.


The fire broke out on the ground floor of the nine-floor building as hundreds of workers were upstairs on a late-night shift producing fleece jackets and trousers for the holiday rush at American stores, including Wal-Mart, according to labor rights groups. Fire officials said the only way out was down open staircases that fed right into the flames. Some workers died as they jumped from higher floors.


PHOTOS from the factory fire.


After reassuring investors about its financial health, Li & Fung's statement went on to express "deepest condolences" to the families of the dead, and pledge the equivalent of $1,200 to each family. The company also said it would set up an educational fund for the victims' children.








Bangladesh Garment Factory Fire Leaves 112 Dead Watch Video









As reported on "ABC World News with Diane Sawyer" earlier this year, Bangladesh has become a favorite of many American retailers, drawn by the cheapest labor in the world, as low as 21 cents an hour, producing clothes in crowded conditions that would be illegal in the U.S. In the past five years, more than 700 Bangladeshi garment workers have died in factory fires.


READ the original ABC News report.


WATCH the original 'World News' report on deadly factories.


"[It's] the cheapest place, the worst conditions, the most dangerous conditions for workers and yet orders continue to pour in," said Scott Nova, executive director of Worker Rights Consortium, an American group working to improve conditions at factories abroad that make clothes for U.S. companies. Nova said the fire was the most deadly in the history of the Bangladesh apparel industry, and "one of the worst in any country."


Today, U.S. companies extended condolences to the families of the victims, and scrambled to answer questions about the dangerous factory that had been making their clothes.


Wal-Mart inspectors had warned last year that "the factory had violations or conditions which were deemed to be high risk," according to a document posted on-line.


Yet Wal-mart clothing continued to be made at the factory, according to workers groups who found clothing with Wal-Mart's private label, Faded Glory, in the burned out remains along with clothing for a number of other U.S. labels, including ENYCE, Dickies and a brand associated with Sears.


Wal-Mart confirmed Monday that its clothes were being made at the Tazreen factory. Even though Wal-Mart is famed for maintaining tight control over its supply chain, the company said its clothes were being made at the plant without its knowledge.






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