March 9, 2016 nº 1,717 - Vol. 13
 

"Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats."

Howard Aiken

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  • Top News

Supreme Court decides case on diversity jurisdiction

The US Supreme Court on Monday held that for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction, citizenship of an investment trust depends on the citizenship of its members, which includes its shareholders. In Americold Realty Trust v. ConAgra Foods, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote for the unanimous court: “In Maryland, a real estate investment trust is an "unincorporated business trust or association" in which property is held and managed "for the benefit and profit of any person who may become a shareholder." ... These shareholders appear to be in the same position as the shareholders of a joint-stock company or the partners of a limited partnership—both of whom we viewed as members of their relevant entities. We therefore conclude that for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, Americold's members include its shareholders.” ConAgra Foods sued Americold Realty Trust for breach of contract relating to a warehouse fire. The case was removed to federal court based on diversity jurisdiction. However, because Americold is a real estate investment trust, with possible beneficiaries in multiple places, there exist questions about the requirement of complete diversity. Americold argued that diversity should be based on citizenship of trustees and not beneficiaries, while ConAgra asserted "a trust to be a citizen of every state in which any of the trust's members, shareholders, or beneficiaries is a citizen." The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit held in favor of ConAgra last year.

Same-sex adoption upheld by US Supreme Court

The Alabama Supreme Court had invalidated an adoption approved in Georgia. Monday's ruling said the Alabama justices had violated the US Constitution.

France clears bill that could force Apple to unlock terror data

French lawmakers backed a plan to impose penalties including jail time on technology executives who deny access to encrypted data during a terrorist investigation, giving security services and prosecutors the power to force companies such as Apple Inc. to cooperate. An amendment providing the new power was submitted by the opposition party The Republicans and, while the government hasn’t officially supported the measure, it was included in Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas’s bill to overhaul legal procedures and fight organized crime in the wake of the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks that killed 130 people in Paris. The lower of chamber of parliament cleared the bill on first reading by 474 votes to 32.

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  • MiMIC Journal

China magazine Caixin defiant on censorship of article

Prominent Chinese financial magazine Caixin has highlighted censorship of its content, in a rare defiant move against the government. It claimed on Monday, in an article published on its English-language website, that censors had deleted an interview on the issue of free speech. But by Tuesday evening that article appeared to have been deleted as well. Chinese media is heavily regulated with government censors often removing content on websites and social media.

China's ZTE faces US restrictions

Chinese firm ZTE has said its US suppliers must now apply for a licence to provide the firm with any materials. The announcement came after the US announced restrictions against ZTE for alleged violations of US export controls on Iran. China said on Tuesday it held "resolute opposition" to the move. ZTE is the second-biggest supplier of telecommunications equipment in China after Huawei.

China rights lawyer flees to US after release

Chinese lawyer and professor, Chen Taihe, fled his country and arrived in San Leandro, California, the Dui Hua Foundation said Monday. Chen was detained last July as part of a crackdown on rights lawyers that had culminated in at least 242 people detained or questioned nationwide.

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  • Brief News

Apple to pay $450 million after Supreme Court declines to hear appeal in e-book case

The US Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a lower court ruling finding Apple conspired with book publishers to increase e-book prices. Monday's order, issued without comment, means that Apple is now responsible for the $450 million settlement it reached in 2014. Apple said that it is prepared to distribute the settlement funds, $400 million of which will go to consumers and $50 million of which will go to lawyers involved in the case. (Click here)

VW: Prosecutors widen probes

Authorities in Paris have opened a formal probe into "aggravated fraud" over the use of diesel engine devices that gave misleading emissions results. And German prosecutors said the number of VW employees now under investigation has increased from six to 17. VW, which said it is cooperating with all inquiries, had about 11 million cars fitted with the emissions devices. Europe's largest carmaker is carrying out its own investigation, and has warned that the cost of car recalls and compensation was likely to run into billion of euros.

Trump tightens grip on White House race

Donald Trump has won three more states, Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, in his bid to be the Republican White House nomination. the Democratic race, Bernie Sanders had a surprise victory in Michigan, but Hillary Clinton increased her overall lead with a big Mississippi win.

Bloomberg says he won't run for President and 'risk' electing Trump or Cruz

"As the race stands now ... there is a good chance that my candidacy could lead to the election of Donald Trump or Senator Ted Cruz," former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wrote Monday.

North Korea 'has miniature nuclear warhead'

Kim Jong-un says North Korean scientists have developed nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles. State media published images showing the North's leader standing next to what it said was a miniaturized weapon. The claim is impossible to verify from the images alone and experts have long cast doubt on such assertions. The North has stepped up its bellicose rhetoric in response to the UN imposing some of its toughest sanctions.

IMF says world is at risk of 'economic derailment'

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that the global economy faces a growing "risk of economic derailment" and must take steps to boost global demand. "The IMF's latest reading of the global economy shows once again a weakening baseline. We are clearly at a delicate juncture." The IMF has already said it is likely it will downgrade its current forecast of 3.4% for global growth when it next releases its economic predictions in April. The dismal picture is one that has on-going ramifications for businesses and industries that bet on China's growth story.

The 2017 US News law school rankings leak!

The 2017 edition of the US News law school rankings weren’t supposed to be released until Wednesday, March 16, at 12:01 a.m., but thanks to what seems to be a mix-up on the part of the magazine’s staff, an important portion of those rankings were published live online this afternoon, and quickly de-published. Unfortunately for US News, Google’s cache function managed to capture some compelling information about some of the very best law schools in the country. We’re speaking, of course, about the Top 14 — the law schools that are generally revered as the most prestigious in the nation.

Mobile phone company fuelled Boko Haram insurgency

Mobile phone giant MTN fuelled the Islamist-led insurgency in Nigeria by failing to disconnect unregistered sim cards, the Nigerian president has said. Muhammadu Buhari made the comment during a visit to Nigeria by his South African counterpart Jacob Zuma. Last year, Nigeria fined the South African-owned firm $3.4bn for missing a deadline to disconnect cards. Nigeria believes Boko Haram militants use unregistered sim cards to co-ordinate attacks.

Brazilian businessman gets stiff sentence in Petrobras scandal

Marcelo Odebrecht, the former chief executive of Brazil’s largest construction company, was convicted of corruption and money laundering on Tuesday. He was sentenced to more than 19 years in prison by the Brazilian judge who is leading the wide-ranging investigation into corruption at the state-owned oil company, Petrobras. Testimony in the overall inquiry, which has shaken the country’s political and business elite, has shown that executives at Petrobras accepted large bribes from companies and channeled some of that money to political figures and the governing Workers Party.

Obama meets with Supreme Court candidates

The leading contenders are believed to be Merrick Garland and Sri Srinivasan of the D.C. court of appeals and Paul Watford of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Alphonse Bertillon, the man behind the modern mug shot

For more than a century, mug shots have helped police catch criminals. Those photos of a person's face and profile trace their roots to Paris in the late 19th century. Now, some of the earliest mug shots ever taken are on display at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The black-and-white photos were once on the cutting edge of how police identified suspects. They were taken by a French criminologist named Alphonse Bertillon, and his techniques set the template that police use today. "No one looks like a criminal per se. There's nothing about a person's face that says, 'This person's a criminal,' " Wilhelm Figueroa, director of the New York City Police Department's photo unit, says. "We're all capable of great good. We're all capable of being bad people." And profile mug shots are capable of helping police tell similar-looking people apart. The mug shots were part of a broader system of measuring and comparing body parts to help police departments organize thousands of criminal records. In 1884, Bertillon's system helped Parisian police identify 241 repeat offenders. His work became so famous that in Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles, a client offends Sherlock Holmes by calling him "the second highest expert in Europe" — after Bertillon.

Virginia becomes first state to regulate fantasy sports

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe signed the Fantasy Contests Act into law on Monday, making the state the first to regulate online fantasy sports. The law requires fantasy contest operators to register with the state and conduct annual independent audits. The operators must also submit annual reports to prove compliance with other provisions of the law, such as requiring all players to be at least 18 years old, keeping separate accounts of player funds and operational funds, ensuring that employees or their relatives do not participate in the contests, and other regulations. The statute sets a penalty of $1,000 for each violation and the possibility of civil action. Although some critics claim the law will place a significant burden on smaller contest operators who will have a difficult time meeting the requirements, McAuliffe stated he believes it will protect consumers. The law will be effective July 1.

Lehman lawyer to China distressed debt holders: expect pain

Investors betting on troubled Chinese companies could be waiting some time for their salvation, according to US law firm Jones Day. Debts tied to battered commodities and a lack of legal protections for offshore creditors will pose significant challenges for recovery of monies owed, said Jayant W. Tambe, a New York-based partner who is representing Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in derivatives lawsuits after its collapse. Clients are still “not so comfortable” about emerging markets even as raw material prices rebound recently from multi-year lows, he said.

Wall Street bonuses fell in 2015, and 2016 isn’t looking rosy

The average bonus fell 9 percent last year, and recent cutbacks prompted New York State to cut its forecast for this year’s bonus pool.

  • Daily Press Review

Turkey sacks Ankara police chief after suicide bombings
Al Jazeera, Doha, Qatar

MPs approve Osborne's budget rules
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Israeli-Palestinian violence: What you need to know
CNN International, London, England

Heidi Klum is 'mom and a dad at the same time' since her split from Seal in 2012
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Denmark's Princess Marie denies boob job after Her & Nu magazine claimed she had one
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Tense times in Jerusalem
EuroNews, International news, Ecully Cedex, France

Israel seals off East Jerusalem after 'Day of Rage' attacks
France 24, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France

?? Sanat to present a rich program in its new season
Hurriyet Daily News, (Liberal, English-language), Istanbul, Turkey

'Blood moon' prompts Mormon announcement: This is NOT the end of the world
Independent The, London, England

Pompeii's pilferers punished with a curse from the gods
Telegraph The, Conservative daily, London, England

The Apprentice 2015: episode 1, live
Telegraph The, Celebrity news, London, England

Hung ouster in motion, Chu calls for party unity
China Post, English-language daily, Taipei, Taiwan

Up to 10 Million People Made Sick by Their Phones
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

Pope Francis makes historic first US visit
Hindustan Times, New Delhi, India

Minister vows to return donations from firms involved in bid-rigging
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

Financial services startup Square files for $275M IPO
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand

Ukraine President cancels trip over protests in eastern Ukraine
Straits Times, Pro-government, Singapore

Beat the post holiday blues
Sydney Morning Herald, Centrist daily, Sydney, Australia

Nike says expects revenue of $50 bn by 2020
The Economic Times, Business, Mumbai, India

It's official ó the 1% finally own 50% of everything
Canadian Broadcasting Centre, Toronto, Ontario

New York teen dies after beating at church during 'counselling'
Globe and Mail The, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada

Liberty Reserve Brought Down By 'Joe Bogus': How The Feds Arrested Arthur Budovsky
International Business Times, Business news organization, New York, U.S

Wall St declines as Wal-Mart's weak forecast drags on retailers
Reuters, Business News, New York, U.S

Malaysia's embattled PM facing stern test as parliament returns
Reuters, World News, New York, U.S

Blue Jays cut lead to 2-1 against Rangers in Game 5
Toronto Star, Toronto, Ontario

US troops to help fight Boko Haram
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

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