July 18, 2007  nº 516  -  Vol. 5  
 

"In art the hand can never execute anything higher than the heart can inspire."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

In today's Grammatigalhas: an introduction to the language and concepts of insurance.

Don't miss Migalhas LatinoAmerica our editionin Spanish. It’s available at migalhas.com/latinoamerica

• Top News

'Many dead' in Brazil plane crash

Scores of people are feared dead after a passenger plane carrying 176 people crashed at Congonhas airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, starting a major fire. The state governor said the chances of finding survivors were "practically nil", while a fire official said more may have been killed on the ground. The TAM airlines Airbus A320 is thought to have slid off the end of the runway as it landed in very wet conditions.

Concerns had been raised about the safety of the runway during heavy rain. On Monday afternoon, a smaller plane skidded off the runway onto the nearby grass in similar conditions. TAM Express flight 3054 from Porto Alegre was carrying 170 passengers and six crew when it attempted to land at Congonhas airport in the heart of Sao Paulo. After touching down on the airport's main runway at 1850 (2150 GMT), the passenger jet skidded before sliding across a busy road in a residential area. It then struck a depot used by TAM for storing cargo and some fuel. There has been concern for some time about safety at Congonhas during heavy rain. In February, a judge briefly banned flights in and out of the airport, which is the busiest in Brazil. Remedial work, including laying a new surface, has been carried out in recent months. 

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• Crumbs!

1 - Judge rejects charges for 13 on tax shelter. (Read more)

2 - Brazil, SA for nuke coop with India. (Read more)

3 - Bush calls for Middle East peace conference. (Read more)

4 - Reid says senate may act on tax rise for fund managers in 2008. (Read more)

5 - Russia warns UK over expulsions. (Read more)

6 - Japan investigates 'nuclear leak'. (Read more)

7 - Cuba seen shifting closer to other American states. (Read more)

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• MiMIC Journal

PWC creates Brazil-China mergers and acquisitions unit  

International consultancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers opens a division on Tuesday to manage acquisitions and mergers involving companies from Brazil and China, seeking to meet rising demand from business partnerships and commercial ties between the two countries. PwC’s new Brazilian unit is called the China Desk and involves two teams: one responsible for mergers and acquisitions and the other for undertaking audits, as well as briefing Chinese companies on doing business in Brazil. The Brazil-China Business Council (CEBC) estimates that two-way exchanges will surpass US$ 20 billion this year, double last year’s level and making China the second-largest commercial partner of Brazil. 

• Grammatigalhas

Legal Meaning Is Not Everyday Meaning

Moral hazard

By creating a "security blanket" for its insureds, an insurance company may inadvertently find that its insureds may not be as risk-averse as they might otherwise be (since, by definition, the insured has transferred the risk to the insurer). This problem is known to the insurance industry as moral hazard. To reduce their own financial exposure, insurance companies have contractual clauses that mitigate their obligation to provide coverage if the insured engages in behavior that grossly magnifies their risk of loss or liability.

For example, life insurance companies may require higher premiums or deny coverage altogether to people who work in hazardous occupations or engage in dangerous sports. Liability insurance providers do not provide coverage for liability arising from intentional torts committed by the insured. Even if a provider were so irrational as to desire to provide such coverage, it is against the public policy of most countries to allow such insurance to exist, and thus it is usually illegal.

Redlining

Redlining is the practice of denying insurance coverage in specific geographic areas, purportedly because of a high likelihood of loss, while the alleged motivation is unlawful discrimination.

In determining premiums and premium rate structures, insurers consider quantifiable factors, including location, credit scores, gender, occupation, marital status, and education level. However, the use of such factors is often considered to be unfair or unlawfully discriminatory, and the reaction against this practice has in some instances led to political disputes about the ways in which insurers determine premiums and regulatory intervention to limit the factors used.

Reinsurance

Reinsurance is critical to the insurance process; it brings capacity, stability, and financial strength to insurers. The purpose of reinsurance is to spread large risks and catastrophes over as large a base as possible. It is the assumption by one insurance company (the reinsurer) of all or part of a risk undertaken by another insurance company (the cedent). It enables an insured with a sizable risk exposure to deal with and receive coverage from one insurer, rather than dealing with a number of insurers. The portion of the risk that exceeds the primary insurer's retention level is layed-off (ceded) to a reinsurer. The reinsurer can further reinsure a part of the risk assumed; this is called retroceding. If the reinsurer agrees to share losses arising from only one risk, the agreement is known as facultative reinsurance; if the reinsurer agrees to share losses arising from more than one risk, usually a whole line or book of business, the agreement is known as treaty reinsurance.

Everyday “Legal” Jargon

The language of insurance: a primer

Terminology

Insurance Policy: A contract in which, for a stipulated consideration, one party (the insurer, or underwriter) agrees to compensate the other (the insured), or the other’s heirs or assigns, for a particular, stated loss.

Risk Pooling: Insurance is premised on spreading the risk of loss among a large number of people, reducing the premium that any one person must pay to afford the coverage offered.

Premium: The price paid by the insured to the insurer for a policy of insurance for a specified period of time.

Insurable Interest: An interest either in a person’s life or well-being or in property that is sufficiently substantial that insuring against injury to or the death of the person or against damage to the property protects against the loss of reasonably expected benefits.

An insurable interest in someone’s life or health must exist at the time the policy takes effect.

An insurable interest in property must exist at the time the loss occurs.

A contract is considered to be insurance if it distributes risk among a large number of persons through an enterprise engaged primarily in the business of insurance. Warranties or service contracts for merchandise, for example, do not constitute insurance. Warranties and service contracts are not issued by insurance companies, and the risk distribution in the transaction is incidental to the purchase of the merchandise. Warranties and service contracts are thus exempt from strict insurance laws and regulations.

Forming the insurance contract

Application: The insurance application is generally made a part of the contract if and when a policy issues; therefore, the applicant is bound by any false statements or misinformation in the application, which may void the policy if discovered.

Effective Date: As a general rule, coverage does not begin until a policy is issued by the insurer, unless the insurer’s agent issues a binder – a temporary policy in effect from the application date until the date the policy issues or is denied.

It is important to distinguish between an insurer’s authorized agent, who has the authority to bind the insurer, and a third-party broker, who does not.

If the broker fails to procure a policy for the applicant, the applicant has a claim against the broker, not the insurer.

An applicant who seeks coverage from an agent of the insurer is typically covered against losses that occur while the application is pending.

If the parties agree that the insurance will be issued at some later date, any loss sustained in the interim is not covered.

The insurance policy 

The heart of an insurance policy is the coverage afforded, as limited by the various exclusions and exceptions in the policy.

Incontestability Clause: After a life or health policy has been in effect for a statutorily-determined period, the insurer may not go back and contest the accuracy of any information contained in the application.

Coinsurance Clause: Provides that, as long as the owner insures up to a minimum percentage of the property’s value, any property loss will be fully covered to the policy limit.

Appraisal/Arbitration Clause: Provides a means of resolving disputes between the insured and the insurer over the value of the property damaged.

Multiple Coverage Clause: Provides that, if property is covered by more than one policy, each insurer need only pay pro rata.

Anti-Lapse Clause: Prevents automatic cancellation of a policy on its expiration, giving the insured a “grace period” to renew.

Construing Policy Terms: Insurance policy provisions are interpreted and applied by courts according to their plain meaning.  Any ambiguity is construed against the insurer.

Cancellation: The insured may cancel a policy at will; the insurer must have cause and must give notice.

Insurer’s Basic Duties: Once an insurer has issued a policy and assumed the risks covered by it, the insurer must:

• upon being notified of a claim, investigate and ascertain whether a covered loss has occurred; and

• when a policy insures against claims of third parties,

• make reasonable efforts to settle the third party’s claims; and, if unable to do so,

• defend the insured, regardless of the merits of the third party’s claims.

Defenses Against Payment: An insurer is entitled to assert all contract defenses when asked to pay a loss to the insured, and may avoid liability if it can prove that the insured lacked an insurable interest.

Life insurance 

There are several common varieties of life insurance:

Whole Life, which, in return for premium payments made for the insured’s entire remaining life, provides protection with a cumulated cash value that can be used as collateral for a loan during the insured’s life;

Limited-Payment Life, for which premiums are paid for a set number of years, after which the policy is fully paid;

Term Insurance, which provides coverage for a term of years in exchange for premiums paid during the term;

Endowment Insurance, for which premiums are paid for a fixed term, after which a fixed amount is repaid to the insured, or to a designated beneficiary; and

Universal Life, which combines term and whole life coverage.

Covered Risks: Most life insurance policies exclude coverage for, e.g., death caused by suicide, war, the insured’s involvement in or conviction for a crime punishable by death.  In the absence of an explicit exclusion, courts generally find the life insurer liable regardless of the cause of the insured’s death.

Misstatement of Age: Life insurance premiums and benefits may be affected by the age of the insured.  As a result, if the insurer finds that the insured misstated her age at the time she applied for the policy, the insurer may subsequently change the premiums due and the benefits payable to reflect the insured’s true age.

Change of Beneficiaries: Generally, the insured may add, delete, or replace beneficiaries without needing the insurer’s or the existing beneficiary’s consent.  However, if a beneficiary’s interest has vested, the insured must obtain the vested beneficiary’s consent.

Creditors’ Rights: Absent some state law exempting insurance proceeds from collection by judgment creditors (something almost every state does to some degree), proceeds payable to the insured’s estate and to any non-vested beneficiary are subject to attachment by the insured’s creditors.

Fire insurance

Coverage: Protects the property owner against damage due to fire, lightning, and smoke, as well as water damage attributable to extinguishing the fire.

Liability Limits: The insurer’s liability is determined by the terms of the policy.  

Typical limitations include:

"Friendly" Fires: The policy limits or excludes coverage of fires burning in places designed for fire (e.g., fireplaces); though, if the fire spreads from the intended place, the additional loss should be covered.

Arson: If the insured (or an agent of the insured) intentionally set the fire for the purpose of causing property damage (or personal injury), any property damage so caused will be excluded.

Valuation Limits: The policy covers only a certain amount of loss regardless of the actual loss suffered.

Occupancy: The policy requires that the insured or an authorized tenant occupy the premises at the time of the fire.

Assignment: The insured generally cannot assign its policy without the insurer’s consent.

Homeowners' insurance

Property Coverage: Protects the house, garage, other private buildings on the policyholder’s lot, and their contents, as well as personal property of the policyholder while traveling or used at work (subject to certain limits and exceptions), from loss or damage due to fire, lightning, theft, and other perils.

Renter’s Insurance: Protects a renter’s personal property from loss or damage due to fire, lightning, theft, and other perils, and generally covers the expense of dislocation due to damage to or destruction of the rented premises.

Liability Coverage: Indemnifies the policyholder in the event of personal injuries on the policyholder’s property, personal injuries caused by the policyholder, but not in an automobile, and damage done by the policyholder to someone else’s property.

Automobile insurance

Standard automobile insurance combines the following:

Collision Coverage: Covers damage to the insured’s car in any type of collision (regardless of fault);

Liability Coverage: Covers personal injury and property damage caused by the insured’s operation of any vehicle and/or by the insured’s vehicle;

Comprehensive Coverage: Covers loss or damage to the vehicle by fire, hail, vandalism, theft, etc.;

Uninsured Motorist Coverage: Insures the driver and passenger(s) against personal injury caused by another driver without insurance or by a hit-and-run driver; and

Towing/Rental Coverage: Covers the cost of towing the insured’s damaged vehicle and of a rental while the insured’s vehicle is being repaired.

Automobile insurance may also include medical payment coverage, accidental death coverage, and other provisions.

Business liability insurance

Comprehensive General Liability ("CGL") Policy: Indemnifies the insured from any risks the insurer agrees to cover, such as premises liability, product liability, environmental contamination, negligence in the course of business, etc.

Product Liability: Indemnifies the insured manufacturer from claims resulting from its products, and may also reimburse the manufacturer for any expenses related to product recalls and the repair or replacement of defective products.

Professional Malpractice: Indemnifies an attorney, accountant, architect, engineer, or physician from losses attributed to their negligent performance of their professions.

Workers’ Compensation: Covers injuries to workers occurring within the course and scope of the worker’s employment on behalf of the insured.  In some states, workers’ compensation insurance is underwritten by the state.

As If Your Life Depended On It…or How to get to Carnegie Hall? - Practice, practice

Insight/Incite

An insight is something you have: an understanding of something, a bright idea about something.

To incite is to do something: to stimulate some action or other to be taken. You can never have an incite.

Supposably, supposingly, supposively, supposedly

“Supposedly” is the standard form. “Supposably” can be used only when the meaning is “capable of being supposed,” and then only in the U.S. You won’t get into trouble if you stick with “supposedly."

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• Historia Verdadera

• Brief News

Libya revokes HIV death sentences

Death sentences on six foreign medics convicted of infecting Libyan children with HIV have been commuted to life in prison by Libya's top legal body. The High Judicial Council ruling came after the families of the 438 children agreed a compensation deal reportedly worth $1m per child. Talks are expected to open on Wednesday on the transfer of the six to Bulgaria. The five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, who were convicted in 2004, maintain their innocence. Libya's foreign minister said Tripoli was willing to consider the medics' transfer to Bulgaria but that it would take place in "the legal framework and political context" between the two countries. He added that the conditions of the infected children and their families should be a consideration in the transfer deal.

Bomber targets Pakistan lawyers

Fifteen people have been killed and more than 40 wounded by a suicide bomb at a lawyers' rally in Pakistan. Ousted chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was due to address the rally in the capital Islamabad, but was not present at the time of the attack. Musharraf strongly condemned the "terrorist attack" and appealed for calm. Chaudhry has been at the centre of growing anti-government protests ever since General Musharraf suspended him in March. Chaudhry denies allegations that he misused his office. He and his supporters say the charges are politically motivated. Correspondents have described a scene of chaos at the site of the attack near the Supreme Court, with ambulances rushing to the scene.

NYC congestion charge is blocked

New York City Mayor Bloomberg has all but conceded defeat on his plans to introduce a congestion charge on traffic into Manhattan. The plan, similar to the one introduced in London in 2003, did not get approval in the New York State Assembly. He said it was a disgrace. He added that it was a major setback mostly for the people who breathe the air in New York city, especially the children.

France debates crime law amid row

The French parliament is debating a controversial bill on tougher sentences for repeat offenders. The bill - which critics say will make prison overcrowding worse - is being introduced by Justice Minister Rachida Dati, who has recently come under fire. Her bill on tougher sentences for repeat offenders was called "potentially dangerous" by the opposition when it was debated in the Senate.

Critics say the measures will further add to already overcrowded prisons and only worsen repeat offending.

Google cookies will 'auto delete'

Google has said that its cookies, tiny files stored on a computer when a user visits a website, will auto delete after two years. They will be deleted unless the user returns to a Google site within the two-year period, prompting a re-setting of the file's lifespan. The company's cookies are used to store preference data for sites, such as default language and to track searches. All search engines and most websites store cookies on a computer. Currently, Google's are set to delete after 2038.

EU halts WTO's India alcohol case

The European Union has suspended its complaint to the WTO about India's import tariffs on beer, wine and spirits. The move comes after India recently lifted duties, which hit as much as 550%, on imported alcohol including French wine and Scottish whisky. However, the EU has expressed annoyance that India has chosen to raise its basic duty on wine from 100% to 150%. It is unknown if the US, which made a similar WTO case, will follow suit. The three member WTO panel investigating the EU's complaint can stay in place for up to a year while the complaint is suspended.

US inflation slips back in June

Falling food and energy prices helped US wholesale prices rise slower in June, its first fall since January. Producer price inflation fell 0.2% last month, the US Labor Department said. But the core number - which excludes volatile food and energy prices - rose 0.3%, mainly as a result of rising car and light truck sales. Economists said the latest figures were unlikely to persuade the Federal Reserve to change its stance on interest rates. The Fed continues to believe that inflation posses the biggest threat to the US economy, and has so far taken a wait-and-see attitude on the current economic slowdown.

News Corp 'agrees Dow Jones deal'

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has come to a tentative agreement on a takeover offer for Dow Jones, the Wall Street Journal has said. The Dow Jones-owned newspaper said the $5bn bid would now go to Dow's board of directors for approval. News Corp launched the surprise bid for Dow Jones in May. Since then, Murdoch's company has been battling to reassure sceptics that the paper's independence will be maintained under New Corp's ownership.

Europe lawmakers spar over CIA secret prisons report 

Some members of the European Parliament criticized Swiss Senator Dick Marty Tuesday for failing to cite sources in his June report to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe that accused Poland and Romania of assisting the US Central Intelligence Agency in operating secret prisons for terror suspects. One criticized Marty's report as essentially being a rehash of what was already reported in the news, "without offering any concrete evidence." Marty defended the document before the European Parliament's Committees on Civil Liberties and Foreign Affairs and the Sub-committee on Human Rights, saying that every allegation made had corroborating evidence. Supporters called for countries implicated in the report to follow Council of Europe urgings to be more transparent, and allow the investigating teams access to their documents. EU Justice Commissioner Franco Frattini had previously complained that the report quoted only unverifiable, anonymous sources. Bush acknowledged the existence of the secret CIA prison program last year, but did not disclose any details.

Business casualties

Bear Stearns said two hedge funds it runs are now worth nearly nothing, as the downturn in bonds tied to subprime mortgages gets deeper and goes global.

Extreme Makeover

A debate has long raged in the U.K. over this age-old British legal tradition. Last week, the Lord Chief Justice announced that, beginning next year, judges are abolishing wigs and gowns for civil and family cases. But judges will continue to wear the headdresses in criminal cases. Also, solicitors, who until now haven’t been allowed to wear wigs, will now be permitted to don them. For years, solicitors had fought to be treated the same as wig-wearing barristers. They say that without the wigs, juries view them as inferior advocates. (Barristers have traditionally performed courtroom work while solicitors tended toward paperwork, but recently those roles have conflated.) The Times of London whittles the debate down as follows:

Pros: Worldwide emblem of the U.K. legal profession; anonymity from criminals; liked by public and defendants.

Cons: Itchy, often dirty, hot and old-fashioned, adding to perception of judges as out-of-touch and fuddy duddy.

British Lawyers Are Unhappy, Too

Some laments that America is far superior to the U.K. when it comes to lawyer dissatisfaction. “Polls have at various times established that not just a quarter, but up to 40 per cent of U.S. lawyers want to leave their profession,” he writes. “British lawyers are only just waking up to the fact they are miserable and want to die.” To get to the bottom of why lawyers are so glum, he did a little research and came up with a list of problems. It’s a pithy and, if nothing else, entertaining rundown of what he sees as the profession’s pitfalls:

Dehumanizing hours: “Leaving aside the question of whether money can make you happy, it is pretty obvious it won’t if you have no time to spend it.”

The gap between lawyers’ intelligence and the mind-numbing nature of their work: “The word ‘lawyer’ may trigger images of attractive people making clever arguments in wood-paneled courtrooms, but most spend the majority of their time in back offices drafting and redrafting small print that almost no one will read.”

The gap between the ideals of those entering the profession and the reality: “Some go into law because they dream of fighting injustice, but discover on entering that most of what lawyers do benefits big business,” he writes. “Others enter the profession because they are seduced by the apparent glamour of the trade, as portrayed in Ally McBeal and LA Law, only to find that the work is about as glamorous as getting a verruca (cf. point 2).”

The cumulatively lowering nature of the work: Lawyers “become competitive, aggressive, judgmental, analytical, adversarial, emotionally detached, paranoid of being sued and, worst of all, pessimistic.”

The vortex of hatred that envelops them entirely: The public doesn’t only despise the legal profession, as is borne out by many surveys, but “lawyers despise each other (cf. point 4), despise themselves (cf. points 1, 2, 3, 4), are despised by their clients (for charging too much, not always winning cases) and, in return, despise their clients back.”

The self-inflicted nature of their suffering: Under intense pressure to attract business, lawyers seek out more of the very work they find so dissatisfying. “It’s like waking up to find someone drilling a hole into your head, only to realize the sadist wielding the Black ‘n’ Decker is actually you.”

• Daily Press Review

Libya revokes HIV death sentences
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

UN sends team to DR Congo to probe allegations of misconduct by peacekeepers
CongoPlanet.com, Independent online news aggregator

Fake Ghana new currency notes in circulation
GhanaWeb, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Chad: Government Keeps Children in Army Ranks
Human Rights Watch (Africa), International news press releases

Zim's archbishop accused of affair
iafrica, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Happy birthday Madiba: Mbeki}
Independent Online, News portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Vlok prosecution largely welcomed
Mail & Guardian Online, Liberal, Johannesburg, South Africa

SAA 'loses' 8-year-old
News24.com, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Passenger jet crashes into gas station at Brazil airport
Brazil Sun, Independent online news aggregator

DPP blocks all charges against Machel and Slaughter until review
Caribbean News Portal, Online news aggregator

Chile: Flawed Decision Not to Extradite Fujimori
Human Rights Watch (Americas), International news press releases

COLOMBIA-ECUADOR:  Coca Spraying Makes for Toxic Relations
IPS Latin America, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Code breached - Motorcades attacked, supporters intimidated - Party leaders denounce violent acts
Jamaica Gleaner, Independent daily, Kingston, Jamaica

Peru: Tourism in Review - Daily Report
Living in Peru, News portal, Lima, Peru

Accardo meltdown proves costly
The Globe and Mail, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada

40 killed in Brazil air crash
Toronto Star, Liberal daily, Toronto, Canada

Indonesian man jailed for fast food outlet bombing
Antara News, News agency, Jakarta, Indonesia

At Least 200 Dead in Brazilian Plane Crash
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

Doc fears being 'framed' over SIM card
India Express, News portal, Mumbai, India

Bluelines haunt Capital again
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India

Flair can't pass for substance
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

Wreckage of copter sighted on slope of ravine northwest of Genting Sempah 
Malaysian Star, Online news portal,  Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Up to 200 feared dead in Brazil crash (+photos)
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand

DRC troops clash with Rwandan rebels, nine dead or wounded
People's Daily Online, English-language, Beijing, China

Haneef appeal filed
Sydney Morning Herald, Centrist daily, Sydney, Australia

Haneef's link not trivial: Australia
The Hindu, Left-leaning daily, Chennai, India

'Many dead' in Brazil plane crash
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Warner shelves bid for EMI
BreakingNews.ie, Online news portal, Cork, Ireland

Half of all criminals aren't even hauled before a court
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Autobahn Accelerator speeds delivery of MySpaceTV videos
DMeurope, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Three new hospitals for city
icLiverpool, Online news portal, Liverpool, England

British government expels 4 Russian diplomats
International Herald Tribune, Independent daily, Paris, France

Parking attendant hurt in attack
Isle of Wight County Press, Independent daily, Isle of Wight, England

Body unnoticed for a year
Manchester Online, Independent daily, Manchester, England

2m to save morton academy
News & Star, Independent daily, Carlisle, England

Girl admits sending abusive messages
North-West Evening Mail, Independent daily, Cumbria, England

Medical students from around world broaden their horizons at Prague summer school
Radio Prague, Online news portal, Prague, Czech Republic

All Feared Dead As Airliner Crashes In Rain
Sky News, Independent newscaster, Middlesex, England

Bad Theater at Checkpoint Charlie:  The Widow and the Stripper Go to Court
Spiegel International, Liberal newsmagazine, Hamburg, Germany

200 feared dead in Brazil plane crash
The Guardian, Liberal daily, London, England

LRC to host renewed Eircom talks
The Irish Times, Centrist daily, Dublin, Ireland

Death toll in Pakistan suicide attack rises to 16
The Scotsman, Moderate daily, Edinburgh, Scotland

Hitman at the Hilton hotel
The Sun, Conservative tabloid, London, England

Brazil plane crash: 200  feared dead
The Telegraph, Conservative daily, London, England

India objects to 'aspects' of doctor's arrest
Times Online, Conservative daily, London, England

Report: Abbas Requested Rafiah Closure
Arutz Sheva, Online, right-wing, Tel Aviv, Israel

Footage Shows Detained Iranian-Americans
Asharq Al-Awsat, Pan-Arab daily, London, England

Japan quake city orders nuclear plant to stay shut
Gulf News, Independent daily, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Assad: Israel, Syria in contact through intermediary country
Haaretz, Liberal daily, Tel Aviv, Israel

IRAQ:  Mass Graves Dug to Deal With Death Toll
IPS Middle East, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

HSBC to Joint Lead Manage SABIC's Sukuk Issuance
Middle East North African Network, Online financial portal, Amman, Jordan

Deadly Air Disaster in Brazil
Nahamet, Online news portal, Beirut, Lebanon

Militants clad in military uniform slaughter 29 Iraqis
The Daily Star, Independent daily, Beirut, Lebanon

Bahah: Oil production will increase by 2009 -  (Front)
Yemen Times, Independent weekly, Sana'a, Yemen

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