October 19, 2007  nº 554  -  Vol. 5  
 

"Never make negative comments or spread rumors about anyone. It depreciates their reputation and yours."

Brian Koslow
 

• Top News

Explosions Mar Bhutto's Return to Pakistan

At least 130 people were killed when two bombs exploded among crowds in Karachi celebrating the return of the former Pakistani PM Benazir Bhutto. The attacks on the motorcade happened despite a heavy security presence following threats from militant groups. Bhutto had earlier warned that if targeted, she would hold what she described as hidden authorities within the government as partly responsible. She wants to contest parliamentary elections due to be held in January and she has been negotiating with President Pervez Musharraf over a possible power-sharing agreement.

Iran backing terror, says Blair

UK ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair has accused Iran of backing terrorism and warned the world faces a situation akin to "rising fascism in the 1920s". Blair told a charity event in New York that Iran was prepared to destabilize peaceful countries. He warned against being "forced into retreat" as the world faced a situation similar to "rising fascism in the 1920s". He spoke of what he called an extremist Islamic ideology. "This ideology now has a state - Iran - that is prepared to back and finance terror in the pursuit of destabilizing countries whose people live to wish in peace." "There is a tendency even now, even in some of our own circles, to believe that they are as they are because we have provoked them and if we left them alone they would leave us alone. "I fear this is mistaken. They have no intention of leaving us alone."

Putin wants US date to quit Iraq

Putin has said the US should set a date for a withdrawal from Iraq.  “As long as the US avoided setting a pull-out date, the Iraqi leadership "won't rush to build up its own security forces,” he said. Russia plans "grandiose" improvements to its armed forces.

New missile technology and an overhaul of the nuclear arsenal were also planned, he said.

EU leaders agree new treaty deal

European Union leaders have reached a deal on a landmark treaty to reform the 27-member bloc. The agreement in Lisbon was sealed shortly after midnight after objections from Italy and Poland were overcome. The treaty is designed to replace the European Constitution that was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005 and will be formally signed on 13 December. The new Reform Treaty is designed to speed up decision making in the expanded European Union. It will also create a new president of the European Council, a new EU foreign affairs chief, a reformed voting system and scrap vetoes in dozens of areas. If what will become known as the Treaty of Lisbon is ratified by all member states, it will come into force in 2009.

Firms seek online copyright pact

Media and internet firms, including Viacom, Walt Disney, Microsoft and Myspace are setting guidelines to protect copyright material online. The group plans to use technology to prevent content that breaks copyright rules being posted on the internet, as well as to stop pirated material. There has been growing tension between the sites that host content and the originators of the content when material is posted online by the public, without consent. Internet content, notably video, has boomed, including copyright material. Search engine Google, owner of video site YouTube, has not joined the project, but analysts predict it will.

Events

2nd Latin American Aviation Conference

Aviation experts and professionals working in the field, financial lawyers, those interested in bankruptcy law, insolvency lawyers and business lawyers will all benefit from attending this conference organized by the International Bar Association, November 12 and 13, 2007, in São Paulo. Main topics include: Latin America - the next market explosion; Cape Town Convention and lessor’s remedies; Operating leases; Airline reorganization; Engine leasing; Corporate jet transactions. This event will also provide an outstanding forum for networking with fellow aviation specialists and experts in the field. For further information please click here.

First Conference of the Americas: Bar Leaders Day, and  Latin American & North American IBA Regional meeting

The First Conference of the Americas in Mexico City is the perfect opportunity for all legal professionals from both sides of the border to network, share information and identify issues, concerns and opportunities across the Americas’ legal markets and jurisdictions.

The Bar Leaders Day on 27 February will bring together the bars of North and Latin America. Topics will include: mandatory vs voluntary membership of bar associations; pro bono work as a lawyer’s responsibility; and building the rule of law through judicial reform. panels are scheduled on various topics including:

• corporate counsel issues
• capital markets and private equity
• energy issues
• foreign investments in real estate developments
• arbitration
• taxes and cross-border transactions
• labour and expatriates
• law firm management
• women and the law

For further information, click here.

• Crumbs!

1 - Gordon Brown picks fight with France to divert attention from referendum. (Read more)

2 - Sony chip deal signals major strategy shift. (Read more)

3 - High Court judge wants to bring in ethnic quotas. (Read more)

4 - Airline workers among 18 people charged with drug trafficking at JFK. (Read more)

5 - Bhutto ends exile and parades through city. (Read more)

• MiMIC Journal

Exports fuel China's CO2 output

A quarter of China's greenhouse gas emissions are produced making goods exported to the West. Rich nations will have to take the lead in cutting the pollution they cause.

US Dalai Lama award angers China

China has stepped up a row with the US over its decision to award the Dalai Lama one of its highest honors, by summoning the US ambassador to protest.

China's plane ambitions take off

China Aviation Industry Corporation I (AVIC I) is currently assembling a regional passenger jet that it hopes will establish China as a major plane manufacturer. The ARJ21 - which stands for Advanced Regional Jet for the 21st Century - is due to have its first test flight in March next year. China believes this could be the start of a trend that will see the country build its own jumbo jets in the near future.

• Law Firm Marketing

Alert prospects, clients and referral sources to your successes

by Trey Ryder

One purpose of a weekly or monthly alert is to keep everyone on your mailing list up to date on your successes.

Why is this important?

Everyone likes to think their lawyer is the best.  A former client might hire you again -- or a referral source might send someone your way if you shared your recent experiences so they had continued confidence in your skills.

When you send an alert to everyone on your mailing list, you again have the opportunity to talk about the types of cases you're working on and to report your successes.  Providing this information does many things:

1. It shows you have current knowledge in this area of the law.

2. It shows your services are in demand, as opposed to lawyers who have nothing to do.

3. It proves you have experience in this arena, as opposed to someone who only claims to practice in this area of law.

4. It increases the confidence people have in your knowledge, skill, judgment and experience.

5. It affirms you are the person they should consider when they need services or when they want to refer someone.

6.  It assures (or reminds) them you're still practicing law, so you don't fall victim to out-of-sight, out-of-mind.

Also, don't forget that people like to know and witness what lawyers do in the office and courtroom.  It's fun and interesting to look into a law practice and see what goes on behind closed doors.  People are fascinated with lawyers, the law, and how our justice system works, or doesn't work.

Look at our obsession with lawyer shows on TV:  PERRY MASON, JUDD FOR THE DEFENSE, OWEN MARSHALL, L.A. LAW, LAW AND ORDER (and its three brand extensions), THE PRACTICE, FAMILY LAW, BOSTON LEGAL ... and more.

Look at all the courtroom shows on TV:  People's Court.  Judge Judy.  And 4 or 5 others.

Then, don't forget every high profile case that is now scrutinized, analyzed and dissected on every cable channel you can name.

You can profit from this public curiosity by alerting everyone on your mailing list to what's going on in your practice.  Because the more they know about your practice, the closer relationship they feel with you, the more they trust you, and the more confident they are with your skills.

Of course, this is only one purpose of a periodic alert or newsletter, but it's one you should not overlook.  Because you never know when prospects or clients will need services, or when they might want to refer a friend.

And the more they know about you and your successes, the sooner you'll profit.

© Trey Ryder

FREE LAWYER MARKETING ALERT:  If you'd like to receive Trey Ryder's weekly Lawyer Marketing Alert, send an e-mail to [email protected]. Write "Subscribe LMA" in the subject line and write your name and e-mail address in the body of the message.

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• Historia Verdadera

• Brief News

Genocide case for Bolivia ex-head

Bolivian prosecutors have brought formal charges of genocide against the country's exiled former president, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada. The move came on the fourth anniversary of the  resignation following violent street protests at plans to export natural gas. The charges, denied by Sanchez de Lozada, relate to the deaths of at least 60 people killed in the unrest.

Rio slum battle

Twelve people, including a young boy and an officer, were killed as police mounted an anti-drugs operation on a Rio de Janeiro slum, officials say. Shooting broke out when some 500 police, backed by helicopters, entered the Senador Camara and Coreia shanty towns, searching for weapons and drugs. The authorities insisted their actions were justified to tackle the powerful drug gangs who control about half of Rio's 750 shanty towns. However, human rights groups have accused Brazilian police of widespread corruption and violence, and say they routinely justify killing civilians by alleging they were drug gang members resisting arrest.

Crude Oil Reaches Record $90 After Dollar Drops Against Euro

Oil prices have broken through $90 a barrel for the first time, lifted by the low dollar and ongoing concerns over tensions in eastern Turkey. The US dollar stays near record lows against the euro, on growing expectation of a further US interest rate cut.

Historic bill in Senate to fight warming; California law a model for new measure

A bipartisan group of senators, borrowing heavily from California's efforts to fight climate change, fired the starting gun on what's expected to be a long global-warming debate in Congress with a proposal for limits on greenhouse gases affecting every major segment of the nation's economy. Lawmakers, industry groups and environmentalists have waited months for the bill. The bill, expected to be the centerpiece of the Senate's efforts to address climate change, would cap emissions and gradually reduce them using a market-oriented cap-and-trade system in which allowances to emit greenhouse gases would be bought and sold. The bill requires cuts in carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from electric utilities, transportation and manufacturing, accounting for about 75 percent of U.S emissions. The measure would also create a Carbon Market Efficiency Board, an appointed seven-member body that could loosen the rules on borrowing future credits if the price of carbon goes too high. However, all emitters would still have to meet the bill's targets over the long term. The cap-and-trade system would work basically this way: A company that released more greenhouse gases than permitted would have to buy allowances for the extra pollution. The allowances would be sold in the market from a pool that came from companies that cut their missions below their required cap. Environmental groups would like to see them auctioned off and the proceeds go for consumer rebates and incentives for clean energy projects. Industry groups say an auction-only approach would be too costly to meet. Senators Lieberman and Warne have tried for a compromise that would start with auctioning off about one-quarter of the allowances, and increasing the number sold to 73 percent by 2036.

Credit loss hits Bank of America

Bank of America's quarterly profits have fallen 32%, after an investment banking slowdown and credit losses. Earnings from its investment banking business fell 93%, following turmoil in the financial markets, the firm said. The latest figures come after the three largest US banks said they would buy up billions of dollars of troubled investments that have seen their value drop in the wake of the global credit crunch.

Mobile phone use backed on planes

Passengers could soon be using their mobile phones on planes flying through European airspace. Plans have been developed across EU countries to introduce technology, which permits mobile calls without risk of interference with aircraft systems. The Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency are working to ensure that aircraft safety and passenger welfare issues are resolved before these systems can be used.

Wars in Africa wipe out aid gains

A report on armed conflict in Africa has shown that the cost to the continent's development over a 15-year period was nearly $300bn. The research was undertaken by a number of non-governmental organizations, including Oxfam. It says the cost of conflict was equal to the amount of money received in aid during the same period. This is the first time analysts have calculated the overall effects of armed violence on development.

Perdigao in merger talks with Eleva

Brazilian poultry and pork producer Perdigao SA and local rival Eleva Alimentos SA are in talks about a potential merger. "The market and shareholders will be notified of the ownership and operational structure as soon as they are determined, as will the terms and conditions of the deal," the companies said in a joint statement sent to Brazil's securities regulator. Perdigao, the No. 2 poultry and pork producer in Brazil, previously held merger talks with its larger rival, Sadia, but the deal never materialized because Perdigao said it wanted to remain independent. Besides poultry and pork products, Eleva also sells dairy products and owns a popular milk brand in Brazil called Elege.

Peasant protest hits Brazil's CVRD plant, railroad

Landless peasants blocking a major Brazilian railroad for the second day on Thursday left the Maranhao pellets plant owned by iron ore miner CVRD without raw materials, the company said, urging authorities to drive the protesters away.The Carajas railroad run by CVRD, the world's biggest iron ore miner, transports 250,000 metric tonnes of iron ore per day from one of its main mines there. The company said the railroad blockage is not aimed at its operations specifically, but is part of a broader protest aimed at "imperialism."

Google Under Fire Over a Controversial Site

Google Inc. makes billions marrying advertising to the Web. Just yesterday, it reported yet another surge in revenue and profit. But here in Brazil, the Internet powerhouse is embroiled in an embarrassing episode over its efforts to profit from social networking, one of the fastest-growing activities online. While many Americans have never heard of it, Orkut is a powerhouse overseas, with more than half its 25 million monthly visitors in Brazil. For most of its history Orkut was ad-free. Then, when Google tried putting ads on the site, it ran into trouble. Critics in Brazil released a report showing advertisements on Orkut alongside pictures of naked children and abused animals. Google immediately suspended the ads, but the company is still grappling with the fallout from critics' Orkut campaign. The head of Google's Brazilian operation is facing criminal contempt charges for refusing to turn Orkut users' data over to police. And next month there is a hearing in a case brought by a São Paulo prosecutor threatening daily fines of $100,000 or the shuttering of Google's Brazil office. "We have won," says Thiago Tavares Nunes de Oliveira, a Brazilian law professor who wrote the graphic report and has crisscrossed Brazil making the case that Google allowed Orkut to become a redoubt of criminal activity, including child pornography and racist speech.

Sarkozy divorce news outweighs strike

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife of 11 years, Cecilia, have divorced "by mutual consent", according to a statement from the Elysee Palace.

Insulin Flop Costs Pfizer $2.8 Billion

Pfizer's decision to pull its insulin inhaler Exubera rids the company of an albatross, but suggests the steep risks its CEO faces in trying to steer the drug maker into biotech.

Irate Investors

Bear Stearns is being investigated by regulators over whether the firm improperly traded with two in-house hedge funds. Merrill Lynch was sued by MetroPCS, charging brokers improperly invested the cellphone firm's cash in risky securities.

House bill to protect gay workers advances without transgender protections 

A employment non-discrimination bill  protecting gays, lesbians, and bisexuals but not trans-gendered individuals went to the full House Thursday after being reviewed by a number of House subcommittees. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act covers hiring and firing practices, the setting of compensation levels, and promotion determinations, and makes it illegal for employers to consider an employee's sexual orientation when making decisions in the workplace. The absence of transgender protections has prompted sharp opposition to the measure from civil rights groups.

• Daily Press Review

S African reggae star shot dead
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

International Court takes second ex-rebel commander into custody over war crimes
CongoPlanet.com, Independent online news aggregator

Mills' Recipe For Defeat
GhanaWeb, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

ICC/DRC: Second War Crimes Suspect to Face Justice in The Hague
Human Rights Watch (Africa), International news press releases

Bhutto defiant after homecoming blast
iafrica, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Was baby to be killed for muti?
Independent Online, News portal, Cape Town, South Africa

Sacked hospital worker goes on killing spree
Mail & Guardian Online, Liberal, Johannesburg, South Africa

Gallo staff mourn 'soft-spoken' star
News24.com, Online news portal, Cape Town, South Africa

World Bank seeks stronger partnership with India, China
Brazil Sun, Independent online news aggregator

World Clash 2007 - Game Over - last world clash
Caribbean News Portal, Online news aggregator

Colombia: US Congress Should Maintain Hold on Military Aid
Human Rights Watch (Americas), International news press releases

Europe: 'Participatory Democracy Can Resolve Crisis'
IPS Latin America, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Turbulence! Air Jamaica president resigns - Workers say he was forced out
Jamaica Gleaner, Independent daily, Kingston, Jamaica

Peru: Photo of the day - Devoted Worshiper Alan Garcia
Living in Peru, News portal, Lima, Peru

Gas prices send inflation to 16-month high
The Globe and Mail, Centrist daily, Toronto, Canada

Dad charged in girl's death
Toronto Star, Liberal daily, Toronto, Canada

National police chief inspects security operation in Bali
Antara News, News agency, Jakarta, Indonesia

Reform Drive
Chosun Ilbo, Conservative daily, Seoul, South Korea

Karachi bomber ran into crowd & blew himself up
India Express, News portal, Mumbai, India

Puja pandal gutted in fire in Delhi
India Times, Conservative daily, New Delhi, India

Hoodwinked
Japan Times, Independent centrist, Tokyo, Japan

First batch of 2008 NS trainees to get notices in November
Malaysian Star, Online news portal,  Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia

Cemetery installs heart-starter
New Zealand Herald, Conservative daily, Auckland, New Zealand

Thai King endorses decree to set election date on Dec. 23
People's Daily Online, English-language, Beijing, China

Rudd outlines tax vision
Sydney Morning Herald, Centrist daily, Sydney, Australia

Benazir returns to huge welcome
The Hindu, Left-leaning daily, Chennai, India

Boys locked up for stoning death
BBC News, Centrist newscaster, London, England

Ashton out of Makems clash
BreakingNews.ie, Online news portal, Cork, Ireland

'Madeleine visits me during the night', says 'hysterical' Kate McCann
Daily Mail, Conservative daily, London, England

Trust gives bbc.com green light
DMeurope, Online news portal, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Liverpool Unites: Band together for Rhys Jones
icLiverpool, Online news portal, Liverpool, England

European leaders approve pact that faces future
International Herald Tribune, Independent daily, Paris, France

Five Boys Locked Up For Stoning Father
Sky News, Independent newscaster, Middlesex, England

The World from Berlin:  'A Climate of Confrontation'
Spiegel International, Liberal newsmagazine, Hamburg, Germany

Pakistan blames militants as bomb death toll reaches 136
The Guardian, Liberal daily, London, England

Van sought in Cork murder investigation
The Irish Times, Centrist daily, Dublin, Ireland

Alan Coren dies aged 69
The Scotsman, Moderate daily, Edinburgh, Scotland

Analysis: What the Bhutto attack means for Pakistan
The Telegraph, Conservative daily, London, England

Gunfire at IDF in Gaza
Arutz Sheva, Online, right-wing, Tel Aviv, Israel

Blast at Manila Shopping Mall Kills 8
Asharq Al-Awsat, Pan-Arab daily, London, England

India PM dismisses opposition call to resign
Gulf News, Independent daily, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Musharraf calls strike on Bhutto convoy 'plot against democracy'
Haaretz, Liberal daily, Tel Aviv, Israel

Iraq: Assassination of Sheikh Shakes US Claims
IPS Middle East, International cooperative of journalists, Rome, Italy

Paris Club to retire part of Jordan's debt
Middle East North African Network, Online financial portal, Amman, Jordan

Bhutto to Stay in Pakistan Despite attack, Leaders Condemn Blast
Nahamet, Online news portal, Beirut, Lebanon

Islamic Republic hangs nine convicted murderers
The Daily Star, Independent daily, Beirut, Lebanon

Smuggling antiques is still a problem, say experts
Yemen Times, Independent weekly, Sana'a, Yemen

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