Monday, Dec 08th
Last update07:39:18 AM GMT
UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday called on Israel to lift its blockade on the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.
After two days of discussions, the council, which consists of 47 member states, passed a list of 99 'recommendations' of gestures for Israel to make to ease Palestinian suffering, including freeing all prisoners.
The US did not take part in the discussion, as it says the body discriminates against Israel.
The millions of dollars Exxon Mobil Corp. has surrendered as punishment for the Prince William Sound oil spill have started hitting the streets, nearly 20 years after the disaster.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs and Exxon continue to battle in court over whether the oil company owes interest on the punitive damages award. If so, the interest could roughly double the total payout.
Attorneys general from around the nation are attending professional and political conferences this month — paid for in large part by corporations and lobbyists with potential legal issues in their states.
The donors? Drug companies, tobacco firms, alcohol lobbyists, banks, energy companies and labor unions, among others. Critics say the conferences — combined with corporate donations, sponsorships and political contributions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — represent at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for the attorneys general, and could be improper.
TVNL Comment: There is no appropriate comment other than DUH!
Attorneys general from around the nation are attending professional and political conferences this month — paid for in large part by corporations and lobbyists with potential legal issues in their states.
The donors? Drug companies, tobacco firms, alcohol lobbyists, banks, energy companies and labor unions, among others. Critics say the conferences — combined with corporate donations, sponsorships and political contributions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars — represent at least the appearance of a conflict of interest for the attorneys general, and could be improper.
TVNL Comment: There is no appropriate comment other than DUH!
With enough solar panels it is possible to cover all your electricity needs with PV, year round; the downside is that it requires a significant investment up front. Installing 8 square metres of PV panels, enough to sustain a family of four in the UK, plus storage batteries and accessories such as inverters to convert DC into alternating current, can cost tens of thousands of pounds and will take up more space than is available to most urban households. Until the cost comes down substantially, switching to a grid supplier that gets its energy from renewables may be a more realistic alternative - although it will not free you from the risk of supply interruptions.
In older adults at risk for heart disease, a Mediterranean diet plus daily servings of mixed nuts may help manage metabolic syndrome, according to a Spanish study. Previous research suggests that a Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of abdominal obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high glucose levels -- all of which are risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
An L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (LLL) unit agreed to pay $4 million to the U.S. government in a settlement over overbilling claims by the U.S. Army for hours worked to support military operations in Iraq.
The settlement with company subsidiary L-3 Vertex Aerospace involved allegations that L-3 submitted false time records and inflated claims of hours worked by the company's employees at Camp Taji in Iraq from March 2004 through August 2005, according the Justice Department.
TVNL Comment: What a joke... it's not "overbilling" - it's grand larceny.
U.S military contractor KBR, a former subisidary of Halliburton, is facing a number of lawsuits over its activities in Iraq, and elsewhere. KBR is the largest contractor for the United States Army and a top-ten contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense.
In one class-action suit Joshua Eller, a civilian who worked for the U.S. Air Force in 2006 at the Balad air force base northeast of Baghdad, alleges KBR 'knowingly and intentionally supplied to U.S. forces and other individuals food that was expired, spoiled, rotten, or that may have been contaminated with shrapnel, or other materials'.
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