The Supreme Court struck down an Arizona law today in a decision that advocates for stricter campaign finance regulation see as a blow, the National Journal reports. The law allowed the state to give additional subsidies to publicly financed candidates for every dollar their wealthier, privately financed opponents raised over…
Continue reading …An Ohio woman warned police that she was a breastfeeding mom—and then she opened fire with her right breast, NBC4i reports. Drunk at a wedding reception, Stephanie Robinette got into an argument with her husband, repeatedly hitting him, he told police. She locked herself in her car before someone…
Continue reading …At Ryan Dunn’s memorial last week, Johnny Knoxville found himself unable to do anything other than mumble and try not to cry. He makes up for it with a touching tribute to his friend and co-star on his blog , writing that his world is “about 134% less funny” without the…
Continue reading …The Supreme Court today struck down California’s never-enacted ban on selling or renting violent video games to minors, ruling that it violated the First Amendment. It was a 7-2 decision, with only Clarence Thomas and Stephen Breyer dissenting, Joystiq reports. “Like the protected books, plays, and movies that preceded them,…
Continue reading …A Long Island man was arrested after he allegedly posed as a soldier and scored a bump-up to a first-class plane seat from New York to the Dominican Republic. Rock Diaz, 22, had the basic look—he was wearing a standard Army uniform—but he flubbed the details, the New…
Continue reading …Lady Gaga set up a charity to benefit victims of the Japan earthquake—nice, right? Not according to a lawyer from Michigan’s 1-800-LAW-FIRM, who is suing the star and accusing her of ripping off that very charity, Radar reports. Gaga sold We Pray For Japan wristbands for $5, plus $3….
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Blagojevich, who was forced from office in 2009, faces 20 years in jail after being convicted of trying to sell Obama’s Senate seat Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois and one-time presidential aspirant, has been found guilty of trying to sell president Barack Obama’s old Senate seat. After 10 days of deliberation, a Chicago jury found Blagojevich guilty on 17 counts , including fraud, attempted extortion and bribery. He was acquitted of another bribery charge, and the jury was undecided on charges of attempted extortion. An earlier trial had ended in a deadlock. Blagojevich, 54, is the son of a steel worker from Serbia. He trained as a lawyer and married into one of Chicago’s most politically connected families, rising rapidly to become a star of the local Democratic party. Former aides say he once saw himself as a presidential contender. Two years ago Blagojevich was arrested on corruption charges following an investigation — codenamed Operation Board Games — launched just months after he took office. Under Illinois state law the governor was required to name a senator to replace Obama after his election to the presidency in November 2008. Tipped off about his plans, federal agents recorded hundreds of hours of expletive-filled tapes in which Blagojevich discussed what he wanted in exchange for the seat. The governor, commonly known as Blago, was recorded on tape saying Obama’s former senate seat was “a valuable thing – you don’t just give it away for nothing.” He said that unless he got “something real good” he would take the seat himself. The recordings also led to the charges of swapping state funds for campaign donations and attempting to intimidate the Chicago Tribune into sacking writers who had criticised him. Blagojevich said that his intention was to use the seat as leverage to pass legislation that would have benefited the residents of Illinois and not himself. A father of two, he now faces up to 20 years in jail. Blagojevich is the second consecutive Illinois governor to be convicted of corruption, and the fourth governor jailed in recent history. Former governor George Ryan is currently serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence. A University of Illinois study calculated that corruption in politics costs the state $300m (£188m) a year. Rod Blagojevich Illinois US politics United States Barack Obama Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
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Premier’s words contrast with praise for Germany but he said China would send two pandas to the UK as mark of friendship The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, issued a diplomatic dressing down of the British government by declaring the UK should stop “finger pointing” over human rights in discussions with Beijing. Wen also suggested the UK economy needed to do better, in remarks that appeared to differ from his warm words towards Germany, which he was also visiting on his European tour. The rebukes marred the signing of some £1.4bn of trade deals, the most important being an agreement between BG, the UK energy group, and Bank of China for up to $1.5bn of funding to expand projects in China. Britain, for its part, said it would welcome Chinese investment in UK infrastructure, as well as greater co-operation over international development. At a Downing Street press conference, Wen repeatedly aired his frustration at the way the UK government and media seemed to obsess about human rights. He said: “On human rights, China and the UK should respect each other, respect the facts, treat each other as equals, engage in more co-operation than finger-pointing and resolve our differences through dialogue. China is not only pursuing economic development but also political structural reform and improvement in democracy and the rule of law.” He said China had been exposed to untold sufferings in its 5,000-year history. “This has taught the Chinese never to talk to others in a lecturing way, but to respect nations on the basis of equality.” David Cameron said: “We applaud the economic transformation that has taken place in China … But, as I said in Beijing last November, we do believe the best guarantor of prosperity and stability is for economic and political progress to go in step together.” The prime minister said no issue had been left off the table but No 10 was reluctant to detail specific human rights abuses. He said: “There is no trade-off in our relationship. It is not about either discussing trade or human rights. Britain and China have such a strong and developed relationship. We have a dialogue that covers all these issues, and nothing is off limits in the discussions that we have.” Wen did say there was “no strategic conflict” between the UK and China and that “our common interests outweigh our differences”. It was a mark of this relationship that China would be sending two giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yangguang, to Edinburgh Zoo by the end of this year – as announced by China’s vice premier, Li Keqiang, in January. Cameron also pressed China to crackdown on abuses of intellectual property and patents, saying it was “absolutely essential” because of Britain’s strength in branded goods and in film, music and the arts. A “symposium” to discuss the issue has been set up. Chinese officials, involved in a month-long crackdown on civil rights activists, expressed irritation and said Britain was viewed less favourably in Beijing than Germany, France, Italy and Spain. There is anger that Cameron may have gone further than other European leaders when in China in raising human rights concerns. In a speech to the Royal Society, Wen admitted corruption and income disparities were harming people’s lives in China. “Without freedom there is no real democracy and without the guarantee of economic and political rights there is no real freedom,” he said. “To be frank, corruption, unfair income distribution and other ills that harm the people’s interests still exist in China.” Wen also expressed his differences with the British over Libya saying the solution lay in diplomacy. “Foreign troops may be able to win war in a place, but they can hardly win peace. Hard lessons have been learned from what has happened in the Middle East and Afghanistan.” China still supported the UN security council resolution that authorised air strikes to protect civilians, but the nations involved must comply with the strict terms. Wen added: “We hope that the issue of Libya will be resolved through political, peaceful means, to reduce the humanitarian harm and in particular the harm of innocent civilians.” Wen Jiabao China David Cameron Human rights Foreign policy Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
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Premier’s words contrast with praise for Germany but he said China would send two pandas to the UK as mark of friendship The Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, issued a diplomatic dressing down of the British government by declaring the UK should stop “finger pointing” over human rights in discussions with Beijing. Wen also suggested the UK economy needed to do better, in remarks that appeared to differ from his warm words towards Germany, which he was also visiting on his European tour. The rebukes marred the signing of some £1.4bn of trade deals, the most important being an agreement between BG, the UK energy group, and Bank of China for up to $1.5bn of funding to expand projects in China. Britain, for its part, said it would welcome Chinese investment in UK infrastructure, as well as greater co-operation over international development. At a Downing Street press conference, Wen repeatedly aired his frustration at the way the UK government and media seemed to obsess about human rights. He said: “On human rights, China and the UK should respect each other, respect the facts, treat each other as equals, engage in more co-operation than finger-pointing and resolve our differences through dialogue. China is not only pursuing economic development but also political structural reform and improvement in democracy and the rule of law.” He said China had been exposed to untold sufferings in its 5,000-year history. “This has taught the Chinese never to talk to others in a lecturing way, but to respect nations on the basis of equality.” David Cameron said: “We applaud the economic transformation that has taken place in China … But, as I said in Beijing last November, we do believe the best guarantor of prosperity and stability is for economic and political progress to go in step together.” The prime minister said no issue had been left off the table but No 10 was reluctant to detail specific human rights abuses. He said: “There is no trade-off in our relationship. It is not about either discussing trade or human rights. Britain and China have such a strong and developed relationship. We have a dialogue that covers all these issues, and nothing is off limits in the discussions that we have.” Wen did say there was “no strategic conflict” between the UK and China and that “our common interests outweigh our differences”. It was a mark of this relationship that China would be sending two giant pandas, Tian Tian and Yangguang, to Edinburgh Zoo by the end of this year – as announced by China’s vice premier, Li Keqiang, in January. Cameron also pressed China to crackdown on abuses of intellectual property and patents, saying it was “absolutely essential” because of Britain’s strength in branded goods and in film, music and the arts. A “symposium” to discuss the issue has been set up. Chinese officials, involved in a month-long crackdown on civil rights activists, expressed irritation and said Britain was viewed less favourably in Beijing than Germany, France, Italy and Spain. There is anger that Cameron may have gone further than other European leaders when in China in raising human rights concerns. In a speech to the Royal Society, Wen admitted corruption and income disparities were harming people’s lives in China. “Without freedom there is no real democracy and without the guarantee of economic and political rights there is no real freedom,” he said. “To be frank, corruption, unfair income distribution and other ills that harm the people’s interests still exist in China.” Wen also expressed his differences with the British over Libya saying the solution lay in diplomacy. “Foreign troops may be able to win war in a place, but they can hardly win peace. Hard lessons have been learned from what has happened in the Middle East and Afghanistan.” China still supported the UN security council resolution that authorised air strikes to protect civilians, but the nations involved must comply with the strict terms. Wen added: “We hope that the issue of Libya will be resolved through political, peaceful means, to reduce the humanitarian harm and in particular the harm of innocent civilians.” Wen Jiabao China David Cameron Human rights Foreign policy Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
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