Why Indiana GOP wants to attack labor unions, despite Midwest backlash

Indiana failed to pass a law to curtail the rights of labor unions this year. Key lawmakers say they'll try again, even though voters have struck out against similar laws in Ohio and Wisconsin.

Ignoring the public backlash against recent antiunion laws in Wisconsin and Ohio, the Indiana Legislature is poised to take up new bills next year that could practically eviscerate union power in the state. ?

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Lawmakers plan to introduce bills in both the House and Senate that would make Indiana a so-called "right to work" state. In short, the bills would allow workers to refuse to join a union without having to pay a fee. ?

Twenty-two states, mostly in the South and interior West, already have right-to-work laws. Indiana tried to join their ranks this year, but when a House committee passed a right-to-work bill on a party-line vote in late February, Democrats walked out, fleeing to Illinois for five weeks. The bill was later removed by Republicans to lure Democrats back to the state.

The issue is resurfacing this week with the announcement by House Speaker Brian Bosma (R) and Senate President Pro Tempore David Long (R) that they plan to make the bill a top priority in next year?s legislative session, which begins Jan. 4. They say the bill is a way to make Indiana friendlier for job creation and to give workers a choice. Unions say the bill is a smokescreen for lowering wages and weakening union strength.

In speaking to reporters Monday, Representative Bosma said the proposed bill ?means back to work for the unemployed. This is America, Hoosiers deserve this freedom.?

Legislation viewed as hostile to unions swept through the Midwest this year, starting with a Wisconsin law that stripped many public unions of their collective-bargaining rights. The law is at the center of a current petition drive to recall Gov. Scott Walker (R), who signed the bill into law in March.

Earlier this month, Ohio voters overturned a similar bill signed by Gov. John Kasich (R), which limited collective bargaining, prohibited striking, and provided management with the final say on topics such as health insurance.

Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels (R) largely stayed out of the debate over the union issue in Indiana last year, presumably, some felt, because he was weighing a decision about whether or not to run for president.

However, his past actions suggest he might view the bill favorably.

Through an executive order, he stripped collective-bargaining rights for public employees in his first year in office, and he recently recorded robocalls in support of the Ohio law before voters repealed it.

The fact that Governor Daniels ?may actively campaign on behalf of the bill? would be the only major change between next year and this year, says Andrew Downs, director of the Mike Downs Center on Indiana Politics at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

?If you ask people whether or not it will pass ? with Republican having the considerable majority in both the House and Senate ? the smart money is on passage,? Mr. Downs says.

Indiana law is written so a quorum is needed for every vote, no matter if it involves spending money or not. That means that Indiana Republicans would once again be powerless if Democrats flee the state to prevent a vote. Democrat leaders are being tight-lipped on whether that is a consideration for next year.

Unlike the union battles in Ohio and Wisconsin, Indiana witnessed fewer street protests and fundraising drives this year, suggesting that forces outside the state are not as invested in this battle. Indiana is ?not viewed as a swing state in presidential elections and lacks the political infrastructure? that others have, says Downs.

?Some would say, ?if you can?t get it done in Indiana? ? which is not exactly a pro-union state ? ?how are you going to get it done in states that are more evenly divided?' ? says Downs.

A Republican-led committee dedicated to studying right-to-work legislation held hearings throughout the summer and released a 2,000-word report recommending that lawmakers approve the bill. Democrats said they plan to release their own report soon.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/AAScAaWz3VM/Why-Indiana-GOP-wants-to-attack-labor-unions-despite-Midwest-backlash

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Egyptian court orders release of 3 US students (AP)

CAIRO ? Egyptian officials say a court has ordered the release of three American students arrested this week during the unrest in Cairo.

An Egyptian official said Thursday the three who attend the American University in Cairo were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square where they were allegedly throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

The three, arrested Sunday, are Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student, Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student, and Gregory Porter, a 19-year-old Drexel University student.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) ? Egyptian officials say a court has ordered the release of three American students arrested this week during the unrest in Cairo.

An Egyptian official said Thursday the three who attend the American University in Cairo were arrested on the roof of a university building near Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square where they were allegedly throwing firebombs at security forces fighting with protesters.

The three, arrested Sunday, are Derrik Sweeney, a 19-year-old Georgetown University student, Luke Gates, a 21-year-old Indiana University student, and Gregory Porter, a 19-year-old Drexel University student.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_american_students

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John Kitzhaber, Oregon Governor, Imposes Moratorium On Death Penalty For Rest Of His Term

SALEM, Ore. ? Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber on Tuesday imposed a moratorium on the death penalty for the remainder of his term, saying he's morally opposed to capital punishment and has long regretted allowing two men to be executed in the 1990s.

Kitzhaber's decision gives a temporary reprieve to a twice-convicted murderer who was scheduled to die by lethal injection in two weeks, along with 36 others on death row. It makes Oregon the fifth state to halt executions since 2007.

His voice shaking, the Democratic governor said he has repeatedly questioned and revisited his decisions to allow convicted murderers Douglas Wright and Harry Moore to be executed in 1996 and 1997.

"I do not believe those executions made us safer. Certainly I don't believe they made us nobler as a society," Kitzhaber said. "And I simply cannot participate once again in something I believe to be morally wrong."

Death penalty proponents criticized the decision, saying the governor is usurping the will of voters who have supported capital punishment.

Prison officials had been preparing for the Dec. 6 execution of Gary Haugen, who had voluntarily waived his remaining legal appeals in protest of a criminal justice system he sees as broken and vindictive. Haugen was serving a life sentence for fatally bludgeoning his former girlfriend's mother, Mary Archer, when he was sentenced to death for the 2003 killing of fellow inmate David Polin, who had 84 stab wounds and a crushed skull.

A typically cool and unemotional Kitzhaber fought tears as he said he spoke to relatives of Haugen's victims, saying they were difficult discussions and his "heart goes out to them." He declined to discuss them further, calling them "private conversations."

"We've been dealing with this since 1981," Ard Pratt, Archer's first husband, told The Associated Press. "It was almost over. And then he changes it because he's a coward and doesn't want to do it."

Kitzhaber is a former emergency room doctor who still retains an active physician license with the Oregon Medical Board, and his opposition to the death penalty has been well-known. In a news conference explaining his decision, he cited his oath as a physician to "do no harm." Kitzhaber was elected last year to an unprecedented third term as governor after eight years away from public office.

Oregon has a complex history with capital punishment. Voters have outlawed it twice and legalized it twice, and the state Supreme Court struck it down once. Voters most-recently legalized the death penalty on a 56-44 vote in 1984. Since then, two men have been executed. Both of them, like Haugen, voluntarily gave up their appeals during Kitzhaber's first administration.

"It is arrogant and presumptuous for an elected official, up to and including the governor, to say, `I don't care with the voters say, I don't care what the courts say,'" and impose his own opinion, said Josh Marquis, a death penalty proponent and the Clatsop County district attorney. Marquis has prosecuted several capital cases and written about capital punishment.

Kitzhaber said he has no sympathy or compassion for murderers, but Oregon's death penalty scheme is "an expensive and unworkable system that fails to meet basic standards of justice."

Over a three-decade political career, Kitzhaber has built a reputation for charting his own course, sometimes to the frustration of fellow Democrats and others to the chagrin of legislative Republicans.

Kitzhaber's moratorium means Oregon joins, at least temporarily, four other states that have halted executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which opposes capital punishment. Illinois this year outlawed the death penalty after the discovery of wrongful convictions. New Mexico voters abolished it in 2009, two years after New Jersey's Legislature and governor did the same. A New York appeals court struck down a portion of the death penalty statute.

Politicians are often hesitant to discuss abolishing the death penalty for fear it will anger voters, said Richard Dieter, director of the Death Penalty Information Center. Kitzhaber's decision might give confidence to leaders in other states, he said.

Death penalty opponents are trying for a ballot measure to outlaw it in California next year, and others are hoping legislators in Maryland and Connecticut will do the same.

Oregon prison officials said last week that they'd spent $42,000 preparing for Haugen's execution, not including legal fees, including $18,000 spent on lethal drugs. Kitzhaber said he wanted to wait until the legal process played out before announcing his decision.

One of Haugen's lawyers, Steve Gorham, said Haugen was still committed to being executed as of Tuesday morning. Gorham said he hadn't spoken with the inmate since learning of the governor's decision.

"I'm sure he's not very happy right now. He was committed to exercising what he thought were his rights," Gorham said, noting that he was personally pleased with the governor's decision and calling it "courageous."

Prosecutors have long complained that death penalty cases take decades to make their way through the courts, but efforts to change the law have been stymied in the Legislature. Eight condemned inmates have been on death row since the 1980s.

"I cannot imagine, nor do I believe, that voters intended to create a system in which those convicted and condemned to death could determine whether or not their sentence would be carried out," Kitzhaber said.

Oregon's constitution gives Kitzhaber authority to commute the sentences of all death row inmates, but he said he will not to do so because the policy on capital punishment is a matter for voters to decide.

Kitzhaber's reprieve will last until he leaves office. His term ends in January 2015, and he has not said whether he'll run for re-election.

Kitzhaber said he hopes his decision will prompt a public re-evaluation of the death penalty in Oregon and said he will advocate for a ballot measure that would make it illegal. The governor said he prefers murderers be given a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

___

Follow AP writer Jonathan J. Cooper at http://twitter.com/jjcooper

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/23/death-penalty-ban-oregon_n_1109350.html

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Idea to sell 5,850-rupee smartphone in 3G push (Reuters)

MUMBAI (Reuters) ? Idea Cellular, India's fourth-biggest mobile phone carrier by subscribers, on Wednesday launched two low-cost smartphone models as it strives to boost usage of third-generation (3G) wireless data services in a price-sensitive market.

Idea, part of India's Aditya Birla conglomerate, will sell the smartphones at 5,850 rupees ($110) and 7,992 rupees, respectively. Idea will also bundle free data services as an introductory offer, it said in a statement.

The touchscreen smartphones, based on the Android operating system, are being sourced from Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE, Idea's managing director Himanshu Kapania told reporters in Mumbai, adding that the company was also studying if it could enter the tablet PC market.

"We are not competing with handset makers. We want to provide customers a low entry-point for smartphones," he said.

Smartphones accounted for 6 percent of the total mobile device sales during the three months to September, said technology researcher Gartner, which expects the share to increase to 8 percent by next year.

With more than 870 million mobile connections, India is the world's second-biggest wireless services market after China.

Indian mobile carriers including Idea launched 3G networks this year after paying a total of more than $20 billion to buy 3G radio airwaves in a state auction last year. The companies are betting on the pick up of the premium services to increase margins although initial uptake has been slower than expected.

($1 = 52.2975 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Kaustubh Kulkarni and Devidutta Tripathy; editing by Malini Menon)

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Parents: Hacking made us think Milly was alive (AP)

LONDON ? The mother of a murdered girl told a British courtroom Monday she believed her missing 13-year-old was still alive once she reached the girl's previously full voice mailbox ? only to learn later that her daughter's phone had been hacked into by a tabloid.

Sally Dowler said when she could finally leave a message on her daughter Milly's voice mail weeks after the girl disappeared in 2002, she shouted "She's picked up the voice mails! ... She's alive!"

In fact, messages on Milly's phone had been deleted by someone working for the News of the World tabloid while the Dowlers and the police were still searching for Milly, who was later found dead.

The Dowlers were the first in a string of high-profile witnesses, including celebrities such as Hugh Grant, Sienna Miller and author J.K. Rowling, testifying before a judicial inquiry set up by Prime Minister David Cameron on how they were followed, photographed, entrapped and harassed by tabloid journalists.

The Dowlers also described their shock and anger when a private walk to retrace their missing daughter's last steps was secretly photographed by the tabloid.

Sally Dowler said she and her husband Bob had no idea they were being observed as they walked near their home in May 2002, but days later saw the pictures in the News of the World.

"It just felt like such an intrusion into a really, really private grief moment," she said. The couple said they later realized that their own phone, as well as their daughter's, had been hacked.

The Dowlers took the stand together and spoke in quiet, composed voices during their 30 minutes of nationally televised testimony. They described a tense July meeting with media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of the now shuttered News of the World, when he apologized for the hacking.

"It was a very tense meeting," Sally Dowler said. "He was very sincere."

Cameron set up the inquiry into media ethics in the wake of a still-evolving scandal over phone hacking in Britain. Murdoch shut down the tabloid in July after evidence emerged that it had routinely eavesdropped on the voice mails of public figures, celebrities and even crime victims in its search for scoops.

More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested, and several senior Murdoch executives have resigned over the still-evolving scandal. Two top London police officers were forced to resign, along with Cameron's top media adviser.

The inquiry, led by judge Brian Leveson, could recommend major changes to the way the media in Britain is regulated.

The second witness was journalist and novelist Joan Smith, whose phone was hacked while she was in a relationship with a politician, Denis MacShane. Smith said she was shocked when police told her that her details had been found in the notebooks of private eye Glenn Mulcaire, who worked for the News of the World and was jailed in 2007 for phone hacking.

"I don't think I'm somebody whose private life would be of much interest to the reading public," she said. "This could happen to almost anybody. That's the astonishing thing. You don't have to be an incredibly famous actress or actor ... you just have to tangentially come into the orbit of somebody who is well known."

She said Britain's tabloid culture was out of control.

"The people involved have lost any sense that they are dealing with human beings," she said. "We're just fodder for stories."

Grant, a fierce critic of press intrusion, smiled for photographers as he arrived at the Royal Courts of Justice, where the hearings are being held. The actor is due to testify later Monday about the harassment suffered by his ex, Tinglan Hong, since she became pregnant with the pair's child.

Later in the week the inquiry will hear from "Harry Potter" author Rowling, comedian Steve Coogan, actress Miller and former Formula 1 boss Max Mosley ? whose taste for sadomasochism was revealed to the world in a widely publicized News of the World sting.

It's a courtroom lineup Britain's celebrity-obsessed tabloids would love, if only they weren't the ones in the dock.

__

Associated Press writer Raphael G. Satter contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111121/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Diplomat to meet with Pakistani officials on memo (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Senior Pakistani officials will meet in Islamabad Tuesday with their envoy to the United States as controversy mounts over a mysterious memo that underscores the fraught ties between Pakistan's civilian and military leaders.

A former U.S. government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's influential ambassador in Washington, would meet one on one in Islamabad with intelligence chief Lieutenant-General Ahmed Shuja Pasha.

Days after offering to resign, Haqqani will also meet with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Pasha, and army boss General Ashfaq Kayani, arguably the country's most powerful man, in a separate meeting that could determine whether the diplomat keeps his job, the former official said.

The high-level deliberations highlight the tensions between Pakistan's powerful military and its weak civilian government -- and how those pressures crop up in the strained U.S.-Pakistan relationship.

Civilian-military rivalries, a fact of Pakistani life since the nation's inception in 1947, were exacerbated this year by the unilateral U.S. raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May, humiliating Pakistan's military and, some believe, offering an opportunity for those who would like to see the civilian government exert greater control.

Haqqani, close to Zardari and estranged from Pakistan's military, has became visibly embroiled in that divide in the weeks following the appearance of a column in the Financial Times in which a Pakistani-American businessman said he delivered a memo to the Pentagon containing a plea for U.S. help in staving off a military coup.

Businessman Mansoor Ijaz said a top Pakistani diplomat -- whom he later identified as Haqqani -- had asked him for help in getting a message purportedly from Zardari to Admiral Mike Mullen, the then-chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

'MEMO-GATE'

Haqqani has denied involvement in the memo -- and many Pakistan watchers in Washington have raised doubts about Ijaz's credibility -- but Haqqani has offered to resign as the affair known as 'memo-gate' snowballs in Pakistan.

Zardari's government has promised a thorough investigation of the memo, which Mullen's office acknowledged he received but said he dismissed as lacking credibility.

It is unclear if Zardari will accept the resignation offer from Haqqani, a former journalist and author known for his high-level access in Washington.

Haqqani's tenure has included some of the most tense moments in relations between the two countries, including the bin Laden raid and Mullen's accusation that Pakistani intelligence had backed a militant attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

The diplomat met Friday with Marc Grossman, the State Department official who is Obama's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, before he returned to Pakistan, a senior State Department official said.

"Haqqani is not your average career diplomat. He's quite a player," said Kamran Bokhari, Middle East and South Asia vice president at STRATFOR intelligence firm.

Other Pakistan watchers, however, said Haqqani's effectiveness had been limited by that very closeness to Zardari and his strained relationship with military leaders who have at times tried to shut him out of U.S.-Pakistan dealings.

If he leaves, a successor might include a diplomat with a less complicated relationship with the military, perhaps Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir or Pakistan's envoy to the United Nations, Hussain Haroon.

Bokhari suggested the flurry of high-level meetings in Islamabad may mean the Pakistani military will not push for the removal of a Zardari ally in part because the military-civilian balance was changing, if gradually.

"The army's monopoly on foreign policy decision-making is not what it used be," he said, following the rise of Pakistan's judiciary and civil society in recent years and after the unprecedented public outcry over the bin Laden raid.

"The civilian class is no longer a pushover," Bokhari said. "That doesn't mean they've gotten the upper hand, but they have some room to maneuver."

(Reporting by Missy Ryan; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111121/pl_nm/us_usa_pakistan

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