General Electric Claims It Overpaid for Part due to Conspiracy

The Article: General Electric Claims It Overpaid for Part due to Conspiracy

General Electric Co. filed an antitrust lawsuit claiming it overpaid for the component due to an alleged price-fixing conspiracy involving a couple of Whirlpool Corp. subsidiaries and two European suppliers also named as defendants. The suit is over a compressor that helps create cold air to keep refrigerated foods fresh or frozen. GE claims the conspiracy began as early as 1996 to illegally inflate the price of the key refrigerator part. As one of the largest buyers of the compressors, GE says it was "a target and a victim" of the conspiracy, hurting its refrigerator business. The company, based in Fairfield, Conn., is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages along with a monetary award three times the amount of its damages. It also seeks an injunction against the defendants.

It's interesting to see potential anti-trust cases with international players involved.

Federal Judge Sends Concordia Lawsuits Back to Fla. Court -- Continued

The Article: Federal Judge Sends Concordia Lawsuits Back to Fla. Court

Two lawsuits over last year's Costa Concordia grounding off Italy that defendant Carnival Corp. sent on a hopeful cruise into federal court have been shipped back to state jurisdiction. The order came just 11 days after the same federal judge decided Italy was the proper place for a Massachusetts family to pursue a claim against the Miami-based company. Carnival tried to use the Class Action Fairness Act to transfer the cases of Denise Abeid-Saba and 56 other plaintiffs and Geoffrey Scimone and 46 others from Florida to federal jurisdiction.

"We are thrilled that we can now turn our attention to litigating the facts of this case before a Florida state court where the plaintiffs can expect their interests will be protected rather than in Italy where the courts are notoriously slow and cases for mass torts such as shipwrecks have taken as long as 30 years without final decisions," Bern said.

It's interesting to see the jurisdictional venue on this case changed from originally being held in Florida, then sent to Italy, and then returned to Florida. Insiders claim that Carnival had a better chance in Italy than they do in the US under federal court.

U.K. Supreme Court Sits in Secret for First Time

The Article: U.K. Supreme Court Sits in Secret for First Time

Britain's highest court for the first time convened behind closed doors -- in a case involving an Iranian bank -- just one week after the Supreme Court decided it had the power to sit in secret. Justices had been told that some material in the case related to national security and couldn't be safely aired in public.

Bank Mellat, an Iranian bank, is trying to overturn a 2009 order by the U.K. Treasury barring it from operating in the country. That order, made under counterterrorism laws, shut the bank out of the British financial sector because it allegedly helped finance Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Critics argue that it is of international concern, that the court chose to hold the proceedings in private, and using a closed evidence procedure. Human rights group mark this occasion as a sad landmark in British history, in contrast to the courts reputation for respecting and enforcing the matter of law in it's highest regards. 

International Court Detains Rwandan-Born Warlord

The Article: International Court Detains Rwandan-Born Warlord

African warlord Bosco Ntaganda was taken from the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda on Friday and flown to International Criminal Court in The Hague, where he faces charges including murder, rape and persecution in a rebel group's deadly reign of terror that gripped eastern Congo a decade ago. Nicknamed "The Terminator" because of his reputation for ruthlessness in battle, Ntaganda became a symbol of impunity in Africa, at times playing tennis in eastern Congo, apparently without fear of arrest.

Ntaganda was first indicted in 2006 on charges of recruiting and using child soldiers. In July last year, the court issued a second arrest warrant accusing Ntaganda of murder, rape, sexual slavery, persecution and pillaging in 2002-2003 in the eastern province of Ituri. He faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted.

It's a good sentiment that the international community is holding Ntaganda accountable for his actions, and seeking justice. This demonstration could assist in establishing a precedent for the future processing and handling of other offenders. 

N.Y. Judge Declines to Recognize Validity of Egyptian Guardianship Decision

The Article: N.Y. Judge Declines to Recognize Validity of Egyptian Guardianship Decision

A New York state judge has declined to recognize an Egyptian court's appointment of a son as his father's guardian. Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Betsy Barros dismissed as contrary to the state's public policy the bid of Ahmed Mohamed Gabr to control the U.S. assets of his father, Mohamed Ahmed Mohamed Gabr. Instead, the judge appointed the elder man's wife, Sana'a, as his personal needs guardian.

This is an interesting matter of jurisdiction as the son was appointed guardian by an Egyptian court; however, As an initial matter, Barros had to weigh whether to recognize the validity of the Egyptian guardianship decision and grant it comity.

She observed that the foreign order relied "in large measure" on medical tests performed by the Egyptian Forensic Medical Department that found "organic diseases and senile dementia." Furthermore, Barros observed that Egyptian law stated it was "legally established that the guardianship be vested in the adult son, then the father, then in the grandfather and thereafter be vested in whoever the Court may chose."

But New York's law is "gender neutral" and even lists the spouse as the first appointee.

U.S. Names Russians Targeted for Sanctions

The Article: U.S. Names Russians Targeted for Sanctions

In a controversial maneuver the US government names Russian citizens targeted for sanctions, namely in human rights and corruption violations. Relations between the US and Russia have been better in previous years, although the list provided is short as some Russian government officials have claimed. Some have speculated that the omitted names on the list were spared as a hope not to further erode the already rocky relations between the US and Russia. 

Ivory Coast wants surveillance drones to replace U.N. troops

The Article: Ivory Coast wants surveillance drones to replace U.N. troops

Ivory Coast U.N. Ambassador Youssoufou Bamba told the 15-member council that surveillance drones should be deployed to offset any planned cuts to the peacekeeping force in the world's biggest cocoa producer. This is an interesting position considering the controversial usage of drones abroad, and in America particularly. Since the western Ivory Coast is a hotbed of conflict, the drones may be a superior choice to deal with incursions, and offering superior surveillance capabilities.