“A jury awarded three former detainees of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq $42 million this week. An eight-person jury reached its decision following an earlier trial this year, in which jurors were unable to agree on whether CACI, a Reston, Virginia-based company, should be held responsible for the actions of its civilian interrogators who operated alongside the U.S. Army at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004. The jury granted $3 million in compensatory damages and $11 million in punitive damages to each of the plaintiffs — Suhail Al Shimari, Salah Al-Ejaili and Asa’ad Al-Zubae. The three men testified that they endured beatings, sexual abuse, forced nudity and other severe mistreatment while held at the prison. While the plaintiffs did not claim that CACI’s interrogators directly inflicted the abuse, they argued that the company was complicit, alleging that its interrogators conspired with military police to ‘soften up’ detainees through harsh treatment in preparation for questioning.” (11/12/24)
“A federal judge on Tuesday declared unconstitutional a Louisiana law requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms in the Southern state. U.S. District Judge John deGravelles said the law conflicted with a 1980 U.S. Supreme Court decision voiding a similar law in Kentucky, and violated the religious rights of people who opposed the displays. He also called the law ‘discriminatory and coercive,’ saying Louisiana expects children to attend school at least 177 days per year, and the displays would pressure them into adopting the state’s preferred religious teachings.” (11/12/24)
“The Biden administration said Tuesday that Israel has made some good but limited progress in increasing the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza and will not limit arms transfers to Israel as it had threatened to a month ago if the situation had not improved. Relief groups say conditions are worse than at any point in the 13-month-old war. … The decision from the U.S. — Israel’s key ally and largest provider of arms — comes despite international aid organizations declaring that Israel has failed to meet U.S. demands to allow greater humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip.” [editor’s note: Humanitarian aid for Palestinians aside, the Leahy laws forbid military aid to Israel until it knocks off the genocide routine – TLK] (11/12/24)
“Southwest Airlines Co. will offer voluntary departure packages or extended leaves to airport workers in 18 cities, including Los Angeles and Atlanta, as aircraft delivery delays force the carrier to trim its flying plans. The offers will be extended to airport ground workers such as customer service, ramp and operations agents, as well as cargo employees and supervisors in some cases, the company said in a statement Monday. Employees in Southwest’s headquarters that support airport workers will also be given the buyout option. Southwest didn’t immediately say how many people will receive the offers, which will be shared this week. Those who accept will leave the airline at the end of the year. The carrier previously said it plans to end this year with 2,000 fewer workers than at the end of 2023.” (11/12/24)
“A New York judge delayed a Tuesday decision on whether President-elect Trump’s conviction can withstand the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, following his election victory last week. Judge Juan Merchan agreed to freeze the case until Nov. 19, newly public court records show, enabling prosecutors to respond to Trump’s demand the case be dismissed entirely now that he is president-elect. Trump’s sentencing, which would be the first of any former president, is scheduled for Nov. 26. He was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment made to porn actor Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to conceal an affair, which he denies. Trump’s attorneys [claim] his election as president compels the dismissal of his criminal prosecutions.” (11/12/24)
“Russian lawmakers on Tuesday passed controversial legislation banning ‘propaganda’ that urges people to opt against having children, the latest measure targeting what Moscow depicts as Western liberal ideas. Facing an ageing population and low birth rates, Moscow is seeking to reverse a demographic slump — accentuated by its ongoing full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine — that threatens its economic future. Members of the Russian parliament’s lower house, the Duma, voted unanimously in favor of the draft bill, which would apply to materials online, in media, advertising and in films that promote a ‘rejection of childbearing.'” (11/12/24)
“Ahead of the verdict, Nadezhda Buyanova was led, handcuffed, into the courtroom and locked inside a glass and metal cage. Through the glass, the 68-year-old paediatrician told me what she thought of her predicament. ‘It’s absurd, just absurd,’ the doctor said. ‘I can’t get my head around what’s happening to me. Perhaps later I’ll be able to.’ The paediatrician had been reported to police by the mother of a 7-year-old boy she’d been treating. The woman had claimed that the doctor had made negative comments about the boy’s father, a Russian soldier, who had been killed fighting in Ukraine and that the doctor had said Russian servicemen there were legitimate targets. Ms Buyanova denies making such comments and there is no audio or video recording to prove she made them.” (11/12/24)
“The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a request from former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to move his Georgia election interference case to federal court. The decision keeps in place a lower court’s ruling that Meadows'[s] case would remain in Fulton County, where he was charged as a co-conspirator in now-President-elect Trump’s alleged effort to overturn the state’s 2020 election results. … The Supreme Court’s decision halts Meadows'[s] efforts to move the case to federal court, where he could raise claims of immunity and argue his actions were taken as part of his official duties.” (11/12/24)
“Germany is set to hold a snap election on February 23 after an agreement was reached among parties in the country’s fractured parliament on Tuesday. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD) said that the main parties had agreed on the date for a snap election. The official announcement was made by Rolf Mutzenich, group leader of the SPD, in Berlin. Mutzenich said that Scholz will officially announce a vote of confidence in the government on December 11, followed by a vote five days later. Should the government fail to win the backing of parliament — an outcome that is widely expected — President Frank-Walter Steinmeier would confirm a date for the election.” (11/12/24)
“A suspected attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels [sic] saw multiple explosions strike near a vessel traveling through the Red Sea on Tuesday, though no damage was immediately reported by the ship, authorities said. The attack comes as the rebels [sic] continue their monthslong assault targeting shipping through a waterway that typically sees $1 trillion in goods pass through it a year over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon. The Houthis have insisted that the attacks will continue as long as the wars go on, and the assaults already have halved shipping through the region.” (11/12/24)
