Today's other stories in brief
Top US court overturns race bias case
WASHINGTON – The US supreme court dealt a blow to US president Barack Obama's high court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor, yesterday, overturning a ruling by her that it said would illegally deny promotions to white firefighters based on race.
The 5-4 ruling held that the city of New Haven, Connecticut, violated federal civil rights law when it threw out the results of a promotion exam after it yielded too many qualified white applicants and no acceptable black candidates.
Civil rights groups and other experts said the ruling in the closely watched racial discrimination case could affect promotion policies for employers across the US, many of which operate under "affirmative action" programmes designed decades ago to foster diversity and redress past bias. – (Reuters)
Kenyan forces accused of torture
NAIROBI – Security forces tortured scores of men and raped a dozen women in a sweep against the mainly ethnic Somali population of remote northeast Kenya intended to disarm militias, a rights group said yesterday.
The accusation by US- based Human Rights Watch of brutalities in a late 2008 operation adds to a litany of allegations against Kenya's army and police of terrorising and killing in security sweeps. – (Reuters)
Automated voting plan at risk
MANILA – Plans to automate polling in next year’s Philippine elections are likely to be scrapped after the local partner in a joint venture to supply counting machines withdrew.
Jose Melo, chairman of the commission on elections, said the Philippines would revert to manual counting – a process that takes weeks and is vulnerable to fraud – unless it could find a way to save the automation project by July 10th. – (Reuters)
Franco stripped of honorary titles
MADRID – Madrid’s city hall has stripped former Spanish dictator Francisco Franco of his title as honorary mayor and adopted son of the capital, 33 years after his death began the transition to democracy.
Councillors unanimously voted to remove the titles, as well as medals Madrid conferred on the right-wing general. – (Reuters)
US to alter focus of hunger fight
CHICAGO – The US will shift its emphasis in the fight against global hunger from giving emergency aid to helping countries produce more of their own food, US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack said yesterday. Under the new approach, the US will focus on providing expertise and training to boost agricultural productivity abroad. – (Reuters)
‘Violations’ in Albanian polls
TIRANA – The conduct of Albania’s parliamentary elections showed improvements over previous votes, but there were still violations, international monitors said yesterday.
The EU and US view the ballot, the initial results of which put the ruling Democrats on a narrow lead, as a test of Albania's readiness for integration with Europe. – (Reuters)