October 2011 Archives

Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, two cricket players from Pakistan, went to trial last week after being accused of fixing a game.

According to The Guardian, Butt and Asif were both accused of cheating at gambling and accepting corrupt payments for bowling the allegedly pre-arranged no-ball in the fourth Test against England at Lord's in 2010.

The Times of India reported that the two players are presently awaiting a verdict from the jury at the Southwark crown court which is hearing cases of cheating and conspiracy.

The two said they had a good relationship before the incident, but Asif claimed that Butt, his former captain, often shouted profanities at him during games.

Aftab Gul, who represented Butt, said the court didn't have enough evidence to prove that the players were guilty.

Two Rochester women were convicted of conspiring to funnel money to a terror group in Somalia, according to the Pioneer Press.

The two women were 35-year-old Amina Farah Ali and 64-year-old Hawo Mohamed Hassan.

WXOW News reported that Hassan is also facing two counts of false statements to the FBI.

The Somali terrorist group was called Al Shabaab, and the prosecution had several wire tapped conversations between the group and the two women as well as evidence of money transfers between the parties.

According to the Pioneer Press, the U.S. designated al-Shabaab a foreign terrorist organization in 2008.

Neither woman testified during the two-week trial.

The Supreme Court heard a case in the middle of October about strip searches in county jails.

The Court heard the case of Albert Florence, a finance manager for a New Jersey car dealership, who was arrested on a warrant for an unpaid fine, according to CBS News.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Supreme Court justices seemed split on what kind of rule to implement that would affect all jails.

The Los Angeles Times noted that Justice Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said that "county jails are more dangerous than penitentiaries because you don't know who these people are."

CBS News reported that Thomas Goldstein, representing Florence, said the court should draw a line that limits intrusion into someone's privacy when there is no cause to suspect he is hiding anything.

Several of the justices expressed concerns about such points, saying that there is no need to subject a possibly innocent person to such a search.

The decision should come by spring.

The Supreme Court will have to decide whether the health care law is constitutional soon.

The Fiscal Times reported that the Supreme Court will deliver their verdict by June 2012.

The Supreme Court began its new term in early October after a three-month summer break, according to the Washington Times, weighing whether patients and health care providers in the Medicaid program for poor Americans can sue to block a state from cutting reimbursement rates.

The Court's decision could be very important for the justices, defining their upcoming term.

The debate over health care has been very controversial with the recent GOP debates, and Medicaid is a key element in the law's aim of extending coverage to more than 30 million Americans.

The International Criminal Court says it is in contact with slain Libyan leader Moamer Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam over his surrender.

Seif and Gadhafi's brother-in-law Abdullah al-Senussi are the most wanted fugitives from Gadhafi's inner circle, according to the Taiwan News, on charges of crimes against humanity.

The Lebanon Daily Star reported that Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, has "substantial evidence" that Sief helped hire mercenaries to attack Libyan civilians protesting against his father's rule.

According to the Taiwan News, Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement that they have informal contact with Seif through intermediaries.

A group of mercenaries has offered to move Seif to an African country where he would be safe for the time being, but the ICC has maintained contact with them to urge Seif to surrender.

According to the Taiwan News and the Lebanon Daily Star, Moreno-Ocampo said that the ICC received some questions from Seif through an intermediary about the legal system and what would happen to him if he would appear before the judges.

It has been made clear that if Seif surrenders to the ICC he would have the right to be heard in court and is innocent until proven guilty.

The Taiwan News said that the exact whereabouts of Seif and Senussi are still unknown, but security sources said that Senussi had crossed from Niger into Mali, with sources claiming he was under protection from Tuareg nomads.