| Mediation starts today in MUW suit as defense files response
JACKSON - A mediation session began today with the court-appointed middleman hoping for a quick settlement of the feud between Mississippi University for Women President Claudia Limbert and alumni who've been arguing with her the past year.Meanwhile, the defendants in the case this morning issued a response to the amended complaint filed by the alumni and issued their own counterclaims seeking injunctive relief from Lowndes County Chancery Court Judge Dorothy Colom against the suit's plaintiffs.Colom had set a deadline at 5 p.m. Tuesday for the amended response to be filed by MUW lawyers, but the response was not filed until this morning. It arrived sometime after 9 a.m. today via FedEx delivery, according to a Lowndes County chancery clerk's office employee.Meanwhile, mediation began today at 9 a.m.
Finance Committee set to lift Rx drug pricing ban
The Senate Finance Committee is set to approve narrowly a plan from Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to lift a ban on government price negotiation for Medicare prescription drugs. Yet on the floor, the proposal’s future is uncertain. Following a likely committee approval Thursday, opposition by GOP lawmakers and many Democrats, who aim to force the Bush administration to negotiate lower-priced drugs for seniors, threaten to derail Baucus’s effort when it reaches the Senate floor next week. The Medicare negotiation bill removes a curb on the Secretary of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) power to negotiate drug prices, but does not mandate that the HHS chief conduct such negotiations. Current Secretary Mike Leavitt has said he will not exercise the right to do so. Although stronger language requiring government negotiation won 54 backers in a March 2006 Senate test vote, the Democratic cosponsor of that effort said he would back Baucus — during Thursday’s markup, at least. "It’s important that we prevail tomorrow," Sen.
Nelson residents may be exposed to toxic gas - report
Confidential reports have just been released revealing residents on Nelson's Port Hills may be exposed to dangerous levels of toxic methyl bromide gas. The Environment Court today released reports from an air quality scientist, which were withheld by the Nelson-Marlborough District Health Board. In October, a parliamentary select committee recommended stricter controls on the use of the chemical after more than 1400 people signed a petition for it to be banned. The petition, signed by Nelson-based Campaigners Against Toxic Sprays (Cats) chairwoman Claire Gulman and 1452 others, followed the controversial use of the fumigant at the Port of Nelson. It has been blamed for ill health and deaths suffered by workers and nearby residents. The DHB commissioned studies into the public risk of the gas' use, but then refused to release them and said the matter was before the Environment Court.
Doha talks can continue without US fast-track - WTO
The World Trade Organization's troubled Doha round of free-trade talks will go ahead even if the White House's fast-track trade negotiation powers are not renewed, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said on Friday. "We know that the president of the United States has asked for an extension of this," he said. "We know by experience there might be some discrepancy in the process and the TPA might lapse, although negotiations would continue." Fast track, formally known as trade promotion authority, or TPA, allows the White House to negotiate trade deals that Congress must approve or reject without making any changes. It expires at the end of June, and the Democrat-controlled Congress might not renew it. Many consider fast-track vital to the success of the Doha round of world trade talks. Speaking in Mexico City, Lamy also said the United States needed to make a new offer on reducing trade-distorting agriculture subsidies if the Doha talks were to progress.
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